The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 65, No. 29, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 22, 1978 Page: 1 of 12
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The Rice
Thresher
volume 65, number 29
Wednesday, march 22, 1978
Jeu, Badeaux win OC seats
In yesterday's special
elections, Stephen Jeu and
Kevin Badeaux emerged
victorious in the race for off-
campus senators, while only one
of two proposals to increase the
blanket tax passed.
Badeaux, SRC sophomore,
coasted to an easy win with
431 votes. Jeu, also a second
year man from Sid, edged
R.Da]e Baker of Will Rice 314-
305. In the Thresher business
manager's race, Elizabeth
Pfaff collected 594 out of 643
ballots cast in that race.
Two conditions determined the
passage of the Thresher proposal
to increase its blanket tax from
$3.60 to S4.60 per student. First,
the measure had to gain the
approval of over 60% of the
voters. In addition, the turnout
had to reach 35% of the
undergraduate student body.
The proposal was endorsed by
a 632-280 margin, for a 69%
approval rate. The 912 votes cast
constituted 35.4% of the 2574
students currently attending Rice.
Until mid-afternoon on Wed-
nesday, there was some question
about the actual enrollment total,
until Dean Katherine Brown
determined the accurate totals
which would be used. Early totals
showing that the minimum
turnout requirement had not been
readied had included 73 students
who are not actually attending the
University- this semester.
Vote invalidates Senate debate
In the most controversial
meeting of the year, the SA
took three votes and argued
heatedly over an issue the
student body rendered
academic the next day.
The issue was whether to
amend the SA constitution to
include TexPIRG, a prere-
quisite to allowing them, a
portion of the blanket tax.
After a procedure that SA
President Claude Sisson later
admitted was "a little
parlimentarilly irregular," the
Senate voted 11-4-2 on the
amendment, which meant the
amendment failed, since it
requires a 3/4 approval of the
Senate. When a new vote was
called, Leon Vance, who
hadn't known exactly what
the motion was the first time
and abstained, changed to a
yes vote the second time
around, meaning the motion
passed, 12-4. This brought
howls of protest from the a-
mendment's opponents, since
the vote was supposed to be a
recount, and members weren't
supposed to be allowed to
change their votes.
After a motion was made to
reconsider the issue, ("which
meant that senators could
change their minds) the vote
changed to 11-3-2, meaning
the motion passed, only if
abstentions were not con-
sidered as votes. If abstentions
were considered as votes not
contributing to the 3/4
majority, the motion failed. A
parlimentary decision by the
chair declared the former to be
a correct interpretation, again
amidst protests from some of
the members. A motion to
overturn the chair's decision
failed, 6-8-2. A petition to
The TexPIRG referendum
was unable to fulfill either
requirement. The attempt to
include the consumer
organization as a blanket tax
organization and give them a
$1 allotment received a
majority of 518-382, but fell
below the 60 percent mark.
The 900 voters represented
only 34 percent of the student
body.
Originally a separate entity,
TexPIRG turned to the SA
after the University termin-
ated the agreement to collect
the fees of the organization.
Pending further action by the
Senate, TexPIRG remains an
unfunded SA organization.
protest the chair's decision
was announced. This has,
however, been rendered moot
by the failure of the TexPIRG
blanket tax referendum.
In other business, Steve
Mount submitted hit; resig-
nation as student representa-
tive to the University Council.
Alex Arts, a member-elect of
the Council, also submitted a
resignation because he has
decided to not attend Rice next
year. The SA decided to delay
the election of a successor to
Arts until Roy Beller is sworn
in as SA President, and voted
to appoint the other member-
elect, Joe Luckenhoff, to serve
the remainder of Mount's
term. The SA also rubber-
stamped recommendations to
standing committees and
requests for matching funds
for student conferences.
Rondolet Schedule
The following is the schedule for the 32nd annual Rondelet
weekend:
Friday, April 7
4.00 Hamman Hall area. TGIF(free beer until 5:30).
Progressive country & C&W music by Richard Helt
and his band.
5:30 All-school picnic
6:30 Michael Macolea
8:30 Movie: Mel Brooks' "The Twelve Chairs". Outdoors
and free.
10:30 Street dance-R&R and blues by "Paul Rav & the X-
Rated Cobras".
1:00 Evening ends.
Saturday, April 8
1:30-4:30 Beer-Bike Race
9:00-1:00 Rondelet ball. Texas Room at the Houston
Club(in the Texas Commerce Building).
Open bar; Music by "Second Coming"
Valet parking $1
Tickets-$15 advance, $18 at the door
Ticket8-$15 in advance, $18 at the door(available
through college reps and SA office)
Sunday, April 9 Songfest
7:00 I. Chorale(serious talents)
II. Gong Show(with prizes)
New forms considered
by David Butler
Proposed changes in the
system of preparing teacher
evaluations will be discussed
at a campus-wide meeting to
be held next Thursday, March
30, at 4pm in Biology 131. The
suggested changes, outlined in
a memo from biology professor
Charles Stewart, chairman of
the committee on Undergrad-
uate Teaching, would
eliminate the computerized
evaluation forms currently in
use, in favor of a more detailed
essay-answer questionnaire.
The proposal >^juld also
change the m In hod of
administering the evaluation
forms; instead of distributing
the forms in class, as is
currently done, the forms
would be distributed and
collected independently of the
classroom —probably thrr > tigh
the colleges and the offices of
the Dean of Undergraduate
Affairs. This would diminish
the chances of "election-
eering" or tampering with the
results of evaluations. While
Stewart doubts that there has
been extensive abuse of the
current system, "since any
belief in the possibility of
unfairness leaves the system
open to criticism, we feel that it
is best to remove the
potential."
Also included in the
proposal package is a plan to
provide professors with
written evaluations from their
deans and department
chairmen after the completion
of their first and third years at
Rice, before they are
considered for tenure. These
evaluation, according to
Stewart, will give explicit
value judgements that have
been placed on his or her
teaching and give specific
suggestions for "improve-
ment."
Another part of the plan,
already implemented by the
committee, is to make the
summaries of the written
evaluation forms prepared for
the University Council
available to faculty up for
promotion and their depart-
ment chairmen. "This is out of
fairness to the candidates (for
promotion)," says Stewart, "to
give them the opportunity to
rebut any conclusions which
they consider invalid.'
While some of the proposals
could be ordered by committee
fiat, Stewart feels that
widespread support will have
to be shown in order for the
changes to succeed. Since the
changes in the evaluation
forms and the evaluations for
non-tenured professors will
have to be approved by the
University Council, whatever
changes are approved will
not take effect until next year.
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matt noall
Bikers prepare for Rondolet Beer-Bike competition on April 8.
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Parker, Philip. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 65, No. 29, Ed. 1 Wednesday, March 22, 1978, newspaper, March 22, 1978; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245366/m1/1/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.