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178 (6 pages)
Established in 1893
Tuesday • July 25, 1995
niversity officials deny lawsuit allegations
r i The $1 million lawsuit was
l 80"
1 tiled by a former Physical
P t *lant employee. It claims
fjTon Thompson suffered
tencvrongful termination of em-
res jloyment and intentional in
fliction of emotional distress.
b A. .
y Tara Wilkinson
he Battalion
s.
"re: Texas A&M officials filed a response
et- 'riday denying all allegations in a $1
lillion lawsuit filed this month by a
>.V
I dt:’
former Physical Plant employee.
Don Thompson claimed wrongful ter
mination of employment and intention
al infliction of emotional distress in the
lawsuit filed July 6.
Thompson, former Physical Plant
deputy manager for utilities, said he
was fired after he opposed the Universi
ty’s decision to terminate a contract
with the Tenneco Power Generation Co.
The lawsuit brings charges against
the University, the A&M System, Dr.
Jerry Gaston, interim vice president for
finance and administration, and Eu
gene Ray, interim executive director of
the Physical Plant.
The lawsuit states that Thompson’s
dismissal is a violation of Chapter 554
of the Texas Government Code, known
as the Whistleblower Claim, which pro
tects people who report possibly illegal
activities of their employers.
Included in the defendants’ response
is a request for a special exceptions
hearing based on statements in Thomp
son’s lawsuit that the defendants do not
consider sufficiently documented.
According to the defendants’ re
sponse, the plaintiff failed to identify
when and to what law enforcement au
thorities he reported his concerns.
Thompson states in the lawsuit that
Gaston and Ray pursued obscure and
unreported allegations of sexual harass
ment against Thompson as an excuse to
fire him.
However, the defendants’ reply said
there were “legitimate, non-discrimina-
tory reasons” for Thompson’s dismissal.
“Defendants assert that the plaintiff
would have been terminated regardless
of any alleged reports of violations of
law,” the reply stated.
The lawsuit said that Gaston and
Ray knowingly placed an individual
who was prejudiced against Thompson
on the internal review committee that
was reviewing his employment.
Thompson stated in the lawsuit that
he was made a public spectacle, refer
ring specifically to an incident when he
was “personally escorted off campus, in
full view of his colleagues and peers” af
ter a meeting with Gaston and Ray.
“The plaintiff was subjected to severe
disappointment, indignation, wounded
pride, shame, despair and public humil
iation during and after his termina
tion,” the lawsuit said.
In the reply, defendants deny respon
sibility for emotional distress on the
grounds that they acted “within the
scope of their discretionary duties,” and
with “good faith” toward the plaintiff.
In January 1994, A&M contracted
Tenneco to build a cogeneration plant
that would meet electricity, steam and
hot and cold water needs for West Cam
pus until 2012.
The University decided to cancel the
cogeneration project in June 1994 after
See Lawsuit, Page 6
ing:
I rei'
Creating consensus out of conflict
diversity workshop
o Fers open forum
1 nc:
j The goal of Student
^Affairs' workshop is to
ar Tegin an honest and
ovTpen dialogue on race
ssues.
- Ai{y Gretchen Perrenot
matr HE Battalion
Race and diversity issues at
fwti^exas A&M will be examined
Ifcrriurtng a free two-day workshop
rmk nd showing of the film The Col-
' cs r o/’Eear July 25-26.
dtk All students, faculty members
b ec .nd administration may attend
rnithelfilm and workshops, which
l re sponsored by the Division of
ts t itudent Affairs.
acic Those interested in participat-
aid ag w in the discussions or work
ing hops can call Student Affairs at
i act-45-4728 to reserve a space,
ionsf Felicia James, assistant to the
is infice president of student affairs,
moffaid the discussions will allow all
pleWreas of the University to come
jgether and clear the air.
mior TThe objective for us as a Uni
te fersity is to begin an honest and
rorfcpen dialogue about diversity is-
ues,” James said. “It’s not to
mfoownplay one’s beliefs. Some-
latkimes through conflict you can
hat re&te consensus.”
rkinf Lee Mun Wah, producer and
f.” irector of the film, will host
ofnhe film’s showing at 1 p.m. to-
"s ir ay in 159 Wehner. A discus-
birtHon of related issues will fol-
ectsuw the film.
ini James said the idea for the
forffilm came when Wah’s Chi-
care ese-American mother was
illod by an African-American
tima'ian who was burglarizing his
the bother’s home.
