The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 75, No. 28, Ed. 1 Friday, May 13, 1988 Page: 6 of 16
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6 Friday. April 22,1988 THRESHER News
Wiljy's movement top news story of the year
compiled by Michele
Willy watches as professional movers return him to his normal position.
-J. Yao
ISP
Willy's Statue:
Using an A-frame, a pick-up truck, and their ingenuity, a
group of Wiess College students and alumni rotated
Willy' s Statue, the 2,000-lb. statue that sits on the tomb of
the university's founder. To avoid being caught, the group
painted the A-frame black and disconnected a floodlight every night for a month so the campus
police wouldn't be suspicious when the light was off. Despite the group's efforts, however, the
campus police did catch one of them as he drove away from the scene.
That student, Patrick Dyson, was placed on disciplinary probation and told to pay the costs of
returning Willy to his original position facing Lovett Hall. To raise the money, Dyson and his friends
sold t-shirts printed with white line drawings of 'he statue and the device used to turn it. Although
it cost only $400 to rotate the statue the first time, the cost of turning it back was $2,081. Dyson and
the other pranksters also had to pay $1,466 in other repair costs.
The university has installed four lug bolts at the corners of the statue to prevent other students from
moving it again.
Sociology professor Chandler Davidson moderates a debate on minority affairs at Rice.
-D. Kelly
Wucker and Lisa Gray
Campus food alternatives. -G. Stafford
Food and Housing and the reduced board meal plan:
To give students the option of eating
off campus instead of paying for Cen-
tral Kitchen food, the Department of
Food and Housing instituted a new
"reduced balance" system. By the end
of the fall semester, however, it be-
came apparent that students were
eating off campus more often than
they were staying on, and Food and
Housing reported a $378,000 loss.
In an attempt to cut losses on a
shrimp dinner, Food and Housing
announced this spring that students would be required to pay a $ 1 surcharge in
addition to the regular $3.30 charge for that meal. Reacting to rumors of a
possible boycott, the department changed its plans for the dinner, offering
instead a six-shrimp dinner for the regular price with an option to purchase five
more pieces for $1. Despite this change, more than half of the students boy-
ootted the dinner.
Food and Housing's other attempts to alter the food plan to reduce their
losses were not met well either. A proposed meal plan for next year had to be
scrapped after students expressed dissatisfaction with it {see story, page 1).
Complaints about the quality as well as the price of Central Kitchen food
came to a head late this spring when Lovett member Gaurav Goel wrote a
column in TheTkresher about boxes of green, rancid, 10-month-old meat he
had seen. Central Kitchen Director Joyce Rubash replied to his charges, saying
that the meat was within health standards.
Alcohol Policy:
Since the drinking age was raised to
21 in September 1986, the university
has had to take measures to protect
itself from liability for underage
drinking. Alcohol policy became an
SWllllllfift:
important issue last fall when campus
police officers were sent to parties
with checklists to make sure that party
organizers were trying to prevent
underage drinking. The checklists
were not well received, partly be-
cause social coordinators were given
short notice.
Minority Affairs Office debate:
After the administration's initial reluctance last spring to pursue the possibility of a minority affairs
office, Vice President for Undergraduate Affairs Ronald Stebbbings, with input from many people
on campus, drew up plans last fall for such an office. Following the Student Association's expres-
sion of support for the office, Jones sophomore Dave Russell wrote a letter to the Thresher criticizing
the office for discriminating against "anglo-saxon males." That letter resulted in a deluge of angry
responses and a debate held at Baker College.
This March, former Associate Admissions Director Catherine Clack was appointed to head the
new office, located in the cloisters of the Rice Memorial Center. She officially assumes he new po-
sition June 1.
Women at Rice:
Last year, the university established a Commission on Women to
investigate possible inequities and how to correct them and educate the
community. This year, that Commission has undertaken projects includ-
ing a report on improving working conditions for sum-
mer employees, an open house to introduce itself, a
survey on sexual harrassment at Rice.
Continuing the improvement of awareness of women
at Rice, a group of students laid the groundwork this
spring for a new
women's group that
will apply forStudent
Association recogni-
tion next fall.
A lawsuit filed in
April focused atten-
tion on the issue of
inequities between
men's and women's
salaries at Rice. Eng-
lish Professor Jane
Chance filed a suit
against Rice, alleging
that the university is in
violation of the Equal
Pay Act and of Title
DC of the Education
Amendments of 1972.
She hopes that her suit
will become a class
action suit on behalf
of female Rice faculty
and staff members.
- teW:
■ ■/!' 1 /lii *
English Professor Jane Chance.
-L Cowsar
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Sendek, Joel. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 75, No. 28, Ed. 1 Friday, May 13, 1988, newspaper, May 13, 1988; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245695/m1/6/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.