Wednesday, May 11 1983/The Battalion/Page 7
Newest comet
Risible tonight
0‘Connor
by Donn Friedman
Battalion Reporter
B If you saw an extra light on
wfrie outer edge of the Big Dipper
j I’uesday night, you may have
Mjeen the newest comet known to
Hnan. Tonight you can again see
the comet — known as IRAS-
-Alcock — between the
ion tellations Gemini and Leo.
Barring a cloudy night, the
;omet should be visible to the
aked eye. Being the fourth new
;omet of 1983, it is known to
cientists as 1983-D. The first
new comet of 1983 was known as
1983-A. The comet was disco-
lered by three different obser
vers at the same time.
The infrared astronomical
satellite (IRAS) detected the
lomet by using a type of heat-
Imission tracking while astro-
liomers on the ground — Araki
in japan, and Alcock in England
I— observed the comet through
^telescopes. Hence the nickname,
IRAS-Araki-Alcock.
I Professor Pat Lestrade, who
leaches astronomy courses at
exas A&M, says the comet
ffords a rare opportunity,
omets rarely pass so close to
earth.
Since the comet will be close to
the Earth, about 3 million miles
— much closer than any star — it
should be visible without using a
telescope, he said, but a pair of
binoculars would give a star
gazer both the magnification
and mobility to catch a glimpse
of the comet.
Even though the comet may
appear to be a flaming ball of
fire like a star, it’s actually made
up of chunks of ice, Lestrade
said. The glowing flame mirage
is a result of the evaporation of
gases. These gases become he
ated and condense as the comet
passes by the sun, causing the
comet to glow.
About a dozen comets pass
within viewing range of the
earth every year, many of which
have been by the earth before,
he said.
But this may be the only
opportunity to view this comet,
Lestrade said. It is not one of the
comets that periodically jour
neys by earth like Halley’s Com
et, which was last observed in
1910 and is expected to return
in 1986.
“This comet is something like
a visitor from outside our solar
system,” he said. “This may be
our one chance to see it.”
continued from page 1
worse than had been rumored.”
What exactly were the
changes? Natowitz said that so
far there haven’t been any, “At
the moment, there are no
changes planned and nothing
has been decided.” Natowitz
added that once changes are
made, they probably will be
minimal.
However, O’Connor said the
committee was reviewing more
than just the courses.
“I was later informed in a
letter from the department head
that the committee review was
my personal faculty review,” he
said. “I felt this was strange since
this is normally done by the per
sonnel and tenure committee of
the University.”
The committee was not for
bidden to talk to O’Connor,
Natowitz said, nor were they re
viewing O’Connor.
“I instructed the committee
to submit the draft of the report
to me, and not to him,” Natowitz
said. “I didn’t think it was
appropriate for him to see the
review before me.”
Review committee chairman
Emile Schweikert added, “Of
course O’Connor was allowed to
meet with us. He had more in
put into the review than anyone
else.”
iny liver recipient
n stable condition
United Press International
MINNEAPOLIS — A tiny
ild from Cahokia, Ill., who re-
■ived a new liver Tuesday at
■niversity of Minnesota Hospit-
lifeguHs is now the country’s youngest
d is liver transplant recipient,
ice nujl Amy Lynn Hardin, 11
lina. months, was in stable condition
the pediatric intensive care
nit following the five-hour
(fperation. Doctors said she
would remain in intensive care
jt least for the next several days
rad would be monitored closely
for infection or rejection.
I Surgeons flew to Florida
Monday and returned with the
Bmor liver early Tuesday. The
rrnationii itonor was a 10-month-old Tal-
>ou( b^Bhassee, Fla. baby who died in
t hom< an accident.
rofho*r
aand'
an dies
entangled
n hose
)WS
iter
Amy’s grandfather, Jack
Roark of Cahokia, called the
operation “a good success,”
adding “Oh boy, it’s been a long
wait.”
Roark said he waited up all
night and received a call from
Amy’s mother, Robin Hardin, at
6 a.m. saying the operation had
been completed.
