The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, November 18, 1983 Page: 9 of 24
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After 15 years, Heliums to leave Rice: how to replace her?
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continued from page I
used to," Heliums observed. She
added, "They don't realize the
power they've got. They just say
'this is the way it happens.' "
Asked if this was also due to job
concerns, Heliums agreed, saying,
"Exactly. Students are always
trying to be so polite; they don't
want bad recommendations."
Nevertheless, Rice undergrad-
uates are taking a lot more
responsibility nowadays,
according to Heliums. "They're
not as pampered as they once
were," she said. Students have a
great deal of control over the
finances of their organizations,
Heliums noted, and with few
exceptions they have been very
conscientious and effective in
handling blanket tax funds.
Heliums commented on the
changing status of women during
her stay, saying, "Women now
don't feel like they have to make
choices between a career and a
family. 1 think I've been a role
model in that respect. I've had two
kids while at Rice and still have a
strong and intact marriage."
All in all, Heliums' relationship
with Rice has been a rewarding
one. "I have learned an incredible
amount about how difficult it can
be to form a relationship between
the ages of 18 and 21," Heliums
Staff salaries too low
continued from page I
the financial limits imposed by the
university administration,
especially when examining the
problems of Physical Plant.
Professor of Physics Tom Estle
was concerned that the university
is not keeping pace with
maintenance on the present
facilities, yet it continues a policy
of adding new buildings.
Estle spoke of the problems with
the physics laboratory building,
saying, "With Houston's high
humidity, we suffer incredible
water damage. Now that Physical
Plant has cut back on air-
conditioning, the humidity runs at
about 80 percent, and the water
condenses on the equipment,
ruining it.
Peter Miller, president of Will
Rice College, added, "Students
don't know what's going on at
Physical Plant. It is often so
difficult to get maintenance to fix
problems that it makes us wonder
how Physical Plant operates ....
When the seven other college
presidents and I met along with
Mark Meiches, SA president, we
tried to think of positive things
Physical Plant has done, and we
just couldn't — except for giving
the maintenance workers beepers
so they can be contacted."
Ed Samfield, director of
Physical Plant, responded, "I
wasn't planning to say anything
today, just to observe, but I have to
say that I agree that the present
condition of our facilities is poor,
but we have made major
improvements in the past two
years.
"Our budget is incredibly low,"
Samfield continued. "We have
little time to spend on preventative
maintenance — only two of my
staff work on that — whereas UH
spends one-third of their budget on
that.... Our main problem lies in
that we are understaffed and
underbudgeted. I haven't been able
to hire the kind of professional
people I need with engineering
backgrounds because of budget
constraints."
Baker then remarked, "Are we
running a financially tight
university just to be tight, or do we
really want a fine university?" This
led to the question of personnel
problems at Rice.
Neill Binford, assistant to the
vice president for administration,
said, "People are spread thinner
here. We need high quality
administrators, yet we hire people
who'll 'do the job.' We make
sacrifices in our administrators
that we wouldn't dare make in our
professors."
Ann Arnett, a secretary for the
art and art history department and
a Rice graduate, told of her
frustration in seeking a sensible
wage for the workload she handles.
"The staff on the whole is
overlooked," she claimed.
Director of Personnel Erbel
Perkins concurred with Ms.
Arnett, stating, "We have a lack of
compensation policy and no real
pursuit of qualified, lasting staff
members. Our policy is more like
'We will pay as little as possible to
get as much as we can, and we'll
suffer the consequences.' "
Kelley thanked all of the
participants and observers and
promised to report back on these
identified problems along with
their proposed alternatives. Like
the other panels, Kelley's group
will finish its data-gathering this
semester and prepare its
suggestions during the spring.
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remarked.
Heliums, out of her office for
part of this week because of an
illness in the family, called her long
term job "a lot of frustration but
also a lot of joy." The impact has
been far more than professional, in
fact, she noted, "Some of our best
friends have been people we've met
since we have been at Rice.
Somehow I have felt no age
difference between myself and the
students on an empathic level.
"One thing that comes through
is that I really do care. You can't
just take this as a regular eight to
five job — it takes out a pound of
flesh frequently but you get back
so much more." These psycho-
logical benefits are an important
reason why she stayed on at Rice
for 15 years, she said, noting, "It
hasn't been the money."
Heliums does not plan to sever
her ties with the university
completely, however. "I am an
associate at Will Rice College and I
will ask to change from a
university associate to a
community associate."
Stebbings could not say on
Wednesday how he would go
about finding a new director of
student activities, or if the job itself
might be changed.
Commenting on Heliums' wide
variety of talents, Stebbings stated,
"It is unlikely that we can find
somebody with the range of
abilities and background that
Bonnie Heliums has."
In a week's time, the Dean's
office should have a better idea
about how to select a successor.
"It seems to me that she has a
really wonderful oppurtunity
ahead of her. I wish the best to
her," Stebbings remarked.
UT prof to explore mass media
by Patty Baron
Rice University students now
have the opportunity to study the
most pervasive and influential
product of our technologial
society: television. The sociology
department, in an attempt to
expand its emphasis on mass
communication will offer
Sociology 360, "Television in
American Culture" this spring.
University of Texas Professor
Horace Newcomb will conduct the
lectures.
Sociology Department
Chairman William Martin is
responsible for both this new
concentration and the appoint-
ment of Newcomb to teach the
course. Newcomb is currently a
nationally-known professor of
radio, television and film at the
University of Texas.
In the field of television,
Newcomb's credits include the
authorship of two popular
textbooks, a weekly column in the
Baltimore Morning Sun, and
articles in other publications such
as The Wall Street Journal,
Centenniel, and Channels.
The course will emphasize
television from the viewpoint of
popular culture, as well as the
medium's influence on politics,
industry and other cultural forms.
Chad Gordon, professor of
sociology at Rice, explained, "The
philosophy behind this course is
that mass communications is the
key to our post-industrial society.
It is important for people
interested in the mass media to
understand their connections with
economics, politics, and society."
The department chose to focus
on television because of the
immediate influence it has on the
American experience.
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The Rice Thresher, November 18, 1983, page 9
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Ekren, Christopher. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 71, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, November 18, 1983, newspaper, November 18, 1983; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245545/m1/9/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.