The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 87, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 15, 1999 Page: 1 of 24
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the Rice Thresher
Vol. LXXXVII, Issue No. 7
SINCE 1916
Friday, October 15, 1999
Elections Committee disqualifies rock wall initiative
Initiatives fail, defunct
tax money still unspent
Initiative sponsor says he must keep quiet
by Ben Johnson
THRliSHliK STAFF
The $32,000 surplus blanket tax money
remains untouched after no initiative survived
this year's unusually political homecoming
elections.
Two-ply toilet paper and the Humanities
Building crane will be crowned king and queen.
Hanszen College sophomores Merritt
McAlister and Gavin Parks will fill the Student
Association external affairs vice president and
treasurer positions. Both ran unopposed.
Proposed changes to the University Court
constitution, adding five new justices and re-
ducing the number of days that U. Court has to
resolve cases, passed.
Although 1,108 students cast their voles on
the three blanket-tax initiatives, none received
the required two-thirds majority. The initia-
tive suggested by the eight college presidents
to distribute $24,000 evenly among the col-
leges missed the mark with 57 percent in favor
of the plan. The -"supa fly" dance club pro-
See ELECTIONS, Page 7
HOMECOMING COURT
King Two-Ply
Prince Apathy
Queen "F***ing
HUMA Crane"
Princess
Babs Willis
by Ix-slie Liu
<1 SHi H MMTOKlALSlftl Y
An initiative that proposed the construc-
tion of a rock-climbing wall was disqualified
according to an e-mail.sent Wednesday to the
SA listserv by the Elections Committee Chair
Jamie Lisagor. °
The disqualification was for an alleged vio-
lation of the election code, although Lisagor
did not state in the announcement the nature
of the violation or its perpetrator.
"At this time I am not able to expand on the
reasons for the disqualification of the rock
wall initiative," Lisagor wrote in another post
to the listserv Wednesday.
Baker College senior Gabriel Garcia, presi-
dent of the Outdoors Club and one of the
initiative's organizers, said he was told of the
its disqualification through an e-mail Wednes-
day morning.
The Thresher has chosen not to report
reasons found for the action taken by the
Elections Committee in order to protect the
best interests of parties involved, according to
the editors.
Thresher Editor in Chief Jett McAlister and
News Editor Elizabeth Jardina talked to Garcia
Wednesday afternoon. Garcia told the
Thresher details of what had happened to the
initiative.
"At this point we did not have any concerns
that there might be a confidentiality problem
at all; so we decided to go with [the story],"
McAlister said.
Garcia said he talked to the Thresher be-
cause he did not believe he was violating any
rules. "I told Jett McAlister how I campaigned
for the rock-climbing wall initiative and why
the proposal was disqualified," Garcia said.
"At the time, talking to the Thresher seemed
like the right thing to do."
However, at about 11:15 p.m. Wednesday,
University Court Chair Jay Reynolds called
the Thresher office to speak with McAlister.
"[Reynolds] told me Gabe had e-mailed
him telling him that Gabe had talked to us and
that Gabe was wondering whether this was
acceptable," McAlister said. "Jay's response
was that no, it was not acceptable, and that it
violated Article DC of the U. Court constitution,
which deals with confidentiality of U. Court
matters."
See INITIATIVE, Page 6
Police arrest two suspects
after attempted robbery
by Lisa Gillum
THRESHER STAFF
F&H is on a roll
LiZZ 'E TAISHOFF, THRESHER
Wiess College Master John Hutchinson cuts a cake at the two-ply celebration at lunch Monday in the Wiess
Commons. Food and Housing distributed commemorative T-shirts at the event, which celebrated this week's
introduction of two-ply toilet paper into the residential colleges.
A pizza delivery driver was
robbed at gunpoint outside Hanszen
College early Monday morning while
taking pizza to a Hanszen student.
Campus Police had the two suspects
in custody within minutes of the rob-
bery.
A Domino's Pizza deliveryman
told Campus Police that as he was
walking in front of the telephones in
the Old Section of Hanszen, he felt
someone tug on the pizza bags he
was carrying. The suspect held up a
gun and demanded money. The
deliveryman said that at the same
time, a student came out of the Han-
szen Commons, causing the perpe-
trator to panic and run.
The suspect ran off toward Wiess
with two pizzas. The deliveryman
called 911, where the dispatcher
knew to contact the Rice Police .
Campus Police received the call
. at 12:41 a.m. Monday. Five minutes
after the call, Security Officer Carl
Parker saw two men run from the
direction of Wiess College, jump into
a white Chevrolet and drive away
See PIZZA, Page 5
Mandela to visit campus
by Ben Weston
IHRESHFR EDITORIAL STAFF .
