The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, November 5, 1993 Page: 6 of 20
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Rice University Woodson Research Center.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
6 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5,1993 THE RICE THRESHER
NEWS
UH students polled want athletics, but don't go to games
by Sei Chong
A recent student poll shows Uni-
versity of Houston students support
athletics by a margin of nearly 3 to 1,
but few attend athletic events.
The poll found that 64 percent of
students disagree with a faculty rec-
THE HEDGES
ommendation to dismantle UH's ath-
letic program, but 63.8 percent have
never attended a UH intercollegiate
athletic event
The telephone poll, conducted by
UH sociologists, gauged student re-
sponse to the faculty resolution. The
UH Faculty Senate voted on the re so-
lution last month, which passed 25-15.
Poor graduation rates of athletes
and unfairly high athletic-staff sala-
ries are among the complaints of the
UH faculty.
Senate President George Reiter
said he will meet with Athletic Direc-
tor Bill Carr about graduation rates of
UH studentathletes,whatbecomesof
former UH athletes who dont make
the professional teams and the pros-
pects of UH athletics "paying for it-
self."
Source: Houston Chronicle, Oct.
28
Female students want support
A committee at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has is-
sued a report recommending the en-
gineering program create a more sup-
portive environment for female stu-
dents and faculty.
The committee, headed by com-
puter science Professor Marianne
Winslett, was commissioned by Engi-
neering Dean William Schowalter last
semester to examine the status of
women faculty and graduate students
in the College of Engineering.
Female students have said the en-
vironment in the engineering program
is not conducive to women. There are
fewfemale professors,and femalestu-
dents report that their professors gen-
erally ignore them in class. Other com
plaints include pornographic material
on computer systems and sexual ha-
rassment
One ofthe suggestions ofthecom
mittee is to publicize the university's
sexual harassment policy and explain
how it applies to computer usage in
open laboratories. Committee mem
bers have seen some "grassroots re-
sistance" to the regulation of porno-
graphic material in computer labora-
tories, even though the recommenda-
tion falls under the university's sexual
harassment policy, Winslett said.
"It's certainly true that the univer-
sity does not have the right to ban free
speech... but from U.S. law, there are
restrictions on things that are harass-
ing to other oeople," she said.
Other recommendations include
improving access to women's
restrooms by displaying signs, dis-
tributing fliers to teaching assistants
of "do's and donts" when working
with women and establishing a men-
tor program for all new faculty and
female engineering graduate students.
Winslett said she had ideas for a
long-term plan to raise both the num-
ber of female students and faculty in
the engineering college to 20 percent
by 2000. The current national average
of female engineering students is
about 15 percent of undergraduates
and 13 percent of graduate students.
The female faculty average is about 4
percent of all faculty.
Some have suggested separate
classes and programs for women, but
Schowalter said, "You have to ask to
what degree do you want separation.
There's a range of opinions, but one
has to be cautious that you don't end
up being counterproductive."
"While we want to do things for
women in engineering, we don't want
to make women appear fragile. We
need to figure out a way to make
[programs] broader," said Associate
Dean Roscoe Pershing.
Source: Daily Illini, University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Oct. 29
UT settles Title IX suit
The University of Texas at Austin
officially settled a Title IX lawsuit re-
quiring the university to increase var-
sity-level teams for women by 1996.
U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks
signed the agreement for both parties
on Oct 25. g
Seven female UT athletes in July
1992 filed the lawsuit against the uni-
versity, claiming the university dis-
criminated against them by denying
varsity intercollegiate athletic oppor-
tunities to females.
The students filed the suit under
federal Title IX regulations requiring
universities to reach athletic partici-
pation levelsproportional to a school's
enrollment
The terms of the agreement re-
quired the university to achieve a rate
of no less than 44 percent female var-
sity participation in UT athletic pro-
grams by the 1995-96 academic year.
Other terms include the institution of
a women's varsity soccer team by the
fall of 1994 and a women's varsity
softball team by 1995-96.
