The Rice Thresher, Vol. 94, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, September 22, 2006 Page: 1 of 16
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ice Thresher
Vol. XCIV, Issue No. 5
SINCE 1916
Friday, September 22, 2006
Man faked student
status for over a year
by Beko Binder
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
A 20-year-old Houstonian who
pretended to be a Rice student for
three semesters was arrested at
Baker College last week.
The Rice Police arrested David
Javani Vanegas Sept. 13 for criminal
trespass and an outstanding traffic
warrant and remanded him to Har-
ris County Jail. Vanegas admitted
to RUPD officers that he had been
eating at the Hanszen/Wiess Serv-
ery, attending classes and sleeping
at Baker College.
RUPD Chief Bill Taylor said
Vanegas attended large classes
where he could not be picked out and
convinced students to let him sleep in
their rooms by telling them that he
lived off campus but was too tired to
drive home. Vanegas also frequently
claimed to have forgotten his ID so
students would let him into buildings
and help him get food.
"He admits to getting food from
the servery and getting places to
sleep by deception," Taylor said.
"His idea was that the worst that
could happen to him is that he would
get warned for trespassing."
Sergeant Gary Spears, one of
two officers who made the arrest,
said Vanegas initially lied to RUPD
about his status as a student.
"[Vanegas] claimed that he was a
Rice student," Spears said. "He told a
tall tale about his family being an inter-
nationally wealthy family and how he
had to attend Rice under a fake name,
which is why we would find no record
of him on any Rice database."
Spears said the officers got
Vanegas to confess by taking him to
Baker College Master Luis Aranda.
When Aranda did not recognize
Vanegas and the police dispatcher
could not find any record of him,
the officers made the arrest.
"[Vanegas] said that he applied to
Rice and was accepted but couldn't
attend," Spears said. "He said that
it would break his mother's heart if
he didn't attend Rice, so he carried
out this ruse for three semesters,
showing up here every day."
Taylor said in addition to the
trespass charge, RUPD is trying
to get the District Attorney's office
to press theft of services charges.
Vanegas could face felony charges if
m, i i
David Javani Vanegas.
it is proven that he stole more than
$1,500 in room, board and tuition.
"We will work with Housing and
Dining to determine the values [of
the services]," Taylor said.
Sid Richardson College senior
Daniel Rasheed made the call to
RUPD.
Rasheed, who transferred to
Rice from the National University
of Singapore in Fall 2005, said he
was friends with Vanegas.
"He used to eat lunch with [my
group of friends] probably daily for
the past year and maybe longer,"
Rasheed said. "I just joined Rice
last year, and he started coming
to Rice about six months before
I joined. Whenever we went out
we usually went out with him, like
to the cinema or various concerts
and stuff. He was an integral part
of our group."
Rasheed said he became suspi-
cious because Vanegas never had
an ID card, never studied and did
not have the class selection of a
political science major, which he
claimed to be.
"[My suspicions] have been off
and on for probably six months or
so," Rasheed said.
Rasheed said he confronted
Vanegas after investigating his
Facebook profile — Rasheed and
a friend discovered that the e-mail
address Vanegas used to create the
account was not his.
"I asked him point blank, 'Do
you go to Rice?'" Rasheed said.
"He said 'yes.'"
Rasheed and his friend asked
Vanegas to prove that he was a
student by showing his ID card or
see VANEGAS, Page 5
RTV5 to increase programming
with help of advanced equipment
by Lily Chun
FOR THE THRESHER
Later this semester, when
students flip to channel 5 on
campus, they will be more likely
to see a powderpuff game or new
programs than cycles of RTV5
commercials.
Station Manager Dan Derozier,
a Hanszen College junior, said
the blanket-tax organization has
plans to overhaul its image and
programming.
Derozier said the station will
begin filming and airing college
sporting events and will eventually
move to a programming schedule
with a dif ferent slate of shows every
night. Colleges will be encouraged
to use equipment borrowed from
RTV5 to film their own sports,
which the station will then air.
He said the station is still
finalizing its programming but
will begin producing a short,
semi-weekly news show and a
bi-weekly sports show featuring
interviews with varsity coaches
and athletes. The staff is also
considering sketch and scripted
comedies, and RTV5 will continue
to produce its reality show, "Screw
Your Roommate," which sets up
students on blind dates.
Derozier said RTV5 will also
work with theVisual and Dramatic
Arts Department to air student
film projects. He said the station
is open to new ideas as well.
