# Who has taken Charles Whitman's brain? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 3, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221 "2014-12-03T14:04:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221/1 "2014-12-03T14:04:19Z")
News flash: [100 brains missing from the University of Texas!](http://abcnews.go.com/Weird/wireStory/100-brains-missing-university-texas-27322422) It’s OK though, university officials have the situation well in hand: “We think somebody may have taken the brains, but we don’t know at all for sure,” psychology Professor Tim Schallert, co-curator of the collection, told the Austin American-Statesman" One of the missing brains is thought to be that of Whitman, the infamous tower sniper. We should be sympathetic to the university in this time of loss and not even think about making jokes. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221/2 "2014-12-03T15:07:38Z")
They’ve lost their minds, you say? Did one of them belong to Abby Normal? ---
**Author:** ![mind\_the\_gap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@mind\_the\_gap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mind_the_gap)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221/3 "2014-12-03T15:27:01Z")
What hump? mind the gap ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221/4 "2014-12-03T15:32:44Z")
I guess Kinky Friedman will have to add another verse to the song he did about his old college roommate [The Ballad of Charles “Texas Tower” Whitman](http://www.lyricsfreak.com/k/kinky+friedman/the+ballad+of+charles+whitman_20079494.html) ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221/5 "2014-12-03T15:52:34Z")
> [@](#): > > We can’t find that brain," he said. I know some IRL living people like that. :o ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221/6 "2014-12-03T16:08:50Z")
What has this done to the average IQ of Texas? ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221/7 "2014-12-03T16:18:06Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > One of the missing brains is thought to be that of Whitman, the infamous tower sniper. I saw him once with Elvis Presley. Sniper or not man that guy could really yodel. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221/8 "2014-12-03T16:19:54Z")
Do they suspect zombies? > **[When did zombies start eating brains?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742468)** > > I was thinking about this while reading the Walking Dead thread. Zombies have not always been brain eaters. The Romero Zombies for example were not brain eaters. The earliest encounter with brain eating zombies I can remember is Return of the Living... ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221/9 "2014-12-03T17:00:26Z")
I can see the headline; “Brain Shortage in Texas” ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221/10 "2014-12-03T17:13:42Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Do they suspect zombies? > > [When did zombies start eating brains? - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=742468) No, this (both) threads were started today. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221/11 "2014-12-03T18:15:01Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > I can see the headline; “Brain Shortage in Texas” “Dog Bites Man” ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221/12 "2014-12-03T18:40:34Z")
Now wait, I had to have a brain op a couple years ago and they assured me I got Meinhof’s brain! You mean they lied? ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221/13 "2014-12-03T21:44:50Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > “We think somebody may have taken the brains, but we don’t know at all for sure,” psychology Professor Tim Schallert, co-curator of the collection, told the Austin American-Statesman" [Wait … Are you thinking what I’m thinking?](http://i.imgur.com/8Hcl5yf.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221/14 "2014-12-03T21:49:46Z")
What do you expect from a college that has to import brains? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221/15 "2014-12-03T21:57:04Z")
“Now that brain that you gave me. Was it Hans Delbruck’s?” “No…” “Ah! Very good. Would you mind telling me whose brain I DID put in?” "Then you won’t be angry…? “I will NOT be angry…” * * * (Also blatantly stolen from elsewhere) "Look, Dean, I Tried to tell you! You can’t just lop off the top, yank out the goop, jam in some extra bits into what you call “unused ports”, shove them back in, and call them “educated”. For one thing, these are human beings, not crappy Packard Bell towers! For another, just look out across this campus! Just Where the HELL would you have us even Begin!?" ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221/16 "2014-12-03T22:00:33Z")
" . . . what a waste it is to lose one’s mind or not to have a mind is being very wasteful . . . " – [Dan Quayle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Quayle#Vice_presidency) They’ve been found! No, wait! They’ve were destroyed 12 years ago! [Case of 100 missing brains in Texas takes an odd twist](http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-missing-brains-found-in-texas-20141203-story.html) – L.A. Times, Dec. 3, 2014. ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221/17 "2014-12-04T01:09:43Z")
Could be worse. It could be raining… ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221/18 "2014-12-04T01:56:17Z")
I so wish Molly Ivins was alive to report this. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221/19 "2014-12-04T01:57:08Z")
_Sets reminder to zombify this thread next Halloween_ ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221/20 "2014-12-04T02:43:26Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > No, wait! They’ve were destroyed 12 years ago! > > [Case of 100 missing brains in Texas takes an odd twist](http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-missing-brains-found-in-texas-20141203-story.html) – L.A. Times, Dec. 3, 2014. I hadn’t realized the Texas education system was destroying minds in quite so literal a fashion. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-taken-charles-whitmans-brain/706221.md?page=2)