THE BEHREND BEACON
A ghost of the University of Texas: Tragic Tower will reopen
by David Zeman
Knight-Ridder Newspam,,
AUSTIN, Texas - For 33 \ ears,
the ghost of Charles Whitman has
peered down at the University of
Texas' red-tiled campus of the
University or Texas„ a deer rifle in
his hands. The\ remember him, a
flat-topped graduate student and
former Marine, the nice young
fellow with the pretty wile. He
ascended the university tower one
blazing August morning. Calm,
polite, smiling even, he lugged a
footlocker up the stairs, loaded
for Armageddon.
When the gunfire ended. 16
people plus Whitman were dead. 31
others were wounded. and America
would never again feel entirely sale
in a public place. "Even today, I
can't walk across that campus
without feeling that tower is looking
at me,'' said Bill Helmer. a graduate
student who narrowly escaped death
on Aug. I, 196(1.
Whitman's perch. on the tower's
observation deck 231 feet chose
campus, has long been closed to the
public. But alter years of lobbying
by students, the deck - outfitted w ith
metal detectors, guards and
protective cages - Is to reopen Sept.
15. "It's time," said Erie °pieta. the
student body vice president
"Everyone wants to see the view: the
view is awesome up there
University President LarrN, Faulkner
said that in (Telling the to \\ er. UT
hopes at last to cleanse itself Of
Whitman's shadov,. "This
community has
had a lot 01'
psychological difficulty with what
happened in 1966, - Faulkner
conceded. It was time to create
positive memories, - to get people
thinking about the wonderful
experiences they'd have at the top
of the 'Fower.-
This is a story about remembering
a tragedy, and then moving on. And
of a school determined that it v. ill
no longer he prisoner to its darkest
chapter. That the reopening comes
as schools nation i‘ ide are turning
into high-tech hirtresses alter a new
round of shoohnils is an irons not
lost On some on campus
interesting to think of the tower in
light of Littleton, Colo.. and Pearl,
Miss., - said Rosa Lberk. a UT
Professor of rhetoric who teaches a
class on the legacy of the tower
shootings. "One might think of
Whitman as the I irst ihcse
NCAA asks schools to crack
down on
by Alan Schmadtke
and Chris Harry
Kn ght - R idde r Newspaper
ORLANDO. Ha. - A yearlong
study of campus haling concluded
that 80 percent of the country's
college athletes - more than 250,000
experienced sonic form of excessive
team-related actin ities - and that
women athletes are not immune
Initiation rites such as beatings
and drinking hinges were discovered
across a gamut of sports and in all
sizes of schools, and NCAA officials
on Monday asked that coaches and
administrators take a no-tolerance
stand against hazing. "We're going
to raise the bar with regard to our
knowledge of this issue, - said Ron
Stratten, the NCAA's vice president
for education services. "It's
appalling what's going on.-
More than 10,000 athletes, 3,000
coaches and 1,000 athletic officials
were interviewed for the study
conducted by Alfred University in
upstate New York. It is believed to
be the first national look at hazing
and athletics. Hazing was defined as
an action "that humiliates, degrades,
abuses or endangers, regardless of a
person's willingness to participate.-
The study found that:
I. Two of every five athletes said
they were expected by teammates to
drink alcoholic beverages, including
sometimes on recruiting visits.
2. One of every five athletes said
they were expected by teammates to
NATIONAL CAMPUS NEWS
schoolbm, s with guns." But even
though school IIIaNNaCFCS have
heelffile numbing familiar today.
Whitillan 's acts Cie Si 11l pl
unthinkable in I 96(. Back then. the
lace ()I' evil was Richard Speck. the
acne-scarred ex-convict with the
- Born to Raise Hell" tattoo who killed
eight student nurses in Chicago 19
da\ s earlier.
EN it W,IS ruman Capte . s "In Cold
Blood, - a 1966 best-seller about two
drifters who murdered the Clutter
famil \ in Holcomb, Kan., one night
in 1959. Whitman did not lit the
portrait of a sadist ie madman. Ile \vas
a lreshl \ scrubbed student. Front an
affluent hunik lookimi at his smilim!
photo. it as possihle to imagine him
as someone's son. "Whitman put a
face on mass murder that it noel - had
before." said Gary Lavergne, author
of a 1997 hook on the shootings, "A
Sniper in the Tower."
