The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, January 14, 1994 Page: 1 of 16
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SINCE 1916
VOLUME 81, NUMBER 15
WILL EDIT FOR FOOD
JANUARY 14, 1994
Gillis unveils fixed-tuition plan,
$500 increase for current students
by Jeremy Bogaisky
Incoming freshmen and transfers
will be guaranteed a fixed level of
tuition for a maximum of six years at
Rice through a tuition indexing pro-
gram announced by the president's
office yesterday.
Tuition for current undergraduates
will increase $500 per year until they
graduate.
Undergraduates entering Rice this
fall will pay $10,400 in tuition for the
1994-95 academic year. This base tu-
ition rate will be adjusted in the follow-
ing years to match the rate of inflation
as measured by the Consumer Price
Index, which tracks the average an-
nual change in prices of a representa-
tive selection of basic consumer goods
and services.
If the present rate of inflation, which
is close to 3 percent, remains the same
in 1994, next year's freshmen will see
their tuition increase by $300 in their
sophomore year to $10,700.
The plan still allows the Board of
Governors to determine the initial tu-
ition for each incoming freshman class.
President Malcolm Gillis said the
object of the plan is to make it easier
for students and their families to plan
for the expenses of a college educa-
tion.
This reaffirms that the university
is committed to affordable education,
that between the time you matriculate
and graduate your tuition will remain
the same," he said.
For the past five years Rice has
increased tuition by $800 annually,
reaching $9,300 for the current aca-
demic year.
Gillis said the administration did
not want to extend a financial windfall
to thecurrent undergraduates by freez-
ing thecurrent tuition rate, but wanted
to break the trend of $800 increases.
The transition plan was thus a com-
promise.
Since graduate students will not be
covered by the indexing program,
their tuition will increase next year by
$1,000, to $11300.
Vice President of Finance and Ad-
ministration Deari Currie said the plan
does not alter the amount students
will pay for a stay at Rice; it simply
changes the distribution of payment
"The plan will be roughly revenue
neutral. It is not intended to be a price
cut or a price increase," Currie said.
He said the plan should increase
SEE TUmON PAGE 9
Goldsmith accepts
Duke coaching job
by Jason Katz
After reassuring players and
staff that he would remain at the
helm of the Rice football program,
fifth-year Head Coach Fred Gold-
smith stunned the entire football
community by accepting a vacant
position at Duke University.
He was replaced a week later
by Clemson Head Coach Ken
Hatfield.
The 49-year old Goldsmith, who
compiled a 23-31-1 record with the
Owls, signed a five-year contract
with Duke, succeeding former
Blue Devil Head Coach Barry
Wilson.
SEE COACH PAGE 15
Ken Hatfield
Admissions office plans $25 fee for applications to Rice
by Amy Jeter
Students interested in comprising
Rice's class of 1999 will be the first
ever required to pay a fee with their
application.
The decision in favor of a $25 appli-
cation fee, to be implemented next
year, was made at the December Board
of Governors meeting on the recom-
mendation of President Malcolm Gillis
and Vice President of Finance and
Administration Dean Currie.
Gillis said he feelsprocessing Rice's
large number of applications free of
charge was a strain on the admissions
office and thatadditional money could
be used to improve the office's pro-
cess of application evaluation.
According to Gillis, several people,
including students, had mentioned to
him the uniqueness of Rice's free ap-
plication.
In an administrative memo, Gillis
questioned the university's practice
of fully subsidizing the processing of
applications, according to StabelL
The money collected from applica-
tion fees will be submitted to a general
operations budget which funds ad-
missions processes as well as other
university services.
Stabell said that he did not know
how the recommended amount of the
purposed application fee was deter-
mined, but he assumed that the figure
was suggested by Gillis and Currie.
Gillis stressed that he feels the
proposed fee is modest in comparison
to other universities. At $25, the Rice
fee would equal one half of the Duke
application fee, he said.
Stabell denied that the application
fee was a response to the university's
recent increase in applicants or that it
represented an attempt to discourage
less qualified students from applying
to Rice.
Carl MacDowell, assistant to the
president, said he would not necessar-
ily predict a decrease in applications
'in response to the new fee.
