The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 58, No. 5, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 1, 1970 Page: 1 of 8
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don't use
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volume 58, number 5
the rice thresher
rice university, houston texas
up at
one time
thursday, october 1, 1970
Senate finances draft counselors, outlines homecoming
On a motion by Tom Blocher,
president of, Hanszen, the Stu-
dent Senate voted unanimously
Tuesday night to subsidize the
Houston Draft Information
Service.
The Service, chaired by Lew
Hancock of Baker, arranged for
free training of its counselors
and requested a budget of $50
to finance publicity, printouts,
counselling books, and other
material. Its operations are due
to begin soon.
At the same meeting, Buddy
Trotter, KTRU station man-
Sewall Hall mirrors
original physics lab
Ever wondered what it is
they're building across the quad
from the Physics Lab? Wonder
no more; it is Cleveland Sewall
Hall, a $'4.3 million classroom
building.
The five-story building was
made possible through the gen-
erosity of Mrs. Cleveland Sew-
all, a member of the second
class, 1917, at Rice. The build-
ing is named for Mrs. Sewall's
late husband, Cleveland Sewall.
Sewall, a native Houstonian,
died December 25, 1942. At
that, time, he was president of
Gordon-Sewall & Co., a whole-
sale grocery firm, and a direc-
tor of the South Texas Na-
tional Bank of Commerce.
Sewall attended Sewanee Uni-
versity and was a graduate of
the University of Texas Law
School.
Sewall Hall was designed by
Lloyd, Morgan and Jongs, who
also designed Allen Center,
Jones College, the addition to
Cohen House and the remodel-
ing of Lovett Hall last year.
The building will have nearly
.117,000 square feet of floor
space. Of this total, some 96,-
000 will bo interior area, 5,000
will be covered exterior and
15,000 will be uncovered exte-
rior.
Construction was begun in
May 1969, and despite delays
caused by strikes and a hurri-
cane, the building should be
completed more or less on
schedule, late next spring.
Fisher Construction Company
is the contractor for Sewall
Hall, which will have, two base-
ment levels and three floors
above ground. With lower lev-
els going down 45 feet below
ground, careful precautions
had to be taken against
flooding. Drainage will be ac-
complished by a system of
pumps and relief wells. The
exterior of the building will
mirror as closely as possible
that of the Physics Building.
The new building will house
the departments of an tropology
and sociology, economics and
business administration, educa-
tion, art and art history, and
political science, as well as
NROTC,
It will feature a sunken sculp-
ture court on the upper base-
ment level and an art gallery
and lobby on the first floor.
The gallery and four drawing
studios will be skylighted.
Cleveland Sewall Hall will
have laboratory space for ar-
chaeological, anthropological,
and sociological research. In
addition, the building will have
G2 faculty offices, eight lecture
halls and four seminar rooms.
ager, read a proposed By-Law
amendment designed to act as
the organizational charter for
Rice University Radio. The.
non-profit organization is ap-
plying for a license for FM op-
eration from the Federal Com-
munications Commission. Funds
for the operation of the FM
station, which will simulcast
with KTRU-AM (the carrier-
wave station currently heard
only on the Ric6 campus) twelve
hours a day, will come from a
proposed blanket tax increase
of $1.50 per student and from
advertising revenues of the AM
station. Trotter noted that the
engineering1 apparatus will al-
low the FM station to broad-
cast music during the AM com-
mercials. The charter calls for
a controlling board consisting
of alumni, administration, fac-
ulty and students to comply
with FCC responsibility re-
quirements.
Trotter noted that it is an-
ticipated that the station will
apply for the license within the
next week and that it hopes to
begin FM broadcasting by the
second semester. The amend-
ment passed.
In other business, Frank Bre-
voort, SA vice-president, and
member of Lovett College, an-
nounced the outline of plans
for the Homecoming coronation
at halftime of the California
football game Saturday. Wil-
liam Ballew, president of the
Alumni Association and a com-
sCirs'c/
Players present "Little Murders
??
