The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, September 30, 1988 Page: 1 of 16
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VOLUME 76, NO. 5
NEWS BY AND FOR THE PROLETARIAT
SEPTEMBER 30, 1988
Campos increase security on campus, arrest three suspects
by Lorraine Snyder
Campus police increased secu-
rity this week in an attempt to end the
increasing number of burglaries on
campus. Police arrested suspects
Saturday, September 24; Monday,
September 26; and Tuesday, Sep-
tember 27 following a rash of thefts
that morning at Will Rice, Hanszen
and Baker Colleges.
Campus police staked out
Hanszen College and WRC since
burglaries occurred at these col-
leges last weekend. Uniformed and
plainclothes officers heavily pa-
trolled the area. Officers have also
been posted at observation stations,
such as the roofs of the colleges.
The campus police have also in-
creased hallway patrols at WRC and
Hanszen College.
Campus police officer Ivan Put-
sky said, "Normally we do not patrol
in the hallways, but now we've
started. Some students consider it an
invasion of their privacy, but we're
only doing it to make sure that no one
is in the dorms who does not belong
there. The most we would do if we
saw someone suspicious is ask them
for an I.D."
Chief of campus police Mary
Voswinkle said, "The card key ac-
cess system installed at Brown, Sid,
and some of the access buildings
could increase security. In fact, I
wish they'd leave it operating 24
hours a day. But people keep prop-
ping open the doors, so it doesn't do
much good."
On Saturday, September 24
around midnight, campus police
patrolling the WRC new wing area
Gutierrez directs 'Blood Wedding'
Visiting professor Angel Gutierrez from the Royal Conservatory in Spain, currently living at the Graduate
House, will put his forty years' experience in the U.S.S.R. to work on the stage. See the up and coming Blood
Wedding.
Minority concerns forum sparks interest
by Todd Reichmann and „
Jeff Solochek
A minority concerns forum held
Tuesday, September 27, generated
considerable informal discussion
about minority faculty and affirma-
tive action. The Office of Minority
Affairs sponsored the forum, entitled
"Is there racism at Rice? You answer
the question."
Approximately seventy students
and three faculty members attended.
The faculty members who attended
were: Chairman of the Sociology
Department Chandler Davidson,
Will Rice College Master Ed
Doughtie, and Director of Affirma-
tive Action Eva Lee.
Director of the Office of Minority
Affairs Catherine Clack said, "Most
of the racial problems here are just
instances of insensitivity.
"We're not front page news and
we're not going to get there," she
said, comparing Rice to the violent
campus racism which occurs in the
Northeast
Clack and Professor of Mathe-
matical Sciences Richard Tapia co-
moderated the forum with the presi-
dents of five minority student
groups. The various organizations
represented included: the Black
Student Union, the Rice Chapter of
the National Society of Black Engi-
neers, HACER (Hispanic Associa-
tion for Cultural Enrichment at
Rice), Rice Hillel Qewish students'
organization), and the Muslim Stu-
dent Association.
The Chinese Student Association
and the Vietnamese Student Organi-
zation were also invited, but declined
to send representatives.
HACER member Kristina Ve-
lasquez said of the forum, "It's a start,
but we definitely need to do a lot
more." She also complained about
the small turnout.
President of the Black Student
Union Anthony Wills agreed.
"I was pleased we had the forum,
but I was disappointed by the turn-
out. There were a lot of people who
should have been there, such as ...
Rupp, Stebbings, faculty members,
and more students, who were not
there," he said.
Clack said she did invite Presi-
dent Rupp to attend.
observed a man banging on and
trying to open the door leading from
the WRC parking lot into the new
wing tower. The officers accosted
the man and found him to be intoxi-
cated.
They discovered through further
questioning that the suspect was not
a Rice student. Also, they believed
that the man had been living at WRC.
Putsky said, "The man had been
drinking with friends in Hermann
Park. He revealed enough in his in-
toxicated state to make the officers
want go up and check around."
Officers found a pillow and blan-
ket in the tower, as well as a bag
which the suspect identified as his.
The contents of the bag included
burglary tools.
The suspect, who was booked
and incarcerated at the Harris
County jail, was charged with crimi-
nal trespassing. His criminal histoiy
includes one robbery, two burgla-
ries, and one invasion of privacy, as
well as two criminal trespassing
charges issued December 20, 1986
and May 25,1987 by campus police.
He had been released on parole until
August 26,1989, until campus police
arrested him.
