The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 62, No. 17, Ed. 1 Monday, January 6, 1975 Page: 1 of 8
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Fate of 5th year engineering program uncertain
by BRIAN BUCHANAN
The administrative status of
the fifth year engineering pro-
gram at Rice University is cur-
rently under examination by the
university administration and
the engineering faculty. The pri-
mary point under consideration
is the designation of participants
in this program as graduate or
undergraduate students. This
classification may affect student
eligibility for financial aid, resi-
dence in the colleges, admission
into the fifth year program, and
university fees, as well as the
long term future of the program
itself.
Prior to the late 1960's, the
five year engineering program at
Rice awarded a B. A. degree
after four years of study and a
B. S. degree after the fifth, and
final, year of technical study.
Both of these degrees were con-
sidered undergraduate degrees,
and research was not an intrinsic
part of either degree.
No research required
Although the actual content
of the degree program was not
significantly altered (for exam-
ple, there was still no research
required), the second degree
which was awarded after the
fifth year was changed to a Mas-
ter of Engineering degree, e.g.,
Master of Mechanical Engineer-
ing. This change was made in
order to better reflect the com-
parative quality of the training
received by students in Rice's
engineering program, and to
enable them to more readily
secure employment and remu-
neration commensurate with
their abilities. Additionally,
questions raised by the Selective
Service concerning the draft sta-
tus of fifth year students were
dispelled by this change in
nomenclature.
However, for purposes of reg-
istration, financial aid, tuition,
and residency in the colleges,
fifth year engineering students
were still considered by the uni-
versity to be undergraduates. In
addition, most of the engineer-
ing faculty still considered the
fifth year students to be under-
graduates, although others felt
that since they had received a B.
A. and were working on a higher
degree, they should be consid-
ered graduate students.
(continued on page 4)
Hie
thresKef
Campanile 74 arrives
After sitting for a week on a
loading dock at the printing
company, the 1974 Campanile
has finally arrived. The staff
hopes to begin distribution this
evening from 7 to 8:30pm in the
Campanile office (second floor,
RMC). These plans are tentative;
watch for dinner announcements
to check the exact schedule. The
current editor and business man-
ager, Susan Halter and Calvin
Slater, are in charge of distribu-
tion.
The printer, Paragon Press,
Inc., had originally promised
delivery by November 15, 10
weeks after the final copy ship-
ment.
The 480-page book, largest in
Rice history, contains the usual
senior biography and individual-
ly-submitted "People2* sections,
plus several short essays with
photos on various aspects of life
at Rice.
The book is free to all stu-
dents who paid their fees for the
1973-74 school year.
volume 62, number 17
january 6, 1975
Student files law amended
by EMILY COFFMAN
The effects of the Family
Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
(the so-called Buckley bill),
which guarantees the rights of
students to examine and chal-
lenge personal information con-
tained in university files, have
been greatly diluted since Presi-
dent Ford signed several amend-
ments to the act on December
31. The amendments were
offered by the original sponsor
of the bill, Sen. James Buckley
(N. Y.), after a strong and con-
certed effort by the higher edu-
cation lobby.
The original bill gave parents
of elementary and secondary
students the right of access to
their child's school records. This
right automatically passed to the
student himself when he reached
the college level. Tfie bill also sp+
up a procedure for challenging
the information contained in the
files if it was found erroneous.
A strict interpretation of the
law meant that the parents of
the college student would no
longer have any right to the
information regarding the stu-
dent.
One amendment to the origi-
nal bill guarantees the parents
equal rights to information in
the files if the student is depen-
dent on his parents, as deter-
mined by Internal Revenue Ser-
vice policy.
The changes also exempt cer-
tain other materials contained in
the files which were accepted as
confidential prior to January 1,
1975. Included in this category
are personal evaluations from
counselors, teachers and admin-
istrators, medical or psychologi-
cal reports, and information on
k,l <■*
parental finances.
Letters of recommendation
received after January 1 will be
open to the student unless he
signs a waiver of the right to see
such letters. While such a release
cannot be a prerequisite for
admission, Richard Stabell,
Assistant to President Hacker-
man for Academic Records, feels
that waiving access to such infor-
mation will keep evaluations
from becoming "more bland"
than they already are. The
(continued on page 4)
&
■< >
m
W
White Christmas, Rice—style
-john cook
Blackbirds return to campus
by DEBBIE DAVIES
Don't look now, but the birds
are back.
Dr. Dan Johnson of the Biol-
ogy Department says that at
present there are approximately
- -* " *•". A '
.V . \ *
v: / V. ^
300,000 birds on the Rice Cam-
pus, mostly in the Wiess parking
lot, the Chapel area, and the
Jones-Brown tennis courts. So
far, birds have been avoiding the
specially pruned trees: they have
"only occasionally"been spotted
in the trees between the Physics
Building and Bonner Lab, by the
Chemistry Building, and in the
RMC courtyard. In fact, Dr.
Johnson says that, "The tree
trimming is working so far so
well that it might be possible (if
the money can be found) to go
into some problem areas and
trim soon." These areas would
include the sidewalk behind the
library and the trees at the
entrance to Jones South.
Dr. Johnson is at present col-
lecting bird droppings to deter-
mine the number of birds on
campus. On December 18 there
were only 16,000 birds here, all
in the Wiess lot and at the
Chapel. On that same day there
were '245,000 birds in the North
Loop Roost. On December 30
there were no birds there; in the
meantime the birds moved from
the Wiess lot to the library, the
Jones-Brown tennis courts, and
(unlike last year) the trees
between Will Rice and Hanszen.
,They also occupied the trees
around Cohen House and
Entrance 2, and moved into the
area along Main Street on New
Year's Day. Johnson expects
that there will be many more
birds on campus before the peak
is reached.
So far efforts to keep the
birds, from the Hackerman's
house have been successful.
Johnson has been flashing lights
there, and at one point the
Hackermans joined him in beat-
ing pot lids together. On New
Year's Eve and Day, Dr. Johnson
exploded a "bird bomb" in that
area, but it was too loud and
scared the birds all over campus.
They left, but returned immedi-
ately.
The girls at Jones and Brown
had best beware, however. A
helicopter will soon appear to
drop "a large hair net" over the
trees around the president's
house. A "helicopter alert" will
be announced in advance.
Dr. Johnson is waiting for the
students to return before he
launches the full "bird-
watching" campaign. Students in
the Population Ecology Lab, and
those students who are inter-
ested in studying the birds,
should see him as soon as possi-
ble.
300,000 member hospitality committee
—john cook
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Brewton, Gary. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 62, No. 17, Ed. 1 Monday, January 6, 1975, newspaper, January 6, 1975; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245212/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.