Hanszen College

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Harry Clay Hanszen College is a residential college at Rice University in Houston, Texas. The original building, known as West Hall, opened in 1916. In 1957, Rice adopted a residential college system, and Hanszen was created around the existing dormitory and named for Harry Clay Hanszen, a benefactor to the university and chairman of the Board of Governors.

Contents 1 The Grounds 2 Hanszen's Legacy 3 Government 4 College Presidents 5 External links

[edit] The Grounds

Hanszen is one of the six colleges in the southern part of the Rice University campus, consisting of Old Section, New Section, the Commons, the Quadrangle (often known colloquially as "the Quad" or "the Hanszen Quad") and the Masters' House. The Quad is bounded on three sides by the Commons, Old Section and New Section. Old Section and New Section run parallel to one another, each having a tall tower at opposite ends.

Old Section is the oldest part of the college, constructed in 1916 the first phase of construction on campus by the Boston architecture firm Cram, Goodhue, and Ferguson. It has been described as the most beautiful of the original dormitories. The first, second, third and fifth floors are primarily residential, while the fourth floor is host to the Weenie Loft. Second and third floor consist of double-occupancy rooms with hallway bathrooms. First floor contains a Resident Associate apartment along with the Pit(a uniquely designed suite).

New Section was built in the mid-1950s in conjunction with the development of the residential college system at Rice. New Section contains suites composed of two double-occupancy rooms attached to a common room, interconnected to another suite via a bathroom. These rooms are quite popular with upperclassmen as they are more "apartment-like" as compared to the rowdy, chaotic hallways of Old Section. New Section is grouped by stairwells with four quads in each stairwell. The stairwells are often referred to by number (i.e. "the 40's", "the 50's", etc.). The 40's, 50's, and 60's all face the main Hanszen quad. The 70's are located in New Section Tower. The 80's and 90's are located in the 'burbs.

The Commons was part of a project completed in 2002 to replace the 1970s-vintage commons in conjunction with the construction of a new Wiess College. The Masters' House was moved in fall of 2004 to the location of the previous Wiess College master house, across an open field from Old Section.

Public spaces within the College include the Weenie Loft television room, computer lab, and lounge, Old Section kitchens, Old and New Section sundecks, the New Section Basement and Play-room "B&P" (Bread and Pomegranates) storage space and the New Section laundry room.

[edit] Hanszen's Legacy

Many of the things Rice University students are well acquainted with began at Hanszen College. KTRU, the University's student managed radio station and college crests were two such Hanszen brainchildren.^{[citation needed]} [This comment needs to be revised, as do others of this. The original KTRU (the call letters were chosen because KOWL was already in use) was "broadcast" from my old Westinghouse stereo, and some stuff cobbled together by my roommates. It was probably legal, since the "broadcast" did not get further than the Hanszen buildings. I am not certain how this satisfies "[citation needed]", but I was there personally. I question Hanszen's involvement in the college crests: the men's colleges had crests before I got there (let's see if I can remember? Hanszen, Weiss, Rice, and (well, it has been a long time); I assume that the women's colleges (Jones and (it has been a long time) had crests as well. ...

When I think of "Hanszen's Legacy", what I remember is that we were thought of as "The Gentleman's College." Even if the dormitory food did not justify it, we wore white shirts and ties to dinner.

Originally, some of the students broadcast music throughout the halls of Old Section, and later the entire university, by way of a PA system. As the programming grew in popularity, the group of students began transmitting their radio shows over the AM frequencies using a crude radio array made from the building's gutters. The station was then known as KOWL. In time, the students expanded their operations and moved into the basement of the Rice Memorial Center and used the extensive network of metal piping under the campus as a more powerful radio antenna. Eventually, this station became officially FCC licensed and moved into a more professional station and became KTRU.^{[citation needed]}

This was a year or so after I escaped, but I think your history is a little off. KOWL was never, to my knowledge, the official call letters of the station. And I don't think that it was ever a PA station. By 1969, I think that there was a legitimate (if low-powered) license as KTRU.

The only thing I remember doing, that was a wee bit illegal, was hooking up an IBM 1440 to a Christmas tree, blinking Morse code: the FAA was annoyed.

Shortly after the founding of the college system in 1957, the students created the blue, black, and yellow crest that in time became the symbol of the college.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Government

Hanszen College is administered by the Cabinet, a body consisting of the Executive Board and Class Representatives elected by members of the college on an annual basis. The Cabinet supervises an annual budget of nearly $60,000, regulates the use of public spaces within the college, and serves as an official liaison between the College membership and the university administration.

There are also many unelected government positions that have authority over the spending priorities and of Hanszen. Notably, Hanszen has several committees which control different aspects of college life. The committee chairs are responsible for planning, organizing, and running events falling within the scope of their committees, as well as making relevant spending decisions, although the cabinet must approve any single spending item which exceeds $100.

Wesley and Barbara Morris were appointed masters of Hanszen College in the spring of 2004, succeeding Klaus and Eugenia Weissenberger.

[edit] College Presidents

• 1987-1988: Boris Spassky
• 1988-1989: Michael Jauch
• 1989-1990: Nick Shannin
• 1990-1991: Miller Rhodes
• 1991-1992: Ron Chapman
• 1992-1993: Greg Hanson
• 1993-1994: Kara Kane
• 1994-1995: Ben Walrath
• 1995-1996: Glenn Levy
• 1996-1997: Tara Miller
• 1997-1998: Orlando Cardoso
• 1998-1999: Karolena "Karrie" Johnson
• 1999-2000: Chris Noble
• 2000-2001: Lindsay Germano
• 2001-2002: Erik Vanderlip
• 2002-2003: Mandy Legal
• 2003-2004: Alex Sigeda
• 2004-2005: Wade Malone
• 2005-2006: Dan Jaqua
• 2006-2007: Stephen Rooke
• 2007-2008: Court Jackson
• 2008-2009: Abbie Ryan

[edit] External links

• Hanszen College Website http://hc.hanszen.rice.edu/
• Tour of Hanszen College http://hc.hanszen.rice.edu/index.php?c=tour
• Rice University http://www.rice.edu/
• Rice University College System http://students.rice.edu/students/Colleges.asp

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