The Rice Thresher, Vol. 93, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, March 10, 2006 Page: 1 of 20
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Tapper elected president
Honor Council, RPC, RTV5 amendments pass, U. Blue tax increase fails
by Stephanie Jennings
THRESHKK STAFF
Hanszen College junior Althea
Tupper defeated her two opponents
in the election for Student Associa-
tion president. Lovett College junior
Evan Ross came in second place, and
Martel College sophomore Andrew
Chifari was third.
After write-in candidates and
Chifari were eliminated via the pref-
erential voting system, Tupper had
a 59 percent of the votes.
Before the preferential voting
elimination rounds, Tupper had
419 first-place votes (43 percent),
Ross was second with 271 (31 per-
cent), Chifari was third with 125
(14 percent) and absentee write-in
candidate Misha Teplitskiy, a Jones
College junior, had 103 votes (12
percent). Theelections, which began
March 3 and closed Wednesday, had
participation lower than last year's.
This year, 961 online ballots were
cast, while 1,162 students voted last
year and 944 voted in 2004.
Martel freshman Ceci Mesta
defeated two opponents for SA
external vice president, and Brown
College freshman Akshay Dayal won
a three-candidate race to become SA
treasurer. Ix>vett College freshman
Sarah Baker, who is also a Thresher
assistant news editor, topped one
opponent to become SA secretary,
and Brown sophomore I aura Kel-
ley won an uncontested race for SA
internal vice president. It has not
yet been determined when the new
president and executive committee
will take office.
Four Honor Council amendments
passed, the most significant of which
eliminates a loophole the council saw
in its system. Previously, a student
accused of an Honor Code violation
could withdraw from Rice within
three days of being informed of the
Council's decision to hold a hearing,
retain credit for the course in ques-
tion and avoid any penalty as long as
he or she remained away from Rice
for at least two semesters. Now, an
accused student who leaves Rice
without an Honor Council hearing
will have the course erased from his
or her transcript.
Rice Broadcast Television's
amendment to change its name to
Rice Television 5 also passed, as did
Rice Program Council's constitution
change merged the internal and
external vice president positions.
University Blue's amendment to
increase each student's blanket-tax
fee by 40 cents was the only amend-
ment to fail.
Tupper said she wants to arrange
discussions about President David
Leebron's Vision for the Second
Century and to increase awareness
of theSA
"I think [the SA] is moving in the
right direction,"Tupper said. "There
were more contested positions
— this shows that there's interest in
the SA But we still need to figure out
what students want and what exactly
the SA can do for them."
Tupper also said she hopes to
organize more campus-wide activi-
ties.
"The SA should work with the
venues we have to make Rice as
a whole a home to the students in
addition to the colleges," she said.
Current SA President James
Lloyd, who did not endorse any
candidate during the campaign,
said he thinks Tupper will be a good
president because of her spirit and
leadership.
"She brings a great deal of experi-
ence and energy, which is vital to be
successful in this position," Lloyd, a
Brown senior, said.
Ross also said he thinks Tupper
will be an effective president.
"Throughout the campaign, she
showed her high level of energy
and how seriously she'll take the
position," Ross said.
See ELECTIONS, page 4
DIANA YEN/THRESHER
Fresh men
Will Rice College sophomore Jon Huang (left) and Lovett College
freshman Raymond Yu perform at an Owl Weekend concert March 3.
Fresh is Rice's newest a cappella group. It performs mostly R&B and
pop music.
Spring fun
SARAH SIMPSON/THRESHER
A child is fascinated by a bubble at Rice Student Volunteer
Program's Spring Ring, held March 4 in the Will Rice College quad.
The annual event is a fair for underprivileged children in Houston.
RPC: Rondelet to be April 22
by Risa Gordon
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
After many years as a formal
event, last year's Rondelet was
semi-formal, and Rice Program
Council is considering keeping
the event more casual this year.
Rondelet will be held April
22, Formals Committee co-Chair
Meg Sheeley said. Sheeley said
RPC is strongly considering hold-
ing the evenl at Dave and Buster's
and will make a final decision by
March 24. Dave and Buster's is a
restaurant with a bar and arcade
games.
