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■day • September 17,1999
BI testifies in Jasper trial
BY EMILY R. SNOOKS
The Battalion
I murder trial of Lawrence Russell Brew-
|The defense begins testimony today.
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voluntary one of Brewer’s prisonmates and the
? Brensic pathologist who performed the
|btopsy of James Byrd Jr.
Dr. Tommy J. Brown, the contracted
Brensic pathologist for Jasper, produced
Bidence that Byrd was alive when he was
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MViBrand head were severed from his body.
■ I “I Pray he wasn't conscious, hut he
H I 35 a ^ ve >” Brown said.
A/ ■■Forensic specialist also concluded
"»/ B rd’s tailbone, knees, elbows and a
106 YEARS AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
College Station, Texas
Volume 106 • Issue 15 • 12 Pages
side of his face were completely ground
down as he was dragged across con
crete along Huff Creek Road in Jasper
with his ankles chained to the back of
a moving vehicle.
The genetics and DNA specialist con
cluded blood detected on Brewer’s run
ning shoes, several places on the exteri
or of Shawn Berry’s pickup truck, the
third man accused in the murder and in
several places along Huff Creek Road be
longed to Byrd.
DNA evidence also proved a cigarette
butt and a bottle of beer found on the
logging road where Byrd was chained to
the back of Berry’s truck, were con
sumed by Brewer.
Hair and fiber forensic specialists con
cluded the victim was in Berry’s truck at
one time because fibers from the interior
upholstery were found on Byrds clothing.
Mechanic Curtis Lee Johnson served
time in June and July 1998 in Jasper
County for a parole violation.
During this time, he came in contact
with John William King, the first man
convicted of Byrd’s murder and Brewer.
While in prison. King asked Johnson to
take Brewer letters, known in prison as
“kites,” King had written.
Before delivering the “kites,” Johnson
said he took the letters to prison officials,
who made copies of them.
The prosecution presented letters au
thored by Brewer that included deroga
tory racial remarks and evidence point
ing toward his guiltiness.
“Look at O.J. he beat his trial,” Brew
er said in a letter.
“I do believe we are bigger stars, or
hero of the day, than would ever be ex
pected.”
Brewer’s letters also included refer
ences to the chain allegedly used to drag
Byrd.
Johnson said he gave the letters to
prison officials because he did not ap
prove of the crime King and Brewer were
accused of committing.
At the close of the session, the defense
asked for an acquittal because of a lack
of sufficient and factual evidence from
the prosecution.
The court denied the request.
Floyd hits coast
MONTAUK, N.Y. (AP) — Creating hav
oc even at half-strength, Tropical Storm
Floyd raced into the Northeast with gusty
winds and torrential rain yesterday,
grounding hundreds of flights, closing
school for 3 million students, and even
postponing a U.N. meeting on war.
Drenching much of the East Coast,
Floyd raced across Long Island and into
New England after rolling through the
Carolinas in the morning. By 11 p.m., its
winds had fallen below hurricane force to
60 mph.
At least 12 deaths were blamed on
Floyd, eight from traffic accidents in the
Carolinas and Virginia. Two girls in
Delaware drowned after a storm-swollen
creek swept them into a sewage pipe, a
woman was killed in Virginia when a tree
fell on her mobile home, and one man
was presumed drowned in the Bahamas.
The storm swept away portions of a
bridge in North East, Md., forcing 100
families downstream to abandon their
homes. Four oil tanks holding 80,000 gal
lons collapsed, though officials were un
sure if the oil contaminated nearby Chesa
peake Bay.
While still a hurricane, Floyd drilled
ashore at Cape Fear, N.C., knocking out
power to more than 1.4 million people in
the Carolinas and dumping more than a
foot of rain that flooded hundreds of
North Carolina homes. But the overall
damage was considered modest.
“We’re most fortunate,” said George
Lemons, a National Weather Service fore
caster in Raleigh, N.C.
From there, Floyd’s winds weakened
steadily to less than half its fearsome peak
of 155 mph. The minimum wind speed
for a hurricane is 74 mph.
At 11 p.m. EDT, the storm’s center was
25 miles east of Hartford, Conn., and
moving quickly northeast at 35 mph.
Forecasters said it would continue to
weaken today.
Even the gentler Floyd was threat
enough for New York and New Jersey au
thorities, who declared states of emer-
see Floyd on Page 2.
ion.
