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Controversy costs grant for physics at Prairie View
By RON NISSIMOV
Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle
PRAIRIE VIEW -- The actions of Prairie View A&M University President Charles Hines, in the wake of his unsubstantiated allegations against a physics professor, have canceled a prestigious grant the university has received for 15 years, a document revealed Wednesday.
"The grant had been eliminated and there is no possibility of the previous grant being renewed," Hines wrote in a memorandum he addressed to "The Record" on Wednesday.
Hines wrote that Prairie View A&M physics professor Dennis Judd will have to apply to the U.S. Department of Energy for a new grant to allow his research to continue. He said in the memo that the highly competitive peer review process will take four to six months to complete and there is no guarantee that the new proposal "would pass muster."
The DOE funding, which runs out in March, has allowed Judd and his team of faculty and students to collaborate on a matter-antimatter research project at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in Menlo Park, Calif. Hines wrote that the university would use other sources of revenue after March to continue funding the research until the DOE rules on the new proposal Judd will submit.
Hines, who was not available for comment because he was attending regularly scheduled A&M Board of Regents meetings in College Station, did not take any responsibility in his memo for the cancellation of the grant.
"This guy is insane," an angry Judd said Wednesday.
The scientist said he has no idea whether the DOE will approve a new grant, and said he and his team will waste much valuable time over the next month submitting a new proposal.
Judd, who is contemplating legal action against Hines, believes the president falsely accused him of wrongdoing because he has frequently criticized Hines for mismanagement and allowing university research to dwindle. Judd is particularly incensed at what he perceives to be Hines' interference to one of the brightest academic programs at the historically black university.
An average of eight black U.S. students graduate with doctorates in physics each year. In the past seven years, six of Judd's undergraduate students have gone on to earn physics doctorates.
Judd's team and a group from the University of Texas-Dallas are the state's only researchers among 600 scientists working on a prestigious matter-antimatter experiment at the Stanford Linear Accelerator.
On May 1, the Department of Energy approved a $673,000 peer-reviewed grant that would have allowed Judd, four other Prairie View researchers and his students to continue work on the Stanford experiment for three more years.
On Aug. 1, Hines wrote a letter to DOE saying he would not renew the grant after March because of Judd's alleged "very serious problems ... with university and (A&M) policy and Texas law."
An A&M audit ordered by Hines that was completed in October cleared Judd of wrongdoing, finding only two minor, unintentional staffing violations.
Hines said after the audit that he had changed his mind and would renew the federal grant.
But in Wednesday's memo, Hines wrote that he was advised earlier in the day by P.K. Williams, the DOE official in charge of the grant, that it had been canceled.
Hines did not say in the memo what led to the cancellation.
Williams said Wednesday that the grant was immediately canceled after Hines' August letter, and he thought all parties understood that.
"I've been doing this for 22 years, and this is the first time I've heard of a university president canceling a grant," Williams said.
The DOE official said he also talked Wednesday to A&M System Chancellor Howard Graves.
A&M System spokeswoman Ann Kellett said she did not know what prompted Wednesday's conversations with Williams or the subsequent memo, which was distributed to regents, system officials and university officials. She said Graves and regents were in regularly scheduled closed meetings and could not be reached for comment.
David Wagoner, a member of the research team, said it is unclear if Hines' promise to continue funding the research until the DOE makes a decision on the new proposal will be enough to send the Prairie View team to Stanford in the summer. He said the memo only refers to the salaries of team members, and they will not be able to travel to California without additional living expenses the grant would have funded.
Hines, 66, a retired Army major general, was hired as Prairie View's president in 1994 even though he was not named a finalist by a search committee. Judd and many other faculty members have accused Hines of hurting the university by trying to run it like a military operation, meddling in the affairs of academic departments and not tolerating dissenting views.
On Oct. 29, Judd and 17 other faculty members wrote a letter to the A&M regents urging "serious action" against the president.
Hines has said that he has overseen many improvements at the university and most of his critics are disgruntled employees who have balked at changes or his tough fiscal management.
A group of Waller County ministers has been calling for Hines' resignation for allegedly firing two disc jockeys at the college radio station in August because they played a gospel song that Hines allegedly said reflected a "slave mentality."
One of the disc jockeys, the Rev. Walter Pendleton, walked on the campus in mock shackles Wednesday shouting into a megaphone that Hines unjustly fired him and that the university must be freed from "military rule." He claimed Hines denied his right to free speech by denying him a permit to demonstrate on campus.
Hines has said he had no role in the matter. Radio station programming manager Charles Porter said Wednesday that Pendleton's contract was not renewed after Aug. 31 because he went on an on-air rampage falsely accusing Hines.
A&M System officials said Pendleton was denied permission to demonstrate because he did not have the required sponsorship of a student or faculty group.
