The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 6, Ed. 1 Friday, September 23, 1983 Page: 1 of 16
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Brown grant breathes new life into forensics society
by David Friesenhahn
The generosity of Mrs. George
R. Brown and the persistence of a
few students have revived
competitive speaking at Rice
University. But despite its new-
found financial stability, the
forensic group must face
important threats to its
effectiveness as a competitive and
educational organization.
The George R. Brown Forensic
Society, as the association has
been officially renamed, is "a
competitive speech organization
founded because there is a vast
pool of talent here at Rice," stated
Vice President Ann Laffoon.
"People who are champions in
speech have banded together... to
express their nationally-
recognized talent."
Open to all undergraduates, the
society will offer students the
opportunity to participate in a
variety of speech events such as
debate, extemporaneous speaking,
oratory, and drama. It will also
provide a facility for novices to
develop speaking abilities under
the guidance of experienced
competitors.
Along with Laffoon, the
organization is directed by
President David McClain and
Secretary/Treasurer Daniel Price.
In addition, four other individuals,
'one from each undergraduate
class, will be elected by the
membership at a meeting to be
held within the next two weeks.
These four will preside over an
executive committee which will to
decide on the allocation of the
group's time and resources.
The committee's first tasks will
be to seek affiliation with a
national collegiate forensic
organization, recruit new
members, and prepare for the
upcoming debate tournament at
San Jacinto Junior College during
the weekend of September' 23.
Following the San Jacinto meet,
the society will venture to four of
five other meets in Texas and
Louisiana during the course of the
year.
The forensic club would not
have been founded were it not for
the efforts of McClain. He and
Laffoon inquired into the
prospects of resurrecting a speech
club during the 1982-83 academic
year. Receiving consent from
President Norman Hackerman,
the two spent roughly a semester
and a half drafting an
organizational constitution and
finding undergraduate support.
Budgetary difficulties hampered
their efforts, however. "There was
a budgetary hang-up," Laffoon
recalled. "Several other student
societes had failed in the past due
to a lack of monetary support."
At about this time, though, the
widow of the late George R. Brown
approached Hackerman with a gift
to the university of approximately
$50,000. The money consisted of
donations from various
individuals given in her husband's
name. Hackerman deemed that the
funds be set aside for the re-
creation of the forensics society,
granting it a new lease on life under
a new name. The club's current
budget, based on estimated
expenses, is set at about $4,000 per
year.
The motivation for McClain's
revival efforts was a desire among
many Rice students to continue
competing in speech and debate
after high school. Lacking a speech
and communications department,
Rice has not been able to satisfy
that desire over the past decade. In
place of a department to sponsor a
debate program, students in past
years had run the Rice Debate
Society until recently, when there
has been little enthusiasm or
organization in that direction.
Hackerman elaborated,
"Basically, I think there has been a
constant thread of people here who
have had an interest in debate and
dispute."
Stressing the academic
importance of forensics,
Hackerman added, "As an
see Forensics, page 6
THRESHER
Volume 71, Number 6
Friday, September 23, 1983
Inside...
• Masters respond to
violence, see page 5
•Thresher interviews Sidney
Lumet, see page 7.
•Owls collapse again,
see page 11.
Campus crime continues rise, police urge caution
by Scheleen Johnson
The United States has a growing
crime rate, and the city of Houston
is one of the ten worst cities for
crime. Mary Voswinkel, assistant
chief of the Rice University
Campus Police Department,
confirmed that the increase in
campus crime is following the
trend.
Since September I, 1983, 41
cases of criminal activity have gone
on file in the campos' office. The
statistics are compiled at the end of
each month and are available to
the public. The university police
force hopes that an informed
public can better participate in
prevention.
The following crimes have been
reported in September:
Thefts (18) — This figure
represents an average of nearly one
per day. Of these, 11 were thefts of
bicycles. Bike theft remains the
largest crime problem on campus.
Voswinkel explained that the
thieves are looking for easy access.
"If it looks like trouble, they won't
bother." She suggested that
owners keep their bikes locked at
all times with a case-hardened steel
lock.
Burglaries in colleges (6) —
This, too, has always been a major
problem. Because the university
has eleven open entrances and is
located in the heart of a big city,
anyone can trespass onto the
campus at any time. Already there
have been four criminal trespass
charges. For this reason, students
should keep their doors locked at
all times.
"It only takes eight seconds for
someone to walk in and take what
he wants," Voswinkel said. She
recommended that students not
keep valuable jeweiery — or
anything they could not stand to
lose — on campus at all. Anyone
who does have valuables should
make sure that they are marked
with an identification number and
keep a list of these and any other
serial numbers. This is the only
way that the articles can be
retrieved. The campos stencil such
HC runoff to be rerun
by Dave Collins
Tuesday's solitary Honor
Council election ended inconclu-
sively Tuesday night, as voting
discrepancies invalidated the
results. Richard Torczon received
more votes than Pete Tesareki;in
the campus-wide race for the at-
large position on the council, but
no winner was declared. Another
run-off election is now scheduled
for Tuesday, September 27.
