The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 61, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 8, 1973 Page: 1 of 12
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Freedom of the press: Thresher, Honor Council clash
by FORREST JOHNSON
The Thresher and the Honor
Council .have locked horns over
freedom of the press.
The imbroglio started when
a student asked reporter Lee
Sowers to check out rumors of
mismanagement in Math 101
and Space Science 201, both
self-paced courses:
On investigating, he found:
• Tests are taken, graded
and discussed in the same room
at the same time.
• Tests are kept in the same
drawers as sample quizzes,
where students may accidental-
ly find them when looking for
homework problems.
• Test keys are mixed up
with sample keys, giving away
test answers beforehand.
• Tests are reused and often
come back with the previous
taker's work on them.
''Anyone who wanted to could
cheat with his eyes closed,"
said one Space Science student.
While investigating, Sowers
hear d numerous rumors con-
cerning" violations, but never
actually uncovered evidence, or
reasonable suspicion, that any
specific violations had occurred.
Clearly, though, the situation
was intolerable.
When he consulted with Hon-
or Council Chairman Ann Har-
mon, Sowers was told that he
could investigate, as long as he
did not break the honor code
by doing so. She then arranged
an appointment with Dean
Weirum.
Weirum spoke to Sowers for
over an hour. His points (as
Sowers summarized):
"1. A student's first respon-
sibility is to the honor system.
2. We pledged that on our
matriculation card.
3. Given that, I had to turn
the matter over to the council
immediately, reveal all my
sources and findings, and drop
my investigation and interest
in the matter immediately.
4. Failing all this, I might
myself be held in violation of
the Honor Code and subject to
penalty."
The Thresher editorial staff
met to discuss these holdings.
-It was agreed that in the ab-
sence of known violations, the
Thresher could not reveal its
sources or let the Honor Coun-
cil arbitrarily censor stories.
The Honor Council later met
and, after discussion, issued- a
declaration. It said, in effect,
tigating any violation, but a violations, inadvertent and whatever else happens, this
system of class management otherwise, practically unavoid- should be corrected.
Famed cosmologist to speak
that to investigate a violation The Thresher was not inves- sufficiently careless as to make able,
of the Honor System is a vio-
lation of the Honor System
and to withhold sources of any
such investigation is also a vio-
lation.
Their exact words wei'e:
"Any withholding of informa-
tion concerning a suspected vio-
lation will itself be a violation."
This apparently refers to Ar-
ticle III.3 of the Honor Sys-
tem constitution: "Students
should report any violations of
the examination rules to the
Honor Council." III.3 does not
require reporting of rumors.
Their other claim is even
more questionable: "Any at-
tempt to investigate, whether
anonymous or not, will be re-
garded as a violation of the
Honor System." This reporter
is unable to find any section of
the Constitution, the By-Laws,
the examination code or the
trial rules that give the Honor
Council the exclusive right to
investigate conditions leading
to Honor System violations.
Sir Fred Hoyle, renowned
cosmologist and space scientist,
will deliver the 1973 Brown
Foundation — J. Newton Ray-
zor lectures next week here on
the Rice campus.
"Stonehenge," the megalithic
monument erected 4000 years
ago in the plain of Salisbury
in England, will be the topic
of the first lecture on Tuesday,
November 13. Hoyle has theor-
ized that the monument, de-
signed to observe the rising and
setting of the sun and moon,
is also perfectly structured for
determining solar and lunar
eclipses, an astonishing idea in
terms of human thought.
"Copernicus" will be the
topic of the second lecture on
Thursday, November 15. Coper-
nicus, a Polish astronomer born
500 years ago, revolutionized
man's view of the universe by
proposing the sun-centered
solar system.
Hoyle was graduated from
Cambridge with a master's de-
gree in mathematics in 1939.
After World War II he returned
to Cambridge as a fellow of St.
John's College. He founded and
directed until 1972 the Institute
for Theoretical A s t r o n o m y
there, and is currently Honorary
Professor of Astronomy and
Physics at the University of
Manchester, U.K., Visiting As-
sociate at Caltech, and Profes-
sor-at-Large at Cornell.
