The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 87, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, April 14, 2000 Page: 1 of 20
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Rice University Woodson Research Center.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
the Rice Thresher
Vol. LXXXVII, Issue No. 23
SINCE 1916
Friday, April 14, 2000
7
'*■ J-
„ - ■ T*""** • 5T"i*w«-■• ■ v #
...
M HMSajMLnar* :* «
'• ■ >Wm 'Btmttiu*. |
itSSbmSlJ
.♦ «sr* *«r * &<**1 j*Ml &
'•
Women report trespassers
in Baker, Hanszen restrooms
by Elizabeth Jardina and Olivia Allison
THRKSHKR KDITORIAI. STAFF
Students reported seeing a man in the
women's bathroom at both Hanszen and Baker
Colleges early Tuesday evening.
An intruder interrupted a student's shower
in the third-floor women's bathroom at Han-
szen, and a Baker freshman said she saw a
man standing naked in front of the mirror of
the third-floor women's bathroom at Baker.
A Hanszen freshman, who asked not to be
identified, said she entered the third-floor Old
Section bathroom at about 8 p.m. "1 walked
into the bathroom and somebody was in the
stall, and 1 figured it was a girl, so I went about
my business to take a shower."
She closed the shower curtain and turned
on the water. Then, she said she noticed a
change of light in the shower. "1 felt the cur-
tain move and there was a man crouched on
the floor," she said.
"At first I thought it was one of the guys
down the hall acting stupid," she said. She
yelled, and the man walked away, but she said
she didn't hear anyone open" the bathroom
door to leave.
See BATHROOM, Page 10
Driver in fatal wreck charged
by Brian Stoler
THRKSHKR EDITORIAL STAI'I
All the world's a stage
LIZZIE TAISHOFF/THRESHER
In order to accomodate more people on the stage at this year's commencement ceremony,
the stage is being expanded by adding extensions on the ends. Stage construction is
beginning early this year in order to ensure that the stage is completed by commencement
on May 13.
Police filed criminal charges last week
against the driver of the truck that hit two vans
carrying members of Rice's debate team on
Interstate 45 last month.
The Harris County Sheriff s Office issued a
warrant April 7 for the arrest of the driver, 43-
year-old Martin Dean Runnellsof Katy, buthe
was not yet in police custody as of Wednesday
afternoon.
Runnells faces charges of criminally negli-
gent homicide for the March 13 crash that
killed Baker College freshman Daniel Hen-
ri ing and injured other members of the George
R. Brown Forensics Society. A conviction for
negligent homicide, a state jail felony, carries
a sentence of 180 days to two years of confine-
ment in jail and a fine of up to $10,000.
The truck was traveling no less than 79
miles per hour when it impacted the first van,
according to the investigation by the sheriffs
traffic division. The speed limit at the site of
the crash, which occured in a construction
zone, was 55 mph.
Traffic Division Ft. John Denholm said a
vehicle's speed before hitting another ve-
hicle is an important part of determining
whether charges will be filed. "When you're
driving too fast in a construction zone, that's
construed as negligence quite often,"
Denholm said.
Capt. Don McWilliams from the sheriffs
office said detectives from the fugitive warrant
division were looking for Runnells. "It's just a
matter of time," he said. "We will find him."
The police took over three weeks to file
charges against Runnells because investiga-
tions like this one often take a long time to
complete. "We try to get it clone right the first
time, and sometimes that takes two or three
weeks," Denholm said.
The area where the accident occurred is a
particularly hazardous stretch of the inter-
state, Denholm said.
Denholm said the highway becomes even
more unsafe when people drive too fast.
"People don't realize that speed is just as
dangerous as alcohol," he said.
Wiess students question SA representation
by Olivia Allison
THRKSHFR KDITORIAI.STAFF
Wiess College students intro-
duced discussion about improving
the relationship between the student
body and the administration at the
Student Association Senate meeting
Monday.