"There is no way to really forecast
[how many less applications Rice will
receive]," he said. "Perhaps the fee
will have an impact Only time will
tell"
"We're the only school that I know
of that does not have an application
fee," he said. "People expect one, and
are pleasantly surprised that we do
not have one. When high-school coun-
selors heard about the application fee,
they almost unanimously said that it is
about time [Rice had an application
fee]."
According to Stabell, the money
from the application fee will not ease
tuition's rate of growth.
There is no connection between
tuition and the application fee," he
said.
Rice has never charged an applica-
tion fee in the past for reasons that
Stabell said were unclear to him. "My
guess is that the amount of money
generated from applications in those
days was not sufficient to make a dif-
ference in the university," he said.
Students with financial hardship
wall qualify for a fee waiver. Stabell
said any reasonable request for a
waiver would be considered by the
admissions office.
He said the fee is likely to be re-
evaluated periodically.
"If, as a result of the application fee,
we see only 50 percent of our present
number of applications, I think we
would reconsider, but I think that an
evaluation is more likely to consider
whether the fee would remain the
same than whether we should doaway
with it," he said.
Rice professor enjoys silver-screen
success with 'The Air Up There'
jy wmm^
by Chris Bachers
Saleh (Charles Gitonga Maina, right) and llo Mutumbo (Ken Gampu, left) clash in a
scene from Hollywood Pictures' The Air Up There, written by professor Max Apple.
"Most writers never expect to see
their work on the screen," says Rice
English professor Max Apple. "Suc-
cess is only by luck."
But Apple is one of the lucky ones.
He wrote the screenplay for Holly-
wood Pictures' new film, The Air Up
There, starring Kevin Bacon. The
movie op>ened Jan. 7.
Movie producers avidly read au-
thors' written works in hopes of dis-
covering something worthy of the big
screen, Apple said. He said that he
regularly gets calls from producers
interested in his works, but it doesnt
usually go further than that
Apple's main character is Jimmy
Dolan (played by Kevin Bacon), a col-
lege basketball coach trying to recruit
top players for his team. To discover
star talent, Dolan is dispatched to Af-
rica. The glaring dissimilarities be-
tween American culture and that of
the African village of Winabi, and the
common bond found through basket-
ball, set the stage for the story.
To look at contemporary Africa
within the context of a very entertain-
ing story was a very worthwhile project
to devote so much time to," said pro-
ducer Rosalie Swedlin. "It has some-
thing important to say about how the
world has-increasingly become a glo-
bal village. While soihe tribes may live
SEE APPLE PAGE 9
Spring transfers hoped
to fill gaps in class sizes
by Amy Jeter
Ten transfer students matriculated into Rice this semester, the first
time students have entered in the spring since about 1991. Officials say
the move was prompted by the large size of the class of 1993 and a lack
of expected fall transfers.
"We try to have an average of2,600 undergraduates each semester,"
said Richard Stabell, dean of admissions and records. "[Former Presi-
dent George] Rupp set that number as the optimum size, and we work
towards that number."
According to Stabell, Rice's classes of1993 and 1994 were larger than
the university's average class size, which is around 600, because more
people decided to attend Rice than expected. When these classes
graduate the university's average enrollment will fall below 2,600, he
said.
To compensate, the admissions office opted to admit a larger class of
transfers rather than enrolling more freshmen, because an unusually
large freshman class would overburden residential college facilities.
"We can't make big changes that would affect the university for four
years," Stabell said. "We have to smooth it out"
Director of Admissions Julie Browning said she was informed last
March by then-Vice President for Student Affairs Ronald Stebbings of
the possibility that spring transfer students would be admitted to fulfill
the prescribed average enrollment at Rice.
The university enrolled 78 transfer students in the fall semester,
about 20 more transfers than usual, but still about 20 short of the desired
amount By November, the admissions office had recognized the need
to admit spring transfer students.
"We lose a certain amount of students at spring because of internships
that take students away from school, students that study abroad and for
academic reasons," Browning said. "Historically we have always had
openings, and [this year] we tried to find replacements to have the
optimum full-time enrollment"
On whether there will be spring transfers in the future, Browning
said, "In the future it is in the best interest of the university to attempt to
SEE TRANSFERS PAGE 9
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Howley, Peter & Epperson, Kraettli. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 15, Ed. 1 Friday, January 14, 1994, newspaper, January 14, 1994; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245857/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.