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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 1987)
T exas A&M 2:^ ^ : 0 0 rt) r 3 S' S ^ “oh? ~ 3 * O DtQ ^ j 5. rt) 0 .• ZT 3 ^ n 0 a;y , IT. a?,_ 51* ^0 o UOip •3 3^0 “0 c c. ffl 0 ET 0 fr-i a i ^ " ■ , ® D O 0 3 3 ? ro .' gnaj. »pj« Battalion 31183 No. 18CJSPS 045360 College Station, Texas Friday, September 25,1987 NASA subcontractor sued by two women S 2.0 § sr l 0- HOUSTON (AP) — Two women , ? - jo worked for a N ASA subcontrac- ]0i:g|filed a $5.2 million lawsuit | jj; ^iursday alleging they were forced 'T'Mn their jobs after raising con- > ‘ ?» about management abuses and c r jolaiions that could harm the space ’ r uttle and its crew. Named as defendants in the fed- u lawsuit are the subcontractor, nis^s Corp., four Unisys employ- wid the prime contractor, Rock- •11 Shuttle Operations Co. The suit claims Unisys ovei- led Rockwell and the National Inautics and Space Administra- [it also alleges Unisys listed a fic- |s person as an employee, vio- security regulations in Idling classified flight software, to check the safety of flight [are and violated the Equal Pay ivia C. Robins, a former Unisys ]m supervisor who now works at (well, said after she started png for Unisys in February L she began questioning safety management of the company’s Ion the shuttle program. It every step of the way, my anagement pressed me to drop my Urns,” Robins said a news con- rence after the lawsuit was filed. ( Uiid she was demoted unfairly at Ks and went to work for Rock- Je other plaintiff, Ria Solomon, Bnds she also was demoted un- and later fired unjustly from bb as a data clerk for Unisys, pe two women’s claims involve done after the explosion of the B shuttle Challenger, which Unisys, formerly System Devel opment Corp., is the subcontractor to Rockwell Shuttle Operations, re sponsible for developing and distrib uting flight software, including veri fying safety for the space shuttle. Rockwell Shuttle, a subsidiary of Rockwell International, is the prime contractor to NASA and is responsi- “At every step of the way, my management pressed me to drop my concerns. ” — Sylvia C. Robins, for mer Unisys section super visor ble for providing flight hardware, flight software and overall opera tions and services to NASA for the space shuttle contract. In the suit, Robins said she identi fied safety problems, management deficiencies, management abuses, security breaches and potential ille galities at Unisys. She claims she was harassed at Rockwell about her concerns, but the suit does not accuse Rockwell of safety and security violations. Robins said the problems by Uni sys occurred at the Rockwell facility in Houston, adding she thought they could pose serious “hazards to the safety of the (shuttle) crew.” However, she would not elaborate on what hazards a flight crew could face. Solomon, meanwhile, said she was forced from her job because she would not agree to help manage ment “frame” Robins by falsifying time sheets to show Robins forced workers to do unapproved overtime. She also contended the company had a fictitious employee on the pay roll. “Sylvia Robins and I filed this suit today to stop continued harassment and intimidation of Unysis employ ees,” she said. Lynee Bernabei, the attorney for the pair, said her clients allege over charges to Rockwell and NASA, but she did not have a soecific amount. Allan Eldridge, a former Rockwell employee, and James Carter, a for mer Unisys employee, joined the two women at the news conference to voice similar complaints. Neither, however, has filed suit. The two women said they have discussed their concerns with the NASA inspector general. Unisys spokesman Jim Lambeth said Thursday afternoon he was not aware of the lawsuit and had no comment. Ed Kennedy, spokesman for Rockwell in California, said he could not comment on the suit because he had not seen it. He also said El dridge brought concerns about pos sible safety problems to Rockwell of ficials and those were under investigation. “Any time someone has concerns that involve the shuttle we take them seriously,” Kennedy said. Rockwell International came un der fire in 1985 for mischarges on an Air Force contract in 1982. The company pleaded guilty Oct. 30, 1985 to 20 counts of fraud, primar ily involving falsified employee time cards. _ lements unveils plan o 16 end prison crowding AUSTIN (AP) — About 150 in- ates will be released from state Ions daily to make room for a like lumber of incoming criminals, Gov. ^Clements announced Thursday. j Clements, along with members of he prison board and the Board of ^Hons and Paroles, said the new flgnagnnent plan” should end M )v|-crowding problems that have closed the state prison system to new admissions more than 20 times this year. “The management plan will estab lish an equilibrium on both sides of the state prison doors,” Clements said. “The plan will keep the prisons open to receive those inmates who have been duly and legally sen tenced by the courts. [parthe id protestors t UT sentenced to jail o § AUSTIN (AP) — Anti-apartheid pWesters who took over the Univer- hty of Texas president’s office were ntenced to jail and fined Thursday yja Travis County judge who hly criticized their