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The Rice Thresher
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by OLIVIA ALLISON THRESHER STAFF Even a lunch conversation can become a controversy, given help from the "rumor mill," Wiess College Master John Hutchinson said he discovered Tuesday. Although Hutchinson had only informally discussed the safety problems associated with the motorized vehicles in the Beer-Bike parade over lunch Monday with Ashley Masters, a Wiess senior and Beer-Bike coordinator, he was told Tuesday that students at other colleges were concerned that a ban of motorized vehicles had already been enacted. "It was just one guy at a table with one idea saying, 'I wonder if we ought to look into this,'" Hutchinson said. "The sad thing is, the rumor mill can change things into something they are not rather than stimulate productive discussion." Masters said after the lunch, she sent an e-mail to the Beer-Bike coordinators in the other colleges, asking them to discuss the safety issue of using motorized vehicles with their respective college's masters. By Tuesday afternoon, Will Rice College Master Dale Sawyer had received about 10 e-mails from students who had read an e-mail from Will Rice Beer-Bike Coordinator Jesse Dickerman that stated that the administration was "trying to change things and involve itself in campus events without any student input." "These students appeared to interpret this e-mail to mean that the masters had already met and discussed this issue," Sawyer said. Hutchinson said he does not believe any changes will be made to the parade as a result of conversation on the topic at the Masters and Presidents Committee meeting Feb. 22. "I don't think anything should happen except that if I have an idea, I should be allowed to discuss it. I foresee only discussion," Hutchinson said. When Jones College Beer-Bike Coordinator Sandheep Surendran received the e-mail from Ashley Masters, he was worried that a decision had already been made. However, he contacted Jones Master Enrique Barrera before notifying other Jones students of the issue. "I avoided overreacting and instead called the Jones master. I found out that it was an isolated discussion and that it had not been brought up to the Masters Committee officially," Surendren said. "I was angry when I first read it. I almost lost it because I am sick of the changes being made without the students' input, but as far as I know there will not be any changes to motorized vehicles." Although Masters stated in her e-mail to the other Beer-Bike Coordinators that she was "told to wait to order trucks until a decision was made," Surendren said this issue will have no effect on Jones preparations for the parade. "We weren't going to order the trucks until later anyway, but this discussion at the Masters and Presidents Committee meeting makes no difference on when we order them," Surendran said. Hutchinson said he considers student opinion on this issue important, and no decision will be made without students. "I am concerned that students feel that a discussion was held and a decision was made in which they were not a part, which is not the case," Hutchinson said. "It was simply a conversation over lunch." Hutchinson emphasize that no previous discussion on this topic has occurred, but he has requested that the topic be put on the agenda for the next Masters and Presidents Committee meeting. He has also recommended to Sawyer, the chair of the committee, that the Beer-Bike coordinators from each college be invited. Sawyer said he understood Hutchinson's concern over vehicle safety during the Beer-Bike parade because students sometimes run in front of the trucks. "Eliminating the trucks is not something I have thought about doing, but I am willing to hear discussion on it. During the parade, I spend my time worrying and walking next to the trucks," he said. Issues of the safety of the motorized vehicles were raised last year, which resulted in the requirement that the motorized vehicles be moved empty, rather than full of students, to the parade site, Sawyer said. - back -
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