RAVE PARTY DEATH LEAVES COUNTY SEEKING CONTROL

AUSTIN - A rave party over the weekend that drew thousands of people from
around the country ended with one man dead and Travis County officials
puzzling over how to better control a wild nightlife scene.

On Saturday night, thousands of young adults poured into a makeshift dance
hall in southeast Travis County, turned the lights down and started a dance
party that lasted until sunrise.

They came from as far away as Oklahoma, Louisiana and New York, the Austin
American-Statesman reported Monday.

By the time the music ended Sunday, 22-year-old Jason Scheiring, a one-time
Fort Hood soldier living in Corpus Christi, was dead, apparently of an
overdose of the drug "ecstasy," officials said.

A formal ruling on the cause of death will be made after toxicology results
are in, according to the Travis County medical examiner's office.

Mr. Scheiring began having seizures during the party and was taken to
Brackenridge Hospital, where he died just before 4 a.m., said Roger Wade, a
spokesman for the Travis County Sheriff's Department.

The rave took place at Asylum, a warehouselike venue known for hosting
parties nearly every weekend.

"It looked like there was some kind of major concert, instead of the more
usual parties," said Shirley Williams, who lives next door.

Travis County officials had pulled the plug on a similar event last week
because of safety concerns. County Judge Sam Biscoe said that because
county commissioners lack authority over such large gatherings in
unincorporated areas, entertainment promoters are free to throw enormous
concerts without accounting for patrons' safety.

Two numbers listed for Asylum's promoter, Dustin Markson, were
disconnected, and he could not be reached for comment.

Other promoters familiar with the event said the rave was hastily organized
to capitalize on the cancellation of another rave, the Electric Daisy
Carnival, originally scheduled for the same day.

Thousands of partygoers arrived in town last week to attend the Electric
Daisy Carnival at the Travis County Exposition Center. The rave was
supposed to feature carnival rides and techno musicians on four stages.

But Travis County commissioners voided the promoter's contract Tuesday,
saying that he did not show proof of liability insurance and that the
rave's marketing literature implied that it would have tents set up outside
and run the rave past midnight, in violation of county regulations.

Mr. Biscoe said if the Commissioners Court can't find a way to better
control raves in the county, it might turn to the Legislature for help.