the Rice Thresher Vol. XC, Issue No. 17 SINCE 1916 Friday, January 31, 2003 Honor Council proposes Music students will petition by Mark Berenson ments for Shepherd School of Music under- graduates —24 course hours of distribution. appeals process reform THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF Undergraduates in all other departments are All music majors wanting to graduate required to take 36 hours of distribution. of the council, sending a case back to the by Rachel Rustin under the distribution requirements listed council or letting the ruling stand. Thus, the The change was made in the General THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF in the 2002-'03 General Announcements will president would not be allowed to change only Announcements following discussion last have to petition the University Standing The Honor Council has proposed constitu- the punishment, as was done in recent cases. year among the Dean's Council and Pro Committee on Examinations and Standing. vost Eugene Levy about the need to ad- tion changes that would redesign the appeals The proposed changes also explicitly state At Wednesday's faculty meeting Presi- dress distribution inequities for Shepherd process. what warrants an appeal: new evidence, claims dent Malcolm Gillis ruled that the vote School undergraduates, w ho have few class The changes are currently being consid- of bias on the side of the Honor Council or a taken at October's faculty meeting con- options within their major that fulfill both ered by President Malcolm Gillis and will be procedural error by the council. cerning reverting distribution require- distribution and major requirements, un- presented at college cabinet meetings and at a Gillis said changing the Honor System was ments for music majors to what was listed like most other majors. public Honor Council meeting in the coming not to be taken lightly, and thus the university in the 2001-02 General Announcements weeks. as a whole should be consulted on any change. At the October faculty meeting. Faculty was out of order, a decision that will force The proposed changes deal with the two He said he will consult with the Student Asso- Speaker Jack Zammito said that the lan- music majors to submit a petition. levels of appeals: to the Dean of Judicial Affairs ciation, the Graduate Student Association, the guage entered into the General Announce- and to the president. Under the proposed Faculty Council and the alumni trustees. The University Standing Committee on ments was unauthorized, because only the the Undergraduate Curriculum has been general faculty can change the general changes, the reasons for making an appeal as Honor Council Chair Joan Shreffler said told to propose long-term changes to distri- announcements, and the Dean's Council, well as the reasons for changing a verdict the council agreed with Gillis' decision to bution requirements. along with Levy, worked unilaterally to would be restricted. gather input. listed in the General Announcements as alter the degree requirements. Neither level of appeals would be allowed 'The council appreciates the communica- "a special note for music majors." the clause During the discussion at the October lac- to reinvestigate a case. Both levels would be tion with the president regarding the pro- establishes new general distribution require- See MUSIC. Page 12 limited to completely overturning the verdict See HONOR, Page 10 Faculty change spring 2004 break : by Mark Berenson spring break will be March 15-19. If for the spring of 2004 the faculty THRESHl-R EDITORIAL STAFF Rice were 10 set mid-term recess for would change its view, and pleas- & that week, there would be nine weeks antly it did." The faculty voted nearly un- of classes before the recess and five At the faculty meeting, Haynie. a animously to dissociate the spring weeks of class after. Will Rice College senior, spoke to 2004 mid-term recess from the Hous- Speaker of the Faculty Jack the faculty to explain why having a ton Independent School District's Zammito said he realized Wednes- break so late would be detrimental. spring break. Mid-term recess in day morning how late HISD's break Haynie cited unnecessary stress on 1 2004 will be March 1-5. was. students and inferior academic per- At the September faculty meet- "When [Student Association formance as possible results of the ing, the faculty approved a calendar President Matt Haynie] and I fig- late mid-term recess. for 2003- '04 that did not have a set ured that out, we said 'Uh-oh, this is Haynie said he was pleasantly spring mid-term recess, but instead not good news,"' Zammito, the his- surprised at the near-unanimous one that would be set to coincide with tory department chair, said. "We put support the switch received. HISD's