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Vol.89 No.93 USPS 045360 12 Pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, February 13, 1990
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Scott Hendry, a bus operations employee,
checks out one of the large shuttle buses at the
stop on Ireland Street Monday. Hendry’s inspec-
Photo by Fredrick D.Joe
tion revealed that the water pump was broken,
and the bus had to be towed. Its driver said bus
malfunctions are rare.
Tenure for assistant prof
denied by Pres. Mobley
By JULIE MYERS
Of The Battalion Staff
Texas A&M President William
Mobley denied tenure last week to
Dr. Lyrin Lamoreux, an assistant
professor in the Department of Bi
ology who has contested her tenure
denial since 1988.
Lamoreux contested the denial
based on what she called age and sex
discrimination, retaliation and a vio
lation of her due process. According
to a report by the Tenure Advisory
Committee (TAG), Lamoreux based
her charge of denial of due process
on her feeling that the equipment,
resources and support necessary to
carry out her job were withheld. The
report said she claimed she was re
taliated against by “some person” for
filing or threatening to file an Equal
Employment Opportunity Commis
sion charge.
Following a recommendation for
tenure by the TAG in June, Mobley
referred the case to another campus
commitee, the Committee on Aca
demic Freedom, Responsibility and
Tenure (CAFRT).
The CAFRT concluded that La-
moreux’s progress toward tenure
had been impeded unfairly, and that
she should be awarded tenure and
provided the opportunity to pursue
her research with an equitable alloca
tion of resources.
However, in a Feb. 6 letter from
Mobley to Lamoreux, Mobley said
the lack of extramural research
funding as well as the findings of the
CAFRT and the TAG were reasons
for not awarding her tenure.
“Both the Tenure Advisory Com
mittee and Committee on Academic
Freedom, Responsibility and Ten
ure have found no illegal basis for
the tenure decision in your case,” the
letter said. “Their findings include
no evidence of retaliation, sex dis
crimination or age discrimination.”
The TAG found no evidence to
support sex discrimination specif
ically directed at Lamoreux and also
found no evidence to substantiate
the charge of age discrimination.
However, the committee did state
in its report that the amount, nature
and credibility of the evidence exam
ined did support Lamoreux’s charge
of retaliation.
Lamoreux’s charge of denial of
due process also was supported by
the TAG.
In addition to the recommenda
tion that tenure be awarded, the
TAG recommended that Lamoreux
be given three things: restitution for
her damaged research program; re
newed and unbiased consideration
for candidacy for membership on
the genetics faculty; and the oppor
tunity and support needed to de-
velqp appropriate upper-level and
graduate courses.
The CAFRT also found no evi
dence of direct sex or age discrimi
nation against Lamoreux, nor did
they find compelling evidence of re
taliation.
In addition, CAFRT did not find
enough evidence to constitute an
See Lamoreux/Page 8
Officials cancel project planned
to withhold benefits from poor
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal officials on Mon
day night reversed their decision that would have al
lowed a pilot project to deny new Medicaid and child
care benefits to several hundred poor people in Texas.
“No person receiving welfare in the state of Texas
has been denied or will be denied benefits to which they
are entitled under federal law,” Louis Sullivan, secre
tary of the Department of Health and Human Services,
siid in a statement released by his office.
Sullivan was unaware of the provisions of the project
until officials began receiving calls about a Dallas Morn
ing News story that ran Sunday.
When told of the
e project, he made it clear “he does
not want this type of provision included in any of our
programs,” Martin Gerry, assistant secretary for plan
ning and evaluation, said. Gerry said he knew of no cur
rent HHS programs that deny benefits entitled by fed
eral law.
HHS approved the demonstration project last sum
mer and it was to begin April 1, when a new federal law
will expand transitional Medicaid and child care bene
fits for 12 months after a recipient finds a job or enters
a job training program.
However, about 800 Texas Medicaid recipients in the
project would continue to be eligible for only four
months — the current limit — of free medical care and
child care after they get a job or job training.
The purpose of the study was to see whether the
added benefits helped keep people off the welfare rolls.
Officials wanted to see if extended benefits encouraged
people to take and remain in entry-level jobs that are
unlikely to offer medical insurance or child care bene
fits irtimediately. *
This kind of experiment has long been used in sci
ence, medicine and industry as a tool of evaluation, and
has been used for more than 20 years in social research
to measure the effectiveness of social policies.
