Monday, November 28,1983/The Battalion/Page 3
e ‘truth’ about Chem 101
O’Conner to tell his side
by Pat Allen
t Battalion Reporter
There’s been a lot of stuff
the dean and department
head have said in the news
papers that are flat out lies,”
lays Dr. Rod O’Conner, who
was formerly head of the First
Year Chemistry Program at
Texas A&M.
I O’Conner says he will tell
the truth about the reasons for
the reconstruction of the che
mistry program at 8:30
inight in 302 Rudder. The
Ik is being sponsored by
xademic Affairs and is the
first time O’Conner has
spoken publicly about the
anges.
O’Conner came to Texas
AS.M in 1973. He said he was
ed with a written term of
pointment that gave him a
ee hand in running the
pgram.
“I don’t know how binding
that is legally, but it sure
iould have been ethically,”
I’Conner said.
O’Conner said the depart
ment head told him the che-
piistry program wasn’t de
manding enough and that stu
dents should be forced to
attend the section they were
registered in. Other faculty
memebers in the chemistry
department were angry be
cause they had very low
attendance for their lectures
and O’Conner’s lectures were
always standing room only.
“They wanted to lower the
grades, mainly the A’s,”
O’Conner said. “That’s a very
easy thing to do. All you have
to do is cut out office hours,
try to get as many faculty as
possible that are new to the
program and don’t know how
to approach it, and write exam
questions as ambiguous and
poorly as you can. It doesn’t
take a lot of skill to do that.”
O’Conner had three
choices. He could make the
changes the department
asked him to make: a more
demanding class which would
bring grades down and force
students to attend their
assigned section. He could
ignore the requests and con
tinue running the program
with the possibility of being
fired and losing his tenure on
the grounds of insubordina
tion. He could resign as direc
tor.
He resigned as director and
is now on a leave af absence.
“I thought that my resigna
tion as director would gener
ate someone in that adminis
trative structure to say this
must be more serious than we
thought it was,” O’Conner
said. “I appealed to the dean
and he told me I was right and
this thing shouldn’t have hap
pened but he had to back the
department head. My son
talked directly to Bum Bright
and Bright told him that it was
a simple matter of challenging
the chain of command and
that they would not tolerate a
challenge to the chain of com
mand.”
The University has some
documents that show the per
formances of students who
have been involved in the che
mistry program but O’Conner
said they won’t release them
publicly.
“Why is the University
keeping those documents sec
ret?” O’Conner said. “If
they’ve got nothing to hide
and they have clean hands and
they claim I’ve lied about it,
then let them bring it out in
public and let everybody read
it.”
O’Conner has seen a copy
of one of this year’s exams and
he feels it was poorly written.
He said he heard this year’s
grades were considerably
worse than last year and he
heard that there is little office
hour help.
“I’ve deliberately avoided
trying to find things out be
cause the situation got me so
emotionally upset that I got
physically ill last spring with
high blood pressure,” O’Con
ner said. “I’d have nightmares
about the University and wake
up with my heart beating 99
mph.”
He doesn’t come around
campus anymore. This year
was the first year he could
have arm chair seats for the
football games and he gave
away his tickets for every
game.
A&M to house election
data collection system
by David Manning
Battalion Reporter
A Texas A&M historian says
Texas will soon benefit from a
new computerized data-
collecting system that will enable
social scientists to use historical
and contemporary Texas elec
tion records.
Dr. Dale Baum, professor of
history, said a collection known
as the Texas Data Archives will
be used by scholars, graduate
students and political parties to
study election returns, voter
trends and voter turnouts.
Baum said the archives will
store all Texas election returns
from as far back as 1846.
The system is designed to put
all election returns into a com
puter so it can used for research
in the future, Baum said.
Social scientists will be able to
study the extent to which Tex
ans crossed party lines in the
past so that prediction trends
can be established for future
elections, he said.
“If you’re going to study elec
tion returns, you have to have
statistics from previous years to
formulate your data,” he said.
