The Daily Texan 2016-08-01

1

T HE S UMMER T EXAN Student Newspaper at The University of Texas

Vol.117

Price Free

AUSTIN, TEXAS, MONDAY AUGUST 1, 2016

Twenty-four Pages

No.9

New Memorial Honors 17 Victims of UT Tower Shooting Aaron Torres @AaronTorres_

MARBLE FALLS – He scooted back carefully, dragging his feet across the black sand, focusing his Nikon camera on the polished face.

Alfred McAlister studied the camera’s screen, making sure the entire 6-foot 3-inch tall granite boulder fit in the picture. The names of the victims from the UT Tower shooting had been sand blasted onto the granite.

On Aug. 1, 1966, he hid behind a car on the Drag as carnage unfolded around him.

On 23rd street, two friends, Claudia Rutt and Paul Sonntag, lay dead. His childhood friend, Tom Eckman, lay dead in the Main Mall.

Now, almost 50 years later, he stared at their inscribed names.

“It’s just weird,” said McAlister, a Plan II Honors professor. “We made our first model of this almost two years ago.”

The 11,700-pound granite stone is the new UT Tower shooting memorial.

In August 2014, McAlister — along with Claire Wilson James, Forrest Preece, James Bryce, Artly Snuff, Cyndi Taylor Krier, Clif Drummond and Hannah Whisenant — formed the Tower Memorial Enhancement Group. They proposed a new memorial replace the original 9-by-14-inch plaque by UT’s Turtle Pond.

The new memorial was placed on July 23 and will officially be unveiled Monday, exactly 50 years after engineering student Charles Whitman killed 15 people and wounded 32.

McAlister passed his fingers over the rough and jagged edges, almost wanting to make sure the boulder was real.

“It’s strange to see something you’ve only seen in your mind’s eye,” he said.

Other schools, like Columbine High School and Virginia Tech, displayed memorials honoring the victims of their shootings, but for 33 years, the bullet holes Whitman left around campus were the only physical reminders of the fourthdeadliest school shooting in U.S history.

In 1999, Texas dedicated the Turtle Pond as a place to honor those affected by the shooting. In 2003, former UT President Larry R. Faulkner unveiled plans for an elaborate memorial that would cost more than $1 million and be unveiled on Aug. 1, 2004. The memorial was never completed. In 2007, UT placed a plaque at the Turtle Pond instead.

Claire Wilson James was living in Nebraska when she heard about it. She had been eight months pregnant in 1966 when Whitman shot her and her boyfriend Tom Eckman, killing Eckman and the unborn baby. She imagined running her fingers over Tom’s name and the baby’s. But when she saw the memorial, the plaque was just inscribed with a lengthy message.

“I couldn’t think of anything more beautiful,” James said. “Then when I actually went there, the baby’s name was not there and I had hoped the names would be there.”

On the 48th anniversary of the shooting, UT documentary group Students of the World organized a living memorial at the Main Mall. Students from the group held framed photos of each victim and gave a short speech about each one. Many survivors, including Alfred McAlister, Claire Wilson James, Forrest Preece, James Bryce, Artly Snuff, Cyndi Taylor Krier and Hannah Whisenant, attended.

The group of students and survivors walked from the Main Mall to the Turtle Pond. At the Turtle Pond, McAlister made closing remarks to the assembled group about how “survivors’ guilt” begs memorialization. He then proposed the

The Dead

Thomas Ashton, 22, Redlands, Calif., a Peace Corps trainee.

Robert E. Boyer, a mathematics instructor, visitng Austin. He was on his way to Liverpool University to teach applied math.

Thomas Karr, Fort Worth, a University student.

Thomas Eckman of Barcelona, Spain.

Mark Jerome Gabour, 15, Texarkana, was the son of Mr. M. J. Gabour III. Karen Griffith, 17, a student at Lanier High School.

David Gunby, 58, died from shootingrelated kidney damage 35 years later.

Mrs. Marguerite Lamport, the aunt of Mark Jerome Gabour.

Miss Claudia Rutt, 18, lived in Austin.

Roy Schmidt, Austin, City Electric Co. employee Paul Sonntag, 18, grandson of KTBC news director Paul Bolton.

Billy Speed, police officer.

Mrs. Edna Townsley, Tower Observation Deck receptionist.

Harry Walchuk Mrs. Margaret Whitman, mother of the sniper.

Mrs. Kathleen Whitman, wife of the sniper.

The unborn child of Claire Wilson.

formation of The Tower Memorial Enhancement Group. In September, they sent plans for a memorial upgrade to former UT President William C. Powers.

“We seek enhancement of the memorialization for victims of the Aug. 1, 1966 tragedy at The University of Texas,” the group wrote in a formal statement submitted to the University. “The current

(See MEMORIAL, Page A2)

Photo by Josh Guerra

The Memorial A new memorial at the Turtle Pond honors the 17 victims killed by Charles Whitman. The boulder is engraved with the date of the shooting and the names of the victims. The memorial will be unveiled at a ceremony at the Main Mall in front of the Tower in honor of the 50th anniversary.

Brackenridge Nurse, ER Doctor Reflect on Community’s Response to Tragedy Megan Hix @meganhix95

On an uneventful Monday morning at Brackenridge Hospital, nurse Norma White sent her staff home early.

They had already finished the day’s work, and with many of the doctors out of town, there was no need to keep them around.

But one by one, the same nurses she’d just sent home soon returned to the hospital. They’d seen reports of a sniper shooting people from the top of the University Tower and raced back to Brackenridge before the emergency room staff had been notified of any incoming victims.

Across the hospital, Dr. Robert Pape was in a meeting with their chief of staff when a call came in from the ER: “I need all the help I can get. There’s a nut on the UT campus shooting people.”

While the shooter, a militarytrained gunman named Charles Whitman, held a 96-minute “reign of terror” over the campus, the doctors and nurses got to work, preparing operating rooms and medical instruments for the urgent-care patients they were sure to receive.

Thirty-nine patients would be brought into the ER in the next hour and a half.

“I walked into the emergency room, and it was like a war zone,” White, a UT alumna who served as both operating room director and head intensive care nurse in 1966, said.

“You saw people lying on stretchers

with all these massive wounds, and I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, this is like something you would see on a battlefield.’”

While it was soon all-hands-ondeck in the operating rooms, only one of Austin’s cardiothoracic surgeons was in town to treat victims with critical chest wounds. Two of the others, Dr. Pape said, were volunteering in Africa; another drove to Lubbock that morning, oblivious to the news of the shooting until he arrived.

As the surgeon opened chest after chest, he also had to keep his own health in mind. To manage his diabetes, nurses came by to feed him sweetened orange juice and milk during the hours-long surgeries.

“They were ready to do whatever was necessary,” Dr. Pape said. “They made do with what they had and they did a good job.”

Soon, some unanticipated recruits arrived. Without so much as a call, local doctors, from general practitioners to dermatologists, came to help.

By the end of the day, the ER checkin sheet listed the names of nearly 60 volunteer doctors, Dr. Pape said.

As doctors rushed in, they abandoned their cars in the ambulance driveway, their keys still in the ignition. A pileup of vehicles soon blocked the emergency room entrance, leaving civilians to clear them out of the way of the funeral home hearses that carried the shooting victims.

Locals also lined up to donate blood to the victims, White said.

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The Nurse Norma White As patients poured into Brackenridge Hospital for medical treatment, White and her fellow doctors and nurses managed to save 28 of the 39 victims.

The doctors and nurses worked until after midnight — more than 12 hours after the first bullets were fired — and many of the patients stayed in the hospital for weeks or, in some cases, months.

(See BRACKENRIDGE, Page A2.)

2 A2

Monday, August 1, 2016

TOWER

A Note from the Editors For one generation of Longhorns, Aug. 1 1966 rightfully lives as a defining day at the University.

The events that unfolded that day were not only unprecedented, but deeply personal. Charles Whitman’s murder of 14 people and an unborn child from the UT Tower stood as the deadliest mass shooting in American history for nearly 20 years, and the deadliest

school shooting for more than 40. It isn’t just the scope of the tragedy, but who it affected that made its wounds difficult to treat.

Among the victims were a mathematics lecturer preparing to teach in Liverpool, a Peace Corps trainee and a woman who was eight months pregnant.

In his wake, Whitman left the campus numb, unsure of how to move on. He

BRACKENRIDGE

Instead of chaos or panic, Dr. Pape said that on the day of the shooting, the training kicked in.

“Every year we wondered if we would have to use our emergency procedure, and then we had the opportunity to do it,” Dr. Pape said. “That really helped to solidify our response to the shooter.”

Eleven of the patients brought to the hospital died that day or were

continues from page 1

In the days before most hospitals had emergency rooms, Brackenridge was on the cutting edge, known as the only nearby trauma hospital. In the weeks before the shooting, everyone from interns to surgeons had run through their emergency protocol at a mock plane crash.

MEMORIAL

continues from page 1 plaque at the Turtle Pond represents a sincere effort by the University to recognize this terrible event. But we want a more substantial memorial to be made, at least displaying names of the victims who had their lives cut short that day. Our goal is to have this enhanced memorialization in place by: August 1, 2016.”

Powers directed the the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement to steward the initiative on UT’s behalf. Dr. Gregory Vincent, vice president of the Division, appointed associate vice president for community and external relations Erica Saenz to collaborate with the group on a new memorial.

“We really wanted to work with them to come up with ideas to propose to the president for consideration,” Saenz said. “So they started

thinking about local Texas materials they wanted to use for the monument.”

The Tower Memorial Group, with the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, met in the fall of 2014 and discussed design options for the memorial, which they wanted made from natural material.

“Our preferred design was discs embedded in walls or on the ground, like on the drag where my two friends died in front of the Co-op,” McAlister said. “[We] wanted the embedded names in disks where people fell.”

The group submitted a three-part design to UT in December 2014: the etched granite disks where the victims fell, a natural granite boulder with the victims’ names etched on a polished face and a Bald Cypress tree placed at the head of the lower pond.

UT denied the granite disks but approved the

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left witnesses, still left with the emotional marks of what they experienced that day. But he also left survivors — people who had to find enough strength in the confusion and pain that followed to move forward.

The threat that something like this could happen to any of us, and at any time, brings a removed, passing fear. But Whitman’s shooting did so

much more, turning the serene promise of higher education on its head.

When Austinites took their last breaths on the sidewalks of Guadalupe Street and the grassy open space near the Turtle Pond, those sites turned from campus cornerstones to chilling reminders of the losses we suffered that day.

While today’s generation of college students are born

into a reality where public shootings are becoming all the more common even as other crime falls, we do not arrive with an understanding of how to make sense of it.

Tapping into the deep history of the first of these events may open a few wounds many had wished to ignore, but it also brings the opportunity for us to strengthen the bonds that make overcoming them possible.

This week, the goal is not just to understand the history that students lived 50 years ago. It’s to show that we have the power to decide what our fate will be following defining moments like this one. We never choose to let tragedy happen. But when it does, we have the power to become something greater because of it. This year, we hope we have.

—Catherine Cardenas and Alexander Chase

Everyone was working as hard and as fast as they could. You had no time to think about anything other than those patients.”

—Dr. Robert Pape, Emergency room doctor

already dead upon arrival.

White credits the hospital’s trauma plans and the community’s support for saving the other 28 lives.

“No matter their position, the citizens of

Austin came together,” White said. “Everyone was working as hard and as fast as they could. You had no time to think about anything other than those patients.”

Illustration by Albert Lee | Daily Texan Staff

A new UT Tower shooting memorial was placed on July 23 by UT’s Turtle Pond replacing the original plaque memorial. The memorial will be unveiled in a rededication ceremony on Aug. 1 at the Tower Garden.

Joshua Guerra Daily Texan Staff

boulder and the trees.

In August 2015, McAlister, Bryce, Sandra Connors and John Sparks traveled to a quarry in Fredericksburg.

They looked at more than 25 stones before Sparks showed

them a sunset red granite boulder with fresh breaks and natural seams he quarried out a few years ago.

“I think everybody that saw it,” Sparks said, “realized that was the one.”

Rodney Molitor, president of Cook-Walden Funeral Homes and Cemeteries, offered to pay for the stone and the bench after meeting Saenz in February 2016.

Charles Walden, the former

owner of Cook-Walden, was present during the shooting and used Cook’s hearses as ambulances. He died in 2014.

“Our job is to carry on [Walden’s] legacy and, of course, he would say it and I will say it, this monument is not about him,” Molitor said.

“It’s about all of those who were affected on that day.”

They had pictured this two years ago, and now it was real.

At 8 a.m. Saturday July 23, Artly, Snuff, James Bryce, Forrest Preece, Erica Saenz and other faculty members at UT, circled around the Tower pond.

The sun shined. The wind blew. The tower rang.

At 8:15 a.m., a white crane lifted the 11,700-pound sunset red granite memorial to the concrete slab it will sit on. The bench was placed sometime last week.

Pictures were taken. Videos were recorded.

The process took about an hour; everyone made sure the tower was lined up behind the memorial.

A blue tarp covering the polished face was removed, revealing the date, the names and the message from the 2007 memorial.

“It’s kind of emotional,” Preece said.

Everyone checked the names weren’t misspelled, from Thomas Aquinas Ashton down to Baby Boy Wilson.

James will see the rock for the first time on Monday. After 50 years, she can can run her fingers over Eckman’s name, as well as her baby’s. She says the memorial is an effort at peace and reconciliation.

“The sacredness is not in the rock itself,” James said, “but in the fact that people will remember.”

After the memorial was placed, Snuff walked up to it and stared at the names. Two grabbed his attention: Claudia Rutt and Paul Bolton Sonntag.

They were Snuff ’s friends too — the three of them graduated from Austin High School in 1966. Rutt and Sonntag were engaged that summer.

They were killed looking at engagement rings on the drag.

Snuff ran his fingers over their names.

The sun shined. The wind blew. The tower rang.

W&N 3

TOWER

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Monday, August 1, 2016

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as and Chase

Courtesy of Stuart Brown

Psychiatrist Stuart Brown was part of a 1966 committee that delivered a report on the life of Charles Whitman to then-Texas Gov. John Connally.

Deprivation of play major factor in 1966 UT shooting

By Anusha Lalani @anusha_lalani

After studying the life of UT Tower shooter Charles Whitman, one psychiatrist found that play deprivation as a child and an overbearing father may have driven him to carry out the attack.

After the shooting, which over 30 people wounded and 13 dead, 1966 Governor John Connally commissioned a study of Whitman’s life and what might have caused him to commit the crime. The commission consisted of more than 30 experts including psychiatrists, neurosurgeons and pathologists who studied Whitman’s life and a tumor that was found in his brain.

The pathology experts concluded “the data obtained provide no evidence that [Whitman] , washad a clinical neurologihoot-cal abnormality, and there arsesis no evidence from the diedpathological reports that [a tumor] interrupted pathy onways leading to detectable d, ofneurological signs.” and I However, the psychiaent istrists on the commission said.believed Whitman’s relawhotionship with his father was y.” one of the factors that led to thisthe massacre. ow it “Charles J. Whitman was deeply concerned over the ly 23,chronic marital discord Bryce,and recent separation of his Saenzparents,” reads the report. mbers“He often had strong, varid theable, inconsistent feelings of hostility toward members windof his family, particularly his father.” crane The report also mensun-tioned a particular episode ial tofrom Whitman’s childill sithood when his father lacedbecame aggressive at a family gathering.

Vid- “Charles A. Whitman insisted that his son play the ut anpiano for them,” the report re thesaid. “When the son experiehindenced some difficulty in giving a perfect performance, g thehis father threw a Coke oved,bottle at him, striking him ames m the

on the side of his head.”

Stuart Brown, one of the commission’s psychiatrists, also noted Whitman’s previous knowledge of weaponry and the culminating tension he faced during his final months.

“Whitman’s long developmental trajectory and [the lack of] healthy free play, combined with the repetitive family violence perpetrated by his father, his familiarity and excellence in weaponry and the triggering events and stress over the last months of his life were also contributory [to his motives for the shooting],” Brown said.