Almost from the start. 1. - 1' officials
agoniied over the legacy of the
slaughter. Should the Link ersity hold
a memorial sere ice for the e iciims?
Should it raise a plaque
i.tcknowledgimi the toll of Whitman's
carnage? Or should it simply move
O n and hope that one da people
\kould fortiet! The school chose to
move on. "You itNI NAttillt.'d to cover
,tILII . l'yeS, - said university historian
Margaret Bern of the grief that
cd the killings. "It •.\ as all just
too horrible.-
today. university freshmen
horn sears alter Vs'hitinan's spree are
\sell versed on the shootings. Noss
could they not he? As soon as they
are accepted to UT. there is always a
mother. an uncle. a teacher or a friend
to remind them of 1966. Opiela. 21.
of Karnes City. Texas. \\ as told not
to mention Whitman when
conducting freshman orientation
tours this summer. But students
peppered him ss ith questions. "It's
part of the lore of the tower, - he said
last v , ,eck. Some the \ en. itet
closing the tovvcr has strengthened
Whitman's hold on it. - The quickest
wa\ to turn something into a me
is to make ii lorhidden. - L. i\ crone
said. - When t ()1.1 remove (here
rc , ,trictioch, )ou remove the in).
Incoming Ire,hinan I.:1111 . a
NIC1)011.lid, 17. of echoed a
flead \ ersal senuntcnt .11110IIg
students, saing, - Closing the hmer
made it such a hie deal that it makes
rememher Whitman. I don't
know why they kept it closed lor su
long. - Actually. the timer did not
close lor good in 1966. It reopened
athletic hazings
participate in potentially illegal acts
Lis - price" for being accepted as part
(i 1 the team. Sonic of those acts \Acre
heating others, inc up and
transporting others or ‘Lindalif
others' property.
3. One in five athletes were expected
"We had some
guys last year who
were telling (some
freshmen) to do
this, do that,
pestering them
and acting like big
shots."
-Steve Spume!
to participate in acts designed to
humiliate or deerade first-year
player,
4. Most at risk are males competing
in SV,llllllling and di‘ ing, lacrosse,
football and hockey.
5. Women aren't exempt. Most of
their initial rites involve alcohol, the
study said.
Small schools are just as guilty as
larger schools in the amount of hazing
that takes place hut athletes at
Division I schools cope with more
alcohol-related incidents.
months alter the shooting. But alter
lour students jumped to their deaths in
four ears. the school closed the deck
in 1974.
In the years since, there had been
little acknowledgment oldie Whitman
deaths. But as students streamed to
class each day. the tower was
inescapable. standing silently - some
say menacingly - over the heart of
campus. '11) the south, at the base of a
statue of Confederate President
Jefferson Da\ is. is a bullet mark from
Whitman's rifle. The shot \\ as fired at
Austin police Officer Bill) Speed. It
missed, but the next one killed hiin. The
mark has \\ idened and been worn
"Even today, I can't walk across that
campus without feeling that tower is
looking at me."
A (iident
smooth grunt decades 01 students
running their lingers along its grooves.
Whitman's siege lasted 96 minutes. It
proved the ttrehetype for modern mass
murder.
lie \\ as 25 \ ears old, an architectural
engineering student V, ith an easygoing
manner and the rugged good looks of
the Marine he had been. At age 12.
Whitman became the youngest Eagle
Scout in U.S. history. He \N, as, as sonic
friends later remarked, the - all-
American boy ."
In Nlarch of 1966, his \vile. Kathy
Whitman. urged him to visit a
psychiatrist at the uni\ eisity. He
complained to the doctor that he had
underachieved in life and felt
depressed. He'd been haying
headaches. he said. and had the
gna \Aing sal ,, l)lCion that smucthing ‘N, as
NA rune ith hip hrain
He expressed resentment to \\ aid his
father. C.A. Whitman, who ran a
successful plumbing business in Lake
W'orth. Fla. He told the doctor he had
struck his wife a time or I\.‘ 0. He
regretted that. Whitman then confided
a recurring fantasy. Ile said he often
thought "about going up on the tov,er
with a deer rifle and shooting people.'
