The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 2, Ed. 1 Friday, August 24, 2001 Page: 9 of 32
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THE RICE THRESHER NEWS FRIDAY, AUGUST 24,2001
NEWS IN BRIEF
Recent Sid graduate
loses battle with illness
Christopher Washington (Sid
'01) died May 28 at a Houston area
hospital after battling an illness for
several months. He was 24.
Employees at Development Ser-
vices, where Washington worked,
remember him as a cheerful person.
"As we got to know [Chris], we
discovered a person with an infec-
tious and never-ending smile," said
Kelly Newsom, a former co-worker
of Washington. "His sense of humor
was contagious and he frequently
made us laugh."
Washington majored in history,
and according to Associate History
Professor Edward Cox, Washington
was an ambitious student and al-
ways optimistic.
"Chris was the sort of individual
who would never complain. He
would always put a positive spin on a
situation," said Cox, who taught
Washington in several classes and
also served as his academic adviser.
Cox added that everyone in his
class would always end up knowing
Washington.
"He had an infectious love, and
he was well-liked by his fellow stu-
dents — by the end of the semester
they all knew Chris Washington,"
Cox said.
According to Newsom, Washing-
ton planned to be an attorney and to
help those who were less fortunate.
— Mark Berenson
Assistant CIC director
resigns after 3 years
Three years of work for the Com-
munity Involvement Center as a stu-
dent have paid off for Stacy
Rasmussen (Wiess'01), who landed
a "real" job when Assistant CIC Di-
rector Michelle "Shelly" Errington
left the center to administer the
Fulbright Scholarship.
Errington announced her resig-
nation from the CIC July 30. She will
become the program coordinator for
education services at the Institute
for International Education.
Errington said although she en-
joyed the three years she spent work-
ing in the CIC, she felt it was time to
expand her horizons.
"There wasn't any reason for leav-
ing except that the new job was very
different," Errington said. "I'm very
interested in international educa-
tions, and I wanted to get more expe-
rience in that area."
Within hours of Errington's res-
ignation, CIC Director Heather
Syrett had a plan for fdling the va-
cancy. She asked Rasmussen to be-
come the temporary community ser-
vice coordinator because she had
worked as a coordinator of the Ur-
ban Immersion program and been
involved in various other CIC pro-
grams.
"When Stacy was here, we recog-
nized that she was such a valuable
asset to us, and in the back of my
head, I always wished we had a place
for her more professional when she
graduated," Syrett said. "The day
Shelly resigned, Stacy was in the
office, so that made me even more
aware of how perfect Stacy would be
for the job."
Syrett said she wanted to have
time to perform a national search fo:
a replacement for Errington during
the fall semester, so she doesn't
know whether she would have hired
anyone temporarily had Stacy not
been available for the job.
"Our decision wasn't to hire some-
one temporarily, it was to see if Stacy
is interested in this, and if Stacy's
not interested, we'll look to see what
our other plans can be," Syrett said.
"Hiring Stacy was such a great solu-
tion to the immediate need that we
never had to look beyond that. ... If
Stacy wasn't here, there probably
wouldn't be anyone sitting in that
office right now."
Depending on how the national
search goes, Rasmussen will work
through January or June.
Rasmussen said the job is also
good for her because she had been
unsuccessful in finding the teaching
job she wanted. She said she hopes
to teach for two or three years after
finishing her job at the CIC, and
then attend either medical school,
veterinary school or sociology gradu-
ate school.
This is a really neat transition,"
Rasmussen said. "I think it will be a
really good experience for me to
become more of an adviser to stu-
dents, versus just an older peer.... I
think I'll have my hardest time once
the students are back, in learning
my new role."
Rasmussen will be taking over
Errington's duties of coordinating
the International Service Project, the
Urban Immersion program, Alter-
native Spring Break and English as
a Second Language tutoring.
Rasmussen will also be taking over
as an adviser to some student orga-
nizations.
Errington said she will miss the
students she worked with because
of their passion for service.
"I've had some really wonderful
student interaction here," Errington
said. "The students here are com-
passionate, very motivated, and
they're very passionate about social
issues. I feel like I've learned from
them as much as hopefully they've
learned from me."
Debate team secures funds for travel
by Mark Berenson
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
Funding for the George R. Brown
Forensics Society to take buses and
other vehicles to tournaments this
school year was approved in June.
The team originally received $20,000
last year in additional travel funds in
the aftermath of a March van acci-
dent that killed Baker College fresh-
man Dan Henning and injured sev-
eral other team members.
The team received the extra funds
again this year, but it is unclear
whether the $20,000 funding in-
crease for travel is permanent or just
for this year.
In submitting last year's budget
request, debate coach Dan West re-
quested a permanent increase in the
team's budget for travel to tourna-
ments in buses, or in a Chevrolet
Suburban or Ford Excursion if just a
few students are going.
That request was approved on a
one-year basis, and last January in
the regular budget cycle West re-
quested the money again.
Over the summer. West said he
was told by Assistant Dean of Stu-
dent Affairs Cathi Clack he had re-
ceived the money, but that it was
again on only a one-year basis.
However, Budget Assistant James
Simpson said $20,000 is listed in the
budget office as a base enhancement.
"It is currently booked as an an-
nual recurring cost," Simpson said.
"It should be there in 2003 unless
transfers are made that would move
the fund."
West said the debate team de-
serves a permanent increase in travel
funding because of their record of
success.
'At this point it is not a
safety issue for me,
because I can be safe
with less money.'
— Dan West
debate coach
"At this point it is not a safety issue
for me, because I can be safe with less
money," West said. "It is really about
whether you want us to be the best
team. I could have a really awesome
debate team, but it takes resources."
West said he would never go back
to traveling by vans.
He explained that if the extra
money for travel is not allocated, the
team will not go to its most expensive
tournament, the Phi Kappa Delta na-
tional tournament, which gives a team
a national ranking. Rice has won this
tournament the last two years.
West said his team would be hurt
by not going to the tournament.
"When I start cutting big expen-
sive tournaments like that one, then
there is no 'try to get ranked nation-
ally' carrot out there, and I certainly
lose something," West said. "If I take
away the opportunity to be the best in
the country, then they are losing their
intrinsic reason to compete."
At the National Parliamentary
Debate Association Championship
Tournament last year, Rice took
fourth place.
West said the other option of cut-
ting several less expensive tourna-
ments is not a good solution.
"It would be like not getting
enough practice, so it would lead to
less results for the kids, so they
would lose their motivation," West
said."
West said he hoped the univer-
sity would view the $20,000 as a
small price to pay to keep having a
successful debate team.
"Alums like it, the development
office likes it, administrators like it,"
West said. "Over one quarter of the
freshman class comes in with de-
bate experience, and they equate a
good debate program with an aca-
demically challenging environment.
It's a good selling point, it's a good
marketing tool."
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Liu, Leslie & Reichle, Robert. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 89, No. 2, Ed. 1 Friday, August 24, 2001, newspaper, August 24, 2001; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443210/m1/9/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.