Room Lottery at Rice

As the end of my freshman year approached it became clear to the administration that there were going to be more Wiess College students than the housing could accommodate. The solution was to have a lottery for the rooms.

My name was not drawn so I was ‘expelled’ to live off campus.

Patrick and I had grown apart during this year and decided to split up. He actually got a room on campus.

I teamed up with Dave Bailey, Steve Treadwell and Ben Sevier to lease a two bedroom apartment on Cecil Street near the medical center (now in the medical center). While I was sad about not being on campus, I was excited to be in an apartment. I was particularly excited about having my car - my 1955 Ford Victoria coupe.

From a money standpoint, being off campus was about a wash. The downside was that I was not part of the on campus activities —- the activation energy required to go to the campus in the evening was too great.

Next door to us were four young women, not students but women pursuing their careers. We became friends and two of them remained friends for a while, Elaine and Carol. They will figure into my life story later.

I finished the first year with 1’s and 2’s - Rice graded on an inverse point system, 1 being an A and so on.

I spent that summer in Beaumont and worked the summer job at the Chemical Plant for 6 weeks and tried to sell vacuum cleaners for the 2nd 6 weeks.