Brown, who founded the National Institute for Play, an organization created to study and raise awareness of the impact of play, said he was able to study Whitman’s entire life by interviewing his friends, family and gradeschool teachers.

From this, Brown found that Whitman’s father had high expectations for his son, including a wish for Whitman to be president of the United States one day. These hopes from Whitman’s father interfered with him receiving the proper amount of play as a child, Brown said.

Hallie Speranza is a lecturer and master teacher at the Priscilla Pond Flawn Child and Family Laboratory, which allows students to interact with children and observe their development in problem-solving, selfesteem and self-control. She said play has a major impact on a lot of aspects of a child’s future, such as interacting with others. “[Play is] one place where, neurologically, we’re making connections that are important for our future problem-solving,” Speranza said. “It’s really important for building the intellect, really thinking about situations and problem-solving as opposed to being academic.”

The report found

Whitman did not have the opportunity to develop these problem-solving skills at a young age. “[Whitman] seemed to achieve no sense of pleasure or feeling of mastery from learning a subject, and appeared always to be dissatisfied with himself whenever studying, with problem solving, or incompleting projects,” the report said.

Speranza, along with Brown, said children today are not getting enough play and interaction with other children, which can have lasting impacts on their futures. Speranza said the opportunity to play is being replaced with the need to be involved in academic-related activities.

“At times when children have the opportunity to play, there’s now more of a pressure to take on academic knowledge and skills,” Speranza said. “Sometimes it’s referred to as the pushdown: all of the things that used to happen in first grade, now happen in kindergarten so those children are losing that time when they could really be interacting with other children and being creative.”

Robert Crosnoe, a UT sociology and psychology professor and expert in family, said lack of play, facilitated by his father, couldn’t have been the only driving force that led Whitman to the Tower.

“Parents have enormous effects — good and bad — on the kinds of adults their children turn out to be, both because of genetics, the environment that they create for them and how they parent them,” Crosnoe said. “However, when a clearly disturbed man commits mass murder, we need to refrain from trying to find a single reason for it.

It is likely a lot more complicated than the parents he had, and it is certainly more complicated than a single thing that a parent did.”

Doctors dispute effect of brain tumor on Whitman’s actions

onal,”

the elled, uinas Baby

By Eva Frederick

ck for @evacharlesanna After n her Smart, strong, talented me, as and popular, the young ys the Charles Whitman seemed, peace outwardly, like a poster child for the all-American ot in boy stereotype. said, But as the sandy-haired eople boy grew up into an, athletic ex-Marine, beneath his was mop of blond hair, someto it thing else was also growing.

Two A brain tumor, nestled beaudia tween his thalamus, hyponntag. thalamus and amygdala, deds too veloped quietly to the size of radu- a pecan. chool During his 25th year, nntag Whitman began to commmer. plain of headaches, a seng at vere, persistent pain that drag. he later described as “treover mendous.” He wrote increasingly troubled jourwind nal entries detailing his mental state: “Recently (I

cannot recall when it started) I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts.” He paid a visit to the campus mental health center complaining of violent impulses.

Then, one sweltering August day in 1966, Whitman did something no one expected: He climbed to the top of the UT tower with a sawed-off shotgun, and began shooting. His 96-minute reign of terror killed 13 people on campus and injured 31 more, and only ended when he was killed by Austin police.

Whitman’s suicide note requested an autopsy to examine his brain, because he was convinced it would show some “visible physical disorder.” The shooting — the deadliest college shooting until Virginia

Tech in 2007 — left the nation in shock and clamoring for answers.

Although the initial autopsy was inconclusive about the role of the tumor in the shooting, a follow-up investigation by a group of scientists under a commission requested by Governor John Connally showed it could have played a part in the events of that day.

“The highly malignant brain tumor conceivably could have contributed to his inability to control his emotions and actions,” wrote Stuart Brown, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine, in the initial 1966 report.

But not all experts agree on whether the tumor affected Whitman’s thoughts

TUMOR page B7

4 OPINION A4

Monday, August 1, 2016

TOWER

The Victims

On Aug. 1, 1966, a man named Charles Whitman rode an elevator up to the observation deck of the UT Tower and opened fire on the unsuspecting victims below, killing 14 people and the unborn child of a young woman, and injuring more than 30. Earlier that day, Whitman had fatally stabbed his mother and his wife. This tragic event was the nation’s first mass shooting on a college campus. It will forever be remembered as the darkest moment in UT’s history.

Illustrations by Jacky Tovar | Daily Texan Staff Victims in alphabetical order from left to right.

Thomas Ashton, 22 Thomas Ashton was a recent graduate of the University of California visiting Austin for Peace Corps training. Ashton was on his way to meet with fellow trainees at the Student Union when he heard sudden noises and saw bodies falling to the ground. Exiting the UT Computation Center, Ashton looked toward the west side of the tower and was shot in the chest. Ashton died in Brackenridge Hospital soon after.

Ashton is buried at Hillside Memorial Park in Redlands, California.

Robert Boyer, 33 Robert Boyer was a visiting professor of applied mathematics at the University in 1966. When Boyer stepped out onto the South Mall around noon, he was shot in his lower left back. Boyer died immediately.

Thomas Eckman, 18 Thomas Frederick Eckman, a freshman studying anthropology, and his eight-month-pregnant girlfriend, Claire Wilson, were having coffee together on campus shortly before the shooting. As they began to head back to their car, Wilson was shot in the stomach. Eckman called out to Wilson and reached over to her, but then was shot outside Benedict Hall. Eckman died later in the hospital.

His fiancee’s unborn child died during an emergency surgery performed on Wilson.

He was survived by his mother, Mary Louise Eckman, his father, Frederick Eckman, and a half-brother, Michael R. Campbell.

In his memory, the Thomas F. Eckman Special Collections Division of Bowling Green State University’s Library was established. Eckman was from Spain but buried in Ottawa, Ohio.

Mark Gabour, 16 Mark Gabour was visiting The University of Texas with his parents, M.J. and Mary, and brother, Mike, from his hometown of Texarkana, Texas. His father’s sister, Marguerite Lamport, lived in Austin with her husband, William, and was excited to show them around the city — the first stop was the landmark Tower at UT. The family had planned to continue to San Antonio and Houston

after their stop in Austin. Mark and his aunt Marguerite died. His brother and mother lived but retained permanent injuries.

Gabour would have begun his junior year of high school three weeks later.

Karen Griffith, 17 Karen Griffith was a student at Sidney Lanier High School. She was shot in the chest while walking down Guadalupe Street alongside Thomas Karr.

Griffith spent one week in critical condition at Brackenridge Hospital. She died on Aug. 8, 1966.

She was survived by her parents and her sister Pamela.

David Gunby, 58 David Gunby was an electrical engineering student. Gunby was walking from the University library when he remembered to retrieve his book. On his walk back to the library, Gunby was shot in the lower left back. The shooting destroyed his small intestine.

Although Gunby was among those who survived the shooting, he was left with serious health complications.

During surgery it was discovered that Gunby had only one functioning kidney, which had been permanently damaged by bullet fragments. His body rejected the subsequent organ transplant, and he was put on kidney dialysis for the following 27 years.

In 2001, Gunby decided to be taken off dialysis. His death was ruled as a homicide.

Thomas Karr, 24 Thomas Ray Karr was a Latin American studies senior and a member of the U.S. Army from 1962 to 1965. He was born in Dickens County, Texas. Karr was shot through the spine as he was walking back to his residence hall after completing a Spanish exam. Karr died later that day in the hospital.

Karr was survived by his mother and father, Royce Blackwell Karr and Ray T. Karr, a brother who was a student at Texas Tech, Don Karr, and a sister, Mrs. Joe Moore. Karr is buried in Dickens County, Texas at Spur Cemetery.

Marguerite Lamport, 56 Marguerite Lamport lived in Austin for 45 years, and often gave friends

and relatives tours of the city.

On Aug. 1, she took her brother, M.J. Gabour, his wife and two sons to see the UT Tower. When they opened the door to the 28th floor lobby, Whitman shot them, killing Marguerite and her nephew, Mark.

M.J. and his eldest son, Mike, warned other visitors to turn around, probably saving lives.

Claudia Rutt, 18 Claudia Rutt had recently graduated from Stephen F. Austin High School, and had enrolled in Texas Christian University for the upcoming fall semester. She aspired to become a professional dancer.

On Aug. 1, she and her fiance, Paul Sonntag, were shopping for records in shops along the Drag. Sonntag was shot and killed. Rutt ran out from her shelter to him, and was shot.

Rutt was wearing her class ring on her finger, and Sonntag’s ring on a chain around her neck.

Rutt was buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in Austin, Texas. She was survived by her parents, Melvin Rutt and Diane Labowitz, and her sister, Mary Anne Rutt.

Roy Schmidt, 29 Roy Dell Schmidt worked for the Electrical Distribution Department.

He was born in Manor, Texas. He was working on campus and was in the process of making a call when he was informed of the shooting.

He was struck in the stomach as he and a co-worker fled toward their truck. He died within minutes.

He was survived by his parents, Theo and Edna Schmidt, and his brother, Wayne Schmidt, as well as his wife Nancy and their daughter Kimberly.

Paul Sonntag, 18 Paul Bolton Sonntag was working as a lifeguard in Austin in 1966. He, his fiancee and a close friend, were passing by campus on their way to pick up his paycheck when the shooting began. He was the grandson of Paul Bolton, a news director at KTBC. Sonntag was struck in the head when he looked out from behind a barrier in front of the Snyder-Chenards dress shop. He was killed instantly.

Sonntag was survived by his parents Jim and Beverly Sonntag, and his

brothers, James and George Sonntag.

He is buried at Austin Memorial Park.

Billy Speed, 23 Billy Speed was an officer with the Austin Police Department from San Antonio, Texas. He was commissioned into the force on July 2, 1965.

Speed was on his lunch break when he heard gunshots near the University and responded to a call of assistance from APD as he headed toward campus.

When Speed and his partner, Jerry Culp, arrived at UT they took shelter under a statue in the South Mall.

Whitman was able to shoot Speed through the rails surrounding the statue. The bullet hit Speed in the shoulder and traveled to his chest, killing him instantly.

Speed is survived by his wife, Jean Speed, and daughter, Rebecca Lynn.

He is buried at Fort Sam Houston Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas.

Edna Townsley, 47 Edna Townsley was Whitman’s first victim upon arriving to the Tower on Aug. 1. Around the time she would have typically been relieved of her shift, Whitman approached her desk in the observation deck and killed her.

Townsley began her career at UT as an elevator operator and was later promoted to a secretary. She worked there for eight years.

Townsley was divorced, but left behind two beloved sons, Danny and Terry.

She is remembered by friends and colleagues for her sense of humor and unique laugh. She is buried in Lockhart, Texas.

Harry Walchuck, 38 Harry Walchuck earned a masters degree in history from the University of Toledo in 1965. The next year, he moved with his six children and wife, Marilyn, from Sylvania to Michigan, where he taught at Alpena Community College.

Walchuck was pursuing a Ph.D. in political science from UT, when he was killed by Whitman. During lunch, he browsed a shop on the Drag for a magazine, and was shot while speaking to an employee.

Walchuck and his family were only in Austin for about six weeks before he died. He was known by friends as a loving family man.

Kathleen “Kathy” Whitman, 23 In the early morning of Aug. 1, 1966, Charles Whitman killed his wife, Kathleen “Kathy” Whitman before going to the Tower.

The couple met in February 1962 and married that August. At 19, Kathy joined Charles in North Carolina, where he returned to the Marine Corps after losing his scholarship to the University. In July 1963, Kathy returned to UT on her own. The two later reunited when he was discharged in December 1964.

The next fall, Kathy began teaching biology at Sidney Lanier High School.

She was a teacher for less than a year before she died.

The day before the mass shooting, Charles bought a knife and binoculars from a 7-Eleven store, and picked up his wife from her summer job as a telephone operator. The next morning, Charles stabbed her repeatedly in the chest as she lay in bed.

Her body was buried in her hometown of Fort Bend County, Texas.

Margaret Whitman, 43 Margaret Whitman moved to Austin in 1966, hoping to escape her violent husband and be closer to her son, Charles. But the night before Whitman’s mass shooting, his mother became his first victim.

Margaret was a Roman Catholic and raised her three sons in the same faith. She had reportedly divorced her abusive husband of 25 years that May, moving from Florida into an apartment at 1212 Guadalupe St. and working at a cafeteria near campus in hopes of starting a new life.

On July 31, 1966, Whitman met his mother for lunch. Just after midnight that night, he drove to her apartment and killed her. Police reports suggest he stabbed her in the chest and shot her in the back of the head, afterwards covering her body with bedsheets.

Whitman wrote that he was “very upset over having done it” and that “he loved this woman with all [his] heart.”

A joint funeral service and burial was held for the mother and son in their hometown.

Wilson Baby The unborn child of Claire Wilson and Thomas Eckman was killed after the mother was shot in the stomach.

Claire Wilson survived the shooting, Eckman did not.

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6 NEWS

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ALEXANDER CHASE, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | @TexanEditorial Monday, August 1, 2016

Tower viewpoints,

Editor’s note: In honor of the 50th anniversary of the UT Tower shooting, we are reprinting the editorials and firing lines published on Friday, Aug. 5,EDI the first written after the shooting. For more archived content from the list 50 years, check out our website at www.dailytexanonline.com.

EDITORIAL

Archived content: Aug. 5, 1966 Editorials The Tower Massacre

The University witnessed an appalling tragedy Monday. Charles Joseph Whitman, a 25-year-old mentally distressed student, filed suit against humanity, and prosecuted his case with death until he too was killed. From the University Tower and its Observation Deck, he shot and killed 13 persons and wounded 34.

For almost 90 minutes, the campus was turned into a battlefield. Like a Viet Cong terrorist, Whitman killed without mercy and without discrimination. The University truly lived through a hell comparable to that which the South Vietnamese endure.

The death of these innocent victims is deeply grieved. The University has sympathy and concern for the survivors of the deceased victims and the wounded. The Texan hopes all persons on campus will contribute to the funds that have been established for the families of several of the victims.

Many of the victims came to the University to learn about life, to understand it, to practice it, to endure it. It is appalling and ironic to realize that such a massacre could occur in what is supposed to be an atmosphere of learning about life.

The University Tower, for many, has stood as a symbol of learning. The Tower now conjures up new images of death and horror. Re-

grettably, Monday’s tragedy was not the first time violent death has occurred from the Tower; there have been several suicides. The Observation Deck has constituted a safety hazard and still does.

The Observation Deck of the Tower should be closed now for both safety and psychological considerations. Perhaps in several years, after memories of the massacre have dimmed and faded, the Observation Deck can be reopened occasionally and with new safety precautions. Then, once again, might visitors enjoy the Tower’s serenity, look off toward the pristine hills, then gaze down to mankind and his civilization, and realize that they still have much to learn about life.

Uncommon Valor

“Uncommon Valor Was a Common Virtue” is the inscription on the Washington D.C. statue of Marines raising the United States flag on Iwo Jima. Many persons exhibited courage and fortitude equal to that inscription during Monday’s massacre.

During those moments of great adversity, University citizens and Austin residents revealed their concern for their fellow man.

In attempts to recover wounded persons from places open to the sniper’s fire, at least one was

killed; another was seriously wounded. Police Officer Billy Speed lost his life after helping the wounded, and Morris Hohmann, who drove an ambulance, was wounded in a rescue attempt.

And there were others, like students Clif Drummond, Sam Potter, and Bob Higley, who braved the sniper’s fire to carry the wounded to safety. The Armored Motor Service generously allowed its armored cars to be used as ambulances, and its drivers unhesitantly went in for the wounded. Some persons stood in open streets directing traffic away from the University area. Some persons with binoculars served as spotters for police.

On the Observation Deck of the University Tower, there were the men who went in after the killer: Officers Ramiro Martinez and Houston McCoy and University Co-Op employe Allen Crum.