Has the world gone mad?
The Rice Players production of
Jules Feiffer's play, "Little
Murders," leaves one with the
feeling that maybe — yes, may-
be — it is a mad, mad, mad,
mad world.
Of course, the play is hu-
morous. Feiffer's characters arc-
intrinsically funny, and the Rice
Players, directed by Neil Hav-
ens, project the humorous side
of tihese characters well. Mr.
Newquist (John Merkling) is
saddled with the name of Carol,
a.nd he likes it about as well as
the boy named Sue. Judge Je-
rome M. Stern (Dennis Hus-
ton) likes to lecture on hard
work and God, but only when
he is higher than anyone else
in the room (and hell stand on
a chair if necessary). The Rev-
erend Henry Dupas (David Nis-
sen) is the hippie minister of
the First Existentialist Church,
and his wedding ceremony (with
commentary) is well calculated
to make the mother of the
bride faint and the audience
double up with laughter. Lt.
Practice (Donald Bayne) turns
out to be the Dr. Strangelove
of the New York Police Depart-
ment.
Realty
But in the midst of the hu-
mor frightening reality emer-
ges. Why doesn't Alfred hit
back? This is the question that
teases the audience through the
first two-thirds of the play.
Alfred Chamberlain (Charles
Tanner) is the new boyfriend
of Mr. Newquist's 27 year old
daughter, Patsy (Becky Bon-
Ben Werner
ar). Alfred appears on stage
bruised, and he is bruised be-
cause he won't hit back when
attacked. He doesn't make the
lofty claim to be a pacifist.
Rather, he says, he is an apath-
ist. When attacked, he simply
day-dreams and lets his as-
sailant beat him up. Why both-
er? Mr. Newquist calls .him a
nihilist. Patsy says he has no
feeling — which is not a very
good condition for one who is
about to be married.
Reformation
The stage is set for the re-
formation of Alfred. Alfred
must learn to hit back — or to
have feeling, as the case may
be. This is claimed to be the
key to a successful and profit-
able life in the society and for
a happy marriage.
But then the plague strikes:
a rash of murders, beginning
with the murder of Alfred's
new bride, Patsy. As in Camus'
The Plague, there are signs of
the disaster before it strikes —
anonymous phone calls, power
failures, occasional sniper shots.
But then, suddenly, a sniper's
bullet hits its mark, and the
world goes mad. 345 unassoci-
ated, unsolved murders in six
months. Absurdity reigns. Lt.
Practice suggests it is a mass
conspiracy against law enforce-
ment agencies. Mr. Newquist
suggests that the emergency
(Continued on Page 6)
munity associate of Baker Col- secured the approval of the
lege, and President Norman Senate for, plans for the
Hackerman will make the pros- rejuvenation of the Houston
entations. Council of Colleges. The Coun-
Brevoort also discussed, and (Continued on Page 5)
69-70 Rice donations increase
By BECKY STRADEIi
Student unrest on the na-
tion's college campuses has af-
fected the attitudes of many
Americans towards colleges.
The decrease in donations to
some private colleges and uni-
versities has been attributed to
campus unrest. Last year,
Princeton recorded a deficit,
and tliis year an even greater
loss is expected. However, other
colleges and universities, for
example Yale and Cornell, have
had donations increase over
previous years.
Rice University, in particu-
lar, experienced an increase in
total contributions. In the year
ending June, 1969, contributions
totalled $4,641,757. Preliminary
computer figures (all figure-
cited in this article for the year
ending June, 1970 are prelim-
inary) indicate that the G9-70
total was $5.5 million. The
breakdown shows some marked
fluctuations: Of the total in
19f>9, alumni contributed $944,-
87S; of the total in 1970, only
$447,00(1 came from alumni.
However, in 1969 foundations
gave $1,393,000; in 1970 they
gave. $'2,800,000. Gifts from
friends other than alumni alse
increased in 1970.