actions, ist October’s brief takeover of the office “was beyond free speech youthful exuberance,” County Irt-at-Law Judge Leslie Taylor told the 12 protesters. “Your acts He dangerous to yourselves and thecommunity at large. Bfhis is not the way we address problems in our society.” |The protesters are members of Hso-called UT 16, who took over Bident William Cunningham’s of- j’Bto protest university investment HlBompanies that do business in f South Africa. TO 0 3 (0 ® , 0 rtS tj-J'l Taylor criticized the county attor- 3 ® ley’s office, which recommended 3T ^ 3r'ni® t * ie d e f en< l ants be given pro- S' &! <! iti a^Hfd sentences and be required to qu y S3,500 for damage to the p TO o r+1/ ifit's office and perform 100 rn ^ it tfgpmmunity service. $ resi- ours The defendants also asked for probation and for community serv ice restitution. They opposed paying the $3,500, contending that police caused the damage to the president’s office. “There is not a dime’s worth of difference between the state’s rec ommendation and the position urged by the defense,” Taylor said. “Whenever that happens, the peo ple of this community ought to won der whether their prosecutor is doing his duty and representing the people’s concerns that the laws be upheld,” she said. “To follow the state’s recommen dation would be an open invitation to others to commit these kinds of acts without fear of any serious con sequences,” she said. Mike Denton of the county attor ney’s office said, “The facts of the case supported our recommenda tion . . . We realize (the protesters) broke the law and went too far, but we’re not blind to why.” In 30 seconds or less Photo by Samuel Myers Responding to fierce competition, this company is going all out to deliver its pizza the fastest by ac quiring new delivery vehicles. Actually, this race car was on display Thursday at Rudder Fountain to help advertise the job-opportunity program Mobil was holding in Rudder Theater. “We’re trying to hit a steady flow, a steady rate, of about 150 that are coming in and 150 that are going out.” The program is scheduled to be gin Monday. Because the Texas Department of Corrections has filled its prisons to the population limit allowed by court rulings, its gates have been closed re peatedly this year. The governor said the plan also should ease crowding problems in county jails caused when the TDC closes. Clements said the new plan was only a short-term answer to the over crowding crisis. He and the other officials em phasized at a news conference that the long-range solution is building more prisons. Charles Terrell, a member of the TDC board, said, “This plan is to keep the prisons open. It’s a man agement program. It doesn’t catch up. It doesn’t keep people off the streets that we want to keep off the streets. “We are incomplete in two areas. We don’t have enough (prison) units going on line to keep up with keep ing the hard-core, repeat offender that’s dangerous to society in prison. And we don’t have enough funds to initiate other programs outside of prison, like continuing education for people on probation or parole.” Terrell said Texas has more crim inals on probation, 290,000, and on parole, 41,000, than any other state. California is second, he said, with 200,000 on probation and 30,000 on parole. Clements proposed this year that the Legislature approve 19,000 more prison beds to meet needs pro jected through 1991. However, only about 10,000 beds were authorized. Official says faulty brackets cause bleacher to give way By Drew Leder Staff Writer In the Texas A&M Twelfth Man tradition, students were standing on the Kyle Field bleachers Sept. 5 for the A&M-Lousiana State University football game when a support bolt on a third deck bleacher gave way. “Three or four guys really ate it,” said Phil Korenek, a sophomore in dustrial distribution major who was on the bleacher when the accident occured. Billy Pickard, coordinator of training, equipment and facilities for the Athletic Department, said he knew of no injury reports resulting from the accident and was unaware of the accident until he discovered the faulty bleacher during a routine stadium check last Friday. In fact, Pickard said, although an average of one bench breaks for ev ery two games played at Kyle Field, he has never heard of an injury re sulting from this in the 22 years he has been at A&M. Almost all the bleacher problems occur on the third deck because the design of the metal bleacher sup ports on that level is different from those on the other two. The third deck was added in 1980. “We will periodically have a prob lem on the third deck,” Pickard said. “There are some (bleachers) that don’t seem to be anchored in real good.” On the first two decks, the alumi- n pi the brackets attached to the top of con crete seat risers, while on the third deck the brackets are attached to the side of the concrete. “It doesn’t seem practical to re place them all,” Pickard said, so the Athletic Department replaces worn out brackets and bolts as they break. “The stadium isn’t in any danger of falling apart,” he said. A representative of the architectu ral firm that designed the third deck, Lockwood Andrews and New man Inc., said the fact that Aggies tend to stand on