Former NMSU program director sues school
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - The former director of black programs at New Mexico State University has sued the school, alleging discrimination, wrongful termination and emotional distress.
Michael Davis, who had headed the program for seven years, alleged in his lawsuit filed in March that former NMSU President Jay Gogue, interim President William Flores and Dean of Students Gladys DeNecochea disregarded his rights. He is seeking unspecified damages, plus court costs and attorney fees.
NMSU attorneys denied any wrongdoing by the university.
Davis resigned from the university in April 2003 after allegations of financial improprieties.
He was approached about September 2002 by the auditor's department to discuss loans and scholarships he had given to students, but no action was taken, according to court documents. In December 2002, he was questioned by Board of Regents employees about travel expenses and again no action was taken, the documents say.
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He was told in March 2003 he was being terminated.
NMSU said in court documents that Davis resigned after the university investigated allegations of financial irregularities in his program.
NMSU and Davis entered into a settlement under which Davis agreed to pay back $8,252 in monthly installments of about $412, according to court documents. The agreement included a statement that signing it did not constitute an admission of liability by Davis.
The university is seeking the $8,252 plus interest and attorney fees.
Internet worm infects thousands of computers
NEW YORK (AP) - An Internet worm that takes advantage of a known flaw with the Windows operating system raced around the world Monday, snarling tens of thousands of computers and causing Internet traffic to slow.
Though Microsoft Corp. had announced the flaw with the so-called Local Security Authority Subsystem Service last month, many computer owners had yet to apply the fix that the company had released.
Unlike most outbreaks, the Sasser worm does not require users to activate it by clicking on an e-mail attachment. Sasser is known as a network worm because it can automatically scan the Internet for computers with the security flaw and send a copy of itself there.
Security experts said the Sasser worm was spreading rapidly, particularly as businesses reopened Monday but it still was not as widespread as last summer's Blaster outbreak.
They said network operators have gotten more diligent about properly applying the necessary security fixes, and because the worm was first discovered late Friday, many were able to do so over the weekend before employees arrived.
Finland's third largest bank, Sampo, closed 120 of its offices for a few hours Monday to update antivirus programs. E-banking services and the bank's automated teller machines worked normally.
"We weren't hit by the worm, but we wanted make sure that we wouldn't be affected by it so we closed the branch offices," Sampo spokesman Hannu Vuola said. "The people who suffered the most were those who had actually come to our banks to do business over the counter."
American civilian POW recovers in Germany
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AP) - Former American hostage Thomas Hamill, who escaped his Iraqi captors after three weeks, was brought to a U.S. military hospital in Germany on Monday for a checkup and treatment of a gunshot wound.
"He's doing good, very good," said Marie Shaw, spokeswoman for the U.S. military's Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. "He's in the medical surgical ward. He should be able to go home by the end of the week."
Hamill, a 43-year-old civilian contractor, was expected to reunite with his wife, Kellie Hamill, at Landstuhl on Tuesday, officials said.
Hamill, of Macon, Miss., pried open the doors of the house where he was being held late Sunday morning and ran a half-mile to a U.S. military convoy passing by near the town of Balad north of Baghdad.
A truck driver for a Halliburton Corp. subsidiary, Hamill was captured April 9 by gunmen who blasted the supply convoy he was driving on the outskirts of Baghdad. Hamill's captors had threatened to kill him unless the United States lifted its siege on the city of Fallujah.
After Hamill broke out of the house, he removed his shirt, waved it and began shouting in English at the soldiers as he ran toward them, members of the patrol said at a briefing in Baghdad. At first, they said they thought he might be an Iraqi farmer.
"He was yelling, 'I'm an American, I'm an American, I'm an American POW,'" said 1st Lt. Joe Merrill.
"From a distance, it was obvious he was unarmed, so we did not have our weapons trained on him," Merrill said.
He added that Hamill did not say anything about being tortured.
