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LADY AGGIE BASKETBALL
ady Aggies look to turn road
season around.
Sports, Page 7
THE
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION NIGHT LIFE
A guide to weekend hot spots in the area.
Aggielife, Page 3
NOVEMBER ELECTIONS
System school students threaten ourtra-/
ditions by adopting them as their own. f*
Opinion, Page 9 \
101, No. 77 (10 pages)
“Serving Texas AdrM since 1893
Friday • January 20, 1995
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&M restructures departments in response to state audit
□ The department of
finance and administration
experiences a shift in
leadership.
By Wes Swift
I The Battalion
In an attempt to improve efficiency, A&M admin-
jistrators are restructuring several departments of
I the division of finance and administration.
Dr. Jerry Gaston, interim vice president for fi-
| nance and administration, said the changes will
upgrade existing administrative tools.
The changes are being made and implemented
to improve our management function, especially
concerning contract negotiations,” Gaston said.
Dr. Donald Powell, director of business services,
said some of the changes were in response to the
findings of a recent state audit that said the A&M
management had ignored policies and procedures.
“The state auditors took a look and saw things
they didn’t like,” Powell said. “We also have a
new president, and
he wanted to make
the changes he felt
were right.”
The changes in
clude the move
ment of two units,
Texas A&M Uni
versity Research
Park and aviation
services, to the di
vision of finance
and administra
tion. In addition, a
new vice president
for finance and administration will be appointed
by a search committee.
“I would say a new vice president would be in
place in approximately four to six months,” Gas
ton said.
The Department of Business Services, which
oversaw the financing of the residence halls, will
be eliminated.
.
Financing
for the resi
dence halls, as
well as man
agement of
off-campus
residence
housing, will
be shifted to
the Depart
ment of Stu-
— dent Affairs,
where all oth
er functions of
residence halls are handled.
All functions of the University Center and special
events center, will be moved to the Department of
"The changes are being made and implement
ed to improve our management function, es
pecially concerning contract negotiations."
— Dr. Jerry Gaston,
Interim Vice President for Finance and Administration
Student Affairs as well.
Powell said the shuffling of residence hall du
ties was necessary.
“I just don’t see how you can separate pieces of
the same operation,” Powell said. “I believe hous
ing is housing.”
Since his department will be eliminated, Powell
will assume a new post as special assistant to the
vice president for finance and administration. He
said his new duties will focus on long-range plans
for the University’s printing and copying needs.
“To be more cost effective, we need to look at
the University community’s need for printed mate
rials and see if we’re missing other opportunities
to make our operation more efficient,” Powell said.
In early January, state auditors admonished
A&M management for its contract negotiation
practices.
In response to this criticism, a new department
See Restructure, page 1 0
ie
Eddy Wylie/THE Battalion
S-T-R-E-T-C-H
Former A&M employees wait for
university to address grievances
Lisa Chumbley, a freshman general studies major, performs a routine stretch before her daily racewalk.
Q Reassigned food
service employees
may sue the
University if officials
do not meet with
them soon.
By Lisa Messer
The Battalion
Three former top A&M food
services employees who say
they were reassigned in 1993
with no explanation are wait
ing to meet with an A&M ad
ministrator to understand the
basis for their reassignments.
The employees, Lloyd Smith,
former food services director. Col.
Jim Moore, former assistant di
rector and George Nedbalek, for
mer business manager, filed
grievances with the University in
January 1994 to be reinstated to
their positions.
They have said their former
boss, Robert Smith, former vice
president for finance and admin
istration, gave them no reason for
their reassignments, which they
believed were due to their opposi
tion to Smith’s original plan to
privatize food services.
Dr. J. Malon Southerland, vice
president for student affairs, de
nied the employees’ grievances in
December and assigned Dr. Jerry
Gaston, interim vice president for
finance and administration, to
meet with the men about the ba
sis for their reassignments.
The former employees’ attor
ney, Wayne Rife, said the Univer
sity has had no contact with him
since that ruling was made.
“They have taken no action,”
Rife said. “They have made no
move to contact either the men
or my office. I would have as
sumed we would have heard
something by now.”
Moore said he was looking for
ward to the meeting with Gaston
but expected the meeting to have
occurred by now.
“When Dr. Southerland re
viewed our grievances,” Moore
said, “he basically said the Uni
versity had a right to change our
jobs but didn’t do it in a proper
manner. We’re still waiting for
an explanation.”
Gaston said the meeting will
occur but not for some time.
“Dr. Southerland reached his
conclusions, published that infor
mation and assigned me to meet
with them,” Gaston said. “But
prior to that time I had nothing to
do with the case.
