The Rice Thresher, Vol. 92, No. 25, Ed. 1 Friday, April 15, 2005 Page: 4 of 28
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Rice University Woodson Research Center.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
THE RICE THRESHER NEWS FRIDAY, APRIL 15,2005
Students find suicide victim near stadium
by David Brown
THKESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
Four students walking home from
the Rice Village found a dead body
outside Wee Stadium in the early
morning of the day of Beer-Bike.
Rice University Police Chief Bill
Taylor said the death was determined
to be a suicide. The individual, who
was not affiliated with Rice, jumped
off the upper deck of the southeast
corner of the stadium, Taylor said.
"It's coincidental that [the suicide]
happened to be at Rice," Taylor said.
"It wasn't a Rice person — we just
happened to be here and were used
for the purpose."
Lovett College junior James
Townsend said he and three friends
were walking past the stadium at
about 2:10 a.m. April 2 when they
found the body.
"As we approached the area, there
seemed to be a pile of trash or some
ambiguous form," Townsend said.
"As we got closer, we realized it was
a human and most likely dead. ... I
was shocked. He definitely landed on
his face. It was pretty disturbing and
very unexpected."
Townsend said they shook the
body to make sure the individual was
dead and then called RUPD, which
arrived within three minutes.
Soon afterward, Rice Emer-
gency Medical Services arrived
and performed CPR on the body
to ensure it could not be revived,
Townsend said.
Townsend said the officers
immediately moved him and his
friends away from the body to
question and counsel them about
the incident.
RUPD officers secured the area
by 2:30 a.m. and performed a crime
scene investigation, Taylor said.
Taylor said RUPD contacted the
Houston Police Department, but
HPD's investigators were busy, so
Taylor called in several off-duty
RUPD officers.
The medical examiner arrived at
4:30 a.m. and took the body to the
morgue. At the time, the body could
only be identified as a male aged
between 25 and 40, Taylor said.
The medical examiner reported
the next day that the individual was
a resident of the Montrose area who
had been diagnosed with manic de-
pression and had a history of drug
abuse, Taylor said.
Taylor said one of the stadium
gates had been left open the night
of the suicide. The gates are usually
closed in the early evening by the
athletics staff or RUPD, but one was
left open that evening for an event
in the stadium's "R" Room and was
not closed afterward, he said.
AS LISTED ON THE SILVER SAVER CARD:
BUY ONE BUMPIES 6" SUB AND DRINK, GET
AN ADDITIONAL BUMPIES 6" SUB. FREE DELIVERY
WITH $10 MINIMUM.
BUMPIES SUBS AND SALADS
2260 HOLCOMBE
713-795-0404
Taylor said he was unsure why the
gate was left open, but he thought it
was insignificant.
"I don't know that it would make
a whole lot of difference," Taylor
said. "If he wanted to get in, he would
have found a way.... This is probably
someone who had full intent of what
he was going to do."
Soon aftct the police arrived, the
students were taken to the RUPD
station, where officers called a profes-
sional counselor to speak to them on
the phone, Townsend said.
Lovett Masters Carolyn and Ber-
nard Aresu picked up the students
from the station and took them back
to their house, where they spoke for
about an hour and a half.
Townsend said both the coun-
selor and masters helped him
handle the incident.
"We talked about suicide in
general, mortality — things like
that," he said.
Townsend said it was surreal to
see the Beer-Bike crowd, unaware of
the suicide, at the spot of the incident
later the same day.
"One thing that surprises me
— but that makes sense — is [that]
the night before Beer-Bike on the
path the entire campus walked over,
only a few hours before, [the suicide
occurred]," he said.
Townsend said it has become less
difficult to talk about the incident.
"I had some vivid imagery when
I woke up the next morning," he
said. "The day after, it was hard to
deal with, then the day after that it
was not too hard, and since then it's
been pretty easy."
RUPD Lieutenant Dianna Mar-
shall said the investigation is almost
complete. When the medical exam-
iner submits the final paperwork, the
case will be closed, she said.
"There is no indication there was
any kind of foul play," Marshall said.
"These are standard tests the medical
examiner does."
lonely planet
% 40 ■ M
"The trusted companion for a generation of independent travelers."
