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Vol. 93 No. 68 (8 pages)
1893 — A Century of Service to Texas A&M — 1993
Friday, December 3,1993
FBI sting operation uncovers bribe scandal at NASA
The Associated Press
f Crit(
SPACE CENTER, Houston — About a
half-dozen NASA employees and up to
24 workers from outside the agency were
implicated by a federal sting operation, a
I government official said Thursday.
The FBTs sting, dubbed Operation
(lightning Strike, netted evidence that
NASA employees and contractors took
kickbacks and bribes and sold inside in
formation, according to reports by two
(Houston television stations and NBC
News. The report cited anonymous
sources.
— Johnson Space Center spokesman
Harold S. Stall said officials were told
■ about the investigation by the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration's
inspector general on Wednesday.
“We are cooperating fully," Stall said.
Both the FBI and the U.S. attorney's of
fice in Houston refused to comment on
the sting.
The government official told The Asso
ciated Press that the investigation impli
cated six or seven NASA employees, 12 to
24 non-NASA employees, and a couple of
corporations. The official spoke on condi
tion of anonymity.
Discussions were being held with
some of the targets to resolve the matter
through pleas, the official said.
The investigation was active until
news organizations publicized the probe
this week, the source told the AP.
An FBI agent posing as a wealthy busi
nessman peddled a fake medical device
— one that supposedly would cure kid
ney stones without surgery — to people
within NASA, the broadcasters reported.
The agent told NASA workers he
wanted the space agency's endorsement
and the device flown aboard the shuttle
to increase its worth, KHOU reported.
He then paid a contractor in the Life
Sciences Projects Division and a NASA
technical manager to say the machine was
real even though they knew it was not,
according to the report.
The investigation caught at least two
major aerospace companies offering
bribes and kickbacks for inside informa
tion on the project, KHOU said, adding
that an unidentified astronaut also was
implicated.
The investigation's results were turned
over to the U.S. attorney's office in Hous
ton and the contractor and technical man
ager involved have agreed to cooperate
with prosecutors.
NASA and Johnson Space Center in
particular have come under heavy scruti
ny this year for cost overruns and con
tract abuse. In one instance, the sprawling
Houston complex was blamed for $1 bil
lion in overruns for space station con
tracts it oversees.
“Unfortunately, NASA's dismal record
... may have opened the door for these
kinds of improprieties," said Rep. John
Conyers, D-Mich., chairman of the House
Government Operations Committee.
Conyers' committee in October heard
testimony from NASA Inspector General
Bill Colvin that the agency is plagued
with abuse, including contractor over
charges and contracts that are awarded
non-competitively.
He added that NASA had more than
400 criminal fraud investigations already
under way.
Rep. Ralph Hall, D-Texas, chairman of
the Science, Space and Technology Com
mittee's panel on space, said he would
ask for hearings on the matter when Con
gress reconvenes in January.
But he urged the lustice Department to
make the investigation public so a pall is
not unnecessarily ca st over all of NASA.
7 s
Registration woes
Computer shut-down causes 8,000
freshmen to wait on matriculation
By Jacqueline Mason
nBroi
The Battalion
Freshman attempting to register for spring semester classes at Texas
A&M on Thursday ran into a big surprise.
The Student Information Management System, Texas A&M's com
puterized registration system, had a problem with its hardware drive
on Wednesday night, closing the entire system down through Thurs
day evening.
Larry Malota, SIMS project leader, said up to 8,000 freshman trying
to register for classes may have been affected by the failure.
Thursday was freshman make-up day for preregistration.
"This is the first time we have been down for an extended period of
time," he said.
He expected the system to be functioning again by Thursday
evening.
Texas A&M was considering allowing freshman to register
throughout Thursday night until 6 am. Friday.
Beginning Friday, registration will be open for all students.
j Student Senate to forward
food services bill to Gage
By Jennifer Smith
The Battalion
A bill passed by the Student
Senate Wednesday supporting
the University's decision to con
duct an independent manage
ment review of the Department
of Food Services will be for
warded to A&M Interim Presi
dent E. Dean Gage.
Student Body President Brian
Walker said the University will
have to decide who is qualified
to conduct the review.
"But, I'm sure there will be
some student input," Walker
said.
The review might be conduct
ed by a private firm that will re
view past and present manage
ment policies, purchasing prac
tices and employee relation poli
cies to make recommendations
for improvements.
The call for a review into Food
Services comes after months of
speculation into the reasons be
hind the reassignment of three of
the department's top-ranking ad
ministrators.
Lloyd Smith, former Food Ser
vices director, George Nedbalek,
former Food Services business
manger, and Col. James Moore
former assistant director of Food
Services, have all been reas
signed to other positions within
the University.
But, Dr. Richard Floyd, inter
im director of Food Services, said
Col. James Moore was still the
assistant director of Food Ser
vices and had only changed of
fices and would be assigned new
duties despite Moore's claim he
had been demoted because of his
opposition to Robert Smith's for
mer plans to have a private food
company manage the Sbisa Un
derground Food Court.
Walker said the review will
not look into personnel matters
and will instead center on man
agement matters.
"From what I understand, the
process of looking into personnel
matters is an internal process,"
Walker said.