By RON NISSIMOV
Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle
PRAIRIE VIEW -- The actions of Prairie View A&M University President Charles Hines, in the wake of his unsubstantiated allegations against a physics professor, have canceled a prestigious grant the university has received for 15 years, a document revealed Wednesday.
"The grant had been eliminated and there is no possibility of the previous grant being renewed," Hines wrote in a memorandum he addressed to "The Record" on Wednesday.
Hines wrote that Prairie View A&M physics professor Dennis Judd will have to apply to the U.S. Department of Energy for a new grant to allow his research to continue. He said in the memo that the highly competitive peer review process will take four to six months to complete and there is no guarantee that the new proposal "would pass muster."
The DOE funding, which runs out in March, has allowed Judd and his team of faculty and students to collaborate on a matter-antimatter research project at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center in Menlo Park, Calif. Hines wrote that the university would use other sources of revenue after March to continue funding the research until the DOE rules on the new proposal Judd will submit.
Hines, who was not available for comment because he was attending regularly scheduled A&M Board of Regents meetings in College Station, did not take any responsibility in his memo for the cancellation of the grant.
"This guy is insane," an angry Judd said Wednesday.
The scientist said he has no idea whether the DOE will approve a new grant, and said he and his team will waste much valuable time over the next month submitting a new proposal.
Judd, who is contemplating legal action against Hines, believes the president falsely accused him of wrongdoing because he has frequently criticized Hines for mismanagement and allowing university research to dwindle. Judd is particularly incensed at what he perceives to be Hines' interference to one of the brightest academic programs at the historically black university.
An average of eight black U.S. students graduate with doctorates in physics each year. In the past seven years, six of Judd's undergraduate students have gone on to earn physics doctorates.
Judd's team and a group from the University of Texas-Dallas are the state's only researchers among 600 scientists working on a prestigious matter-antimatter experiment at the Stanford Linear Accelerator.
On May 1, the Department of Energy approved a $673,000 peer-reviewed grant that would have allowed Judd, four other Prairie View researchers and his students to continue work on the Stanford experiment for three more years.
On Aug. 1, Hines wrote a letter to DOE saying he would not renew the grant after March because of Judd's alleged "very serious problems ... with university and (A&M) policy and Texas law."
An A&M audit ordered by Hines that was completed in October cleared Judd of wrongdoing, finding only two minor, unintentional staffing violations.
Hines said after the audit that he had changed his mind and would renew the federal grant.
But in Wednesday's memo, Hines wrote that he was advised earlier in the day by P.K. Williams, the DOE official in charge of the grant, that it had been canceled.
Hines did not say in the memo what led to the cancellation.
Williams said Wednesday that the grant was immediately canceled after Hines' August letter, and he thought all parties understood that.
"I've been doing this for 22 years, and this is the first time I've heard of a university president canceling a grant," Williams said.
The DOE official said he also talked Wednesday to A&M System Chancellor Howard Graves.
A&M System spokeswoman Ann Kellett said she did not know what prompted Wednesday's conversations with Williams or the subsequent memo, which was distributed to regents, system officials and university officials. She said Graves and regents were in regularly scheduled closed meetings and could not be reached for comment.
David Wagoner, a member of the research team, said it is unclear if Hines' promise to continue funding the research until the DOE makes a decision on the new proposal will be enough to send the Prairie View team to Stanford in the summer. He said the memo only refers to the salaries of team members, and they will not be able to travel to California without additional living expenses the grant would have funded.
Hines, 66, a retired Army major general, was hired as Prairie View's president in 1994 even though he was not named a finalist by a search committee. Judd and many other faculty members have accused Hines of hurting the university by trying to run it like a military operation, meddling in the affairs of academic departments and not tolerating dissenting views.
On Oct. 29, Judd and 17 other faculty members wrote a letter to the A&M regents urging "serious action" against the president.
Hines has said that he has overseen many improvements at the university and most of his critics are disgruntled employees who have balked at changes or his tough fiscal management.
A group of Waller County ministers has been calling for Hines' resignation for allegedly firing two disc jockeys at the college radio station in August because they played a gospel song that Hines allegedly said reflected a "slave mentality."
One of the disc jockeys, the Rev. Walter Pendleton, walked on the campus in mock shackles Wednesday shouting into a megaphone that Hines unjustly fired him and that the university must be freed from "military rule." He claimed Hines denied his right to free speech by denying him a permit to demonstrate on campus.
Hines has said he had no role in the matter. Radio station programming manager Charles Porter said Wednesday that Pendleton's contract was not renewed after Aug. 31 because he went on an on-air rampage falsely accusing Hines.
A&M System officials said Pendleton was denied permission to demonstrate because he did not have the required sponsorship of a student or faculty group.