New York Times
lonely planet
GUIDES & MAPS
30% OFF
April 18-23, 2005
All other travel guides and maps
20% off, all the time
BRAZOS BOOKSTORE
2421 Bissonnet St. • 713-523-0701 • www.brazosbookstore.com
10% Student Discount on all books ot all times with currant Rica ID
STUDENT ASSOCIATION
The Student Association met Monday. The following were discussed.
■ Applications for SA-appointed positions and university standing com-
mittees are due April 20 in the SA office. Applications are available
online at sa.rice.edu.
■ SA President James Lloyd announced the Silver Saver Card program
will be combined with the Passport to Houston. The program will
be run by University Relations. Merchants will no longer have to
pay to participate, and students will use their Rice IDs instead of
separate cards.
■ The senate agreed to hold a university-wide picnic in the academic
quad in the fall, which might include club tables and live music.
■ The senate approved Rice for Freedom, a conservative foreign policy
discussion group. Anyone interested should contact Paul Ertel at
ertelp@rice.edu.
■ The senate approved Elevation Houston, a ministry groupthat focuses
on community service and foreign missionary work. The group is affili-
ated with the Touch Family Church. Anyone interested should contact
Scott Hersey at shersey@rice.edu.
■ The senate approved Rice Student Ambassadors. The club's members
act as ushers and facilitators at special events and lead campus tours.
Anyone interested should contact at Cara Eng at anamcara@rice.
edu.
■ The senate approved Impact Movement, a Rice chapter of the na-
tional Christian organization geared toward but not limited to African-
Americans. The group holds Bible studies and aims to encour-
age leadership. Anyone interested should contact Jason Cook at
jcook@rice.edu.
■ Dean Baxtresser announced Rice Broadcast Television will change
its name to Rice Television 5 — or RTV5.
The Student Association also met Monday, April 4. The following were
discussed.
■ Lloyd announced his goals for this year's SA: to enhance the sense
of Rice community, to enliven Rice spirit and identity and to improve
leadership and service at Rice.
■ Lloyd announced plans for a T-shirt campaign for the fall. Shirts will
be navy blue, featuring the Rice logo on the front and the slogan "True
blue: to Rice be true" on the back.
■ Lloyd also announced plans to improve leadership among SA new
student representatives, to implement a senior class leadership
program, and to overhaul the SA Web site with updates on campus
issues, comment forms and a "Rice rumor report," where students
can type in rumors and have them addressed at SA meetings.
■ Lloyd suggested the SA have a "discussion about the culture of drinking
on campus" and consider student-led programs for improving safety.
He also suggested discussing strengthening U-Court.
■ The Senate discussed academic problems at Rice. Internal Vice
President Ames Grawert said small majors should be strengthened.
Baker College junior Jo Kent said second majors like policy studies
could improve. Will Rice College sophomore Vivek Gopalan said the
quality of language instruction should be improved.
■ The Senate also discussed ways to improve student life. Pushing
the administration to build a new recreation center and proposing
an on-campus pharmacy were suggested.
The next meeting will be Monday at 10 p.m. in Farnsworth Pavilion.
BILINGUAL EVENT
MARKETING REPRESENTATIVE
(Houston)
Responsible tor managing, recruiting, and expanding volunteer efforts
throughout the region, and maximizing funds raised for the Hospital
Tliis superior communicator will increase support for and awareness of
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, including conducting special events
for general anil Hispanic markets throughout the region, working with and
managing the coordinators ot these events, broadening events, and expanding
fundraising into new areas.
Bachelor's degree required with a minimum of one year tun Jr. using
experience preferred. Written and oral fluency in Spanish and English
required. Extensive travel necessary. Must possess a valid driver's license.
At Sr. jude, commitment i* key to success. You'll receive competitive pay and
benefits. For consideration, please forward your resume and salary
requirements, indicating Reference Code: REPEVTMKTBIHOUSAH, to:
ALSAC/St. Jude, Attn: Event Marketing Manager, 4543 l\>st Dak Place,
Suite 125. Houston, TX 77027. I*ax: (711) 5^-1418; E-mail:
heather.hennett@stjude.org Employment is contingent upon successful drug
screen md background investigations, including credit and/or driving,
it applicable.
www.stjude.org
equal opportunity employer
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.
Obermeyer, Amber. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 92, No. 25, Ed. 1 Friday, April 15, 2005, newspaper, April 15, 2005; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443034/m1/4/?q=%22%22~1: accessed June 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.