The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 54, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 20, 1966 Page: 1 of 12
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(For the benefit of out-of-
town Rice students, who may
not be familiar with Texas
politics, Bob Easton gives his
first-hand account of the re-
cent split in the Harris
County Democrats, between
liberal and conservative
branches. Easton was elected
Democratic Executive Com-
mitteeman last spring from
Precinct 40, which includes
the Rice campus.—ed.)
By BOB EASTON
After a first round draw in
the primary May 7, and the
conservatives' unsuccessful at-
tempt at a technical knockout
in the second r o u n d at the
county convention May 20, Har-
ris County Democrats moved to
Austin September 20 for the
third round in this year's edi-
tion of their annual intramural
fght.
morning of September 10 with
Liberal heavyweight Bill Kil-
bait hooks for fishing trip
The Rice Thresher
AN ALL-STUDENT NEWSPAPER FOR 51 YEARS
Volume 54—Number 6 RICE UNIVERSITY, HOUSTON, TEXAS 77001
OCTOBER 20, 1966
Hanszen Keeps Glade
Approval of college switch denied
The committee of college mas- in policy.
ters has declared itself unable
to approve Roger Glade's pe-
tition to change his membership
from Hanszen College to Wiess
College, citing a University
policy which does not permit
students to change colleges.
The cabinets of both colleges
wrote letters to the committee
approving the move, and Glade
had received verbal encourage-
ment from the masters of both
Wiess and Hanszen.
Act in Concert
The constitutions of both
colleges dictate that college
membership may not be changed
"except by the Masters of the
several colleges acting in con-
cert."
The masters decided, how-
ever, advised, by Dean of Under-
graduate Affairs M. V. Mc-
Enany, that current University
policy prevents membership
changes, and that the only re-
course in such cases is to the
Undergraduate Affairs Commit-
< - tee, which may consider changes
McEnany advised the commit-
tee that, even if they did ap-
prove the change, it could not
go into effect because of the
University policy.
Homogeneity
In any event, the masters
disapproved college changing on
principle, citing fears that once
changing was allowed, a flood
of changes would ensue, and the
colleges would tend dangerously
toward internal homogeneity
and external differentiation.
"If the colleges become too
homogeneous, they will acquire
fraternity aspects, voting mem-
bers in and out," said Dr. Tren-
ton V. Wann, master of Jones
College.
Dr. Roy V. Talmage, master
of Wiess College, expressed
concern that the colleges
"would tend by constant re-
quests for changes to become
one an engineering college, an-
other an athletic college, one
an academic college."
Previously several "changes
New funds allow new college jobs
for students needing financial aid
Substantial new funds have
recently been made available to
the colleges from federal gov-
ernment and university grants,
enabling them to create new
student jobs to handle routine
tasks.
A federal work-study pro-
gram provides $1250 for each
men's college. The .program,
created by the Higher Educa-
tion Act of 1965, -is financed
90% by the government and
10% by the university.
Rice participated in the work-
study program last, year, but
the funds were appropriated to
work in the library and in sev-
eral departments.
The funds are available only
to students who qualify for fi-
nancial aid under the existing
University standards, and must
ibe used to create new jobs, not
simply to pay salaries which
would otherwise be paid by the
university.
The university has, in addi-
tion, allocated from university
funds an additional $1000 per
college for student assistants.
Jobs financed under this appro-
priation need not meet the oth-
er criteria for the federally-
financed jobs.
The college governments are
using the new funds for work
in their libraries, in their of-
fices during the evening hours,
and in the men's colleges to cre-
ate a student maintenance as-
sistant.
The general maintenance bud-
get for the colleges currently
stands at about $50,000, and in-
cludes funds for the masters'
secretaries, office maintenance,
entertainment allowances for
the .masters and associates,
graduate assistants and resi-
dent supervisors in the women's
colleges.
In all, the funds allocated for
student assistants in the wom-
en's colleges has been increased
this year by $500, and in the
men's colleges a total of about
$4500 more, according to Dean
of Undergraduate Affairs M.
U. McEnany.
of college membership" have
occurred between Jones and
Brown Colleges, but Wann ex-
plained that these changes
are considered the last ad-
justments in the split of col-
lege membership when the new
college was created.
Happiness
Wann expressed some interest
in partial softening of the
policy. "I have a feeling that
after the end of the Freshman
year some choice should be al-
lowed," he said, "perhaps if the
student can find someone in the
other college willing to switch
with him."
Dr. Ronald Sass, master of
Hanszen College, emphasized
that in the current case prin-
ciple simply had to override
personal considerations. He
added, however, "I do think
Roger would be much happier
as a member of Wiess College."
Glade has lived off campus
since his freshman year. Last
year, denied funds for a college
theatre by the Hanszen cabinet,
he made his request to Wiess
college, which eagerly accepted
his plan. Glade produced "Anti-
gone" at Wiess last year, and
is currently producing "Doctor
Faustus" for performance in
January by the "Wiess Table-
top Theatre."
garlin facing the experienced
Bll Blanton. The two sparred for
a while under the watchful eye
of referee State Credentials
Committee, then returned to
their corners.
