STATE
THE BATTALION
... and he wins by a nose
ANDY HANCOCK/1 hh Battalion
The driver of Mirage (near lane) moves neck and neck to pass the driver of Cole Blood during competition at
the Southern Drag Boat Association race Saturday at Lake Bryan. This weekend of racing marked the first in a
four-year deal the SDBA made with the city of Bryan.
Dow Chemical Co. plans to fire 40 people
Review of email accounts revealed company policy violations
HOUSTON (AP) — Dow Chemical
Co. plans to fire about 40 employees in
Freeport for allegedly violating the com
pany’s email policy through circulation
of violent or sexually explicit material,
according to the Houston Chronicle.
Dow, the largest employer in the Bra-
zosport area, says the employees are be
ing fired after a review of 6,000 email ac
counts that turned up material that
violated company policies on Internet
email and sexual harassment.
Other employees face suspensions or
reprimands, Dow spokeswoman Kanina
Blanchard told the newspaper Tuesday.
Dow officials began reviewing em
ployees’ email after one worker com
plained.
A similar review this year at Dow’s
corporate headquarters in Midland,
Mich., led to 50 firings.
“One person was harassed, so they
downloaded everybody’s email,” said
Charlie Singletary, business manager for
International Union of Operating Engi
neers Local 564. “I think Dow wanted to
make a statement. 1 think they wanted to
make this worse than it is. 1 think they
wanted to terminate people.”
Singletary said most of the material
“One person was
harassed, so they
downloaded every
body's email”
— Charlie Singletary
business manager
was off-color jokes, nude pictures and
photos of car wrecks.
Some who received and sent the ma
terial were unaware of Dow’s policies,
while others did not take the policies se
riously, he said.
“It’s a small number of employees
that saved, collected and shared this in
formation,” Blanchard said. “Our pri
mary focus is to ensure a harassment-
free workplace.”
Dow established its email policy in
1994 and sent employees a brochure ex
plaining the company’s sexual harass
ment policies within the past year, Blan
chard said.
The chemical company will also pe
riodically audit its email servers to iden
tify inappropriate types of materials, but
it will not monitor individual employee
email.
Wednesday, August 23,21
Former state employee
charged with felony, thefi
AUSTIN (AP) — A former worker in the
Texas Comptroller’s Office has been charged
with second-degree felony theft for allegedly
stealing money from the state.
A prosecutor in the case said Monday that
another suspect is out of the country and that the
total amount of money stolen may exceed
$200,000. A newspaper is reporting it may be
closer to $500,000.
Emmanuel Ololade, 46, was arrested Aug. 14
and was terminated almost
simultaneously with his ar
rest, said comptroller Car
ole Keeton Rylander. She
would not say how much
money had been stolen but
people charged with sec
ond-degree felonies are ac
cused of taking between
$100,000 and$200,000.
He is being held in the
Harris County Jail under
$1 million bond.
Harris County District
Attorney John B. Holmes
Jr., who is prosecuting the case, said the loss to
the state could be even larger.
“I think when the smoke clears, I think we are
looking at a bigger loss than that," Holmes said.
The Austin American-Statesman reported
Tuesday that Ololade is accused of stealing
about $500,000 and routing it through bogus
bank accounts he and an accomplice set up.
The newspaper, citing a search warrant is
sued last week by a Travis County judge, said
the second person is Olugbenga Adejoke. Ac
cording to the warrant, the two men stole the
money by illegally applying for fuel tax refunf
the newspaper said.
Rylander said she had wanted to tell thepul-
lie about the alleged theft when Ololade wm
rested, but was asked by the Harris CountyDi'-
trict Attorney’s office to delay tit
announcement.
Because she waited, Rylander said, investi
gators have recovered a “substantial amountof
money, number of warrants and property pur
chased as a result of this al
leged activity.”
Rylander would not sa;
how much money or propen;
had been recovered becaus
she said she did not wanttoii-
terfere with the investigation
Neither Rylander nor
Holmes would say why Har
ris County was handling tilt
case since Ololade workedin
the Austin office. The States
man reported that the money
was routed through Houston,
Rylander and Holmes also
would not give the dates that the alleged crimes
took place.
Rylander said she disclosed the case only af
ter a number of calls about the incident.
“The system worked.” Rylander said. “lam
outraged. If even $1 was allegedly stolen, for
the people of Texas I am outraged.”
Ololade was hired in October 1995 andhad
been working as an account examiner in the rev
enue refunds division of the agency processing
fuel tax refunds.
“I am outraged.
If even $1 was al
legedly stolen, for
the people of Texas
I am outraged”
— Carole Keeton Rylander
Texas state comptroller
Freshman
Continued from Page 1
Rahn said that exercise is an
important part of a student’s life.
“Students should try to work
regular exercise into their sched-
ulesC’ Rahn said. “We have an
awesome Rec Center here.”
There are a number of free ac
tivities offered at the Rec Center,
said DeAun Woosley, fitness di
rector for Rec Center.
“We have indoor group cy
cling — a Monday-Wednes-
day-Friday class — which ac
tually burns more calories than
a regular aerobics class,”
Woosley said.
Woosley also said the Rec
Center offers strength classes
Monday through Friday that ex
ercise the upper body as well as
legs and back.
Woosley added that the Rec
Center will offer a new class
called Pilates.
“It is a strength class almost
like yoga but more strength-
based; it's very popular on the
West Coast,” Woosley said.
Pilates, as well as the car
diovascular and strength class
es, is free.
Rahn added the Freshman
1 5 depends on the individual.
Students can avoid weight gain
if they maintain healthy
lifestyles.
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CENTER
1
Gig Em Week
AggielancTs
Week of Welcome
2000
Want to meet people?
Join us at these events:
* Making College Count: a real world look
at how to succeed in and after college
* FREE FOOD: Pizza Taste Off, Ice Cream
Carnival, and the RHA Brouhaha
* GAMES: Alcohol Jeopardy, Health Quest,
The New Roommate Game, and How
Not to Stay in School
* FREE MOVIES: “We’ve Never Been
Licked ,, and “Real Genius ,,
* AND: The Aggie Spirit: Creating
Community Through Music, A Beach
Party Blast at the Rec Center, Varsity
Soccer, All-University Night, dance
parties, picnics and more!
Don’t forget to pick up your Gig 4 Em Week passport at
Gig 4 Em Week Central located on the second floor of
Rudder Tower to be eligible for great prizes*
Get the details at:
http://studentlife.tamu.edu/slo/wow.htm
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