LETTER: Oilers mean crime, traffic

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by Robert Sparr

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To the editor:

We, as Rice alumni, students and employees, are concerned by recent reports ( Houston Chronicle , Aug. 23) that the university may consider opening Rice Stadium for use as the Houston Oilers' home venue.

We feel that such action would run against the better interests of the university and that the issue should receive an internal dialogue before discussions with outside parties begin.

Any resolution of the Oilers dilemma should be debated by everyone in Harris County, but the availability of Rice Stadium must first be decided within the Rice community.

The Rice campus currently enjoys a measure of isolation unparalleled by most other urban campuses.

Events over the past several years, however, have highlighted security concerns, and opening the stadium to the public on such a massive scale as contemplated would greatly increase these problems.

The school's distinct character would also be significantly affected; large football crowds invariably seem to include a small but troublesome number of rowdy fans which would disturb the campus environment.

In addition, Rice's campus does not have sufficient parking capacity to host large, regularly scheduled events like NFL games and serve commuting students and faculty.

Crowded parking lots and streets would make traveling to and from campus difficult on game days.

We are also opposed to the renovation of Rice's facilities necessary to accommodate the Oilers.

While new benches in the stadium and a resurfaced stadium lot would be nice, any expansion of the stadium lot to hold more cars would encroach upon some of the rapidly vanishing space left on campus.

We acknowledge that hosting the Oilers might provide Rice with greater name recognition in some areas of the country.

We'd like to point out that Rice does not appear to have received any lasting nominal recognition from the Super Bowl held here in 1974.

We argue that Rice should seek a reputation based on its scholastic merits instead of incidentals. The files of the Admissions Office are already brimming with qualified applicants, in any case.

Many important questions remain unanswered. How would game traffic affect the Medical Center? Would Rice have to schedule its use of the stadium around the Oilers schedule? Would the stadium be renamed? Would Rice land be used to widen Rice or University boulevards? What would prevent Oilers owner Bud Adams from demanding further concessions later, as he is wont to do?

Each of us recognizes that change is necessary and that the university will continue to grow and adapt. The impact of large changes on the Rice community must be considered carefully, however.

Serving as the home to any professional sports team would detract from the university's core mission and irrevocably alter the character of Rice itself. Such a catastrophe should not be endured for any amount of revenue.

Robert Sparr

Graduate Student

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Hanszen '92

and 41 current and former Rice students

This item appeared in the Opinion section of the September 1, 1995 issue.

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