break. On Jan. 9, the HISD this on the calendar for the general "I was surprised, but I don't think Board of Education announced that faculty meeting ... in the hopes that See CALENDAR. Pajje 9 Rondelet to be held at science museum by Aaron Heckelman the evening of Beer-Bike, but three midterm recess and Beer-Bike were :HKESHERSTAFF years ago, at student request, the set. Director of Student Activities date was switched to the Saturday Heather Masden said the switch is a This year's Rondelet shoulo be, before Willy Week, the week leading result of scheduling problems. quite literally, one for the ages. up to Beer-Bike. However, changes "In the future I am sure RPC would Rice's annual spring formal will in this year's calendar, such as mid- like to again move it back to the be held the on March 22 from 10 p.m. term recess being pushed back one Saturday before Beer-Bike but mul- DANIEL KOCEVSKI THRESHER to 2 a.m., at the Houston Museum of week, have forced the Rice Program tiple factors play into the scheduling Natural Science. Council to switch the dance back to of these events, so there can never be Celebrating a culture The biggest change for this year's the day of Beer Bike. any guarantees," Masden said. Tatum Negeen Ramesh dances at Persian Night Jan. 23 in Farnsworth Rondelet will be the date. For the first Formals committee member Because of the change in sched- Pavilion In the Student Center. Persian Night celebrated many aspects time in three years, the dance will be Michelle Mejia, a Baker College uling, some RPC members said they of Iranian culture Including food, dance and crafts. moved to the evening of Beer-Bike. freshman, said the decision to change expect attendance at Rondelet to be Prior to 2000, Rondelet was held on the date was made after the dates for See RONDELET Page 12 Fondren to cut purchases INSIDE No e-mail = sleep due to budget reduction Owlnet e-mail will be inac- tive from 6 p.m. Sunday until Collection Development Kerry Keck 6 a.m. Monday. by Michelle Afkhami We suggest you use the THRESHER STAFF said the library is in the process of reviewing its acquisitions budget and time normally spent e-mailing Fondren Library will cut its pur- identifying potential cutbacks. doing homework or sleeping. chasing and acquisitions by 5 per- "The subject librarians are meet- cent this fall. ing with faculty in each academic Get involved Fhe library's purchasing power department to review the books, will decrease about $500,000 in the periodicals and databases we buy to Petitions for Student Asso- 2003 fiscal year. The acquisitions support teaching and research in ciation and blanket-tax posi- budget for the 2002 fiscal year was that discipline," Keck said. tions are available outside the $8,774,360. Online access to library materi- SA office and are due Feb. 7. Fondren Library Director Sara als should not be affected, she said. OPINION Page 3 Lowman said the slowdown is a re- Lowman said she is feeling posi- sult of many economic factors, in- tive about the slowdown and efforts Student involvement crucial cluding a 2.4 increase in the 2002 will be made to compensate for the A&E Page 13 U.S. Consumer Price Index, increas- decreased spending. For example, ing rates of inflation for scholarly the interlibrary loan department will A wonderland of waste publications and lower returns on increase its role in retrieving spe- SPORTS Page 17 Rice's endowment. cialized materials. The NFL's next Owl? "Rice's endowment provides a Fondren is better off than many large portion of the revenue for the other university libraries, Lowman Weekend Weather SUSHI SUZUKI/THRESHER university's budget," Lowman said. said. During the last five years, some Friday "Due to the downturn in the stock schools have faced acquisitions bud- Mostly sunny, 46-69 degrees market, the university is looking at get cuts in the double digits. Bucking the trend Saturday slowing down the rate of increase in Fondren, however, has received in- Sid Richardson College senior David Anderson watches the Super Bowl Partly sunny, 53-71 degrees the university's budget across the creases at least equal to inflation. between the Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday Sunday board." Some students said they think night In the Sid Commons. The Bucs won 48-21. Partly cloudy, 53-72 degrees Assistant University Librarian for See LIBRARY, Page 9 THE RICE THRESHER OPINION FRIDAY, JANUARY 31,2002 the Rice Thresher xto So*RV, *!5K Getting it right *|£LCOlAE The decision of the faculty, which forces music students wishing MC YOU* to graduate under this year's General Announcements to petition Yea*. t>CLiNOue*r so they can graduate, is disappointing. (See Story, Page 1.) But what is even more frustrating is the trend of problems in the General Announcements.