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Police Beat
Biscuit dough bludgeoning at Texas A&M's Research Park.
Opinion
Sports
Page 10
EDITORIAL: It is not feasible to save every single bird, plant and
weed in existence. In an economically based society, this absolute
conservation cannot happen. p ^
Senior Jennifer Bronner provides the
Lady Aggie volleyball team with
leadership and strength.
Page 7
DNESDAY
September 7, 1994
Vol. 101, No. 8(12 pages)
“Serving Texas A&M since 1893 ”
A&M issues denial to Wakefield lawsuit
By Katherine Arnold
The Battalion
Texas A&M University attorneys
contend that Dr. Dawn Lee Wakefield, a
former A&M employee, did not follow
the proper administrative procedures
when she filed a lawsuit against the
University and the A&M Development
Foundation in July.
Wakefield, who was employed by the
Development Foundation as director of
development for the College of Science
from April 1990 to July 1993, hied a law
suit July 29 claiming wrongful termina
tion, libel, slander and gender bias.
Wakefield was responsible for fund
raising for the College of Science and
was fired July 31, 1993.
The University and the Development
Foundation issued a general denial to
Wakefield's lawsuit Friday.
The University’s attorneys said that
because Wakefield was not employed by
the University and did not follow the
proper administrative processes when
she filed the lawsuit, the University will
take no further action at this point.
University claims former employee improperly filed
awsuit claiming wrongful termination, gender bias
Genevieve Stubbs, associate general
counsel for the A&M System, said that
according to the administrative process
for filing a discrimination case against
the University, an individual must file
with the University.
If discrimination is determined not to
be involved, a right to sue letter will be
issued, and then an individual can sue a
state agency.
Stubbs said Wakefield was not em
ployed by the University and therefore
has no claim. She also said the lawsuit
was unclear as to who Wakefield was
suing and for what.
“From a general standpoint, you
can’t just march to the courthouse,” she
said. “There is an administrative
process that should be followed.
“The burden is on the plaintiff to
move the case along,” Stubbs said.
“Whatever happens next will be deter
mined by Ms. Wakefield.”
Lawyers for the Development Foun
dation would not comment on the
charges; however, the response issued
by the Foundation claimed that Wake
field failed to follow proper channels
and exercise reasonable diligence with
her lawsuit.
Wakefield’s lawsuit claims she was not
given the same opportunities for educa
tion and advancement that her male
counterparts were given. Wakefield said
she was fired on false pretenses and has
been slandered by the University.
“I have been characterized as a dis
gruntled former employee with a
vendetta,” Wakefield said. “I have put
everything on the line to save my uni
versity from national disgrace brought
about by the actions of administrators
who put the faculty and students last
among their considerations.”
Wakefield was employed by the De
velopment Foundation when Dr. John
Bockris, a distinguished professor of
chemistry, was researching methods to
turn mercury into gold.
The research was funded by William
Telander, a California businessman
who arranged for $200,000 to be given
to the Development Foundation to fund
Bockris’ research. Since then, Telander
has been indicted on charges of swin
dling investors out of $11 million.
Wakefield claims that Bockris, the De
velopment Foundation and the Universi
ty were involved in criminal activities.
The University appointed a commit
tee of inquiry to investigate the accusa
tions of misconduct against Bockris last
year, but the committee cleared him of
all charges.
A separate committee was created to
revise the University’s policies regarding
the difference between gifts and grants.
Currently, an implementation task
force is working on turning previous
findings in those inquiries into Univer
sity policy. The task force was sched
uled to have completed its mission by
the end of August. The group has asked
for an extension until Dec. 1.
Dr. Robert Kennedy, vice president
for research and associate provost for
graduate studies, is the chair for the
task force and said the date was pushed
back simply because the task force had
not fulfilled all of its goals.
“The task force is responsible for
defining the language concerning gifts
and grants, incorporating that into a
training program, and getting that in
formation into the policies manual,”
Kennedy said. “We are hoping to tie up
the loose ends.”
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Memorial service honors two slain students
Carrie Thompson/THE Battalion
Kevin Carreathers dedicates two benches in memory of Crystal
Miller and Reginald Broadus Tuesday evening at the MSC.
By Constance Parten
The Battalion
What began as an emotional evening for
many of those in attendance ended in joy
and hope as hundreds gathered in Rudder
Auditorium Tuesday night to remember
Reginald Glenn Broadus and Crystal
Yvette Miller.
The memorial Service for two A&M stu
dents murdered in May began with a cere
mony in front of Rudder Fountain where
two benches were dedicated in the stu
dents’ names.
