The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, February 11, 1994 Page: 8 of 20
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8 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 11,1994 THE RICE THRESHER
NEWS
Campus crime rose last year in nation's largest universities
by Sei Chong
The cost of college went up last
year in more ways than one. Tuitions
rose — and so did the toll of campus
crime.
THE HEDGES
According to The Chronicle of
Higher Education, the incidence of
reported robberies, auto thefts and
assaults rose at the nation's largest
colleges last year, while burglaries
and murders dropped slightly.
The Chronicle tabulated figures
from 774 of the roughly 900 U.S. insti-
tutions of higher education with 5,000
or morestudents.Those schools were
requ ired by the Student Right-to-Know
and Campus Security Act of 1990 to
pu blish annual crime reports. To date,
the law has covered the 1991-92 and
1992-93 school years.
Rice's crime rates were published
in the Rice News.
During 1992-93, reports of robber-
ies climbed 12 percent over the previ-
ous year, to 1,353; auto thefts (7,350)
and aggravated assaults (3J224) both
rose 3 percent Burglaries (21,748)
declined 4 percent, and the number of
murders dropped slightly from 18 to
17.
The schools also reported 466
rapes and 448 forcible sex offenses in
1992-93, but the statistics can't be com-
pared with the previous year because
of a shift in the way information on
campus sex crimes was collected.
At Rice, robberies (one) stayed the
same and aggravated assaults dropped
from four to two. Auto thefts dropped
from 19to 17,and burglaries increased
from 31 to 34.
There were no murders either year.
One nonforcible rape was reported at
Rice, compared with no forcible or
nonforcible rapes the year before.
Higher-education experts warn
that many schools underreport crime
to avoid sullying their images. Still,
the numbers are revealing.
Top students, for example, might
want to consider the numbers of
crimes reported last year at Princeton
(51), Harvard (195), Stanford (244)
and Yale (352) universities. Yale ranks
among the most crime-plagued cam-
puses.
The good news is that the law re-
quiring colleges to publish their sta-
tistics is encouraging tighter security.
Safety experts say schools have added
police officers, improved lighting, ex-
panded escort services and toughened
security in student residences by in-
stalling electromagnetic locks—all of
which may be paying dividends.
The schools in the Chronicle sur-
vey reported a 46 percent rise in cam-
pus dnig arrests in 1992-93 and a 16
percent rise in arrests tor weapons
violations.
Source: U.S. News & World Re-
port, Feb. 7
Student bypasses state test
A district judge decided that a U ni-
versity of Houstonjournalism student
can take upper-level courses without a
passing score in a state-mandated
math test
"What's the relevance of me being
able to calculate the slope of a triangle
if what I want to do is feature writing?"
Jennifer Silverman said after the rul-
ing by State District Judge Mark
Davidson.
She said she was diagnosed in high
school with alearning disability known
as dyscalculia. This disorder prevents
her from comprehending mathemati-
cal concepts beyond simplearithmetic.
Dr. Danny Williamson, who spe-
cializes in developmental pediatrics,
said dyscalculia is arare butrealdisor-
der.
"You don't cure it; you don't make
it go away," he said.
Silverman sued the university and
the Texas Higher Education Coordi-
nating Board after she failed the math
portion of the Texas Academic Skills
Program test. Passing the TASP is a
What's the relevance of me
being able to calculate the
slope of a triangle if what I
want to do is feature
writingV
— Jennifer Silverman
UH student
prerequisite for taking upper-level
courses.
Source: The Associated Press, Jan.
28
UTD drops freshman grades
University ofTexas at Dallas fresh-
men get a second chance to keep their
scholarships since university officials
have decided to disregard the first
semester grades, prompting some stu-
dents to accuse the university of cod-
dling freshmen.
But officials defend the decision,
saying UTD should have implemented
the idea at the outset of the scholar-
ship program.
ATTENTION
SENIORS!
Orders to be taken for
graduation announcements,
caps, and gowns
February 15 & 16
9 AM — 4 PM
Rice Campus Store
/>
Payment in full required
Students were required to main-
tain at least a 3.0 grade point average
and take at least 12 semester hours to
keep academic scholarships. But
nearly a fifth of the 265 scholarship
freshmen failed to meet university re-
quirements last fall.
Hobson Wildenthai, vice president
for academic affairs, said the shift fro m
high school to college can be tough
for students used to getting good
grades without studying very hard.
He also said UTD is notalone in de-
emphasizing freshman grades. For
example, students at the Massachu-
setts Institute of Technology are
graded on a pass/fail basis their fresh-
man year.
