The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 64, No. 5, Ed. 1 Monday, August 30, 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:
Financial Aid Office' overcommits' funds
by Frank Duca
The federal government's
reduction of post-secondary
loans is placing pressure on
the financial aid commitments
made at Rice this semester. G.
David Hunt, Director of
Financial Aid, said Friday
that at this time, the
department had committed
more funds than were
presently allocated. He felt
that within three to four
weeks, the situation would be
straightened out, and added
optimistically, "We foresee no
problems in meeting our
obligations."
The entire situation was
caused by a number of factors
which prompted the Federal
government to reduce the
funding of the National Direct
Student Load program
(NDSL) by 50 percent. This
reduction forced the financial
aid department to reappro-
priate money into that pool
from the Rice loan program
funds. Presently, the situation
here at Rice is simply that the
department has committed
more money than is available
the
thresKef
volume 64, number 5
monday, august 30, 1976
in the reappropriated budget.
Allowing for attrition,
changes in financial structure,
and withdrawals, Hunt feels
that the condition may tend to
alleviate itself. By keeping up
with student population
statistics, which he receives
daily from Dean Brown, Hunt
hopes to better estimate the
situation within three weeks.
At this time, he will ask the
President's office for more
money, which will then have
to be approved through the
Board of Governors; the
money may come from the
Endowment, but it is unclear
at this time.
The situation in Texas is a
complex one. A hearing is
scheduled soon in Austin on
the increasing rate of student
loan defaults. The Congress
and HEW feel that the default
rate is too high in Texas for
National Federally Guar-
anteed loans. Although Rice
does not appropriate money
from this source, they are
adversely affected when
providing alternate sources to
students with a demonstrated
need.The attitude that
students are unwilling to
repay loans by declaring
bankruptcy has hit local
lenders with a "no-loan"
position. Hunt feels that this
causes problems when his
department sends students to
home-town banks in search of
NFG Loans.
In regard to student
deliquincy for loans here,
Hunt said that there had been
a steady reduction in the
default rate, and the main
reason students are late is due
to a lack of communication
and coordination between
the Accounting department,
administrator of the repay-
ment process, and the
students. He said, "I don't
feel that Rice sudents
contribute significantly at all
to the default rate here in
Texas. I'm very optimistic that
we will be able to meet all the
needs of admitted students."
In keeping with their goal of
dispersing all allocated
money, he added that
students could come by at any
time for financial aid
applications. The deadline is
determined only by the total
exhaustion of all the fund
money.
Democratic Caucus leads campus political efforts
As election day, November
2, draws nearer, political
organizations will be working
hard to turn out what may be
crucial votes in precinct 361.
The Rice campus and precinct
361, for those not acquainted
with local politics, are one and
the same entity. Student
volunteers will be trying to
gather support for candidates
from both major parties.
The biggest (only?) partisan
organization on campus is the
Rice Democratic Caucus
(RDC). The RDC will hold a
beerblast under the pretense of
an organizational meeting
Thursday at 7:30pm on the
RMC patio; any newcomers or
beer-lovers are invited. A few
weeks before election day, the
RDC will decide which
candidates receive endorse-
ments. Once that has been
accomplished, flyers listing
the chosen candidates will be
mailed to all voters on campus.
Although the caucus will
undoubtedly endorse Jimmy
Carter for the presidency,
more attention will be paid to
the local elections where the
RDC is more effective. At this
point it appears that the
caucus will support Bob
Gammage for.Congress, Gene
Jones for State Senate, and
Lance Lalor for State
Representative.
The Senatorial race vies
. incumbent Democrat Lloyd
Bentsen against a Republican
challenger, Alan Steelman.
Bentsen has fallen into
disfavor among many liberal
and moderate Democrats since
his abortive plan to gain
control of the Texas delegation
to the Democratic National
Convention. By pushing
through the so-called Bentsen
Rule, he hoped to alter the
constraints of the Texas
primary system in order to
enhance his own chances of
winning. Although the bill
passed, the plan fell through
when Bentsen was knocked
out of the early primaries and
Jimmy Carter gained recog-
nition as the leading
candidate.
The RDC may endorse and
support Bentsen for the sake of
party politics; it could
conceivably endorse the
Republican Steelman. What
seems more likely is that no
endorsement for either
candidate will be provided
without any real support
behind it.
(continued on page 4)
Voter registration law creates problems
SA Agenda, Aug. 30, 10pm, SH 301
OLD BUSINESS
A. RPC Financial Statement and Budget
-Last Spring, the Senate tabled these items until the RPC sections
oi the Constitution and By-Laws werebrought up to date and the
RPC books were given a closer look.
B. Student Association Budget
-$700 from Dean Brown's Office for the Convocation was never
picked up last year, causing the Student Association to
underbudget by $700.
NEW BUSINESS
A. By-Laws and Constitution
-Over the summer the By-Laws and Constitution have been
brought up to date. A few changes have to be made in order to
have the entire By-Laws and Constitution comply with the
Amendments. Some points of the By-Laws and Constitution are
outdated and need revising.
B. Capitol Tires Sales
-The company is requesting the Senate to approve the sale of
mailing labels to them for $100.00, this would be a one time deal.
C. Student Grievance Procedures
-The University has come up with a draft of a proposal which seta
down a specific procedure for having one's grievances heard.
This involves both academic and non-academic areas and does
not infringe on certain procedures already in operation, e.g., the
Honor Council. The Senate will give opinions.
D. Dean Brown's Proposal'
-Due to the sucess of Dr. Doody's faculty address, Dean Brown
has proposed that we have such addresses more often, utilizing
our humanities and social science faculty (Probably once or twice
per semester).
E. KTRU Financial Statement
-As specified in the By-Laws, KTRU must provide a financial
statement for approval
ANNOUNCEMENTS
A. Parkfng Appeals Board
-There is an opening on the parking appeals board. All interested
people should contact the SA Office by Friday, September 10.
by STEVE SULLIVAN
Rice students who have voted
in previous elections and
expect to be automatically re-
registered for the coming
elections may be in for a
surprise. Texas law regarding
re-registration has been
modified in order to keep up
with frequently changing
addresses. Under the new
system, voters are still re-
registered automatically but
registration cards are mailed
out to the last reported
address. If the cards are not
received, presumably because
the voter has changed
addresses, the voter's name is
stricken from the list of
registered voters in that
precinct.
The problem here arose
because all the Rice students'
re-registration forms were
mailed to their official street
address, 6100 Main. Since the
mail room was unable to sort
out all of them, the bulk of
them were returned, thus de-
registering those people. If you
have not received a card, you
must re-register or you will be
unable to vote.
Students who have moved
off-campus no longer live in
the Rice precinct and cannot
vote here. They must contact
the Harris County Tax
Assessor and Collector at 224-
1919. They will receive a 90-
day permit to vote in their old
precinct until they receive
their new registration.
Willy's Pub on Sunday afternoon as it "nears" its reopening.
-photo by waiter underwood
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.
McFarland, Carla. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 64, No. 5, Ed. 1 Monday, August 30, 1976, newspaper, August 30, 1976; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245296/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.