Kevin Carreathers, director of Multicul
tural Services at Texas A&M, opened the cer
emony by comparing Broadus and Miller to
the two benches dedicated in their memory.
“We are here tonight to dedicate what
some people might call two simple objects,
two benches,” Carreathers said. “But these
are two objects that are solid, that are stur
dy, that are simple, that are anchored.
Just like Reginald and Crystal were.”
Plaques were presented during the cere
mony to the families of Broadus and Miller.
Alpha Kappa Alpha President Tracy Mar
tin accepted the plaque for Miller’s family.
Alpha Phi Alpha member Kenneth Robin
son accepted the plaque for Broadus’ fami
ly. Neither family was present at the dedi
cation ceremony.
Memorial services began with a musical
selection by the Voices of Praise Gospel
Choir. A slide show of Broadus and Miller
with many of their friends and fraternity
and sorority brothers and sisters followed.
Brooke Leslie, Texas A&M student body
president and acquaintance of both Broadus
and Miller, addressed the audience, chal
lenging everyone in attendance to commit
themselves to do what they can to be like
Broadus and Miller, by dedicating every mo
ment of their lives to making a difference.
“I realized I had to take advantage of
every single moment of every single day, of
every single month, of every single year of the
rest of my life,” Leslie said of when she found
■NHMMMi
|
"The manner in which they(Miller and Broadus) died
needs to be a flag to the students on this
campus. We need to solve the human problems in
our society that lead to such things as this tragedy."
-Dr. William Mobley, former A&M System chancellor
out about Broadus’ and Miller’s deaths.
The service turned from openly mourn
ful to quietly joyful as Kenneth Robinson
asked the crowd to stop crying.
“You are feeling the sorrow of your own
loss,” Ftobinson said. “Reginald and Crystal
are in a better place. Reginald would have
said ‘Brother, get up and do something! Why
are you just sitting here crying?”’
Dr. Alvin Larke, Jr., associate professor
of agricultural education, told the crowd
not to become bitter as a result of the stu
dents’ murders, but to become better.
“This is just another test,” Larke said.
“Whether you pass the test or fail is up to
you.”
Dr. William Mobley, former A&M System
chancellor, attended the services for Broadus
and Miller. Mobley knew the two students
and referred to them as exceptional people.
“The manner in which they died needs to
be a flag to the students on this campus,”
Mobley said. “We need to solve the human
problems in our society that lead to such
things as this tragedy.”
Broadus and Miller were murdered on
May 23 in De Soto. The two friends had
been to a party of mostly A&M students on
the evening before their bodies were found
on a grassy roadside by a worker from a
nearby warehouse.
Two suspects, 20-year-old Broderick
Lavon Hardy and his 15- year-old half
brother Jimmy Ray Hardy, pleaded not
guilty to murder charges and still await tri
al. Jimmy Hardy will be tried as an adult.
Broadus was a senior psychology major
and 1993 president of Alpha Phi Alpha fra
ternity. He was a founding member of the
Prime Time Posse, and was a peer adviser in
1994 for the Minority Enrichment and Devel
opment through Academic and Leadership
Skills (MEDALS). He was also assistant di
rector of housing for MEDALS in 1993.
Broadus was the recipient of awards
such as the Outstanding African-American
Male Award, the Presidential Distin
guished Service Award and the Buck
Weirus Spirit Award.
Miller was a senior accounting major and
treasurer of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.
She was also a member of TAMU Roadrun-
ners Club, the orientation student assistant
chair of Excellence uniting Culture, Educa
tion and Leadership (ExCEL), and a member
of Beta Alpha Psi-Business Honor Society.
Miller was the recipient of the President’s
Achievement Award Scholarship, Black
Graduate Student Association Highest Grade
Point Ratio Awards both her sophomore and
junior years and was involved with the Eisen
hower Leadership Program and Five-Year
Professional Accounting FVogram.
The two students are being awarded
posthumous degrees. Broadus’ degree was
awarded in August, and Miller’s degree will
be awarded in May 1995.
Leslie said it is important for everyone
to remember the work Broadus and Miller
did and the contributions they made.
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SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An ex-convict and a
teen-ager who allegedly made their way across
the country by killing people and stealing their
cars were captured by police Tuesday as they
slept under a bridge.
Acting on a tip from a Santa Fe man who had
given the suspects a ride Monday night, eight
state police officers wielding 20-shot assault rifles
arrested the pair in a concrete culvert in the high
desert country just outside Santa Fe.