There were other law enforcement officers whose services may have gone unnoticed. Allen R. Hamilton, chief of University traffic and security, was responsible for calling for the armored cars and the National Guard.

On the whole, persons in the University area worked together bravely to aid their fellow man. Perhaps, one of the greatest incidents of courage came from a wounded student, a bullet in the back, laying face down

in the grass north of Hogg Auditorium, he whispered, “I’m going to be all right—I’m going to make it.”

Help Is Needed

The University administration and Regents are to be commended for providing the public with the records of sniper Charles Whitman.

Yet, more information is needed, and the help of each person in the University community is needed to help shed light on the tragedy Monday. The Texan is collecting all available information about Whitman and the massacre for research. The Texan hopes every person will help us in this task.

Any information about Charles Joseph Whitman is needed. Persons knowing the sniper are urged to send accounts of Whitman’s character, moods, hobbies, pastimes, and political and moral philosophy.

All persons in the University community are urged to sent the Texan their personal accounts and observations of the massacre Monday and especially how the reacted. Any photographs of the occurrence are also welcome.

Such information will provide invaluable research material to historians and perhaps even to law enforcement officers.

FIRING LINES

Archived content: Aug. 5, 1966 Firing Lines Closed Doors

To the Editor: I was one of a group of persons trapped in the Bursar’s office during Monday’s terror.

The two public doors of the room were locked for us, but the doors are clear glass and offered no protection if Whitman had decided to descend from the Tower. The Newspaper Collection Room was locked and no one had a key. The only place of apparent safety was the tellers’ area behind the opaque green glass windows. When someone asked the employes behind the tellers’ windows if we could take shelter there, the answer was no because the office contained money. It is no comfort to know that when you’re in danger of your life, the Bursar’s office is going to take care of your money. Thank God that Whitman chose not to come down.

Jeanette Calle Taylor Hall 112

Memorial

To the Editor: I feel the Students’ Association of the University of Texas should begin a collection for the construction of a memorial on the South Mall to the persons who were struck down by the sniper.

John D. Boswell San Jacinto A. 226A

Sinking Feeling

To the Editor: I have a sinking feeling that it is going to be the Tower rather than the memory of Charles Whitman that becomes the memorial to the futility that exists side by side with the humanitarian aspirations on this campus.

Dudley Lynch 1201-D Marshall Lane

Guns Hit

To the Editor: Why, I am wondering, should long-bore rifles be allowed henceforth to remain in private hands at all?

All legitimate needs of private defense and sport can be met by less accurate weapons.

Is it a sport, for instance, to leisurely shoot at an unsuspecting animal from a quarter of a mile away? I submit that this, as sport, is perversion. Let hunters use weapons that will force them a bit closer to their quarry.

Dick Hazelett 2710 Nueces

Give Up Toys

To the Editor: Who was to blame? Was Charles Whitman to blame for having lost his mind, as he apparently did? Were the rest of us to blame for failing to foretell the future last Monday morning? Or for lacking an “art to read the mind’s construction in the face?”

I say blame rest most heavily upon certain weapons now in the hands of the police.

These weapons were designed and made for the very use to which they were put: the destruction of life.

How often the mere presence of a loaded gun turns an argument into a murder, a mistake into a personal tragedy—or insanity into a massacre! Can nothing be done about guns?

I’m afraid not. The good old National Rifle Association staunchly defends our right to folly. It is practically impossible to pass even laws designed to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and lunatics: those who have already demonstrated their instability.

How about the rest of us, who have not yet blundered into felony? Like our clean-cut, allAmerican young Eagle Scout Charles Whitman, we can buy just all the guns we want.

And we can use them tomorrow as he did Monday.

Can we ever give up our dangerous toys?

Can we turn our backs on the lure of such dreadful and dramatic extensions of personal power? Can we forget our long tradition of TV Westerns and gangster movies, in which Good always outshoots Evil? I doubt it. I doubt if we can ever be wise enough to stop buying and keeping guns, or to prohibit their manufacture.

I feel very much like a deer.

Neil Hendricks 3907 Jefferson

Illustration by Amber Perry | Daily Texan Staff

Infographic by Kelly Smith | Daily Texan Staff

LEGALESE | Opinions expressed in The Daily Texan are those of the editor, the Editorial Board or the writer of the article. They are not necessarily those of the UT administration, the Board of Regents or the Texas Student Media Board of Operating Trustees.

SUBMIT A FIRING LINE | E-mail your Firing Lines to editor@dailytexanonline.com. Letters must be more than 100 and fewer than 300 words. The Texan reserves the right to edit all submissions for brevity, clarity and liability.

RECYCLE | Please recycle this copy of The Daily Texan.

Place the paper in one of the recycling bins on campus or back in the burnt-orange newsstand where you found it.

EDITORIAL TWITTER | Follow The Daily Texan Editorial Board on Twitter (@TexanEditorial) and receive updates on our latest editorials and columns.

s

NEW 7

yesterday & today

EDITORIAL

Fifty years later, new fears loom over campus

Ten years ago, when the Daily Texan Editorial Board last examined how the Tower shooting changed our campus, we had finally arrived at a point where the terror m, he felt on Aug. 1, 1966, was too foreign for the m goaverage student for the Tower to strike fear into our hearts. As we welcome a generation of students whose parents may have been born after the shooting, we may not share the memories that Longhorns from gents 1966 have, but know the feelings they had ublic all too well. man.

We write today about Charles Whitd the man’s shooting for the first time since comSeung-Hui Cho killed 32 at Virginia Tech, n the since Adam Lanza killed 20 children and ng all six staff at Sandy Hook, since UT student and Haruka Weiser was murdered on campus. hopes Today marks 50 years since Whitman opened fire from the observation deck of oseph the UT Tower in 1966, killing 14 people g the and an unborn child and injuring 32 othWhiters. In 1966, this was unfathomable. Toimes, day, our fears are centered on this as an ever-present threat. comIn some ways, this past decade has been their one defined by mass shootings. Although f the each shooting is harrowing in its own right, w the an act of violence like the one carried out ccurby Whitman would not shake the nation like it did 50 years ago. It’s terrible and yet uable somewhat inevitable — we have become rhaps desensitized to this regular gun violence.

Our generation’s formative school and college years have been during a time in which schools have seen more tragedy than ever before, even as crime has fallen

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overall. We hold a palpable fear that at any time, our universities, movie theaters and even places of worship could turn violent.

Yet while this threat looms over all of us, we are presented the opportunity to be united in addressing it.

We should not celebrate tragedy bringing us together. But as it happens again and again, we are given the chance to empathize with more people.

Every community in America, from the African-American community to the LGBT community, has suffered some kind of violence in the last 50 years. And when they have, we have witnessed our neighbors suffer. The past 50 years have seen black, queer, Muslim and transgender people more integrated into American communities — and we are all the better for it.

There seems to be no end in sight for the violence, perhaps until we can improve our nation’s broken system of mental health care, and both gun rights activists and those who favor gun control can compromise effectively to stop these tragedies from happening for good. This work is slow, arduous and highly politicized, but after the past 50 years, we know it is possible.

Solving this next half century’s problems will be an audacious task. As we set out on tackling them, we cannot let their daunting size reduce our tenacity or our hope.

The University of Texas can and must be an integral part of it, no matter the scars we have suffered. While the pain of school shootings may have started here, they cannot stop us from changing the world.

Daily Texan archive photo

A puff of smoke rises up after gunfire from the ground strikes the UT Tower observation deck.

On Aug. 1, 1966, Charles Whitman killed 14 and an unborn child from the top of the Tower.

EDITORIAL

Campus carry demands preparation from students Today, on the day the UT Tower clock will stop to honor the victims of Charles Whitman’s assault on the 40 Acres, Texas’ campus carry provisions created under SB 11 go into effect. Its effects will likely not be seen today, or any day in the next year.

It’s up to us to guarantee that any looming disaster is put off for as long as possible.

Over the past year, thousands who represent every corner of campus have condemned this bill. Former UT chancellor and president Francisco Cigarroa and Bill Powers both criticized the bill, as did their successors, William McRaven and Gregory Fenves. Student Government, the Senate of College Councils and the Graduate Student Assembly all passed resolutions against it, with past and current SG executive alliances joining them. The Faculty Council, dozens of departments, thousands of faculty and staff and countless students have spoken out. Even the Texas Association of College and University Police Administrators voiced their opposition.

The Daily Texan’s opinion writers have written dozens of pieces on the specifics of why this bill threatens our campus.

We’ve delved into effects it could have on recruitment and Muslim students and how pervasive inequality means only a

Yet we know that no amount of protest will undo this change. Now is not the time for cynical comments and finger-pointing. Today, we must prepare ourselves for the inevitable. select few will ever have the opportunity to carry, as well as the problems that lie in its practical application, such as reminding students and faculty not to forget their guns in bathrooms.

Passing a bill with such great pushback from those who will actually suffer the consequences is enough to leave many speechless. But today, as we gather to mourn those lost after a “good guy with a gun” committed one of the most despicable acts imaginable, there is no room for silence.

When class begins on Aug. 24, we will also be learning how to live on a campus with concealed weapons. Students unfamiliar with guns may find this a stressful experience, perhaps feeling less likely to attend campus events or speak up in class

out of fear. For those who have spent their entire lives around guns, the fierce pushback at the choice to carry will be novel.

What we cannot allow this bill to do, then, is to bring us to release this tension on each other.

This challenge is not something we can take lightly. It takes law enforcement officials hundreds of hours of training to be able to use a firearm properly. Even so, many are woefully unprepared in crisis situations where they may need to deescalate or not use lethal force. Expecting a group of time-strapped 21-year-olds to surpass that standard is so frighteningly unrealistic that we feel embarrassed to have to write about it.

Yet we know that no amount of protest will undo this change. Now is not the time for cynical comments and finger-pointing. Today, we must prepare ourselves for the inevitable.

For students who choose to exercise their right to carry, that means taking on the responsibility to do so well. Simply being the proud owner of a compact 9mm pistol and a license to carry only scratches the surface of what is necessary. While a regular trip to a firing range is an obvious step, we also strongly encourage training on de-escalation and crisis response. Studies show

that people who are not trained on how to handle the very sorts of active shooter situations this law purportedly aims to address are unable to respond effectively, often injuring themselves and others in the process.

And don’t just take our word for it — the NRA encourages and offers extensive training courses for gun owners at every level of experience.

Given the unlikelihood of these skills ever being used, the greatest challenge lies in guaranteeing our classrooms are still equipped to tackle the largest problems our world faces. This means both gun owners and those opposed to weapons on campus actively working with each other to solve joint goals of reducing violence, instead of devolving into political squabbling. The stakes are simply too high not to.

In spite of all the criticism this law has faced, we would prefer the gun advocates be right that our campus will be a safer place because of it. We cling to our strong belief that will not be the case, but would rather help find solutions than stand still and make matters worse. Today, we pause to reflect on the losses that have wounded us so greatly, but know that tomorrow, the Tower’s clock will move on again, just as we will have to.

FORUM

Cooperation key during campus carry rollout

By Kevin Helgren

Student Government President @k_helgs

Firearms – with the exception of those carried by official law enforcement personnel – do not belong on college campuses. Period.

Institutions of higher learning, as the name suggests, are meant to serve as open spaces in which students can ask questions, provide answers, and — wait for it — learn from one another. Doing these things in the presence of firearms, however, is quite difficult.

Last semester, I took a Liberal Arts Honors class called Boundaries and Dilemmas.

The conversations we had in this course were emotionally-charged and, at times, tough to stomach. We discussed abortion, capital punishment, torture, and yes, gun violence. Though the majority of the students were often on the same page, there were a few instances in which half the class fell on an. one side of an issue, and the other half of the us or class fell on the other side. I remember bet. ing confused by and frustrated with others’ orial viewpoints – but I never felt unsafe. In fact, I knew that every student in that class reates spected one another independent of political

beliefs, religious practices or social opinions.

When you add firearms to the mix, things could get dangerous — or fatal. Had Campus Carry been passed prior to my taking Boundaries and Dilemmas, I can’t say for certain that I would’ve felt nearly as comfortable expressing dissenting opinions — or any opinion at all, for that matter — for fear of the opposition losing their temper and resorting to gun violence. This does not mean that I think all individuals who are licensed to carry are looking to carry out a violent agenda, nor does this mean that I’m in favor of stripping the American people of their Second Amendment right.

This means that firearms, by nature, make people uncomfortable, which, in an academic setting, may limit the extent to which students are willing to engage in challenging, thought-provoking conversations.

Unfortunately, no matter how compelling of an argument I present in opposition to Campus Carry, Senate Bill 11 — which allows individuals who are licensed to carry to bring concealed firearms on campus — passed. We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, then, because we have to abide by and uphold the law while guaranteeing the safety and security of students,

faculty, and staff members. I don’t think these things are necessarily mutually exclusive, but I remain convinced that the former makes the latter quite difficult.

Campus Carry goes into effect today, which means that we all have to get used to a new normal. In doing so, I think it’s important that we, as a student body, remain committed to creating a warm, welcoming and inclusive campus for everyone. If you join me in opposition to Campus Carry, I applaud your stance. I also encourage you to continue asking questions, providing feedback and expressing your concern in a productive, respectful way — I know I will. If you happen to fall on the other side of the argument, I urge you to continue sharing your opinions, too. Lastly, if you’re a student who chooses to carry a concealed weapon on campus, I encourage you to really think about what the firearm in your backpack has the capacity to do.

This issue, with all its moving parts, is complicated to understand. What is not complicated to understand, however, is the difference between concealed carry and open carry. If you see a firearm — or even the outline of a firearm in someone’s pocket — on campus, call 911 immediately

We’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, then, because we have to abide by and uphold the law while guaranteeing the safety and security of students, faculty, and staff members. I don’t think these things are necessarily mutually exclusive, but I remain convinced that the former makes the latter quite difficult. and they will address the situation.

Our world — and the United States in particular — is plagued by gun violence, and adding more firearms to the equation won’t solve anything. At any rate, we must play the cards we’ve been dealt — I hope we’re able to do so with unconditional respect and unprecedented amounts of caution.

Helgren is a neuroscience and psychology senior. He is also the student body president.

8 NEWS

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Monday, August 1, 2016

Martinez remembers Whitman’s tower shooting

By Catherine Cardenas

Ramiro Martinez is one of two Austin Police Department officers who shot at Charles Whitman when he was killed on Aug. 1, 1966 at the University of Texas. Martinez is currently retired in New Braunfels where he lives with his wife, Vernell.

@crcardenas8

In the elevator ride up to the observation deck of the UT Tower, APD Officer Ramiro Martinez could still hear gunshots rattling the sky outside like thunder.

It took less than a minute to reach the top floor, and in that time, Martinez made a decision: When the doors opened, he would either put an end to Charles Whitman’s massacre outside or die trying.

A practicing Catholic, he recited an Act of Contrition, asking God to forgive him for his sins, and braced himself for the possibility of his death.

In 20 minutes, the massacre was over.

“I had a very simple plan that day, and it was to kill the sniper or be killed because I had to stop him from hurting other people,” Martinez said.

Just a few minutes earlier, Martinez zig-zagged across the South Mall, running past the injured and dead on the ground. He briefly took cover behind the Jefferson Davis statue, where his friend and fellow officer Billy Speed was killed earlier that day.

“It was traumatic, you just had to keep going,” Martinez said. “If I stopped [to help people] I might get killed, and I wouldn’t be accomplishing anything, so I figured the best thing to do would be to get inside of the Tower. So I ran as fast as I could.”

Martinez assumed APD had sent a group of officers up to the Tower and planned to help them apprehend the

Emmanuel Briseno Daily Texan Staff

shooter. But when the doors opened, there was no team, just two men — Officer Jerry Day and University Co-Op Manager Allen Crum — pointing rifles at him. Once they realized he was an officer, they let their guards down and went about securing the floor together.