Sonii “He had a lot of anger and
venttereotypes about African-Amer-
supfean males after that,” James
f repaid. “He used the film as a way
f getting the anger out.”
1 spe- Wah brought nine men repre-
’ Fin'enting African-American, Asian,
, bei!aucasian and Hispanic ethnici-
le. ies together for a weekend re
in, ifreat to discuss racism. The film
that hows a synopsis of the retreat
coinFnd the conflicts between and
aid h/ithin the different groups,
tube The film and workshop are a
art of the Division of Student
^^ffairs’ annual staff develop-
-—'rent program, which focuses on
issues affecting students outside
of the classroom.
James said diversity was cho
sen as this year’s subject be
cause multiculturalism has been
a big topic on campus lately.
“It initially started as a way
for members in the division to
assess their attitudes and be
havior, and to see how they re
late to other races on campus,”
she said.
The program was expanded
to include students because it is
specific to student affairs. In ad
dition to the discussion after the
film, an open forum for students
is scheduled at 7 p.m. in the
Kyle Field Press Box.
“From a student’s perspec
tive, we haven’t had a forum
where they could express their
concerns,” James said.
Two workshops scheduled to
morrow are also open to stu
dents, faculty members and ad
ministrators .
“Conflict Assessment and Mul
ticultural Team Building” will be
in 144 Koldus from 9 a.m. to
noon. The focus of this workshop
is to teach participants to form ef
fective multicultural teams with
in their organizations.
“Multicultural Communica
tion” will be in 144 Koldus from
1:30 to 5 p.m. and will teach com
munication skills to deal with
multicultural issues and conflicts.
Co-sponsoring the events are
the Office of the President, Of
fice of the Associate Provost and
Dean of Faculties, Office of the
Associate Provost for Under
graduate Studies and the Race
and Ethnic Studies Institute.
Dr. Sallie Sheppard, associate
provost for undergraduate pro
grams and academic services,
said she will attend the program
because she believes diversity is
sues are important to everybody.
“Programs like this help us
develop insight into different
perspectives,” Sheppard said. “I
think that’s always healthy.”
The Division of Student Affairs
encourages all workshop partici
pants to view The Color of Fear to
provide a basis for discussion.
James said similar workshops
may be planned in the future if
this one proves to be an effective
means of communicating.
“Another question is, ‘Where do
we go from here?”’ she said. “What
kind of dialogue can we spark?”
Students fly in famous Vomit
Stew Milne, The Battalion
Don Shatto, John Aaron, Kim Renzi and Tony Morris, all engineering students, trained to fly on the KC-135A.
q Engineering students
experienced weight
lessness 1 72 times to
gather information for
an experiment they
will present to high
school students.
By Katherine Arnold
The Battalion
Three Texas A&M students
Friday were on board the last
mission of the famous “Vomit
Comet” Fri
day, which
was used to
film the
weightless -
ness scenes in
the movie
Apollo 13.
The Air
Force KC-
135A flies in
parabola-like patterns to create
the effects of weightlessness. In
three days the A&M group ex
perienced simulated weightless
ness 172 times.
The group went on four two-
hour flights during the three
days. The plane flew out of
Ellington Field and over the
Gulf of Mexico.
Participating in the program
were Don Shatto, a doctoral stu
dent in mechanical engineering;
John Aaron, a senior engineer
ing technology major; Tony
Morris, a senior mechanical en
gineering major and Kim Renzi,
a junior mechanical engineering
KC-135A
major, who attended all train
ing sessions but did not fly on
the KC-135A.
Aaron said he always won
dered what it would be like to
experience weightlessness.
“I’ve known about the KC-
135 since I was young but never
thought I’d get to fly on it,”
Aaron said.
The aircraft flies at about
24,000 feet, ascends at a 45-de-
gree angle to 33,000 feet, then
descends at a 45-degree angle
back to 24,000 feet. At the top
of the arc, passengers experi
ence about 25 seconds of simu
lated weightlessness.
The sharp change in the
steep angle of the plane is what
causes the effects of weightless
ness. This can be compared to
rising to the top of a steep roller
coaster hill.
Morris, who said he chose to
study engineering because of his
interest in airplanes, said the ex
perience was hard to explain.
“It’s hard to put into words
what it was like,” he said.
“This huge plane is flying up
then suddenly swoops down. It
was beautiful.”
The students participated in a
program called Students Under
standing Reduced-Gravity Flight
(SURF’) Summer Academy. The
academy was supported by a
NASA-funded grant from the
Texas Space Grant Consortium.