Campus police made a second
arrest Monday afternoon. They re-
sponded to a call regarding a suspi-
cious-looking person in the Lovett
College commons at 2:30 p.m. After
questioning the man, they warned
him to leave since he was not a Rice
student and was not looking for a
specific person.
Half an hour later, the same man
was reported at Baker College, at
which time Campus police arrested
him for criminal trespassing. The
suspect had no criminal history
under the name he gave, but had no
identification with him to confirm
that he had given his real name.
The two arrests apparently did
not solve the burglary problem.
A series of burglaries occurred
early Tuesday morning. Several
residents of the WRC old wing re-
ported hearing someone try to open
their doors between 5 and 7 a.m.
Two wallets were stolen from un-
locked rooms and were later found in
the hallway with the cash removed
from them.
A Baker College resident found
two wallets and their contents spread
out on a table in the Baker College
laundry room on Tuesday morning.
Later that day, two Baker College
residents claimed the wallets. The
wallets had contained $4 or $5 and $8
respectively.
Someone also found a pair of
pants belonging to another Baker
College resident in the Baker Col-
lege quadrangle. The owner's wallet,
which had been in the pants pocket,
was missing. The wallet, yet to be
recovered, contained $8 in cash, a
VISA card, and a Missouri driver's
license. The victim reported closing
SEE SECURITY PAGE 8
Turbine failure reduces
campus energy supply
by Ross Goldberg
Wills added that in the future all
the minority groups plan to work
together to confront the administra-
tion regarding apartheid and minor-
ity faculty hiring at Rice.
Tapia, a speaker at the forum,
identified the lack of minority fac-
ulty, particularly in tenure track
positions, as the largest problem at
Rice. He said department heads
cannot implement effective policies
to combat this problem.
"Commitment for minority fac-
ulty has to come from the top down,"
he said.
Lee added that recruiting minor-
ity faculty is expensive because of
high demand.
In response, a student com-
mented that more minority students
must dm for teaching careers to
increase the pool of qualified teach-
ers. Most members ibf the audience
concurred as debate on this issue
ensued.
During the debate, many speak-
ers spoke of incidents of racist com-
ments they had heard. Most stu-
dents said they had been told by
others that they had been admitted
SEE MINORITIES, PAGE 8
Failure of the gas turbine at the
university's cogeneration plant last
Friday reduced the amount of en-
ergy available on campus and
prompted a request to conserve elec-
tricity.
Physical Plant issued a notice
calling for students, faculty and staff
to minimize their use of air co ndition-
ing and other unnecessary electri-
cal items until repairs are complete.
Director of Physical Plant Ed
Samfield explained that a rotor failed
on the hot gas turbine unit which
drives the plant. Repair crews from
Ruston Gas Turbine, Inc., manufac-
turers of the turbine, are rebuilding
the turbine with assistance from
Physical Plant employees.
Samfield estimated that the plant
could be operational as early as
Monday.
The plant normally produces 3.2
megawatts, about one-third of the
energy needed to power the campus.
To compensate for the reduction of
available energy, Rice may need to
purchase power from Houston light
& Power.
Samfield said HL&P would raise
the university's monthly base charge
significantly for the period of one
year if electrical demand exceeds a
certain limit
To avoid extra charges, air condi-
tioning units in the colleges will be
off between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. until
the plant is repaired. Air condition-
ing will be selectively cycled
throughout academic buildings and
colleges if necessary. At night, air
conditioning will be available in the
colleges and will be off in unused
academic buildings.
Samfield requested that all un-
necessary electrical items be turned
off.
Water pressure on campus may
seem lower than usual. Without the
plant's energy there is less power-
available to raise ground water for
practical use.
"We've been able to stay within
the limits the last two days. We just
need help to stay in those limits until
the Cogenerator is back up."
Samfield said.
The cogeneration plant has been
on-line for over two years without
any significant problems, Samfield
said. The plant produces three prod-
ucts: electricity, steam and chilled
water.
Samfield said he expects the uni-
versity's equipment insurance policy
to cover most of the repairs.
Another cogeneration plant with
the capacity to produce 4.2 mega-
watts is currently under construc-
tion. The plant should be on-line by
February 1989.
Down Under Rice...
page 5
FINE ARTS
Tom Hanks and Sally
Field team up in the
film "Punchline."
page 9
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McGarrity, Patrick & Sendek, Joel. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 76, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, September 30, 1988, newspaper, September 30, 1988; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245701/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.