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The Rice Thresher
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Thresher Editorial Staff Cheering ourselves hoarse We hate to discourage intelligent discourse about the contentious issue of college cheers. But we're tired of talking about it. With all of the forums and discussions going on these days, we seem to have lost sight of some basic issues. First, cheers that involve sexual situations are tasteless and unnecessary. Second, inappropriate cheers can be changed. Orientation Week advisers and coordinators shouldn't teach cheers that involve sexual acts. Once they're not a part of golden O-Week memories, they won't have sentimental value and will fade away. Third, getting paranoid about what's acceptable and what's not blurs the issue. We don't need a list of "dirty words" we can't say, but we do need to show some common sense. Furthermore, we're dismayed by the idea of sitting the freshmen down to scare them about the sexual harassment policy during O-Week. Common courtesy and being sensitive to those around you probably means that students won't inadvertently violate the policy. We also want to reiterate the distinction between profane and sexual cheers. We don't believe that adding a curse word in here and there is harmful - and we don't think that saying "Team Wiess sucks!" is sexual in nature. The issues of college cheers - and the comfort level of our fellow students - are important. But we're not sure that two-hour forums are the right way to deal with them.
Lines of accountability We're appalled that at Monday's Student Association meeting, no one objected to the idea SA that officials shouldn't be publicly accountable for things they do as part of their office. University Court Chair Alisa De Luna came to talk about proposed changes to the Election Code. At a previous meeting, a debate about accountability led to an agreement: If a student running for office were to violate the Election Code, say, by campaigning early, the details and result of his or her hearing before U. Court would be made public. Likewise, according to the previous agreement, if SA officers were to misbehave in office, the details and results of that trial would be made public. De Luna made it clear that U. Court felt that it could not make such a trial public unless the SA, the accused student and the U. Court chair agreed. There seems to be misunderstanding what it means to be a public official. Being a public official means that the undergraduate students at Rice have charged you with their trust. It means the student body thinks you should have a certain amount of power and influence. It means that in difficult situations, you negotiate for the best interests of the students. It means that you can handle our money. It means you should do the right thing when you're acting in your public capacity - both while in office and while campaigning. The reason that U. Court cases are confidential is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which says schools that get federal money, including Rice, can't release students' educational records - including disciplinary records. That's why whenever the Thresher writes a story about somebody getting suspended or expelled, no one from the administration will comment. They're not being intentionally cagey - they're just trying to stay out of trouble. However, a student can waive his or her FERPA rights at any time, and we think that for the specific case of candidates for office and elected leaders misbehaving in their campaigns or offices, students should be required to waive their rights. For example, if somebody gets in trouble for underage drinking and goes to U. Court while she's serving on the SA executive council, there's no reason to make that offense public - it has nothing to do with her job. But if the treasurer is stealing money, the public has a right to know. Likewise, if a candidate sends out an illegal campaign e-mail, shrouding that in confidentiality is absurd. Becoming a public official must mean being subject to scrutiny. What our officials do while serving in their jobs is everybody's business.
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