The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 6, Ed. 1 Friday, September 25, 1992 Page: 9 of 20
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NEWS
THE RICE THRESHER FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1992 9
Students devise creative
dates for Screw Yer
Roommate dance
by Terzah Ewing
Landmarks such as Sewall Courtyard, Mecom Fountain, and Willy's
Statue took on new significance for many Rice students last Saturday
night For these people, such spots changed from mere sights to walk
past into the places where the anonymous and in some cases ominous
identity of their blind dates would finally be revealed.
This unveiling was only the beginning of the evening for the
participants in the second annual Rice Program Council "Screw Yer
Roommate" dance. For many, it was also the most exciting part of the
evening, as concocting devilish meeting schemes became the quest of
many scheming roommates.
liie varieties of rendez-vous ranged from simply romantic meetings
at the Fairy Fountain to obscene question/answer sessions conducted
at the Fondren Reference Desk.
Men were told to seek out mysterious women clutching red roses
or sporting strange masks, while women searched crowds of potential
dates for a special man wearing a hat that matched theirs.
A Brown freshman followed printed clues directing her from the
library to Will Rice to Sewall Hall where she finally encountered her
date, who had also been searching all over campus.
Animal noises were popular as a humiliating recognition tactic.
Various anonymous students barked like dogs, oinked like pigs, and
mooed like cows until put out of their misery by their dates.
Even more bizarre stories were told.
His roommate directed a Lovett senior to the posh River Oaks movie
theaterwith directions to approach every young woman he saw and say
"Ex-squeeze me?" The right girl, he was told, would respond.
Also circulating was the tale of a girl who was given a key and a call
number and sent to Fondren. Upon traveling to the stacks in search of
the correct book, she discovered her date hand-cuffed to the bookshelf.
For most of the couples, the evening settled down once they had
found one another, and they settled into their orchestrated dinners,
their picnics on one of the university's plush lawns, or their rambles
among the live oaks north of Lovett Hall. Some dined in one of the city's
many restaurants, while others ate outside on the roof of a college.
All finished the evening at the party in the Grand Hall of the Rice
Memorial Center. The dance floor featured a laser show much like last
year's and the DJs hired by the RPC played music in blocks to satisfy
the varied tastes of the eclectic crowd. Those who chose not to dance
mingled with friends, sharing stories of the evening's adventures and
catching up with usually reclusive acquaintances.
Though the evening was not generally a grand romantic revelation
for most students, most felt that a new friend had been made and an
evening well spent.
Graduate Student Association VP resigns
by Melissa Williams
Dirk Valk, vice president of the
Graduate Student Association, re-
signed last Thursday and withdrew
from Rice University after accepting
a job with Digicon Geophysical Cor-
poration.
"1 was made a pretty lucrative
offer that gave me the chance to do a
lot of things that I enjoy and are
priorities in my life," said Valk. "1
took it because it was cool, not be-
cause I was dissatisfied with Rice."
Valk said the GSA would likely
experience some short-term difficul-
ties without a vice president.
" I kind of sprung this on the GSA,
and I kind of feel bad about that," he
said.
Valk said the chief duty of the vice
president is to coordinateGSA social
'I took [the offer]
because it was cool,
not because I was
dissatisfied with Rice.'
—Dirk Valk
functions." It's a great position to be
in, because by running the grad stu-
dent social events, you meet a lot of
grad students. It's also a position
where you can see the beneficial ef-
fects of what you do. It's a rush, a
good feeling."
A replacement for Valk will be
chosen by the GSA council's vote at
the next GSA meeting, Oct. 15. GSA
President Joseph Elias said tradition-
ally the vice president has had expe-
rience on the council, but that "I'd
like to see someone from...the gen-
eral graduate student community"
express interest in the position.
Valk was president of the GSA
last year. "I think he's done a good
job in the past, as president," Elias
said.
"He's going to be greatly
missed...he did a great job," said
Umbe Cantu, Department of Space
Physics and Astronomy secretary.
Koppel
FROM PAGE 7
"The people with savvy who were
well organized and who were going
to use this show to advance their
political agenda were the ones who
got to the mikes first," said consult-
ing University Relations Director
Greg Marshall.
KTRU general manager Heidi
Bullinga echoed the disappointment
with the questions. "I wish more stu-
dents had had the opportunity to ask
questions. They would have been a
lot better and not so politically ori-
ented." No one from Rice's largest
media outlet, KTRU, received an in-
vitation to attend.
Despite being near the frontof his
line, veteran gay rights activist Ray
Hill was not able to ask his question,
which he said had to do with the
Republican tactic of attacking the
media. "Every time I was first in line
to speak, a Republican got in line
ahead of me," he said.
The Nightline producers contend
that their floor managers only se-
lected questioners towards the end
of the program when Koppel specifi-
cally asked for questions directed at
Phil Donahue and Larry King, who
had not had much opportunity to
speak. Hill remarked that the ques-
tions asked by those who bumped
him were not specifically directed at
these two panelists. The partisans
effectively used the situation to again
advance their agendas.
Shadforth thought an important
topic was glossed over. During the
discussion, analyst Jeff Greenfield
explained that the function of jour-
nalists was to pick and choose impor-
tant facts among a vast amount of
information, and in doing so they
must exhibit acertain amount of bias.
"An obvious follow-up to this
would have been to ask, who desig-
nates this role?" said Shadforth. "Who
sets the norms and standards and
regulates the behavior, when the
work of journalists has agreat deal of
influence on American democracy?"
She found it "regrettable" that the
questions were not more carefully
controlled in order to produce a more
productive forum. "I realize that's a
catch-22. If the producers screen
questions, they face the accusation
that they are controlling their own
criticism," she said.
Will Rice freshman David Rhodes,
the one Rice student who was able to
ask a question, also thought that the
producers should have exhibited
more control. The program would
have been much more interesting for
the audience if they'd had a tighter
grip," he said.
In her column, Hodges quoted
Koppel as saying "I'm leaning in the
direction of, you've got to organize
them more. But I just felt that on this
topic, picking the questions would
make it too orchestrated."
Nelson said he was "very pleased"
with the show, adding that "as is the
case with all these broadcasts, there
is never enough time to get in all the
questions one could ask."
He said that Nightline received
excellent support from the univer-
sity, citing state-of-the-art facilities
and full support from MacDowcll,
Marshall, and Shepherd School Dean
Michael Hammond.
Since only one Rice student man-
aged to ask a question, the content of
the show is not likely to reflect on the
university. MacDowell called the
event "a significant plus," saying that
Nightline "reaches the kind of view-
ers we want to know about Rice."
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Kim, Leezie & Carson, Chad. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 6, Ed. 1 Friday, September 25, 1992, newspaper, September 25, 1992; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245819/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.