The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, February 16, 1996 Page: 8 of 20
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8 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1996
THE RICE THRESHER
Features
PI
KM1
WiUu
lUNWt
Grace Ho
Ass I Haunts* Manager
The Assassination Game, Willy's
Birthday Party. Screw Yer Room-
mate. Rondelet Esperanza. And of
course, Beer-Bike. All of these events
are brought to the campus by the
Kit e Program Council
"Our job is the mission statement
in the new constitution that we wrote
last year," RPC Co-President Ryan
Ii*vy said.
According to Article CM, Section
1 "The purpose of the Council is to
enhance the quality of life of the Rice
community by providing programs
of social, cultural, educational and
recreat ional value. The Council shall
endeavor to present programs which
represent and foster participation
among 11 le members of the Rice com-
munity . land} coordinate the plan
uiiig and scheduling of programs
among the residential conges and
alliliate student organizations."
The RPC has undergone a sig-
nificant makeover since last year. In
the pas!, the president had complete
< ontrol (it lunds and could make.
appr<ipriations Inr anything. With the
new sli uctnre of die RPC. all appro
priatiuns are in iIu hands o| eight
> i irnmittee i ItaiiN, each of whom is a
representative di a college
"This system is more business-
like, The control isn't just in the
hands of one person and his or her
friends," RPC Co President Jennifer
I„in said.
Most of the RPC's goals are en'
tertainment-oriented. Fiveof its eight
committees are devoted to subsidiz-
ing tickets to Houston sports and
music events, funding campus par-
ties and increasing publicity for uni-
versity events
"I think as an RPC member, you
should make decisions that you
know are right, remember that you
are dealing with students" money —
not your own," U*vy said, "And pro-
gram [events] to challenge ideas,
beliefs and the realms of fun that
everyone has experienced before.
Bring something new and totally
different."
The five original committees are
Houston Entertainment, University
Events, Public Relations, Spirit and
Morale and Social Events; the three
new ones are Real Life, Issues and
Intellect and Diversity. The new com-
mittees focus on more serious as-
pects of students' lives. For instance,
the Issues and Intellect Committee
played a large role in the Forum on
freedom of Speech last fall, and the
Diversity Committee helped Un-
hide Rally materialize.
However, many Rice students are
unaware of the RPC's contributions
on campus.
"I don't know anything about the
RPC — except that Ryah Levy is
something in it, right?" said Lovett
College freshman Jason Duke^vhen
asked what he thought the RPC had
done for campus life this year.
Whether this state of unaware-
ness is attributed to student apathy
or the RPC's limited reach into stu
dent life depends on who is asked.
"I don't really care much about
the RPC. Because they haven't done
anything that I'm really interested
in," said Brown College senior Jot
Riphagen.
I.evy realizes that many students
do not feel positively about the RPC
but said. "As (lie co-president of RPC,
I have to deal with all of that," refer-
ring to the many criticisms the RPC
receives.
The few students who are aware
of the goings-on express concern
over the amount of money spent at
the annual changeover parties. Ix'vy
suggested that the restructuring this
year will put an end to those misap-
propriations, and Internal Vice-Presi-
dent Kan Hoffman encourages
people who have comments about
the RPC to attend the weekly meet
ingsopen to all students every Tues
mW:m\
Crowds attest to the popularity of Beer Bike^probably the RPC's most popular
event, (Dan Manchester and Kenny Yates in the '95 race.)
day at 9 p.m. in Miner Ixuiitge.
Another of the RPC's problems is
making sure that the budget is
spread evenly and fairly. The RPC is
challenged to balance the quality
with the quantity of their support for
many campus activities — from the
Lunar New Year celebration to the
attraction of poets to read theirworks
at the CoffeeHouse
"The RPC budget has difficulties
because we spend a lot of it on other-
clubs — being a bank for other clubs
hinders the RPC in attracting really
big names onto campus. We are try-
ing to improve this, and we are al-
ways open to discussion and sug
gestions," Hoffman said.
closer to home, keeping life under control
Christof Spieler
h'eatun'\ lulitnr
"Although it may not be immedi-
ately apparent, the college govern
men! plays a role in almost every-
thing that goes on around Sid
(Richardson College!," SRC Presi-
dent Joel (irus said.
"We provide activities as varied
as Sid Day, Broom-Ball, Tower Party
and today's blood drive. We dissemi-
nate information from the SA, the
RPC. the masters, other groups of
students and the administration "
HRl is typical of colleges in its
sit ucture. Elected officers a presi-
dent. a vice president, a treasurer, a
secretary and representatives of vari-
ous sections of the College over-
see a variety of committees. Once a
week, the officers meet in a college
meeting to make announcements,
raise issues, approve appropriations
and deal with student concerns.
