Letter to the Editor: How is Jan. 25 backpage satire?
To the Editors:
The Thresher’s Backpage assures its readers that it’s satire, but let’s pause for a moment to consider what that means. Satire has historically been a powerful tool of the press: Writers and cartoonists have always relied upon exaggeration,
We, members of the “Posse of the Positive,” referenced in the terrific article by Yasna Haghdoost on the front page of the Thresher last week, share that ambition: We want to help point forward. We’re employing advocacy, but we encourage all forms of discourses, satire included.
But we’re flummoxed by the Backpage send-up of the Women’s March that was specifically targeted at Lisa Zollner, director of Student Judicial Programs. We’re all used to the Thresher’s tendency to a more crass form of satire than one would find in, say, Aristophanes or Mark Twain. And Rice administrators have been frequent targets of the Backpage. But even with these expectations, we’re scratching our heads as to how this
Margaret Beier, McMurtry College Master
Bridget Gorman, Will Rice College Master
Mikki Hebl, Chair of Psychology
Vivian Ho, Professor of Economics
Rachel Kimbro, Professor of Sociology
Melissa Marschall, Professor of Political Science
Carrie Masiello, Professor of Earth Science
Maria Oden, Professor in Practice of Engineering
Barbara Ostdiek, Associate Professor of Finance
Annise Parker, Former Mayor of Houston
Sandy Parsons, Assistant Teaching Professor of Psychology
Rebecca Richards-Kortum, Director of Rice 360
Libby Vann, Director of Programs Center for Civic Leadership
Marcia Walker-McWilliams, Associate Director, Programs for Center for Civic Leadership
Sarah Whiting, Dean and William Ward Watkin Professor of Architecture
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