by Christy Williams
News Reporter
Joseph Rice isn't one to mince words. In his University of Houston office, a poster shows animals with necks outstretched and the caption "Stick your neck out."
That's exactly what the retiring technical writing professor has tried to do during his 30-year career at UH.
"'Opinionated' is your choice of word," Rice, 67, said. "I'm outspoken. That can get you in a lot of trouble if you don't have an opinion."
When referring to faculty, Rice said, "You get called 'blunt.' People will think of names to call you, but I get very bothered by people who try to go hide in the woods. You've got tenure, for God's sake - speak up."
Rice has a reputation around the UH campus and Houston for speaking up, acting as an advocate for several issues and contributing articles to the Houston Post and Chronicle.
One such article, published in 1994, was called "UH's dozen dumbest decisions of the last 25 years," listing a dozen of Rice's criticisms of the university and its administrators.
"I've done some bad things," he said, smiling. In the "dumbest decisions" piece, Rice called the then-UH president "Chicken Little" and the UH System chancellor "Captain of the Titanic." Not long after the piece was published, those administrators were replaced.
Rice feels that UH has been a good place to spend his academic career, but highlighted some things which have bothered him.
For example, during Rice's three decades at UH, the school has had 14 presidents. "That's too many," he said. "We had three before I got here."
Rice said he feels the university has lost its link with the community and contributes some of the decline to the many administrators who are no longer with UH, like former UHS Chancellor Alexander Schilt, who he called "Moron No. 1.
"The only time people saw us, we were asking for money, and I think that is bizarre and foolish," Rice said.
Rice's outspoken nature has compelled some people associated with him to respond. Jeanne Stewart, who received her degree from UH at the age of 47, wrote a response to Rice's "dozen dumbest" article.
"I ... bragged that you were my professor," she wrote. "Thanks for what you do in the classroom and in the newspaper. Keep on telling the truth, and please keep on doing it with such sarcastic humor. More important, keep on caring about the University of Houston."
Rice also inspires involvement in the university. "We call him the 'paper boy,'" said May Lew, industrial technology office coordinator. "Every day, he brings up enough copies of the Cougar to the office for everyone to read. We will miss that."
Rice doesn't plan to go into complete retirement after leaving UH. Instead, he will begin work on what he calls his "second career," working with Dow Jones on reports to be printed in The Wall Street Journal.
Rice has a list of ideas for the reports already prepared, and plans to do several of them over the next few years.
He also plans to teach a class or two at UH, but said he would be losing his office, which he referred to as his "high ivory tower" in one of his articles.
And, as if that's not enough to keep Rice busy, he said he plans to make renovations to his home and acreage in Manvel, Texas, where he lives with his wife of 30 years.
Leaving the ivory tower may not be so bad after all.