Photos of drowned children shown in Yates trial
HOUSTON (AP) — Andrea Yates sobbed in the courtroom during her capital murder trial Thursday as she and jurors saw a picture of four of her drowned children on a bed and a videotape of her fifth child floating face down in the family’s bathtub.

The photo, taken June 20 by investigators after Yates summoned police to her southeast Houston home, was displayed on a large screen in the Houston courtroom, where testimony was in its fourth day. Images on the screen also were duplicated on monitors at the defense table.

After Yates began to cry, prosecutor Kaylynn Williford did not show other images of the dead youngsters on the screen and monitor. Instead she walked in front of the jury box to show the graphic pictures, including ones of 7-year-old Noah in the tub and on the floor after his body was removed by the medical examiner.

But as jurors watched a videotape of the outside and inside of the home, Yates sobbed again as Noah’s body, his arms outstretched in the murky water, appeared on the tape.

Yates, who has pleaded innocent by reason of insanity, is taking powerful anti-psychotic drugs as she attends the trial, defense attorneys have said. She faces the death penalty if convicted.

Enron desires to end lawsuits in settlement
HOUSTON (AP) — Enron Corp.’s former auditor Arthur Andersen, facing a slew of lawsuits filed in the wake of the energy giant’s collapse, reportedly is trying to reach a quick and comprehensive settlement that will allow it to survive the debacle.

Lawyers for investors, creditors and employees are wary of a hasty resolution, an Oklahoma attorney involved in the case said Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Arthur Andersen LLP offered a group representing Enron creditors between $700 million and $800 million during a meeting Tuesday in New York. The talks began a week ago and were first reported by USA Today.

But various class action lawsuits filed shortly after Enron imploded late last year are still in their infancy, and lawyers have much to investigate before considering any figure, Federman said. He said he knew of no specific settlement offers.

Brawl at Arlington school leads to slight injuries
ARLINGTON (AP) — Ten students at Bowie High School and two police officers were slightly injured Thursday when a fight escalated into a brawl.

Ten students have been detained. Two face charges of assaulting a police officer, while eight face disorderly conduct charges, said Sgt. James Hawthorne of the Arlington Police Department.

The incident began when several students came out of the school’s cafeteria to watch a fight between two female students.

“Things got out of control, bottles and cans were being thrown, and it quickly escalated into a situation where we needed officers here,” Hawthorne said. “We were able to bring crowd under control pretty quickly.”

Several of the injuries to students were from inhalation of pepper spray, which was released by officers. One officer had cuts to his hand and one had bumps on his head.

The school was back in session after being locked down Thursday morning.

Fraternity hazing suspected at Sam Houston State
HUNTSVILLE (AP) — Officials at Sam Houston State University are investigating whether four pledges of a campus fraternity were hazed earlier this month.

The students, who were pledging the university chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi, were allegedly beaten after being taken into Harris County on Feb. 10, said Jason Warren, a staff associate in the student life office who investigates disciplinary matters.

One of the pledges was treated at Huntsville Memorial Hospital the following day for his injuries. The campus police department was notified by hospital officials, Warren said.

Since the alleged incident occurred in Harris County, campus police turned the investigation over to the student life office. A separate investigation is being done by the Harris County Sheriff’s Department, The Huntsville Item reported Thursday.

The fraternity is suspended from campus activities during the investigation.

If university officials determine hazing occurred, the fraternity could be permanently expelled, Warren said.

UT student admits to writing review out of spite
AUSTIN (U-WIRE) — A University of Texas student admitted Tuesday he posted an online review of a UT law professor's book out of spite for an incident that happened in his first-year law class.

The professor, Gerald Torres, took questions from an ExamPro study guide for a property law test in a required first-year course. In response to his dissatisfaction with Torres’ action, Champe Fitzhugh, a student in the class, posted a one-star review of Torres’ book, ‘The Miner’s Canary,” on Amazon.com.

Steven Goode, dean of academic affairs, said several scathing reviews of “The Miner’s Canary” were posted on Amazon.com. Goode said the reviews had racist undertones and attacked Torres himself, not his book.

However, Fitzhugh denies any racist connotations in the review.

Fitzhugh said the posting was an inappropriate way to express his dismay towards Torres, and it was just a momentary lapse in judgment.

Fitzhugh said he never intended the review to be posted. When he saw it was, he wrote Amazon.com asking them to take down the review. He said he went to the dean and confessed to having posted the review. Fitzhugh said he also apologized to Mann about the review.

Playboy to resurrect ranking of party colleges
PITTSBURGH (U-WIRE) — Playboy magazine is looking to make your weekend parties a little more productive.

The magazine recently announced the resurrection of its ranking of the top party colleges in America. Students are encouraged to send the magazine their tales of rowdy campus parties, tailgates and kegs. The winning college will be featured in Playboy’s annual college edition in October.

According to Allison Lundgren, associate editor of Playboy, the magazine chose to hold the contest for the first time since 1987 because of the urban legends about the magazine's alleged annual school rank.

Theresa Hennessey, a public relations representative for Playboy, confirmed that college students across the nation constantly call to find out where their school ranks.

For this year's ranking, students are asked to e-mail Playboy with reasons why their school is the best place to party. According to Lundgren, Playboy staffers will compile the submissions into a list of the most mentioned colleges.

UC readies curriculum-based SAT replacements
BERKELEY, Calif. (U-WIRE) —One year after University of California President Richard Atkinson’s shattering bid to eliminate the SAT from UC admissions, the proposal continues to gather steam.

College hopefuls could face a new test by 2006, as UC works with both SAT and ACT to author a new standardized achievement exam that will test students specifically on curriculum learned in California high schools.

The joint effort comes in contrast to previous efforts to abandon using the SAT as admissions criteria completely.

But critics say the changes only will add to already existing standardized tests rather than take away “unfair” multiple-choice tests.

A recent proposal within a prominent university committee has asked UC applicants applying for admission in fall 2006 to take three exams: a three-hour multiple-choice “core” examination with a writing section and two one-hour subject exams based on UC-approved college preparatory courses. Students would be able to choose between subjects such as laboratory science and U.S. history.

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