The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 3, Ed. 1 Friday, September 3, 1993 Page: 7 of 16
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NEWS
THE RICE THRESHER FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 1993 7
Third of social fees won't pay for alcohol
by Keith Hoffman
College presidents are confident
that this year will include plenty of
flowing taps at the residential colleges,
even though students can now decide
whether their social fee can be used
for alcohol.
"1 don't foresee any shortcomings
in our funds for alcohol," said Lovett
College PresidentClint Patterson. "We
actually have a surplus now."
"We have at least the same amount
[of money for alcohol], if not more
than in previous years," said Audrey
Chun, president of Jones College.
The change was part of Rice's deci-
sion to notallowuniversityfundstobe
used for alcohol, for liability reasons.
The $15 college social fee has in
past years been collected through the
cashier's office, making it a university
fee. By collecting the fee themselves,
colleges can continue to use it for
alcohol.
The fee was collected when resi-
dents picked up their keys. Most stu-
dents designated then whether alco-
•hol could be purchased with their fee.
But Jones, Wiess College, and Will
Rice College decided otherwise —
and Lovett College forgot to ask its
freshmen entirely. Jones is nowusing
available social fees for alcohol and
will have members designate their
preferences when the fee is collected.
But Jones won't allow freshmen to
designate their funds for alcohol.
A clause in the alcohol policy pre-
vents a college from denying students'
right to prohibitusing their money for
alcohol, but nothing prevents Jones
from going the other direction.
"Since none of [the incoming fresh-
men] came in as 21 year olds, we
didn't feel the need to give them a
choice," Chun said.
She ^aid Jones doesn't buy as much
alcohol for parties as other colleges,
so the loss of freshman social fee was
an affordable one.
At Wiess, the social fee money is
going into the general budget
"Any money collected by the col-
lege can be used for alcohol," said
Wiess President Celeste Campbell.
"We're going to use our [Night of
Decadence] proceeds for our operat-
ing budget for alcohol."
"[Using the NOD proceeds] is
easier than worrying about the social
fee or non-drinkers or those under-
age," Campbell said. "It's not always
fair to ask them to contribute to things
like that"
WRC is mailing memos on which
students will indicate their prefer-
ences.
As a result, the college doesn't yet
know how much alcohol money it will
have, said President Merritt
McKinney.
"When our freshmen came in, I
think we didn't tell our freshmen,"
said Anita Kuo, Lovett treasurer. "I
had forgotten about the option."
Kuo said she plans to send out
forms for freshmen to sign.
Preliminary data from college presi-
dents indicates that less than a third of
students chose to designate their fees
for non-alcoholic use only, leaving suf-
ficient funds for alcohol expenses.
Brown College President Rachele
Harless said about 50 percent of in-
coming freshmen — but only 10 per-
cent of upperclassman — designated
their funds for non-alcoholic use.
Other colleges appear to have fared
similarly. Patterson said Lovett does
not have a tally yet, but is "estimating
that no one has designated [the fee]
for non-alcohol use."
WRCTreasurer Kerry Brandt said
she estimated 300 of WRC's 340 or so
members would designate their funds
for alcohol.
"We've tried to make it clear that
not all the money will be spent on
alcohol," Brandt added.
Hanszen College President Kara
Kane said, "Out of $6,000, at least
$1,300 was not to go.for alcohol. We
figured we would have enough even if
it was just the random 21 year olds
Alcohol and college funds
21 and over: Did you designate your social fee for alcohol?
No: 17.1%
HHH
Under 21: Did you designate your social fee for alcohol?
No: 26.2%
oV.vXv.v.v.
What affect will the fee change have on college social life?
Very positive
Positve
No change
Negative
Very negative
How much do you drink?
Great deal
Very much
Moderate
Not very much
Not at all
21 and over
2%
11%
64%
18%
5%
5%
18%
25%
27%
24%
under 21
6%
19%
50%
13%
11%
2%
13%
30%
21%
34%
Erratum
The Rice Thresher incorrectly reported last week that a man was able
to access Rice's mainframe through an improper security setting. In
fact, the man gained access through user identification information
inadvertently left on the system. The Thresher regrets the error.
that designated yes."
Baker College is currently short
on general social funds, said Presi-
dent Steve Graham, but has plenty of
funds available for alcohol.
"We were hoping for a 50-50 split
[between alcohol and non-alcohol or]
$2,325 for alcohol. We passed that on
alcohol, but all in all we have not col-
lected as much as expected," Graham
said.
Baker expected to receive $4,650
from the social fee. But because of
problems collecting from off-campus
students, Graham said, the college
has only received $3750.
While more than $2,665 in fees has
been earmarked for alcohol, leaving
no problem with funds for alcohol,
Baker is still $900 short
Graham said though the fee could
be collected through the cash ier, "we'll
wait a little bit because if it's done that
way, [the fees collected by the cash-
ier] can't be used for alcohol."
Chun said, "About two-thirds [of
upperclassmen] designated that we
could spend [their fees] on alcohol,"
leaving Jones with sufficient alcohol
funds.
"1 think [the collection] is going to
go really smoothly. We haven't had
anyone refusing to pay their social
fee," Chun said.
Problems that d id surface centered
around collecting the fee from off-
campus students, Brandt said.
If off-campus students don't ask
for a mailbox key or an exterior key,
then the colleges will be forced to
collect the fee through the cashier.
"Some people are a little surprised
when they have to pay the fee. Some
people area little indignant," Patterson
said.
He said most people were under-
standing once they realized their stu-
dent activities fee was reduced to com-
pensate.
Wiess College avoided any pos-
sible conflict by requiring the fee for
membership in the college, Campbell
said.
Fists of fury
r
Ray Nelson demonstrates his talents in the Grand Hall on Tuesday.
SA Business
The Student Association Senate met Aug. 30. The following were
discussed:
• Michael Woodbury and Chad Fatgason have been appointed to the
search committee for a vice president for student affairs.
• GregMarshall, direct'orof UniversityRelations, spoke about founding
a select group of about 48 students to be trained as designated
"Rice representatives." They would meet visitors to Rice and
perform duties like picking up visitors and driving them to hotels.
• The Senate acknowledged the Pub's financial difficulties and
discussed establishing a committee to evaluate the Pub's efficiency.
• Inauguration Weekend forRice President Malcolm Gillis is set forthe
weekend of Oct. 31.
• The Great American Picnic, jointly sponsored by the SAand the Rice
Program Council, will be held today from 5 to 7 p.m.
Next meeting: Sept. 13 at 10 p.m. in Kelley Lounge
— compiled by Chris Backers
ATTENTION
SENIORS!
Pick up your 1994 class
rings in the
Rice Memorial Center
September 8th
9:00 AM-4:00 PM
in front of the
Rice Campus Store
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Howley, Peter & Epperson, Kraettli. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 3, Ed. 1 Friday, September 3, 1993, newspaper, September 3, 1993; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245845/m1/7/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.