The consortium accepted
proposals in Spring 1995 for
experiments that could be con
ducted in a simulated zero-
gravity environment.
Shatto said the main focus of
the proposal was to design an
experiment that could be pre
sented to middle and high
school students.
“We wanted to do something
relating to heat transfer but
simple enough to present in out
reach programs,” he said. “We
want them to understand the
scientific components and be in
terested in it.”
The A&M students’ proposal
was one of four selected. The
other three groups were from
Rice University. All four groups
flew in the KC-135A at the
same time.
A&M’s experiment tested the
principles of boiling water in sim
ulated zero-gravity conditions.
The students designed and built
a device that consisted of a cham
ber which held water that was
heated by a cylindrical rod.
Dr. G. P. Peterson, mechanical
engineering professor and head
of the mechanical engineering
department who supervised the
project, said the purpose of the
project was to discover where the
bubbles go when water is boiled
in zero-gravity.
“When you boil water, the
bubbles rise to the top,” Peter
son said. “In simple terms,
when you boil water when there
is no gravity or air, where do
the bubbles go?”
The results of the experiment
were as expected, Shatto said,
and the bubbles stayed close to
the heating element and were
larger than normal.
The group will now compile
the data and results collected
from the experiments and make
presentations, mainly to high
school science groups state
wide, such as the Junior Engi
neering Technical Society.
Participants in the program
spent three days at the Johnson
Space Center in Houston and
See Plane, Page 6
card wants less fat in food services Mentors give helping hands
Jon Beard, director of food
|ervices, stands in A&M's
warehouse on West
.ampus.
a A&M's new di
rector of food ser
vices is adding
vegetarian, low fat
and ethnic entrees
to food available
on campus.
By Tara Wilkinson
The Battalion
Ronald L. Beard, who
recently was appointed di
rector of Texas A&M’s De
partment of Food Services,
said his new title will so
lidify and give credibility
to the work he started as
interim director.
Beard, who became direc
tor of 800 food service em
ployees July 13, said he is
excited to settle in and work
on his ideas for improving
the department.
“Not as one person, but
as a team effort, I want to
take A&M food services a
step up,” he said. “We’re go
ing to keep changing as we
grow. We’ve got to move
with the times and not be
blinded by anything we’ve
done in the past.”
Beard said one of his goals
is to increase the diversity
and the nutritional value of
foods available on campus.
“We have a lot of stu
dents looking for more nu
trition and less fat,” he said.
“A lot of changes are going
to be implemented as a re
sult of students’ demands
for more options.”
Beard said low-fat bread,
low-fat desserts, a line of
vegetarian entrees and a
wider variety of ethnic foods
will be available in campus
dining halls Fall 1995.
Five new meal plans will
be available to students, in
cluding one which offers five
lunches a week to students
who live off campus.
Beard said he wants to
develop a unique atmos
phere for each of A&M’s 19
cash food facilities, which do
not accept meal plans, such
as Pie Are Square and the
Underground Food Court.
The Vet Med Snack Bar,
which is scheduled to open
on West Campus in August,
will serve specialty sand
wiches not available else
where on campus.
One of Beard’s goals is to
continue to refine the de
partment’s quality control
system. Currently, a group
of food service managers
See Beard, Page 6
□ Faculty members provide
support to students in choos
ing careers and majors, as
well as help with family and
roommate conflicts.
By Jill Saunders
The Battalion
The Texas A&M Men
tors program turns the
table on the professor-stu
dent relationship.
A&M faculty and staff
members typically lecture
students. But the mentor
program requires them to
be listeners.
Mentors is a group of 400
A&M faculty and staff who
volunteer extra office hours
for A&M students seeking personal and
professional guidance.
For the first time, the A&M Mentors
program is hosting an information table
at the New Student Conferences this
summer to become acquainted with stu
dents and parents.
Dr. Betty Milburn, associate director
of counseling at the Student Counseling
Service (SCS) and coordinator of the
A&M Mentors program, said the pro
gram provides an outlet for students who
need someone to talk to.
Milburn said the program
began in 1979 to help stu
dents adjust and feel com
fortable at A&M.
“It was established to
keep students from getting
lost in the shuffle,” she said,
“and to let them know they
are not just a number.”
A&M Mentors is support
ed by, but not a part of SCS.
The program is funded par
tially through an endowment
and primarily by donations.
“Last year we received
many donations from A&M
Mothers’ Clubs,” Milburn said. “In
fact, we received around S2,000 last
year in donations.”
See Mentors, Rage 6