The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 67, No. 32, Ed. 1 Friday, April 18, 1980 Page: 1 of 40
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Lab overhaul caps computing improvement
by Rolf Asphaug
Computing capability at Rice
should be greatly improved in the
near future with the purchase of a
$235,000 computer for Math-
ematical Sciences, Electrical
Engineering and Biochemistry
researchers, a $40,000 set of video
and remote batch terminals for the
School of Social Sciences, and a
multimillion-dollar overhaul of
the Abercrombie and Mechanical
Laboratories.
Plans to buy a 32-bit Digital
Equipment Corporation "mini-
computer" were given final
approval last week, but both the
Social Sciences and Abercrombie
projects depend on still-uncertain
outside funding.
Development Office workers
under Vice President for
Administration William Akers are
planning a summer fund drive to
raise $3 million to augment $1.65
million in University funds already
set aside for the Abercrombie
project. Administration officials
will meet next Tuesday to look
over architectural drawings and
"decide on a course of action,"
according to Campus Business
Manager Russell Pitman.
Renovation of the Abercrombie
and Mech lab facilities is being
welcomed by engineering
professors who have long
complained of inadequate working
and storage areas.
"There's no question that we
need more space, and the space we
have needs to be renovated," said
Electrical Engineering Associate
Professor Robert Jump.
"The problem here is very, very
complex, and you can solve it in a
variety of ways," Pitman said,
adding that expansion of the
northeast "backside" of
Abercrombie Lab will be the most
economical solution for that
facility. Internal design changes to
the Mech Lab will benefit the
Environmental Engineering
department, Pitman added.
The $235,000 DEC computer is
being purchased with a
combination of grant and
University money by an
interdepartmental group of
professors who feel the need for a
computing source other than
Rice's Institute for Computer
Services and Applications.
see $235,000, page 8
LU
(
ZL
1HRESHER
Volume 67, number 32
Friday, April 18, 1980
INSIDE:
• The Pretenders should quit
pretending. Review, p.9.
• What happened to the women's
tennis team? Owlook, p. 16.
• Lots of Beer-Bike photos: the
thrill of victory, etc. P. 10-1!.
Problems prompted Honor Council changes
Honor Council's Marsha Ness (left) and Vince James
-Bruce Davies
by Richard Dees
The Honor Council changes
approved last week by the Proctor
may have been prompted by
problems that occurred last
semester, the Thresher has learned.
The changes included minor
revisions of the constitution and
by-laws and a restructuring of the
appeals process. Honor Council
Chairman Vince James, when
discussing these changes said there
wa!s "no.particular reason" for the
changes (Thresher, March 27). But
other council members told the
Thresher that they felt there was a
particular case last fall that
prompted the revisions.
"We had a case where we heard
the accused on many occasions:
trial, retrial, appeal. We had heard
the case too much and had become
too emotionally involved, so that
we felt we could no longer be
impartial. There was nothing we
could do," said Junior
Representative Liz Israel. "This,
especially, prompted us. It was
something that had never
happened in the past. We thought
'We've got to do something.' "
The case in question involved a
take-home final exam last spring,
in which one student accused
another of taking more than the
allowed time on an examination.
Ross seeks milder
director for MOB
by Allison Foil
The selection of a new band
director to succeed Bert Roth is
drawing closer. Tuesday was the
deadline for accepting applications
and close to 25 band directors will
be considered, according to the
Dean of the Shepherd School of
Music, Allan Ross.
Ross plans to meet with selected
officers and members of the MOB
to discuss the applicants. "I am
looking for someone who
understands the MOB" he said. "I
would like the shows to be less
offensive, yet no less fun for the
students. I think that's possible."
In searching for a successor,
Ross placed announcements in the
Chronicle of Higher Education,
The College Music Society
Newsletter, and in fifteen
placement agencies which are
known to supply music majors.
Most of the applicants were not
from Houston, and few had heard
of the style of the MOB, Ross said,
noting that the advertisement only
called for a part-time band
director. (Former director Roth
worked as principal of Wainwright
Elementary School in the Houston
Independent School District.)