Walkout
While every Texas newspaper
fought, the third' round, the
referee mulled over his decision,
with much help from reigning
champion J ohn Connally
(King), and finally announced
his decsion to Mrs. David Carr
on the morning of the state
convention. Not satisfied with
the split decision (4-4), Mrs.
Carr led her team in a walkout,
all the way to the big gym-
nasium in the center of down-
town Austin.
This made the state conven-
tion very peaceful, as the liber-
al delegation also walked out,
leaving Mr. Blanton and his
other high-placed friends with
no one to fight.
But now the match may have
to go to four rounds, as the big
championship battle with tradi-
tional rival Republicans is fast
approaching, and Blanton may
have to convince the liberalist
not to boycott completely, caus-
ing him to forfeit for lack of a
complete team.
Liberal Boycott
If the rift in the Texas Demo-
cratic Party is really as deep
as the liberal walkout at the
state convention may indicate,
John Tower may sneak past
Waggoner Carr into his second
Senate term. In 1960 Tower was
elected because his opponent
was Tory (i.e., conservative
Democrat; see the Texas Ob-
server) Bill Blakely. Faced with
a choice between two ultra-
conservatives, m o s t; liberals
simply did not vote in the Sen-
ate race, and Tower won by
default.
Although Waggoner Carr is
at present less conservative
than Blakely was, there are
other factors which make him
almost as unpopular with Texas
liberals. Most important is his
close association with Connally
and the other conservatives who
control the state party.
Besides the normal philoso-
phical differences implied in the
two labels, practical relations
between the two groups have
also been very strained. The
continuous personal feud be-
tween the "leaders" of the two
groups, Governor Connally and
Senator Ralph Yarborough, has
also contributed to party dis-
unity.
Bitter Primaries
This intramural dissension
was well reflected in the bitter
primary races, especially the
Eckhardt vs. McKaskle and
Thomas race for the House
seat in the Eighth District
(North Harris County) and the
Kilgarlin-Casey fight in the
Twenty-Second District (South-
west Harris County). These
and others in the county and
throughout the state often do-
generated into personal vilifica-
tion and name calling.
This bitterness was also re-
flected in the fight for control
of the county conventions. C-on-
nally's forces waged a well-
organized campaign at the pre-
cinct level which was generally
successful throughout the state.
The one glaring exception
was Harris County, where the
liberals appeared to have won
the convention by over j ,000
votes. However, after first ac-
cepting all precinct conventions,
the conservatively - controlled
County Credentials Committee,
reconvened at the eleventh hour
(actually, about 11 pm the night
before the convention) and be-
gan throwing out liberal pre-
cincts on technical grounds.
Although very few of the pro-
tests came from residents of
the disqualified precincts, when
the outgoing Executive Com-
mittee (also conservatively con-
trolled) met the next morning,
they approved the committee's
report.
(Continued on l'age 1))
Space-science professor working
for NASA as 'scientist-astronaut'
DR. F. CURTIS MICHEL
Rice's rocket rider
Dr. F. Curtis Michel, a Rice
assistant professor of space
science, is serving as one of
the country's first "scientist-
astronauts" with the National
Aeronautical and Space Agency.
Dr. Michel, who is currently
on a leave of absence, is work-
ing as a liaison man for NASA.
He is monitoring the Saturn
IV B project and the Astronomi-
cal Telescope Mounting, pro-
jects vital to the success of
future Apollo programs. Michel
expects that he will "go up" at
some time, although assign-
ments have only been made for
the first two shots.
Michel indicated that he came
to Rice as one of the initial
members of the growing space
science department because he
was intrigued by the opportuni-
ties for work in such a depart-
ment and also was attracted
by the reputation of the Uni-
versity.
We're Ahead
He describes Rice's space
science department as one of
the most advanced in the nation,
and foresees increasingly closer
ties between NASA and mem-
bers of the Rice community as
the space program continues,
and as the number of scienti-
fic and technical experiments
aboard manned space flights
increases.
In regard to Rice's own space
science department, Dr. Michel
foresees no program leading to
a bachelor of science degree
with a major in space science.
He does feel that there will be
more of a tendency toward un-
dergraduate "awareness" cour-
ses, to give students a. taste of
space science before ho decides
on a field for graduate study.
No Major
The reason for the lack of
an undergraduate degree is that
such a degree would leave the
student ill-prepared, for the
program has not advanced far
enough for a major to be of-
fered.
Dr. Michel commented that
opportunities for space science
graduates are available in other
agencies besides NASA. Many
students can go to other uni-
versities where departments
similar to Rice's are starting,
and many go to work for vari-
ous aei'ospace agencies.
Dr. Michel graduated with a
bachelor of science from Cali-
fornia Institute of Technology
in 1955, and received his doc-
torate of physics from there in
1962. He spent three years
with the Air Force after receiv-
ing his bachelor's degree, and is
now a member of the Air Force
Reserves.
He applied for his current
position to the National Aca-
demy of Sciences, which recom-
mended him to NASA. He then
went through a program of
extensive testing. Out of 1700
applicants, Dr. Michel was one
of six selected. Dr. Michel indi-
cated that another "call" will
go out in January, 1967.
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Coyner, Sandy. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 54, No. 6, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 20, 1966, newspaper, October 20, 1966; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth244981/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.