The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 57, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 26, 1970 Page: 2 of 6
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The off-campus studei^di lemma
By PETER ROBIE
My trip to Detroit two weeks ago to attend the conference
on the Commuter Student revealed to me how the problems of
other schools are much worse than the ones we have at Rice.
Most of the represented schools were totally commuter schools
with a mean student body of 20,000 students, and were located
in a downtown or ghetto area. Thus, there were many points
brought up at the conference that are unrelated to Rice Universi-
ty i.e. parking facilities, how to deal with the immediate com-
munity surrounding the school, how to find more building room,
:uln scheduling difficulties for part-time students (who usually
had full-time jobs).
The central problem enumerated was how to make a commut-
ing student feel that he was a college student. Many students at
the conference complained of the multi-schizophrenic lives they lead
by being one person at home, another person at school, a third
person at work, and a fourth person while socializing. They want-
ed to construct a college identity that would stay with them all
the time. Thus, the main flow of the conference was directed
towards how a university environment could be created for students
who do not live on campus.
This problem isn't too bad at Rice. We have a large on-campus
population that creates its own university environment. Many off-
cam pus students, who have usually spent their freshman year in a
college and are still college members, have a base to operate from
while they are on campus. But there are still some needs that the
colleges cannot fulfill for off-campus students. Colleges are hindered
by the rules and regulations promulgated by the university admin-
istration. Colleges are separate from the city, and they do not
im-'Sfntly serve an active role in assisting the university environ-
ment (except for Jones College).
1 here is still no place that graduate and undergraduate stu-
i'-nts can meet in an informal setting. This is why I feel that an
nil-campus building, run by off-campus people, will help to bring
oil-campus people together. The heterogenous quality of off-cam-
■ w students will generate a more interesting cultural center, and
provide a plac to explore new living styles in a free atmosphere.
Recommendations
My purpose is not now to structure the off-campus gathering
place, but to make recommendations that will help free the off-
campus student from many of the shackles currently imposed on
him by the university. 1 attended two conferences on curriculum
and -financing. I will submit my experiences in the finance con-
icretice in next week's Thresher. In the curriculum conference, the
problem of scheduling was frequently mentioned. Due to the full-
time status of Rice students, this would not apply to us. The theme
of the conference: how to provide a university environment for
everyone, became the subject of discussion. At the end of the time
period, three proposals emerged. It was felt by the student con-
ferees that the present structuring of a student's life should be
removed, and towards this end, a new idea of curriculum must be
made.
0 All classes be made optional. Instead, students could choose
a year long study project (for credit) which would require ex-
tensive research. The present class structure compartmentalizes
a student's learning. You experience Chemistry only between
X am and 9 am on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and forget
about it for the other 1 <>5 hours of the week (except for home-
work.)
A project would enable a student to see how the various
academic fields are heavily inter-related, and the greater amount
erf free tim provided would allow him to develop nlore independence
and self-discipline. Projects would also enable a student to assist
our rapidly degenerating environment. For too long, the ivory
tower status of the university has prevented it from giving to
society the full services that it could provide. Thus, in the sci-
entific fields, ecology projects could be developed. This is presently
being done at Cleveland State University, where two representa-
tive projects are Credit in the Ghetto (Economics Dept.) and Prob-
lems of Thermal Pollution from Atomic Power Plants (Physics
Dept.). The process of learning by doing would educate a student
much more effectively than the currently boring and sometimes
irrelevant lectures. (As McLuhan says, the medium is the message
i.e. how you teach is the primary factor in what your students
will learn)
0 More inter-departmental majors should "be made available.
The present departmental setup is an artificial and damaging
structure, because subjects extensively overlap into each other.
Project-advisor groups could be formed by the faculty to assist
students in their research. A gradual elimination of departments
would eliminate the fiefdom structure of the university (which
prohibits a greater community spirit to develop between faculty
and students), and reduce the current influence of the administra-
tion, which frequently manipulates one department against an-
other for appropriations.
0 The administrations power be more equally distributed among
faculty and students. The administration has a vested interest
in preserving the present university structure, that concentrates
all of the decision-making powers into their hads. I heard numerous
incidents at the Detroit Conference of how the administration had
ignored the wishes of the faculty and students, and had generated
a spirit of dissension and irrational acts within the university.
I fully realize that these statements are idealistic and have
hardly any chance of becoming reality at Rice in the near future.
I present them in hopes that students and faculty can join to-
gether to propose curriculum changes that will direct us towards
these recommendations, and that these proposals are accepted and
used in the spirit of compromise, (for example, perhaps the class
structure could be kept for the freshman and sophomore year,
and after a student has declared his major, he could do a research
project his last two years instead of going to class). I feel that
Rice's Committee on Curriculum Reform has made a start, and
I hope that my summary of the Conference will generate new ideas
from the Aice community, both on-campus and off, that will enable
us to create a university environment that will stay with a student,
wherever he lives.
page 2—the rice thresher, february 26, 1970
threshlng-lf-out
Committee works to retain Magid
Last Monday night, the
Hanszen Cabinet refused to ac-
cept Dr. Ronald Magid's resig-
nation as a college associate,
and instead formed a Keep
Magid Here Committee to gen-
erate student support for Ma-
gid. Magid's tenure is not being
renewed this year because his
publications have supposedly
not been sufficient.