Development officials Mike
Blocher and Timothy Osborne
felt that the way they were
handled at an institution de-
termined their efect on contri-
butors. Rice's financial situation
does not seem to be affected
significcntly by campus unrest.
Blocher and Osborne suggest
one must look deeper for rea-
sons to explain the fluctuations
in the breakdown.
For the year ending in June,
1909, $2.7 million of the con-
tributions was for current op-
erations and $1.9 million was
designated Tor building funds.
The fact that construction is
occurring on campus may be
one of the reasons why founda-
tion giving is up. Pledges for
these building purposes are now
being paid off as Rice needs
them. Foundations nationally
have increased their giving in
the past few years, possibly due
to the increased need in educa-
tion. (Some foundations may
have been giving away more
money due to the stricter con-
trols imposed by the new Tax
Reform Act.) Gifts from friends
are up because this includes
some bequests made in 1970 —
none were made in 1969.
Alumni giving is down in to-
tal, but this is misleading. Dur-
ing the years from 1965-68, Rice
carried on a $33 million fund
drive. Many alumni m a d e
pledges which, as the years con-
tine, are being paid off. This
is evident from the figures from
1967-68: alumni giving totalled
$2,283,000. The alumni (not in-
cluding the board of governors,
who usually give a higher-than-
average amount) pledged $6
million during the fund drive,
and a high percentage of this
has been received. Therefore,
due to the pledges having been
paid off, the annual total has
decreased. Annual alumni giv-
ing, outside of payments on
pledges, has remained about
the same, about $100,000. The
development office had been
hoping for a larger amount.
The year after a large cam-
paign is usually a "bad year"
for asking for donations, Os-
borne said. Osborne and Blocher
felt the development office could
have made a bigger appeal for
alumni funds this year; so any
drop in annual donations wen-
possible due to the development
office instead of disinterested
alum ni.
Osborne, development offi-
cial in the corporate field, In -
lieves the effect of campus un-
rest on education donations
would not be drastic in the fu
ture because potential contribu-
tors are beginning to accept di ■
sent, as a way of life on tin
campus. Contributors realiz"
unrest is not entirely the fault
of the. colleges and that com-
munication lines must be kept
open between college campuses
and the outside world. This is
supported by the fact that
foundations nationwide have
been donating more, and that
in most institutions, alumti
contributions haven't decrease,'!
drast ically.
Big deficit boms
By JOHN F. MAI LDIN
A loss of $'1,278,0(H) has been
projected for Rice Universev
for fiscal year 1970-7 L The
shortage has been causd by the
cutback in federal funds and.
the overextension of present
programs, according to the
president's office. The budget
for 70-71 is $12,321,000.
Hackerman's office cited one
systems grant of $350,000 for
the education department that
was cut. When a grant is stop-
ped the university has to sup-
ply the money, a spokesman
reported.
The budget increase over the
last year was $550,000. This
amount is less than five per
cent of the budget, and is par-
tially attributable to inflation.
Because of the stock market
decline, the university lost over
$22 million on paper from its
endownment fund last year. The
fund is now worth about $130
million. However, income from
the fund increased about $600.-
000 because the fund was trans-
ferred to higher yield securities.
The projected loss for 1969-
70 was $575,000. This loss was
covered by a reserve fund built
up in years of surplus. Unless
more money is found, this
year's loss will essentially ex-
haust this reserve fund, thus
causing, in Dr. Hackerman's
terms, a potentially "drastic
cutback" in budgetary items.
The 10-year plan has been
delayed because of the financial
crisis. This expansion program
was projected on the basis of a
$'33 million fund drive. Even
though 43 million was collected,
there is still not enough money
to. implement the entire pro-
gram because the amount of
state and federal grants needed
in addition did not materialize.
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Mauldin, John. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 58, No. 5, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 1, 1970, newspaper, October 1, 1970; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245087/m1/1/: accessed June 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.