The Rice Thresher, Vol. 91, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, February 20, 2004 Page: 1 of 20
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Vol. XCI, Issue No. 20
SINCE 1916
Friday, February 20, 2004
ALEX SIGEDA/THRESHER
Once rivals (sort of), now teammates
Current Astros Lance Berkman (left, a former Rice star) and Roger Clemens (right, a
former Texas star) throw out ceremonial first pitches before Saturday's Rice-UT game at
Minute Maid Park. UT won 6-3, but Rice recovered to open the season with a 3-1 record
and hosts the six-team Coca-Cola Classic this weekend at Reckling Park. (See stories,
Pages 13 and 16).
High turnout in elections
Matthews wins SA presidency with an absolute majority
by Risa Gordon
THRESHER STAFF
Derrick Matthews, a Will Rice College jun-
ior , was elected Student Association president
from a field of four candidates. Students cast
944 votes in the SA presidential race and
1,011 total ballots in the General Elections.
Matthews earned 50.95 percent of the first-
place votes, making round-by-round elimination
of other candidates through preferential vote
tallying unnecessary to obtain the constitution-
ally required majority.
Voter turnout for the presidential election
was higher than in the past two years. Last
year 861 students voted in the election, and
665 voted in 2002.
Matthews, the current SA internal vice
president, said he is pleased with the voter
turnout in the election.
"I'm really excited that more students
voted this year," Matthews said. "I'm ex-
cited that virtually all the amendments and
referenda passed."
However, current SA co-president Michael
I^eggett said he would have preferred to see
higher turnout. About 35 percent of the
2,927 students eligible to vote cast ballots.
Matthews said he is looking forward to his
new role. He said he intends to institute
Seven referenda passed
JENN MOLHOLT/THRESHER
SA President-elect Derrick Matthews talks at
the presidential debate held Feb. 9.
changes in how the SA is run.
"As president, I'm really excited to be able
to restructure how things work in the sen-
ate," Matthews said. "I want to make all the
senate members more involved in getting
things done."
Leggett, a Wiess College senior, said he
hopes Matthews will continue some of the
programs the SA began implementing this year,
including getting written course evaluations
published online and seeking distribution credit
for 100 level language courses. He also said
See ELECTIONS, Page 6
by David Brown
THRESHER KDITORIAI. STAFF
A Student Association constitu-
tional amendment prohibiting co-
presidents was the only one of eight
separate referenda to fail in the
General Elections, which ended
Wednesday.
Initiatives to increase Rice Pro-
gram Council's blanket tax for Beer-
Bike and to make changes to the
constitutions of the SA, the Honor
Council and University Blue easily
met the two-thirds majority require-
ment, all winning approval among at
least 80 percent of those who voted
on them. The co-presidential amend-
ment missed approval by 12 votes.
In order for an amendment to pass,
it must receive a two-thirds majority
of votes, with at least 20 percent of
students voting on it.
Current SAco-President Michael
Ix'ggett said he is pleased that co-
presidents may still run for office.
"I think that the SA will benefit
from it," Leggett, a Wiess College
senior, said. "[SA co-President Biyan
Debbink and I| have been effective
as co-presidents, and I think co-presi-
dents can work."
SA Elections Chair Ames Grawert
said Debbink and leggett have been
successful in sharing duties, but the
65 percent of participants who voted
to ban co-presidents should serve as
a warning for future candidates.
"1 think we'll see co-presidents
running in the future," Grawert, a
Lovett College sophomore, said.
"But the results mean they should
be aware they might not get elected
because of the inherent [opposition
to co-presidents]."
The RPC blanket-tax referen-
dum will raise the blanket tax $2 to
cover more of Beer-Bike's operat-
ing expenses, RPC President Mary-
Margaret Miller said. Miller, a
Wiess senior, said the increase,
which failed on last year's ballot,
will prevent a decline in the overall
quality of Beer-Bike.
"I'm happy to see that students
were willing to put their money
where their mouth is and chip in a
couple of dollars for Beer-Bike,"
Miller said.
Funding from corporate spon-
sors has declined in recent years
because sponsors do not want to
be associated with an event named
See REFERENDA, Page 8
KATIE STREIT/THRESHER
No glass allowed
Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra and Rice Chorale members perform Carmlna Burana in Stude Hall in Alice
Pratt Brown Hall Saturday.
L_
Few changes planned for parade
by Natalie Kone
FOR THE THRESHER
The biggest difference students will no-
tice during tins year's Beer-Bike is that Wiess
College will be hosting its own fenced-off
party during the parade, Assistant Director
of Student Activities Holly Williams said. Only
relatively minor changes — many of them
clarifications — have been made to parade
fines and rules.
The three major goals in procedural
changes for this year's parade are a more
active safety policy, a smoother line-up plan
for the flatbed trucks and decorative vehicles,
and clearer signs marking the parade route
and the areas where water balloons can be
thrown, Campus-Wide Beer-Bike Coordina-
tor Ellen Montz said.
The line-up plan for this year's parade is
designed to prevent difficulties experienced
by some of the trucks last year in maneuver-
ing around corners, Montz said. However, he
route itself will remain the same. Rice Univer-
sity Police Department Chief Bill Taylor will
approve the plan by Monday, Campus-Wide
Beer-Bike Coordinator JennineGuanchez said.
Trucks will enter a roped-off area of the
parade route, at which point students will be
permitted to begin throwing water balloons,
Williams said. Montz, a Jones College junior,
said a new fine will be issued for throwing
balloons outside the roped-off area.
Montz said she and Guanchez, also a Jones
junior, are working to raise participants' aware-
ness of rules and changes and are trying to
ensure that college coordinators will help with
the process.
The Wiess party that will take place during
the parade will be fenced off and limited to
Wiessmen, Montz said. The Wiess Beer-Bike
coordinators have guaranteed proper security
will be in place. Students will not be permitted
to move between the party and the parade,
Montz said.
"|The party 1 doesn't have anything to do
with Beer-Bike," Montz said. "Our job is to
make sure that it doesn't interfere with the
Beer-Bike parade. We're hoping there will be
limited to zero interaction between the parade
and the Wiess party."
See BIKE. Page 8
A Vision of the future
INSIDE
This weekend is Vision Weekend, a
mini-Owl Weekend for applicants who
are from an underrepresented minority
OPINION
Orphans or deer head
A&E
Whores visit Lovett
Page 3
Page 11
SPORTS
Bring it on
Dance Marathon
Stayin' Awake for Kids' Sake will be held
Saturday night stalling at 8 p.m. and tun-
ning until 8 a.m. in the Grand Hall in the
Student Center. Vision visitors get in free.
"Sometimes kids cry and run away, but there
are the fourth-graders who like to punch
Sammy in the mouth and pull the tail off. But
it is a lot of fun, because how often is it
socially acceptable to joke around with people
like that."
— Lovett College junior Lanny Bose, on being
Sammy the Owl. See Feature, Page 15.
Men's Basketball
Nevada 75, Rice 87
Tulsa 103, Rice 111
Baseball
Houston 4, Rice 8
Kansas State 0, Rice 13
Women's Basketball
Rice 64, Tulsa 61
Friday
Mostly sunny, 77-45 degrees
Saturday
Partly cloudy, 67-48 degrees
Sunday
Mostly cloudy, 66 55 degrees
Weekend Weather
Quote of the Week
Scoreboard
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Berenson, Mark. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 91, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, February 20, 2004, newspaper, February 20, 2004; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth398442/m1/1/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.