TCU to leave WAC, but SMU stays behind
by Jose Luis Cubria
THKKSHUR KDITOKIAL STAFF
Storm clouds gathered over the
Western Athletic Conference this
week as the troubled league took yet
another hit.
However, due to a surprising turn
of events, the WAC avoided poten-
tial disaster and possibly emerged a
stronger conference, Rice President
Malcolm Gillis said.
Conference USA presidents
voted Monday to offer membership
to Texas Christian University, pres-
ently a member of the WAC, and
TCU accepted the invitation.
C-USA did .not extend an invita-
tion to Southern Methodist Univer-
sity, however, meaning the longtime
Dallas-Fort Worth rivals will be in
different conferences for the first
time in over 75 years.
TCU will leave the WAC for C-
USA in the 2001-'02 academic year, a
date that coincides with the expira-
tion of the WAC's original member-
ship agreement.
TCU will reportedly pay a $2 mil-
lion entry fee in addition to forfeiting
all WAC revenuesbeginningnextyear.
However, there is no truth to the seventh-largest media market may
rumors that TCU will be booted out actually be an advantage, Gillis
of the WAC after this year or that the said.
school will have to pay any furthel?** "It was not a surprise to me,"
penalties, Gillis said, because there Gillis said about C-USA only taking
is no such mechanism in the WAC
bylaws.
While TCU's departure is a dis-
appointment, the fact that SMU will
stay was a pleasant surprise to
those who believed both depar-
tures were a foregone conclusion,
WAC Commissioner Karl Benson
said.
"I had prepared myself for SMU
"and TCU to get invitations and for
both to accept," Benson,said in a
media conference call Monday. "It
sure surprised me.
"We're excited to have SMU in
our league.... The outcome is not as
bad as it could have been. To have
SMU is a huge boost as we try to
build the WAC."
Keeping at least one school from
the Dallas-Fort Worth media mar-
ket was essential to the WAC's well-
being, Benson said.
But while it seems losing either
of the schools rs a blow, having just
one representative in the nation's
one school. "I never thought they
would take two schools in one TV
market. And it's possible that it could
even help to only have one school
[in the'Metroplex],
"It hardly hurts the WAC at all,"
Gillis added aboutTCU's departure.
'Their athletics department is not
by any means any stronger than
Rice's."
While there is a possibility^ hard
feelings between TCU, SMU and
the remaining WAC members as a
result of both schools' efforts to de-
fect, Gillis and Benson said that won't
likely be the case, citing both
schools' professionalism throughout
the negotiations.
"As long as TCU leaves grace-
fully, there will be no lasting animos-
ity," Gillis said.
Nevertheless, TCU's defection is
the latest in a series of unfortunate
developments for the WAC. Eight
schools announced their departure
See WAC, Page 20
Nelson Mandela, former presi-
dent of the Republic of South Africa,
will speak Oct. 26 in Autry Court in
an event sponsored by the James A.
Baker III Institute for Public Policy.
Mandela, winner of the 1993
Nobel Peace Prize, will be presented
the institute's Enron Prize for Dis-
tinguished Public Policy.
The event will also include re-
marks by Prince Bandar bin Sultan,
ambassador of Saudi Arabia to the
United States, and former U.S. Sec-
retary of State James A. Baker III.
"This is an extremely significant
visit," President Malcolm Gillis said.
"We're very proud that President
Mandela has chosen Rice as a place
to visit. He is one of the most signifi-
cant figures of the century."
President Mandela is the third
recipient of the Enron Prize. Retired
Army Gen. Colin Powell received
the inaugural award in 1995, and
former Soviet Premier Mikhail
Gorbachev was recognized in 1997.
Mandela is best known as a stal-
wart opponent of apartheid in his
native South Africa. He was impris-
oned from 1964 to 1990 for plotting to
overthrow the nation's government.
In 1991, Mandela was elected
president of the African National
Congress, a position he held until
1997. He was elected president of
South Africa in 1994 in the country's
first democratic elections and held
the office until retiring this June.
"It's always good for the univer-
sity to be branching out and bring-
ing in speakers that bring a different
perspective on things," Black Stu-
dent Association Executive Vice
President Todd LeBlanc said.
Security measures will be in place
at the event, and a current Rice ID is
required for admission. The cer-
emony will begin at 7 p.m. Doors
open at 6 p.m.
INSIDE
NEWS Page 4
Freshman injured at party
Weekend Weather
A&E
Interview with Kevin Spacey
SPORTS
Owls look to San Jose
Friday
Partly cloudy. 69-89 degrees
Page 10 Saturday
Isolated storms, 69-88 degrees
Sunday
Scattered showers and cooler,
64-78 degrees
Page 18
LIFESTYLES
Obscene scene!
Page 16
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McAlister, Jett & Tam, Mariel. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 87, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 15, 1999, newspaper, October 15, 1999; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246658/m1/1/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.