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The Rice Thresher
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by Matt Cuddihy Thresher staff
University Police Sgt. Les Hulsey said no one was arrested or detained at the party Saturday night. Six officers were stationed at Wiess this year, the same number as last year, and two other "roving officers" were added to keep security between the colleges tight, Hulsey said. In addition to the police, there were about 75 student security personnel stationed in different areas of Wiess at times during the event. Also, each of the other seven colleges had at least five security members stationed at its own building. Rice Emergency Medical Services treated four intoxicated partygoers this year, down from six last year. One person went to the hospital by ambulance at his own request. This is an improvement from last year when three people were hospitalized, EMS Director Noah Reiter said. NOD is an annual costume party that encourages attendees to wear extravagant and outlandish costumes fitting each year's theme. Wiess Chief Justice Lizzie Taishoff said although the party began as a "bring your own mattress" party in the mid-1960s, Wiess no longer endorses sexually explicit themes. "The costumes are meant to be decadent and fun, keeping in line with the theme, but how much people choose to wear is up to them," Taishoff said. In the past two years, the sexually explicit nature of the event has been toned down after the masters at six colleges wrote a letter criticizing the party in early 1999. This letter prompted increased security measures and a ban on sexually explicit decorations at last year's NOD. One protester, alumnus Chris Carr (Wiess '99), who lives in Dallas, showed up at the party. Hulsey said Carr had alerted a member of a Christian group at Rice that he would be coming to protest NOD, and the recipient of this information informed police. Hulsey said Carr was told the event had "calmed down" quite a bit and that students were making a concerted effort to make the event as safe and as decent as possible. When Carr arrived at the party, he spoke with Wiess Master John Hutchinson and requested to enter the party free of charge, Taishoff said. The police told Carr he could not enter but that he could circle the area outside the Wiess Acabowl delivering his message as long as he refrained from using the megaphone he brought. Carr entered the Acabowl and began reading from the Bible over the megaphone, but few people heard him because the party was so loud. "An officer was 10 feet away and didn't even realize he was talking," Hulsey said. Police asked Carr to leave the Acabowl, so he walked to the front of Herring Hall and read from the Bible for over an hour until the batteries in his megaphone went dead. After that, Carr left. "He is very strong in his conviction that NOD is immoral," Taishoff, who spoke with Carr, said. "He felt compelled to share his view with the partygoers in a public manner." This year is not the first time Carr has publicly spoken out against NOD. Carr wrote a letter to the editor in the Oct. 30, 1998 Thresher that said students should not go to NOD. "May Wiess College and Rice University be better places with the ceasing of NOD," the letter says. Ticket sales and attendance figures have not yet been tallied, but Bria LaSalle, a Wiess social vice president, estimated that there were over 800 attendees at NOD this year. Last year, 720 Rice students and 95 non-Rice partygoers attended the event. LaSalle, a senior, said NOD went exceptionally well. "This year was an amazing success ... really, a safe party," she said. LaSalle attributed the success of this year's NOD to an outdoor DJ and stricter security measures. These measures included issuing wristbands for those 21 and older only during the party and stopping sales of tickets for non-Rice partygoers after noon on the day of the event. Taishoff agreed. "We did a very good job of facilitating personal responsibility this year," she said.
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