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_VOL. 94, No. 39 Monday December 4, 2000_ Serving the Carolina Community since 1Q08 WWW.CAMECOCK.SC.EDU ' UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA . . COLUMBIA, S.C Medical School Lawsuits ‘Desolate, horrible place’ ■ Family talks about the process of finding out what happened to the bodies of their loved ones by Brandon Larrabee The Gamecock Lacy Bridges was beginning to won der about death. The 9-year-old girl had just finished a school pro ject about her family tree. After finish ing llie project, she wanted to see where her great-grandparents were buried. Little did Lacy or her mother, Amandi Bridges, know dial eight months later, they would be in the center of a l legal firestorm, suing USC for alleged ly lying to body donors’ relatives and dien dumping their aslies into mass graves at prison sites and pauper’s fields. USC officials have repeatedly de clined requests for comment from The - Gamecock and Free Times about the lawsuits. However, a reconstruction of events based on conversations with Amanda Briclges and her mother Nancy Harler, as well as several media accounts and seven lawsuits, shows a program that they say repeatedly lied to donors about their final resting places before carelessly tossing their cremated remains, or “cre mains,” into cardboard boxes that were buried in grave sites owned by the South Carolina Department of Correc tions or Richland County. 1 ' *We don’t have the staff to accommodate you’ hen Carl and Nancy Jo Strange decided to donate their bodies to the School of Medicine, university officials assured the two their bodies would be placed in Greenlawn Cemetery, according to Harler and Bridges. Meanwhile, Annie and Lawrence Bridges, Amanda Bridges’ paternal grand parents, liad also decided to donate their bodies to USC’s “Gift of Body” program. They, too, were assured a decent burial, Bridges said. They were comforted by the idea that they would be buried at the same cemetery. Carl Strange was donated to the uni versity in 1979. Annie Bridges followed in 1980; Lawrence Bridges’ body was donated in 1988. Annie Bridges ended up in the same prison plot as Carl Strange in a barely marked grave behind Elmwood Ceme tery. Lawrence Bridges is under the ground in an unkempt pauper’s field off Qemson Road, miles away from the wife he thought would be buried near him. University officials later told Nan cy Strange her husband would also have his name added to a list at the Green lawn offices. Later, after attending a fu neral for one of her friends, Nancy asked Harler to drop by the office so she could see the list. A Greenlawn employee said she didn’t know what Harler was talking about. However, the employee said she was new and might not know about the book. They called Ricliard Weymouth, who was in charge of the university’s pro gram at the time. According to Harler, Wfeymouth assured them there had been a mistake. Harler and Nancy Strange tried to find out from Greenlawn where Carl was buried. The cemetery said they had no idea. Before the lawsuit, Wfeymouth spoke with The Charlotte Observer about the allegations. He said he couldn’t re member making promises about the buii als to tlie Stranges’ relatives. He also said he couldn’t remember why the cremains were buried in the corrections site. “I honestly don’t remember,” he told the paper. In 1996, Amanda Bridges began to grow curious about where her grand parents had really been buried. Inquiries to the school brought confusing maps that didn’t give clear directions about where die cemetery was located, Bridges said. She tried to get someone from the university to help tier Ond the grave sites. “I called them and I said, ‘I can’t find this. I need you to meet me,’ and Uiey said, ‘We don’t have the staff to ac commodate you,”’ she said. Bridges let the matter go. Until Lacy wanted to see where her grandparents were buried. That’s when Amanda Bridges began digging. ‘What did they do wrong?’ Amanda Bridges, a plaintiff In the lawsuit against the School of Medicine, peers through a fence at the Department of Corrections Cemetery, where two of her grandparents are buried. Bridges Is one of seven people suing the university for allegedly lying to body donors about where they would be buried after death. All photos by Travis Lynn The Gamecock manda turned to local CBS af filiate WLTX-TV. Reporter Joel Connable helped her find Annie Bridges in a South Carolina Department of Corrections cemetery behind Elm wood Cemetery. The Elmwood staff helped them find the sites, but made it abundantly clear that Elmwood had noth ing to do with the property. “1 cried,” Bridges said. As Amanda Bridges found out about the burial of her paternal grandparents, Harler was growing suspicious about her father’s final resting place. She, too, be gan to investigate. She called universi ty officials to find out where he was located. Three days later, on May 4 of this year, Harler found out Strange had been buried behind Elmwood. At one point, they talked to Lou Ter racio, then associate dean of the med ical school. Terracio, who wasn’t in BuRIED seepages I I Root-decaying fungus won’t affect area trees Valerie Matchette The Gamecock The city of Columbia recently removed a fungus-infested tree from the front of the Columbia Museum of Art. Officials don’t know what caused the fungus, but they have speculated that It came from efforts to replant the true during the museum’s renovation. by Valerie Matchette The Gamecock A tree was recently removed from the Columbia Museum of Art because of a root-decaying fungus, but experts say there is no cause for concern for any oth er trees in the area. The city of Columbia recently removed a laige pin oak tree from the front of the museum because