the Rice Thresher Vol. LXXXVIII, Issue No. 19 SINCE 1916 Friday, February 2, 2001 by Elizabeth Jardina Nunez (Brown '00) admitted to stealing and insufficient fund charges the college signature there," she said. Brown Coordina- THRESHER KDITUKIAI. STAFF $3,000 from Brown in an e-mail sent out to the amassed while he was treasurer. The rest of tor Nancy Henry's name was written as the college Wednesday evening. the money, about $1,400, he volunteered as a second signature, but the signature looked For almost a year, no one noticed that a Nunez said he used the money to help a "gift" to the college, he said. forged. former Brown College treasurer had em- terminally ill friend who died at the end of the Brown Treasurer Sarah Czarnota said she Henry confirmed that the signature was not bezzled $3,000. last academic year. discovered the theft in April when she looked hers, so Czarnota immediately went to talk to Only when the current treasurer looked He sent $7,000 worth of repayment to Brown through records to see if a check from the then-Brown President Tim Werner. The next back at old bank statements did she find that over the course of last semester. Of that sum, previous year had been cashed. She noticed a day, they talked to Brown Master Albert Pope. 1998-2000 Brown Treasurer David Nunez $3,(X)0 was for money he admitted to taking record of a $2,000 check cashed to Nunez, an "I approached Albert because I didn't feel wrote at least two checks to himself, one with- along with a $400 penalty. Nunez also paid for unusually large amou nt to reimburse a student. comfortable dealing with it myself," Czarnota out the required second signature and the $1,200 for questionable reimbursements he "About a week later, 1 pulled up the digital said. "I asked him to talk to Dave and see what other with a forged signature. made to himself and about $1,000 in late fees image of the check, and there was a forged See TREASURER, Page 9 Registrar considers ' ' .*Jk \ registration changes * i t % trmiz implement during preregistration for by Olivia Allison this semester. THRESHF.R EDITORIAL STAFF Montag said he would like to see After completing what he calls a seniors preregister on Monday of successful first semester as regis- preregistration week, juniors on trar. Jerry Montag is looking to im- Tuesday, sophomores on Wednes- prove many areas of the registration day and freshmen on Thursday. Fri- process, beginning with preregis- day would be open to all undergradu- tration for the fall. ate students. Montag, who has been the regis- More specifically, students with trar since July, said he thinks this last names beginning with A through semester has gone more smoothly 1. would register in the morning, and "V * «*v ' """•V* - . * ' - ' . "V ' than previous semesters. those with last names begin ning with However, he said he believes M through Z would register in the many problems in the Registrar's afternoon. The two groups would Office would be solved by institut- switch times the next semester. BRIAN STOLER/THRESHEB ing a preferential preregistration Montag said he would like to use Workers broke a natural gas line between Hanszen and Will Rice Colleges Wednesday afternoon Gas vapors and system and online registration. He this preferential system in April for water shot as high as 12 to 15 feet into the air, but there were no explosions and no students were evacuated. also said he will enforce the enroll- fall preregistration. He said he be- ment cap, a policy he attempted to See REGISTRAR, I'age 8 Workers rapture natural gas line in quail by Meghan Miller afternoon. "We decided it would be best if "The pressure in the lines was so people who were inside remained SA debates possibility of THRESHER STAFF great it was blowing upwards," Envi- inside," Lt. Dianna Marshall said. Workers trying to fix a water ronmental Health and Safety Man- Eight members of the Houston leak broke a natural gas line ager Bryan Galloy said. Fire Department were on hand, a electing co-presidents Wednesday afternoon, sending gas Galloy decided evacuation of the routine procedure when there is a and water shooting 12 to 15feet into colleges was unnecessary. Food and natural gas leak, Marshall said. They by Mark Berenson dents, but that precedent suggested the air between Hanszen and Will Housing employees went inside the clamped the line within an hour of Rice Colleges. buildings to make sure there was the breakage, stopping the leak un- THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF that co-presidents were allowed. In 1997, Hrish Lotlikar (Baker There were no explosions, and a not a heavy gas smell, which would til Entex workers amved and re- Hanszen College juniors Jamie '98) and Ryan Melgiri (Baker '99) minor cut sustained by a worker was indicate high concentrations of natu- paired it. Li sagor and Gavin Parks announced ran together unsuccessfully for SA the only injury reported. ral gas. "There was wind and it was kind they are planning to run together for president. While the topic of co-presi- Construction workers from Rice Emergency Medical Ser- of dissipating the gas," Frank president of the Student Association dents was discussed at that year's Harcon, one of Rice's main contrac- vices was present to treat potential Rodriguez, interim assistant direc- at the meeting Monday. The an- SA presidential debate, there is no tors, were digging with a backhoe to injuries, and University Police of- tor of Housing Operations, said. "I'm nouncement emerged from a dis- record of the senate having any dou bt find the source of a water or steam ficers stood around the perimeter just glad nothing blew up." cussion about whether the SA Con- of the legitimacy of a co-presidency, leak when th ;y struck the line. to keep people away from the scene. The gas didn't need to be shut off stitution allows co-presidents. Fink said. Though they were aware of the line's Because remaining in the buildings at the main valve, but Will Rice resi- SA Parliamentarian Rudy Fink, a Hie discussion at Monday's meet- existence, the workers overesti- was not a health risk, the decision dential buildings and Will Rice Hanszen College senior, said at the ing began when Ix>vett College Sena- mated its depth underground. The not to evacuate Will Rice also helped House were without gas service un- meeting that the constitution nei- tor I )eepthy Kishore asked what the source of the original leak had not keep the number of spectators til 3:15 p.m. This only affected the ther permitted nor excluded co-presi- See PRESIDENCY, Page 6 been identified by late Wednesday down. laundry room dryers. INSIDE Short loop bus route OPINION Page 3 begun on trial basis 'Fattest city' title unfair A&E Page 11 A new shuttle bus route, the Alley's 'Equus' lives up to Tony short loop route, began yester- day. The short loop is Labora- LIFESTYLES Page 14 tory Road to Alumni Drive to Digital Undergrounds opens College Way, and back around in front of Lovett Hall. One bus Jk SPORTS Page IS will be servicing this loop be- Owls lose star center tween 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Mon- day through Friday. The short loop is an experimental route, Scoreboard which was requested by stu- Men's basketball dents. San Jose State 54, Rice 44 Rice 70, Hawaii 64 Women's basketball Quote of the Week Hawaii 70. Rice 53 "Interiors used to last 30 years, Rice 77, San Jose State 67 now they last for about three. Interior design has become like set design." — Karim Rash id. designer of Today Scattered showeis, 39-56 degrees KIJANA KNIGHT/THRf SHE R "Pleasurscape," the exhibit cur- Saturday rently on display in the Rice Art Scattered showers, 46-51 degrees The heart of the dragon Gallery in Sewall Hall See Re- Sunday Wiess College freshman Jason Tung practices the dragon dance for Lunar New Year on Tuesday. The Lunar New view, Page 11. Mostly cloudy. 51-65 degrees Year celebration, which will be held Feb. 9, is sponsored by six Asian student groups on campus. THE RICE THRESHER OPINION FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 2,2001 the Rice Thresher Brian Stoler Jos6 Luis Cubria, Michael Nalepa «W 6R3in'Re&iSTBaTion' Editor in Chief Mariel Tam Opinion Editor Managing Editors -easie* puaTFofl*. f. TvAe p P*eST»n" Checks and balances "eFFoBTUp!aTFo^. If there's anything to be learned from the Brown College treasurer fiasco, it's that we need better safeguards to prevent embezzlement. Students at Rice are in charge of tens of thousands of dollars throughout campus, most of it in the budgets of the eight colleges — and we like it that VOW way. Current precautions call for signatures by two different people on 4P "< - ? checks and receipts to document legitimate expenses. But this incident proves how easy it is for things to go awry. It To prevent something like this from happening again, a college could choose a trusted staff member or associate, such as a college coordinator, to occasionally glance at the books to make sure they're in good shape. Why not choose a student to check the records? They are, on the whole, responsible and trustworthy. But many college coordinators, resident associates and masters are around a college longer than most students, so they could provide some amount of institutional memory. We believe that students should control the money in student organi- zations, but we think that there should be somebody else looking over the THe oriLy way a ouaL PResioency can work books once in a while.