However, such social experiments usually are set up
so that the “experimental group” is getting added bene
fits while the “control group” gets the level benefits that
are already offered, said Sidney Trieger, director of the
federal division of health systems and special studies in
the Health Care Financing Administration.
egents say plane, Senate allows honorary doctorates
: und use appropriate
By CHRIS VAUGHN
Of The Battalion Staff
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IlyDEAN SUELTENFUSS
j X The Battalion Staff
A
k
State planes and Board of Regents
unds have been used appropriately,
Txas A&M officials said in re-
ponse to a Houston Chronicle story
nd inquiries by The Battalion.
The Chronicle reported Sunday
hat A&M’s state-owned planes have
en used to transport University of-
icials, their families and guests, as
ell as prospective A&M athletes to
nd from A&M. The article said
&M officials used the planes when
omparable commercial flights were
Available for a fraction of the cost.
According to University financial
ecords examined by The Battalion,
card funds have been used to pay
or football tickets, accommodations
nd other benefits for regents’
Chronicle reported that
\&M spent more than $800,000 op-
Irating its three state-owned air
planes during fiscal year 1989.
nd 18
'olley^ 1
tineClas
Regent Raul Fernandez flew with
everal companions on one of
&M’s planes to the John Hancock
owl in December, the Chronicle re-
orted.
Fernandez told The Battalion that
is flight to the bowl was justified be-
ause the game was an official Uni-
ersity function. He said he took the
tee of other regents who were
oing to attend, but were unable to
ecause of a last minute change in
tlans.
“I felt bad that no regent (would)
represented,” Fernandez said.
'And I think that when we have
omething that’s as big as a major
owl game, (it’s important) that we
ave representation. There are a lot
;T>f Aggies that are present there, and
It’s an official function of the Uni-
I'ersity.”
I Fernandez said that since he was
Inaking the trip anyway, he saw no
liarm in bringing along several
Quests. He said A&M officials often
lannot fly on commercial airlines be-
lause they must travel to locations
|iot served by the airlines.
I “I’m a regent, and if I’ve got to go
somewhere on official business and
that’s the way to get me in and out of l
there, then I’m going to have to use
that or not attend,” he said.
Regents Chairman William McK
enzie said Fernandez attended the
bowl game as a representative of
A&M. McKenzie also justified the
use of state airplanes to fly prospec
tive athletes to and from A&M.
“Every bit of that is reimbursed by
monies that aren’t state money,” Mc
Kenzie said, adding that the money
used to pay for the trips came from
an A&M athletic department fund.
McKenzie also said the Board is
justified in paying for accommoda
tions and football tickets for guests
of A&M and guests of the regents.
“We give tickets to legislators and
friends of A&M who are donors to
A&M, to help in our legislative ef
forts,” he said.
During fiscal 1989, more than
$14,000 was spent from a Board
fund to purchase football tickets, in
cluding 147 tickets for the A&M-
Texas Tech game and 154 tickets for
the A&M-Baylor game, according to
University records.
The regents also spent thousands
of dollars for flower arrangements
and live music at meetings and lun
cheons, in addition to paying for
rooms and room service for regents’
guests who stayed at the MSC.
For example, records show that
during a two-month period in 1988,
the Board spent $1,000 on floral ar
rangements for regents meetings.
Receipts and expense vouchers
show that on several occasions the
Board paid for rooms and room
service charges for regents’ guests.
According to the records, the
Board paid a $140 room service
charge for “guests of Regent Wayne
Showers” who were staying in a
guest room in the MSC in November
1988.
In another instance, money from
the Board funds were used to pay a
$120 charge for a “room for guests
See Regents/Page 8
The Texas A&M Faculty Senate
approved a resolution Monday that
could allow A&M to award honorary
doctorate degrees to national and in
ternational figures.
The resolution states that A&M
“seeks to recognize individuals of ex
ceptional accomplishment and dis
tinction ... in the arts, letters, science,
technology or service to humanity.”
A&M President William Mobley
asked the Senate in February 1989
to participate in an ad hoc commit
tee that would study the issue of
honorary doctorates.
The ad hoc committee, chaired by
Dr. Emanuel Parzen of the statistics
department, met through the spring
and summer before forwarding its
recommendations to the Academic
Affairs Committee of the Senate.
The Academic Affairs Committee
unanimously approved the resolu
tion before the Senate met Monday.
A nine-member Committee on
Honorary Degrees, the Senate, the
President and the Board of Regents
must approve the candidate before
an honorary doctorate is given.
All resolutions and recommenda
tions passed by the Senate must be
approved by Mobley before they are
enacted. Core curriculum and class
changes usually take one academic
year.
