The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 72, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, November 16, 1984 Page: 5 of 20
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New SA committees to scrutinize food service, courts
by Valerie Rohy
At their meeting on Tuesday, the
Student Association voted to form
two committees — one to study the
Food Service and the another to
examine the Rice judicial system.
They also heard a report about the
rejection of the Pass/D,/Fail
proposal by the University
Council.
SA president Tracy Winn said
that the newly-created Food
Service Committee will perform
jobs that the Food Service
representatives from the colleges
now neglect because they are
primarily concerned with handling
immediate problems rather than
engaging in longe-range planning.
"What we had in mind was
studying the overall quality of the
food, with recommendations for
long-term improvements," Winn
said.
The committee, as approved,
will include two senators, a Food
Service representative, a head
waiter, and three undergraduate-
at-large members. Before the
committee first meets on
November 26, the SA will try to
gain support for its activities from
interested students. The committee
hopes to have a report on the
quality of the food service in time
for the last SA meeting of the
semester on December 3.
The SA also created a
committee to study the Rice
judicial system. Its first meeting is
scheduled for November 19. The
committee will make recom-
mendations for the improvement
of the judicial system to theSA by
February.
In addition, Darryl Burke
reported on actions taken by the
University Council at their
meeting last week. During the
meeting, the council rejected
proposals to inaugurate the
controversial Pass/D/'Fail
proposal. Still, Burke cautioned
the SA that the issue of
Pass/D/Fail was not yet resolved.
"This doesn't mean it's dead," said
Burke, noting that the faculty is
still free to enact the proposal ."
The council also recommended
two changes in the Pass/Fail
system. "Blind grading" should be
used, they said, to prevent
professors from knowing which
students are taking a course
Hackerman honored
Rice University President
Norman Hackerman and Mrs.
Hackerman received the
gold medal from the Alumni
Association for distinguished
service to Rice.
The presentation of the medals
to the Hackermans was a
highlight of the Homecoming
events on Saturday, November 10
on the Rice campus.
Dr. Hackerman's gold medal
cites his "vision, leadership,
accomplishment," and it is coming
to him from his "admirers, the
Association of Rice Alumni."
Mrs. Hackerman's medal bears
the inscription, "For your gracious
hospitality, and many achieve-
ments on behalf of our university,
from vour friends, the Rice
Alumni."
Dr. Hackerman will be retiring
from the Rice presidency on July 1
of next year, completing 15 years
of service.
Other honorees at Rice's
Homecoming include Louis D.
Spaw, Jr., a 1940 graduate of Rice
and president of the Houston-
based Spaw-Glass, Inc., general
contractors. Spaw received
Rice's 1984 Outstanding
Engineering Alumnus Award.
Mrs. Edward W. Kelley, a 1925
Rice graduate and longtime
supporter of the university and its
library, received the 1984
Friends ol Fondren Library
Award. Mrs. Kelley served as
president of the Friends from 1959
to 1966.
Court system studied
continued from page I
The senate passed the bill as a
result of charges that the present
court system is sometimes
ineffective and unfair. The Self-
Study Panel on Student Affairs
discovered several weaknesses in
the present system. The study
notes that because of a complex
appeals process and some
jurisdictional overlap with
administration officials, members
of college courts are often unsure
of their responsibilities.
Based on interviews with college
masters and individuals involved
with the courts, the study also
claims that there is a great deal of
latitude of penalties assessed
students.
Recent conflicts between the
senate and the University Court,
exposing ambiguities in the
relationship between the two
bodies, also motivated the action
of the senate.
During the controversy over the
Campanile editor election last
spring, there was doubt as to each
body's proper reponsibility and
role in resolving the case. Both the
University. Court and the SA
senate claimed to have authoritv to
Sat. night 2:00 am
Pass/Fail. In addition, the
university should allow transfer
students the equivalent of one
pass /fail designation for every
year that they will attend Rice.
Presently, transfer students are
entitled to four pass/fail
designations regardless of when
they enter the university.
The University Council also
established guideliness for limiting
the size of academic departments.
Last year, the Department of
Electrical Engineering had to
arbitrarily restrict the number of
students permitted in the
department because too many
students wished to major in
electrical engineering.
"They weren't very specific
about guidelines at the time," said
Burke. Now departments may only
limit their enrollment under
prepublished criteria and in cases
of extreme need.
