EDITORIAL: MLK

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Staff workers deserve day off.

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When the University Council established Martin Luther King Day as a faculty/student holiday in 1993, they had the right sentiment. But they had the wrong idea.

MLK Day has been a national holiday since 1986. Since then, most Americans, have been given time off on the third Monday of each January to pay tribute to the individual who played such an important role in ending legal segregation and discrimination based on race.

While most universities throughout the nation quickly followed suit in observing MLK Day, Rice was among the stragglers. One reason for the delay was that some believed that cancelling classes was not the best way to pay tribute -- students would merely use the three-day weekend for other purposes.

Of course, the naysayers lost, and MLK Day is now a faculty/student holiday. Unfortunately, the council members who approved the new holiday did not take into consideration those who would be most likely to use the holiday as it was meant to be used.

We are talking about the Rice staff, which has a much higher percentage of minorities than the student or faculty bodies.

Sure, the cooks, groundskeepers, secretaries and other employees have the option of choosing to make MLK Day a sick day/vacation day or, if the majority of members agree, a "skeleton" day. But why would they do either when they know that they have lots of work to do in preparation for the thousands of students who will be returning from winter break that same day?

Literature put out by the university states its commitment to the promotion of diversity on campus. In recent years, the administration has frequently stated that it is ready to address any special concerns that its minority students may have.

Shouldn't the same be done for Rice's employees?

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