The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 67, No. 3, Ed. 1 Friday, August 24, 1979 Page: 1 of 12
twelve 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:
'Independent' locks weren't
Thieves take Lovett stereo from locked basement
o
by Rolf Asphaug
For the second year in a row,
Lovett College has lost its stereo
system to summer thieves
equipped with official University
keys. The burglary was discovered
by returning freshman advisors
Friday evening.
The burglary was committed
within two weeks of its discovery.
Lovett College Master John
Freeman saw the stereo while
setting roach traps in Lyle's less
than three weeks ago.
A burglary by key was also
reported at Wiess College. More
thefts in other colleges may be
discovered when returning
upperclassmen remove private
articles from storage.
A stereo system owned by a Will
Rice College student was feared to
be stolen, but was discovered in the
WRC commons kitchen.
WRESHER
Volume 67, number 3
Friday, August 24, 1979
The theft of the Lovett stereo
from behind locked doors brings
into sharp focus a major problem
with key security at Rice. College
officials claim that following last
year's stereo theft, Physical Plant
representatives sold Lovett
College $100 worth of locks which
supposedly were not connected to
the master key system. One such
lock was on the door to Lyle's,
Lovett College's basement lounge,
through which the thief or thieves
entered. Yet the investigating
Campus Police officer was able to
open the door with his master
key.
" They changed locks but that
didn't change a thing," said Lovett
President Tim Case. " I don't think
we were dealt with on the level."
Campus Business Affairs
Manager H. Russell Pitman
attributed the key controversy to
"a misunderstanding" between
Lovett College and the Physical
Plant locksmith. As for the
burglary, Pitman noted that "the
stereo wasn't supposed to be in
that room." Pitman said that he
had agreed with last year's Lovett
Street signs yanked after vandalism
by Rolf Asphaug
After decades with no coherent
method of identifying locations
and giving directions on campus,
University officials decided last
December to name the campus
streets. Street signs went up during
the summer. They came down
again last Sunday, victims of
student ridicule and vandalism.
"I was very disheartened," said
Campus Business Affairs Manager
H. Russell Pitman, who
cooperated with Dean of
Undergraduate Affairs Katherine
Brown in naming the streets.
"After all these years we finally
came up with a system, got it
approved by the Board of
Governors,and then the signs were
pulled off."
Pitman ordered the remaining
signs and signposts taken down
after attempts at making the signs
harder to steal failed. "I even
epoxied one of them on to the post,
but they just bent it back and forth
until it broke," he said. Not giving
up, Pitman now plans to have the
street names painted on the curbs.
It is understood that student
opinion against both the particular
choices of street names, and the
lack of student input on those
choices, contributed to the rash of
attacks on the signs. However, not
only students disapproved of the
names: a Physical Plant worker
reported that Mrs. Hackerman
ordered the "OwFs Haunt Court"
signs near the President's House
removed almost immediately after
they were put up.
Pitman and Brown said they
attempted to come up with street
names which would be informal,
easy to remember, appropriate to
their surroundings, and pertinent
to Rice and academics. Brown
noted that they did not want the
names to mention academic
departments, since not all
departments could be represented.
According to Pitman, Dean
Brown was responsible for naming
the circular drive to the North of
Lovett Hall "Founder's Court." As
for naming the street passing
Baker and Wiess Colleges "College
Way," Pitman said "we fell into
that one." "Laboratory Road"
seemed a natural choice for the
street beside the Chemistry
Building; "Campanile Lane" was
another choice "fallen into."
"Alumni Drive," Pitman admitted,
was "kind of a pun."
Each street was given a different
last name—Court, Road, Lane,
Drive, Way—to further aid the
resident in remembering the names
and in giving directions, according
to Pitman. The use of "Street" was
deliberately avoided, he said.
Brown and Pitman presented
their proposals to President
Hackerman, who approved them
see Street signs removed, page 4
President Leon Vance that
the stereo would be kept in a safer
spot, or, at the very least, that a
burglar alarm would be installed in
Lyle's.
Without an alarm, Pitman said,
keeping the stereo in Lyle's was
unwise. "You could work in there
for twelve hours without getting
caught," he said. "You could cut
through the doors with a
blowtorch," He added that thieves
could easily have taken the
supporting pins off of the door and
gained entry even without a key.
