The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 84, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, January 17, 1997 Page: 8 of 16
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Black Student Association hosts ceremonies in King's honor
Usman
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For the first time at Rice, staff
members as well as faculty and stu
dents will be given the day off on
Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday.
President Malcolm Giliis s;iid that
the decision was not a difficult one,
"If there is a holiday for faculty
and stjidenis, then it should be |a
holiday] for staffalso." Giliis said he
would have made the decision ear-
lier, but lie wanted to consult at
length with various faculty mem-
bers, deans and vice presidents so
he could be sure how such a policy
change might affect various aspects
of the university.
0 Hanszen College Food Produc-
tion Supervisor Lessie Celestine was
glad that the university haschanged
its policy concerning the holiday. "I
think it's long overdue and I'm glad
they are doing it now," she said.
Hanszen sophomore Jeremy
Sabio expressed similar sentiments,
"Given that most staff members
are of color, I think it 's long overdue
that they have been given the oppor-
tunity to remember a man who tried
to solve America's racial problems,"
he said.
" The Black Student
will hold a series d^cerer
Jan. 20 to commemorate the event.
It will begin 7 p.m. with a candlelight
vigil at Willy's statue and words
from Giliis and BSA President
Jermaine Gibbs. Those gathered will
then proceed to the Rice Chapel
while singing "We Shall Overcome."
The Rev. Bill Laws^n from
Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church will
give the keynote address at 7:30.
Afterward, there will be a reception
and exhibit entitled "Martin Luther
King Jr. and Civil Rights\in the
Kelly l,ounge of the Rice Memorial
Center.
—*
Clinton hall* m
j. rllna . -
Iskander awarded Rhodes scholarship
Elizabeth Egle
A-.s' AM I </•/...
Rice University Student Assoc 1a
lion President Maryana Iskander
was awarded the prestigious Rhodes
Seholarshipthis past December. She
was one of 32 Americans chosen to
join the 1997 class o! Rhodes Schol
a 1 s and the eighth Rice student ever
to receive tile award
As a Rhodes Scholar. Iskander
will receive a two-year scholarship
to Oxford University, where she-
plans to get a masters degree in
philosophy, politics and economy,
otherwise- known as Oxford's PPK
program.
Iskander will graduate troni Rice
this May with a bachelor'sdegree in
sociology, and she will begin her
Oxford studies in October.
The Rhodes Scholarship was
founded and named after the 18lh
century British philanthropist Cecil
Rhodes; his definition of a true
scholar was one who could balance
high academic achievement, integ
rity, leadership and athletic prow-
ess.
The road to the scholarship con-
sists of -several rounds and begins
with amapplication within a state. In
the first round, Iskander sent in a
written application with eight let-
torso! recommendation tothe Texas
Rhodes Committee.
President Malcolm Giliis wrote
one of (hose letters.
"It was one of the strongest rec-
ommendations I have been privi
leged to write," Giliis said.
Mark Sclieid, assistant dean of
student, affairs foifcacademic and ca-
reer advising, also wrote a recom-
mendation for Iskander.
'"Maryana is someone special,"
he said.
"She's so comfortable with who
she is. whether or not she's a schol-
arship winner, that hergenuine-ness
comes across clearly even in inter
views that cause the best applicants
in America to freeze up."
Iskander was one of 14 students
chosen to interview at the state level,
and on Dec. -f. she was one of three
Texan students chosen to advance
to the final level,
Sixteen students competed at the
regional level, and after an interview
in Salt bike City on Dec. 7, the four
Rhodes Scholars of that region wen*
announced.
Iskander said she was "stunned"
when she heard the news, and the
reality ofher achievement "hit much
later,"
"1 didn't just do this by myself,
but it was a combination of the ef-
forts of my parents and teachers,"
she said.
Iskander also won the $30,000
Truman Seh<*larship last February,
which Scheid said is "probably the
second most prestigious scholarship
next to the Rhodes." She plans to
use this scholarship to attend law
school once she has completed her
studies at Oxford
" - Vice President for Student Af-
fairs Zenaido Camacho said, "We
will be hearing about Maryana's ac-
complishments for years to fome,
and receiving the Rhodes is one of
manv honors."
MISSION DfADLIN
forms are waiting in all of the colleges,
the Coffeehouse, the ENGLISH, ART & fliatii
s.
Questions? Contact gracious@rice.edu or linz@rice.edu
President Clinton announced last
week that the rate at which college
students default on their loans has
dropped to its lowest point since the
government began recording it in
1988.
The proportion of borrowers who
defaulted within 12 to 24 months
after leaving college fell to 10.7 per-
cent in 1994, less than half the 22.4
percent level in 1990, the president
said.
"We have strengthened the
government's basic bargain: We
have provided more opportunity. But
with that has come greater respon-
sibility on the par4of our students,"
Clinton said.
