Parking Ticket Appeals Will Require Deposit
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the Rice Thresher Vol. XCI, Issue No. 2 SINCE 1916 Friday, August 29, 2003 Civil Engineering BJS. degree cut by Lindsey Gilbert Sports Editor, said. THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF Provost Eugene Levy said he, Dean of Engineering Sidney Burrus and former department chair Joe Hughes discussed Civil and environmental engineering majors returned to the status of the department over the course of last year and Rice this year to find their department in the midst of substan- decided not to include the B.S. in the announcements. tial change. "We didn't feel that the department was in a position to offer Under the 2003-2004 General Announcements, students a degree of the quality and distinction that is appropriate for can no longer earn a Bachelor's of Science in civil and environ- Rice right now," he said. mental engineering. Instead, the General Announcements Hughes resigned to accept a position at the Georgia Insti- lists only a Bachelor's of Arts degree, which is not a profes- tute of Technology, leaving the department short a professor. sional degree. Assistant Professor Michael Terk said he plans to leave at the CEVE Department Chair Herb Ward said the change is end of this year, leaving another position open. only temporary, and if all goes as planned, the B.S. degree Ward said although the department is going through a should reappear in the 2004-2005 General Announcements. period of uncertainty, current juniors and seniors will not be SB18 y The department is in the process of redefining its curriculum, affected. he said. "This in no way influences the existing students," he said. CEVE majors said they were not told about the change until There are about 25 juniors and seniors in the CEVE depart- they returned to school this year, and many said they learned ment, Hedrick said. about the challenges facing the department from an e-mail sent Sophomores on track to declare a CEVE major should have by Ward during the first week of classes. no trouble following their current course schedules, Ward Martel College senior Dylan Hedrick, the president of the said. Freshmen should take prerequisite courses and plan MATT CRNKOVICH/THRESHER Rice chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, said further when they see the new major requirements. he was surprised to discover the change. Ward and others spoke at a special informational meeting Red planet "During Tuesday or Wednesday of [Orientation] Week, I held Wednesday in conjunction with the ASCE. He said he Graduate Student Mark Junker looks at Mars through a opened up the General Announcements and saw there was no hopes to solicit students' opinions as to the future of the telescope set up outside the Rice Observatory on Monday. B.S. in civil engineering," Hedrick, the Thresher Assistant See CEVE. Page 7 Parking ticket appeals will require deposit by Jenny Rees The Rice University Police De- THRESHER EDITORIAL STAF F partment has been flooded with park- ing citation appeals, and there have Parking ticket recipients who been long delays in processing ap- wish to appeal citations will be re- peals as a result, RUPD Chief Bill quired to pay a $10 deposit under Taylor said. the revised and reorganized 2003- "The reality has been, sometimes 2004 parking regulations. The de- it takes a month to process an ap- posit will be refunded if the appeal is peal, and the people with good ap- granted or deemed not frivolous, a peals have to wait for us to get change designed to reduce the num- through all those frivolous appeals." ber of frivolous appeals. Taylor said. A large number of tickets have President Malcolm Gillis ap- been appealed with no legitimate proved the new appeals system dur- grounds, Associate Vice President ing the summer as part of the gen- for Finance and Administration Neill eral changes to parking at Rice, and Binford said. it took effect when the 2003-2004 "Unfortunately, the vast majority parking regulations were distributed of appeals we've received in the last during Orientation Week. few years have been frivolous," Taylor said he thinks the new Binford said. "It's surprising that a system, which was designed by the lot of people don't read the regula- University Standing Committee on tions before they make an appeal." Parking, will greatly reduce the num- Many appeals are made on the ber of appeals. grounds that the individual did not "We've seen no noticeable results know the regulations, was late due so far, but I suspect as people start to a class or appointment or was realizing if they send in an appeal and unable to find a legal parking space, that appeal is denied they've lost an KATIE STREIT/THRESHER but none of these