A dozen people who had barricaded themselves from the sniper came pouring out of the office. One man, later identified as M.J. Gabour, left the room with a pair of bloodied white shoes in hand. Whitman shot Gabour’s wife and two sons on the way up to the Tower.

“He said ‘The bastard is up

there, let me have your gun and I’ll go kill him,’” Martinez said. “He reached for my gun and I wouldn’t give it to him so Jerry Day and I had to wrestle with him.”

As Day escorted Mr. Gabour out, Martinez and Crum headed toward the stairs, following a trail of blood that led to 16-year-old Mark Gabour. To his left was his mother, Mary Francis, choking on her own blood.

Martinez turned her over with help from Crum before finding Mike Gabour near the stairs. [Mike told them the sniper was up on the observation deck before.]

They went up the stairs,

approaching the desk Whitman had used tostop anyone from following him. There, Crum asked Martinez to deputize him — it wasn’t until then that he realized he would be facing the sniper with a civilian.

Before entering the observation deck, they saw Edna Townsley, following a streak of blood that outlined the path Whitman took as he dragged her body behind a couch. They looked out to the glass door to locate the sniper. Outside, they were immediately met with gunfire from civilians down below. While Martinez made

his way up the East wall, APD officer Houston McCoy joined him, leaving Crum behind with a rifle.

“Every time I turned a corner I was prepared to shoot because I didn’t know where the sniper was,” Martinez said. “It wasn’t easy to say the least. You just have to take the chance. The only way you can confront this person and stop him form killing others is by exposing yourself.”

Back at the Southeast entrance, Crum accidentally fired his rifle, alerting Whitman that he wasn’t alone. At the same time, Martinez locked eyes on

Whitman, who was sitting with his gun pointed toward the Southwest corner — toward Crum.

“Fearing that he was going to shoot at Crum, I aimed and fired,” Martinez said.

“You could see the impact in the body, but he jumped up on his feet and turned to face me, but I kept advancing and shooting.”

Martinez emptied his gun.

“I kept advancing and hollering at McCoy to shoot,” Martinez said. “I saw that McCoy’s round had an effect because he started going down.”

MARTINEZ page A10

Civilian-turned-hero shares memories

By Jasleen Shokar @jasleenshokar

Emmanuel Briseno | Daily Texan Staff

Artly Snuff (pictured) and James Love pulled Claire Wilson, an 18-year-old pregnant student, to safety after Charles Whitman shot her from the top of the Tower on Aug. 1, 1966.

Survivor recounts terror, loss in shooting

By Katie Walsh @katiehannawalsh

When Artly Snuff caught sight of the UT Tower on his walk home the night of Aug. 1, 1966, he nearly collapsed.

“It took everything I had in me not to throw myself under the stone bench that

was right next to the sidewalk,” he said. “I had looked at the Tower in fear for so long. I guess it was just a late reaction.”

That afternoon, Charles Whitman fired 13 lethal shots from the Tower. Two of the fallen victims were friends of Snuff ’s — fellow Austin High School

graduates who were engaged to be married.

Earlier that same day, Snuff met James Love for lunch at a co-op on 21st and Rio Grande streets. He had just graduated high school two months before and was hoping to get a head start by enrolling in a freshman English class at UT.

When he turned on the radio that afternoon and heard the early reports of a man with an air rifle atop the Tower, he and Love headed toward campus to check it out, misunderstanding its severity and thinking it sounded more interest-

SURVIVOR page A10

Daughter of McCoy continues heroic legacy

By Jasleen Shokar @jasleenshokar

Houston McCoy, one of the Austin police officers who shot the sniper atop the University of Texas Tower 50 years ago, is remembered by his daughter as a humble man.

Monika McCoy, now an APD officer herself, said that around the 40th anniversary when a lot of the

police officers, victims and their family members were reunited, her father started talking about the Tower shooting more and she began to understand his role and the impact it had on him.

“It brought us closer together to be able to talk about it and [reuniting] was something they hadn’t really done before,” McCoy said.

McCoy, who serves the West Campus neighborhood, an area her father used to patrol, said she always knew what had happened at the Tower. Every year, reporters would come around and ask questions, but she had never understood the full magnitude.

“You don’t quite grasp things when you’re younger,” McCoy said. “I think in the end, when

everyone started coming together, such a great healing process began. It brought my father and I closer together than we a lready were.”

McCoy said, as the youngest of four children and the only girl, she would always tag along with her father when she wasn’t in school.

MCCOY page A10

A group of students crowded around a boy being dragged across the ground, as more joined to watch. Across the street at the University Co-op, Allen Crum, the first floor supervisor, took notice and assumed it was a fight between students. He walked over to intervene.

In his deposition, Crum said once he realized the boy had been shot, he immediately tried to stop the blood flow as he heard more gunshots.

At the time, he did not know where they were coming from.

After showing another student how to care for the wounded boy, he ran back to the Co-op, ushering employees and customers away from the windows, before heading back outside to stop the traffic and clear the street.

Crum said he wanted to call his wife.

“My wife knew it was my lunch hour and I knew that she would worry,” his deposition reads.

When he couldn’t find a phone in what is now the FAC, he decided to use the phones available in the Tower.

Now aware of the shooter’s location, he waited until shots were fired from the East side of the Tower before running across the street into the Main Building. Inside, he located a phone, but the lines were busy. University of Texas guards told him they had phoned the police already.

He met Austin Police officer Jerry Day, who was already there, and offered his help. Someone came inside the Tower to tell them there were more

I asked this man if he would give me the rifle, I would volunteer to [go up to the observation deck] with him —Allen Crum Supervisor

casualties to the south; Crum and Day went to see. His deposition describes a man lying on the grass, and two more men and two women lying on the concrete.

Crum and Officer Day did not know where in the tower the shooter was because the shots were fired rapidly, from all directions.

“At this time we both thought that there was a possibility of two people in the tower,” Crum wrote.

Shortly after, they were joined by another officer, Ramiro Martinez and Texas Department of Public Safety trooper W.A. Cowan who had an old Remington .30-caliber rifle and a revolver.

“I asked this man if he would give me the rifle, I would volunteer to [go up to the observation deck] with him,” Crum wrote in his deposition.

As the men made their way to the observation deck, Crum asked Martinez, “Are we playing for keeps?”

“You’re damn right we are,” Martinez replied.

Crum, and officers Day and Martinez forced through a makeshift barricade the shooter had assembled and began exchanging fire with

CIVILIAN page A10

10 NEWS A10

Monday, August 1, 2016

TOWER

MCCOY continues from page A9 “I was daddy’s little girl,” McCoy said. “My father is the jack of all trades. He did masonry work, could build a house up from the ground, and he [knew] the survival skills in the country, like hunting and fishing and growing gardens and he passed all of that on to his children.”

McCoy said Houston McCoy was a phenomenal father and family man.

“One of the most important lessons he taught us was to have good moral character, integrity first and foremost, and respect, which probably go hand in hand,” McCoy said. “‘Always do the right thing’ was one of his mottos. ‘Don’t lie, don’t cheat, don’t steal.’ Very basic, but very profound morals and values.”

McCoy said her father was a highly intellectual man, very quiet, easy going and laid back.

“Just in how he handled situations, through observations, is how we learned,” McCoy said. “Whether we were doing wrong, as kids acting up, he never lashed out. There was always a lesson learned, and a lot of it was about patience.”

One of the main things her father taught his children was to show compassion toward other human beings.

“He would give the shirt off of his back to help someone,” McCoy said.

“We grew up with very

Photo courtesy of Monika McCoy

Houston McCoy was one of the officers who confronted Charles Whitman on the observation deck. One of his favorite things to do was fly planes. He was so passionate about his hobby that he offered free lessons to anyone who was interested.

little money, but anything he could do to help someone, he would do.”

McCoy said he taught several people how to fly an airplane at no cost, because he was so passionate about flying.

Victim recovers from injuries despite odds

By Van Nguyen @nguyen_van

Adrian Littlefield was 19 when the shooting occurred. His wife at the time, Brenda Gail Littlefield, worked in the University Tower at one of the state offices. They were visiting campus that day to pick up Brenda’s paycheck.

“I had just come out the door of the Tower building [on the south side],” Littlefield said. “My father was parked down by the fountains. He had come with me … We lived about 200 miles away in Conroe.”

The shots began as the couple walked onto the South Mall to meet Adrian’s father.

Brenda was hit first; the impact threw her several feet away. When Adrian went to check on her, a bullet hit him in his waistline.

Adrian’s father ran to his side and ordered medics to run him out on a stretcher. As they ran away, bullets rained down on the grass as Whitman fired off shots towards them.

They both survived their injuries, but Adrian was paralyzed for 20 months afterward.

“I still have a lot of pain from the injury,” Littlefield said. “I’ve had 13 major surgeries [since the shooting and] still go to the doctor once a month to get around.”

Littlefield said physicians told him last year he would need surgery on his back, near the entry point of the bullet. He would require one procedure each year for the next four years. However, Littlefield said he has decided to opt out for the time being because of his age.

Littlefield said the experience left a lasting impression on him.

“I have an absolute unforgiving attitude toward people who … don’t care about other lives,” Littlefield said.

Doctors told Littlefield right after the shooting that he would not be able walk or have children because of his injuries. Today, he can walk without much difficulty and he has two sons.

“Nothing for him was ever monetary,” McCoy said. “He enjoyed being able to teach somebody else that skill, and he could have made extra money by teaching flying lessons, but he taught them free of charge.”

McCoy said in memory books from elementary school, she would always say she wanted to be a police officer, jockey or a skydiver. “[Being an officer has] always been instilled in me since at least Kindergarten,”

McCoy said. “Looking at photos of [my father] in uniform, he looks very stoic, it always stood out to me.”

McCoy said being a police officer is about more than just catching the bad guys and influences the community in a

positive manner.

“It’s more about helping people and having a positive influence,” McCoy said. “Letting people know you’re there to help protect them and keep them safe.”

Survivor recalls confusion of shooting

By Anna McCreary

After recovering from two bullet wounds, Roland Ehlke volunteered with the Peace Corps in Afghanistan, went to seminary and became a university professor.

@annammccreary

In the summer of 1966, Roland Ehlke was in Austin preparing to leave for Iran with the Peace Corps. On Aug. 1 he headed to lunch with Tom Herman and David Mattson to meet the other volunteers.

When the shooting began, they didn’t realize it was gunfire — Ehlke said they assumed it was fireworks or construction.

“When I was shot, I had no idea,” Ehlke said. “There was street work going on, and I thought something maybe had gone awry there. We didn’t know what was happening.”

Yells erupted just as Ehlke realized he’d been shot in the arm.

The same bullet also struck his friend. Around them, Ehlke noticed people beginning to fall on the sidewalk.

“After a while, it became clear it wasn’t an accident, but there was still confusion,” Ehlke said.

They were trying to seek shelter in a jewelry store when Ehlke said a bullet hit Mattson’s wrist. While trying to help him, Ehlke was shot once again. Even after making it into the safety of the store, a bullet came through the glass and shot the owner.

Photo courtesy of Roland Ehlke

“We thought, maybe they’re coming in here for jewelry,” Ehlke said. “We heard noises behind, too — people who were shooting up at the Tower. We realized at this point there was a shooting, but it seemed like maybe there was a gunfight.”

Eventually, the three young men escaped by climbing out the back and over the fence to the alley, where an ambulance was already waiting.

Ehlke said that even their ambulance driver was hit trying to get around to the front of the building.

Ehlke said they didn’t know a man had been shooting from the Tower until they arrived at the hospital.

When I was shot, I had no idea. There was street work going on, and I thought something maybe had gone awry there.

We didn’t know what was happening —Roland Ehlke Survivor

Although his week-long hospitalization caused him to miss out on his trip to Iran, he later recovered and traveled to Afghanistan with the Peace Corps instead, still sporting bandages on his arm.

Ehlke later became a pastor and today teaches classes on religion, English and literature at Concordia University Wisconsin. He said certain things from that hot summer

day in 1966 are still so vivid in his memory that it hardly feels like 50 years have passed.

“My life has been very blessed with children and grandchildren,” Ehlke said.

“But I still think back on one of our friends, Tom [Ashton], who was shot and killed that day. It made me realize that life is brief, and you never know when it will end.

Every day is a gift.”

SURVIVOR continues from page A9

MARTINEZ continues from page A9

ing than their afternoon chess game.

“We had no idea what we were walking into,” he said.

As they approached Inner Campus Drive and 22nd Street, Snuff and Love were stopped by a fellow student yelling at them to take cover from behind a shrub. They dashed into Sutton Hall and raced to the top-floor window overlooking the Main Mall.

It was littered with motionless bodies.

The pair rushed back outside, ducking behind the Jefferson Davis statue. They were surrounded by people — some alive, others dead — but were stuck, unable to save them without running into Whitman’s gunfire.

Snuff said he remembers the Tower bell ringing, reminding him every time 15 minutes passed — 15 more minutes that each body had to lay on the hot concrete as they slowly bled out.

He dropped his service revolver, reached back for McCoy’s shotgun and ran toward Whitman, shooting him point blank.

His adrenaline stopped pumping.

His knees felt weak.

In the days that followed, Martinez learned the names of the victims he ran past on his way to the Tower.

“There were so many,” Martinez said. “I just tried to forget it. I just went about my life.”

From his post he saw Claire Wilson, an 18-yearold pregnant student lying face-up in the center of the mall.

While shots rang from above, Snuff and James raced out from behind the statue and carried her to safety. She would survive, but her baby would not.

After they rescued Claire, the firing sounds stopped and Snuff noticed something he said he’d never forget — a white flag waving from the top of the Tower. The police had gunned down Whitman. Everyone was safe.

“I remember seeing that white flag and the shots died down and people started coming out from under cover by the dozens, and then hundreds,” he said. “But nobody said anything.”

No one said anything the next day either. Or the following day, when campus reopened and classes

Nobody knew how to react to mass shootings back then. It’s common now. There will be a mass shooting next week somewhere.

— Artly Snuff Survivor

resumed. Snuff said he didn’t start talking about what happened until about 10 years ago.

“Nobody knew how to react to mass shootings back then,” he said. “It’s common now.

There will be a mass shooting next week somewhere.”

The UT Tower shooting was the first of its kind at an American university. There was no protocol, no grief counselors and no support groups for survivors.

It took the campus, city

and country by surprise, and until last week, there wasn’t a memorial that listed the names of its victims.

For Snuff, the memorial holds special meaning because of the two familiar names etched into the granite stone.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so proud of my alma mater,” Snuff said. “I’ve never known anyone who was on a monument before, but the names of my two friends are up there, so it’s meaningful to me.”

Almost immediately, and with each anniversary afterward, Martinez faced controversy as people speculated over the level of his involvement and whether or not he fired the fatal shot. Martinez doesn’t concern himself with it, only offering the same story he’s told for the past 50 years.

“Everyone had the opportunity to do what I did and they didn’t do it,” Martinez said. “I just tried to ignore them. I knew what I did.”

CIVILIAN continues from page A9 the gunman.

Once the sniper had been shot, the officers suggested someone wave a white flag to cease the shots coming from the ground. Crum then took out his handkerchief and waved it on the west and south sides of

the building.

In an interview with the Austin-American Statesman 25 years after the shooting, Crum said he had moved to Las Vegas and worked as a repairman for slot machines before moving outside of the city.

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Monday, August 1, 2016

TOWER

Daily Texan alumni remember UT Tower shooting

By Aaron Torres @AaronTorres_

John Economidy, editorin-chief of The Daily Texan, gathered staff members at 9 a.m. on Aug. 1, 1966 for an impromptu meeting to plan the next day’s newspaper.

Like many summer days, news was dull.

“What we need,” someone said, “is something like the Rigsby-Stark murders.”

The previous summer, James C. Cross confessed to raping and killing Susan Rigsby and murdering Shirley Stark, both 21-year-old coeds from Dallas. The Texan covered the case.

Someone else chimed in, “Why doesn’t someone go up and jump off the tower?”

“And we all agreed,” Economidy said, “that would be a great news feat.”

