[
LETTERS
]
Letters
”The winter 2006 issue of Sallyport is
absolutely awful. Has Rice become
the Berkeley of the South?”
—Mic hael S. Adams ’64
Our Own Facts and Fiction ter supply do not go back that far), private citizens to capture, collect, and both the legal issues and the practi-
Rice has provided some or all of the hold protected wildlife outside of the cal problems we saw in Rice continu-
Thanks for an interesting, education-
campus domestic water supply from normal hunting and fi shing laws. It ing in its present course with its live
al article, “Rice Fact and Fiction,” in
groundwater through this well. We was a minor, if somewhat sore, spot mascots. The Rice representative ex-
the winter 2006 edition of Sallyport.
currently supply 42 million gallons a among some animal rights activists plained that poor maintenance on the
I learned a lot and resolved some
year (about one-fi fth) of the campus’s who maintained contact with us that owl cage had allowed some animal
40-year-old questions.
domestic water from this well, and in some colleges in Texas were hold- to pry open a corner of the enclosure,
However, in the interest of total ac-
the past (1991) were legally allowed ing protected wildlife and displaying invade it, and kill both the owls. She
curacy, as a member of the fi rst class
to withdraw as much as 180 million them as mascots. Notable were Baylor also explained that there were no more
to pay tuition at Rice, let me assure
gallons a year from this well. University’s endangered black bears, owls at the university at that time and
you that the fi rst tuition charged at
Concerns over land subsidence and, Texas A&I University’s occasional jav- that none were likely until funds could
Rice was $1,200, not $1,500 (answer
as noted, the stability of the underground elinas, University of Houston’s cougar, be found to make the cage safer.
to question 16, page 35). I counted ev-
water table, have indeed led us (and and Rice University’s great horned We had earlier spoken with Dr. Fisher,
ery penny of it.
others) to curtail, though not complete-
owls. who could not attend our meeting, and
Walter (Scot) Ruska ’69
ly, our underground withdrawals.
One of the fi rst briefi ngs I had when found that, although he wanted his per-
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Douglas Wells
I took that job was on these mascots. mit renewed, he was reluctant to as-
Director, Central Plant I found that one of my staff (a Baylor
sume continued responsibility for the
OK, I’m confused. . . . On the webpage Rice University
graduate) had issued a zoological per-
mascot. The owls were, after all, out-
“A Brief Rice History” (www.explore.rice.
mit to Baylor for its bears. A&I did not
side of his research program, and far
edu/explore/A_Brief_Rice_History.asp),
I just read the test questions and an-
always keep a javelina (probably be-
away from his laboratory and offi ce.
it states that, in 1962, “Rice donates the
swers in the winter 2006 Sallyport ar-
cause of the handling diffi culties in-
Nonetheless, he was also reluctant to
land for NASA’s Johnson Space Center.”
ticle, “Rice Fact and Fiction,” and felt
volved), and University of Houston
be the sole reason why Rice could not
But in the winter 2006 issue of Sallyport,
that I needed to “fi ll out” the histor-
actually used a cougar that was per-
have a live mascot.
on page 34, it says that Rice never actu-
ical record on question No. 10 con-
mitted as part of the Houston Zoo’s
We suggested to the Rice repre-
ally owned that land and was only the
cerning the owl cages next to Lovett
collection. Rice’s owls were held as
sentatives that they explore a coop-
intermediary in the exchange. Which is
College.
part of a scientifi c collecting permit
erative arrangement with a licensed
the correct statement?
When I was a student at Rice from
issued to Dr. Frank Fisher in the biol-
wildlife rehabilitator or the Houston
Mary Cochran
1971 to 1975, there were up to three
ogy department.
System Administrator,
Zoo rather than the continued use of
great horned owls at a time in the owl
Department of Earth Science
While I no longer have access to my
Dr. Fisher’s scientifi c permit, and we
Rice University
cage next to Lovett College. The owl
offi ce diaries from that period, I recall
provided them with contact informa-
keepers lived in Lovett and occasion-
that, in about 1990 or 1991, I was in-
tion. We were later informed by Rice
The statement in Sallyport is the cor-
ally kept the owls in their room on a
formed that the owl cage next to Lovett
and the Houston Zoo that the zoo would
rect one. —Editor
perch, especially during water balloon
College had been invaded by either a
assume responsibility for future owls
battles with Will Rice College. One of
feral cat or wild animal and the owls
and that they wished to have them
In the winter 2006 Sallyport article
the keepers told me that the air-condi-
were killed. There was general mur-
added to their zoological permit. Dr.
titled “Rice Fact and Fiction,” ques-
tioning was not good for the owls and
muring from my contacts that animal
Fisher received his permit without the
tion No. 13 discusses the past use of
that it was preferable to keep them
rights groups were planning on pro-
owls. That was the last I heard of the
a system of wells throughout the cam-
outside.
testing the use of live owls at Rice as
owls until the Sallyport story.
pus to provide public drinking water
During the same time, the Rice
mascots, and I could expect some form
Paul M. Shinkawa ’75
(i.e., domestic water) to the campus.
cheerleaders had a somewhat musty
of inquiry soon. In checking our records Austin, Texas
The answer to question No. 13 states
owl costume that was used by a stu- at TPWD, I found that Dr. Fisher’s per-
that this is fi ctional, and that “The use
dent during the games in addition to mit was due for renewal and that the
Thanks to all of you who sent in correc-
of the pumps was discontinued due to
the live owls. The costumed Sammy application was then pending.
tions and additions. Rice history buffs,
concerns regarding the stability of the
occasionally would act inebriated and Another attorney, who also was a
take note! —Editor
underground water table.”
lift up the skirts of the opposing team’s wildlife biologist from Texas A&M,
While I am not certain where the cheerleaders. and I set up an appointment to meet The Arts at Rice Revisited
Rice domestic water supply came From 1987 to 1999, I was an attor- with a representative of Rice from a
from prior to 1969, I am certain that ney at the Texas Parks and Wildlife department that had some nominal John O’Neil’s personal notes on the
in 1969 Rice had drilled, outside the Department (TPWD), one of the natu- authority over the mascot program. I establishment of a fi ne arts program
Central Plant, a 1,626-foot deep wa- ral resource agencies that had jurisdic- no longer recall who that was or what at Rice [fall 2005] make clear the huge
ter well into the Gulf Coast–Evangeline tion of native Texas wildlife. For most her department affi liation was. We met distance that has been traveled in the
Aquifer, and for at least some of the of that time, I was in charge of scien- at Lovett College with her and one or last 40 years. Although his notes con-
years since 1969 (my records of wa- tifi c permits—those permits allowing two student owl handlers to explain vey many frustrations of the pioneering
Summer ’06 3
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