Historically, Texas has been
one of the worst states when it
comes to keeping results from
past election returns, he said.
Many Texas counties have
never recorded vote totals and
others have lost them, Baum
said.
Mark Stubbs, a graduate assis
tant, said information from past
Texas elections can be useful to
political parties who are target
ing a certain area of the state for
future elections.
Stubbs and four other gradu
ate students are working on mic
rofilming past Texas secretary
of state reports and documents
from all ele
1846.
election returns since
Follow Us To Your New Villa
Villa Oaks West
1107 Verde
ph. 779-U36
2 Bid
I'A Bath '365.
2 Bid
2 Bath \VW.
OPEN HOUSE
Mon-Fri 9:00-5:00
Sat & Sun 1:00-5:00
sixplosion
0[ Two killed in New York fireworks explosion
United Press International
: )nishe.f LLPORT ’ N - Y - Aseries
is doini
ns redisl
is a sera
what |
g aboi fc
kplosions leveled a fireworks
bry Saturday in a burst of
jets and a mushroom cloud,
fig two employees and heavi-
bmaging 20 nearby homes,
ur other workers were mis-
uwenty-three people were
jted for minor injuries at
khaven Memorial Hospital
ical Center in nearby Patch-
said spokesman Kevin
Miller. He said none required
hospitalization.
The Felix Grucci fireworks
display complex, owned by Felix
Grucci and his sons, Jim and Pe
ter, is well-known for its
pyrotechnic displays, including
the extravaganza organized for
the Brooklyn Bridge Centennial
in May.
The force of at least three
blasts “heavily damaged” up to
20 homes and blew out windows
for blocks around the site, police
and residents said.
“It was almost like a bomb
going off down the road. I could
feel it,” said Bob Baron, who
lives three miles from the devas
tated factory.
Police evacuated residents in
an approximate quarter-mile
area surrounding the factory.
Suffolk County spokesman
Sgt. Joe Reid said two people
were killed by the blast and four
others were missing. Rescue
crews said among the missing
was Jim Grucci Jr., the young
son of owner Jim Grucci.
All were inside the complex,
which includes several ware
house sheds inside a fenced-in
area, police said.
Officials said the explosion
occurred while employees were
putting together a display to be
used for a Saturday night event
marking the beginning of the
Christmas season in nearby
Patchogue.
The first blast occurred 11:10
a.m. Seconds later, another blast
shook homes surrounding the
site. Witnesses reported hearing
a third blast at 11:30 a.m.
“It was just a big big explo
sion,” said Jim Scordamaglia,
29, who was visiting friends ab
out a mile away. “My brother was
outside and he said he saw all
these sparks go up. Then the
whole house shook.”
icroelectronics
mg, Re;
5 world
use mi
the
oachin(|!Continued from page 1
iced
, y<HUl UCIII1CLL, d.Ulll’illiai
ith Texas Commerce Banc-
Ires, said the MCC could pro-
100 new electronic service
'supply companies within
years, creating an additional
i0 jobs with another 4,000
created indirectly.
t befo ^ ie a ^ so sa *^ as man y as
0,000 manufacturing jobs
uld be created in Austin and
n Antonio within the next
tree to seven years.
But there is a dark cloud that
been hanging over the pro-
since its inception — the fed-
eath toll
asses 200
U \ United Press International
The Thanksg iving holiday
eath toll Saturday climbed past
^ 00, including five Japanese
| rljourists who died in a two-car
'--'''ftash in Arizona and a teenage
tdiana girl killed in what au-
[riues described as a joyride.
J;The National Safety Council
idp p-PStimated between 400 and 500
jng ari *ople would die and between
nd in fooo and 22,000 would be in-
| Ured in traffic accidents nation-
e during the Thanksgiving
kend, which began at 6 p.m.
time Wednesday and ends
idnight Sunday.
year, 433 people were
led while traveling during the
nksgiving weekend.
