EDITORIAL: MADNESS

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Athletic Department should find way to preserve treasured tradition.

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It is Midnight Madness, and it might not happen this year if the Athletics Department cannot overcome scheduling conflicts that threaten to cancel it.

The Student Association, the organization that has traditionally sponsored the event, is trying to work with the Athletic Departments to remedy the problem (and we wish them the best of luck). The Midnight Madness tradition ought to continue.

While Midnight Madness is a peculiar event at Rice -- a place where indifference often replaces school spirit -- it has a found a receptive audience here and deserves to stay.

The event is especially important for athletes. Rice does not have a culture that some schools like Texas A&M University and the University of Texas have that celebrates athletics as a matter of course. In fact, there is often tension between athletes and non-athletes -- we see this tension reflected in a number of ways, including on the opinion pages of this paper from time to time.

Midnight Madness gives Rice students an opportunity to show their fellow students who also happen to be athletes that they are part of this community. It is one of the few forums where this is done.

The annual pep rally also sparks enthusiasm for all of our teams. It raises awareness of the big games. It serves as a student-organized strategy meeting for plotting fan tactics to intimidate other opposing teams in the Jungle Gym.

Finally, Midnight Madness is a stage for other performers like the Marching Owl Band and the Rice Dance Team. It is even a place where ordinary Rice students can stand up and take an uninhibited shot from the line to win a prize.

It is a fun time -- Rice needs more, not fewer, events in this spirit.

This item appeared in the Opinion section of the September 20, 1996 issue.

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