Hoyle developed a modifica-
tion of Einstein's field equa-
tions in 1948 leading to a new
ste a d y - state cosmological
theorv. He also derived numeri-
cal techniques for building
theoretical models of stars.
Besides numerous scientific
articles, Hoyle is also the author
(Continued on Page 11)
Sir Fred Hoy 12
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volume 61, number 12
thursday, november 8. 197o
Hackerman confident about financial issues
by CARL TRELEAYEN
Rice President Norman Hack-
erman, in a speech Monday ev-
ening in the RMC, keynoted his
remarks by saying: "I think
we're in good shape, which is
different from what I thought
three years ago." Dr. Hacker-
man told his listeners that the
University has and will con-
tinue to face a number of
problems, particularly prob-
lems arising from the financial
situation, but that these can be
solved.
Rice's financial problems
stem largely from the great
increase in costs during the
last several years. The growth
in income from the endowment
simply has not kept pace with
these increasing costs. Con-
sequently the problem of defi-
cits has loomed larger during
the past several years. One of
Rice's continuing goals then,
must be to maintain fiscal res-
ponsibility; last year's budget
accomplished this. Initially,
Hackerman said, university ad-
ministrators anticipated a defi-
cit of about $2.3 million, ap-
proximately ten percent of the
budget. Several measures were
si it;
it
rob neal
Dr. Hackerman addressing students in the RMC Monday night.
undertaken to lessen this. Some
from mineral deposits was di-
verted from the endowment and
the budget was underspent by
about, $(300,000, resulting in a
final deficit of only $10,000.
Hackerman is determined to
balance the upcoming budget,
currently under consideration.
Unfortunately several prob-
lems loom ahead. The costs of
f o o d and utilities are rising.
There will be no salary in-
creases this year, but Dr. Hack-
erman said he is determined to
get faculty salaries raised
next year based on merit, ap-
proximately a five percent in-
crease. Paying for these and
balancing the budget at the
same time will require $900,000
in new funds Hackerman feels
this anticipated deficit could
be made up in part by tempo-
rarily eliminating certain visit-
ing professorships and cutting
down on air conditioning and
lighting of unoccupied rooms.
The latter measure, for in-
stance, ought to save about
$60,000.
However, he warned, a num-
ber of very serious problems
loom on the post-1975 horizon.
"What is really needed, is to in-
crease the endowment by about
one hundred million dollars by
1985." Currently the endow-
ment is approximately $170 mil-
lion. This would put Rice back
in the secure position it had
around 1960. Although no all-
out drive to increase the en-
dowment is currently underway,
Hackerman told his audience
one will be undertaken.
He suggested that an indica-
tion of the University's posi-
tion was" tuition. Rice is the
only major university that
hasn't raised tuition every
other year during the past sev-
eral years, tie cited the far
higher tuition at schools com-
parable to Rice. What about
other major private universities
in Texas? Dr. Hackerman said
every one now has tuition at
or above two thousand dolars
per year. At the same time, a
strong drive is on to raise tui-
tion in the state universities
across the U.S.
Countering to this trend.
President Hackerman said that
he would like to lower tuition
at Rice to two thousand dol-
lars a year. This move was
seriously considered, he said, un-
til he talked with major founda-
tions thoughout the country
about funding. Every one told
him that, if Rice was consider-
ing lowering tuition or not
raising it, that the school didn't
need more funds. As a result,
the administration will serious-
ly consider raising tuition in
1975. Funds from increased
tuition would go towards fin-
ancing faculty and staff salary
increases.
After the address, one listener
asked why Rice continues in
big-time collegiate football if it
has financial difficulties. Hack-
erman's answer is that "football
pays for itself"; if football
were eliminated, the athletic
deficit would remain the same.
The Athletic Department's defi-
cit, approximately $135,000 last
year, resulted entirely from
sports like baseball, track, and
swimming, not football. Hack-
erman also cited certain bene-
fits of the program. It provides
a "window to the c a m p u s ".
From 1950 to 1966 it pulled in
over two million dollars. Fur-
ther, the President thinks Rice's
program will improve with the
SWC cutback on scholarships.
(Continued on Page 11)
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Jackson, Steve. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 61, No. 12, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 8, 1973, newspaper, November 8, 1973; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245177/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.