The Rice Thresher, Vol. 90, No. 8, Ed. 1 Friday, October 11, 2002 Page: 1 of 20
twenty pages : ill. ; page 19 x 15 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
the Rice Thresher
Vol. XC, Issue No. 8
SINCE 1916
Friday, October 11, 2002
>:
U. Court drops charges
Court will determine future steam tunneling sanctions
by Rachel Rustin
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
^ University Court dropped a case involving
two students caught steam tunneling during
Orientation Week, but a new steam tunneling
case has been brought before the court, and
the policy regarding steam tunneling in the
future has been clarified.
In the recently-dropped case, two advisers
0 were caught coming out of the steam tunnels
with their new students during O-Week. Their
names were recorded, and Judicial Affairs
sent the case to U. Court.
Going through the steam tunnels, which
are underground tunnels containing water
pipes and electrical wiring throughout cam-
^ pus, is a frequent activity during O-Week, but
it is illegal, according to trespassing rules in
the Code of Student Conduct.
U. Court voted 14-2 to withdraw the charges
against Brown College sophomore Erin
Maloney and Wiess College senior Kirsten
Schatz, the two advisers caught steam tunnel-
ing Aug. 21. U. Court Chair Daniel Brickman
^ said he sent members of U. Court an e-mail
that included arguments for dropping the case,
mainly the fact that a large majority of Rice
students have committed this act. He also
cited arguments for continuing with the case,
namely that the students were trespassing.
Brickman, a Brown College senior, said he
felt it was important the court set sanctions in
the future and not use this case merely as an
example.
"It would be akin to going after people
running Baker 13 without telling them before-
hand," Brickman said. "It's an established Rice
tradition that has been featured in the Campa-
nile and the Thresher in the past."
Maloney and Schatz expressed happiness
at the result.
"It really wouldn't have been fail" for them
to make a point about changing the system by
making examples of us, especially since at the
time of the incident we had no idea that there
had been or was going to be any change in
protocol whatsoever," Maloney said.
Although the O-Week case was dropped,
U. Court must now review another steam tun-
neling incident.
See TUNNELS, Page 7
51. -N&PgSSr. . W s:
XP V '
i jwhs«8s#nJ - >v * - u i
Catching a future star
ALEX SIGEDA/THRESHER
Freshman wide receiver Marcus Battle makes a spectacular catch in double coverage
during Saturday's 37-20 win over Lousiana Tech at Reliant Stadium. See Story, Page 13.
■ ■
AL.*
KIJANA KNIGHT/THRESHER
A gate arm was missing from the Abercrombie Lot gate on Sunday morning.
Parking gates vandalized
by Mark Berenson
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
Seven parking-gate arms were damaged or
discovered missing between Friday and Sun-
day, and all other surface lots' gates were
vandalized, most of which had their bolts
stripped.
This vandalism is the first the Rice Univer-
sity Police Department is investigating since
the gates became operational the week of
Sept. 23.
Total repair costs are estimated to be be-
tween $8,0(H) and $10,(XK), Associate Vice Presi-
dent for Finance and Administration Neill
Binford said.
RUPI) Lt. Dianna Marshall said an RUPD
officer observed two people start to remove a
gate arm at Abercrombie Lot in a separate
incident on Tuesday night. Marshall said the
officer chased the subjects into Martel Col-
lege before losing them. Marshall said RUPD
has suspects whom they are investigating in
Tuesday's case.
Marshall said RUPD also has suspects in
some of the other cases.
Binford said he had no idea whether the
damage caused over the weekend was inflicted
by students, staff or outsiders. He said he hoped
it was not students since they were benefiting
from the controlled access, which he said cre-
ates more room in lots after business hours.
"1 would be greatly disappointed if we had
students who feel that they have a right to
destroy university property because they dis-
agreed with how we were using parking lots,"
Binford said.
Student Association President Matt Haynie
said he too hoped it was not students.
"I don't want any body to vandalize the gates,
but knowing that it is not us would make me
feel much betterabout Rice students," Haynie,
a Will Rice College senior, said.
Wiess College senior Ben Johnson said he
thought the vandalism was done by students.