"We would encourage people,
if they have ideas, to go to RTV,
and we can help make it happen,"
Derozier said. "As much as we
want to emphasize our own in-
house content, we want to be a
resource for people who want to
make their own stuff."
Within the next few weeks,
RTV5 will spend about $3,000 to
purchase wireless audio-visual
equipment and more cameras. The
new equipment will allow the sta-
tion to film and air more programs
with a limited staff, Derozier
said. Currently about 10 people
are consistently involved in the
organization.
"We're going to buy a whole
lot of equipment to do different
things ... that [otherwise would]
require a lot of people and time,"
Derozier said.
Programming Director Brett
Snider, a Hanszen junior, said he
wants to increase the station's vis-
ibility this year. He said he would
like to publish the station's weekly
programming line-up in the
Thresher once it is developed.
Snider said he hopes the pro-
gramming changes will encour-
age more students to join the
organization. He said all students,
even those without audio-visual
experience, are welcome to join.
"We're willing to give tutorials
on ... filming, editing, any of the
steps along the way," Snider said.
"RTV is there to help you realize
what you want to do."
Snider said he is excited about
the changes.
"There's really a new era of
RTV people who are just pump-
ing new blood into the group,"
he said.
I
Hey, that's me!
Will Rice College junior Nicolle Nonken and Wiess College sophomore Alex Mainor glance through the pages of the
2005-'06 Campanile. The latest yearbook can be picked up in the Campanile Office, the Clubs Office or the Office of
Student Media during business hours. All students pay for a copy of the yearbook through student activities fees.
Faculty to discuss diversity at Rice
INSIDE
by Risa Gordon
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
Faculty members will come together in a
forum Wednesday to discuss diversity at Rice.
Assistant Dean of Students Cathi Clack
is organizing the forum in response to the
Princeton Review's recent ranking of Rice
as the university with the most "race/class
interactions" and the Sept. 15 Backpage, which
presented jokes about racial stereotypes.
DIVERSITY FORUM
When: Wednesday, Sept. 27 from 4-6 p.m.
Where: Farnsworth Pavilion, Ley Student Center
Confirmed Panelists:
History Professor Alex Byrd
Sociology Professor Chandler Davidson
Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman
Sociology Professor Bridget Gorman
Clack said the forum is designed as a cam-
pus-wide discussion about diversity, a subject
already being discussed in smaller groups.
"Everything we're trying to do isabout open-
ing dialogue," Clack, who is also the director of
the Office of Multicultural Affairs, said.
The faculty members who have confirmed
they will participate in the panel discussion are
History Professor Alex Byrd, Sociology Pro-
fessor Emeritus Chandler Davidson, Dean of
Undergraduates Robin Forman and Sociology
Professor Bridget Gorman.
Clack said a group of students
she consulted chose to invite these
faculty members to discuss ethnic
and gender diversity on campus,
as well as related historical and
sociological issues.
Clack said she will consider the
forum a success if the students who
were most upset about the Back-
page have a chance to share their
thoughts and hear those of others.
She also hopes the forum will be
educational and enlightening for
all who attend.
Academic deadlines
Today at 5 p.m. is the deadline to add
a course or to complete late registration.
Today is also the last day you may drop
a course without a fee and the last day to
designate a credit course as "audit" or
vice versa.
Movie Screening
Rice Cinema presents a Murfee Wor-
sham screening of Animal House, a 1978
comedy today at 5 and 8 p.m., and Saturday
and Sunday at 8 p.m. in the Grand Hall in
the RMC.
OPINION
Reactions to last week's Backpage
Page 3
NEWS
Page 5
Honor Council changes
A&E
Page 8
Bluegrass goes solo
SPORTS
Page 12
Women s tennis preview
Scoreboard
Soccer
Rice 5, SFA 0
Football
Texas 52, Rice 7
Volleyball
Rice 0, Michigan 3
IPFW 3, Rice 2
"It looked like the judges not only ate all of
the food but loved the sauce so much that
they cleaned the plate with pieces of bread."
— Hanszen/Wiess Servery Chef Edward Castillo
on the judges' reaction to his meal at a national
competition. See story, page 7.
Weekend Weather
Friday
Isolated thunderstorms, 79-91 degrees
Saturday
Isolated thunderstorms. 75-92 degrees
Sunday
Scattered thunderstorms. 66-85 degrees
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Brown, David. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 94, No. 5, Ed. 1 Friday, September 22, 2006, newspaper, September 22, 2006; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443079/m1/1/?q=Lamar+University: accessed June 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.