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The Rice Thresher
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by Olivia Allison Thresher editorial staff About 50 students interested in obtaining a spot on the Martel College founding committee picked up applications at the Martel College TG at Willy's Pub Sept. 1. Applications are due Sept. 22 and are available in the Student Affairs office at 101 Lovett Hall. Arthur and Joan Few, masters of Martel and interim masters of Baker College, said they were slightly disappointed with the low turnout at the TG, although they believe every student at the TG picked up an application. "We had good quality of students, we just didn't have a large turnout," Joan said. Arthur said he and Joan encountered numerous questions about Orientation Week and application process when they presented information to Will Rice College Diet members at the meeting Wednesday but said they encountered no negative reactions from students. Arthur said he and Joan will present information to the other colleges as soon as they can make an appointment. An application is also available on the Martel Web site, http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~martelcg. The Fews said they will accept applications from any student who could provide leadership experience during the founding process, including seniors. "We are looking for people who are able to see the possibilities - this is a new college and a new millennium - and people with leadership, because they have to write a constitution, recruit other members and new associates," Arthur said. The Fews will interview applicants until Oct. 1. The Fews will request approval of their choices from the Committee of Masters and announce the 16 selections for the founding committee Oct. 4, and the first meeting of the committee will be Oct. 5. The Fews said the students on the committee will have the bulk of the responsibility of creating the college atmosphere. The committee will have a retreat at Lake Houston State Park Oct. 20-22, where members will decide if the college will have theater productions, a college course and a Beer-Bike team in spring 2001, along with other decisions, Arthur said. "It's a question of how much do we want to undertake right off the bat," he said. Committee members will also be responsible for selecting eight to 16 faculty associates for the college, although five community associates, current trustees of the Martel Foundation, have already been appointed. The Fews hope that many of the faculty associates will be professors who have been or are currently associates at other colleges, although they expect to have no more than two associates from each other college. Arthur said the maximum number of faculty associates allowed at each of the other eight colleges increased from 20 to 25 a couple years ago so that Martel could draw more experienced associates. Despite all the committee members' responsibilities, however, Arthur said the time commitment required will probably be no more than that of any other college cabinet member. General applications to transfer to Martel will be available in October. Because the other colleges do not have an equal number of students, a different number of students will be selected from each college. The number will be negotiated with the masters and presidents of the other colleges. Graduating seniors will not be eligible to apply. If more than the set number of students apply to transfer from a college, the Fews will randomly select students. "Students get assigned to colleges, in a sense, randomly, so that same philosophy will be used for transfer students in the second phase," Arthur said. "If we get [too many] applicants from a college, we will draw names out of a hat," he said. "We will try to make sure we get an equal number of males and females, athletes and things like that, but if they don't volunteer, we won't have much of a choice about that." Selections will be announced as early as December or at the beginning of the spring semester at the latest. Transfer students must agree to live off campus during the 2001 fall semester unless there are on campus beds at a college, and freshmen assigned to Martel will live at other colleges first semester. Both groups must move to Martel mid-year. The Fews will present information about the college to cabinets beginning next week to answer questions about the selection process and the new college. Arthur said he hopes these presentations will address the biggest issue the founding committee will face in convincing students to transfer: the idea that transferring to Martel is betraying their original college affiliation. "We've got to immediately dispel the idea that if you transfer, you are a traitor, because that's bound to creep in," he said. "But what we want to do is to get everyone thinking that they're not a traitor to your college, you're an emissary to a new country, so to speak." The Fews said the addition of Martel will benefit the entire campus because, combined with Jones and Brown Colleges' expansions and the new Wiess College building, any student who desires on-campus housing should be able to have it. Brown and Jones are presently smaller than the other colleges, so new wings are being added to both colleges to give them as much housing as other colleges have. A common kitchen/servery will also be built for all three of the north colleges. Although the projected completion of Martel is still December 2001, the Brown and Jones projects will not be complete until September 2002, Director of Project Management and Planning Barbara White said.
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