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aded - 1°1> No. 149 (6 pages)
si ness*
Established in 1893
Wednesday* May 31, 1995
l &M System braces for possible lawsuit
■vas ne:
fairne : i
rking
Ran
s. B renneco contends that A&M
fl a ves $63 million for a canceled
newiiwer plant project.
n won!:
atly. Wes Swift
n you e Battalion
h or t A resolution passed by the Texas House on
you cej^uxiay will allow Tenneco Power Co. to sue
ie But, Texas A&M University System for $37 mil-
n over a canceled power plant project,
s notiThe resolution also requires that the suit
ing ai fi^ed in Brazos County. The Texas Sen-
andstj passed a similar resolution last month,
18 wilt did not limit any damages the Tenneco
aid receive.
t, Ch Tenneco contends that the University
ricakres $63 million for a $120 million co-gener-
i<V ion plant project, which was scrapped by
you fJ Texas A&M Board of Regents in July
>le.” 194! after a conflict arose between the power
1 ser mpany and the University about whether
ma ! e plant was necessary.
progn:
The plant was designed to meet all of the
University’s power needs through 2012, and
it would have been the largest capital con
struction project on the campus.
Dr. Barry Thompson, A&M chancellor,
said that although Tenneco has been given
the go-ahead to sue, he hopes the conflict will
not reach the courtroom.
“We hope to resolve this situation without
going to court,” Thompson said. “But if it
goes to court, we’re prepared.”
Thompson added that the University has
been in constant communication with Tenneco.
Ed McIntosh, a Tenneco spokesperson, de
clined to comment, saying that they were
still developing a course of action in response
to the bill.
“We have just now been made aware of the
situation,” McIntosh said. “We’re certainly
going to look at it.”
McIntosh said Tenneco will release a
statement later this week.
Thompson declined to comment on how
much the University believes Tenneco is
entitled to, but said that much of the truth
has not been exposed.
"If it [the suit]
goes to court, we
are prepared and
will proceed with
vigor."
— Dr. Barry Thompson
AdrM chancellor
“Our stance has been that not all of the
facts have been revealed,” he said. “There is
a lot of information that has not been
brought to light.”
In January 1994, state Rep. Steve Ogden,
R-Bryan, who voted against the bill, said that
giving Tenneco the right to sue A&M would
State legislature restores
A&M utilities funding
See Lawsuit, Page 6
□ Funds will also be
redirected to the Col
lege of Medicine.
By Javier Hinojosa
The Battalion
An appropriations bill
passed by the Texas Legisla
ture will redirect state funds,
which will increase funds for
the Physical Plant Department
and the College of Medicine.
The Physical Plant Depart
ment will receive $8 million for
utilities, and the College of
Medicine will receive $2 mil
lion for programs.
Funding for Texas A&M util
ities was proposed to be cut by
nine percent at the beginning of
this year’s legislative session.
However, Rep. Steve Ogden,
R-Bryan, said a House and
Senate conference committee
worked on several funding is
sues that restored the total
funding for Texas A&M.
Thomas Taylor, assistant
vice president for budgeting
and administrative planning,
said the how the funds will be
redirected is undecided.
“The money comes through
a formula structure,” he said.
“In the end we should come
out even.”
Dr. Ray Bowen, Texas A&M
president, said it is important
for the students to know where
See FUNDS, Page 6
vCampaign continues
:o raise money for
;cholarships, faculty
position support
A&M officials hope the Capturing the Spirit
If campaign reaches its goal of raising $500 mil
lion by the end of August 1996.
h as
’ge
Javier Hinojosa
ie-Battalion
Texas A&M officials an-
unced that fund-raising efforts
The University’s Capturing
e Spirit campaign is $48 mil-
n jjfrom completing its goal.
Jim Palincsar, the Develop-
ental Foundation capital cam-
ign director, said the cam-
ign was launched in Septem-
;r 1990 with the goal of raising
>00 million by August 31, 1996.
tMip At the time, it was the largest
'|C I Jnd-raising effort undertaken by
ly I institution. The Universities
Illinois and Michigan have
n nee announced billion dollar
\—-\Jra|paigns, he said.
“The Capturing the Spirit
unpaign for Texas A&M is a
mcerted university-
ide fund-raising
'fort to ensure
mtinued ex-
^llence in
lejUniver-
L -ty's per-
y >rmance
it’s
tultiple
lis-
ions,”
alinesar
aid.