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Well worth the wait
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(409) 696-51
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BRADLEY ATCHISON/I m Battalion
Alex Heartfield Elizabeth O’Neal senior agricultural economics major picks up his Aggie
Ring Thursday afternoon in the Clayton Williams Alumni Center.
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Students share ^ >
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tales of sex on
campus.
Page 3
sports
Ready for the storm
The Texas A&M Football Team
to take on Tulsa University.
Page 7
opinion
• Hullabaloo, a wreck, a wreck
Pedestrians,cyclists
and vehicles engage
in battle daily on
A&M campus.
Page 11
Batt radio
Listen to KAMU-FM 90.9 at 1:57
p.m. for details on the city of
Crockett’s celebration of
Frontier Days. ♦
Neighbors call
shooter eccentric
FORT WORTH (AP] — Po
lice found few hints of a mo
tive Thursday in the trashed
home and old journals of Lar
ry Gene Ashbrook, who
opened fire in a Baptist
church during a service for
teen-agers, killing seven peo
ple and himself.
Ashbrook, 47, described
as an eccentric loner feared
by some neighbors, left no
message explaining his ram
page.
Investigators were left to
determine what they could
from the journals and dam
age to Ashbrook’s home —
holes punched in walls, toi
lets destroyed and family
photographs shredded.
“This has the appearance
of being a very troubled man
who ... sought to quiet what
ever demons that bothered
him,” said FBI special agent
in charge Robert Garrity. “I
don’t know that we’ll ever
Part of Zone seating to open
BY CHRIS MENCZER
The Battalion
More than 70,000 foot
ball-starved Aggie fans will
get their first look at the high
ly anticipated $34.8 million
end-zone expansion project
this Saturday at the Texas
A&M Football Team’s first
home game against The Uni
versity of Tulsa.
The Zone, when complet
ed, will add 22,720 seats to
last year’s 60,800 capacity for
a total of 83,520.
Blume said the new first-
level “Goal-Line Stands” and
second-tier “The Zone Club,”
an armchair-seat section,
will be open for Saturday’s
game with a total of 9,200
new seats.
Although the project has
received criticism for not
being completed for the
start of the 1999 football
season, Blume said con
struction has followed Uni
versity timetables since he
joined the project.
“We’ve had about $3 mil
lion in additional change or
ders,” Blume said. “The total
revised amount is about
$34.8 million.
“We made an agreement
with the University to have [a
certain number ofj seats by
the first home game and then
so many more by the first Big
12 game,” Blume said.
He said the third and
fourth levels will be complet
ed in time for the Aggie’s Big
12 opener against Baylor
University on Oct. 9. This
will leave only 20 private
boxes under construction,
with their completion plans
set for next year.
Shay Scruggs, director of
development for the 12th
Man Foundation, said alco-
JP BEATO/Thk Battalion
Part of The Zone’s seating will be open for Saturday’s game.
hoi concessions added to the
expansion area will be re
stricted to a private enclosure
beneath the stands called
The Zone Club.
“There will be no drink
ing in seating areas,”
Scruggs said.
With new construction
nearly complete, the team-
now will enter the stadium
through the northwest cor
ner, and seniors now will
form the halftime “boot line”
at the northeast corner.
Stadium improvements
have also reached into pre
existing area. Because of
heavy student demand, con
cession stands at Kyle Field
will accept Aggie Bucks be
ginning Saturday.
‘First Yell’ festivities to begin
know the answer to the ques
tion of why it happened.”
Ashbrook, dressed in blue
jeans, a black jacket and
smoking a cigarette, entered
Wedgwood Baptist Church
Wednesday evening as teen
agers listened to a Christian
rock band in the sanctuary.
In the church lobby, Ash
brook confronted his first vic
tims with a question:
“What’s the program?” Then
he shot a janitor who ap
proached him and killed two
other people before walking
into the crowded sanctuary.
Some 150 teen-agers gath
ered inside initially thought
the killer was part of a skit as
he began cursing and spout
ing anti-Baptist rhetoric.
They scrambled for cover as
Ashbrook opened fire, paus
ing at least twice to reload.
“The guy pointed at me
see Shooter on Page 2.
BY JULIE ZUCKER
The Battalion
Texas A&M University’s “First Yell,”
hosted by the yell leaders, will kick off
the 1999 home football schedule to
day with a barbecue, games and live
performances.
Jeff Bailey, head yell leader and a se-‘
nior agricultural systems management
major, said the yell leaders' have been
working on the event since Fall 1998
and have been finalizing the details
since last April.
