The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, February 14, 1992 Page: 1 of 24
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0 The SINCE 1916
RiceThresher
VOLUME 79, NO. 20
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ARC
FEBRUARY 14, 1992
Long awaited ARC Report details academic, financial problems
by Mark David Schoenhals
President George Rupp released the
Athletic Review Committee Report to
the public Feb. 11, almost one year
after its commission. The president
promised the faculty in 1983 that the
athletic program would be reviewed
within five years.
The 144-page report is a detailed
assessment of the athletic program
which addresses its costs in terms of
low academic standards for athletes
and the financial burden for the univer-
sity.
The summary states that "Admis-
sion standards for scholarship athletes
are still much lower than those for
regularly admitted students, and their
majors are still concentrated in alimited
number of fields of study."
In the summary, "The Committee
concludes that expenditures of Rice's
intercollegiate athletics program are at
a level both reasonable and necessary
if Rice is to participate in NCAA Divi-
sion I-A athletics. However, the net
costs are extraordinarily high and, be-
cause of Rice's small size, are disturb-
ingly large...."
The committee makes no single
recommendation about whether to
continue in Division I-A status. Instead,
the report proposes alternatives and
modifications to the current system.
The benefits of the athletic program
are discussed briefly in two short sec-
tions on student and alumni interest
The committee decided not to survey
these groups, however, and provides
no statistical gauge of their support
The committee noted that associa-
tion with the Southwest Conference
"has always been a part of the Rice
culture and tradition." Italso "concludes
that any substantive change would
therefore result in serious dislocations
Annual Net Cost of Athletic Department
5.0
e
o
a
6
.5
o
O
+->
<u
Z
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
Actual values,
according to 1984
Self-Study Report,
Athletic Department,
Audit Reports,
Comptroller's
Office
Estimates,
1991-92
Approved
Budget
S 4.631 M
$0,405 M
$4,164 M
Projection,
based on
increased
ticket prices
and tripled
paid
attendence
* Net Cost =
Sum of
operating
deficit and
50% of athletic
tuition
waivers
LO
CT>
§ @
cr> oj
r-H r—i
Start of School Year
1%
&
SOURCE: ARC
throughout the Rice community."
In an interview, ARC chair and
physics professor King Walters, speak-
ing for the committee, called the report
"a statement [the members of the
committee] can all agree on." Walters
said one reason for the report's delay is
that reaching the agreement "took a lot
more time than I had thought"
Academics
In the summary of the report, the
committee said that "average admis-
sion standards and graduation rates for
scholarship athletes have improved
significantly since the 1984 study.The
graduation rates for scholarship ath-
letes here "rank Rice among the top
15% of Division I-A athletics."
The committee calculated the
graduation rate as the number of
graduating students divided by the
number of entering students. This
yields a different result from the NCAA
standard "adjusted" rate. The NCAA
method omits students who leave with
poor academic records because they
remain technically eligible to graduate.
The committee's formula yields a
five-year graduation rate of 67 percent
for athletes and 86 percent for non-
athletes. The six-year rates are 82 per-
cent for athletes and 91 percent for non-
athletes.
The report notes serious problems
in almost every areaofacademics which
the committee evaluated. The report
confirms officially for the first time that
"the...number of Honor Code convic-
tions of athletes...is up sharply this
year with indications of collusion and
premeditation." The number of viola-
tions in recent years has been "rela-
tively small," according to the report
The committee investigated the
performance of athletes on the English
Percentage of Incoming Athletes in Three
Different Categories
As determined by the Rice Admissions Committee
Category I:
Comparable in
qualifications to
regularly-admitted
students
likely to graduate
and profit from a
Rice education
Category III:
Viewed as
"inadmissable,'
"high risk," or
"unlikely to
graduate"
3
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SOURCE: ARC
Masters, RAs to enforce alcohol policy
by Kraettli Epperson
The administration has told college
masters and resident associates to be-
come more active in enforcing the
current alcohol policy, while the
wording of this policy as it will appear in
next year's Student Han dbook is being
reconsidered by the Alcohol Policy
Advisory Committee (AP.AC.).