He said
ae majority
t jthe funds
'ill be used for ’
ie support of fac-
Ity positions, student
npncial aid and program
lipport.
jjpalincsar said $75 million is
ftrgeted for scholarships, some
f which have already been es-
blished and made available.
These scholarships include 70
resident’s Endowed scholar-
ips, 43 Opportunity Awards
nd 140 Sul Ross scholarships.
About $65 million of the $75
million for scholarships is be
ing used for departmental
scholarships, graduate fellow
ships and the University Hon
ors Program, he said.
Palincsar said the money is re
ceived in the forms of trust agree
ments, cash gifts, will provisions,
equipment and real estate.
“What’s wonderful is that $4
million has been donated from
the people who work here as
staff and faculty,” he said.
Dr. Ray Bowen, Texas A&M
president, said the campaign is
having great success.
“We’ve been trying to work
real hard to help the Develop
mental Foundation reach their
target,” he said. “These people
are just wonderful. They and
the former students have
worked so hard.”
Mark Klemm,
assistant direc
tor of develop
ment for the
College of
Engineer
ing, said
the schol
arships
and gifts
being re-
c e i v e d
through
the Devel
opmental
Foundation
have been help
ing a great deal.
“There are always
more students in need
than there are scholarships
available,” he said.
Klemm said the campaign
has also donated necessary
equipment and other non-cash
gifts needed to continue turning
out quality engineers.
“Without them, we flat out,
carmot teach the things that are
on the cutting edge,” Klemm said.
Working To Make A Difference
Recycling center employees focus on abilities
□ Junction Five-O-Five
gives disabled workers
a chance to become
functioning members
of society.
By Libe Goad
The Battalion
A woman diagnosed with multi
ple sclerosis watches late-aftemoon
television in her bathrobe. Her sup
portive friends have slowly faded
from her life and left her alone to
deal with a disabling disease and
unemployment.
But the picture is different today.
Today, the woman arrives at
work an hour early, lunch bag in
hand, and she laughs and jokes
with fellow workers until her day
at Junction Five-O-Five begins.
Junction Five-O-Five fronts as a
recycling center on College Main,
but behind the glass bins and piles
of compressed plastic, it is an em
ployment center that gives people
with disabilities a chance to become
a functioning member of society.
Marsy Clarke, co-founder and
board member of the company, said
the center has provided therapy for
the woman with multiple sclerosis.
“I asked her why she was here
so early, and she said, ‘You don’t know
what it means to me to have someone to
talk to,”’ Clarke said. “I think she got better
just because of that.”
Five-O-Five Employment Coordinator
John Tammela said the center aims to get
disabled people off their couches and into the
working world. At work, they can focus on
their abilities instead of their disabilities.
“We’re more than a recycling center,”
Tammela said. “Junction is a crossroads in
people’s lives.”
Logan Martin, operations manager, said
Tammela and the Five-O-Five staff tries to
set people on the road toward becoming
functioning members of society.
The staff assesses the talents of each
person that comes to the employment ser
vice and places them in jobs provided
through Five-O-Five and other local busi
nesses, including Texas A&M University.
“We’re not looking at the disabilities at
all,” Martin said. “We’re looking for
the abilities.”
After an initial interview, applicants
have a three-day trial period when they
perform services provided by Five-O-Five.
In addition to working at the recycling cen
ter, employees of Five-O-Five may also
Eddy Wylie, The Battalion
Gary Iverson, a worker at Junction Five-O-Five, sorts plastic containers to prepare them for recycling.
work on a parks clean-up crew or a Five-O-
Five assembly plant, the newest addition to
the service.
Tammela said after a person successful
ly completes the trial period, a job coach
takes over and helps them find a job that
can meet and stretch their abilities.
“A person may have a desire to be a
dishwasher,” Tammela said. “So the job
coach tries to find them a position as a
dishwasher. ”
Marsy Clarke and Trish Barksdale found
ed the employment service in 1979 and
called it Geranium Junction. Back then, the
center helped rehabilitate disabled people by
giving them jobs planting flowers.
“It started to give people permanent-
type jobs to people that couldn’t get a job,”
Clarke said.
The service struggled in their horticul
tural endeavors and evolved into a full-time
employment service that also focuses on re
cycling and manufacturing.