the benches wasn’t taken into consideration in the de sign. He said the position of the spectators’ bodies, whether standing or sitting, should have no effect on the durability of the bleachers. When the benches do break, the Athletic Department calls in the Fa cilities, Planning and Construction Department to do the repair work. Pickard said there has never been a problem with a bleacher after it has been repaired. The bulk of the work Kyle Field crews are faced with doesn’t involve repairs, he said, but is the result of pigeons and high school students. High school students who come to the stadium to watch their football teams play don’t pay it the same re spect Aggies do, he said. “We don’t ever have a problem with Texas A&M students at Kyle Field,” he said. “I would rather have two college games with 70,000 peo ple than one high school game with 3,000.” Pickard said that following a high school football game there usually is a hefty amount of cleanup work, es pecially on bathroom walls. Kyle Field was constructed in 1926 and consisted of one level of wooden benches on the west side of the field. Pickard said these benches frequently would fall apart because students stood and stomped on them. The wooden benches were re placed with fiberglass benches in 1967 and aluminum bleachers shortly after that. The brackets used to support the wooden benches haven’t been re placed since 1926, Pickard said. Although the bleachers in the horseshoe area of the stadium, added in 1927, probably take the most punishment because of their use at yell practices, Pickard said none of the benches in that area have ever broken. “Our stadium probably holds up as good as possible,” he said. The A&M tradition of standing during football games has roots in 1922, when the A&M football team, riddled with injured players, called on an A&M reserve player, E. King Gill, to come out of the stands and suit up to play. Although he didn’t actually play in the game, Gill be came known as the Twelfth Man, and out of that event grew the A&M tradition of standing during games to show support for the Aggie team. illions of workers haven't filed W-4s, may face lower take-home pay Washington (ap) — Less than a v eek before the deadline, millions of rican workers have yet to file a new Jm W-4 to adjust their tax withholding to 'Pflform with the overhauled federal tax jge. jtlnder the law, enacted a year ago, work- flmust file a new W-4 with their employ- r s before Oct. 1. Those who fail to comply ould find their take-home pay sharply re- ilced. ,tjthe Internal Revenue Service, updating survey completed by the Roper polling or- ;<Uiization in late July, estimates that about percent of workers have filed withhold- ig forms this year. Since the agency was expecting about 94 million to file, that means about 18 million have not. “It’s late, but there is still time to adjust your paycheck,” IRS spokesman Johnelle Hunter said Thursday. “It might be a good idea, even if you have filed a form earlier this year, to make the calculations again and, if necessary, file a new form to bring withholding in line with liability,” she said. The new withholding forms are nec essary because the 1986 tax overhaul made many changes in basic tax provisions that affect many people. On the plus side, rates have been cut sig nificantly for most Americans. Standard deductions have been raised sharply. The personal exemption has been almost doubled, to $1,900. On the other hand, the law repealed a special deduction for two-earner couples, affecting 50 million people. More than 36 million couples and indi viduals deducted their state and local sales taxes last year; that deduction, too, has been wiped out. Similarly, about 7 million couples and in dividuals have lost all or part of their Indi vidual Retirement Account deduction be cause of the new law. The 8 million people who received un employment compensation in 1987 will be taxed fully on of income for the first time. Deductions for interest on credit cards and other consumer borrowing have been slashed, affecting about 27 million filers. Cuts in medical deductions will affect more than 11 million filers and about 33 million filers have lost part of their miscella neous deductions. Those changes have been affecting the tax liabilities of American workers since Jan.1. There is a good chance that any worker whose withholding has not yet been ad justed to reflect the same changes is having too little or too much withheld from each paycheck. Those who neglect to file a W-4 this year will not be hit with a big fine or jail sen tence. But, depending on their circum stances, they could face a big increase in withholding on Oct. 1 or owe the govern ment a lot of money — plus a penalty — when they file their tax returns next year. Under the new law: • A single person who does not file a new W-4 by the deadline will be given no more than one withholding allowance, even if otherwise entitled to more because of de ductions or dependents. An allowance on the withholding form is equal to the per sonal exemption on a tax return; it exempts $1,900 a year, $158.33 a month or $36.54 a week from withholding. • A married worker will be authorized no more than two allowances until a new W- 4 is filed.