Election officials of the Student
Association computed the final,
frustrating tally of votes Tuesday
night. It showed that Torczon
received 261 votes, while Tesarek
gathered 259, making Torczon the
apparent winner. However, the
ever present phenomenon of
discrepancies between the number
of votes and the number of
certifying signatures forced the
Election Committee to annull the
election.
According to the count, four too
many students signed the pledge
attesting that they would vote once
and only once. Those signatures
made Torczon's potential margin
of victory smaller than the margin
of error. The SA Election
Committee rules require that the
election be reheld in such an event..
Election officials identified
some of the names on the lists as
belonging to freshmen. Since they
were not at Rice to vote last
spring's inconclusive election,
freshmen were ineligible to vote in
Tuesday's run-off. Ot&er elections
held concurrently with the Honor
Council vote may have
contributed to such discrepancies.
One advantage of choosing next
Tuesday for the repeat run-off is
the apparent lack of such other
elections.
numbers on valuable items free of
charge at the police office in the
Abercrombie Laboratory
building. The service is
particularly useful for engraving
bicycles.
Criminal mischief cases (7) —
This and disorderly conduct are
the university's fastest-growing
crimes. During the entire month of
September 1982, only three cases
were repotted. Criminal mischief is
described as "intentionally or
knowingly damaging property."
This month's cases range from
breaking windows to tearing apart
elevators to "maliciously driving
through hedges and grass." To
date, the campos have made only
two "administrative" arrests,
meaning those handled on
campus.
Voswinkel hopes that the college
system will keep a check on
vandalism. She believes that Rice
students are basically responsible,
mature adults who take pride in
their surroundings. She would like
these students to encourage those
who display immature behavior to
change their ways. No police
action would then be necessary.
Disorderly conduct charges (5)
— This is defined as a "breach of
peace." This, too, is growing in
popularity at Rice. For all of last
September only one case was
recorded. Those who think Rice
students "don't know how to
party" should think again. So far
there have been two altercations at
Willy's Pub and two cases of
M 0
Assistant Chief Mary Voswinkel
indecent exposure.
More serious charges have
addressed the use of fireworks,
however. There have been reports
of bottle rockets shot at Wiess
House and a "ship's rocket"
allegedly launched from Lovett
College which landed on the roof
of Will Rice House and caused
extensive damage. Aside from the
fact that pyrotechnical devices are
illegal in the city limits of Houston,
Voswinkel is concerned with the
fact that they could have burnt
down the homes or even hit
pedestrians. An investigation into
the launchings is pending.
Voswinkel did have one bit of
optimistic news. So far there have
been no crimes-against-person
such as rape, robbery, or assault
In a study he\d two years ago, the
campos determined that these
crimes were four times less likely to
occur on the Rice campus than
elsewhere in Houston. "But that
does not mean that one should not
exercise care or keep alert," she
warned.
There are 16 certified campus
police officers at Rice. At least
three officers are on duty at any
time, throughout the year. They
receive the same training and meet
the same requirements as every
officer in Texas. They hold
jurisdiction over all of Rice
campus and its property. Their
central aim is to prevent criminal
activities or stop them in progress.
In the past the campos have
attempted to halt crime by-
publishing a crime prevention
booklet (available free at the
station), providing escort services,
holding orientation during
see C rime, page 5
NY Times gives Rice stellar rating
by Patty Cleary
In the revised edition of the
Selective Guide to Colleges,
published by New York Times
Education Editor Edward B.
Fiske, Rice has earned a five-star
academic rating. The rating is an
improvement over the four-star
rating awarded in early 1982. Rice
then ranked behind 25 other
private schools in academic
quality.
Rice is one of only 28 schools
bearing this symbol of academic
excellence. Of these schools, 20 are
located in the eastern corridor,
between Boston and Baltimore. In
the other aspects of college life
rated, Rice received four telephone
symbols for its superior social life
and four asterisks for overall
quality of life.
While Rice received similar
"superior" ratings in the first
edition, the different symbols
assigned ate a new feature.
Controversy arose over the
original star-rating system, which
allowed some schools' to bill
themselves as "14-star"
institutions. The new edition's
rating system will presumably
thwart such advertising.
Information for the 275 schools
profiled came primarily from
student questionnaires. These
forms, developed around decision-
making factors in the college
selection process, were distributed
to a cross section of students on
each campus. Administrators at
each institution filled out another
questionnaire which supplied
Fiske and his team with statistics
and other general data.
The latest edition, due out next
week, features different ratings
from last year's for 38 schools. The
majority of the changes were
improvements. Other schools
joining the prestigious few with
five-star academic ratings are
Duke University, Reed College
and Carleton Colleee.
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Ekren, Christopher. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 6, Ed. 1 Friday, September 23, 1983, newspaper, September 23, 1983; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245538/m1/1/?q=%22%22~1: accessed June 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.