The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 50, No. 17, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 20, 1963 Page: 3 of 10
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WED., FEBRUARY 20, 1963
THE THRESHER
Three
THRESHING-IT-OUT-
11 p. m. 'Is Enough,' Says Craig
In defense of Fondren's Hours
To The Editor:
It is not tradition that makes us close the Library at
11:00 p.m., it is common sense. The Library is open 95
hours a week at present: do you mean to say that this is
not enough time for the students
to get their lessons, if they show
a little foresight in planning their
work?
WHEN I CAME to Rice the
Library closed at 5 p.m. and was
not open on Sundays. During the
first six years of the Fondren's
existence, closing hours were ex-
tended to 10 p.m. Rice was a un-
iversity of high standards in
those days, even though it was
called an Institute.
During my tenure as Librarian,
closing hours have been extended
to 11 p.m. But this is enough.
Our hard-working staff cannot be
expected to stay around until
midnight (it is 12:30 a.m. be-
fore they can get home, actual-
ly) and then do their work the
next day.
EVEN IF students could be
found to help, I am unwilling to
leave this building and all its con-
tents to the sole care of stu-
dents. Too many emergencies can
arise, and since the Librarian
and the staff are immediately re-
sponsible, they should have a rep-
resentative on hand.
HARDIN CRAIG,Jr.
Librarian
P.S. I don't know what you
mean by that crack about our
acquisition policies not being
noted for their liberality. We will
buy any book that anyone wants,
except maybe a few do-it-yourself
manuals and paperbacks which
people ought to buy for them-
selves.
Editors' Note s
Class schedules, not to mention lab, PT
and meal hours, require most students
to study in the evenings, beginning
about 7 pm. A one-hour extension would
yield 25 per cent more study time each
night the library is open.
If the library staff does not leave
the building until 30 minutes after its
close, students are encouraged to depart
15 minutes ahead of time at the sound
of a long, loud bell The staff members
who currently work until 11 pm do not
come on duty until 2 in the afternoon;
if they were not willing to stay the
extra hour, Pinkerton men would gladly
pick up the extra pay, just as they did
during the final period.
While it is true that the library will
buy any book requested of them—and
we carefully noted our appreciation of
the library's general liberality—there is
some question about a library's respon-
sibility for purchasing books even when
no requests are made. As new depart-
ments or -.new areas of instruction in old
departments open up, books are needed
which the library his failed to buy for
lack of a formal request, books which
are frequently out of print or hard to
get, not to mention single-issue period-
icals, theses special studies and similar
works.
Many libraries make a practice) of pur-
chasing all new issues from the better
presses, a policy which would fill at
least some of the gaps, in our collection.
SOUTH
MAIN
BARBER
SHOP
6626 S. Main
JA 8-8118
Students Urged
To Show Feeling
Toward Integration
To the Editor:
I wish to extend a belated
thanks to the Thresher and Bob
Clarke for informing Rice stu-
dents and faculty about the pro-
ceedings now being taken to
integrate Rice legally.
What is going to happen now?
It seems obvious that the speed
with which Rice is integrated is
dependent upon how badly the
school needs federal aid. If the
need is great enough, the Uni-
versity will be integrated next
year. The question now is one of
time.
RICE WILL BE integrated,
but when? For all we know, ten
years could go by with no action
being taken. Are we to sit back
with a wait-and-see attitude ?
Now is the time for Rice stu-
dents and faculty to express
themselves again. We have said
that we favor an admission policy
unprejudiced with regard to race;
it is time that we put this ex-
pression into a more concrete
form!, by calling for such a policy
to be put into effect next year.
There1 are many ways students
and faculty can make their in-
fluence felt; but are we willing
to make this influence felt in
a forceful way? One of our fac-
ulty has said that Rice students
are sometimes willing to picket
some poor man's cafe in Union
Station but they scatter in all
directions when mention is made
of picketing the University. Per-
haps picketing is not the Rice
means of expression, but if any
means of expression does exist
here, it is my hope that it will
be made known now.
—JACK SWANZY
Hanszen '64
Patience, Mr. Swanzy, patience. Things
not as grim as you make them
Ed.
are
seem.
a
Greene Suggests
Faculty Advising;
Lauds Committees
To the Editor:
That there is great need for
a quality professor adviser pro-
grom at Rice cannot be denied.
Too often a student plans his
course of study solely by him-
self or with the aid of other
students. Students helping stu-
dents in such matters is fine,
but it should be supplementary
to, not a substitute for, sensible
W. HOLCOMBB
ONE HOUR MARTINIZING
Our Clever Cleaners Clean Clothes Carefully
UNIVERSITY BLVD.
RICE
WE CLEAN ALL DAY SATURDAY
*2400 BOLSOVER
SAME BLOCK AS
JA 3-9112
SUNSET
VILLAGE POST OFFICE
and thoughtful faculty sug-
gestions.