Clinton and Education Depart-
ment officials used the report on the
default rate to promote the
administration's proposals to pro-
vide tax breaks for college costs.
Education Secretary Richard
Riley said, "Our success in getting
student loan defaults under control
will make it easier for the govern-
ment to invest in our people and in
our future in more constructive
ways."
Riley said reductions in the de-
fault rate have saved taxpayers
money and helped reduce the defi-
cit. In fiscal year 1996, the govern-
ment paid $249 million to cover the
cost of defaulted student loans, com-
pared with $1.7 billion in fiscal 1992,
a savings of nearly $1.5 billion.
"Since coming to t he department,
one of my top priorities has been
turning a round.the nation's serious
default problem," Riley said. "We
have used every tool available to
slash the default rate and save tax-
payers hundreds of millions* of dol-
lars, and the'se efforts will continue."
TTjr department's most effective
nas been its ability to remove
front the federal student loan pro-
grams those colleges and trade
schools that continue year after year
to have high default rates.
Source: The Chronicle of Higher
Education, Jan. 17.
Bookstores wonder if
publishers break the law
College bookstores say some:
publishers may be violat ing antitrust
laws by charging campus stores
more for textbooks than they .charge
general bookstores.
The National Association of Col-
lege Stores, which began an investi-
gation of pricing practices last
month, sayfi a number of publishers
— especially small and medium-
sized companies and university
presses — are discounting book
prices two different ways, based on
how ihe books will be sold.
Some of the publishers that have
been accused-of the practice — in-
cluding the presses at Harvard and
Yale universities — say that they are
doing nothing illegal and that the
college stores do not understand
the way the discounts work.
According to the college stores,
the discounts work like this: If a
particular title is to be sold as a trade
book — for general-interest reading
— some publishers will give gen-
eral bookstores a 40 percent dis-
count off the,, recombended list
price. But if the book is ordered in
bulk by a college store because a
professor has required it for a course,
the publishers will give only a 20
percent discount. %
This means that students, in
many cases, can buy required books
at general bookstores for much less
than in their college store, associa-
tion officials said.
Lawyers for the association ar-
gue that the "dual discounting" vio-
lates federal antitrust law, which bars
various forms of price fixing. By giv-
ing dual discounts, lawyers say, pub-
lishers are discriminating on price
based solely on the intended use of
the books.
Marc Fleischaker, a lawyer for
the association, said publishers sim-
ply are trying to make more money
on books that will be sold in bulk to
a captive audience. If the associa-
tion gathers enough evidence to
prove this allegation, he said, it plans
to sue the publishers to get them to
stop.
Gar is Distelhorst, executive di-
rector of the college stores associa-
tion. said the dual discounts fly in
the face of pricing in most other
industries, in whiehtbigger discounts
go to those who purchase more
items.
College stores cannot afford to
charge any less for books that are
not discounted greatly, he said.
"Students accuse the bookstore
of gouging them when, in fact, it
isn't the store that's gouging the
students."',
Source: The Ch ron iele of 11 igh er
Education, Jan. 17.
Student may file lawsuit
over mandatory insurance
University of Utah student Joe
Fellows is considering filing a class
action suit to kill the university's
mandatory health insurance policy.
However, a $440 filing fee for the
lawsuit might prevent Fellows from
'taking the court action,
"The injunction is ready to go. I
just need $44^i legal fees to make
it happen," Fellows said.
"I know that isn't much money,
but jt is to me. It's ironic because I
originally started this whole tiling
because 1 didn't have the $113 for
insurance, and now I'm screwed
because I don't have the $440 to file
the injunction."
Fellows has been talking with
attorneys, including constitutional
experts, over the past two months.
According to Fellows, all of the at-
torneys expressed their belief that
the university's mandatory insur-
ance policy was unconstitutional and
would not hold up in court.
Source: The Daily Utah
Chronicle, Dec. 7.
Lecture Series Continues
The lecture series sponsored by the dean of the School of
Humanities continues on Jan. 23 with its second guest speaker.
Harvard University Philosophy Department Chair Thomas Scanlon
will be speaking on "The Problem of Tolerance."
Rice Philosophy Professor Larry Temkin callfcd the lecture series
"an exciting event for the Rice campus." The last lecture received
national attention and was televised on C-SPAN.
RSVP Opportunities
The Rice Student Volunteer Program met- Monday. The following
were discussed:
• Join the nevy weekly service newsletter, Give a Hoot! by sending
e-mail to service@rice.edu. '
.§.Spring Outreach gay will be Feb, 8.
• There will be free food,
brinks al We.OtitresetitSfay TO
on Jan. 3.
Next meeting: Monday at 9 p.m. in Miner Lounge in the Student
Center.
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Beard, M. Margaret & Rao, Vivek. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 84, No. 14, Ed. 1 Friday, January 17, 1997, newspaper, January 17, 1997; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246556/m1/8/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.