The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 84, No. 6, Ed. 1 Friday, October 4, 1996 Page: 1 of 20
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NEWS
SPORTS
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SINCE 191
ROGER, OVER AND OUT
OCTOBER 4.1996
Mike Castillo
Siulf Wtilrr
On Wednesday, members of the Rice
community celebrated the 10th an-
niversary of the Ley Student Center by
honoring die Ley family at a reception in
the Miner Lounge.
The children of Wendel and Audrey
Ley (class of '32 and *35) originally set
aside almost $1 million for what was at
the time thence Memorial Center reno-
vation^ Jflowever, when the rest of the
Ley family discovered that the* amount
was not sufficient, they also contributed,
bringing the total Ley family donation to
$2 million.
According to Judy Allen, a former
member of the Board of Governors and
daughter of Wendel and Audrey Ley,
the msyor reason behind the large con-
tribution was that when Wendel at-
tended Rice, he felt that he had no
place to court his wife. He wanted a
place where Rice students could
interact socially.
In 1985, Chris Claunch, a Lovett
College alumnus, wrote a letter to
the Thresher expressing his con-
cern over the suggested plan to
rename the entire RMG the Ley
Student Center. Subsequent letters
to the editor and discussions led to
the final decision to name only the
new wing of the building the I^ey
Student Center.
' Despite minor setbacks in the
construction schedule, the Ley Stu-
dent Center officially opened on
Oct. 22,1986.
The Ley Student
Audrey and Wendel
Ley at the reception
in their honor on
Tuesday.
Midnight Madness not cancelled
Event will go on despite scheduling problems and alterations
Elizabeth Egle and Angetjque Siy
Slatl Wrilci.w
Midnight Madness has been
scheduled to coincide with the first
men's basket ball home game against
Houston Baptist University.
According to Mike Pede, direc-
tor of Marketing Promotions and
Athletics,"the Athletic Department
doesn't "want anyone lo think that it
has been cancelled."
Midnight Madness is ft^ep rally
for the basketball team. In the past,
the event has been held at the very
beginning of the season to boost
game attendance, though it has been
unsuccessful at this goal for the past
two years.
"(The Athletic Department 1 ex'
pressed concerns about attendance
changing. It's dropped mm
from 800 to 300 in the
past two years," Student
Association External
Vice President Charles
Klein said.
Although it is usually
scheduled to coincide
with the first NCAA-
sanctioned practice of —ii
the season, Midnight Madness or-
ganizers faced numerous problems
finding an open time slot due lo
conflicts with away football games.
midterms and Halloween.
Willis Wilson, 'basketball head
coach, didn't want to reveal
any,detailsabout Midnight Madness
because he "could not
officially make a state-
ment" due to the uncer-
tainty of many details.
However, Wilson did
say that a meeting was
scheduled for ()ct. 3 to
discuss particulars such
as programming, time
and place.
He said he would be able to make
an official statement concerning the
status-of the event after that meet
ing
Mary Summers
Stuff Whirr
After nearly two years of legal
maneuvering, former Assistant Pro-
fessor Kelly Long of the Human
Performance and Health Science
Department has dropped her sexual
discrimination and harassment suit
against Rice.
The terms of the out-of-court
settlement are not available, as it is
Rice's policy not to discuss legal
matters publicly.
Long first filed her complaint on
Dec. 12,1994against Bruce Etnyre,
Dale Spence, Jimmy Disch, Frank
Bearden and Nicholas Iargmarino,
all of the HPER Department, along
with Alan Matusow, who was dean
of humanities at the time.
Long claimed that she was de
♦ nied a promotion "by these individu-
als fin the HPER Department) based
-on (her j. sex, which- is- female, in
violation of the Texas Uibor Code
21.001."
She appealed the department's
decision to Matusow, who, accord
ing to the complaint Long filed,
"failed to rectify the discriminatory
recommendation with regard to Dr.
Long's tenure and promotion."
Long further alleged
that she was "paid at a
rate substantially lower
than (her) male coun-
terparts, even where
said males did not have
the level of seniority at
Rice which (she) had."
U>ng also charged
that during her employ-
ment with Rice she "was
subjected to sexually discriminatory
behavn/Pwhieh was intended to and
which did cause her severe emo-
tional clistress."
Furthermore, Long claimed that"
her professional reputation was
damaged by the alleged discrimina-
tion. " «*
I-ongsought moneiary-ewnpen
sation in the form of back pay and
appropriate front pay, lost wages past
Members of the Student Asso-
ciation have formed a committee to
review the introductory physics cur-
riculum and suggest improvements
to the department. This committee
met with Physics Department Chair
Marjorie Corcoran last week and
developed several ideas that they
hope will lead to better introduc-
tory-level classes.