No evidence has been found
that his outstanding teaching
ability was taken into consider-
ation (Dr. Magid has twice won
the Outstanding Teaching
Award, which is voted by the
students. Contrary to what has
been stated, we have found Dr.
Magid's publications to be both
numerous and sufficient. In the
past three years, he has writ-
ten more than ten research pa-
pers, all of which were pub-
lished in such magazines as
Journal of the American Chem-
ical Society, Tetrahedron Let-
ters, and Journal of Organic
Chemistry. Because his research
has been sufficient, and because
of Dr. Magid's outstanding
teaching ability, we hope that
the Committee on Ethics and
Tenure (which is now consider-
ing Dr. Magid's case) should
grant Dr. Magid's tenure.
In order to gather student
support for this request, the
Keep Magid Here Committee
is working in four areas:
1. We ask that all students
attend the discussion groups
that will be held in the colleges
next week and sign petitions
requesting that Dr. Magid be
granted tenure.
2. We ask that students in
the Chemistry Department re-
quest their department to re-,
consider its refusal to grant Dr.
Magid tenure.
Baldwin attacks
Dykes on gun law
To the Editor:
For years we "g*un fanciers"
have been accused of sexual in-
adequacy because of our hobby.
I have been able to overlook
this particular allegation only
because I have witnesses to the
contrary, but I have lived with
the fear that some morning I
would awaken to find myself
solemnly assured that sport
shooting and guns are, in some
subtle way, connected with child
molestation or some other suit-
ably heinous perversion.
The blow finally fell in an
article by Mr. Edward R. Dykes
in the Thresher of February
19. I was relieved to learn that
I suffer from a "frontier psy-
chosis." What a break. You
can't imagine how much more
pleasant it is to be a lunatic
than a pervert.
Mr. Dykes should be relieved
to learn that I can't even re-
member the last time that my
handguns and I killed or robbed
someone. That's quite a spark-
ling performance for someone
who is insane. I think I remem-
ber assassinating some tin cans
and paper targets recently, but
one shouldn't put too much faith
in the recall of a loony.
In my own simpleminded
way, I agree with Mr. Dykes
that, "gun laws in themselves
are not the only answer to our
growing crime rate." Some
laws that penalize the bad
loonies and leave us harmless
loonies to fondle our "arsenals"
in peace might also prove to be
useful.
OTHA D. BALDWIN
Geol. Dept.
3. We ask all of the college
cabinets to pass resolutions call-
ing on the Committee of Ethics
and Tenure to grant Dr. Magid
tenure.
4. We are working with the
Graduate Student Association in
gathering the all-important sup-
£^l't of graduate students, es-
pecially those in the Chemistry
and Chemical Engineering De-
partment. In connection with
last week's Thresher article re-
lating to the publish-or-perish
theme, I obtained the results of
a poll taken among graduate
students last November and De-
cember. The questions and re-
sults of that poll are as follows:
O Should research output be
given more weight at Rice than
it is presently given in granting
faculty tenure?
Yes—11% Maybe—9%
No—51% No Comment—29%
• Should classrooip teaching
ability be given more weight at
Rice than it is presently given
in the granting of faculty ten-
ure ?
Y es—53 % Maybe—20 %
No—7% No Comment—20%
• Are the attributes and
characteristics that make a man
a good producer of research
publications the same that make
ia man a good teacher?
Yes—7%
No—71% Uncertain—22%
These results clearly show the
importance that is attached by
graduate students to good
teaching in considering a teach-
er's tenure. Considering Dr.
Magid's outstanding teaching
ability and his obvious popular-
ity among graduate and under-
graduate students, we do not
feel that the decision to refuse
tenure for Dr. Magid was the
right choice.
Dr. Magid has shown his con-
cern for the student through his
tremendous teaching in the past
five years. We hope the stu-
dents will return this concern
in working to keep him where
he belongs—here, with us, at
Rice University. Those people
who want more information or
want to help the Committee, can
either contact myself at 623-
0528,, Tom Blocher, Hanszen
President, or Tom Nichols, GSA
President.
PETER ROBIE
Hanszen '71
Hencke disgusted by Magid firing
To the Editor:
Word has reached me that Dr.
Magid has been canned. Though
I've graduated and gone, I still
retain enough interest in Rice to
feel .profoundly disgusted.
During my four years at Rice
I saw a much higher rate of at-
trition among those faculty
members more blessed than the
average with a gift for impart-
ing their knowledge; and more
important, a gift for communi-
cating to the student their en-
thusiasm for and appreciation of
their subject. Dr. Magid is a
singular example of such a per-
son: I learned a lot of organic
chemistry from him and rank
his course as one of the three
best I took at Rice.
While I "was an undergradu-
ate I often heard that the pri-
mary reason for Rice's reputa-
tion was the brilliance of its
students rather than of its fac-
ulty. This conclusion seemed in-
evitable in light of the paucity
of real teaching ability, a condi-
tion the present administration
seems more than willing to per-
petuate.
Agreed, one function of the
university is to burnish its re-
putation by extensive research
and elegant facilities, but I
think that it is evident that
those responsible for Magid's
firing are so blinded by the
academic game they are playing
that they have ceased to give a
damn about their primary re-
sponsibility, the education of
Rice students. You don't im-
prove the quality of education
by firing the best teachers.
W. RICHARD HENCKE, Jr.
Hanszen '69
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Murray, Jack. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 57, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, February 26, 1970, newspaper, February 26, 1970; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245077/m1/2/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.