But in three hours, 25-yearold architectural engineering student Charles Whitman would go to the top of the UT Tower, kill 13 people and injure 32, after murdering his mother and wife. The staff, as student journalists, would be responsible for covering America’s first mass shooting on a college campus. Their newsroom would become the on-campus press headquarters.

The meeting ended and staffers dispersed. Economidy headed back toward his apartment in West Campus for lunch, listening to the radio while he ate. Around noon, he heard KTBC anchor Neal Spelce on the radio.

“This is a warning to the citizens of Austin,” Spelce said. “Stay away from the University area. There is a sniper on the University Tower firing at will.”

Economidy ran toward campus.

Texas was the first. Fifty years after Whitman mounted his arsenal on the observation deck of the Tower, the list of school shootings has added, among others, Columbine, Virginia Tech

and Sandy Hook.

But the pattern that follows school shootings today — the shock, the grief, the memorializing and the forgetting — didn’t happen then.

“This was in 1966,” Senator Judith Zaffirini said. “It wasn’t at a time when mass shootings were, unfortunately, as common as they have become. It was a totally different phenomenon. It was mind-boggling.”

A nation was flummoxed.

A region was shaken. How could that happen here?

Austin was not the metropolis it is now. There were about 700,000 fewer people. The Capitol and the UT Tower were the two tallest buildings.

Zaffirini was the special editions editor for the Texan that summer. She sat at her desk on the south side of the journalism building, in front of a window with a perfect view of the tower when the shooting began.

When she heard the first gun shots at 11:48 a.m., she thought it was construction.

She headed to the Student Union for lunch, walking out in the open and in range, still hearing the bangs.

“But never, ever, ever, did I consider it was gunfire,” Zaffirini said.

She walked up to the entrance, through a huddle of students, and into the normally packed dining area. Empty.

She grabbed orange juice and walked past the entrance, through the huddle of students again, and headed back to the journalism building.

A man suddenly tackled her from behind.

“Don’t you know what’s going on?” he asked her.

“What’s going on?” she replied.

When sports writer Michael Lonsford got out of his class around 11:45, he walked to the tower, to the ground floor vending machines.

Guns fired.

Bodies fell. Students ran. But Lonsford kept walking. Once

inside, he found out someone was shooting people from the observation deck.

While Lonsford was stuck inside the tower, Zaffirini was now inside the Student Union along with managing editor Virgil Johnson.

Zaffirini tried using a payphone to reach her husband.

They shared a car and he was scheduled to give her a ride home. He was going to pick her up at the journalism building, meaning he would drive on the Drag, where Whitman killed five people and injured four others.

“I remember the long, long, long lines of students trying to call out, trying to call home, trying to call other people to say they were OK,” Zaffirini said. “And I wanted to call my husband to tell him not to come because I knew he wouldn’t know what was going on. How would he?”

She finally reached him, and he was stunned to find out what was going on. She told him to stay home.

At the Union, she saw people injured and killed on the Drag. She heard shots.

Shouts. Screaming.

“It was a war zone,” Zaffirini recalled.

George Covington has always had bad eyesight.

He has a degenerative retinal disease, and his vision was was 2400, 1/100th of healthy vision.

He was at his apartment when the shooting started, and despite the risk, the distance and his vision, he decided to head to campus.

“I was a 22-year-old Daily Texan staffer,” said Covington, the editorial page editor, “and I wasn’t going to be left out of this story.”

He ran from his apartment on Nueces, to the Drag, to the UT News and Information Center by the Littlefield House, then hid behind a parked car by the journalism building.

As Covington hid behind a car, Economidy was on the Drag, by the United

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George Covington

Michael Lonsford Sports Writer

Managing Editor

Methodist Church on 24th and Guadalupe Streets, directing traffic away from the drag and diverting them to side streets. Suddenly, someone was shot several feet from him.

He ran to the journalism building.

Covington knew he needed to get inside, and he sort of saw the south entrance to the journalism building, but everything was a blur; his eyes didn’t allow him to make out sharp edges or separate colors.

He furiously ran to the door through wide-open space.

Once inside, he walked toward his office, and noticed Norris Davis, Chairman of the School of Journalism, and other students, holding open the front door and looking up at the Tower.

“You idiots are going to get yourselves shot if you don’t get away from that door,” Covington yelled.

They shut the door and backed away.

“Get off your butts. Get out there and win the Pulitzer Prize,” Economidy told two photographers, sitting inside the journalism building, peeping through the blinds up at the tower.

Economidy then grabbed a notepad and rushed down to the UT campus police, located on 24th street and Speedway. Once he arrived, UT campus chief of police Allen R. Hamilton told him, “John get me a phone number out of the phone directory of an armored car service.”

The armored car met them at the Texas Memorial Museum and was used as an ambulance. Hamilton and another officer rode inside, while Economidy rode on the outside of the vehicle, scribbling notes on his pad as the armored car picked up victims.

Suddenly, at about 1 p.m., Hamilton turned to Economidy and said, “Hot damn John, they got him, let’s go.”

The massacre lasted 96 minutes.

Afterwward, Economidy returned to the Texan office.

Lonsford was assigned, along with Lucy Horton, to go the hospital and interview the wounded, but no one wanted to talk.

Meanwhile, Economidy waited inside the tower. The victims were brought down, uncovered and in gurneys standing straight up.

He only caught a glimpse of Whitman, peppered by three shotgun blasts, since Hamilton told him to leave as they brought him down.

Later that day, reporters were allowed to go up to the tower. Covington, the ediotorial page editor, went up and was struck by the nauseating smell of blood that had pooled up in the reception area.

“It smelled like raw meat,” Covington recalled.

He went to the observation and peered out the north side of the tower, looking down at the journalism building, the car he hid behind and the space he ran through. “I could hit

myself with a rock,” he thought.

“That was the first time I felt weak on my knees,” he recalled, thinking if he could see himself, then a former Marine with Sharpshooter’s badge could’ve seen him too.

At the Texan, Johnson worked with the photo department to choose a photo.

Economidy designed the paper, choosing to use a four-column spread and banner headline.

Lonsford went home and watched Walter Cronkite discuss the shooting. Zaffirini went home with her husband as well, still so shaken by the shooting that she waited outside the bathroom door as her husband showered, not wanting to be alone.

The UT Tower stretches 307 feet into the Austin sky, a landmark of the school, but a reminder of the darkest day in its 133-year history.

After 50 years, Judith Zaffirni is startled by the sound of construction. The impact and the memories from Aug. 1, 1966 cannot be forgotten.

Time helps repress them.

George Covington has only thought of that day two or three times. Virgil Johnson has forgotten a lot from that day.

In the office, behind the computer, on the wall, hangs a plaque. Every Texan editor gets to choose an issue of the Texan during their regime to be copper encrusted as a plaque. The paper John Economidy chose is the front page from Aug. 2, 1966.

He didn’t want to forget.

Editorial Page Editor

Virgil Johnson

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CAMPUS

TOWER

Campus carry begins despite protests

Victims of 1966 Tower shooting remembered

By Van Nguyen @nguyen__van

Senate Bill 11, or campus carry, will go into effect today and will allow a licensed holder to carry a concealed weapon on University grounds.

Since the law was passed, it has been a topic of debate not only around campus but across the state.

Professors sue University over campus carry Three professors — Mia Carter, Jennifer Lynn Glass and Lisa Moore — filed a lawsuit in early July against the University and the state of Texas, with the intent to block the implementation of campus carry. They argue in the lawsuit that “compelling professors at a public university to allow, without any

limitation or restriction, students to carry concealed guns in their classrooms chills their First Amendment rights to academic freedom.”

The professors are part of Gun Free UT, an anti-campus carry organization consisting of faculty, staff and students.

Max Snodderly, professor of neuroscience and also a member of Gun Free UT, said the organization will decide their

next step after the hearing for the lawsuit on Aug. 4.

“We’re expecting the judge to render an opinion before classes start,” Snodderly said.

Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General, was named in the lawsuit and released a statement shortly after it was filed, stating the law did not conflict with the Constitution.

“The right to keep and bear arms is guaranteed for all

Americans, including college students, and must be vigilantly protected and preserved,” Paxton said.

University leaders decide on and implement campus carry policies The UT System Board of Regents met in July to discuss how the new law will be

PROTESTS page B4

CITY

Sixth Street shooting leaves one dead

By Estefania Espinosa & Lillian Michel @thedailytexan

A gunman fired at a crowd on Sixth Street in downtown Austin around 2:15 a.m. on Sunday, leaving one woman in her 20s dead and four wounded, according to the Austin Police Department.

Three women were transported to University Medical Center Brackenridge to receive medical care for nonlife threatening injuries. The fourth individual refused treatment, said EMS Commander Mike Benavides.

APD Chief of Staff Brian Manley said police originally thought there was an active shooter situation after receiving reports shortly after the first incident began of an unrelated assault at a nearby parking garage on the 800 block of Trinity Street. During the second incident, shots were also fired but there were no gun-

SHOOTING page B4

Joshua Guerra | Daily Texan Staff

APD Chief Brian Manley speaks to members of the press after a shooting on Sixth Street on Sunday. One person died and four others were injured.

TOWER

By Catherine Marfin @catherinemarfin

In honor of the opening of the exhibit “Looking Back: 50 Years After the UT Tower Shooting,” the Austin History Center hosted the launch of a new book, “Texas Tower Sniper: America’s First Campus Active Shooter” on July 26.

On Aug. 1, 1966, engineering student Charles Whitman went to the top of the UT Tower armed with several weapons and fired at civilians for over 90 minutes, killing 13 people that day. The new book, written by Monte Akers, Nathan Akers and Robert Friedman, outlines the tragedy using witness interviews, examination of primary sources, handwriting analysis and expert testimonies.

“We remember this horrific event that took place 50 years ago in recognition of the victims affected, in celebration of the heroes, both sung and unsung … and for the most powerful reason — because those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it,” said Susan Rittereiser, archives and manuscripts curator for the center.

The three authors discussed why the event still resonates with Austin after so many years and how the team debunked issues originally misunderstood in the wake of the tragedy.

Monte Akers, a former Texas State professor and current attorney, opened the discussion, explaining how the team

BOOK page B4

STATE

Austin filmmakers Texas tightens gun laws since ‘66 shooting tell witnesses’ stories GUN CONTROL TIMELINE

By Van Nguyen

By Charles Liu @CharleInDaHaus

Austin-based director Keith Maitland first learned of the Tower shooting from his seventh-grade Texas history teacher. The topic wasn’t part of the school’s curriculum, but the teacher, a UT alumna who witnessed the shooting, felt compelled to share her story.

“From the moment she first told me about her experience at the shooting, I’ve always put myself in those shoes,” Maitland said.

In 2006, Maitland came upon a Texas Monthly article featuring a collection of accounts from students, police officers and others who had found themselves caught in the crisis. Maitland had never heard their stories and didn’t want other accounts to go untold. So he went to work.

His curiosity eventually gave way to “Tower,” a documentary that tells the story of an attack that has largely faded from the public dialogue through the eyes of its survivors. Coordinating producer Hillary Pierce said the

@nguyen__van

filmmakers reached out to eyewitnesses by putting out calls for stories and advertising on Facebook.

“It was amazing how many people came forward because they’d never been asked to talk about it before,” Pierce said. “Just kind of putting that out there and saying, ‘We want to hear your story’ — people responded.”

Gathering the information for “Tower” was a sixyear project, starting in 2006 before production began in 2012. Maitland said they wanted the film to include a variety of personal perspectives so viewers would identify with at least one of the characters’ stories.

“It was a real challenge deciding [which stories to use],” Maitland said. “You have to learn everything you can about the subject matter before making those big decisions, because you don’t want to regret leaving out something.”

“Tower” depicts its eyewitness stories with rotoscope animation, a technique

FILM page B6

On the morning of Aug. 1, 1966, Charles Whitman purchased one of the seven weapons found with him on the observation deck of the Tower. Whitman was sold a 12-gauge shotgun at Sears Roebuck & Co. at around 9:30 a.m. In some ways, the ‘60s were a time with more lenient gun regulations.

Stores selling guns at the time did not need any sort of license, and they were not required to perform background checks on buyers. There were also no age limits to purchase weapons.

This changed with the Gun Control Act of 1968, which requires gun sellers to have a Federal Firearms License (FFL). Furthermore, sellers must track how much ammunition they sell and to whom.

Currently in Texas, gun owners only need a License to Carry a Handgun (LTC) if they want to take their firearms outside their home or car. Texans do not need a permit to purchase a weapon and don’t need to register it. Those looking to buy a gun from a licensed dealer must pass a

1966 1968 1993 2016 UT TOWER SHOOTING

GUN CONTROL BRADY ACT INSTITUTES ACT OF 1968

CHARLES WHITMAN KILLS 14, WOUNDS 32 FROM THE TOP OF UT TOWER

INSTITUTES GUN LICENSING, INTERSTATE TRACKING OF AMMUNITION AND FIREARMS

BACKGROUND CHECKS AND FIVE DAY WAITING PERIOD

ALLOWS OPEN CARRY ON PUBLIC UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES. GOES INTO EFFECT ON 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF UT TOWER SHOOTING

Infographic by Alex Dolan | Daily Texan Staff

background check through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) because of the 1993 Brady Act. Previously, gun owners needed a concealed handgun license (CHL) to carry their weapons. However, since open carry was legalized in January 2016, the LTC replaced the CHL, allowing either open or concealed carry.

Those wanting to purchase a rifle or shotgun in Texas

from a licensed dealer must be 18 years or older, while those wanting a handgun must be at least 21 years old. The minimum age to open or conceal carry outside the home is also 21 years old.

There is no limit to how much ammunition an individual can purchase.

The majority of gun owners carried rifles outside their homes for hunting before the legalization of concealed carry in 1996. Because of this, when

NEWS

OPINION

SPORTS

LIFE&ARTS

ONLINE

Summer in review: From SCOTUS decisions to mass shootings, everything you may have missed

We reprint editorials and firing lines from 1966.

PAGE A7

Longhorns will compete for gold at the Rio Olympics.

PAGE B8

Descendents return to form with latest LP. PAGE B5

The Editorial Board looks back on the last 50 years.

PAGE A8

Shane Buechele is ready to lead the Longhorns.

PAGE B8

Experts reflect on the evolution of shooting coverage.

PAGE B6

Fifty Years Later: Read The Daily Texan’s 1966 coverage of the UT Tower shooting at

PAGE B2

CAMPUS CARRY

dailytexanonline.com

Whitman told shopkeepers he was going to use the weapons for hunting, he wasn’t questioned further.

Harel Shapira, assistant professor in the Department of Sociology, said the motivation for someone to buy a gun changed after the CHL was implemented.

“Up until 1990, the primary reason that people gave for owning guns was

REGULATION page B4 REASON TO PARTY

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Monday, August, 2016

NEWS

Summer in Review

By Estefania Espinosa @essie20

Dallas Shooting

On July 7, Micah Xavier Johnson opened fire at the end of a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest, killing five officers and injuring nine officers and two civilians. The protest was in response to police killings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, LA and Philando Castille in Falcon Heights, MN earlier that week. Johnson, a veteran with tactical training, was reportedly acting as a response to these shootings and wanted to kill white police officers.

A standoff between Johnson and police lasted into the early hours of July 8 until police killed Johnson with a bomb attached to a remote-control bomb disposal robot.

Shortly after the shooting, the Austin Police Department announced an increase in staffing on patrol to prevent an increase in violent crime. APD, along with the Austin Police Association, also hosted a vigil for the fallen officers.

Meechaiel Criner

At a July hearing, Judge David Wahlberg of the 167th Criminal District Court chose not to arraign Meechaiel Criner, the 18-year-old charged with capital murder in the death of UT theatre and dance freshman Haruka Weiser. Criner and his defense team were prepared to plead not guilty and are expected again in court on Sept. 22.

Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt

In a 5-3 decision in the case Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled certain requirements in the Texas Omnibus Abortion Bill, known as HB 2, are unconstitutional because they place an “undue burden” on women seeking abortions.

The ruling lifted restrictions placed on abortion clinics in the state, stating that mandating the clinics to meet requirements for surgical centers and to have physicians with admitting privileges at a hospital prevent access to abortion.

Local abortion rights activists celebrated the outcome at Scholz Garten.

Orlando shooting

On June 12, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old security guard, killed 49 people and wounded 53 others when he aimed his AR-15 rifle and handgun at patrons of Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

This was the deadliest mass shooting in the United States’ modern history and resulted in a show of support for the gay community across the nation. In Austin, a vigil was held at gay nightclub Rain and another organized by UT organizations at the Tower. The Austin Police Department also held a press conference to address safety concerns.

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Monday, August 1, 2016

Fisher v. University of Texas

The U.S. Supreme Court validated the University’s consideration of race in the admissions process with a 4-3 vote in UT’s favor in the case of Fisher v. University of Texas.

Considered a win for affirmative action advocates, the decision ended a controversial seven-year-long legal battle that began when Abigail Fisher was denied admission into the University and claimed the University’s race-conscious admissions policy was discrininatory.

Uber and Lyft left

The two top ride-hailing companies in Austin left the city in early May, after a failed proposition to repeal an ordinance that requires fingerprint-based background checks for drivers, among other regulations.

Since their departure, several smaller and newer companies with similar business models, such as GetMe and Fare, have gained popularity among Austinites.

One of these, Ride Austin, is a nonprofit and sets itself apart from the competition by doubling as a way for riders to donate to their favorite charity. Another, Arcade City, has been targeted by the Austin Department of Transportation for violating city laws.

United States v. Texas

The U.S. Supreme Court was unable to reach a decision in the case of United States v.

Texas, affirming the injunction on President Barack Obama’s executive order to grant temporary protection from deportation to certain undocumented immigrants.

Elections

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton clinched the Republican and Democratic presidential nominations respectively this summer, following a divisive primary season.

Trump, after starting the primary season alongside 17 other major candidates, accepted the nomination at the Republican National Convention on July 18. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Trump’s longest-standing rival, did not endorse the nominee during his primetime convention speech.

Clinton made history as the first female nominee of a major political party at the Democratic National Convention on July 25, beating Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley. Three days prior to the convention, WikiLeaks released a collection of emails from the Democratic National Committee [DNC]. Commentators claimed that the leaked emails proved the DNC was not neutral during the primary process, favoring the Clinton campaign over that of Sanders. DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned as a result of the leak.

Dell Medical School

The Dell Medical School welcomed its first class of 50 students in late June. The institution is the result of a collaboration between the University, Central Health and Seton Healthcare Family.

To commemorate the inauguration, a time capsule containing letters, audio recordings and photos was placed in the wall of Dell Seton Medical Center.

Within a few weeks of starting class, students have shown their support for the #BlackLivesMatter movement through open discussions about the importance of diversity and good doctor-patient relationships, regardless of race.

Pokemon Go

Pokemon Go, a location-based augmented reality game, was released on July 6 and quickly became one of the most-used mobile apps of all time. Developed in part by UT alumnus and Ninantic CEO John Hanke, the game uses a mobile-phone’s GPS capability to allow players to search for, capture, train and battle virtual Pokemon creatures. The app has been downloaded approximately 75 million times to date. While popular, the game has come under some scrutiny for causing accidents and public disturbances.

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Monday, August 1, 2016

PROTESTS

continues from page B1

Volume 117, Issue 9

CONTACT US Main Telephone (512) 471-4591 Editor-in-Chief Alexander Chase (512) 232-2212 editor@dailytexanonline.com Managing Editor Cat Cardenas (512) 232-2217 managingeditor@ dailytexanonline.com News Office (512) 232-2207 news@dailytexanonline.com The Texan strives to present all information fairly, accurately and completely.

If we have made an error, let us know about it. Call (512) 232-2217 or e-mail managingeditor@ dailytexanonline.com.

COPYRIGHT Copyright 2016 Texas Student Media. All articles, photographs and graphics, both in the print and online editions, are the property of Texas Student Media and may not be reproduced or republished in part or in whole without written permission.

implemented on campus.

The Board rejected one of the 26 rules, which would have banned licensed holders from carrying a chambered round in their firearm.

The approved rules allow licensed holders to carry in outdoor areas, areas with public access and classrooms. Furthermore, faculty members are not allowed to impose a ban on concealed weapons in classrooms, and they cannot discourage concealed carry in their syllabi.

The Campus Carry Implementation Task Force, which was created by UT President Gregory Fenves and includes

SHOOTING

continues from page B1 no gun-related injuries.

“At this point, we do not believe nor are we classifying this as an active shooter,” Manley said. “What we had was two separate incidents that occurred in close proximity to each other.”

On Sunday night, APD released a statement naming a person of interest in the Sixth Street shooting.

“This person is Endicott McCray, a black male, 24 years of age and may be armed,” the statement reads. “McCray is described as 5’9” in height, 130 pounds, with long corn rows and a goatee. Various descriptions of what he was

REGULATION

continues from page B1

STAFF Rita Sazesh, Van Nguyen, Jason Cheon, Lexi Acevedo, Audrey McNay, Briana Vargas, Emmanuel Briseno, Hojun Choi.

TOMORROW’S WEATHER

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My mom asked the doctor if my nipples were dialated.

actually hunting,” Shapira said. “[Then] there was a huge shift in which self-defense … became the primary reason that people gave.”

John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center and gun rights advocate, said in some ways, there were more regulations back in the 1960s than there are now.

“Back in the mid-60s, you were not allowed to carry a concealed handgun,” Lott

faculty, staff and student leaders, will incorporate the new rules into University policies.

The Task Force has evaluated floor plans to determine which University buildings, floors and rooms will be designated as gun-free zones.

Signage will be placed around these areas.

The team has also developed online FAQs and online training modules to educate the UT community about campus carry. Pamphlets concerning the policies will be distributed to residence halls on campus. “[Our main goal] is education at this point because not many people know about campus carry,” said Elyse Avina, president of Students Against Campus Carry. “We’re also

working with Gun Free UT to spread the message of gun violence prevention.”

Bob Harkins, chair of the Task Force and associate vice president of UT Campus Safety and Security, said in an email to the UT community that licensed holders will be responsible for carrying their firearm “on or about their person at all times while on campus,” meaning the handgun can be holstered, in a backpack or handbag within reach of the license holder, or stored in a locked car.

Campus carry at other universities Eight other states have passed legislation to allow concealed carry on campus. The

last seen wearing have been provided, but are not definite.”

The suspect in the second incident was apprehended and received treatment for injuries he sustained from witnesses who intervened during the assault.

Chemistry senior Louie Gonzalez, who was around the corner from the first incident, said his group of friends was outside deciding how to get home when they heard the shots.

“I swear it looked like something out of a movie since so many people were running,” Gonzalez said.

Economics senior Daylen Dozier, who was with Gonzalez, said they walked toward the street to try to get a

better look.

“Most of the people around us ran the opposite direction or hid in the doorways,” Dozier said.

Dozier said his friends also walked by the scene of the second incident.

“We walked by when all the cop cars pulled up though, thought it was just a fight,” Dozier tweeted. “Everyone has to keep their head on a swivel these days and be aware of their surroundings, never know when stuff like this could happen.”

The investigation is ongoing. APD has advised people to avoid the area and has asked those with footage of the incident or aftermath to forward their videos to the APD email.

said. “Today there are over one million Texans that have permits for concealed carry.”

Beginning Aug. 1 — coincidentally the 50th anniversary of the Tower shooting — those with a LTC will be allowed to conceal carry on campus, which was prohibited during Whitman’s lifetime.

UT President Gregory Fenves suggested prohibiting chambered rounds for those carrying handguns on campus. The Board of Regents voted against this rule, overruling him.

UT alumnus Bobby Petmecky said he is glad the policy was rejected and that not having a chambered round could be a potential risk to a licensed holder.

“I think about it as time being wasted in a very timesensitive situation,” Petmecky said. “If someone comes into [a] classroom and starts shooting, taking the time to work a round in the chamber could cost someone their life.

We shouldn’t put limitations like that on people who could save lives.”

University of Idaho’s campus carry law went into effect in 2014. Since then, there have not been any significant safety issues said Matt Dorschel, executive director of Public Safety and Security at the University of Idaho.

“We have had one incident [where] a person that had a concealed firearm inadvertently showed the firearm,” Dorschel said. “They were bent over and someone else observed the firearm.”

When approached by campus officers, this person showed his license to conceal carry so he was not in any further trouble.

The open carry of handguns — which became legal in Texas on Jan. 1 this year — is still

d wor

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BOOK

continues from page B1 uncovered new information through the accounts of witnesses whose stories hadn’t been told, such as a former friend of Whitman’s with whom he regularly played poker and the story of an Austin American-Statesman reporter who was at the Tower for the duration of the shooting.

Roger Friedman, a clinical psychologist and social worker, was close friends with victim Paul Sonntag, who died on Guadalupe Street that day. Friedman read an excerpt from the book in which he describes visiting the Sonntag family the night of the shooting.

“I relate to this story both

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Cocks Not Glocks event A student-organized event involving “strapping gigantic swinging dildos to backpacks in protest of campus carry” will begin on Aug. 23 with a rally in front of the Main Mall starting at 7 p.m.

The actual protest will be on Aug. 24, the first day of classes. “[It’s] up to the student on how they protest with the props,” said Ana López, one of the organizers of the event.

“We do, however, have a tentative plan for a smaller rally that evening.”

Briana Vargas | Daily Texan Staff

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prohibited at UT. Harkins advised students to call 911 if they see a firearm on campus, instead of attempting to question or approach the carrier.

Louise Grose, an attendee at the “Tower Sniper” book launch and reception, examines Charles Whitman’s suicide letters.

THE DAILY TEXAN

A INE FO ONL

NEWS

as a psychologist and as a friend,” Friedman said.

“While it is impossible to justify what he did that day, it is possible to understand why he did it.”

Nathan Akers, Monte’s son and a 2013 Texas State University graduate, said it was important to remember the tragedy in an era the team characterized as “an epidemic of trauma.”

“A shift is underway, a shift in the right direction but one that took us five decades to get to,” Nathan Akers said.

“We will continue to push for the right way this story should be told so we can bring clarity to those affected. Truth heals, and we hope we can contribute to the healing and to how this legacy is perceived.”

ADVERTISING TERMS There are no refunds or credits. In the event of errors made in advertisement, notice must be given by 10 am the fi rst day of publication, as the publishers are responsible for only ONE incorrect insertion. In consideration of The Daily Texan’s acceptance of advertising copy for publication, the agency and the advertiser will indemnify and save harmless, Texas Student Media and its officers, employees and agents against all loss, liability, damage and expense of whatsoever nature arising out of the copying, printing or publishing of its advertisement including without limitation reasonable attorney’s fees resulting from claims of suits for libel, violation of right of privacy, plagiarism and copyright and trademark infringement.

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Monday, August 1, 2016

CITY

ALBUM REVIEW | ‘HYPERCAFFIUM SPAZZINATE’

Austin events provide summer entertainment

By Anna McCreary @annamccreary

Make the most of the final days of summer with some of these Austin events that won’t break the bank.

The Austin Flea Saturday, Aug. 6, 12 p.m.

– 6 p.m.

4th Tap Brewing Co-Op, 10615 Metric Blvd.

Shop the quirkiest parts of Austin by coming out to the summertime Mini Austin Flea. The event features handmade and vintage items from local vendors, including precious gift-worthy items such as jewelry, bath and body products, original artwork, paper goods and textiles.

Laugh, Dammit! Game Show Sunday, Aug. 7, 8 p.m.

The Highball, 1120 S. Lamar Blvd.

If you’re upset that summer is coming to a close, this show at the Highball will be sure to cheer you up. The performance will feature the comedians that make the Laugh, Dammit! game show happen every month — only this time you’re encouraged to break a smile, so make the most out of your Thursday night with a few laughs.

Friday Night Flix Series — ‘The Goonies’ Friday, Aug. 19, 8 p.m.

– 10 p.m.

Lone Star Court, 10901 Domain Dr. If you haven’t made it out to an outdoor screening yet, now’s your chance. Come by at dusk to catch the 80’s classic, ‘The Goonies.’ Bring

your blankets and lawn chairs, and enjoy the best of summertime treasure hunting flicks.

Parade of India Saturday, Aug. 13, 10 a.m.

– 12 p.m.

South Steps, Texas State Preservation Board, 201 E. 14th St. In celebration of nearly 70 years of the country’s independence, The Parade of India is a festival showcasing the unique costumes, music and dances of each state in India. The festival will have free Indian food samples, local Indian food trucks and henna artists available for festival-goers. Be sure to check out a parade led by Riti Chikerrur, Ms. International 2014 and former Miss India title winner. All cultures are welcomed in this community-wide celebration of India’s independence.

Austin Pet Expo Aug. 20–21, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Palmer Events Center, 900 Barton Springs Rd. If you have pets — or wish you did — head out to this event, which includes fun pet sports and live demos in positivereinforcement obedience training, as well as talent and costume contests.

Plus, you can swing your pet around and get a free nail trim or low-cost vaccination from one of the pet-friendly exhibitors — or you can adopt your own furry friend on site.

26th Annual Hot Sauce Festival Sunday, Aug. 21, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Fiesta Gardens, 2101 Jesse

E. Segovia St. As they say at the Austin Chronicle Hot Sauce Festival, “If you can’t beat the heat this summer, then you gotta eat it.” The festival will have food from Curra’s Grill, Kebabilicious, Kesos Taco House and more, as well as live music from artists such as Joe King Carrasco and A. Sinclair. Ambitious eaters can also enter the Pluckers Wing King wingeating competition for a chance to win $1000. Admission is free with the donation of three healthy, nonperishable food items.

Art After Six Friday, Aug. 26, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.

The People’s Gallery, 301 W. 2nd St. Behold some of Austin’s finest art at the People’s Gallery with artists Jennifer Idol, Kirk Marsh and Shelley Wood. The artists will give talks starting at 6:15 in the Boards & Commissions room, but you’re also welcome to pick up a gallery guide on the first floor and explore three stories of artwork yourself.

Parking is free but limited in the City Hall parking garage, so make sure you get there early.

Belly Dancing & Live Drumming Saturday, Aug. 27, 8 p.m.

Kick Butt Coffee Music & Booze, 5775 Airport Blvd.

This lively event happens every last Saturday of the month and features — you guessed it!

— belly dancing and live drumming. You can either kick back and watch the show, or join in on the fun and learn how to dance yourself.

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Hypercaffium Spazzinate brings emotional moments to the table without sacrificing the Descendents’ classic sound.

Photo Courtesy of Epitaph Records

The Descendents return to form with latest LP release

By Chris Duncan @chr_dunc

During the halcyon days of Los Angeles punk, the Descendents’ sound stood out for its quirky, blind rage.

Their debut, Milo Goes to College, stands as one of the era’s most beloved albums.

But its title was no joke— lead singer Milo Aukerman left the band in 1982 to study biochemistry, and after drummer Bill Stevenson joined legendary art punk band Black Flag, the Descendents disappeared.

Though the group reformed in 1985, they have never been able to pin down the same charm of their first LP. The four projects that followed ranged from their most recent pop rock endeavour Cool to Be You to the more hardcore I Don’t Want to Grow Up, the inconsistency ruining much of the charm of Aukerman’s songwriting efforts. However, with their new record, Hypercaffium Spazzinate, the Descendents return to form with some success, crafting both emotional and comical moments to create an eclectic and impressive experience.

In typical Descendents fashion, Hypercaffium

Spazzinate’s tracklist finds itself riddled with concise tracks, often clocking in at under a minute and a half. At times, songs such as “Limiter” and “Human Being” feel like demos rather than fully thought-out tracks.