He never returned for a second session.
ShortlN alter midnight on Aug. I.
Whitman (Iropped by his mother's
apartment near campus. Nlargarct
Whitman had rimed to Austin a few
months before. having fell her abusk
Southern and midwestern schools
have inure incidents of dangerous and
potentially illegal hazing, while eastern
and western schools have inure
alcohol-related hiving.
Recommended solutions were
adding written policies at schools,
education of coaches and
administrators and strong and swift
responses by coaches and officials
when they come across incidents.
When Florida football Coach Steve
Spurrier arrived in Gainesville as a
freshman in 1963, he and his classmates
were given caps. "Oui freshman
beanies, - Spurrier said. "You had to
wear 'em
These days. OF upperclassmen ask
the freshmen to shave their heads, a
ritual that most Gator plebes give in to
without much reluctance. Anything
more and the head coach intervenes.
'Same at Florida State. Seniors usually
shave the heads of new recruits.
At Central Florida, the Golden
Knights on Friday held their annual
Rookie Night, an evening that included
singing by first-year players. Last year
at UF. Spurrier stepped in. "We had
some guys last year who were telling
(some freshmen) to do this, do that,
pestering them and acting like big
shots," said Spurrier, who chose to be
non-specific in his recollections. "We
put a stop to that quickly."
Most seasons, the only hazing sort
of thing that is asked of new Gators -
and Spurrier signs off on the request -
is for each to a sing a song at the
training-table during two-a-days.
SEPTEMBER 10, 1999
husband in Florida. Whitman fatally
stahhed her with a hunting knife, then
returned home and stahhed his w ife to
death as she slept. He left notes saying
he wanted to spare the women the
shame of what he was to do next. And
as was his habit, he typed a list of daily
reminders: "CONTROL. your anger. -
he typed "SMILE - It's contagious...
and "PAY that compliment...
Above this list he scribbled one last
message: - I never could quite make it,..
he wrote. - These thoughts are too much
for me. - About I I:30 that morning.
Whitman arrised at the tosser ss ith
footlocker loaded on a dolls. He had
packed three rifles, a shotgun,
handguns, a machete, a hatchet, knives,
700 rounds olammunition. a radio and
food. Back then, the tower was used
as a lihiarv. It klas, and remains. an
enduring s‘mbol or the university.
soaring 307 feet above campus at its
colonnaded belfry, higher even than the
state capital building to the south.
Since opening in 1937, the tower has
been used to mark important events at
UT. It is bathed in orange, the school
color, during commencement, to Iloilo'
faculty, or when its beloved football
team heats ri \ al Texas AN:N4. Its
observation deck ‘N.as the place to take
a date at sunset or to ga/C upon the
"Texas hill coma) ith visiting parents.
Its designer, Paul Cret. called the timer
and it, view. - the image carried in our
111C11101) \k,c think of the place...
Whitman rode an elev ator to the 27th
floor. He then (IfILCCCd his lootlockci
up the stair. to the 28th-floor
observation deck. Using one of hi, rifle
butts. he clubbed to death a
receptionist.
He then shot tour unsuspecting
tourists who had followed him up the
stairs, killing two. Finally, he was on
the deck. It \\its I I:4X a.m. Whitman
peercd over the hllleqollC parapet at
student, walking among the lieu oak
and magnolia trees on the south mall
belo\k. His ne\t ietim \vas the 8-
month-old l'etus inside Claire Wilson,
Ili. "He could liar hit her in the left
shoulder or the right shoulder. hut he
UNC breathalyzer study shows
students aren't as drunk as expected
CHAI'LL HILL, N.C. (TMS)
Determined to get a different look at
student drinking habits at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill, researchers armed with
Breathalyzers fanned out across the
campus, stopping students on their
ways home from class, the library. and
yes. some pretty raucous parties. What
they found in the nation's first
collegiate Breathalyzer study involving
almost 1,850 Tar Heels was that on
average, a whopping 72 percent of
students returned to their pads with no
alcohol in their bloodstream.
