NEWS IN BRIEF: Walter Hall Prizes awarded

Three students shared the Walter Hall Prize for the best paper submitted in a sociology course during the 1994-95 academic year. Michelle Klem, Carolyn Chi and John Forrest Andrews were the winners. Their respective papers are entitled "Through Black Eyes: The Rice Experience," "Social Class, Occupation and Tracking in Secondary Education" and "Social Class in American Religion."

Splitting the prize among three students was unprecedented, according to Sociology Department Chair Chandler Davidson. "They are all good papers, and it was difficult to choose between them. What stood out in each was the author's ability to collect and analyze original data and to interpret it within the framework of current sociological research," he said.

Klem's paper is based on intensive interviews with a sample of African-American undergraduates at Rice; and is a descriptive account of the Rice experience as seen through the eyes of this ethnic group.

Chi developed her database from records of the freshman class at a private local high school and used multiple regression techniques to test hypotheses about the relation between a student's socio-economic status and placement in a curriculum track. Andrews reviewed the literature on social class differences in religious behavior and conducted a small-scale study of two local churches.

The award, which carries a cash prize of $300, is named after Walter G. Hall of Dickinson, Texas, an alumnus and benefactor of the university.

This item appeared in the News section of the September 1, 1995 issue.

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