But instead of sticking to this unpolished production style, the Descendents’ two typical producers, drummer Stevenson and guitarist Stephen Egerton, play more active roles behind the mixing board. Although certain songs come off more canned and calculated, the emotional moments on the project greatly benefit from the complex but cohesive blend of guitar and drums.

Of the record’s heartfelt moments, most center on Stevenson’s battle with severe health issues during the band’s most recent hiatus. The invigorating “Smile” is easily a highlight, conveying a wholehearted message about the importance of staying positive during tough times.

“Beyond the Music,” which is similar to the approach of “Smile,” summarizes the band’s, and particularly Stevenson’s, journey in music and life.

But the Descendents haven’t lost their wit and

humor. “No Fat Burger” is a fast-paced, 43-second jaunt dedicated to the futile resistance of fast food.

Almost no subjects are off limits — topics range from the world’s nuclear weapons to the cyclical nature of the band’s style to Aukerman’s mixed relationship with testosterone.

Regardless of subject, each of the record’s 16 tracks is full of traditional punk riffs and fantastic performances.

After a while, a few tracks blend into the mix, but most stand out as notable and memorable moments. Hypercaffium Spazzinate pays homage to the group’s classic style with a slightly softer spin, bringing nostalgia heavily into the mix.

Overall, the Descendents comeback LP harkens back to their original spontaneous and messy sound while bringing a bit of sophistication into the mix — perfect for longtime fans. No matter their future, the Descendents proved they have what it takes to come back strong with an album as consistently entertaining as Hypercaffium Spazzinate, and hopefully they continue to grow as a group and expand into further genres.

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18 L&A [6]

B6

MEGAN HIX, LIFE&ARTS EDITOR | @thedailytexan Monday, August 1, 2016

TOWER

UT director discusses lasting impact of Whitman’s motives History of mass school shootings

University of Texas

August 1, 1966 Dead: 17 Wounded: 32

Columbine High School

April 20, 1999 Dead: 15 Wounded: 24

University of Iowa

November 1, 1999 Dead: 6 Wounded: 1

Virginia Tech

April 16, 2007 Dead: 33 Wounded: 23

Sandy Hook Elementary School

December 14, 2012

By Megan Hix @meganhix95

Gary Lavergne was 10 years old in August 1966, but he remembers watching the news reports of the Tower shooting from his home in Church Point, Louisiana with his father.

As they watched, his father, the town’s police chief at the time, stood up and told him the attack would likely be the first of many, an inspiration for killers to come. Sure enough, he was right.

The event inspired Lavergne to write his first true crime novel, “A Sniper in the Tower,” published in 1996 — the 30th anniversary of the shooting. Today, he works in the building where it all happened as UT’s director of admissions research.

The Daily Texan sat down with Lavergne to talk about the shooting’s impact and the importance of learning from the past.

The Daily Texan: You’ve said you don’t think Charles Whitman’s actions were caused by a brain tumor. Do you think it was a separate mental health issue or something else entirely?

Gary Lavergne: Was he depressed? Yeah. Did he have

anxiety? Yeah. But that’s common all over this campus. Did it prevent him from knowing the difference between right and wrong and being able to control himself? The answer is certainly not. I’ve been working here for 16 years, and I routinely come across students who have dealt with far greater challenges than Charles Whitman ever had. His parents were going through a separation — well that’s terrible, it really is. But what percentage of our students are witnessing the same things at home?

He had academic problems, money problems, his marriage was falling apart.

He just saw himself as someone who should have been accomplishing a whole lot more. I think he wanted to die but in a big way and a very selfish way. He feels he’s lost control of his life, so he takes control, doing the thing he does better than just about everybody.

He ended up taking the ultimate control, because he decided who lives and who dies.

DT: What’s the main difference between the way the shooting was treated then and how similar events are treated now?

GL: None of this came

Gary Lavergne is the author of the true crime novel “A Sniper in the Tower” and the director of admissions research for the University.

Rachel Zein Daily Texan Staff

with instructions. The conventional wisdom at the time apparently was ‘go back to work.’ Today, we know a lot more about the cycle of grief and how to get over it. For example, when Haruka [Weiser] was killed, the University had a very different reaction. That’s because we’ve, tragically, become wise about how to handle these things because they’ve happened so much more often.

DT: Whitman did see a psychiatrist, who he told about his thoughts to shoot people from the top of the Tower. Why didn’t that immediately raise a red flag?

GL: At the time, we just didn’t have a whole lot of experience with all of this. It’s easy for us to look back at that psychiatrist and say he should’ve committed Whitman, but then Whitman could’ve lined up a number of character witnesses — including his mother and his wife — to say “No, he’s a good guy.”

The psychiatrist really did the only thing he could’ve, which was ask him to come back. In a case like that, the patient makes the decision, and Whitman decided not to come back.

DT: How does understanding the events of Aug. 1, 1966 benefit

us today?

GL: History is the source of wisdom. It comes from looking back and learning from your experiences and the experiences of other people. I think what this demonstrated for law enforcement was that, for a town the size of Austin at that time, they were not prepared to handle something like this.

So what did they do? They created SWAT teams. Now you have people who are trained in active-shooter situations, and that all started with this.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Dead: 28 Wounded: 2

Umpqua Community College

October 1, 2015 Dead: 10 Wounded: 7-9

TOWER

Mass shooting coverage has changed over time

By Anna McCreary @annamccreary

Source: LA Times

The morning after the 1966 UT Tower shooting — what is known today as one of the worst mass shootings in modern U.S. history — The Austin American’s

front-page headline read, “Everyone Loved Him.” The article went on to describe Charles Whitman as “a good son, a top Boy Scout, an excellent Marine, an honor student, a hard worker, a loving husband, a fine Scoutmaster, a

Name: PPD; Width: 29p6; Depth: 10 in; Color: Black, PPD; Ad Number: 4806

handsome man, a wonderful friend to all who knew him — and an excellent sniper.”

For weeks, news coverage focused on how a seemingly good man could commit mass murder and if his tumor was really to blame.

After some time passed, however, talk of Whitman and the shooting died down. The University shut down for a single day, and flags flew at half mast for one week. For the next 33 years, the University was silent.

In an online research project, “Behind the Tower: New Histories of the UT Tower Shooting,” Maria Hammack, a Ph.D. student in history, explored the “collective amnesia” that followed early mass shootings across America.

“It’s a way of healing, or maybe, what I gather, a way to desensitize or detach ourselves from the pain,” Hammack said. “Nowadays, the idea is opposite — that in order for you to move on and heal, you have to talk about it. But back then the notion was very different.”

In the past 50 years, media treatment of subsequent shootings has evolved, prompting nationwide discussions of mental health and public policy after the attacks at Columbine in 1999 and Virginia Tech in 2007. Hammack said UT’s 50th anniversary memorial service on

FILM

continues from page B1 that uses footage of real actors overlaid with painted colors, rather than pure live action. Maitland said the decision was made partially out of necessity because he knew UT would not allow the crew to reenact the events on campus with actors, guns and blood, but it was also a way for the film to appeal to younger audiences.

“We wanted high school and college kids to see themselves reflected on that screen,” Maitland said. “[In the film], we are looking at young innocent people

When you’re doing a crime story, you don’t want to let the victims get lost in there. Our main goal was to be as human as possible.

—Matt Chittum, The Roanoke Times

Monday is an indication of that shift.

“I think digging into these histories and sort of pulling out and unveiling the truth of what happened is going to help people, and the whole community, move on and heal,” Hammack said.

Many news organizations have also shifted their focus away from stories about the shooters in favor of those about the victims. To encourage this change, Texas State University launched the “Don’t Name Them” campaign. Pete Blair, the program’s executive director, said the campaign is based on the discovery of a direct contagion effect for active shooter events.

“If you know that they’re motivated by desire for notoriety or fame, then if you reduce the amount of notoriety or fame they get for that, it should reduce the frequency for which you see the events occur,” Blair said.

Matt Chittum, who covered many of the Virginia Tech victims’ stories for The

Roanoke Times, said students’ cell phone footage of the shooting provided accurate accounts of what happened, but overshadowed the victims with graphic images and risked making a celebrity out of their killer.

“When you’re doing a crime story, you don’t want to let the victims get lost in there,” Chittum said. “Our main goal was to be as human as possible.”

One of the biggest changes, however, is the media’s growing experience in covering mass shootings. After Virginia Tech, Chittum said The Roanoke Times received a gift package of food from a newspaper in Oklahoma City who empathized with what their reporters were going through.

“Essentially we’ve repeated that — we just sent a package down to Orlando, and prior to that we sent one to WDBJ,” Chittum said. “It’s a really nice thing, but we don’t do it every time because it happens so often now. We’re getting too versed in how to cover these things.”

going through the events of that day, not as the memories from 50 years ago, but as a visceral first-hand experience with immediacy.”

The picture made its debut at this year’s South By Southwest film festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for best documentary feature, and is set for a theatrical release on Oct. 12.

Maitland said he hopes “Tower” can push forward a dialogue about gun violence at a time when mass shootings have become increasingly common. To help start this conversation, the crew plans to host screenings at college campuses across the

nation later this year.

While the picture portrays a dark moment in UT’s history, producer Megan Gilbride said “Tower” is not meant to frighten viewers by remembering the tragedy, but is instead intended to highlight the strength and heroism of many involved.

“Today, when we watch these events unfold, it’s hard not to be beaten down by what feels like the monsters that we’re seeing,” Gilbride said. “The story that ‘Tower’ is telling is really about the amazing humanity and the sacrifice and caring that strangers felt for each other.

I think we can see our better selves in those people.”

L&A 19 [7]

EVA FREDERICK, SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY EDITOR Monday, August 1, 2016

B7

RESEARCH

UT researcher hypothesizes T-Rex both roared and cooed

By Emmanuel Briseño @OhNoNotCano

The T-Rex is known for its large teeth, giant size and fierce roar, but new research suggests that the tyrant lizard king may also have made cries no more frightful than a pigeon’s coo.

According to a study recently published in the journal Evolution, dinosaurs may have produced sounds similar to the bellow of an alligator or the coo of a pigeon, in addition to their roars. To find this information, coauthor Julia Clarke, a professor at the Jackson School of Geosciences, and a team of scientists from UT and other universities studied the calls of the closest living relatives of dinosaurs, birds and crocodilians.

The researchers observed that many of the larger birds, along with alligators and crocodiles, are closed-mouth vocalizers, meaning they emit sounds through the skin on their necks instead of through their mouths. Clarke said

that since dinosaurs were much larger than today’s living birds, the probability of dinosaurs exhibiting the closed-mouth calling is high.

Chad Eliason, a postdoctoral researcher at UT’s Jackson School of Geosciences and the study’s co-author, said that to produce a sound, a bird forces air into its esophagus instead of releasing it through an open mouth. The area around the neck of the bird filters out higher frequency sounds to release a deeper, more pure tone. These sounds can range from soft coos like a dove to harsher noises like those of an alligator or crocodile.

“Just think about blowing up a balloon,” Eliason said. “A small balloon is a lot trickier to blow up than a large balloon, so I think that’s kind of the biomechanical argument of why we might see this only occurring in large bodied things and potentially in large extinct dinosaurs as well.”

To understand how and why closed-mouth vocalization evolved, the scientists performed statistical analyses on the distribution of the calls among bird and reptile groups. They came to realize that the behavior evolved 16 separate times in avian species and was most predominant in largebodied lineages.

In the animal kingdom, closedmouth bellows are social interactions or a sexual display.

Eliason said that baby ostriches produce begging sounds with an open mouth to call for food, but an adult male will produce a booming sound with a closed mouth to attract a mate. He said that dinosaurs’ closed-mouth vocalizations were more than likely limited to sexual displays and would have therefore used open-mouth calls as well.

“I would say that it would be very possible, potentially,

that they used both behaviors in different contexts,” Eliason said. “In other context, they still could have produced these open mouth sounds.”

Illustration by Melanie Westfall | Daily Texan Staff

GEOLOGY

UT deploys controversially funded earthquake monitoring equipment

By Hojun Choi @hjnchoi

Illustration by Melanie Westfall | Daily Texan Staff

TUMOR

continues from page A3 and actions on that August day.

Michael Koenigs, an expert on brain lesions, said that the position of Whitman’s tumor — pressing against the amygdala — definitely had the potential to affect his mental state.

The amygdala is a region at the back of the brain involved in emotional regulation and regulation of responses such as fear and aggression. Koenigs said he has seen instances of tumors like Whitman’s which have affected patients’ entire personalities.

“It is unlikely that a tumor initiated some type of psychotic rage, but it could have tweaked his personality to be a bit more aggressive or a bit less empathetic,” Koenigs said. “It could certainly affect his emotional state, and it could certainly affect his body’s physiological responses to threat and healthy emotional responses related to aggression.”

Other scientists, like N. Bradley Keele, an associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine, takes a more skeptical point of view. Keele, who studies the amygdala, said that although the location of the tumor could have affected Whitman’s behavior, it is unlikely that it was the sole reason for his actions or even an important contributing factor.

“Yes, he had an aggressive, malignant tumor in his temporal lobe that could have impacted his bizarre and violent behavior,” Keele said. “However, what is often overlooked is that he came from a very abusive home, and admitted to domestic violence with his own wife

prior to stabbing her.

I suspect his tumor was little more than ‘circumstantial.’”

This view is shared by Gary Lavergne, author of the 1997 book “A Sniper in the Tower.”

“For 48 hours, [Whitman] made serial decisions in a correct order leading to the accomplishment of a goal,” Lavergne said. “To me his actions speak for themselves. If indeed a tumor or anything else took control of him and made him do something he didn’t want to do, when did this ‘seizure’ of sorts start?”

Lavergne hypothesized that Whitman’s violence was largely due to discontent with his situation and resentment towards his family, and after further research, said he even doubts the existence of the tumor.

“After my book came out, I met two doctors who didn’t believe he had a brain tumor at all,” Lavergne said.

Today’s sophisticated brain imaging technology could allow a more accurate look into Whitman’s brain, but Whitman’s brain has been reported by some media outlets as being among the “missing” brains that UT employees disposed of in 2002.

Even if it were possible to pinpoint the effects of the tumor of Whitman’s actions, the question would still remain whether or not the answer should change the public’s perception of him. If it were proven that the tumor was a cause, would Whitman himself be less to blame?

“What does it mean when somebody’s brain changes?” asked David Eagleman, a scientist who studies the intersection between neuroscience and law. “This really challenges us to think about criminality in a different way because

It is unlikely that a tumor initiated some type of psychotic rage, but it could have tweaked his personality to be a bit more aggressvie or a bit less empathetic.

— Michael Koenigs, expert on brain leisons

you don’t choose your genetics, you don’t choose your childhood experiences, your family of origin, your neighborhood, you don’t choose any of this stuff — and yet this is the stuff, your genetics plus your experiences, that makes you who you are.

None of us would choose to have a brain tumor.”

Eagleman said that although the tumor could have been partly responsible for wWhitman’s actions, it would be unlikely to change the public’s perception of him.

“His crime was so horrific — he killed his wife and mother the night before and shot all these random strangers — I think society would not forgive him,” he said.

Eagleman runs the Center for Science and Law, a nonprofit dedicated to exploring the boundaries between biological causes of crimes and how those crimes are dealt with under the law.

“What stresses and strains us as people is knowing on the one hand that we are biological creatures, and knowing on the other hand that acts of violence like his are so deep and awful that they feel unforgivable,” he said. “We live in that tension.”

From November 2014 to early 2015, residents of North Dallas and Irving, Texas were struck by a series of earthquakes that would later be named the “Irving Swarm.”

In order to better study the cause of earthquakes like these, which occurred in an area not previously known for active fault lines, the Bureau of Economic Geology at UT-Austin has begun placing new sensors across the state to collect data as part of the TexNet Seismic Monitoring Program.

The new sensors are scheduled to be deployed by September, but one of the most active environmentalists in the state is already questioning the source of some of the funding for the project.

The bureau will be responsible for collecting data from 22 new sensors, in addition to 16 stations that are already in place. The data will be analyzed by the University’s Center for Integrated Seismicity Research.

