Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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_News_ TOWER from page 1 der that it never had before,” said Gary Laveigne, author of a 1997 book on the shootings, “A Sniper in the Tower.” “The quickest way to tum some thing into a shrine is to make it forbid den,” Laveigne said “When you remove these restrictions, you remove the mys tery.” Actually, the tower didn’t close for good in 1966. It reopened 10 months af ter the shooting. But after four students jumped to their deaths in four years, the school closed the deck in 1974. To the south, at the base of a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, is a bullet mark from Whitman’s rifle. The mark has widened and been worn smooth from decades of students running their fingers along its grooves. Whitman’s siege lasted 96 minutes and proved to be the archetype for modem mass murder. In March 1966, his wife, Kathy, uiged him to visit a psychiatrist at the university. He complained to the doc tor that he had underachieved in life and fplt Hpnrp^pH Hp said hp had thp onaw ing suspicion that something was wrong with his brain. Whitman then confided a recurring fantasy. He said he often thought “about going up on the tower with a deer rifle and shooting people.” He never returned for a second session. Shortly after midnight on Aug. 1, Whitman dropped by his mother’s apart ment near campus. Maigaret Whitman had moved to Austin a few months be fore, having left her abusive husband in Florida. Whitman fatally stabbed her with a hunting knife, then returned home and stabbed his wife to death as she slept. He left notes saying he wanted to spare the women the shame of what he was to do next. About 11:30 that morning, Whit man arrived at the tower with a foot locker loaded on a dolly. He had packed three rifles, a shotgun, handguns, a ma chete, a hatchet, knives, 700 rounds of ammunition, a radio and food. He rode an elevator to the 27th floor, Iragged his footlocker up the stairs to .he 28th-floor observation deck, and, using one of his rifle butts, he clubbed a receptionist to death. He then shot four unsuspecting tourists who had followed him up the stairs, killing two. He was on the deck by 11:48 a.m. His next victim was the 8-month old fetus inside Claire Wilson, 18. “He could have hit her in the left shoulder or the right shoulder, but he 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.” Whitman did most othis work in the first 15 minutes, running from side to side, picking off bewildered pedes trians as far away as 600 yards. Students huddled behind trees and posts. The wounded were forced to play dead on the concrete, sizzling from the heat. Police were nearly helpless to stop Whitman. There were no SWAT teams then. Indeed, the concept was bom as a direct result of Whitman’s rampage. The police had no 911 system to communicate. They also carried only shotguns, which lacked the accuracy to return Whitman’s long-range rifle fire. An hour passed, and the casualties mounted. Police tried everything, at one nnint rnmmanHpprintr a <;mall nlanp anH placing a sharpshooter aboard But Whit man’s fire drove the craft away. It was then that two young Austin police officers, Houston McCoy and Ramiro Martinez, acting on their own, decided to confront Whitman face to face. The pair, along with an Austin shop keeper Martinez deputized on the spot, pushed past Whitman’s barricades and opened the south door to the deck. “There was fear,T said Martinez, now a retired justice of the peace. “If you say you’re not scared you’re either a liar or an idiot.” Creeping around the northeast edge, the officers spotted Whitman crouched in the opposite comer. Martinez emp tied his revolver, prompting Whitman to shoot wildly in return. McCoy, stand ing over Martinez’s shoulder, then fired two shots through Whitman’s head. Whitman was dead. But he never really went away. And yet, said Rosa Eberly, a UT pro fessor, “nobody was telling the story of what Whitman’s acts were doing to the university.” PEACE CORPS from page 1 our volunteers overseas to our goal of 10,000 people,” Kaminsky said “We’re looking for all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds to increase the di versity of Peace Corps.” All majors qualify, according to Kamin sky. Applicants’ community work ex perience, leadership skills and oiganiza tional and planning skills are also taken into consideration. “We’re targeting students in business programs, environmental education ma jors, agriculture majors and English teach ers with teaching experience,” Kaminsky said Kaminsky encourages anyone inter ested in teaching to volunteer. Certifi cation isn’t necessary, she said. She sug gested that students become involved in English Programs for Internationals as an alternative to being certified Some USC students and graduates said they think the Peace Corps is effective and resourceful. “It’s a good way to figure out what you want to do with your life and how you can serve others,” art graduate stu Hptit Ioanna Haves said International studies senior Kenyon Maree said, “I think the Peace Corps is a good experience for students and every one involved to use resources of our coun try to help people in developing areas.” The Peace Corps has several cate gories of volunteers, including educational, business, environmental, agricultural, health and nutritional and community de velopment. Ten USC graduates are serving as Peace Corps volunteers in nine different countries. Fifty-nine South Carolina residents serve in Peace Corps, and 219 USC graduates have volunteered since 1961. Sixty percent of the current gradu ates are serving in Peace Corps in educa tional programs, and 20 percent are work ing in environmental programs. For more information, call (800) 424 8580 or visit www.peacecorps.gov. FAIR from page 1 students with employers.” When employers come back for on campus recruiting, Reece said, students tend to feel more comfortable with them. Crockett said the Career Fair experi ence also helps give students a better idea of what post-graduation life will be like. “It [the Career Fair] benefits students because it gives them a good idea of op portunities available upon graduation,” -rras Business representatives say the cri teria they use to evaluate student resumes are based mainly on strong academic back grounds and high grade point averages. However, some employers are be coming increasingly interested in students who have a background in community service, or who have strong work experi ence and extracurricular involvement. “We don’t just want students who make straight A’s,” said Tiffanee Dykes of the graduate program at the University of Maryland. “We’re looking for dynamic students,” she said. """TeS^aiTOauRni^aree^entens available to students year-round. Services offered by the center include job posting online, resume referrals and critiques, and on-call counseliiig about job concerns. For more information about these ser vices, call the center at 777-7280. BMG ENTERTAINMENT (home of Puff Daddy, R. Kelly, TLC, MONICA, etc.) has THE internship opportunity based in the Columbia area for a self-starter, who thinks well independently, yet works efficiently in a team environ ment, who is highly motivated, enthusiastic, creative, and who loves Black Music. • You must be a full time undergrad or grad student with at least two years to graduation. • Have access to reliable car. • Be computer savvy, with access to and knowledge of the Internet. • Excellent communication skills. • Be plugged in to local college scene (radio, clubs, press, local record stores, cam pus activities). This is a paid internship with a monthly stipend of $220 in addition to $5.25/hr. salary. We request 20 hours per week (we work with your schedule.) Upon graduation and successful completion of this program, there will be serious consideration for a real job. For immediate consideration please fax or send a resume to: (Attn: M. Robinson) BMG Entertainment 1540 Broadway, 3Th fl. 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