Even on the traditional party-hearty
nights of Thursday, Friday and
Saturday, 66 percent of students
returned home with a .00 Hood-alcohol
content. On other school nights. the
average number of teetotalers was even
higher at 86 percent. ResearChers
conducted the study in October and
November of 1997 from 10 p.m. to 3
a.m. on all nights of the week, stopping
students randomly in front of residence
halls, greek houses and off-campus
apartments.
Of those students approached, 1,790
agreed to take a Breathalyser test. "Fm
not surprised at all by these results,"
said Rob Foss, manager of alcohol
studies for the UNC Highway Safety
Research Center, which conducted the
$350,000 study with funding from the
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration and the North Carolina
by Christine Tatum
Colletle Press P.XeII:III2C
aimed right for that woman's
stomach. - said Robert Heard, an
Associated Press reporter who
covered the shooting. "That tells me
the man obviously wanted to do as
much ugliness as he could. - When
Wilson hit the concrete, her
bo\triend. Thomas Nckman. knelt
mer her. Whitman shot him dead.
Whitman did most of his work in the
first 15 minutes, running from side
to side. picking off bewildered
pedestrians as far assay as five
football fields. Students huddled
behind free', and posts. The wounded
\\ ere forced to play dead on the
concrete. siiiling from the 100-
werePulicr nearl), helpless to stop
\\ pitman. There \\ ere 110 SWAI
trams then. Indeed, the concept was
horn as a direct result of Whitman's
rampage. The police had no 911
system to communicate. They also
carried only shotguns. hich lacked
the accuracy to return Whitman's
long-range rille lire. In deTcralion,
appeals erc ~ ent mer I\\l radio
,tats )I1 101 11101 C V,C;1110111 . ,. LOCal
deer !millets Iloeked to the 'tower
\kith their (mil rifles. The) pinned
'limn Whitman tind lorced him to
li . re through nairm‘ rain spouts.
licard vs as one of the lint reporters
On the scene. Ile ssoA mo patrol
an )tlki
lie counted to live and ran alter
them. He v(as );truck immediately.
The shot shattered his iclt arm below
the shoulder and knocked him i n th e
concrete. Wiines),es say, Whitman
scanning the ground near Heard v( ith
his hinoculars. hut the newsman tell
outside ()I thc In
rctro,pect. Ikarti. "I have
iigia`a eel. An hour ir,t,scLl. arni the
mounickl. Mice tried
commandeering a small plane and
placing a sharpshooter ;ilmard. But
\Vhitman's Cirr dro‘e \ the crali
It ‘Nas (him that k.o)
r wung Austin
police t.)lliccrs. Houston NILCo, and
Ramiro Mammy.. aLlin , .2. thcu
uvvn. del:hied 10 Colillolll
LiCe 10 ILK:C.
The pair. illong ith ittl
shiTkeeper tine/ cleptititeLl un
the ~ pot. hushed hasi Whitman',
barricade, and (pencil the south dour
to the (leek. "There \\u, tear. - \aid
Martine'', itioA a retired justice 01 the
pCaCC.II . \,, sial*Cd
\uu re CilllCF a liar or ;in idiot..
Creeping al )tin(l the northcaq edge,
the ollicer , , ~ poticd \Vhitinan
Governor's High m a \ Salety
Program. - Other Hreathal) /et .
studies v,e ha\ e done v, ith driers
and recreational boatels sho\\ similar
results less drinking than is
general! \ belie \ ed. We have
"I'm not surprised
it all / these
- esults."
- Rob Fins
Manage' oi AlLobo'
Studies OF UNC
substantial misperceptions about
alcohol use in this country. "Yes,
most UNC students drink. - he
continued. "But they don't drink
most of the time. and they certainly
don't get drunk most of the time.
They simply don't drink as much as
everyone seems to think they do.''