See GATES, Page 4
DUI regulations discussed
by Olivia Allison
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
More emphasis will be placed on enforcing
drunk driving policies after a meeting be-
tween the Rice University Police Department,
University Court, college masters, Rice Gen-
eral Counsel and Judicial Affairs last week.
Police will be writing names of all students
found to be driving under the influence of
alcohol, and these names will be recorded in
the detailed daily log compiled by police and
sent to various administrative offices. From
this log, the reports can be forwarded by
Judicial Affairs to 1J. Court. Judicial Affairs
receives information from the log as well as
other campus sources.
Marshall said RUPD makes eight to 10
stops involving DUI every year, and of these
four or five involve Rice students. However,
Brickman said only one or two cases per year
are prosecuted through IJ. Court.
U. Court Chair Daniel Brickman said writ-
ing down the name of every student pulled
over and found to be driving under the influ-
ence represents a policy change. However,
RUPD Lt. Dianna Marshall said police have
not introduced a new policy in writing down all
students' names.
"We are doing things no differently than in
the past," Marshall said.
She said officers currently write down de-
tailed information from all traffic stop and
this information is included in the daily log.
Brickman said because not all cases involv-
See DUI, Page 7
University to help fund EMS basic class
by David Berry
THRESHER STAFF
The Student Association Senate
unanimously passed a resolution
Monday asking the administration
x to provide full financial support for
students taking Health Sciences 308,
the basic Emergency Medical Tech-
nician class, in order to receive the
certification necessary to volunteer
with the Rice Emergency Medical
Services.
Although the resolution does not
) • ask for a specific amount of money,
President Malcolm Gillis said he will
provide $8,000 to fund HEAL 308.
This money comes from the
president's discretionary funds and
a new request must be made each
year.
"I will do it, although in a tight
budget year most special requests
are being denied," Gillis said. "I un-
derstand that this is one of the top
priorities of the SA and 1 am willing
to fund their top priorities."
SA President Matt Haynie first
proposed the resolution Sept. 23.
Only minor changes were made from
his initial draft, Haynie said.
HEAL308, taken by about 20 stu-
dents each spring, provides the cer-
tification necessary for students to
volunteer with REMS. Last year, stu-
dents taking the class were required
to pay a $400 fee to cover class costs.
The $8,000 may be used to fund
HEAL 308 in whatever way the SA
chooses, Gillis said.
"We will have to take up exactly
how to use the money at an SA meet-
ing after fall break," Haynie said.
"We will get EMTs to come in and
ask them their opinion, and vote on
it, but I see no reason why we
shouldn't agree with what they rec-
ommend."
REMS Captain David Melville, a
Martel College senior, said if the
decision were up to him, he would
try to just eliminate the fee.
Another possibility is to imple-
ment a program that reimburses, on
a pro-rated basis, this year's HEAL
308 students who go on to volunteer
with REMS, Haynie said.
"We may only pay them back their
fee as they volunteer for a length of
time," Haynie said.
He said there may be a problem
with funding if more than 20 students
See RKMS, Page (>
INSIDE
Midterm freedom
There will be no classes
Monday and Tuesday as it is
fall midterm recess. Have a
great weekend whether you use
the time to sleep, catch up on
work or visit family and friends.
The ThreshervnW also be tak-
ing the week off. but will return
Oct. 25 with double the fun to
make up for the absence.
Enjoy your last midterm re-
cess for a year.
Weekend Weather
Friday
Partly sunny, 62-81 degrees
Saturday
Partly cloudy. 61-83 degrees
Sunday
Scattered showers, 60-82 degrees
OPINION Page 2
America needs TLC abroad
A&E Page 9
'8 Women' is deadly fun
SPORTS Page 14
Swimming preview
Quote of the Week
"I took the stress of a college
semester and compressed it into
108 minutes."
— Director Roger Avary. on his new
movie The Rules of Attraction. See
Story. Page 10.
Scoreboard
Football
Rice 37. Louisiana Tech 20
Soccer
Rice 3-1 San Jose State
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Rustin, Rachel. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 90, No. 8, Ed. 1 Friday, October 11, 2002, newspaper, October 11, 2002; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443025/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.