Last week the Hardins’ hopes
were dashed when doctors
learned that the family of a
potential organ donor thought
an organ donation “inapprop
riate.”
A nationwide search then be
gan for another donor.
Amy’s aunt, Cindy Roark, 21,
of Cahokia, said the Hardins
were notified Monday that
parental permission had been
granted by the family
Florida child for use
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United Press International
(AUSTIN — An Austin man,
35, apparently became entang
led in a garden hose and strang
led himself while trying to get
free, authorities said Monday.
The body of Richard E. Fres-
quez was found early Sunday be
hind a frozen food plant. A gar
den hose was wrapped around
his waist and chest.
F Dr. Robert Bayardo, Travis
County medical examiner, said
Tresquez had strangled, but his
death appeared accidental.
■ “It looks like he tripped over
■garden hose and got tangled in
it and died when he tried to get
put,” he said.
B Bayardo said results from
toxiology tests Tuesday were ex
pected to show the victim was
anioxicated when he died.
ft
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But O’Connor disagreed.
“The department head told me
that he wanted to be sure the
committee made suggestions he
wanted to see. He wanted results
that he felt were satisfactory.
And he was allowed to meet with
the committee and make his own
suggestions, but I wasn’t.
“The department head told
me that any changes would be
made by him, and that I would
have to agree with that,” O’Con
nor added.
Responding to this charge,
Natowitz said, “I don’t believe I
ever said anything like that, but
if the department feels that cer
tain aspects of the program
should be changed, then as de
partment head I should make
sure those changes are made.”
O’Connor said Natowitz
would not make a commitment
to a suggestion of the profes
sor’s. “I offered a compromise
that if they would let me retain
my authority for a year, and in
form me by September of my
future status, then I would post
pone my resignation.”
“The whole thing could’ve
been solved by a simple agree
ment — to leave me with the
same authority for one more
year,” O’Connor said. “That
would have given us time to go
over the review and relieved my
family of this trauma.”
O’Connor said he has not
filed any lawsuit against the Uni
versity, but that he has secured a
copy of the committee review in
court because, “three different
people have told me that the re
port might be destroyed before
the University could conduct a
review of the process. If the re
port was destroyed,- I would
have no evidence of why I’m
upset.
“The only legal action I took
was to secure a copy of the re
port in a court until an impartial
review could be held,” he said.
“We’ve got a copy in court and
we’ve offered to withdraw the
report if some non-involved
person will keep the copy and an
impartial review is held.
“I have every confidence that
I would be perfectly satisfied
with the results of an impartial
review,” he said, “and I’m ex
tremely hopeful that that will
occur.”
Natowitz said the thought of
him destroying the draft report
was “ludicrous“.
“There’s no evidence what
soever that O’Connor has the in
terest of the department or the
University in mind,” Natowitz
said. “He believes that he should
have absolute power and that he
should be the only one who
should decide what happens in
the program. He told me that
the only way to change the prog
ram was to remove him.
“I resent his remarks that he
will not make changes which are
detrimental,” he said, “because
that makes it look like the de
partment’s suggestions are de
trimental to the students — and
that’s garbage.”
From a teasip’s mouth
Lynn Ashby, columnist for the Houston Post
and honorary Aggie, received a standing
ovation Saturday morning after his humorous
speech to graduating seniors. He praised
Texas A&M for its prestigious image in Texas
of the
of the
organ.
Amy suffers from biliary atre
sia, a congenital disease that
causes bile to build up in the liv
er. It is the same disease that
afflicted Jamie Fiske, the
Bridgewater, Mass, girl who was
a few days older than Amy when
she became the country’s
youngest liver transplant reci
pient last Nov. 5 at University
Hospitals.
Also waiting for a new liver at
the hospitals is 8-month-old
Ashley Bailey of Abilene, Texas.
The child was determined last
week to be a candidate for a liver
transplant, and doctors have
launched a search for a donor.
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