The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 8, Ed. 1 Friday, October 5, 2001 Page: 8 of 24
twenty four 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:
f;:i,
THE RICE THRESHER NEWS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5.2001
"
w f< ■
'.iV
Housing situation uncertain for Martel freshmen
MARTEL, from Page 1
masters and presidents with reser-
vations are concerned about the late
move-in for upperclassmen who
were abroad or off-campus. These
upperclassmen would be moving
into rooms vacated by freshmen
going to Martel in January.
"Once the decision is reached
with whether or not freshmen will
be given priority to stay in their
rooms for those two weeks, we'll
refocus our attentions," Hill, a se-
nior, said.
She said the policy regarding
housing arrangements for first-year
students transferring to Martel
should be uniform among all the
colleges.
"It's a big revenue loss if those
rooms go unfilled for the entire se-
mester and we realize that that's a
big problem," Hill said.
Hill said she thinks upperclass-
men will be willing to deal with the
two-week inconvenience in order to
move back on campus, and she said
she thinks the tight-knit nature of
the college system will help provide
accommodations for these upper-
classmen.
Wiess College President Amy
Schindler said there is concern about
the two-week inconvenience for up-
perclassmen.
"We all woriy that would deter
them from wanting to move back on
campus," Schindler, a senior, said.
Schindler said she does not think
there wi 11 be many vacancies at Wiess
next semester because the new
Wiess building will open in fall 2002,
and freshmen would be unlikely to
transfer to Martel for the sake of the
new rooms. However, she said there
are vacant beds every spring semes-
ter. and she will be working with the
housing coordinator and other Wiess
residents to encourage members
who are abroad this semester to
move on campus next semester.
Vanderlip said Hanszen will also
look at a variety of possibilities to
encourage upperclassmen to move
back on campus. He said Housing
and Dining Director Mark Ditman
has proposed off-campus housing
for the first two weeks of the semes-
ter or pro-rating housing fees so
these students do not have to pay for
a full semester of housing.
7 think it's something
good to say that the
college system is so
healthy that people are
so concerned about
this:
— Erik Vanderlip
Hanszen College president
Vanderlip, a senior, said another
option would be having upperclass-
men live with friends on campus
until freshmen transferring to Martel
move out.
Ditman said regardless of who is
required to live off campus the first
two weeks of class, he and other
members of the administration will
develop a plan to help those stu-
dents find housing.
We'll develop a program to help
bridge the gap for [people living off
campus in January]," Ditman said.
"I don't think it's a problem that's
insurmountable."
Ditman added that he is inter-
ested in hearing students' ideas
about how to deal with the situation
most effectively.
Vanderlip said while consideration
must be paid to the freshmen, they
should be aware that issues may arise
in transferring to a new college.
"It's not like I totally just want to
favor the freshmen and put the up-
perclassmen out and inconvenience
them anymore than I have to,"
Vanderlip said. "I know the upper-
classmen ultimately are at their col-
lege for a reason and want to come
back to their college for a reason —
the freshmen are transferring to
Martel."
Vanderlip said he thinks admin-
istrators' and students' interests in
the issue are a positive reflection of
the college system.
"I think it's something good to
say that the college system is so
healthy that people are so concerned
about this," Vanderlip said.
The Martel New Student Recruit-
ment Committee, chaired by Martel
sophomore Mark J3erenson, will
accept no more than five Jones Col-
lege freshmen, five Brown College
freshmen and 12 freshmen from
each of the other colleges. Jones
and Brown cannot contribute as
many members because both col- .
leges will open building additions in
the next year and a half, Berenson
said. The committee has not deter-
mined whether these numbers will
include transfer applicants or if trans-
fer students will be accepted in addi-
tion to 82 freshmen.
Freshmen can apply individually
or in groups of two or four, but
Berenson said despite previous con-
siderations, no preference will be
given to those transferringasgroups.
Berenson, an assistant news edi-
tor for the Thresher, said the recruit-
ment committee will try to admit
new students in accordance with the
philosophy the university uses in
assigning freshmen to colleges.
Berenson said the committee will
honor the university's principle of al-
lowing siblings to be in the same col-
lege should they choose, find he said
the committee will try to admit stu-
dents from a cross-section of majors.
Today at 4 p.m., students and
their families are invited to tour
Martel and attend a Greek food TG
at the Masters' house. Martel is also
hosting a study break at Sammy's
from 8 to 10 p.m. Oct. 10. Martel
members will be present to answer
questions and show pictures of the
new dorm. There are currently about
160 Martel upperclassmen mem-
bers, Arthur Few said.
Hill said she thinks freshmen will
transfer to Martel to meet new people
and create new traditions as well as
for perks like a new building, new
servery, green space and an adja-
cent intramural field. Hill said she
thinks the new rooms, which are all
suites, will be more comfortable and
offer more privacy than rooms in the
other colleges.
'Once the decision is
reached with whether
or not freshmen will he
given priority to stay in
their rooms for those
two weeks, we'll
refocus our attentions
- Alice Hill
Martel College president
Will Rice College freshman Matt
Hamilton said being able to live in the
new rooms is one of the main reasons
he wants to transfer to Martel.
"I think that Will Rice long hall is
full of 90 years of guy smell and it's
time to start something new,"
Hamilton said.
Hamilton and fellow Will Rice
freshman MattToohey said they do
not think the late move-in will affect
their decision to transfer to Martel.
"When the time comes and I want
to move bad enough, I don't think
it's going to have that drastic of an
effect," Toohey said.
Toohey said, however, it would
be inconvenient if freshmen were
not allowed to stay in their old rooms
until the Martel move-in.
"Especially if they moved us off
campus or something those first two
weeks — that'd be a real hassle,
especially for me," Toohey said. "I
think it would have been easier to
just go ahead and open the college
not next semester but the semester
after that."
Toohey said most of his friends
want to move to Martel and he would
not have a problem leaving the Will
Rice community.
Other freshmen have cited rea-
sons to stay at their original colleges.
Baker College freshman Tina
Rad said although the new rooms at
Martel are tempting, Baker's loca-
tion near the academic buildings
and her connection to Baker would
keep her from transferring to
Martel.
"Once you are part of a commu-
nity you don't want to move into
another one," she said. "It is difficult
to move to a new place, even if I took
a friend."
Wiess freshman Elizabeth Gre-
gory said she would not transfer to
Martel because of her strong loyalty
to Wiess.
"I can only see freshmen moving
into Martel College if they really
want new rooms and new tradition,"
she said. "I have not experienced
any negative things about my Wiess
College yet, and I like the spirit
there."
Freshman applications to trans-
fer to Martel can be found at http://
www. ruf rice. edu/~martelcg.
Study Abroad fair
Monday, October 8
11 am - 2 pm
Grand Hall RMC
W M in
Z/..\ >Ji
Fs>©atfe aiwrid tb.£ w©rld...
plan your dream year/semester/summer abroad!
win cool prizes from Council Travel!
For more info
email Vicki at
vickisw@rice.edu
- | i , t r t f t * * + i> *9
I II II f t f + ' ' * f * e * '
i i i i i i t t » ,i i > < > j
t I » I 4 » I f 4 4
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.
Liu, Leslie & Reichle, Robert. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 8, Ed. 1 Friday, October 5, 2001, newspaper, October 5, 2001; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443147/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.