Tammela said the employment agency
has placed 400 people in jobs, and businesses
call Five-O-Five for job placement assistance.
For instance, Tammela said McDonald’s
wanted to help a disabled person strength
en her abilities, and the manager called
Five-O-Five for help.
“They told her that she could make
breakfast biscuits,” Tammela said. “So I
went in as job coach and worked with her
making breakfast biscuits.”
It only took two weeks before she sur
passed McDonald’s time requirements for
making biscuits, Tammela said.
“I walked in there at the end of her sec
ond month,” he said, “and she was on the
register.”
This year, the employment agency
helped 68 get jobs and become functioning
community members.
“They are so excited about being free to
make their own decisions,” Clarke said.
Joseph Burrow, senior mechanical en
gineer major, said students can help Five-
O-Five help others. As a recycling center,
the non-profit company serves as a stomp
ing ground for environmentally conscious
students.
“The nice thing about Junction Five-O-
Five is they recycle plastic and the city
doesn’t,” Burrow said.
The center accepts two types of plastics,
newspapers, aluminum cans and glass.
“We’re recycling people,” Martin said,
“as well as everything else.”
&M to research possibility of allowing ASL to satisfy foreign language requirement
A resolution passed by the Faculty
enate asks the University to recog-
ize American Sign Language as a
breign language in all colleges.
*y Wes Swift
pHi Battalion
e Faculty Senate passed a resolution asking
I he University to investigate the possibility of
idding American Sign Language, ASL, classes
■hat would fulfill the foreign language require-
nent for bachelor of arts degrees.
e resolution also requests that the University
w students with a proficiency in ASL to receive
Hredit by examination. This would be similar to
Receiving credit by examination for experience in
Spanish, German or Latin.
Hit also states that the classes would be similar to
os/tf 'hose taught at other universities. The University of
^■^Texas at Austin, the University of California and
darvard University currently teach classes in ASL
and accept them as foreign language credits.
Katherine A. Dettwyler, associate professor of
anthropology and the senator who spearheaded
the request, said she was approached by two stu
dents, one hearing impaired and the other an in
terpreter, who wanted their knowledge of ASL to
fulfill their language requirements. One of the
students had been denied credit; the other had
been approved.
Dettwyler said that after she had learned more
about the language, she realized that there may be
some issues involving the American Disabilities
Act of 1991. The American Disabilities Act re
quires all universities to make “reasonable accom
modations” for handicapped students, including
those with hearing impairments.
Dettwyler said that an important part of the
resolution was the demand for a University-wide
policy that would recognize ASL as a foreign lan
guage in all colleges at A&M.
“Right now, each student has to apply to the
deans of each college,” Dettwyler said.
Dettwyler added that the Texas Education
Code has recognized American Sign Language
since 1971.
But Dr. Steven Oberhelman, head of the depart
ment of modern and classical languages and faculty
senator, said that he supports the bill. He said that
as a member of the academic affairs committee that
proposed the resolution, he became aware of the lan
guage’s distinct cultural component.
However, he said, the Modern Language Associa
tion does not believe that ASL is a foreign language.
“The association believes that it does not have
the cultural component that other modern lan
guages have,” Oberhelman said.
The academic affairs committee’s report on ASL
confirms that those who use ASL do have a differ
ent culture than those with regular hearing. The
report states that the culture can be studied, ana
lyzed and taught, and it cited several books and
articles on the subject.
Oberhelman said that while the resolution has
been passed, funding it may be a problem. He ex
plained that although the University is tightening
its belt, it was important that the Senate put out
the recommendation to the administration.
“We appreciate that the University is strapped
for money right now,” Oberhelman said. “If they
don’t have the money for a year or two, so be it.”
Dettwyler explained that ASL differs dramati
cally from Signed American English, which most
people often associate with sign language. She
said that ASL uses not only hand signals, but
also posture, body positioning and facial expres
sions to communicate.
“If you watched someone use ASL, the hands only
tell half of the information,” Dettwyler said. “It’s very
difficult. The grammar is not the same; the syntax is
not the same, like Signed American English.”
Student organizations have also requested sign
language classes. The Student Senate passed a bill
The resolution also requests that the
University allow students with a
proficiency in ASL to receive credit
by examination.
in Spring 1994 asking that ASL classes be taught
on campus. If their request is granted, then the
Texas Education Code requires the University to
accept it as a foreign language credit.