e ice iWfcresher Vol. LXXXIX, Issue No. 14 SINCE 1916 Friday, November 30, 2001 Sept. 11 classes will be held University Council rejects proposed dates to make up day of remembrance by Mark Berenson UC member Bob Patten said the said. "It had to be around [Sept. 11] THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF council's failure to find a workable it if would work, and we didn't want make-up day has effectively killed to go to class on Saturday, so it kind University Council has effectively the proposal. of died." halted a proposal to cancel classes At the Nov. 12 SA meeting, Wiess sophomore Amada Sept. 11, 2002. Lisagor and Parks suggested Labor Armenta, the other undergraduate Student Association Presidents Day, the second day of fall break and representative to the UC, said mem- Jamie Lisagor and Gavin Parks went the Monday after classes end as pos- bers discussed the reasons why each to the Nov. 7 faculty meeting to pro- sibilities for the make-up day. The possible day wouldn't work. pose creating a day of remembrance UC also discussed other options, "It was never trying to find a day for the terrorist attacks in New York including the idea of holding classes that would work," Armenta said. "It and Washington, D.C., by canceling on a Saturday. was just looking at the options and classes on the anniversary of the At the Nov. 19 SA meeting, UC getting rid of all of them." attacks. undergraduate representative Lind- Patten agreed that logistical prob- At the meeting, the faculty voted say Botsford said various make-up lems made canceling classes unfea- to send a proposal to cancel classes possibilities were considered, but sible. on Sept. 11 to the University Coun- all had flaws. "The calendar is already the prod- cil, which would be responsible for "It became clear that it would be uct of so many stresses that any time determining a make-up day. The UC too much of a hassle to make up the you submit it to additional stresses, would have then made a calendar day at the end of the semester," there are just too many interests recommendation to the faculty. Botsford, a Wiess College senior, See CLASS, Page 7 KIJANA KNIGHT/THRESHER Celebrating the festival of the lights Hanszen College junior Richa Dubey celebrates the festival of Diwali during the South Asian Society's annual celebration of dancing, singing and theatrical performance. The event was held Nov. 15 and 16. I 1 1 Meal plan change proposed by Lindsey Gilbert Housing and Dining Director THRESHER STAFF Mark Ditman presented specifics of the proposed plan to the Student Extensive meal plan changes Association and college presidents loom on the horizon lor the second earlier this month, asking them to time in three years. report back with student opinion Under the latest Housing and before the end of the semester. Dining proposal, all on-campus stu- Ditman said he wiil review sugges- dents will pay a single fixed price for tions before finalizing the plan. an all-you-can-eat, continuous-access The projected price of the proposed meal plan. continuous-access plan is $1,490 a se- The proposed plan, which would mester. Currently, students can take effect in fall 2002, would allow choose from four meal plans. H&D students unlimited access to college offers plans with 11,15 and 19 meais kitchens during operating hours. If per week as well as a five-meal plan for the plan is adopted, serveries will open off-campus students. ALEX SIGEDA/THRESHER their doors to students between meals, Although the meal plan proposal offering a la carte items such as drinks, has been referred to as the "key-to- Cheering for a new season bagels, fruit and cereal. Meal times the-kitchen" plan, Ditman said this will remain essentially the same, with label is slightly misleading. Students The Rice Dance Team performs at the men's basketball team's 75-72 victory over Navy in Autry Court Nov. 20. hot food available during existing will only have access to serveries The game was one of the first for the men's team. See Story. Page 15. breakfast, lunch and dinner hours. See MEALS, Page 5 Online system eases registration INSIDE by Kevin Grahmann matically that I should get on a waiting list for THRESHER STAFF the class or talk to the professor. That was really nice, to know immediately what was A first attempt at online preregistration two wrong." weeks ago generated few criticisms, Academic Other students liked the new online sys- Advising and Registrar's Office staff members tem because it was easier and more efficient said. than the old paper registration system. "My impression was that it went very well," "This