it was infested with the ganoderma fungus. It is unclear what caused the infestation of the fun gus, which causes the roots, bark and branches of a tree to slowly rot, said Mike Creel of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. However, Creel speculated the tree was probably recently moved from a local greenhouse to the museum grounds as part of its landscaping and renovation. He said that if its roots were damaged when it was being planted, the damage would have provided a place for the fungus to grow. “When you plant trees you are liable to injure the bark,” Creel said. He explained any cuts to the surface of a tree could facilitate the beginning of a fungus because they “break the protective layer they have between the environ ment and the outer bark.” For this reason, professional tree trimmers “paint some kind of anti-fungal material on the trunk” of the tree before they cut it, Creel said. The spread of the deadly ganoderma fungus to any other trees is highly unlikely, Creel assured. “If a tree is healthy and hasn’t been injured” it cannot become tainted by the growth, lie said. He added, though, it’s unusual for ganoderma to be found in this part of the world at all. The fungus is native to Asia and is used there as an herbal medicine, having been proven to act as an anti-inflammatory and to increase memory in the elderly. The foreign fun gus was most likely spread to America by an infected Museum see page 2 It’s official: USC headed to Outback ■ Tickets to the bowl game will cost $45 by Kyle Almond The Gamecock Another chapter was added to the USC football team’s memorable season Satur day when the Gamecocks accepted a bid fo play in the Outback Bowl. Florida’s 28-6 win over Auburn in the SEC Cliampionship Game assured USC a spot in the New Year’s Day bowl. The Outback, in Tampa, Fla., is the first bowl game played in the new year. The Game cocks ’ opponent will be the Ohio State . Buckeyes from the Big Ten Conference. With a game of this magnitude, tick ets are at a premium for most Game cock fans. The university will get 30,000 tick ets from the Outback Bowl. Students usu ally get about 10 percent of the allotment, which would be about 3,000 tickets. But according to Associate Athlet ics Director of Ticket Operations Chris Massaro, students shouldn’t have a problem getting a ticket. “I’m not going to put a limit on the students,” Massaro said. “They should be able to get as many tickets as they want. If I have to sell 3,500, then I will.” Massaro said he is unsure if USC students will even buy the 10 percent of tickets allotted to them because the game is in Tampa. “It will be interesting to see if we do Tickets SEE PAGE 2 Welcome to the Outback The Gamecocks ’ invitation to the Outback Bowl became official with Florida's win over Auburn on Saturday, ■ What Outback Bowl ■ Where: Tampa, Fla. ■ When: 11 a.m., Jan. 1 ■ Opponent Ohio State ■ TV: ESPN More coverage: Sports, page 11 Sean Rayford The Gamecock USC head coach Lou Holtz has said he’s pleased his team Is headed to a New Year’s Day bowl. The Gamecocks will play Ohio State In the Outback Bowl. Grad students want better health benefits by Brandon Larrabee The Gamecock USC’s graduate assistants complain about the low level of stipends at the uni versity, but they also have other concerns. In addition to the stipend controver sy, graduate assistants are beginning to protest the lack of paid health care. USC President John Palms and Provost Jerry Odom were faced with several questions about health care in an October question and-answer session with graduate students. The complaints impacted the gradu ate school’s 2000 Strategic Plan Update. “Depending on the availability of funds, health insurance benefits need to be a reality at some level for fall 2000,” the update says. Graduate assistants can buy a health care package for $650 per year from the university. But that package doesn’t cov er dental or vision care costs. “It’s not a good policy,” said Jaime Nolan, who as coordinator of International Graduate Admissions deals with assisl antships for the university. She also pointed to a university poli cy that allows some graduate students to use the Thomson Health Care Center and pay the same amount as undergraduate students. But Nolan made it clear she didn’t believe that was a solution. “Wre really not providing them any thing extra," she said. Odom said that, while some univer sities pay some of the graduate student’s health care costs, few pay all. “Thai’s a relatively new phenomenon at universities,” Odom said. But Odom said he would like to see the university provide it. “I would hope that the university would be able to pay for that, at least for the graduate student,” said Odom. Odom told students at the question and answer session that he had pencilled money for health care into his budget. But because of a lack of funding from the state legislature, the plan had to be abandoned. Welsh said a plan for paid health care would have to be second to attempts to increase stipends. “Until we can get the stipends up, that has to be a second priority,” she said. Nolan agrees that some of the prob lems stem from a lack of funding. “There was just no money for it,” Nolan said. “We have to have a way to pay for the health insurance.” She also pointed a finger squarely at the state legislature. “The funds are going to have to come ... from the state,” Nolan said. Health see page 2 i j WEATHER fgfj Today 57 34 Tuesday 58 30 Incubus conies to South Carolina Page 8 Quote of the Day “Pride that dines on vanity, sups on contempt.” — Benjamin Franklin \ Datebook Monday • CP, 3 p.m., RH Theater • Fraternity Council, 4 p.m„ RH 322/326 • Sorority Council, 5 p.m., RH 322/326 4 I Tuesday • AAAS, 6 p.m„ RH The ater • RHA, 7 p.m., RH 303 f '