Letters to the Editor

12/4/08 6:00pm

Holocaust mention disrespectful, glib

To the editor:When I worked on the Thresher, I always enjoyed reading Caroline May's columns. It was great to have a regular conservative writer who was not a mouthpiece for the Rice College Republicans, but an independent voice. While I almost never agreed with her, May's columns helped me refine my own arguments, and she was never afraid to express her own opinion. She stirred up campus and made people angry, and it was great. However, her column two weeks ago was beyond the pale ("Global warming consensus only, not fact," Nov. 21).

Her arguments about global warming are not the issue. Instead, her flippant use of the Holocaust is not only reductio ad Hitlerum of the worst kind, but also horribly insulting. For May, the systematic murder of millions of innocent men, women and children seems to be nothing more than a throwaway line in a clichéd political rant. Unless politicians are marching millions of people into death camps as part of a racial cleansing initiative, the Holocaust has no place in a political argument. This sort of rhetoric belongs on the Backpage, where post-ironic mockeries of political discourse are appropriate. But in the opinion section it is just sad. By calling such arguments "eloquent," May shows that she is either ignorant or horribly cruel.

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If it is merely ignorance, May is lucky enough to live just a few blocks away from the Houston Holocaust Museum. Perhaps she could visit the museum and write her next column about how the suffering of millions is not a tool for her own personal agenda.

Evan Mintz

Former Thresher Executive Editor

Hanszen '08

Art installations reflect artistic value

To the editor:

The argument that the donations for Fondren's Lino Tagliapietra installation could have been put to better use on the Marching Owl Band ("Funds for campus art nice but misplaced," Nov. 14) is singular and fallacious.

Brought to fruition through the munificence of Elizabeth and Albert Kidd, this project is a promising preview of art to come. Like other privately funded projects at Rice such as the John and Anne Grove, the Kidds and Rice's Arts Committee probably enjoyed special freedom in their selection of this project; that's just how private money works. If the MOB is feeling jealous or neglected, then maybe it should try to be less controversial in order to impress outside donors. If the Kidds had wanted to support the MOB, I'm sure they would have.

Everyday practical problems should be handled through other departments at Rice. Suppose the Kidds had donated $500,000 to keeping tuition down for students. In today's market, would that really have made a difference for all students for long? Special donations are for special projects, not general ones. These ornamental boats make a long lasting statement about the value of art and metaphor, and at least this message is subtle and symbolic enough to be generally appealing and inoffensive. With its controversial political views and halftime performances, the MOB, of all groups, ought to extend some tolerance to projects (even expensive ones) that try to say something about Rice.

Jacob Poteet

Martel junior

VADA article requires correction

To the editor:

The Visual and Dramatic Arts Department would like to thank the Thresher, Logan Beck and Josh Rutenberg for covering the issue of arts on campus in such an even-handed fashion. We hope to see more articles in the future.

One quick note of correction, however: The film collaborations that the Visual and Dramatic Arts department and the University of Texas Film Program are currently developing originated from Dean Wihl and are part of a larger, citywide initiative on film through the Houston Film Task Force.

Brian Huberman

VADA chair

Absence of lyrics displays censorship

To the editor:

The chorus of the penultimate encore song "Mr. November" from the National's performance during Homecoming weekend lacked a little of the zing that it carries at the band's other performances, and it wasn't just because the band was playing in the sunlight. If you were listening closely, you may have heard fans familiar with the song filling in the rest of the chorus, which generally includes the word "fuck" several times.

According to band member Aaron Dessner, the Rice administration had asked their singer, Matt Beringer, to leave out the naughty words because of the presence of donors and alumni. Have they themselves not heard and issued curse words before? Do they not know what college is like? Do they really value censorship more than free speech? The administration certainly operated within its bounds in making this request and were probably just trying to ensure that donors would donate, but I doubt that hearing the f-word at a concert is really that shocking. What's truly shocking is that through this censorship our administration has exercised a power that should have extremely limited use in a healthy academic community. Dessner said that they've played this song at conservative Baptist schools and other colleges in addition to their regular touring schedule, and he said the band never received complaints or censorship requests. Rice may not have an upper limit on academic performance, but it certainly appears to have one on its commitment to free speech.

Jacob Poteet

Martel junior

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