was by far the smoothest preregistra- Associate Director of Academic Advising tion I've been through," Lovett College junior Michele Daley said. "There were some Alex Fay said. glitches, but I didn't hear about any disasters." The online system was also popular be- Most problems with online registration in- cause it contained each student's transcript, volved logging into the system and being un- financial records, degree audit and current able to print completed preregistration forms, schedule. Daley said. Most difficulties were resolved af- "Just the capabilities of the system will be ter students visited the Registrar's Office. a great resource to the students," Milazzo MARK BERENSON/THRESHER "For those students who came in with prob- said. "To be able to keep tabs on what you're The Jesse H. Jones School of Management is one of many projects currently planned or lems, we were able to correct them with the doing and plan better and be ready for when underway. For details about the future of campus construction, See Feature. Pages 10-11. computers at the front of the office," Associate things come up is great." Registrar Laura Branch said. The online registration system was also The Registrar's Office sent an e-mail to helpful to Registrar's Office staff, which was Breathe easier OPINION Page 3 AIDS research overfunded college listservs stating that all students were able to process online forms more quickly Willy's Pub has installed four indus- required to use the online system to preregis- than the old registration forms. trial-strength smoke cleaners to make A&E Page 12 ter. However, students who experienced prob- "If we had the manual processing preregis- your clothes smell better on Friday morn- Hitting the Sidewalks of New York lems with the system were allowed to turn in tration system, even using all staff resources, ing. With the $10,000 equipment, the the paper forms that have been used in previ- we probably wouldn't have them done until Pub's air will be cleaner than Houston's. ous years. Dec. 15," Registrar Jerry Montag said. "Now SPORTS Page 16 One reason some students liked the online they are all completed." Quote of the Week Lady Owls host tournament system was its rapid response in notifying Preregistration forms can be filled out "We just thought we were seeing the cream Weekend Weather students of their registration status and which online, but students must still print the forms, of the crop and the rest of the people living at Friday classes had already hit the maximum enroll- obtain an adviser's signature and submit them Jones were hoodlums, but everyone we met Sunny. 42-65 degrees ment targets. to the Registrar's Office by hand. was a really neat person." Saturday — Math Professor Robin Forman, who was "You can see what classes you didn't get "The way the system is currently imple- Partly cloudy, 48 69 degrees recently selected as the new Jones master. into automatically," Brown College sophomore mented, it doesn't change the advising pro- Sunday See Story, Page 5. Kathleen Milazzo, a peer academic adviser, cess," Daley said. "You still need to get an Partly cloudy. 48-68 degrees said. "I didn't get into a class, so I knew auto- See ON I.INK, Page 7 THE RICE FRIDAY, NpyEMPER RanonaLe cmen j.H *•__. H'' ' I ESSl 1? ® >? i ' j Leslie Liu, Robert Reichle Editors in Chief i 1 St: 1 - Handing over the • keys to the kitchen ... L3T6 serftesTeR cRanwinG-. Housing and Dining is considering revamping the meal plan system once again, this time turning your student ID Guest column card into a "key to the kitchen" that allows entrance to the serveries for longer hours (See Story, Page 1). This plan will benefit students both in the short term and in the long Cell phones stroke our yuppie egos run. No, this isn't another rail on how tions, but still not always necessary. my shoulders, but I can still play my The proposed $1,490 price tag for the key to the kitchen is annoying cell phones are, how self- Sure, you say, but usefulness counts part and have an effect. actually cheaper than next year's projected prices for the plans centered their owners are, or even for a lot. Nothing is really necessary', Society tells us we are efficient that provide 15 and 19 meals a week. And even for those how we're all getting cancer because so we can at least take advantage of when we multi-task. In an airport of the radiation. This isn't technology and use it re- recently I noted the man next to me students who would buy the 11 meal plan, the price increase is a complaint about how dis- sponsibly, so long as we making a call while at the urinal.