The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 17, Ed. 1 Friday, January 28, 1994 Page: 2 of 20
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2 FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 1994 THE RICE THRESHER
OPINION
Good News
University improves with greater
attention to student concerns
The series of encouraging events of the past several weeks, and
especially this week, should not be allowed to slip by without praise.
They indicate that in some quarters, the administration is making
serious and concerted efforts to respond to student concerns. Most
encouraging of all is the possibility that this new responsiveness is
emanating directly from the president's office.
Topping recent weeks' headlines, the CPI tuition plan is a bold
measure for a new president's first year, demonstrating a commitment
to flexibility in dealing with the financial strains of the 1990s. We hope
similar creativity can be used to curb tuition growth overall and keep the
burden on students and their families more in line with the founder's
intentions.
Less manifestly concrete, but of great symbolic significance, was
President Gillis' letter to students explaining the tuition plan and the
tuition increase. This effort indicates a level of attention to individual
students' concerns that has seldom before in recent history been
demonstrated by the president's office of this university.
The new plan to bring college fire-alarm fines under control again
demonstrates an ability to compromise. The plan provides a more
equitable system that allows college governments to function with less
fear that their budgets will suddenly be sapped of critical funds. In this
plan, real college-life concerns are being addressed. The university
would do well to demonstrate this sort of openness in all of its dealings.
We hope that the meeting between Dean Currie and members of the
Brown Renovation Committee will also lead towards honest participa-
tion in the community consensus process.
The president's personal insistence on meeting with the Student
Association Senate on the issue of commencement speakers is another
W important develop-
ment in the life of the
pinions:
university commu-
nity.
Finally, this
week's approval of a
Mexican-American
History course was
made in direct an-
swer to student request, and in a manner timely enough to be really
useful to the students interested in the course. Although a small step,
and temporary, it again indicates a real interest in student concerns.
These responses demonstrate a flexibility and ingenuity that fits a
university of Rice's caliber well. A recognition of changing times and
needs is a hallmark of good leadership. This leadership must continue
to develop if Rice is to remain among the best universities in the world.
¥ A* The / | \| *f mncc
Rice 1 nresher
Kraettli Epperson, Peter Howiey
Editors-in-Chief
Shane A. Speciale
Business Manager
Melissa Williams
Sei Chong
David Hale
Vivek Rao
Jeremy Bogaisky
Joanna Winters
Christof Spieler
Tony Tram
Grant Flowers
Michael Gomez
Rachel Dornhelm
Amy Jeter
Eric Stotts
Kevin Mistry
Monica Weinheimer
Haley S. Robertson
Kathy 0*Steen
News Editor
Asst News Editor
Opinion Editor
Asst Opinion Editor
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Asst Arts & Entertainment Editor
Asst Arts & Entertainment Editor
Sports Editor
AsstSports Editor
Asst Sports Editor
Features Editor
Asst Features Editor
Baokpage Editor "
Production Manager
Photography Editor
Ads Manager
Asst Business Manager
The Rice Thresher, the official student newspaper at Wee University
since 1916, is published each Friday during the school year, except during
examination periods and holidays, by the students of Rice University.
Editorial and business offices are located on the second floor of the Ley
Student Center, P.O. Box 1892, Houston, Texas, 77251. Phone 527-4801.
e-mail: thresher@ricevmlxice.edu. Advertising information available on
request Mail subscription rate per semester $20.00 domestic, $40.00
international via first class maiL Non-subscription rate: first copy free,
second copy $1.00.
Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the Thresher
Editorial Staff. All other pieces represent the opinion of the author.
Obviously. © COPYRIGHT 1994
SOWOFTVOUGWV
HE PLACE
Perotian statistics more interesting
Schwartz poll yields startling results about people and graduate students at Rice
Jym
Schwartz
Did you know that 86 percent of
the people who read this sentence will
find a meaningless statistic in it? Which
is amazing considering that over 34
percent of those people can't even
read!
Many people think that statistics
aren't fun (much like flossing your cat
home-grown statistics and some
snappy pie charts.
So, without further ado, here is
another installment of Schwartz's In-
dex (yes, we've done this before):
< * Average number of
times a week a grad
student eats spaghetti: 4.8.
Average number of times a
week a grad student
eats: 5.2. *
and drinking brake fluid), but this is
simply untrue.