The University Council also
recommended a minor change in
the method for calculating grades
of "Incomplete," Burke told the
SA. An "Incomplete" now
becomes an *F" if all the required
coursework is not submitted by the
deadline. Under the new rule only
unfinished work would be given
the grade "F" and would then be
averaged with completed work in
the course.
Also, the SA has recognized 49
Rice clubs which have filed for
affiliation this semester. It debated
the fate of eight other clubs which
have not turned in the required
documentation for affiliation.
Jonathan Wolens said that the SA
notified the eight clubs — both
personally and through notices in
the Thresher. Still, they failed to
respond to the request.
The SA was divided over
whether to allow these clubs, if
dissolved, to reform this semester
or to bar them from refiling until
next semester. One motion, to
dissolve all but two of the eight
clubs, failed, as did another
motion that would have allowed
all to remain affiliated with the SA.
Instead, the senate voted to
dissolve all of the organizations in
question but to allow them to refile
for SA affiliation at any time.
The SA also voted $777 for the
refurbishing and upkeep of the ow 1
cage, approved the election of
Susan Sheridan to the Honor
Council, and listened to reports
about the progress of the fund
drive for expansion of the Rice
Memorial Center.
The next SA meeting will be
held on Monday, at 10 p.m., at
Jones College.
Pitzer captures chemistry award
by Carl Hoefer
Dr. Kenneth Pitzer, chemist and
former president of Rice
University, received the Welch
Foundation Award. He is the
ninth recipient of the Welch
Award, which consists of a gold
medallion, a certificate and
$150,000. The award recognizes
Pitzer's "long career of solving
chemical problems of great
complexity and broad impor-
tance," the Houston-based
foundation said.
Pitzer, currently professor of
chemistry at the University of
California at Berkeley, has most
recently been studying the effects
of relativistic quantum mechanics
on predicted bond strengths in
molecules. Although predictive
calculations of this sort are
extremely complex, Pitzer, with
associates, was able to develop an
accurate theoretical model to deal
with relativistic effects found in
atoms from about atomic-number
60 and up. Having broken new
ground in this area and having laid
the foundation for future work,
Pitzer is now ready to move on to a
new area of chemical research.
Pitzer has been at Berkeley since
1971. He was president of Rice
from 1961 to 1968, and president
of Stanford from 1968 to 1970.
Pitzer left Rice hoping to face new
challenges as president of the then
fairly radical Stanford University.
But, he says, "What they really
needed was a police chief."
Still, Pitzer says he has enjoyed
both the challenges of administra-
tion and of research. He notes that
during research one is always
confronting new problems. Also,
research is more flexible, he says. It
allows one to choose which
problems to tackle.
In comparing Rice with
Stanford, Pitzer notes that both
universities have faced the
problems of growth as prestigious
institutions, but Stanford faced
much earlier those problems that
Rice now confronts.
In his term as president of Rice.
Pitzer favored a plan to let Rice
grow to about 4000 students, with
about even numbers of graduate
and undergraduate students. This,
he thought, would allow Rice to fill
the need for a very prestigious
institution for research in this area
of the country. He now thinks that
even this number may be too
conservative an estimate.
Pitzer also feels that Rice's goal
of keeping tuition low or
eliminating it is misguided. "You
can't handicap yourself," he says,
by ignoring a potential source of
income. He notes that in Rice's no-
tuition days, many people or
groups believed that Rice was so
well-financed it needed no private
contributions.
When asked what qualifications
Rice should look for in its next
president, Pitzer said that in the
Rice tradition, it should search for
a man with strong academic
credentials, who is "widely
recognized" throughout the
nation, though not necessarily in
the sciences. The candidate should
also "have had some previous
success in administrating" an
organization similar to a
university.
Pitzer says that all of the Rice
faculty with whom he has spoken
have been pleased w ith the way the
presidential search is proceeding.
decide the case. The result, says
Brian Zook, a sponsor of the
senate bill, was confusion.
"The University Court is very
disorganized. At least it was last
spring. We're just trying to look for
ways to clean up the system. I don't
see any major changes in the
relationship between the
University Court and the SA, just
some better definitions."
LE CUE
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2438 Rice Blvd.
* * * *
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Mon. Ladies free when
accompanied by a
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Tue. 75C Beer Night
when playing pool
Daily: 11:00 am-1:00 am
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EXPIRES 12/22/84
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The Rice Thresher, November 16, 1984, page 5
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Havlak, Paul. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 72, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, November 16, 1984, newspaper, November 16, 1984; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245575/m1/5/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.