Eric A. Elliot, 16, and Lewis E. Gilbert, 22,
both of Newcomerstown, Ohio, are suspected of
killing four people in Ohio, Missouri and Okla
homa and using each victim’s car to get to their
next crime.
“The nightmare is over,” said Bob Hawk,
spokesman for the FBI office in Cleveland.
The men were scheduled to appear in court
Tuesday on federal charges of unlawful flight
from prosecution. Both also face state charges of
burglary and kidnapping in Ohio.
The men were found about 9:30 a.m. sleeping on
blankets near a dry gully. Two high-powered rifles,
a shotgun and a handgun were found nearby. One
of the weapons was between the two men.
State police Lt. Garry Walsmith said police
quietly approached the bridge and shouted for
the pair to surrender and put their hands up.
The two sat up immediately but didn’t raise
their hands before officers rushed in with guns
drawn. The pair said nothing during the arrest,
Walsmith said.
“Because of the element of surprise ... nothing
bad happened,” said State Police Chief John
Denko. “Luckily they were sleeping.”
Authorities believe Gilbert and Elliot met on
Aug. 15, the day Gilbert was released from prison
after serving time for stealing a boat. Elliot is
awaiting trial on charges of breaking into a bowl
ing alley July 26.
The men are suspected of breaking into the
farmhouse of Ruth Lucille Loader in Port Wash
ington, Ohio, about 80 miles south of Cleveland.
The 79-year-old woman was missing Tuesday,
and family members feared she was dead.
Authorities in Ohio used dogs, helicopters and
boats to look for the woman, who had undergone
cancer surgery in April and weighed only about
82 pounds.
Loader’s car was found Thursday night, 650
miles from Port Washington at Fulton, Mo., near
the home of a slain couple. William Brewer, 86,
and his wife, Flossie, 74, each had been shot
three times in the head.
The Brewers’ celt was found Sunday near the
body of Roxie Ruddel, 37, a security guard at a
marina near Oklahoma City. The FBI believes
the pair drove off in Ms. Ruddel’s silver-gray
pickup truck. A similar pickup was found three
miles away from the sleeping men.
The capture came a half hour after state police
received two calls about people fitting the de
scriptions of the man and teen-ager.
One came from a man who said he had given
them a ride. Police said the man took the pair
into Santa Fe about 7 p.m. Monday, then gave
them a ride back to the culvert near Interstate’
25. Police would not identify the man.
Regents to consider proposal seeking
approval for A&M retreat center
Proposed project to
provide place for
programs, reunions
By Melissa Jacobs
The Battalion
At its December meeting,
The Texas A&M Board of Re
gents will hear a proposal seek
ing the approval of construction
of the Student Leadership Re
treat Center.
The proposed center will be
used for conferences, retreats,
leadership training programs,
orientation programs, reunions
and barbecues.
Dr. Carolyn Adair, director of
student activities, said the cen
ter has been in a planning stage
for several years.
“We’ve been dreaming about
this for several years and finally
got the proposal,” Adair said.
The center will be located on
a 150-acre area beyond the
McKenzie Terminal on White
Creek Road, off of Highway 60.
Adair said the location is
very accessible.
“We decided it would be bet
ter to have it on University
land,” she said. “Since it’s close
to campus, we are close to a fire
department, EMTs and Univer
sity police.
“If we have visitors who need
something, they can dash to
campus and get it.”
Adair said the center will fa
cilitate weekend retreats, train
ing camps, and large gatherings
by both student and non-student
organizations at low or no cost.
According to the proposal, the
center will include two 100-per-
son sleeping dorms, a 500-per-
son general assembly hall with a
stage, five 100-person meeting
rooms, a catering kitchen and
restroom facilities.
The center would also include
two Quonset hut-type buildings
with concrete floors, sound and
light booths, serving area and
restrooms, two outdoor covered
pavilions, basketball courts with
restrooms, a serving room, a
guard house with an administra
tive office, an on-site manager
apartment and a ground equip
ment storage building.
Jan Paterson, associate direc
tor of student activities, said she
wants to have an on-site manag
er at the center who would live
in an apartment and keep an eye
on things.
Phase One of the retreat pro
ject also includes several park
ing areas to accommodate a total
of 500 cars, two campfire areas
with stone pits, and benches for
100 people each.
“We want to have multiple
groups using the facilities si
multaneously,” Paterson said.
“We want it to be as flexible as
possible.”
Adair said funding for the the
center is now a priority since the
See Retreat/Page 12
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