The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 75, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, March 18, 1988 Page: 1 of 16
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HP
THRESHER
Volume 75, Number 23
Rice's hungry newspaper
Friday, March 18,1988
Students boycott dinner after surcharge added
by Jeff Solochek
Over one-half of the students on the
Rice meal plan boycotted dinner on
Monday, March 14, in response to the
Central Kitchen announcement that
there would be a surcharge of one
dollar for the shrimp dinner that day.
Many students were angered because
the food and housing department did
not notify the students of the price
hike until a short time before the sur-
charge went into effect.
However, Food and Housing did
reform the surcharge plan on Monday
by offering a six-shrimp dinner for the
regular $3.30, with an option to pur-
chase five additional pieces of shrimp
for $1. This offer, a reaction to news
of a possible boycott, was announced
on posters placed throughout the col-
leges by noon on Monday. During
Monday lunch announcements in the
colleges, however, students* contin-
ued to urge a dinner boycott.
In response to the actions taken by
some students to initiate this boycott,
Student Association Senate members
Chip Lutton and Secretary Adam
Carr co-sponsored a resolution which
addressed the lack of communication
between the administration and the
students. In the resolution, which
passed with minor word changes at
the Monday SA meeting, the SA re-
solved to direct efforts to investigate
current problems with Food and
Housing, and to formulate "an equi-
table solution which emphasizes stu-
dent opinion as one of the essential
factors of concern."
The senate also condemned the
Department of Food and Housing for
"failing to consult with student em-
ployees of Central Kitchen and
elected studentrepresentatives before
implementing this increase." In addi-
tion, it further condemned Food and
Housing for a breach of the Residen-
tial Lease Agreement signed by each
student living on campus.
The lease agreement lists the
charges for each meal. The cost for
dinner is cited at $3.30. The agree-
ment states that "total room rental and
board...shall be in accordance with
the plan chosen...." All students liv-
ing on campus are required to have a
meal plan and to sign this agreement.
Local Attorney Eric Nelson said
that the unilateral raising of the
charge for the shrimp meal from
$3.30 to $4.30 would be a clear viola-
tion of the signed contract, as the SA
resolution alleges. When Food and
Housing susequently rearranged the
surcharge, however, the move be-
came technically legal, Nelson said.
Nelson added that legal action
might still be taken under the decep-
tive trade practice known as "Bait and
Switch." He stated that if students had
been "baited" by the belief that there
would be a $3.30 charge for a platter
full of shrimp for a table of eight, and
then the offer was "switched" to $3.30
for six shrimp per person, this logic
could be legally acceptable in court.
Director of Food and Housing
Marion Hicks said that he did not
anticipate any legal action to take
place. "The contract doesn't mention
the quantities of food I have to serve,"
he said. "I did stick to my contract by
offering six shrimp for S3.30."
Hicks stated that he regretted any
miscommunication which might
have angered the students. "I'm very
apologetic to the students, and I un-
derstand that the real reason [for the
boycott] is not what we did, but how
we did it.. .it's too late now to go back
and change it, but I think I've learned
my lesson, and we'll try in the future
WRC Court rules on Nevill case
by Judd Volino
After four hours of deliberation
Sunday, the Will Rice College Court
unanimously found WRC ex-social
chairman Robert Nevill guilty on
three counts of violating the univer-
sity alcoholic beverage policy, not
guilty on three other counts, and dis-
missed a seventh charge against him.
The case was brought before the
WRC court after Proctor Edward Holt
recommended that Nevill should
stand trial for alcohol policy viola-
tions at the January 29 WRC Tower
Party, according to WRC Chief Jus-
tice Wes Taylor.
The WRC court found Nevill
"guilty as charged" for failing to
complete the Rice University Alco-
holic Beverage Policy Form in accor-
dance with Rice University guide-
lines; failing to comply with Regula-
tion 3 of the Regulations for Student
Enforcement of the University Alco-
hol Policy at Public Functions by
failing to designate responsible indi-
'Portrayals' at Sewall
to be sure that information gets out"
Hicks said that the possibility of a
surcharge for shrimp and steak din-
ners had been discussed in two meet-
ings with the food representatives of
the colleges and in one meeting with
the Masters and Presidents commit-
tee. Sophomore Kristina Velasquez,
Hanszen food representative, sup-
ported Hicks' claim, adding, "We
didn't know they were going to do it
tonight. We had asked them to wait"
until the food representatives could
bring back college popular opinion.
"They already had their minds made
up," Velasquez said.
Hicks said that he blamed no one
but himself for the lack of information
to the students regarding this incident.