circumstances are extra 10 dollars, they'll think twice grounds for appealing a citation, before appealing the ticket," Taylor Niemann takes a nose dive Binford said. The only factors con- said. "If this works. I would hope we'd Collegebaseballlnslder.com National Player of the Year Jeff Niemann slides down the obstacle course set up at the sidered in deciding an appeal are be able to do an appeal the day it gets NCAA Championship Party Tuesday. The rally was held to honor the 2003 College World Series National Champi- whether the individual committed a here or the day after and get an an- ons. Niemann was 17-0 last year and Rice won all 22 games in which he pitched. See Photo Feature, Page 8. violation and whether the ticket was swer to the person within five days." written correctly, he said. See PARKING, Page 7 Faculty seeks council members INSIDE OPINION Page 3 by Mark Berenson be decided by the Assistant Dean for Student Labor Day Holiday Judicial Programs only. Race is one of many Rice-worthy merits THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF Having Monday off gives us the op- The Faculty Council decided at its May 8 portunity to rest, relax and party after all The Faculty Council is still searching for meeting that six faculty members will be cho- A&E Page 9 the grueling work from the first week of 'Dirty Pretty Things' ends ugly faculty members to serve on the newly- sen to serve as a pool from which two would be school. Only six more weeks until the created Honor Council appeals board. selected to serve on any given case through a next vacation. Page 12-13 Speaker of the Faculty Ed Akin said the partially-set method. SPORTS Faculty Council is currently seeking input, According to the Faculty Council minutes, Football preview and said he thinks it will be somewhat of a "The governing principle for this faculty group Bayou Bucket Quote of the Week challenge to find faculty members to serve on should be that each panel for an appeal should Rice plays the University of Houston "0-Week is dry. The Alcohol Policy states that optimally include a faculty member from the the board. at Robertson Stadium at 7:00 p.m. tomor- it is dry." "The uncertainty here is about how much closest related area of scholarship and one row. Rice is coming off of a tough defeat — Heather Masden, Director of Student of a workload is this going to be," Akin, a from outside the field." last year in a season where the University Activities. See Story, Page 4. mechanical engineering and materials sci- All faculty members chosen must be full of Houston actually won a few games, so ence professor, said. "It is important to find professors, Akin said. this year's game should be fun to watch. Scoreboard people who are willing to serve even though Honor Council chair Keith Henneke said At least go watch the Marching Owl Band Soccer they don't know what they are committing to he agrees with the Faculty Council's decision halftime show. Baylor 1, Rice 2 (scrimmage) in this first year." to restrict the membership on the appeals The appeals board was created last April board to full professors and said he sees it as Weekend Weather after the undergraduate student body approved similar to the decision to restrict college e-Coop is up Friday an Honor Council constitutional amendment masterships to tenured faculty. Scattered thunderstorms. 92-70 degrees The e-Coop is a Web site hosted by the Saturday to that effect. The appeals board consists of "This is an important enough position Student Association that lists books stu- Thunderstorms, 91-69 degrees two faculty members and the Assistant Dean where the same should be true," Henneke, a dents are selling for less than the slightly Sunday for Student Judicial Programs, currently Don Jones College senior, said. "You want pro- marked-lip prices at the bookstore. Scattered thunderstorms, 87-70 degrees (Jstdiek. The appeals board reviews first level fessors who are the most invested in the appeals of Honor Council cases, which used to See HONOR. Page <> THE RICE THRESHER OPINION FRIDAY, AUGUST 29,2003 the Rice Thresher Jip*1 Cutting the BJS. Civil Engineering majors were more than a little concerned when they discovered that the Bachelor of Science degree in their field is missing from the 2003-2004 General Announcements. (See Story, Page 1.) While the department has so far done a good job of addressing many of the students' concerns, it has also made a number of serious mistakes. The department eliminated the degree, hopefully for this aca- demic year only, partially because of a shake-up in the faculty. The B.S. program must now be reconstructed. To their credit, faculty in the department are allowing junior and senior CIVI majors to graduate under the old requirements and receive a B.S.