Tudor Fieldhouse Opens for Basketball Season
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OP-ED AftE P. SPORTS P. 14 Dumb glass Duck? Duck? Goo! Scoring on yokels The glass boats hanging In Fondren represent another It sounds gross, but World of Goo may fust be the greatest Rice volleyball defeats Conference USA-leading University Instance of the university's misplaced priorities. video game this side of the Mississippi. of Alabama-Birmingham. ' ' "* ' " thVOLUME XCVI,e ISSUE NO . 12Ric STUDENT-RUe N SINCE 1916 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2008 Fieldhouse Esperanza t facelift gets record completed turnout BY MELISSA TSANG Autry Court FOR THE THRESHER Once infamous for its low turnout renamed for donor and unpopular venues, this year's Es- peranza attracted an unprecedented BY SARAH RUTLEDGE 1,000 students, the highest number the THRESHER STAFF Rice Program Council has seen in re- cent years. The formal, this year hosted The building formerly known as on campus in a tent between the Jesse Autry Court now has a new name H. Jones School of Management, the and a new face, after almost two James A. Baker III Institute for Public years of construction. Former Rice Policy and the Shepherd School of Mu- basketball player Bobby Tudor sic, sold out last Thursday, two days (Hanszen '82) fulfilled a longtime before the event last Saturday. dream when he donated $7 million While last year saw an increased for Autry renovations, which began DAVID ROSALES/THRESHER turnout of 550 students for Esperanza, in February of 2007. Tudor Field- this year's turnout almost doubled. Brooklyn rockers The National performed at Rice last Friday as part of house had its grand opening last RPC Formals Committee co-Chair the weekend's homecoming festivities. The activities culminated with Friday and will open for the 2008- National spotlight Maggy Taylor said she was surprised '09 basketball season tonight when a well-attended Esperanza Saturday night. and pleased by the turnout. the women's basketball plays Cali- "It was just incredible," Taylor, fornia State University-Northridge. a Will Rice College senior, said. "We The athletic court itself will keep the were all just incredibly dumbfounded name Autry in honor of Mrs. James Registrar adds ESTHER restrictions that that even happened. We honest- < L. Autry, whose daughter donated to ly did not even in.agine selling this the gymnasium building. many tickets." Assistant Athletic Director and Students find new prerequisite requirements » Media Relations Director Chuck U to enroll in the course. over 100 courses since Monday night * Pool said a new Autry Court has BY CINDY DINH However, the main difficulty was to recommended prerequisites, which been a dream for a very long time. THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF differentiating between what the will not block registration. Bobby Tudor, after whom Tudor We were not allowed As online registration for spring academic departments deemed as "We worked all Monday late into Fieldhouse is named, was told that to sell anymore. We semester classes began this week on hard prerequisites, which are abso- the evening to update the system," renovations to Autry Court were on ESTHER, some students encountered lutely required courses, and soft pre- Tenney said. "My wish was that we actually had the the table when he went on his high several inconveniences which pre- requisites, which are recommended would know that before. This both- school recruiting trip to Rice 31 Houston Fire Depart- vented them from signing up for up- courses, Tenney said. ered me because our office was in years ago. The plans became a real- per-level courses. For this registration "The biggest thing we ran into was conversation with every department ment come and we ity when Rice received a $7 million period, the Registrar's Office is imple- not a problem in the system," he said. for the past three months. It was a contribution from Tudor and his had no idea that they menting the prerequisite rule estab- "The circumstance we encountered little surprise to me that there were so wife, Phoebe. Tudor is a former Rice knew about it, but lished by the academic departments, was the prerequisite the department many changes this week." basketball player and is now chair- which bars students who have not tak- gave to us is actually a recommenda- Baker College junior Amy Liu said they made sure that man and CEO of Tudor, Pickering, en the required courses from register- tion for courses." she knew several students who ran Holt & Co., LLC. we kept the capacity. ing for classes, Registrar David Tenney Several academic departments into problems with the new prerequi- The opening, which took place (Sid '87) said. Instead, students will later submitted revisions changing the site block while registering. Maggy Taylor over Homecoming Weekend, in- need