The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. [63], No. [45], Ed. 1 Monday, March 22, 1976 Page: 1 of 8
eight pages : ill. ; page 20 x 14 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
by DEBBIE DAVIES
and CARLA McFARLAND
Rice people have long felt a
peculiar false sense of
isolation from the Houston
community. That insularity
has, in part, been shattered
this year as a result of two
rapes committed against Rice
women by whom autorities
assume to be the same man.
The offender was described
as being approximately 5'10",
190 lbs. (giving him a pudgy
appearance), approximately
30 years old, with medium
length light brown hair. The
victims have been unable to
establish a positive identifi-
cation, mainly because the
man's clothing proved to
distract the women's attention
from his face. Described as a
garish dresser, the man was
first seen in a blue zip-up
jacket, white beach hat, and
sunglasses; and at the time of
the second rape, in a red button
sweater and a ski hat or mask.
The two incidents have
occurred in the general area of
the RMC and library, between
the hours of 6-10pm, and under
similar circumstances. Both
women were first offered
assistance during time of need
(one was attempting to repair
her car, the other was on her
way to Health Service). They
were then threatened with a
gun and escorted from
campus, where the rape
subsequently occurred. Both
were returned to campus
following the incident.
The campus police have
increased security around the
RMC and library during the 6
to 10 "swing shift" as these are
the times that a stranger
would most likely "hang out."
Since this leaves then
unguarded entrances to the
campus, though, security
police will also be asking men
who fit the rapist's descrip-
tion for proper Rice identifi-
cation.
Houston has long led US
cities (together with Washing-
ton, D.C., and Detroit) as the
"rape capital" of the country.
Due to the campus's close
proximity to Hermann Park
and adjacent high-crime
Campus police urge caution over rape threat
areas, the potential threat to
Rice is quite great. Says
Campus Police Chief Harold
Rhodes, "It's unbelievable
that we get by here without
more (crime)."
A major problem in
combatting crime that does
(continued on page 7)
the
„ uce
thresher
Higher prices force utilities cutbacks
Irregularity forces new
cheerleader elections
by KIM D. BROWN
The cheerleader elections
which were held two weeks ago
have been thrown out and will
be reheld this Thursday.
According to one of this year's
cheerleaders, Asuka Naka-
hara, the elections will be
reheld because of "proven
irregularity at the Hanszen
polls."
The Hanszen booth, located
at the nomadic Hanszen
Commons in the RMC lobby,
was apparently not opened
until after lunch and was
closed during dinner, when
many would have voted. Vote
totals showed votes from that
poll to be substantially lower
than the total of ballots at the
other colleges, ranging up to a
60-vote difference at colleges
who were simultaneously
holding college elections the
same day.
The cheerleader elections
were being operated for the
first time separate from the
Student Association elections,
because of the dispute
created in the SA Senate by
last year's much-contested
election. Subsequently, the
cheerleaders were removed
from the realm of the SA, and
came under the auspices of the
Athletic Department, which
furnishes financial support for
them.
According to Nakahara,
"Everything was done exactly
wrong this time" at the RMC
booth. The cheerleaders had
asked all the college election
commissioners to run the
polls, and they had agreed to
do so. But signals got crossed
on the ballots and voting
hours. This time, the
cheerleaders will run their own
polls, instead of having the
election chairmen do it.
The election will be held this
Thursday because the
outgoing crew wants to get the
by PHILIP PARKER
Faced with spiraling utility
bills, Rice is instituting a strict
energy conservation program,
more comprehensive than
previous efforts which
involved reducing excess
lighting around campus.
The new effort consists of
three parts:
1) The hours when the air
conditioning system is
operated will be further
reduced in buildings with time-
clocks. Buildings without
time-clocks will be equipped
with devices to cut the air-
conditioning off automat-
ically. Also, the business office
will try to shut down as many
buildings on weekends as
possible.
2) During the summer,
usused or lightly-used
buildings will be shut down.
3) During the winter, the air
conditioning - refrigeration
system will be turned off
completely. Interestingly
enough, the refrigeration
system operates fulltime
throughout the year, even
when only heat is pumped
through the system. From an
energy standpoint, the
refrigeration until now has
run essentially "wide open"
even on the coldest days.
Business Manager Alex-
ander Dessler notes that
present energy conservation
methods have succeeded in
reducing energy use by about
10%. However, in the past two
years, the cost of natural gas
has risen five times and that of
electricity has increased by a
factor of two.
During this fiscal year, Rice
has allocated $1.25 million for
utilities, an increase of
$750,000 over last year. Even
with this increase, the
business office expects to
exceed this budget by almost
$500,000. If the present trends
continue, the energy bill will
be at least $2 million next year.
Dessler estimates that it will
take an addition of $15 million
to the endowment fund to
generate the necessary funds
to pay the energy bills. Such
an increase would be the
equivalent of increasing
tuition by $500 per student or
closing down three average-
sized academic departments.
Harry Ebert, Physical Plant
Administrator, will be
responsible for the planning
and implementation of the
new program. Helping him
will be Russell Sullivan, an
engineer with the Physical
Plant staff, and-Rick White,
the Physical Plant's "energy
conservation expert."
Fun at bawdy Baker Fest
Yesterday's Baker Shakespearian festival drew the usual large crowds
as students came out to eat, drink, and revel in the Baker-Will Rice
quadrangle. Among the attractions were the ever-popular water
balloon target shoot (photo, left), the dunking booth, the stocks (lock
your friends up for a fee), the slave auction, and, for the first time, a
sensuous eating contest, which was won by a dog. (Our favorite
candidate, Wiess President John Lederer, ate a banana from between
a guy's legs. Too bad he didn't try the real thing—he might've won.)
The most popular events, though, were the Lady and Lord Godiva
contests. Barbara Ganzel, center (rear?) photo, was one of many
unsuccessful candidates. J.C. Puckettand Paul Wernicke (right) came
in first; when J.C. stroked Paul's maximally tumescent phallus, it
ejaculated a model rocket. —photos by waiter underwood
L• , v. * :
^ s ' :■ , • .
: * .. * * **<■
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Brewton, Gary. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. [63], No. [45], Ed. 1 Monday, March 22, 1976, newspaper, March 22, 1976; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245285/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.