RPC has not had contract
discussions with Dave and
Busters, but Sheeley said she
has confirmed that the venue
is available April 22. Sheeley, a
Jones College sophomore and
RPC president-elect, said tickets
will probably cost $15-20. If the
event is at Dave and Busters, the
ticket price would include game
tokens, entrance to the dance
room with a disk jockey and
shuttles to and from the event.
The event would be semi-formal,
which Sheeley said would appeal
to a wider range of students than
a formal event.
After losing about $4,000 on
Esperanza in the fall, the formals
committee can afford a net loss
of about $2,000 on Rondelet this
spring.
Sheeley said RPC is also con-
sidering ethnic restaurants near
the Rice Village.
"(The restaurant would have]
not just American food but fun
Japanese food or Spanish food, so
we could bring in music or other
social or cultural aspects to the
event," Sheeley said.
Rondelet is usually held within a
week of Beer-Bike, which will take
place April 1 this year. Sheeley said
she and the other formals chairs de-
cided to hold Rondelet in late April
to avoid conflicting with other large
campus events — like Soul Night
and Jamfest — as well as Spring
Break and Spring Recess.
Sheeley said she thinks having
the event in late April would make
it more popular.
"People [would be] really
excited about having one last
event with their senior friends,"
Sheeley said.
RPC also considered hold-
ing Rondelet at the Houston
Aquarium, at the Houston Zoo, at
nightclubs and on campus.
Sheeley said it is difficult to
schedule an event at the aquarium
because it is a popular venue, but
See RONDELET. page 6
Committee formed to study
effectiveness of 0-Week
by Alex Stoll
THRESHER STAFF
Future O-Weeks may be modified to
become more intellectual and lessexhausting.
Those are among the goals of administrators
who have formed a committee to study fresh-
man year.
The Dean's Committee on the First-Year
Experience, created by Dean of Undergradu-
ates Robin Forman and chaired by Political
Science Professor Richard Stoll, will make
recommendations on the entire first-year
experience. Hie committee will eventually
address academic advising and other issues
relating to the curriculum, but it is currently
focusing on Orientation Week.
Forman said he started the committee
because he wanted O-Week to better connect
to the first year as a whole.
"The entire first year is a period of transi-
tion, not just the first week," Forman said.
"(The committee] started with the idea that
we shouldn't view O-Week and what comes
after as entirely separate events."
Assistant to the Dean of Undergraduates
Matthew Taylor (Ph.D. '92), an ex-officio
member, said the committee will reevaluate
events held during O-Week and recommend
whether some of the programs would be
better if held after the start of classes.
"O-Week gets so packed with so many
different things and programs that often, it's
just like a fire hose in the face for first-year
students," Taylor said.
Forman said he would like to see a more
intellectually engaging O^Wbek. f
"We emphasize this idea that we are
a community, and I think we do that
brilliantly," Forman said. "We might be able
to place more emphasis on the notion that
we're not just any community — we're a com-
munity of scholars. And that's separate from
See COMMITTEE, page 6
INSIDE
Spring Elections petitions
Petitions for Spring Elections are due
March 20 at 5 p.m. outside the Student
Association office. Available positions are
RSVP treasurer, U. Court representatives
and Honor Council representatives.
Spring Break
Friday marks the beginning of Spring
Break. Whether you're helping out
hurricane victims in New Orleans, tan-
ning on the beaches of South Padre or
jet-setting across the Atlantic, we hope
you have a memorable time. The next
Thresher will come out March 24.
Too cheap for Cancun?
Take a road trip to Corpus Christi this
weekend to watch the baseball team play
in the Whataburger College Classic. The
Owls face off against TCU, Arizona State
and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
OPINION Page 3
Are you a waver, stopper or ground-gazer?
LIFESTYLES Page 12
Arena rock for the dorm room
SPORTS Page 15
Women's basketball awaits WNITbid
Quote of the Week
"[The high rates are a] function of kids caring
about academics and working hard to do a
great job. They always do around here — they
take it very seriously, and we're proud of the
work they do."
— Athletic Director Bobby May on Rice's
academic progress rates. (See story, page 6.)
Baseball
UT 9, Rice 5
Friday
Partly cloudy. 65 85 degrees
Saturday
Isolated thunderstorms, 65-84 degrees
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Obermeyer, Amber. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 93, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, March 10, 2006, newspaper, March 10, 2006; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443086/m1/1/: accessed June 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.