Walker said the review will
look into the past of Food Ser
vices as well as the future.
"It will be a diagnostic re
view'," Walker said.
Sen. Owen Ross said looking
into the past dealings of Food
Services will help the organiza
tion.
"If they're going to conduct a
review, I don't see how you can
avoid looking into the past,"
Ross said.
Ross said many employees of
Food Services have told him they
are happier with the new man
agement of Food Services.
"But I think looking into the
past would only be a benefit be
cause the same mistakes won't
be made in the future," Ross
said.
Walker said the results of the
review will benefit students at
A&M.
"A management review with
the intended outcome of giving
more quality to the students can
only be a benefit," Walker said.
Radio MASH: Making A Smile Happen
KORA and Texas National Guard
sponsor toy drive for needy children
Pam Ivey (left) and Jason Hightower (right)
broadcast live for KORA near Post Oak
By James Bernsen
The Battalion
L ocal needy children go without many
of the things that other children re
ceive, but this Christmas they won't go
without toys.
Radio MASH (Making A Smile Happen)
is sponsored by KORA and collects toys to
distribute to children in need for the holiday
season during a 100-hour drive that began
Thursday morning.
Benny Springer, vice president and gener
al manager of KORA/KTAM, said the pro
gram is in its 10th year and has been very
successful.
"Our purpose is to get enough toys so
that no child in the area goes without at least
one toy under the tree," he said.
The program is also accepting donations
and will conduct a "silent auction" of several
items, including two baseballs autographed
by Nolan Ryan.
Jason Hightower, promotions director of
KORA, said that last year the program col
lected 35,000 toys and $4,000 in cash.The
Mall Thursday afternoon. The station is
conducting a toy drive for underprivileged
"Our purpose is to get
enough toys so that no child
in the area goes without at
least one toy under the tree."
- Benny Springer, vice president
and general manager
of KORA/KTAM
cash is used to buy toys.
Donations are distributed to families on
lists compiled by local churches and chari
ties.
Various groups also volunteer to help sort
toys in boxes for boys and girls of various
ages.
Elizabeth Sanders, a volunteer from a lo
cal Star Trek fan club, said the experience is
great.
"We're letting kids who otherwise
wouldn't have a Christmas have at least one
Amy Brouming/l'HE Battalion
children in the Bryan/College Station com
munity that will continue through Monday.
toy," she said. "It's just good to see people
giving their money and their time and
such."
Sanders said she volunteered because it
cost nothing and she "gets a lot in return."
"Seeing those people getting those toys
was great," she said. "That was my Christ
mas."
Springer said that when he sees the chil
dren's smiles, he knows it's worth it.
"One lady we helped two years ago was
down on her luck, and her husband couldn't
work," Springer said. "She came back last
year and left $200 worth of toys. She told us
'It's my turn to give.'"
The program is co-sponsored by the
Texas National Guard, HHC 4th Battalion
112 Armored Brigade, which contributes
time and equipment to display, including
tents, heavy machinery and a Humvee jeep.
In addition, a WWII/Korean war style jeep
and ambulance were loaned by the Confed
erate Air Force.
The drive is being held at the corner of
Harvey Road and the East Bypass, near Post
Oak Mall.
560.
Inside
Campus
•Panhellenic Council
wraps-up clothing drive
Page 2
Sports
•Preview of Lady Aggie
Invitational
Page 5
Opinion
•Pro/Con: Should marijuana
be legalized
Page 7
Mideast peace
Top PLO leaders boycott
meeting on negotiations
The Associated Press
TUNIS, Tunisia — Two senior
PLO officials boycotted an emer
gency meeting Wednesday on
stalled negotiations with Israel,
underlining the growing discon
tent with Yasser Arafat among the
movement's highest ranks.
The boycott by Mahmoud Ab
bas and Yasser Abed Rabbo, two
of Arafat's closest aides, helped
deny the PLO chief a quorum for
the meetings of the group's Exec
utive Committee, Palestine Liber
ation Organization sources said.
Arafat had scheduled the meet
ings after coming under fire for
his leadership style and handling
of negotiations with Israel, the
sources said, speaking on condi
tion of anonymity.
Much of the criticism of Arafat
focuses on his visits to nearly a
dozen European nations in the
last month seeking financial assis
tance as talks with Israel were
foundering, and violence in the
occupied territories rose.
Under the Israel-PLO accord,
Israel is supposed to begin with
drawing from the Gaza Strip and
Jericho on Dec. 13.
Morales announces plans
to run for second AG term
The Associated Press
HOUSTON — Dan Morales, touting his efforts to remove federal
courts from control of state departments, said Thursday he will run
for a second four-year term as Texas attorney general.
The 37-year-old Democrat, a native of San Antonio, cited resolu
tion of the 20-year legal battle that kept Texas prisons under federal
control as a top success of his first term.
“Texans do not believe that the courts should be running our
state institutions," he said. “I am proud that we have taken back
control of our prisons from the federal court and returned the keys
to Texas leaders. For the first time in more than two decades, the
Texas prison system is no longer under federal court supervision
and control."
Morales, a former Bexar County prosecutor and three-term state
See Morales/Page 4