A United Press International
nt Saturday showed 228 peo-
died in traffic accidents.
eral government currently is in
vestigating possible anti-trust
violations the corporation would
commit.
Porter said disallowal of the
MCC would be comparable to
the breakup of the AT&T
monopoly. He said by so doing,
the federal government severely
cut back the most successful
American research laboratory in
history — Bell Labs.
He said that work is con
tinuing between the MCC and
the Federal Trade Commission.
He also said that there are
“apparent reasons for hope that
it’ll be free of any anti-trust
problems.’ ino ruling,
has been made either for or
against the center.
Last March, 57 bids were
made to get the MCC located in
cities across the nation. Austin,
San Antonio and Dallas were the
three Texas cities that bid on it.
Porter said that if the Texas
A&M research park had been
further along in its develop
ment, College Station possibly
would have bid on the center.
In May, the number of pros
pective recipients was narrowed
to four; Austin, Atlanta, San
Diego and Raleigh-Durham,
N.C.
>f gi*
’s Cleai
PARKWAY SQUARE
(Southwest Parkway
at Texas Ave.)
COLLEGE STATION
696-4418
Gov. Mark White, along with
Texas A&M System Chancellor
Arthur Hansen and the Univer
sity of Texas System Chancellor
E. Don Walker, attended the
meeting of the final four in Chi
cago in mid-May to give a pre
sentation for the Austin site.
Porter served as technical
monitor in preparing the final
Texas presentation.
Dr. Jane Armstrong, assistant
director of programs with the
Texas Engineering Experiment
Station, was asked to (document
the strengths of the Texas A&M
System in a package that the
MCC would be interested in.
WOODSTONE
SHOPPING CENTER
913 C HARVEY RD
COLLEGE STATION
764-3990
Dc
called for her to correlate the
Texas A&M program with the
overall Texas program.
She continues to have liason
with the Austin group and now
is coordinating the agenda for
Pinkston’s visit.
TYNES'
LIMOUSINE SERVICE
693-9961
Our uniformed chauffeurs will escort you, your guests or clients to special events, par
ties or business meetings in our Cadillac Fleetwood limousines. By appointment only,
Tynes' Limousines are available for morning, evening or daytime engagements. We
can also be retained to pick up or deliver out-of-town guests to the Dallas-Fort Worth
Airport, Easterwood Airport, or Houston Intercontinental Airport for your con
venience.
The possibilities are endless. Please call for more information about our services.
•Wedding Party
•Prom Night
•Special Evenings
•V.I.P.'s
•Conventions
•Sales Promotions
•Any Occasion
/
SANDWICHES & SALADS
Receive FREE 1 large soft drink
AND 1 bag of chips with purchase
of ANY of our foot long sandwiches
open tii i or ,ar 9 e salads at regular price
2 a m. ($1.04 VALUE)
DAILY
Limit one coupon per customer per visit
Not valid in conjunction with any other discount
VOID 12-15-83
OPEN TILL
2 a.m.
DAILY
MSC
0LITICAL
u-eko^'
iini5* sllt
ceio.
la^'i
jnel# 1
ro#.,
cepiK'
cnP 1 .
>
ref 01 ;
i Sia« l£
The Philippines
Another Iran?
zfelTlernonicd Student Cenien_
The Body
Shop
“WE TACKLE TOUGH"
JOBS
EVEN YOURS!
• 10% OFF LABOR
WITH ATM I.D.
FREE ESTIMATES
• DOES YOUR CAR HAVE TOO MANY
DOOR DINGS?
•or DID YOUR CAR FALL VICTIM TO A
CAMPUS PARKING LOT COLLISION?
•and WILL YOU BE EMBARRASSED TO
SHOW IT TO YOUR PARENTS at
CHRISTMAS BREAK?
THE BODY SHOP can solve these
problems and more BEFORE X-MAS!
696-1138
W
1 1/2 mile W on HWY 60
UNIV/ERSITY
E
THE
BODY Shi
Airport
ATM Campus
Jersey