The shrimp and steak dinners cost
Food and Housing more than any of
the other dinner entrees. For this rea-
son, Hicks said, the surcharge was
necessary in order to keep Food and
Housing from losing any more
money. He said that there could not be
a subsidizing of the money made on
less expensive meals, like spaghetti,
for these two expensive meals be-
cause not enough people eat the cost-
effective meals to allow Food and
see Hicks, Page 7
Karsner wins runoff
for SA presidency
This photo by Ellen Carey, "Untitled, 1987" is part of the photography exhibit
currently on display in the Sewall Art Gallery. The exhibit ends April 6.
(Polacolor ER print, 24x20 in., collection of Steve Lowy, © New York City)
viduals to monitor all entrance and
exit points at the event; and failing to
comply with the Guidelines Concern-
ing the Location arid Manner With
Which Alcoholic Beverages Will Be
Served by focusing party advertising
on alcohol.
The court found Nevill not guilty of
failing to comply with Regulation 3 of
the Regulations... by failing to name
security officials responsible for the
identification of visibly intoxicated
persons; failing to comply with the
Guidelines. . .by not providing
adequate security at the event; and
failing to comply with the Guidelines
. . .by unfairly allocating funds for
non-alcoholic beverages and food.
The court did not decide on a sev-
enth charge of failing to comply with
WRC's General Conduct Rule, "as
(this case is) outside the scope of the
WRC rules," according to the text of
the opinion.
Court Justice Michael White said
the first charge was not made as the
result of Nevill's underestimation of
the number of people who would at-
tend but rather "other indescretions in
filling out the form."
Specifically, Taylor said, the bar-
tenders and security officials listed on
the form were not necessarily the
same as those who actually were at the
party.
Taylor said, however, that "respon-
sibility for this violation lies on all
those that sign the form," including
Holt, Associate Director of Student
Activities Lois Waldron, and WRC
Master William Doughtie.
In the past, names were only used
to fill in the blanks on the form, and
there was an understanding that there
might be different people at the party.
"It was a common practice ac-
cepted by Lois [Waldron] that the
social chairman would fill in random
names, and it was known by all those
who signed the form knew that the
see Nevill, page 7
Karsner
Lutton
Bro'¥n Hanszen Jones
Lovett
by Megan Dixon
A remarkably high voter turnout
at Will Rice College again character-
ized the race for the next Student
Association president in the runoff
election held Tuesday, March 15.
WRC junior Andy Karsner received
704 votes, 274 of those from WRC,
and Baker College Junior Chip Lut-
ton received 653 votes, 196 of those
from Baker College. With a margin of
51 votes, the eight discrepancies that
occurred did not affect the validity of
the election.
"I'd never seen anything over 200
votes for one person at one college. .
That's (274 votes at WRC) really
amazing," Student Association Elec-
tions Chairman Adam Carr said.
Campus-wide, students cast
1357 votes, making the turnout al-
most as high as the election of Febru-
ary 23, in which 1,376 total votes
were cast for the three candidates then
running.
At Baker, the vote in Lutton's
favor was 196 to 20; Lutton also car-
ried Lovett College, 103-60, Sid
Richardson College, 71-63, and
Wiess college, 108-38. Karsner re-
ceived overwhelming support from
WRC, 274-11, and also prevailed at
Hanszen College, 127-47, and at
Brown College, 70-65. Jones College
split its vote, 52-52, with no discrep-
ancies.
The candidates received word of
the result from a friend about 8 p.m.
Tuesday night while sitting together
at Willy's Pub, before Carr brought
them the full voting tally. Neither had
a loud reaction to the official an-
nouncement; for a few minutes they
discussed the Food and Housing
problem with Carr.
At lunch Wednesday Karsner
spoke to his college to thank them for
their support. "You have to count on
your hand the people who didn't
come out [to vote at WRC]," he said,
adding that he didn't make any prom-
ises during the campaign, "but I'll
make one now. One year from today
you will know your leadership in the
SA. This is a new beginning for the
SA."
Asked how he feels, Karsner said,
"I'm elated. On a personal level I'm
somewhat at a loss for a close friend of
mine. . .but we both feel we're the
best for the job. We're going to con-
tinue working together—Chip and I
pledged before this all started that we
would continue to work together next
year."
The Executive Vice-President
position must be filled on condition of
the approval of the Senate, after an
appointment from Karsner. Karsner
see Karsner, page 6
Election info
Elections for Sammy the Owl and
Honor Council At-Large positions
will be held Tuesday, March 29, in
the colleges. Petitions were due
March 15. Thresher statements
should be 150 words or less and are
due by 5 p.m. Monday, March 21,
in the Thresher office. Times for
pictures are posted on the Thresher
door.
INSIDE:
Opinion: What money can
buy instead of love, page 2.
News: Minority Affairs director
appointed, page 5.
Fine Arts: Zits, rock music, and
beehive hair, page 9.
Sports: Handicapped skier
competes, page 13.
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Wucker, Michele. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 75, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, March 18, 1988, newspaper, March 18, 1988; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245689/m1/1/: accessed June 22, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.