The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 16, Ed. 1 Friday, January 21, 1994 Page: 1 of 20
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Rice 1 nresher
VOLUME 81, NUMBER 16
BRING PINEAPPLE
JANUARY 21, 1994
Elizabeth Dole named to speak at 1994 commencement
by Ryan Koopmans
American Red Cross President
Elizabeth Dole has been chosen to
speak at Rice's 1994 commencement.
Her selection marks the fourth year a
major political figure has highlighted
the ceremony—and possibly the last
President Gillis has said he wishes
to limit the practice of having outside
graduation speakers, said SA Presi-
dent Julia Farnham.
Dole was secretary of transporta-
tion in the Reagan administration and
secretary of labor for President Bush.
She graduated from Duke Univer-
sity in 1958and studied lawatHarvard
University.
Dole was named one of the world's
10 most admired women in a 1988
Gallup poll,and is married to U.S. Sen.
Robert Dole, minority leader from
Kansas.
Farnham said Gillis would prefer
to have outside speakers only when it
would be mutually convenient for the
speaker and Rice.
Also, there is little to lure potential
speakers because Rice does not give
honorary degrees or speaking fees,
unlike other universities. It also is a
relatively small audience for a public
speaker.
Gillis will speak to the SA Senate in
a closed meeting Jan. 31 to discuss
curtailing the practice of outside gradu-
ation speakers.
Farnham urges students to talk to
their SA senators if they feel strongly
about this issue.
"Don't get annoyed next year, get
annoyed this year and do something
about it," she said.
Former President Jimmy Carter
spoke last year, German IVesident
Richard von Weizsacker spoke the
year before that, and former Secre-
tary of State James A Baker 111 spoke
in 1991.
Carter is a friend of Board of Gov-
ernors Chairman Charles W. Dun-
can. Weizsacker was in the United
States for a speaking tour and was
looking for a Southwestern stop.
Baker has longtime family ties to
the university. Dole is a friend of Gil-
Members of the Rice community remember the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at a candlelight vigil Monday evening. This
year was the first time students were given an academic holiday in honor of the slain civil rights leader.
by Michael Nimri
For the first time in university history, Rice students
were excused from classes Monday to commemorate
the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Events
include^ a candlelight vigil and noon ceremony, at
which President Malcolm Gillis announced a new uni-
versity position to oversee the recruitment and reten-
tion of minority students.
King's birthday has been a national holiday, cel-
ebrated the third Monday of January, since 1986.
The push for Rice to observe of
the holiday originated as a petition
in the English Department during
the fall of 1992. An ad hoc commit-
tee recommended to then-Presi-
dent George Ruppthatan academic
holiday be observed;
Rupp approved the addition of
the holiday to the 1994-95and 1995-
96 calendars, which extend winter
break an extra week past this year's
calendar. The spring semester will
begin on Tuesday, the day after
King Day, and the fall semester will continue an extra
week in December, according to next year's tentative
calendar.
This means many students might not bother to take
the time to celebrate amid settling back into school. But
according to Robert Curl, a chemistry professor and
member of last year's ad hoc committee, the important
thing is that Wee recognized the importance of the
holiday by giving students the freedom to celebrate it.
For staff, the holiday was considered last year by the
Benefit Time Committee, created to reform policies on
staff sick leave and vacation. Human Resources Direc-
tor Caroline Garcia, who chaired the committee,said
The MLK Jr. holiday
celebrates those unsung
heroes and heroines who
struggle, suffer, perservere.'
— Coretta Scott King
quoted by Jason Jones
the King holiday was one of about 40 holidays under
consideration. She said a new policy this year gives staff
the option of taking the day off and subtracting it from
a fixed number of free days available for the year.
This year, some Student Association senators plan
to sponsor a resolution recommending that staff offi-
cially get the day off as well.
"The whole purpose is to celebrate what Martin
Luther King did and fought for, that can.*t be done
effectively if the entire university can't take part in it,"
said Will Rice College Sen. Becky Almageur.
A "Noon Day Celebration" in Alice Pratt Brown Hall
was sponsored by Shades, a Shepherd School organiza-
tion promoting the study of ethni-
cally diverse music; the Black Stu-
dent Association and the Shepherd
School Student Council About 100
students, faculty and community
members of all ethnic backgrounds
attended.
