News in brief: University may cut general budget; Barnett trial date rescheduled

12/3/09 6:00pm

University may cut general budget

Still recovering from the endowment's $1 billion loss, Rice plans to reduce general fund spending by 5 percent. Last Wednesday, Dean of Undergraduates Robin Forman met with the college masters to discuss the implications these cuts could have on the residential colleges.For Fiscal Year 2010, the university mandated a 5 percent budget reduction in each academic department. Forman said discussions to expand the budget cuts to the general fund are underway.

The general fund, also known as the A-1 fund, consists of money with no restrictions on its use, unlike research grants and some gifts that the university must direct toward specific projects. The general fund supports most staff and faculty members' salaries at Rice, and covers the cost of supplies for both academic and nonacademic programs.

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"We expect to reach a broad decision in the next few days," Forman said Wednesday.

Any decisions made about the budget cuts will go into effect July 1 to coincide with the beginning of FY 2011, Forman said.

Forman also said he anticipates some initial opposition to the cuts, but attributes a large portion of the opposition to incomplete information.

"Last year, some students reacted to the news of our decision to cut funding for newspapers instead of other things," Forman said. "What they didn't understand was these cuts were made campus wide."

Last spring, Forman's office ceased funding delivery of the Houston Chronicle and The New York Times to the residential colleges for this year. Initially, there had been conversations about cutting the residential colleges' government budgets. However, it was determined no changes would be made for FY 2011, Forman said. Throughout the process, Forman said he made decisions in consultation with the college masters and presidents.

- Josh Rutenberg

Barnett trial date rescheduled

Caitlin Barnett, the former Rice student involved in the Labor Day weekend BB-gun shootings, appeared in court Nov. 23 for an arraignment, according to an indictment filed Nov. 12 in Harris County District Court Number 185.

However, after an agreement between the defendant and prosecutor, the arraignment was reset for Dec. 17. Barnett, who began the semester as a Lovett College sophomore, is charged with aggravated assault of Claudia Bodolus with a deadly weapon, which is a felony.

On Sept. 6 and 7, several incidents of BB-gun shootings were reported on Rice's outer loop and on nearby streets, which included an attack on Sid Richardson College sophomore Karen Frankenfeld while she was returning from Rice Village. Barnett and three other individuals - John Michael Chargois, 22; Paul Helton, 18; and Bonnie Mugg, 21 - were identified by the Rice University Police Department as the suspects involved in the incidents.

Barnett, who turned herself in to authorities the week of Sept. 21, paid $30,000 in bail Sept. 25. She has appeared in court three times for thearraignment but each time the date was reset. Barnett has not yet entered a plea.

Barnett's next court appearance on Dec. 17 will be a non-trial setting.

- Jocelyn Wright

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