Case admitted that Lovett
College had initially agreed to
move the stereo to a new location.
"There were plans that were in the
works...we were going to have it
insured,too," he said. But in the
end, the college decided not to take
what Case termed "a paranoid
approach."
Case pointed out that once a
burglar was inside Lyle's, he could
have taken other items even if the
stereo was not stored there. In fact,
some hand tools were also stolen
from Lyle's.
But the controversy surround-
ing the Lovett College lock
purchase is only one part of the
case. To reach the Lyle's door, the
burglar had to open two other
doors in the Lovett College kitchen
which were padlocked on the
kitchen side.
Case claims that he had received
assurances from Physical Plant
that the two doors were never used,
see On-campus thefts, page 4
Freshmen urged to 'take
risks' at Matriculation
by David Butler
Tuesday night Rice's incoming
freshmen became the Class of 1983
in matriculation ceremonies at the
RMC Grand Hall. Addresses by
faculty and student leaders
covered topics from gymnastics to
the Depression, and were
punctuated with liberal amounts
of college boosterism.
Dean Katherine Brown began
the ceremonies by placing an extra
chair on the reviewing stand for
newly-arrived Shepherd School
Dean Allan Ross. In her welcoming
remarks, Dean Brown suggested tp
the newcomers that "the real
challenge is not meeting the
(academic) competition, but
making the most of what is here."
She compared the Rice experience
to a large trampoline-type net, and
told the freshmen that "unless you
A familar sight
photo by Wayne Derrick
jump, you'll never find out your
real capabilities." After her
welcome, Dean Brown proceeded
to introduce the Rice administra-
tion and the college masters, as the
newcomers responded with the
obligatory cheering contest.
Student Association president
John Cockerham chose not to
speak on student politics, a subject
which, he allowed, would be
especially boring to the new
audience. Instead, he confined his
remarks to a brief challenge: "Take
the time to get involved and know
your constituents."
The Honor System was
explained and defended by Honor
Council chairman Vince James,
who reminded the new students
that the system is based on mutual
respect and maintained by mutual
trust. James noted that "(while) the
faith and trust that has been placed
in you is great, your honor will be
unquestioned."
President Norman Hackerman
began his address by quoting from
the 1929 matriculation address of
Edgar Odell Lovett, delivered on
September 25. "Thirty-three days
later, the bottom fell out of the
world. . .there's not an inkling of
that in these eight typed pages."
The president went on to note
that, despite drastic changes in the
outside world, the purpose of
universities remains constant: "the
only real purpose of being here is
see Matriculation, page 4
i
exam graders
nigtiter
More new students
English competency exam
Almost 88 percent of the
students taking^the 1979 English
Competency Examination
passed, according to English
Professor Walter Isle. Students
who failed the test will be required
to take Basic Composition
(English 103). Students receiving a
"low pass " will be urged to take
Critical Reading and Writing
(English 101).
Of 625 students taking the
examination, 77, or 12.3 percent of
the total, failed. "That's a little
lower than it's been in previous
years," said Isle. However, the
ratio of students receiving a "low
pass" to those receiving "pass" was
higher than usual.
Test-takers had 20 topics to
choose from in writing a 750- to
1000-word essay in three hours.
The subjects included abortion,
television, evengelical religion,
Thomas Edison, racism, police
brutality. Napoleon, and
Muhammad Ali.
Each examination was graded
by one graduate student and one
English professor. In every case in
which the two disagreed on the
grade, a second professor also read
the paper.
"I think that the exams are a
little bit weaker this year than last
year," Isle said. "I don't think that's
any particular trend; they're
stronger than they were two or
three years ago."
Of the students passing the
examination, 301, or 48.1 percent
of the total number of examinees
earned a "pass"; 247, or 39.5
percent, earned a "low pass".
Variance in examination results
was much smaller this year than in
past years, Isle noted. "In the past,
some of the men's colleges have
done much worse than some of the
women's or coed colleges," he said.
Hanszen College had the fewest
failing students, said Isle. "That'll
make Dennis Huston happy "
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.
Muller, Matthew. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 67, No. 3, Ed. 1 Friday, August 24, 1979, newspaper, August 24, 1979; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245409/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.