Michael Hammond, dean of the
Shepherd School of Music, intro-
duced Gillis at the celebration, say-
ing Gillis had been "atthe forefront
of efforts to recruit and to keep in
—————— the Duke community members of
the minority community at all levels." Gillis was dean of
the faculty of arts and sciences at Duke University
before he came to Rice.
Gillis has already taken steps at Rice showing that
he plans to continue that agenda, Hammond said.
In his speech, Gillis announced plans to create an
' associate provost position, which would coordinate the
recruitment and retention of minority students, both
undergraduate and graduate.
He said outside foundation money enabled him to
create the position, which was partly in response to a
faculty and staffreportgiven to Rupp two years ago. The
report requested the position and accompanying re-
SEE KINO PAGE 9
lis.
The process for selecting an out-
side graduation speaker includes a
student poll and then submission of
the top name from that poll to the
president's office, Farnham said.
She said this year's choice of stu-
dents was actor Robin Williams, a
choice frowned upon by the adminis-
tration.
Former President George Bush
was an option in the poll, butFarnham
said he received few votes because
security requirements would limit at-
tendance to two visitors per graduat-
ing student
Rice's 81st commencement exer-
cises will be held May 7 in the main
academic quadrangle.
Elizabeth Dole
Students pleased with
Gillis' tuition program
by Patricia Lin
Reaction to President Malcolm Gil-
lis' fixed-tuition plan has been favor-
able, although many have voiced con-
cerns over the exclusion of graduate
students from the benefits.
The plan, announced last week,
calls for a fixed rate of $10,400 in
tuition for students matriculating in
August, with adjustments to be made
according to inflation rates indicated
by the Consumer Price Index.
Tuition for continuing students will
increase $500 per year for the remain-
der oftheir enrollment This plan does
not apply to graduate students, who
will see their tuition go up $1,000 in
the coming year.
The plan was designed to provide
a more reliable estimate of the costs of
a Rice education for middle-class fami-
lies.
Directorof Admission Julie Brown-
ing said the plan will attract more
applicants. "We can now say with con-
fidence how much a family can expect
to spend over the course of a Rice
career," she said.
"USA Today was pretty positive
about it in their article, and I think it's
a good thing that the university has
taken a long-range look at where it's
going and how it's going to get there
financially," Browning said.
"With this financial plan, families
should be more able to plan for the
future and be sure that Rice will con-
tinueto be considerably less than other
major schools."
Students in general were support-
ive of the plan, though some wished
that current undergraduates cou Id get
in on the new policy. "I think it's a
great concept, but I'd really like to see
it applied to upperclassmen, too," said
Baker College freshman Preston
Evans.
"Being one of those people who
missed out on the CPI plan, I feel a bit
cheated, but I know that innovation
has its place and I know that it will
work out for the university and the
student body," said Sid Richardson
SEE rumON PAGE 8
Rice student survives
shaky job interview
by Chad Carson
Editor's note: Brown College senior
Chad Carson was in Southern Califor-
nia this week for a job interview when
the earthquake struck there. The follow-
ing is his experience.
PASADENA Calif. — I'm still not
quite sure what woke me up — the
noise or the motion. All I know is that
at 4:31 in the morning I felt as if the
whole world were moving.
I figured I
was either sick
or dreaming, but
when I noticed
that the coat
hangers in the
closet were rat-
tling violently and I remembered I
was in IA I finally realized what was
going on.
I was in the middle of an earth-
quake.
A thought came out from some-
where in the back of my mind—stand
under a doorway. I got out of bed,
went to the door and waited for the
quake to stop.
And waited. And waited. After a
PERSONAL
ACCOUNT
few more seconds I was conscious
enough to think beyond the very next
moment and then I started to worry.
The worst feeling of all came after
I had been standing in the doorway for
quite a while and the motion was not
stopping.
Even though it only lasted about
30 seconds where I was, it seemed
like much longer. I was afraid that
what I was feeling was just the begin-
ning and that the quake would con-
tinue to increase in intensity.
The motion went against one of
the most basic human instincts—that
SEE QUAKE PAGE 9
Features
Alumnus
rescues
youth
10
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Howley, Peter & Epperson, Kraettli. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 16, Ed. 1 Friday, January 21, 1994, newspaper, January 21, 1994; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245863/m1/1/: accessed June 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.