V
The Battalion
flMPCIS
Tuesday • July?
JAKE SCHRICKLING/The Baitalion
Chris Jamieson, a senior mechanical engineering major and a driver for the Sunraycer team,
helps Robert Marshall, a wind tunnel operator, and Dr. Dennis Waugaman, a mechanical
engineering professor and the Sunraycer team adviser, adjust a 1/2 scale model of the Sunraycer
during an aerodynamics test at the Texas A&M low-speed wind tunnel.
Three men face charges
for Jasper man's death
JASPER (AP) — Prosecutors presented evidence Monday to a grand jury
considering indictments against three white men accused of chaining a
black man to a pickup truck and dragging him to his death.
Jasper County District Attorney Guy James Gray planned to seek cap
ital murder indictments against at least two of the suspects in the June 7
slaying of James Byrd Jr. It was not known when the grand jury would
reach a decision.
John William King and Shawn Allen Berry, both 23 of Jasper, and
Lawrence Russell Brewer, 31, of Sulphur Springs, remain jailed without
bond in connection with what authorities call a racially motivated crime.
All three have prison records and authorities have said at least two wear
tattoos of white racist prison gangs. Racist literature also was seized from
their homes.
Gray was meeting with the grand jury all day and could not be reached
for comment. Attorneys for the three suspects did not return telephone mes
sages from The Associated Press.
Gray has said he would seek capital murder indictments against at least
King and Brewer, making them eligible for the death penalty upon con
viction. Berry has been cooperating with authorities and could receive a
lesser charge.
Investigators believe Byrd, 49, accepted a ride from the suspects as
he walked home from a niece's bridal shower. But police believe that in
stead of taking him home, the men drove Byrd to a wooded area, beat
him, chained him behind Berry's truck and sped down a bumpy road
just east of town.
Byrd's severed head, neck and right arm were discovered about a mile
from where his shredded torso was dumped. A trail of blood, body parts
and personal effects stretched for two miles, police said.
According to one court affidavit. Berry told authorities that Brewer
sprayed Byrd's face with black paint before he was killed.
In addition to any state charges, federal authorities are considering fed
eral hate crime charges against the trio, which also could make them eligi
ble for the death penalty.
World cycling
competition to
feature two Texans
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Na
tional champions crowned Sun
day in four events at the EDS
Elite National Championships
will go on to the World Champi
onship track cycling competition
Aug. 24-30 in Bordeaux, France.
Winning the men's Olympic
sprint were 1 996 Olympic silver
medal winner Marty Nothstein
of Trexlertown, Penn.; Trey Gan
non of Frisco, Texas; and Erin
Hartwell of McKinney, Texas.
It was Team EDS' third
straight national championship.
Nothstein won the men's
match point and keirin champi
onships earlier in the week.
Erin Veenstra of Colorado
Springs, Colo., won the
women's 25-kilometer points
race final with 41 points at the
EDS Superdrome north of Dal
las. It was her first senior na
tional title.
Mark Garrett of Arcadia,
Calif., and Nick Chenowth of
Dallas won the tandem 250-me-
ter sprint final.
In the Madison final, james
Carney of Durango, Colo., and
brother jonas Carney of
Asheville, N.C., were first with
27 points.
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State regulation
Texas governs consumer property insurance in
AUSTIN (AP) — Consumer credit property in
surance rates will be regulated by the state be
ginning in 1999, Texas Insurance Commissioner
Elton Bomer announced Monday.
Consumer credit property insurance protects
property, such as computers, refrigerators and
stereos, from theft or other loss while property is
being paid off. It does not cover homes or cars.
The coverage is generally sold by department
stores and specialty stores marketing such goods
as electronics, furniture and appliances.
Until adoption of the new regulations, which
take effect Jan. 1, 1999, rates and policy forms
have been unregulated.
"I want to make sure that consumers know ex
actly what they are paying for and that they are
making informed decisions when they decide
whether to purchase consumer credit property
insurance," Bomer said.
"These regulations accomplish those goals and
are fair to both the sellers and the buyers of this
type of insurance."
Insurance industry spokesman Jerry Johns, of
the Southwestern Insurance Information Service,
raised no objections to the regulations.
"We believe that people need to make in
formed choices when purchasing any type of in
surance, and if the commissioner's rules will help
do that we are supportive," Johns said.
In January, Bomer and officials of Mont
gomery Ward signed a consent order under
which the company agreed to offer refui
customers who bought a "Credit Security
without realizing it was insurance.
Refunds could total as much as$5milUj
customers who unwittingly bought the i®1
seek a refund.
Under the adopted regulations, TDIwill
trol rates and policy language. Also, retij
must clearly point out to prospective buy®!
the coverage might duplicate existingresi^f
property coverage. •
Other key points that must be explained f
purchaser include: , .
— The policyholder's right to cancel tnt:|
cy at any time.
— The price of the insurance.
— The fact that the policy pays on anil
ered property before any homeownerscovo!
kicks in.
Bomer held a hearing on the credit p r0 F
insurance issue on April 9. A TDI staff m
that hearing said allowing the coverage to e |
"in its current unregulated status invites 1 ;
sumer abuses." m
Bomer said Monday that studiesshowej
ratios on credit property insurance industry]
in 1996 were lower than on any othertyp
credit insurance.
He said that indicates not only that rates
too high but also that many consumers®
know the coverage exists.
The Memorial Student Center
♦ ELS^
Executive lecture Series
u
Uncork Your Potential
The MSC Executive Lecture Series
Presents:
Merrill Bonarrigo
Co-Owner
Messina Hof Wine Cellars
She will be discussing her personal and
professional keys to success
Wednesday, July 8
6:00 pm
MSC Visual Arts Gallery
(On the 2nd floor of the MSC)
Please call 862-4639 for accommodations for individuals with disabilities
The Battalion
IS NOW ACCEPTING
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