The details of the settlement were
revealed in July, when the university
was found to have violated Title IX of
the 1972 Education Amendments to
the U.S. Constitution and the Equal
Protection Clause of the 14th Amend-
ment
Source: The Daily Texan, Univer-
sity of Texas at Austin, Oct. 26
Ranking
FROM PAGE 1
"We know that Rice isn't an easy
school and we took the quality of the
student body into consideration while
we were ranking the schools," Hsu
said.
The magazine used the percent-
ages of entering freshman who even-
tually graduate to compute the rank-
ing, he said.
Rice's surprise inclusion in Inside
Edge has been noted by more than
students here—The Associated Press
picked up on the story, as did the
Houston Chronicle and Houston Post.
The Houston Post got the wire
release, circled Wee's name, wrote
'Are they kidding?' in large letters
underneath it and faxed it right over
to me," said Rice News and Publica-
tions Director Michael Berryhill.
Reaction on campus has ranged
from laughter to annoyance.
"I think it focuses some good at-
tention on Rice. You cant deny that
Rice is fun. Anytime you have a group
of smart students, there are going to
be whimsical events," Berryhill said.
"In fact the number of W-jinks go-
ing on has probably risen at Rice over
the past 20 years. People tend to think
that students here are glum and glued
to their books, but that's entirely the
wrong conception," he said.
StudentAssociation PresidentJulia
Farnham and Rice Program Council
President Lee Hsia agreed.
"It seems trendy to be a bitter and
plaintive about life while we're in col-
lege, but how can you say that Rice
isnt fun?" Farnham asked.
"Think about college nights and
MOB and all the organizations here
which don't take themselves too seri-
ously and know how to have a good
time. This is a playful and sarcastic
campus and that's what makes it such
a nice place."
' Hsia, Who has already been inter-
viewed by KRLD news radio in Dallas
and Channel 13 about the ranking,
attributes Rice's high ranking in the
survey to the amount and quality of
activities available to students.
"We're a small school, but we have
the same number of activities as the
large state schools, so everyone can
participate but still keep their identi-
ties," Hsia said.
"Our formal dances have among
the highest turnouts in the nation, and
you can't discount the fun of Beer-
Bike."
"The students here do have fun,"
said Student Activities Director Sarah
Nelson Crawford.
"We try hard to help them find a
balance, and then they see that books
aren't the entirety of the Rice experi-
ence."
Some were more frustrated with
the magazine's light treatment of Rice
academics.
"What do they know about aca-
demics at Rice?" Berryhill asked. "We
it
OffSEWE
5092 Richmond /we.
(Between 610 StSqge)
Houston TX 77C06
(70)621-2888
<Sc
<>/
Our Homestyle Chinese Food
is prepared in minutes
and served half self service...no tips!
Enjoy 40 entrees under $5.95
at our new location only
six miles from Rice.
Free soft drink with Rice ID!
Expires 12/31/93
have a high graduation rate because
we recruit students who are suited to
the university. Many of the large state
schools fail in this respect because
they enroll many part-time or return-
ing students who probably never will
receive a degree."
The land of people we want are
quite sophisticated," said Admissions
Director Julie Browning.
"Hopefully they and their families
do not base decisions on surveys like
this.Wedonteven publicize \heMoney
and U.S. News and World Report
rankings because it's so easy to misin-
form in surveys by misinterpreting
statistics."
She said most universities cringe
when popular magazines try to rank
them
"You really can't compare campus
life in a linear ranking of fun. It's like
adding apples and oranges. You'll
never get a good evaluation."
Inside Edge is no newcomer to the
college experience. It was started by
two Harvard University seniors, Hsu
and Publisher Aaron M. Shapiro.
Harvard, incidentally, ranked just
122nd.
In a staff column, Inside Edge de-
scribes itself as "amagazine for twenty-
something guys that isn't afraid to say
where it's really at"
Where it's at these days seems to
be the bedroom — other stories in
this issue include "10 Sex Command-
ments" and a column called "Ask
Monique" in which a busty, pouty
redhead answers readers' questions
about women and sex.
The magazine is distributed by
Time Warner Publications in the
United States and 23 foreign coun-
tries. This issue is only its second.