Ross said that the decision will
be made as soon as the applicants
can be narrowed down, and
arrangements can be made to talk
to key prospects in person.
When asked whether he plans to
look over the scripts to make sure
see MOB, page 8
Deadline
Filing deadline for fifth-year
Honor Council representative
is 3 pm Friday April 18, in the
SA office. Two positions are
open.
Nomination petitions must
include 25 signatures from
current seniors, plus the
signature of the candidate's
college SA Senator. The
nominee must also sign to
indicate that he has read the SA
and Honor Council con-
stitutions.
The election will be at the S A
Senate meeting Monday night
in the Baker College library at
10 pm.
Testimony was originally heard
September 23 and a guilty verdict
was reached. The case was
reopened October 4 to hear
additional evidence. At that time,
the accused requested that a
council member excuse himself
and that the trial be postponed.
The October 14 retrial resulted
again in a guilty verdict and an
appeal was made.
"From my experience, appeals
have been a definite problem,
There was a case where everyone
knew they were biased," said
Freshman Representative Lela
Smith. "Everyone had become
emotionally involved. It was
difficult to turn around and be
asked to be objective about the
appeal."
The appeal caused Graduate
Student Representative Keith
Cooper to resign the council. "The
deciding issue in my mind was
when I walked into an appeal and I
felt that of the ten people there,
four of them had walked in with
their minds already made up about
the way the case was going to turn
out. So I disqualified myself. That
caused all kinds of hell because the
other three members who weren't
there had already disqualified
themselves and, suddenly, there
wasn't a quorum. I felt there was
no way you could get a fair
quorum there. We had a knock-
down, drag-out argument over it
and in the end, about four people
disqualified themselves, realizing
they were prejudiced, although
they weren't the four people I
thought should have disqualified
themselves." (A quorum of ten
members was required to hear an
appeal.)
Sophomore Representative
David Ellis disagreed. "About
three-fourths of the people dealing
with the case felt they could not be
objective enough to deal with the
appeal," he said. "I was in the
minority. I felt I could objectively
look at the case; I felt 1 could be
open."
"I think a problem that the
council noticed in the appeals
prodecure was the friendship
between the Honor Council
chairman and the accuser," said
Ombudsman Anita Gonzalez, who
served temporally as a council
member last fall.
Senior Representative Marsha
Ness concurred. "The accused
didn't get along well with Vince.
The person did feel that Vince was
see Difficult case, page 4
Beer-Bike results echo '79
by Rolf Asphaug
A stiff wind dashed hopes of
record-setting times, but, as
expected, Will Rice and Jones
colleges won the men's and
women's races handily in the 23rd
annual Rondelet Beer-Bike Race.
Even with a post-race penalty,
the WRC men came from behind
to trounce their closest opponents,
Sid Richardson, by 23 seconds,
and were more than a minute
ahead of third-place Lovett.
The women's race was mich
closer, with Jones staving off a
Hanszen rally by less than six
seconds, and with one second
between third-place Brown, Baker
and Will Rice.
Having trained since last
November, the WRC men's team
was expected to blow away their
competition, but Lovett raced to
an early lead, to the delight of
raucous fans perched on a nearby
Winnebago, with Sid Richardson
moving into second.
After the sixth lap, however,
Lovett fell prey to three successive
see No surprises, page 8
BEER-BIKE RESULTS
Men's Race
Will Rice 24:21
Sid Richardson 24:44
Lovett 25:24
Baker 25:26
Hanszen 25:28
Wiess 25:49
GSA no time
Women's Race
Jones 13:08
Hanszen 13:16.6
Brown 13:38.6
Baker 13:39.3
Will Rice 13.39.6
* ' %
Emptied in three seconds. Sometimes less. For more beer-bike photos, see pages 10 and 11.
-Wayne Derrick
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Muller, Matthew. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 67, No. 32, Ed. 1 Friday, April 18, 1980, newspaper, April 18, 1980; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245439/m1/1/: accessed June 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.