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ONLINE 14-APR-00 Ground broken for new Martel College by OLIVIA ALLISON THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF Courtesy rice news Ground is broken for Martel College on Monday. Officials from both Rice and the Martel Foundation participated in the event. Construction is scheduled to begin in May, and students will move in by January 2002. Applications for students to be one of the 16 founding members of the college will be available in September. Groundbreaking for the new Martel College was held Monday. Construction of the ninth residential college will begin in May, and the project is scheduled to be completed in December 2001. Students are scheduled to move into the new college January 2002. Arthur and Joan Few, former Baker masters,will begin their term as Martel masters July 1. Few, a space physics and astronomy professor, said a committee will accept applications for an initial group of 16 students in September. Two students will be chosen from each college, and these students will choose associates and resident associates for Martel. An additional group of 25 students will be selected during the second semester, Few said. These students will meet throughout the spring semester, at various campus facilities to establish a college identity by forming traditions and preparing for their first Beer-Bike. At the ceremony, President Malcolm Gillis said once the expansions of Jones and Brown Colleges are completed, the university will be able to house 80 percent of its students rather than the current 67 percent. Vice President for Student Affairs Zenaido Camacho said the opening of Martel will be an opportunity for growth for the college system. "We've been accustomed to our current family for decades, but this change is exciting and challenging," Camacho said. "The [college] system is about to get even better." Ralph O'Connor, president of the Martel Foundation and namesake of the president's Ralph S. O'Connor House, said Martel will soon be a vital part of the college system. "Rest assured, we will be able to compete in drinking beer and riding bikes and whatever else," O'Connor said. Martel will be located on the north side of campus, on what is currently the Jones parking lot. - back - Search the Thresher pages: Enter your search terms: Copyright © 2000 The Rice Thresher. All Rights Reserved. This document may be distributed electronically, provided that it is distributed in its entirety and includes this notice. However, it cannot be reprinted without the express written permission of: The Rice Thresher, Rice University MS-524, PO Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251-1892, USA. The Thresher Online Project -- ethresh@listserv.rice.edu