Wildenthal said some freshmen
often skipped classes so attendance
now will be a factor in scholarship
retainment
But some students said they think
the university is "babying" students.
"It's almost like the university is
lowering its standards to account for
the big acquisition of [scholarship]
students," said Brit Zindel, who earned
a 3.75 GPA last semester.
Source: The Associated Press, Feb. 1
UT tuition increases may not
be profitable if students leave
A University of Texas at Austin
professor has determined that raising
that school's tuition could force a sub-
stantial number of students to drop
out
Economics professor Dan
Hamermesh asked his
microeconomics class earlier this
month how much of a strain a tuition
raise would place on their ability to
pay for school.
He said 40 percent of the 303 stu-
dents would not return in the fall if
tuition were raised 20 percent
Ten percent would drop out if tu-
ition were raised 10 percent,
Hamermesh said. At 5 percent, 1.75
percent of students would leave.
Hamermesh said the informal sur-
vey shows the effect tuition increases
would have on the university, and that
raising tuition more than 5 percent
would not be profitable.
If tu ition were raised 5 percent and
1.75 percent of students dropped out,
total tuition revenue would increase.
But a 10 percent tuition increase
with a 10 percent loss of students
would not mean any extra revenue,
and a 20 percent increase would de-
crease the university's total revenue,
Hamermesh said.
Economics junior Todd Poison said
he was not surprised at the survey
results.
"I think a good amount of people
who go here attend because it's a
good deal," Poison said.
Since 1984, tuition costs for resi-
dent undergraduates have risen from
$4 to $26 per semester hour. Non-
residents paid $40 per semester hour
in 1984-85 and are paying $162 per
hour now.
Atuition increase hasalready been
approved by the state Legislature to
take effect in the 1994-95 school year.
Undergraduate residents will pay $28
per semester hour in tuition, or a 15
percent increase.
Tuition for ' non-resident
undergrads mil increase to $171 this
fall, said Mack Adams, assistant com-
missioner for student services at the
Texas Higher Education Coordinat-
ing Board.
Adams said the cost of non-resi-
dent undergraduate tuition, as man-
dated by Texas law, is determined by
a calculation of the "cost of education"
performed by the coordinating board
annually prior to Jan. 1. The calcula-
tion divides the funds available by the
number of semester credit hours stu-
dents take.
RSVP Opportunities
• Volunteers are needed for English as a Second Language training.
No experience or foreign-language knowledge is necessary. Call
Cara (630-8161) or Jennifer (6305652) for information.
• Habitat for Humanity will be working at its new home site tomorrow.
Call David (630-8885) or Chris (6294218) for Information.
• Jhe Harris County Health Department needs volunteers to help
assemble charts for maternity patients tomorrow.
• Volunteers are needed to paint banners and hand out information
packets for AIDS Awareness Week.
• The White Oak Bayou Society needs volunteers tomorrow to plant
trees.
• RSVP booklets listing ongoing volunteer projects at Rice and
throughout Houston are available in the RSVP office.
For information on any project, call orvisit the Rice Student Volunteer
Program Office in the RMC Cloisters (5274970).
The Graduate Student Association met Jan. 20. The following were
discussed:
• President Malcolm Gillis participated in a questiorvand-answer
session. Students voiced concerns about tuition, late paychecks
and inadequate health insurance, the future of the Graduate House
and education programs for students'children.
• The loan fund now contains $.3,000. A $6,000 check from the
president's office is on its way.
• The housing survey is back. Most respondents felt Rice should
provide housing to graduate students, preferring apartments to
residence halls. See story page 7.
• The scholarship fund contains $17,000. The GSA needs to raise
another $3,000 by May to make the scholarship an endowed one,
and is seeking fund-raising ideas.
• Habitat for Humanity is looking forgraduate students. The first build
is Feb. 12, and interested students should sign up in the RSVP office
in the RMC cloisters.
• The Rice Women's Alliance, a support group for students, meets in
Sammy's for lunch on Fridays. Interested students (male or female)
are invited to attend or contact Amy Hammond in the Psychology
Department for details.
• An amendment was proposed to allow voting privileges for the
representative from the Graduate House, it will be voted on at the
next meeting.
• The GSA allocated $100 to the Computer Science, Computational
and Applied Mathematics, Math and Statistics departments for an
interdepartmental happy hour slated for Feb. 4 in Hermann Brown.
Next meeting: Feb. 17 at 6:30 p.m. in the Ley Student Center's Miner
Lounge.
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Howley, Peter & Epperson, Kraettli. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, February 11, 1994, newspaper, February 11, 1994; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245923/m1/8/?q=%22%22~1: accessed June 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.