The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 16, Ed. 1 Friday, January 22, 1993 Page: 1 of 16
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SINCE 1916
VOLUME 80f NUMBER 16
SPONSORED BY THE WILUAM P. HOBBY, JR., THRESHER INSTITUTE
JANUARY 22,1993
Honor Council plans to revise Blue Book
by Sara Maurer
An Honor Council committee an-
nounced this week plans to bring
more than 70 proposed changes to
the current Blue Book before the full
council for approval. The proposal
would constitute the largest revision
of the Honor Council's Blue Book,
which defines the policy and proce-
dures underlying Rice University's
Honor Code, since it was written in
1958.
The Honor Council Blue Book
Revisions Committee wrote a letter
to the editor in this week's Rice
Thresher announcing plans for the
revision, but did not outline specific
changes. Committee chair Chad
Fargason explained he was reluctant
to release details about the proposed
changes while they were still under-
going review.
"We are still in the process of
hammering things out with the rest
of the council. After that, Dean [of
Students Sarah] Burnett needs to
ratify the changes we want to make,
and she hasnt even seen them yet."
Only then, Fargason said, will the
suggested modifications be made
available to the student body for rati-
We've needed these
changes for quite some
time.'
—Steve Tran
fication.
Fargason estimated that 30 or 40
of the suggested changes are simply
minor clarifications in wording. Other
changes, however, will be significant
departures from current Blue Book
policy. Committee member Tobey
Blanton said, "There will be at least
three or four major changes stem-
ming from problems we've had in the
past"
"We've needed these changes for
quite some time," said Honor Coun-
cil Chair Steve Tran. "We needed
them three years ago when 1 first
served on the council. We've just
never had a consolidated effort to
make the change."
Such an effort began last semes-
ter when Internal Vice Chair Steve
Hackney was appointed to chair a
revisions committee. Hackney, who
stepped down as chair after being
appointed to the Presidential Search
Committee, felt that the code, which
has been revised nine times in the
past 45 years, badly needed improve-
ment "Once you start working with
the document as a council member,
you find out a lot of things about it
that are dumb."
The Blue Book Revisions Com-
mittee, consisting of Fargason,
Blanton, and Hackney as well as Will
Rice College sophomore Crystal
Gobble and Hanszen College junior
Abigail Martin, took into account a
SEE BLUE BOOK, PAGE 6
Baker accepts Rice Board of Governors spot
by Melissa Williams
Former Chief of Staff James A
Baker III accepted a double position
last week at Wee University. Baker
will serve as a term member of the
Board of Governors and also work
with a public policy institute named
in his honor.
Baker will be on campus today for
meetings with Rice faculty and ad-
ministrators and a 9 am press con-
ference.
"Baker will bring Rice a back-
ground in national and international
affairs over the past few years that's
absolutely phenomenal," Board of
Governors Chairman Charles
Duncan told the Houston Chronicle.
"It will be an important addition for
the school."
Several people had speculated
since last semester that Baker would
accept a position here, as university
president or as a member of the fac-
ulty or Board of Governors. "[Presi-
dent Rupp and I] have been in con-
versations with him over time" about
coming to Rice, Duncan said.
"I think Baker's always felt a bond
with this institution," Rupp told the
Chronicle.
Baker has longtime family ties to
Rice. His grandfather, Capt James
A Baker, uncovered the plot to mur-
der Rice's founder, William Marsh
Rice, and served as a trustee on the
Board of Governors for 50 years. Also,
Rice's first president Edgar Odell
Lovett was Baker's great-uncle.
Duncan cited these family con-
nections and Baker's interest in pub-
lic policy as his reasons for coming to
Rice. "I think he sees Rice as a good
place to further his interest in public
policy matters," Duncan said.
On the board, Baker will fill the
term-member position vacated by
James W. Glanville's death due to
injuries from a September auto acci-
dent Duncan said that Baker, who
will fill the board position immedi-
ately, will complete Glanville's four-
year term that expires in June. At that
time, Duncan said he expects Baker
will be chosen for a full term as a
board member.
The James A Baker III Institute
for Public Policy is still in the plan-
ning stages, said Social Sciences
Dean Jim Pomerantz. "We have ideas,
but we haven't really had an opportu-
nity to discuss them with Secretary
Baker," he said. He noted „ however,
that "Baker's initial read [of institute
plans] has been positive."