Recommendations to masters and RAs
The more active role in enforce-
ment expected of masters an d RAs was
outlined by Vice President for Student
Affairs Ronald Stebbings in the last
masters meeting. New responses to
observed policy violations include
keeping personal records of violations
and stronger reactions by the masters
to observed incidents.
Edward Doughtie, master of Will
Rice College, explained the primary
suggestion. "Dr. Stebbings said that
we need to keep notes for our own
records about illegal behavior. Its not
clear to me how formal this is to be. As
I understand it, you don't have to be
specific about students' names, you just
have to record the incident and tell
what you did to react," said Doughtie.
Sid Richardson College president
Steve Wilburn, however, after talking
to SRC master Gordon Wittenberg, said,
"They were encouraging masters and
RAs to write down specifics so that if
someone's mom sues, they have some-
thing on record. They can prove that
they have been making an effort to
provide a 'drug-free' workplace."
Reaction s by RAs an d m asters called
for under current policy include ver-
bally warning the student involved,
calling the Dean of Students, or calling
the campus police. A master is not
obligated to report an incident to the
university, only to act appropriately,
according to Doughtie. This new reac-
tion is to be stronger than the old one,
however. "We should not tell the stu-
dents to do their illegal behavior be-
hind closed doors. We should just tell
them not to do it," said Doughtie.
Changes to the alcohol policy
Changes in the alcohol policy for
next year's handbook will include the
removal of the exclusion of private
rooms from the policy, refined distinc-
tions between what con stitutes a public
or a private party, and an emphasis
upon student welfare, according to
Doughtie, who is also chair of the
APAC. "We're trying to work out the
implications of the Drug-Free Schools
and Work Places Acts. [I]n the hand-
book policy, at one point it said that the
workplace is defined as the campus,
excluding the residential areas. That*s
removed. The policy is now applied all
over. The implication is that there will
still be privacy in the rooms. I don't
thinkawholelotaboutthat will change."
He said, however, that other
changes in wording will emphasize the
masters, RAs, and campus police's im-
perative to help in medical emer-
gencies, rather than to discipline. "The
wording of the policy will encourage
people to get help from campus police.
The policy will say something to the
effect that those who are called upon to
help will notbe obligated to discipline....
The priority in each case will be the
health and welfare of the student," said
Doughtie.
He conditioned this emphasis on
getting help by saying," [b]ecause of
the anti-hazing law, we have to say that
in the case of a student injured as a
result of hazing, which may include
alcohol, those responsible would be
subject to disciplinary action....It's im-
portant for students to understand that
they should never take chances with
somebody's health," said Doughtie.
The role of masters and RAs
The issue of whether or not the
masters should be the ones enforcing
the alcohol policy is still in question.
According to John Brelsford, master of
Brown College, The enforcement role
is incompatible with the other roles
expected of the masters.... The mas-
ters are supposed to be friends, a shoul-
der to cry on, someone to come to for
help or advice. You don't come to a
policeman forthosethings....I'dliketo
see the masters disciplinary role
decoupled from the optimum role. I'd
SEE ALCOHOL, PAGE 15
Competency Test which the university
administers to all incoming freshmen.
Linda Driskill, who coordinates the
remedial English program, reported
the "writing abilities of Rice athletes
have been better in recent years than
they were in the early 1980s." Between
1986 and 1990, "an average of 40% of the
scholarship athletes failed the English
Competency Test" During the same
period, "59% of the football and basket-
ball players failed." Only eight percent
of non-athletes fail, stated the report
All entering students must take the
Foundation courses or their equiva-
lents. Because most athletes are hu-
manities and social science majors, the
committee focused on the Natural Sci-
ence Foundation courses.
Initially, committee members were
extremely concerned, since only about
one quarter of football and basketball
players completed the Natural Science
course between 1988 and 1990. Be-
cause the report was delayed, how-
ever, the committee learned that many
athletes completed the course this Fall.
Walters noted that a lot of the ath-
letes took the class on a pass/fail basis.
