The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 73, No. 3, Ed. 1 Friday, September 6, 1985 Page: 1 of 16
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THRESHER
Volume 73, Number 3
O'j/. September 6, 198?
INSIDE:
•Last tree add/drop today
•Thresher wildlife, page 6.
•What color is your tooth-
orush? See page 9.
•Will we win a football game?
See page 11
Few groups move funds over gay rights
m
Barry Nicholson
-M. Hulbert
by Spencer Greene
Rice Gay/ Lesbian Support
Group (RG/LSG) president
Donald Baker says his
organization still wants to move its
funds from Texas Commerce
Medical Bank, though other
campus organizations probably
will not follow suit.
Accounts of all official student
organizations, as well as many
university accounts, are held at
Texas Commerce banks.
Student David Phillips
protested this fact in April, when a
report listed Texas Commerce
Bancshares as a contributor to the
campaign against Houston's gay
rights referendum [see Rice
Thresher, April 19, 19851.
Following that protest, the
Student Association queried clubs
to see if they wished to move their
funds, said president Barry-
Nicholson. Of 70 student
organizations only three came
forward, he said.
These were the gay/lesbian
group, the Texas Public Interest
Research Group (TexPirg), and
the Karate Club.
Nicholson said that at a meeting
where the subject was discussed,
SA Treasurer Drury Wilson
insisted that any transfer of funds
"make good business sense."
Director ot Student Activities
Patricia Martin, who has been
looking for a bank to which
organizations may move their
funds, concurred.
Her goal has been to find a bank
which will waive service charges on
student organizations' accounts as
Texas Commerce has done, she
said. No institution has made such
an offer.
However. Martin said she is
"still willing to work with those
groups who want to change."
According to Martin, Texas
Commerce Medical Bank
president Chris Herschberger has
visited her office twice since April
to reaffirm his institution's non-
discriminatory policies and his
wishes for good relations with the
Rice community.
"We don't endorse them [Texas
Commerce Medical Bank]
particularly," Martin said, "but we
do endorse their goodwill. Apart
from the political considerations,
which I think students should
judge on their own, my office finds
them very easy to work with. From
my office's point of view, they have
been most cooperative."
The Gay Lesbian Support
Ciroup is now searching on its own
for a bank. Baker said, and when
see Financial. page
Admissions Office
seeks minorities
Minority
Enrollment at Rice
by David Schnur
Members of minority groups at
Rice are hoping to air complaints
about the university's policy on
minority issues at a meeting of the
admissions committee today. The
meeting, scheduled for 4 p.m. in
the physics amphitheater, will be
the first time the committee has
specifically discussed making Rice
more attractive to minorities.
As of last fall, blacks comprised
four percent of the total student
body, an increase from 2.8 percent
in 1980. Another 2.9 percent of
Rice students were Hispanic, down
from 3.1 percent in 1980. Oriental
students made up 4.5j^ejxenU)£the_
Rice population, a large increase
from 1.2 percent four years earlier.
Despite the increase in the
number of minority students at
Rice, many minority students now
at the university feel that these
numbers are still too low and are
not convinced that the universitvpg^g^
has done a good job of recruiting
prospective minority students.
According to Jones senior Jana
Sanchez, co-president of the
Hispanic Association for Cultural
Education at Rice (HACER), the
statistics do not tell the whole
story. "The admissions committee
doesn't publish how many of the
see More, page 5
American I
Oriental
1984
George Rupp enjoys Pub-on-the-Patio.
—S. Buchanan
Athlete test scores continue rise
Cheryl Smith
The academic qualifications of
incoming freshmen athletes
continue to be higher than those of
previous years, according to
Advisor to Student Athletes Mark
Scheid.
The academic credentials of
student athletes became a major
issue at Rice in 1983 when the
Board of Governors announced it
would spend more money on the
university's football program.
During that same year, faculty
members criticized the university
for having a dual admissions
process, one which did not force
athletes to meet the same
requirements as other incoming
freshmen.
Test scores and other measures
of academic ability for athletes
have improved since that time,
however, due to better recruiting,
Scheid said.
The incoming student athletes
for this year post an average SAT
score over 1000 and one that
should be slightly higher than the
1038 average of last year. Sheid
said.
Scheid said he does not have
precise data on SAT scores at this
time.
Scheid said the 1985 class also
has an average high school grade
point average which is above 3.0.
This class was comparable to
that of last year in class rankings as
well. Three of Rice's incoming
athletes this year were the
valedictorians of their high school
graduating class, the same number
as last year.
There were big improvements in
the average freshman SAT scores
of volleyball and basketball
players, he said.
All the other sports, including
football, maintained scores for
incoming students of over 1000
Scheid added.
Scheid cautions that an SAL
score is not a good indicator of
success at Rice. Scheid said the
correlation between SAT scores
and grade-point-average at Rice to
be only about .25.
However, the SAT score is one
indicator which the administration
looks at closely. It comprises one
of the measures used in new
recruiting standards for athletes
established this year by Provost
William Gordon. Dean of
Admissions and Records Richard
Stabell, and Head Football Coach
Watson Brown.
Very few athletes are admitted
as "exceptions" to the strict new
standards, Scheid said.
Most sports are only allowed
one exception per year, whereas
some of the smaller sports are only
allotted one exception every three
years, he added.
Football, because of the number
of recruits, was originally allowed
a maximum number of five
exceptions.
However, Brown voluntarily
reduced the number to three for
see Athletes, page 6
Correction
Due to an error in the computer printout of course ratings
used by the Thresher in last week's article. Robert Kauffman was
listed among the lower-rated teachers on the one to five scale. In
fact, his course, Span 202, was rated a 1.5. Scores are determined
by averaging the teacher effectiveness and course quality scores.
The Thresher regrets the error. (See Threshing it out on page 2
for more information.)
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Snyder, Scott. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 73, No. 3, Ed. 1 Friday, September 6, 1985, newspaper, September 6, 1985; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245608/m1/1/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.