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, college crests, and coffee shop, now located in the RMC, were three such Hanszen brainchildren.

Back in the day, several Hanszenites broadcasted music throughout the halls of Old Section, and later the entire university, by way of a PA system. As the programming grew in popularity, so too did the Hanszen radio stars' ambitions. In typical Rice student fashion, this group of students began transmitting their radio shows over the AM frequencies using a crude radio array comprised of the building's gutters. The station was then known as KOWL. In time, these 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.

Shortly after the founding of the college system in 1957, the students at Hanszen felt compelled to create some sort of crest or insignia to represent the college. The blue, black, and yellow crest in time became the symbol of the college. Impressed with the idea, the other colleges soon followed.

You can find many Rice students gathered around the Rice coffee shop in the student center. Whether it is day or night, students always need coffee. Before it moved into the RMC, however, the University's coffee shop operated at Hanszen. The Weenie Loft, the fourth floor rooms tucked under the roof of old section, was the first home of the coffee shop. Legend has it: the Weenie Loft was the happening place on campus where students could go and get their caffine fix. Much like with the radio station, as the coffee shop grew in popularity it expanded into the basement under new section so that it could more comfortably accommodate more students, where it was known as Breadsticks and Pomegranates. Due to flooding in the basement, the Hanszen coffee shop was disbanded, but the basement kept the old name, B&P. Eventually, its absence created a demand that gave rise to current installation.

[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 $40,000, regulates the use of public spaces within the college, and serves as an official liaison between the College membership and the university administration.

In turn, the cabinet is regulated by a burly, curmudgeon sheriff, known best for his sudden and seemingly random slaps to the back of one's head for being (quote) "stupid as a two dollar bill".

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

Court Jackson will be the president for the 2007-2008 school year.

[edit] College Presidents

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 (Elected 02/02/2007)

[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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Baker College | Brown College | Hanszen College | Jones College | Lovett College | Martel College | McMurtry College | Sid Richardson College | Wiess College | Will Rice College