Hsu said reaction to the survey has
been positive. "The schools in our list
love it. We're getting pictures of huge
throngs of people from Florida State
holding signs that read 'We're num-
ber one!' and mock celebratory pho-
tos of students from Chicago reading
We're not that bad!*"
Chicago was deemed the "worst
place to go to school ever," because of
"impossible classes, a freezing cold
campus in the middle of a slum and a
student body with no athletic inclina-
tion."
"We didnt expect such aresponse;
we kind of figured it would just go out
and that would be that, but Bernard
Shaw was chuckling about it all night
on CNN the other night We're ex-
cited about it and we expect to keep it
up every year," Hsu said.
He had some final advice for Rice
readers: "You really should take this
thing with a grain of salt In fact, you
should take the whole magazine with
a grain of salt It's all in fun and quite
un-PC. Life is too short to worry about
what to say and what to do."
"But it's nice to see schools like
Rice and Georgetown ranking so high.
It shows that you don't have to be a
dumb jock school to haveagood party
scene."
Copy
FROM PAGE 1
easier for the department secretar-
ies."
The copy center's hours will the
same as those of Fondren Library.
Because of this, the Copy Club will
sell books for Continuing Studies
courses, Rawlings said.
"Most Continuing Studies students
cant come to the campus bookstore
because it's only open duringworking
hours," Rawlings said. "The Copy Club
can accommodate them"
Hsia said he thinks prices would
be slightly higher at the Rice center
than at other Copy Club branches.
But Rawlings stressed that prices
would have to be competitive because
of other copy services in the nearby
Village, including Kinko's.
Copy Club account executive Bill
Loftis declined to comment on the
decision, citing the recent nature of
the project
As for future privitization on cam-
pus, Hsia said the Rice Memorial Cen-
ter is considering a privately run col-
lection of small restaurant "The RPC
is researching the idea along with the
student center," said Hsia, "but the
final decision would be Marion Hicks'
and Food and Housing's."
GSA Business
The Graduate Student Association met Oct. 21. The following were
discussed:
• Justin McMorrow, from the United Way, and Cliff Bunner, from
Juvenile Court Volunteers, spoke as part ofthe current United Way
drive at Rice. The United Way is a national organization that raises
money to support charities. Juvenile Court Volunteers, a United Way
member charity, pairs volunteers with Juvenile offenders. For more
information contact Bunner at 521-4162 or Monnie McGee
(rrjcgee@stat), For information about United Way call 685-2300.
• The Development Office has raised $10,000 for graduate student
scholarships that should be available within two years.
• President Gillis will speak at the Jan. 20 GSA meeting. All graduate
students are encouraged to attend.
• The GSA will provide Thanksgiving dinner to students unable to go
home for the holiday. To help contact Tedi Overfelt or Peggy Hunter
to sign up.
• Graduate housing survey results are being tabulated; results will be
available at the next meeting. More than 600 were returned.
• The GSA voted to support opening the Rice chapel for non-Rice
weddings, provided the public will only have limited access.
• The GSA will be looking for a Yellow Pages Editor soon. If interested,
contact Joseph Elias.
• The council allocated $35 for a tricycle for Tea-Trike, $50 to the
Economics Department for a party and $225 to the housing survey
committee for copying costs and a party for all volunteers.
• ' The year was finished within bugdet. The GSA spent $470.10 on
Yellow Pages, $3,440.50 on social activities, $317.50 from the
discretionary fund and $472.46 oh miscellany.
Next meeting: Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. in the Rice Memorial Center's Miner
Lounge.
Crime on campus
Academic BuNdintfi
Oct. 20 at 12 p.m. - Oct. 24 at 2:10 a.m.
Oct. 29 between 12:15 and 2:45 p.m.
Colleges
Oct. 19 between 7 and 9 p.m.
PaiMngtots
Oct. 22 at 4 p.m. • Oct. 24 at 6 p.m.
Oct. 30 between 1:35 and 1:45 a.m.
Ldcked bike stolen from rack
Unlocked bike stolen from stairwell
Bike stolen from rack
Registration sticker stolen from license
Rock thrown at vehicle
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Howley, Peter & Epperson, Kraettli. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 11, Ed. 1 Friday, November 5, 1993, newspaper, November 5, 1993; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245853/m1/6/?rotate=90: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.