During Committee of the Whole,
Dr. Herman Saatkamp, speaker of
the Senate, said recent newspaper
articles in the Houston Post and the
Bryan-College Station Eagle said
Senate records involving former
electrical engineering professor Ab
del K. Ayotm were destroyed. This,
however, is untrue, Saatkamp said.
Ayoub, the late engineering pro
fessor whose family won a lawsuit
last, week that Ayoub filed against
A&M in 1987, had met with the Sen
ate’s engineering caucus because he
said he was being discriminated
against by A&M.
No records were kept of the meet
ing, Saatkamp said, because the cau
cus is not an official part of the Sen
ate and does not require records.
“That meeting had nothing to do
with the Faculty Senate body,” Saat
kamp said. “There were no Faculty
Senate records destroyed and there
never will be.”
Acting Provost says work continues
on Evans Library expansion project
By CHRIS VAUGHN
Of The Battalion Staff
jrowth instead of quanti
tative growth, “Texas A&M Acting Provost E. Dean
Gage said in a speech Monday that preliminary work
continues on a $25 million expansion project for the
Sterling C. Evans Library. . ; :
Gage, who also serves as vice president for aca
demic affairs, told the Faculty Senate that he is in the
process of appointing a Library Expansion Planning
Committee to implement recommendations made by
several committees.
Gage said it is time A&M began improving its al
ready existing services and facilities before expand
ing-
“It is time for us to carefully evaluate all new pro
grams and be very selective,” he said. “We can no
longer be like Bermuda grass and send out new run
ners which require space and resources which we
may not have available.”
The library planning committee will include
members of the provost’s office, Evans Library,
Medical Sciences Library, Faculty Senate, Student
Services and other agencies.
is as important to education as the curriculum,
“Unless the classroom communication is open and
effective, even the best curriculum will not be deliv
ered to the maximum benefit for the students or the
instructor,” he said.
Gage said he has appointed a committee on teach
ing assistant training and evaluation.
The committee will consider a more formalized
program in teaching methods, research methodo
logy, writing and reporting, and communication
skills, he said.
“With the projected shortage of (graduates with)
Ph.D.’s in the future, the rigorous tenure and pro
motion requirements and the need to protect quality
undergraduate teaching, we must provide the very
best training ami education for our graduate stu
dents, ” Gage said.
Gage also said his office is working with the com
mittee on student advising and counseling and in de
veloping international programs.
Gage said the committee will use expert help from
visitors outside A&M to make recommendations on
how the library should be improved.
Much of Gage’s speech outlined some of the aca
demic programs he is pursuing in his acting provost
role.
Gage said one of the projects is a Classroom Com
munications Enhancement Program, which he re-
cendy presented to the Academic Programs Council
for review. Gage said that classroom communication
trol its i
its graduate student level.
He also said the faculty must play a major role in
the University’s plans.
“A university is no stronger than its faculty, and
the faculty will either be the greatest impediment or
the most powerful agent for change and progress,”
he said.
Faculty Senate Speaker Dr. Herman Saatkamp
said he was encouraged by Gage’s speech.
“What was encouraging about his speech is that he
is obviously going forward with academic affairs,”
Saatkamp said. “With the work with the library, tea
ching assistants and student advising, it’s a clear indi
cation that he is moving ahead.”
Also during Committee of the
Whole, Dr. Patricia Alexander from
the College of Education said more
women and minority group mem
bers need to be in the higher posi
tions at A&M.
Committee of the Whole is an in
formal part of the Senate meeting
when issues are raised for future dis
cussion and possible action.
In other business, the Senate:
• Approved an 11-page policy on
integrity in academic research and
scholarship.
• Approved a request from the
College of Agriculture and Life Sci
ences for the formation of the Grad
uate Faculty in Nutrition.
• Approved a change in option in
the Department of Recreation and
Parks. The recommendation would
change the option in park and re
source interpretation to tourism
management.
• Approved five new graduate-
level courses, one each in business
analysis, educational technology,
chemical engineering, mechanical
engineering and computer science.
• Passed a recommendation to
create seven new undergraduate
classes, one in English, four in recre
ation and parks and two in women’s
studies.
• Approved a resolution on legal
counsel representation during Aca
demic Freedom, Responsibility and
Tenure Hearings. The resolution
states that the University administra
tion cannot have a lawyer present
during a hearing if the faculty mem
ber does not have a lawyer present.
• Passed a resolution requesting
faculty input in the search and selec
tion of the chancellor, deputy chan
cellor for academic affairs, presi
dent, provost, vice presidents and
other administrative positions.