"< >11 a very practical level, wtr're
the ones who keep the washers and
dryoi s running, rash checks lor you,
replace1 lobby furniture and kitchen
supplies when necessary, plan im-
provements to die college. ,. We
maintain the music room, the weight
room and. with a little bit of help, the
computer room . We veil at you
and levy penalties when you break
the rules. .. We try to get you ex-
cited about campus-wide events. We
stick up for you when the adminis-
tration wants to do.something that's
not in your best interest. We do ev-
erything that you have no idea is
even done." (irus said, then added,
facetiously, "We own you."
Each college's government has
it s own character. Will Rice College's
Diet, for example, is known forelabo
rately themed meetings, and SRC
tends to get through its council meet
ings as quickly as possible.
Each year's officers, too, influ-
ence the character of the college.
"There've been cabinets that
didn't care, and you could see the
apathy reflected in the attitudes of
Hanszenites," Hanszen External
Vice-President Ann Zondlo said
According to Zondlo and other
Hanszen officers, the current presi-
dent, Glenn Ix'vy, has brought with
him a more participatory spirit.
"Earlier presidents cut things off
sooner Decisions are more demo-
cratic, not representative, this year,"
said Mart Tenny, a Hanszerwsectiori
representative.
"We've stabilized the workings
of the Cabinet such that events, col-
lege traditions and the maintenance
of Hanszen facilitiesareconsistently
seen to," Levy said of Hanszen's col-
lege government." Student partici-
pation and leadership of all aspects
of Hanszen life is essential and al-
ways present.''
One of the best aspects of college
government, say college officers, is
that it is closer to the student body
than centralized institutions like the
Student Association Senate.
"We get more participation, more
diverse voices," Zondlo said. "Not to
say we're ideal, but we do better in
that regard than the SA."
'J enny agreed to an extent. "I'm
for more decentralization, but to be
efficient, you need a balance,"
Even so, college governments
have their own problems with par-
ticipation. Of 360 Hanszen students,
only about 40 show up at a typical
council meeting, despite incentives
such as free food, That problem is by
no means unique to Hanszen;
Jeremy Martin, SRC vice-presi-
dent, said that poor attendance may
be a good sign.
"The only timeweget attendance
is when we're giving away some-
thing or when something's wrong.
le>ss involvement often shows that
things are running smoothly," Mar
tin said.
(Irus had an alternate explana-
tion: "Historically, a big draw of coun-
cil has been the promise of getting
your name in the minutes with a
clever nickname. Due to a lax secre-
tary, this no longer happens. I think
that's a big part of it."
Compared to other universities,
Rice students have a great amount
of control over their living quarters.
"I have friends at other universi-
ties, and all college government
there does is vote on how much beer
to buy for parties," Tenny said.
Rice's colleges, in contrast, have
a lot more authority. Food and Hous-
ing, for example, gives each college
$2,000 a year for physical improve-
ments. Colleges also decided where
to install the computer X-terminals
given to them last summer.
"I don't really feel the presence of
the administration on the college
level," Hanszen Treasurer Jenn
Healey said.
Another aspect of this indepen-
dence is that colleges maintain some
of their own facilities, such as com-
puter, laundry and weight rooms.
"A lot of people do forget about
the behind-the-scenes vufcrk — fix-
ing washers and dryers, computers
... The only time peoplfc notice is
when things aren't working," said
Martin, who is in charge of proper-
ties at SRC,
As for college finances, most get
their funds from several sources.
Hanszen, for example, has approxi-
mately $33,000 in its annual budget.
The money comes from leftover
funds from previous years; a $50-
"■pw-student allowance from the uni-
versity; college fees (which includes
a mailbox key deposit, social, laun-
dry and computer fees); and com-
missions on vending machine sales.
At Hanszen, about 40 separate
budgets comprise the total budget.
The Socials Conlmittee has the larg-
est budget: $7,100; laundry has
$3,360, and the computer and dam-
ages accounts are also relatively
large. "Our only appropriations ac-
count consists of $850," Healey saidi
Vikki Otero, a WRC Diet repre-
sentative who transferred from
Michigan State University before last
semester, said that at Rice, college
government has given her a chance
to get involved.
"I never could have been on my
college government at Michigan. It's
surprising for me that a first-semes-
ter transfer could be a Diet rep It
wouldn't happen anywhere else," she
said.
That's t he best part of Rice's col-
lege government system, the
Hanszen officers agreed. "You feel
more in control of decisions and
more satisfied with the outcome."
Zondlo said.
1501 West 18th Street
861-7619
The
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Klein, Charles & Rao, Vivek. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 19, Ed. 1 Friday, February 16, 1996, newspaper, February 16, 1996; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246532/m1/8/: accessed July 5, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.