Foss and other university officials
are eager to spread that news to UNC
students, whom they believe arc
more likely to drink simply because
they think everyone else is.
Destroying erroneous and
widespread notions that unhealthy
habits rule on campus will help
change students' behavior for the
better, Foss said. "People go along
with what other people are doing
because they want to fit in," he said.
- It's not it con,eiou , , choice. hut It s
a pm‘erlul factor at work in all our
crouched in the opposite corner.
Martine/ emptied his revoker,
PlomPtilq! Whitman to shoot "lidiv
in return. NlcCo . ‘„. standing over
Martinet's shoulder, then tired two
shots through Whitman's head.
Whitman \\;is dead. 13ut he never
reall\ went :iwa\.
In the \ acuum of the uni ersit
silence on the shootings. Whitman
emerged a, a kind of antihero. A
tele \ ision !no\ 'IC as made. hut it was
shot in I.ol.lkiiilla alto L' I ulficials
denied permission to him in Austin.
Allusions to Whitman arc found in
"Natural Born "Full Metal
Jacket... and even the coined \
~lcwitrd to hint and. in Austin. it's not
unLonmion to see students v,earing
Whitman T-shirts with the slogan. - Be
True to Your School. - Whitman also
has been the muse for singers, from
punk to folk to the quirk) Texas
cumin - % singer Kink\ Friedman. - Got
up that morning calm and cool/He
picked up Ms guns and v,alked to
school. All the \N,lnle he smiled so
s‘‘ectl \ /And it ble‘\ their minds
completekl'Hie •d ties er seen an
Nagle Scout so cluck - And \ et. said
Nherk. the UT professor. "nohod
\‘ as telling the store of ghat
Whitman's acts \Acre doing to the
uni ersitx. There \xas only
in 96()
FelllFlled SCIIOOI
prc , ,ident
For the first time. students, had an
in the president's ollice. "I was
to clear as a\ obstacles, -
Faulkner said. ,At Faulkner's urging.
the hoard of reLlents wed 0 last
\ ember to reopen the Toy, er.
Refurbishing the 'I o\\,er and deck \\ ill
cost about `...6110.000. Steel cages were
erected to pie \ cut suicides. Armed
planned to deter Whitman copycab,
'he public \\. 111 C to ,I!2,11 Up 111
id\ ~ 111k:C tot tours and pa) S 3 apiece
to 11.:11)
( )n ,Atu.!. I.lllc 33R1 aunt N. erary of
the Faulkner (IL:die:actl a
untie pond on the 'l(mer's north side
to the 'lower \ tetinp, He spi)ke ol the
lies interrupted i.tral those lost. That
the cleclieatiun took place at all. so
inan\ \ ears later. struck many as
remarkable. "II there is a statement, -
said ( )pieta. the student \ ice president,
"it's that the past will not hold US
CLlplOe. It tittle COE Us (01110\C On."
'Hie CNC study does not paint an
accurate picture of alcohol
consumption On college campuses
nationwide. said Dr. Henry
Wechsler. director of the College of
Alcohol Studies at the Harvard
University School of Public Health.
Wechsler's studies, which coined the
term "hinge drinking, - surveyed
thousands of students at 116
institutions in 1993 and 1997. Binge
drinking happens at least once in a
two-week period and is defined as
consumption of live or more drinks
in one sitting for men and four or
more drinks in one sitting for
V, 0111C11
Wechsler's 1997 study found that
52 percent of students drank to get
drunk, compared to 39 percent
surveyed in 1993. The Harvard
studies also found that the number
of student drinkers who were
intoxicated three or more times in
one month increased by 22 percent
over the same four year period, and
that our out of five fraternity and
sorority members are hinge drinkers.
'The UNE' study is fine and not in
conflict with anything I've ever
found, but it has to he interpreted for
what it is: a look at one moment in
time. - Wechsler said. "It's, true that
students who drink don't drink all
of the time. With that in mind, it's
important to understand that just
because a student isn't drinking on
one night doesn't mean he or she
hasn't hH., , c,1 in a m o-s eck
?AGE 6
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