In an interview, Walters said "I think
the athletes do have trouble with this
course."
Each year, the admission commit-
tee rates incoming athletes either I, II,
or III, based on theiracademic records.
Category I admits are "comparable" to
non-athletes, Category II admits are
"not-comparable but likely to gradu-
ate," and Category III admits are "inad-
missible," "high risk," or "unlikely to
graduate," depending on the year. The
proportion of people in each of these
categories has changed from year to
year. (See chart, above.)
The committee examined the tran-
scripts of many athletes and discussed
strategies which athletes use to gradu-
ate. The report notes that "Many ath-
letes, especially those who are the least
well-prepared for college, seem to take
the same set of courses." Many of these
athletes "take a large number of courses"
in Human Performance and Health Sci-
ence, and Managerial Studies, regard-
less of their major.
The report continues, "Science
courses...are often taken on a pass/faii
basis."Besides"remedial English classes,
very few courses are taken in English
and one sees very few History, Foreign
Languages, Mathematics, Art History,
Engineering, or Natural Science courses
on their transcripts." Also, "Some of the
more difficult classes are taken in summer
school at Rice or in summer school at a
community college."These academic
problems do not plague Rice alone.
SEE ARC PAGE 16
RUPD nabs 'Baylor' caller, files charges
by Kristen Copeland
The obscene telephone caller who
has been harassing female students
under the pretense of conducting an
interview for the Baylor School of
Medicine has been caught, according
to Mary Voswinkel, chief of Rice Cam-
pus Police. The suspect was caught
through a phone trap set up by the
Campus Police in conjunction with
Southwestern Bell and Centel Phone
Company.
The suspect, who has been de-
scribed as an older man and in no way
affiliated with the Baylor School of
Medidne, cannotbeidentified byname
until the trial date is set, which should
occur some time next week, according
to Voswinkel. Charges have been filed
in the District Attorney's office and a
warrant for his arrest has been drafted,
but the accused has not been brought
into the police station.
"The suspect would start out with a
few general questions, such as the
student's age group, and they'd get
increasingly more sexually explicit,"
said Voswinkel. "He would askasmany
questions as you would answer, until
you hung up, and he would never call
back."
According to Voswinkel, this pat-
tern was accidentally broken last se-
mester. A student received a call from
the suspect and, not suspecting his
intentions, was willing to comply with
the survey, but had to go to class. She
invited the caller to call her back when
she returned from class, which he did.
When the student reported the in-
cident to the Campus Police, they re-
alized they could trap the caller by
having students ask the caller to call
back at a more convenient time, and
then arranging to trace the second call.
They posted flyers encouraging stu-
dents to do this.
About two weeks ago, a student
received a call from the same man and
followed the Campus Police's sugges-
tions. The student signed a release form
thatgaveherpermission foratraptobe
set When the student received the
second call and recognized the suspect,
she noted the date and time of the call
and sent the information to South-
western Bell. Although the calls were
not made from a Southwestern Bell
telephone, Southwestern Bell worked
with Centel I'hone company to trace
the call.
Although Voswinkel felt confident
that the arrest of the suspect would
mark the end of this harassment epi-
sode, she encouraged students to report
any further obscene calls to the Cam-
pus Police. "Anytime anyone is both-
ered, be sure to call, and well be sure to
assist in anyway possible," she said.
"Even if it's nota matter we can address,
we can tell you at what point we can
address itand what thebest procedures
would be to follow in the meantime."
Voswinkel felt this episode would
make it even easier to set up a trap to
catch future obscene callers. "(The
Campus Police) have talked with the
phone company and worked out all the
bugs, trying to make it as simple as
possible," she said.
Voswinkel also emphasized that if
studentshave reported an offender and
the trap has been set, students can
hang up immediately upon receiving
the second call. They do not need to
spend any length of time talking with
the caller.
FEATURE
Gay Life
at Rice
See page 7
ELECTIONS
See page 9
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Zitterkopf, Ann & Howe, Harlan. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, February 14, 1992, newspaper, February 14, 1992; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245805/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.