to bring a Special Registration mandatory prerequisite courses to rec- "It was frustrating for a lot of my Will Rice college senior cluded tours of the building's in- form to the appropriate department ommended prerequisite courses. Ten- friends who had trouble registering, RPC Formals Committee terior, a dinner on the floor of the and obtain the professor's signature ney said the registrars have changed O see ESTHER, page 9 court and a presentation honoring 99 contributors. The event was initially planned as a Grand Opening, but was scaled back due to the continu- Council adds transparency clause The dance sold out two days be- ation of renovations. Pool said the fore the event. Tickets went on sale building's essential features for fans BY SARAH RUTLEDGE She said the change will help She said the council's decision Saturday, Oct. 25 and sold out Thurs- and athletes are complete, but some THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF eliminate some of the mystery in hon- was influenced by a student opinion day, Nov. 6 at 6 p.m., prompting Tay- secondary elements, such as down- or code violation progressions. article and students petitioning for a lor and her co-chair Esra Gumuser to stairs areas for post-game inter- Due to student complaints about "This will relieve students' minds change in its processes. At the trial, offer an additional hundred tickets views, are not finished. He said this the vagaries of honor code violation and calm them down a little bit, get attendees were free to take copies of for sale Friday, Nov. 7. The 1,000-stu- was standard for all types of build- notifications, the Honor Council vot- them a little more prepared," Am- the council's report of penalties and dent turnout exceeded initial predic- ing openings. ed Tuesday to specify the information mons, a Brown College junior, said. cases for the 2007-'08 year, which tions of 600-700 students. "It's the way it always seems to go in the initial e-mail sent to students She said the issue was not brought includes the amount of time it took A deluge of irate e-mails, Facebook when people build houses," Pool said. under investigation. Students will up to the council before this year. the group to reach a decision about messages and phone calls barraged "They end up moving in and still have now be notified of the class in which Ammons said the council was each case. the co-chairs as students tried to pro- carpenters fixing up stuff because they the honor code violation is being con- initially concerned about students Ammons said the council plans cure tickets after they sold out again had a deadline to move in when every- tested before their initial investigative talking to and involving the profes- to host study breaks at the residen- last Thursday. One student sent an thing was not quite finished." meeting with the council. sor from the class if they knew the tial colleges next semester where e-mail on the Jones College list serve, There are some ongoing projects, The council hosted a mock trial course in which they received the college Honor Council representa- offering $100. as well as his iPod, in such as the renovation of the pool, Tuesday to show students how an violation. Contacting professors tives will explain more about their exchange for two tickets to the dance. which will have to wait until the honor code violation is dealt with, from the class during the investiga- process. The council will also ex- Tickets originally sold for $15. Recreation Center opens next fall, the result of concerns raised at its tion process is not allowed by the plain more about Article XII, which Taylor estimates an additional he said. Consensus Penalty Structure meeting council. Previously, students did will be voted on in the spring Stu- 100 students were turned away once "You're not going to walk in on in October, President Jackie Ammons not learn the course in which they dent Association elections. Article ticket sales reached the venue's maxi- Friday and see complete total reno- said. After the trial, the floor was received the violation until after XII, known as the honor code loop- mum capacity. vation of entire Autry Court facility," opened to discussion and afterward, the investigation began. However, hole, allows students with honor "We were not allowed to sell any- Pool said. "But it's a pretty signifi- the council voted on an issue raised the council decided that during the code violations to temporarily leave more," Taylor said. "We actually had cant upgrade from where we were by students in previous weeks about investigation, students could still Rice before beginning the investiga- the Houston Fire Department come two years ago." the transparency of the process, Am- theoretically talk to the professor of tion without having any record on and we had no idea that they knew 0 see TUDOR, page 8 mons, a Brown College junior, said.