These ideas include holding
seminars for the professors to im-
prove teaching techniques, provid-
ing midterm questionnaires for stu
dents regarding the performance of
the professors and increasing the
number of sections offered per se-
mester.
According to Hans/en College
Seyator and committee member
Teddy Kaput , "many years of stu
dent complaints as well as stories of
students changing majors as a re-
sult of Physics 101, 102. 12F> and
126" led lo the formation ol this
committee.
Mitch Hollberg, Will Rice Col
lege president and a committee
member, said, "Course evaluations
are less than stellar. ... There is an
undercurrent of dissatisfaction all
over campus."
Corcoran puzzled over the root
of this dissatisfaction
"II you look back at the course
evaluations only five years ago, you
see marks that don't look bad at all,"
Corcoran said. The course today
hasn't changed much, the teachers
are the same and the material cov-
ered is the same. That leaves us
wondering what the problem is."
One thing that Corcoran has no-
ticed is that "the clientele may have
changed." She notes that physics
majors, who might have constituted
a large part of the class at one time,
now either take Physics 111 or place
out entirely from the introductory
courses. This leaves mostly
nonmajors in a class that used to be
comprised ol students with strong
physics backgrounds.
Hollberg said that another sug
gestion has been made to bring in
teachers from other science depart-
ments "to gear the course more to
ward the students who are taking
it."
Another i omnion complaint of
these classes is the number ol stu
dents taking the
courses. Physics
125 increased
by B0 percent
in 1995 and
by 10 fhir-
cent this
year, ac-
cording- to
(.'ore o i a n
srE physics fM(,/ ; t
Black leaders, police meet
Baker".Institute summit promotes positive
disc ussion of racial tensions and solutions
George Hatoun
Pritfnrn Monti#*'*
and future, compensation for men-
tal anguish past and future, dam-
ages to career and imputation past
and future, prejudgement interest
at the legal rate, attorney's fees and
legal costs and all other "legal and
equitable relief which the
court may deem proper."
Long also sought a
"permanent injunction
enjoining ... Rice ... from
engaging in any employ-
ment practices which dis-
criminate on the basis of
sex" as well as a court
order that Rice "institute
and carry out policies,
practices and programs which pro-
vide equal employment opportuni-
ties to females."
Rice General Counsel Shirley
'Redwipe commented only that "the
i<sue has been resolved m a manner
satisfactory to everybody.1'
Long's lawyet, Michael Ker
ensky, ofthe law firm O'Quum,
Kerensky, McAninchand laminack
was unavailable for comment.
A summit of police duels and
black community leaders took si<;ps
last Thursday toward creating a "col-
orless atmosphere" within police
departments and improving the re
lationship between the black com
munily and the police.
The day-long summit included
Jewell Jackson McCabe, chair of the
National Coalition of 100 Black
Women, National Urban League
President Hugh Price and current
police chiefs from nearly a dozen
United States cities. It was hosted
by Rice's James A. Baker III Insti
tute for Public Policy.
in many instances,
police ofticers are
offending citizerts just
by being overly
officious/
— Ira Harris
Executive director, NOBLE0
I^ee P. Brown, a Baker Institute
scholar and former police chief, led
the "Police and the African Ameri-
can Community: Building Bridges
for the Future" summit with Baker
Institute D irector. Ed wardlijere jiau~
The summit was held in the Kyle
Morrow Room of^fondren Library
: <11
I
ll
aijcTvyas telecast on Rice 1'V
The main topic was the growing
mistrust between black communi-
ties and police The tension between
thesegroups has recenMy been wors-
ened by the videotape of the Rodney
King beating, the riots following the .
acquittal ofthe officers involved, the
O.J. Simpson trial, the killing of a
black man by Pennsylvania police
and the videotaped abuse of a black
woman by South Carolina police
Manyof the participants brought
up particular problems they saw with
the attitudes arid behaviors of police
officers.
"The issue is not this officer or^I
that officer's attitude . the depart-
ments are just a reflection of the :
larger society," Ramona Fdelin,
president of the National Urban
Coalition, said.
Ira Harris, the executive director
ol the National ()rganization of Black
litw Enforcement Officers, said that
police often inadvertently harass1
blacks.
"In many instances, police oflie- .
ensure offending citizens just by
being overly officious," Harris said.
Buffalo Police Chief (iil
Kerlikowske also said that commu-
nity involvement was the key to im-
proving relations with blacks; he has
implemented citizen police acad-
emies which "open up all of our
policies, procedures and fraining to
citizens."
Chuck Wrxler, executive direc .
tor of the Police Research Forum,
-said lliat departments should look
ahead in makipg their hiring deci
Sff SUMMIT P4(if u
MS
Mm
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Beard, Marty & Rao, Vivek. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 84, No. 6, Ed. 1 Friday, October 4, 1996, newspaper, October 4, 1996; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246548/m1/1/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.