The second semester soph-
omore, wondering what lies
ahead' if he chooses a certain
major (Is my background ade-
quate?, What is the nature of
the advanced courses?, Aspects
of possible future graduate
study?) would like to have per-
sonal contact with a professor so
as to hear interested comment
from the non-student view. See-
ing a professor once a year on
an impersonal basis just to have
a registration card signed doesn't
do the job.
A hearty commendation for
the faculty interest in the stu-
dent's attempt at trying to get
a drink from the Rice fire
hydrant. The recent Faculty
Sound-Off articles are indeed en-
couraging to the Rice student
who frequently feels that only
he, John Q. Student, thinks some-
thing is lacking in the University
education policy.
The Student Committee on
Educational Policy and Dr. Ed-
wards' APC indicate that there
is climate for change at Rice;
that constructive criticism is wel-
come. Let's hope that the end
results will bi-ing more sub-
stance to a Rice education.
—JULIAN GREENE
Will Rice '63
Scott Was Critical
Of U-2 Handling,
Ericksen Corrects
To the Editor:
In the interest of accurate re-
porting, I would like to correct
one of the statements in Gerry
Urbach's report of Senator
Scott's address to the Rice
Forum.
THE SENATOR did not laud
the honest handling of the U-2
incident by President Eisenhower.
Rather he said the former admin-
istration's action was dishonest
and indefensible, but that such
di^,hcmesty seems to have become
a way of life for the present
administration.
Senator Scott is a Republican
but not quite as much a blind
partisan as the Thresher state-
ment implies.
—KEN ERICKSEN
Department of English
Harold's
Garage
JA 8-5323
* Paint & Body Shop
* Automatic Transmissions
* Air Conditioning
* Foreign Cars
* Wrecker Service
2431 DUNSTAN
i/VN/VN/WVWWWWSA/S/WVS/yyyNAA^/V
University's Colorful History
Traced By Andrew F. Muir
The following excerpts are taken from a history of Rice written bjr Dr.
Andrew Forest Muir, Associate Professor of History and Associate Co-editor
of the Journal of Southern History. It originally appeared in The Honsten
Post.
A group of shrewd, visionary men set the course
for a great university in the early years of this century.
On December 28, 1907, the Board of Trustees ap-
pointed Edgar Odell Lovett, Professor of Mathematics and
head of the Astronomy Department at Princeton Univer-
sity, as the first President of Rice Institute.
HE CAME to Houston with
ideas and information that he
fused into an organic plan that
he was to pursue as president for
almost forty years and that
shaped the direction Rice has
taken in the years since his re-
tirement.
Rice was to be a university of
stature. The faculty was to be the
best available, and the best pre-
pared- students of Texas schools
were to be admitted to a rigorous
instruction. No honorary degrees
were to be granted.
HAVING PURCHASED about
half a square mile of land in the
shape of an irregular pentagon,
bounded by the present Main
Street, Sunset and Rice boule-
vards, Greenbriar Street and Uni-
versity Boulevard, the board se-
lected as architect Ralph Adams
Cram, of Boston.
On March 2, 1911, the corner-
stone of the Administration Build-
ing was laid in a public ceremony.
AND ON September 23, 1912,
the twelfth anniversary of the
founder's death, Rice opened its
doors.
On January 15, 1916, a student
paper, the Thresher, that had be-
gun as a commercial venture,
was taken up and made the of-
ficial student publication. Also
begun in 1916 was the honor sys-
tem, administered by a student
honor council.
THE PHYSICAL plant con-
tinued to grow. The Physics La-
boratories were completed in
1913, the third wing of the first
residential group in 1914, and the
first wing of the second i-esiden-
tial group in 1916.
In 1916 Rice held its first grad-
uation and granted bachelor de-
grees to the 27 survivors admitted
in 1912 and eight others who had
been admitted later. Graduate stu-
dents had begun to be admitted,
and a master of arts degree was
granted in 1916.
IN 1918 the first doctor of
philosophy degree was granted
by Rice in mathematics, to Hu-
bert Bray.
Normalcy brought an apprecia-
tion of real estate values and
gilt edge securities led to an
increase in the Rice endowment.
Additions were made to the facul-
ty.
THE PHYSICAL plant was ex-
panded by construction of the
Chemistry Building in 1923-1924
and a few years later by the do-
nation by George S. Cohen of a
faculty house named in honor of
his jaarents.
The freshman night shirt pa-
rades in downtown Houston fitted
(Continued on Page 10)
THE SIGN TO BUILD
YOUR
FUTURE ON I
UNIVERSITY
SAVINGS
6135 KIRBY DRIVE
5225 BELLAIRE BLVD.
IIJEIDQA-
RICE STUDENTS
AND THEIR FAMILIES
Are Cordially Invited to Dine
At Weldon's, Houston's Finest Cafeteria.
Two Fast Moving Serving Lines
PIK NIK CHIK Fried Chicken Box Lunches
Over 100 Delicious Dishes
Plenty of Free Parking
Open Daily 11:00 am to 8:30 pm
4916 MAIN
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The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 50, No. 17, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 20, 1963, newspaper, February 20, 1963; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth231228/m1/3/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.