“I’ve got to study all the files
and do research. I’m going to
meet with them, but I can’t do it
until I have all the facts. The
process is on target, but it will be
some days in the future until I
even have a 30-minute slot open.”
Moore said he will wait for the
University to explain his reas
signment to him.
“I want to let the system work
and see what happens,” Moore
said. “I’m not going to file a law
suit against them. It’s my Uni
versity, too. I want to give them a
chance and see what good it does.
I’m still hoping.”
Rife said the former employees
can only wait so long.
“They’re still waiting at this
point,” Rife said, ‘Tout they’re con
sidering all of their options, and a
suit, in all likelihood, will occur.”
MSC jukebox expands music
selections at students’ request
□ The Hullabaloo i
jukebox now includes
Tejano, jazz, and R&B
music.
By Kasie Byers
The Battalion
After a complaint from several minority
student organizations, a more diverse se
lection of music has been added to the
jukebox in Hullabaloo in the Memorial
Student Center this semester.
In November, several leaders from
these organizations met with Dr. J.
Malon Southerland, vice president of
Student Affairs, to bring forth ideas on
how the A&M campus could be more in
clusive of all cultural groups represent
ed at the University.
David Washington, president of Alpha
Phi Alpha, said the selection the jukebox
Had to offer was very limited.
“The jukebox mainly contained country
and rock with maybe one or two R&B se
lections,” Washington said. “There-was a
definite need for a broader representation
of the African-American and Hispanic stu
dents, considering they make up a large
portion of the A&M population.”
The suggestion from these student lead
ers was to add Tejano, jazz and R&B selec
tions to the jukebox to begin the push for a
more culturally diverse environment.
Juanita Walker, assistant manager of
Special Event Facilities, said updated
“hot hits” of pop, R&B and country have
been added as well as several selections
of Tejano music.
“We have put CDs in the jukebox
called ‘hot hits,’ songs that are most
popular at the present,” Walker said.
“They have replaced unpopular songs
that were only played maybe once or
twice a month.”
Southerland said this move was impor
tant in. recognizing the diversity at A&M.
“This is simply a matter of having
choices available for all students,”
Southerland said. “That is certainly a
matter of great importance to many at
the University.”
Although the addition is a step toward a
higher cultural awareness, Washington
said he sees it as only the beginning.
“The jukebox is a good start,” Washing
ton said. “But for all of us as Aggies to tru
ly recognize the diversity of this campus,
we must also realize that with new cul
tures come new customs and ultimately
new traditions.”
Internet information faces scrutiny
□ A&M study group
is investigating
monitoring Internet
newsgroups.
By Gretchen Perrenot
The Battalion
A study group has been assigned
to investigate the electronic news-
groups available through A&M’s
Internet in response to concerns
about newsgroups containing nude
pictures, A&M officials said.
Interim Provost Dr. Charles Lee,
who appointed the study group,
said A&M is examining similar ex
periences that have happened on
other campuses and are trying to
prevent further Internet problems.
“We are looking into the issues
and technology that are part of
the new communication revolu
tion,” Lee said.
Dr. John Dinkel, associate
provost for computing and a mem
ber of the study group, said the study
group was appointed to cover many
complex aspects of the issue, includ
ing free speech and harassment.
“This is not a group put together to
censor or evaluate,” Dinkel said, “but
it is concerned with the overall envi
ronment of A&M and the information
that is available.”
The study groups represents a
broad range of faculty and adminis
trators from across the University,
including some from the political sci
ence, engineering and agriculture de
partments, Dinkel said.
The groups’ research includes
learning if any technologies are avail
able that can be used to edit news-
groups, Lee said.
Lee said the group has several
concerns about monitoring the news-
groups, including violating First
Amendment and free speech rights.
Assistant General Counsel Melissa
Ricard, who has been assigned to give
the study group legal advice, is un
certain whether or not banning news-
groups is censorship.
“Nobody knows for sure,” Ricard
said. “There is no a case out there
to follow.”
Ricard said the office must
make analogies like, “Is the In
ternet similar to a telephone or
a newspaper?”
The study group originally
planned to have results by Jan.
31, but has extended the study
due to the complications other in
stitutions have experienced with
banning newsgroups.
Carnegie Mellon University
decided to eliminate three sex-
related bulletin boards from its
computer system in November
and was accused of censorship
by the student body, according
to a November article in The
Chronicle of Higher Education.
The article stated that free
speech advocates around the
country, who consider Carnegie Mel
lon University to be a leader in cam
pus computing, said they were wor
ried that other institutions would fol
low Carnegie Mellon University’s
lead and ban similar materials on
their systems.