Letters to the Editor

By Staff Editorial     9/17/09 7:00pm

Blatant mockery tactless, intolerant

To the Editor:The author of the Thresher opinion article on intelligent design ("Intelligent design to take over all studies," Sept. 4), Brian Reinhart, doesn't understand that mockery isn't how to disagree with someone else's views.

Reinhart doesn't realize that he is the equivalent of a zealot proclaiming that everyone who doesn't conform to his narrow interpretation of some religious text will burn in hell. Both he and the zealot don't respect others' rights or views. Neither acknowledges that they can't be sure of what they're saying, but that they can only observe and draw conclusions, giving credence and weight according to their own opinions and experiences.

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It is people like Reinhart and the way they choose to express themselves that make me feel it's safer to avoid discussing my religion, or saying I'm non-religious instead of atheist.

I have chosen to be associated with no religious group, neither evangelical Christian zealots nor anti-religious zealots such as Reinhart. By my non-association, I hope to respectfully disagree with those who have more faith than I do.

Mike Benza

Martel '09

Campus safety remains a priority

To the Editor:

Contrary to the sensationalized headline on the front page of last week's Thresher ("Campus safety suffers setbacks," Sept. 11), the Rice campus remains safe. In addition, some of the details in the accompanying story about staff reductions were inaccurate or misleading, so I'd like to set the record straight.

The 5 percent budget cuts across campus for the current fiscal year resulted in the loss of only one police position overall in the Rice University Police Department. In fact, we gained seven new security positions for the BioScience Research Collaborative.

The "glaring vacancies" referenced in the Thresher article had nothing to do with the budget cuts. We had one vacancy at the beginning of the last school year and we lost two additional officers for personal reasons during the year - one got married and another left to manage some family property. We have hired two new officers to fill some of the vacancies, but it takes a few months for them to complete training and probation before they become a permanent part of our workforce. And because two residential colleges are closed this year for renovation, we did not need additional officers to provide security at the two new colleges.

We still have two vacancies to fill, including one that was added last school year, but it takes time to find someone with the caliber of experience and training that we require of our officers.

I can assure you that RUPD is out patrolling the grounds the way we always do to protect our students. The BB gun shootings that occurred over Labor Day weekend weren't even on Rice property - the soft sidewalk around the perimeter of campus belongs to the city of Houston, and three of the shootings happened blocks or miles from campus. The one Rice student who was targeted was a few blocks from campus at the time of the incident. Fortunately, none of the individuals was seriously injured and no more attacks have occurred. RUPD is working with the Houston Police Department on the investigation of the shootings and intends to identify the assailants and bring them to justice.

Campus crime levels, which mostly involve thefts, are at normal levels, and there's no need for anyone to live in fear. I encourage you to contact RUPD at 713-348-6000 or via one of the many blue emergency phones or elevator phones on campus if you see something suspicious so we can do our job to protect you while you enjoy college life.

Bill Taylor

Chief of Police

Director of Public Safety

Online Comment of the Week

To the Editor:

I'm actually a little offended by this column ("Choosing majors a personal journey," Sept.11). I'll start by saying that I graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering in 2006. Next, I'll say that college, first and foremost, serves an academic, educational purpose. Sure, you get to meet a ton of people, do a bunch of crazy things and accumulate lots of stories.

But unless you plan on living off a trust fund when your four years are up, you need some kind of qualification in order to obtain a good job later. And quite frankly, the world (and the United States in particular) NEEDS more engineers, doctors and scientists. My car doesn't run on Plato, and cancer isn't cured by reading a Shakespeare play. Twitter, Facebook and all of the things we as a society enjoy and need are the products of science. Your article puts down the students who someday will provide the world with the next iterations of these tools.

David Vaucher

Brown '06

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