I think the rootofthis dislikecomes
from the assumption that statistics
have to be true. A^er all, who wants to
do research justfor acoupleofcrummy
numbers?
Thanks to Ross Perot, we now
know this is just not the case. You caij
prove anything you want with a few
• Average number of years it takes
to get a Ph.D. at Rice: 5.71.
• Average cost of a Ph.D. at Rice
(without housing and research):
$64,523.
• Average number of weeks it takes
to get a Ph.D. in Spiritual Counseling
from the Progressive Universal Life
Church: 4.26.
• Average cost of a Ph.D. from the
Progressive Universal Life Church:
$245.
• Average number of times aweek a
graduate student eats spaghetti: 4.8.
• Average number of times a week a
graduate student eats: 5.2.
• Total times I have eaten CK 11.
• Total times I wished I had not eaten
CK: 12.
• Letters the Thresher will receive
this semester about whether or not
commencement should begin at 11 in
the morning rather than 10 as it has
traditionally: 23.
• Letters the Thresher will receive
this semester about homelessness,
hunger and welfare: zero.
• People on campus who believe
Malcolm Gillis bears more than a pass-
ing resemblance to Boris Yeltsin:
4,596.
• Campus squirrel population: 6,628.
• Campus cockroach population:
45,962,659,742.
• Percent of roaches who live in the
tunnels: 82.
• Percent of grad students who live
in tunnels: 0.2. (This accounts for the
extra 0.4 times a week the average
grad student eats.)
• Roaches successfully stalked and
SEE STATISTICS, PAGE 5
Honor Council poll to probe cheating
Heather
Morschauser
The Honor Council Survey Com-
mittee will be conducting a survey in
the next few weeks. The purpose of
the survey is to gauge the sentiments
of the students and faculty regarding
certain issues which are crucial to
maintaining a working Honor Code.
domly selected, and all faculty will
receive a copy of a survey. It is neces-
sary that a high percentage of the
surveys sent out be returned for the
results to be considered viable.
In the past five years, two surveys
regarding academic honesty have
K'HONOR
COUNCIL
' In the past five years,
two surveys regarding
academic honesty have
been administered to the
Bice community. 9
Some issues which appear on the
survey include: the perceived effect of
the Honor System on the Rice envi-
ronment student and faculty confi-
dence in the ability of the Honor Coun-
cil to handle matters appropriately,
opinions on the current consensus
penalties and their ramifications and
the course of action one would pursue
upon witnessing a suspected viola-
tion.
With the help of Dr. Stephen
Klineberg, professor of sociology, the
survey will be conducted completely
anonymously and in a scientific man-
ner that will produce accurate,credible
results. ■
Five hundred students will be ran-
been administered to the Rice com-
munity.
The first was released in the spring
of 1989 by then-senior and editor of
the Thresher Michael Raphael. The
survey was unscientific, and only 24
percent of the 550 seniors polled re-
sponded.
Although unreliable, Raphael's
findings proved to be controversial, as"
his survey found a large percentage of
those who did respond had broken
the Honor Code at least once during
their Rice careers.
The other survey conducted was a
scientific survey administered by
Donald McCabe of Rutgers Univer-
sity. McCabe's survey was launched
nationwide in the fall of 1990 in an
attempt to determine the percentage
of students who cheat and in what
forms these violations occur.
Thirty-one universities were in-
cluded in McCabe's survey, 14 schools
with honor codes and 17 without Rice
proved to have a smaller percentage
of students cheating on tests and non-
test assignments than most other
schools, especially those without
honor codes.
Hopefully the survey we are ad-
ministering will give council mem
bers as well as the Rice community a
better feel for the strengths and weak-
nesses of the present Honor Code.
The Honor Council feels that if we
do not examine our current practices
in an attempt to improve them, we are
not fulfilling our responsibilities as a
council
If the results of the survey illus-
trate that peopje feel that the current
system works well, wecaji be satisfied *
with thfe status quo. However, if the
percentages show otherwise, we will
at least know where students and fac-
ulty want us to begin in improving the
system.
If you have any questions or com-
ments regarding this survey, please
feel free to contact any Honor Council
member with your thoughts.
Heather Morschauser is a member of
the Honor Council and a Wiess College
sophomore.
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Howley, Peter & Epperson, Kraettli. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 17, Ed. 1 Friday, January 28, 1994, newspaper, January 28, 1994; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245890/m1/2/?q=%22%22~1: accessed June 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.