A two-hour meeting in the Wiess
basement April 6 that included most
college presidents, SA President
Findsay Botsford and other students
prompted the discussion at the SA
meeting.
Wiess junior Cyrus Caroom sug-
gested at the Wiess Cabinet meet-
ing April 5 that Wiess students
should protest Monday's Martel
College groundbreaking by not at-
tending.
Wiess President Josh Katz said
the majority of the cabinet members
did not support the idea.
"Few people agreed with [the
protest] as a means of making our
voice heard," Katz said. "Wiess Cabi-
net decided the Martel ground-
breaking would be a bad time to do
anything."
There were no protests visible at
the groundbreaking Monday.
Katz explained that the Martel
groundbreaking itself was not the
cause of any complaints, but rather a
time and place in which students felt
that they would have the attention of
administrators. „
The biggest cause of student com-
plaint is that no new Wiess House
will be built near the site of the new
Wiess building due to a lack of fund-
ing. Instead, the current Hanszen
House will be used by Wiess mas-
ters, and Hanszen College masters
will use the current Wiess House
when the building opens in Decem-
ber 2001, along with Martel.
"Students were feeling as though
their idfcas and preferences weren't
weighed in some important deci-
sions;" Katz said.
Katz said cabinet members de-
cided to hold a meeting the night
after the cabinet meeting because
thediscussion about communication
with the administration was both
lengthy and unproductive.
Katz informed the other college
See WIESS, Page 9
ELECTION
RESULTS
University Court at-large rep:
Andy Kobylivker
Honor Council at-large reps:
Shervin Shirvanr
Sean Kannengieser
Trushar Sarang
RPC Secretary
Colin Vandell
Sammy the Owl
Erik Vanderlip, Shannon Scott,
Mary Templeton, Suzy Cox
All positions except U. Court
rep were uncontested.
245 students voted intheelec-
tions, less than 10 percent of
the student body.
Few voters, few candidates
take part in Spring Elections
by Tommy Belanger
THRKSHKR STAFF
Uncontested elections, write-in
candidacies and errors in Student
Association campaign publicity
marked this year's Spring Elections.
Hanszen College juniors Aalok
Mehta and Andy Kobylivker, who
are roommates, ran against one an-
other for a FIniversity Court position
under the impression that there were
four available. °
"On the door where you pick up
petitions, I saw that there were three
I FIniversity Court positionsl at-large
and one left over from the last elec-
tion," Mehta, a junior, said.
Mehta explained that on April 6,
after nominations had been made,
SA Secretary Catherine Chen in-
formed him that there was only one
position up for election. Chen said*
the candidates were informed as
soon as she was aware of the
changes.
« "We* never specified a number,"
Chen said. "We just said that the un-
filled positions were up for election."
Chen explained that the Univer-
sity Court abolished at-large repre-
sentatives last semester in favor of
individual college representatives.
The only reason that a University
Court at-large position was up for
election during the Spring Elections
was that one of the class representa-
See ELECTIONS, Page 9
INSIDE
JEN FRAZ ER-THRESHER
Carina Dullum and Anne Marie Grout, members of Rice Dance Theater,
perform the original dance "Midnight Encounter" as part of the
Squidliik! performance. There are performances tonight and tomorrow
night. See review. Page 12.
NEWS
Page 6
Lovett names new masters
LIFESTYLES
Page 15
Have a drink for
the Pub's 25th
SPORTS Page 16
On the rood again
Weekend Weather
Friday: Parity cloudy, 66-79
Saturday: Mostly cloudy, 68 78
Sunday: Partly cloudy. 68-84
Scoreboard
Baseball
Rice 4, McNeese St ate 1
Rice 1. Hawaii Hilo 0
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Stoler, Brian. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 87, No. 23, Ed. 1 Friday, April 14, 2000, newspaper, April 14, 2000; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246676/m1/1/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.