The monitoring program and the Center for Seismicity Research are funded by $4.5 million that the 84th Texas Legislature appropriated for the project through House Bill 2.

In addition to receiving government funding, the Center for Integrated Seismicity Research is also funded by companies in the oil and gas industry, including Exxon Mobil,

ConocoPhillips and Chevron.

Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas, a nonprofit organization committed to influencing political decisions affecting environmental issues, said that the center’s source of funding could cast doubt on the credibility on the research it produces.

“It definitely gives me pause, because that [funding] can give the perception that whatever research that is produced is influenced or tainted by those corporate sponsors,” Metzger said.

Though he is wary of corporate funding for this type of research, Metzger said the organization supported government funding for the program.

“I think this research definitely needs to be done,” Metzger said. “But I think there also needs to be extra scrutiny to make sure that there isn’t any undue influence by the financial sponsors to tilt the results in a way that will favor them.”

Peter Hennings, principal investigator of the center, said that the oil and gas industry is interested in finding out how their actions may have caused increased seismic activity. He said the additional funding from companies will help the center build more complete models of the subsurface in order to better understand the problem at hand.

Hennings also defended the credibility of the research that will be conducted at the center, and said that the activities and

findings of the center will be available to the public.

“We are in no way biased by any third party in terms of how we conduct ourselves, the decision we make or how we conduct our research,” Hennings said. “We welcome scrutiny from any parties at any time, because we’re completely confident in our position on the topic and the way we conduct our research.”

The Texas Tribune reported in April that an increase in the number of wastewater disposal wells stemming from hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” by the oil and gas industry may have caused the increase in seismic activity.

In June, The Wall Street Journal reported a decrease in the number of earthquakes in Oklahoma after the state added restrictions on how much wastewater oil and gas companies can inject into the ground.

Hennings said disposal wells have been most definitively associated with the recent rise in earthquakes, but also said that these wells are currently the most cost-effective way of dealing with wastewater.

“There is a lot more we can do to understand the relationship between seismicity and oil and gas activities,” Hennings said. “Industry, academia, regulators and the general public need to find some common ground here to understand the benefits and the concerns behind these processes.”

20 L&A [8]

AKSHAY MIRCHANDI, SPORTS EDITOR | @texansports EZRA SIEGEL, ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR | @texansports Monday, August 1, 2016

B8

FOOTBALL

Column: Buechele ready to lead Texas

By Michael Shapiro Daily Texan Columnist @mshap2

Everyone seems to have the same story about Shane Buechele.

“Nothing has changed from [Buechele] from the day he stepped on campus,” head coach Charlie Strong said. “Every time I walk in the game room and see him and [senior tight-end Caleb] Bluiett they’re there shooting pool and Bluiett is like, ‘There’s nothing he can’t do.’ Then he goes and plays ping-pong and then he goes and plays basketball and then he goes and plays golf.”

Numerous Longhorns repeated the tales of Buechele’s dominance away from the gridiron during Big 12 Media Days on July 19, all illustrating a common theme: Buechele is a proven winner, ready to lead the burnt orange in 2016.

The freshman from Arlington has made his presence felt throughout the offseason, both on the field. in practice and in the locker room. Strong and Texas seniors have gone to great lengths when praising Buechele’s work ethic and attitude, noting his competitive streak. “[Buechele] is very smart and he makes very smart decisions,” senior safety Dylan Haines said.

“He obviously studies the game a lot … and he’s a great competitor.”

The Longhorns have been tight-lipped about who has the upper-hand in the quarterback battle.

But as opening night approaches, the likelihood of Buechele in the starting role increases.

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TOP TWEET Joshua Guerra | Daily Texan file photo

Freshman quarterback Shane Buechele looks for an open man at the Orange-White game on April 16. Buechele is being considered to start against Notre Dame on Sept. 4.

And for good reason.

Neither of Texas’ starting quarterbacks from 2015 showed enough promise to warrant another shot at the starting gig, proving inconsistent and underwhelming throughout the year.

Senior Tyrone Swoopes began 2015 as Texas starter, but was removed from the role after a 38-3 shellacking against Notre Dame to open the year. Swoopes has shown progress during the offseason, but all indications lead to him seeing the field only in situational packages.

As for sophomore Jerrod Heard, his time as a starter looks to be in jeapordy. After shining early in the year against

California — in which he put up 527 yards of total offense — Heard struggled in Big 12 play and missed much of the spring with a shoulder injury.

The incumbents’ deficiencies opened the door for Buechele, who seized the opportunity. His offseason success earned the respect of not just Strong, but the veterans on the Texas roster.

“You can’t get [Buechele] out of the facility,” senior tackle Kent Perkins said.

“He came in and handled his business. He does the little things right, and he’s willing to learn and listen to the older guys.”

Much of the praise surrounding Buechele stems

Name: 4653/University Federal Credit ; Width: 29p6; Depth: 10 in; Color: Process color, 4653/University Federal Credit ; Ad Number: 4653

[Buechele] is very smart and he makes very smart decisions. He obviously studies the game a lot … and he’s a great competitor.

Connor Lammert

@ANDtwenty1 “All moved out of my apartment in Austin, TX. Couple more weeks until I head to Japan for work!

—Dylan Haines, Senior safety

from his knowledge of the quarterback position.

While Heard and Swoopes are often described as athletes masquerading as quarterbacks, Buechele came into the spring with a strong grasp of the position as well as offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert’s system.

“When he came into the system, it sunk in that he’d been accustomed to it,” Strong said. “It wasn’t

hard for him to come in right away and make those throws and put the ball where it’s supposed to be put.”

Strong and the Longhorn staff won’t officially announce the starter for another couple of weeks. But make no mistake: When the season kicks off against Notre Dame on Sept. 4, Shane Buechele will be Texas’ starting quarterback.

WHAT TO WATCH USA @ Nigeria

Day: Monday Time: 7:00 p.m.

SPORTS BRIEFLY

OLYMPICS

Emmanuel Acho embarks on mission trip

Longhorns to watch in the Olympics

By Leah Vann

@Vanntastic_Leah

The 2016 Summer Olympics are approaching quickly.

The games begin in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 6, where 20 current and former Longhorns — along with five Texas coaches — are set to compete for a gold medal in 10 different sports.

With so many athletes and sports to watch, here are some Longhorns to keep an eye on.

Rachael Adams Volleyball (Indoor) Adams played middle blocker for the Longhorns from 2008-11. In 2011, she led the NCAA in hitting percentage at .443. She was voted as first Team All-American, by both Volleyball Magazine and AVCA and was a two-time first team member of the Big 12. She will attempt to win her first gold medal for Team USA in Rio. Morolake Akinosun Track and Field Akinosun will compete for Team USA at the women’s 4x100-meter relay. She recently ran a personal-best at the Olympic trials, clocking in at 10.95 seconds on 100-meter — good enough for fourth place. She was also one

of only two women to score in four events at the NCAA Outdoor Championships for two years in a row. On the international stage, Akinosun brought in the gold at the 4x100meter relay event at 2015 Pan American Games. The Illinois native will get the chance to earn another gold in Rio. Jack Conger Swimming As a rising junior, Conger is heading to Rio for the men’s 4x200 -meter freestyle relay. He racked up accomplishments this past year, winning NCAA titles in the 400-meter medley relay, 200-meter freestyle relay and the 800-meter freestyle relay. He is an 11-time AllAmerican and a 12-time Big 12 Champion. He also ranks No. 7 all-time in the 200-yard freestyle.

Ryan Crouser Track and Field Crouser is an eighttime Big 12 and four-time NCAA shot put champion.

He was named Indoor Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association last Thursday. In July, he came in first at the Olympic trials with a personal best throw of 22.11

OLYMPICS page 9

Many know former Longhorn linebacker Emmanuel Acho for his prowess on the gridiron, both during his time at Texas and in the NFL. But to those in Nigeria — where Acho spent two weeks this summer on a mission trip — he is simply a humanitarian.

Acho shared his journey through Nigeria with the The Players Tribune, a publication dedicated to sharing athletes’ stories in their own words. In the piece, Acho noted his current free-agent status after being released by the Eagles in 2015.

“When you’re a free agent this late in the process, there’s a lot of uncertainty,” Acho said. “But there’s an old saying that goes ‘Idle hands are the Devil’s workshop.’ So with this in mind, rather than sit around waiting, I spent some time this offseason helping people in a much, much worse situation than myself.”

Acho has played on four teams since being drafted in the sixth round in the 2012 NFL draft. At Texas, he racked up accomplishments, earning first-team All-Big 12 honors as a senior and first-team Academic All-Big 12 honors three times.

Acho is still waiting on a call from an NFL team and hopes to land on a roster this season. But until then, Acho is focused on his efforts as a missionary.

“Even though change can’t happen all at once, it can occur one person at a time,” Acho said. “It’s nothing short of a blessing that we are privileged enough to be put in a position to make a difference in the lives of others.”

L&A 21 [9]

SPORTS

B9

Monday, August 1, 2016

BASEBALL

Column: Pierce the right choice for Longhorns NE

By Michael Shapiro Daily Texan Columnist @mshap2

A head coach at Texas has two jobs. There’s the work that’s done on the field or court with the team, but there’s also another aspect of the gig: a head coach’s role as schmoozer-in-chief.

The athletic culture surrounding the 40 Acres often resembles a circus. Longhorn coaches answer directly to men’s athletics director Mike Perrin and women’s athletics director Chris Plonsky, but also to the litany of boosters, donors and contributors who want a piece of the burnt orange pie.

David Pierce was introduced to the media on June 30 as the fifth head baseball coach since 1911, tasked with replacing the legendary Augie Garrido. Garrido was beloved in Austin not just for his extensive list of accomplishments — including two national titles at Texas — but also for his conversational nature and affability toward those associated with the program.

“I want to recognize coach

Garrido for building this wonderful program,” Pierce said in his introductory press conference. “I’m privileged and honored to follow [him] and hopefully lead this program to great things.”

With Garrido now out of the dugout, it’s Pierce’s turn to lead the Longhorns. And while he has massive shoes to fill in Disch, he doesn’t face anything near the type of uphill battle Charlie Strong faced after being named head coach of the football program in 2014.

Strong was hired following an exhaustive search, which included the pursuit of Alabama head coach Nick Saban.

Many lauded Texas for selecting Strong, but things were far from amicable behind the scenes. Boosters like Red McCombs criticized the University for failing to involve them in the decision process.

But there was no kicking and screaming when Pierce was deemed the man to lead a scuffling Longhorns squad.

Pierce had significant success at Tulane and Sam Houston State, winning his conference four times in five years.

Head coach David Pierce speaks at his introductory press conference on June 30.

Pierce will fill the shoes of Augie Garrido, college baseball’s alltime wins leader.

Joshua Guerra Daily Texan file photo

“I’ve known David for a number of years since he’s been at Rice,” Sam Houston State head coach Matt Deggs said. “It’s not a surprise to me that he’s at Texas. One thing you can count on with [Pierce] is his teams are going to to compete and put a very complete team on

the field.”

Pierce’s ability to build programs may be even more important than his winning resume. Pierce was noted for his hands-on approach at Sam Houston State, taking part in everything from groundskeeping to fundraising.

“[Pierce] really raised the bar and set a very high standard for the program,” Deggs said. “His imprint was multifaceted. It was from a fundraising standpoint, a facility standpoint, and with the product on the field.”

Baseball may not hold the same acclaim as basketball

or football in Texas athletics, but it’s a pressure cooker nonetheless.

Expectations are high, and Pierce will have a bevy of responsibilities on his plate. But he seems ready to become the face of the Texas program, shaking hands before he can start accumulating wins.

CAMPUS

Catch up: top stories you’ve missed in Austin this summer

By Ezra Siegel It’s been an eventful few months for sports in Austin.

Stories like new baseball coach David Pierce’s hiring and an influx of top football recruits stole headlines throughout the summer. But there is still more to catch up on.

Here are some of the top stories you might have missed this summer.

just know that I’ll be in good hands over there.”

Adjusting to a new country hasn’t fazed McCage, who said she has always appreciated German culture. She emphasized the experience will test her maturity and help her continue to grow.

“I am just ready for a new adventure,” McCage said. “I know that life will be very different than what it’s like here at UT, but I am so ready!”

Molly McCage to play for German club Graduated volleyball senior Molly McCage has decided to continue her volleyball career overseas. The 6-foot-3 middle blocker signed a contract with VC Wiesbaden, a professional team in Wiesbaden, Germany.

“Since I got to UT, I knew that I loved this sport enough to continue playing after college,” McCage said via email.

“It’s been a dream of mine for a while now.”

McCage’s decision comes after a stellar senior season in which she earned first team All-Big 12 and third team All-American honors. She finished her four-year career as Texas’ all-time leader in block assists.

Now she hopes her skills will translate over at the professional level. She said she’s excited to join her team and compete for a championship overseas.

“Ever since I signed, so many people from the club have reached out and welcomed me,“ McCage said. “I

Shaka Smart, Texas recruits take gold at FIBA Americas U-18 Championship Texas basketball head coach Shaka Smart has been busy lately.

After landing five-star center Jarrett Allen in June, Smart shipped out to Valdivia, Chile to coach Team USA’s Under-18 team in the FIBA Americas U-18 Championship in July. His team included newly-signed Longhorns in Allen and four-star forward James Banks.

Team USA took the gold after beating Canada 99-84 in the championship to finish undefeated.

Smart said the experience helped Banks and Allen grow chemistry together. He also said playing in competitive games — players are usually bound to workouts at this point in the offseason — helped them develop their skills.

“It was a good learning experience for all of us,” Smart said. “From the standpoint of practicing with a very highlevel group of guys, many of whom are future NBA players, and playing together

OLYMPICS

to a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London. He will be a focal point again for Team USA in Rio.

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continues from page 8 meters. Crouser won’t be the first from his family to compete at the Olympics.

His father Mitch Crouser was an alternate for Team USA at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Kevin Durant Basketball Durant made headlines this summer for his decision to leave the Oklahoma City Thunder and join the Golden State Warriors. But now he’s shifting gears for his second-straight Olympic appearance. Durant led Team USA with 19.9 points per game on his way

Courtney Okolo Track and Field As a senior in 2016, Okolo broke a collegiate record in the 400-meters, clocking in at 50 seconds at the LSU Gold Invitational. The Texas native was a three-time NCAA Champion in the outdoor 400-meters and 4x400 meter relay. Okolo also stood out at the 2013 Pan American Games, placing first in the 400m and 4x400m-relay.

She is currently a finalist for the Bowerman Award, one of the top awards for collegiate track and field athletes.

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with those guys … it was really good for them.”

X Games say goodbye to Austin The X Games ended their three-year stint in Austin this past June. The competition and its venue, the Circuit of the Americas, decided to end their four-year contract early for scheduling reasons.

X Games Vice President Tim Reed said he hoped the event would “go out with a bang” in its final year. But weather conditions failed to cooperate, leaving attendees with an incomplete experience. Performances by rappers Logic and G-Eazy were canceled, while several competitions were postponed or canceled.

“Weather’s been working against us,” attendee Chris Lupton said during the Games. “[Attendees from out of town] are missing out on two days’ worth of events.”

The X Games still left their mark on the city. They hosted over 100,000 people in all three of their years in Austin.

Competitors and executives also emphasized that the competition meshed with the city’s culture, creating an ideal environment for an action sports competition.

“Action sports are made up of lifestyle elements like film, photography, art, music — those are all really prevalent in Austin,” Reed said during the games. “It makes sense that when you drop the sports out of [the X Games], all the lifestyle elements are already here.”

Daulton Venglar | Daily Texan file photo

BMX professional Dennis Enarson flips through the air at the X Games’ BMX Park Final on June 4.

Marshall Tidrick | Daily Texan file photo

Graduated senior Molly McCage is set to play profesionally for VC Wiesbaden, a German club.

She was a staple in the middle for the Longhorns during her four years on the 40 Acres.

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