He said yell leaders in the past
talked about adding festivities to First
Yell, but there were problems getting
funding so this is the first year for this
kind of production.
“The whole idea is continuous ex
citement until the game,” Bailey said.
The festivities begin with “Weekend
Warmup,” including a barbecue, carni
val games and free performances by
Last Free Exit, Granger and Sly Letter at
3:30 p.m. on O.R. Simpson Drill Field.
Opening for comedian Bill Engvall will
be the Singing Cadets, Chi Omega Pro
ductions, Aggie Wranglers and Freudian
Slip at 8:30 p.m. in Rudder Auditorium.
Engvall, known for his “Here’s Your Sign”
routine, will perform at 9:40 p.m.
Midnight Yell Practice will be at Kyle
Field following the performances.
Payton Campbell, a junior finance
major, said First Yell is a good chance
for students to come together and get
motivated for the first home game.
Campbell encourages first-year Aggies
to get involved with the weekend.
“This is a great way [for new Ag
gies] to make their first yell and first
game as Aggies memorable,” Campbell
said. “Every new Aggie should take ad
vantage of First Yell.”
Bailey said the goal of the weekend
is not for this event to become a new
tradition, but he said he hopes for pos
itive feedback and more participation
in the years to come.
“This is a way to bring former, cur
rent and future Aggies together,” Bailey
said. “We want First Yell to be on every
Aggie’s calendar in the years ahead.”
The festivities continue Saturday
with a barbecue cook off at 2 p.m. on
Simpson Drill Field. Eleven teams, will
compete for best brisket, sausage,
chicken, specialty item, presentation
and overall talent. Judges include for-
A
Hosted by Aggie Yen Leaderf
Friday
3:30 p.m Weekend Warmup @
Simpson Drill Field
8:30 p.m Comedian Bill Engvall
@ Rudder Auditorium
Midnight Yell Practice @ Kyle
Field
Saturday
2:00 p.m. Cookoff Classic @
Simpson Drill Field
JEFF SMITH/Thi; Battalion
mer A&M football players, faculty
members and student leaders. Mark
David Manders will perform at 2 p.m.,
and Roger Creager goes on at 4 p.m.
Tickets will be sold for $7 in the MSG
hallway.
At 6 p.m., people will head to Kyle
Field for the game.
First Yell is sponsored by the 12th
Man Foundation, the Association of
Former Students, the Athletic Depart
ment and the A&M Foundation.
Scholarship recipients to meet donors
BY BROOKE HODGES
The Battalion
Reed Arena will be filled
with brilliant minds and gen
erous donors Saturday morn
ing for the President’s En
dowed Scholarship reception.
Cathy McWhorter, Texas
A&M Foundation Program co
ordinator for scholarships, said
tomorrow’s activities from
8:30 a.m. to noon will include
a reception and informational
booths from each college.
McWhorter said Texas
A&M President Dr. Ray M.
Bowen, the Board of Regents
and a many administrators
also will be in attendance.
The scholarships are
awarded to applicants with
SAT test score of 1300 or
above, national merit, com
munity involvement and
leadership, McWhorter said.
Kathleen Cassin, a schol
arship recipient and a junior
molecular and cell biology
major, said being involved
in high-school activities
helped her to receive a
scholarship- from Frank
Muller Jr., Class of ’65.
McWhorter said the
scholarships are donated
by former students, corpo
rations, foundations and
former A&M graduating
classes.
Those who want to pro
vide a scholarship must pay
a $60,000 endowment,
which is placed in an ac
count to build interest to give
to the recipient, she said.
“ [The President’s En
dowed Scholarship pro
gram] has been awarded
four awards in the last 15
years from the Council for
Advancement and Support
of Education,” she said.
McWhorter said other
schools have tried to estab
lish programs similar to the
President’s Endowed but
they do not have the Aggie
spirit to make their programs
as successful.
Cassin said meeting her
donor helped her to devel
op contacts she can use af
ter college.
Christa Fields, a scholar
ship recipient and a senior
political science major, said
her scholarship, which she
received from Douglas
Dufner, Class of ’41, and
his wife Lilian in the name
of their son Carl Dufner, an
employee of the Electronic
Microscopy Laboratory,
has helped her meet former
students.
“You get to know ‘Old
Ags’ at the reception and see
how they benefited from at
tending A&M,” she said.