"The Baker Institute will be con-
cerned with good, solid research on
a variety of policy issues, explaining
policy issues to people outside the
university community, and educa-
tion," said Ric Stoll, director of the
Center for the Study of Institutions
and Values. He expects new faculty
and more classes to be added as a
result of the institute.
"I could imagine [the institute
conducting] studieson domestic eco-
nomic policy, international relations,
and arms control," Pomerantz said,
because of Baker's background and
experience in these areas.
"We don't really have a
committment that [Baker] will be
here every day," said Kathy Whitmire,
former Houston mayor and director
of the Rice Institute for Policy Analy-
sis.
Duncan said Baker's duties with
the institute might include "conduct-
ing seminars [and] giving lectures."
"I would not believe [the institute
post] would be a full-time thing,"
Duncan said.
Pomerantz added that one of
Baker's priorities upon coming to
Rice will be to write his memoirs,
which may involve Rice students if
Baker chooses to have collaborators
on the project
"There's a beautiful symmetry to
[ Baker's arrival]" because of his fam-
ily associations, according to
Pomerantz. "[It's] a vital point for the
university, going towards its 100th
year. It just sounds ideal... I think it'll
work out very well," he said.
Cut classes for King?
I
A Black Student Union banner urged students to boycott class for MLK's birthday. See story page 4.
May considered for USC post
C 7 - > v-. - - ■ - ^
... - i
Rice Athletic Director Bobby May anchors the Owls' shuttle hurdle in the
1965 Penn Relays, equaling the world record with a time of 57.5.
by Peter Howley
Rice Athletic Director Bobby May is among six finalists for the
vacant athletic director's position at the University of Southern
California, according to news reports. May admitted he was contacted
about the post last month, but said he is very unlikely to leave Rice,
where he has served as athletic director for four years.
"I'm very, very happy at Rice," May said. "I think I'll be here for a
longtime."
Responding to the suggestion that the continuing controversy
about the role of athletics on campus might impel him to leave, May
SEE MAY, PAGE 15
Dean of students releases
statistics on sexual assault
by Leezie Kim
In its first-ever published report
on sexual misconduct cases brought
to the attention of the university, Rice
revealed seven "formal complaints
alleging some sort of sexual assault,
sexual misconduct, or sexual harass-
ment" against students filed since
'There are more
assaults happening
here than even this
report lists. But this
type of report should be
done often.'
—Barbara Moyer
the fall semester of 1989.
Dean of Students Sarah Burnett
said in the report that five of the
seven complaints ranged from un-
wanted intimate contact to acquain-
tance rape. This figure is in contrast
with an earlier release in August 1992
by the Rice University Police Depart-
ment, which reported only one rape
for the first seven months of 1989,
1990,1991, and 1992. No figures are
available on August through Decem-
ber of those years.
Burnett attributed the difference
in the reports' statistics to the fact
that the RUPD figures only included
complaints received by the campus
police, and that a police report is not
required within the university disci-
plinary procedure. She added that
her figures report all violation of uni-
versity policy, while the RUPD fig-
ures are limited to "crimes" as de-
fined by the FBI and penal codes.
Burnett's report is being hailed
by members of Students Organized
Against Rape (SOAR), as a major
step toward a more accurate picture
of student-on-student sexual assault
at Rice. SOAR had voiced complaints
about the misleading nature of the
earlier figures.
"Only one out of every 10 inci-
dents is reported, so there are more
assaults happening here than even
this report lists," said Barbara Moyer
of SOAR "But this type of report
should be done often."
According to the report, all seven
complainants in the cases brought to
Burnett were women, and the ac-
cused included ten men and one
woman. All parties in the cases were
acquaintances, and in all five of the
unwanted intimate contact cases and
acquaintance rapes, one or both par-
ties was intoxicated.
"Frequently," Burnett's report
states, "the complainant, the accused,
and witnesses were so intoxicated it
has been impossible to establish what
actually occurred." While incidents
happened both off and on campus,
the report noted several of the inci-
dents occurred immediately after
College Nights or college parties at
which alcohol was consumed.
The other two cases involved prac-
tical jokes in which students pub-
lished untrue sexual information
about a fellow student One of the
two cases is a 1991 incident in which
members of the Jesse H.Jones Gradu-
ate School of Administration placed a
false ad in the Public News that read:
SEE ASSAULT, PAGE 6
A&E
Jeff takes
leave of his
senses
9
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Kim, Leezie & Carson, Chad. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 80, No. 16, Ed. 1 Friday, January 22, 1993, newspaper, January 22, 1993; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245829/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.