The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, June 13, 2001, Page 2, Image 2
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McVeigh' CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
the way,” she said of her little girl.
“I needed to know in my heart
that I was done with this man,” she
added. “(But) I don’t think
anything can ever bring me any
peace.”
At the federal prison in Terre
Haute, 24 people witnessed the
execution, including two bombing
survivors and eight others who lost
family members. Paul Howell,
whose daughter, Karan, was killed,
was disappointed to see no sign of
remorse in McVeigh.
“What I was hoping for, and
I’m sure most of us were, we could
see some kind of, maybe, ‘I’m
sorry,”’ he said. “You know,
something like that. We didn’t get
anything from his face.”
But witnessing McVeigh’s
death “was just a big relief,”
Howell said. “Just a big sigh came
over my body, and it felt real
good.”
i>ue Ashtord, another lerre
Haute witness, said McVeigh’s
death was too easy.
“He didn’t suffer at all,” said
Ashford, a federal court employee
in Oklahoma City who was
uninjured in the bombing. “The
man just went to sleep or, as I said,
the monster did. I think they
should have done the same thing to
him as he did in Oklahoma.”
McVeigh was defiant to the
end, insisting to those close to him
that his deadly act was a justified
response to the government’s
bullying behavior — especially
FBI raids at Waco, Texas, and
Ruby Ridge, Idaho.
But he remained silent in the
death chamber. Instead, he released
a handwritten copy of the 1875
poem “Invictus,” which concludes
with the lines: “I am the master of
my fate; I am the captain of my
soul.”
McVeigh had four witnesses,
including Cate McCauley, a former
member of his defense team, who
described the scene to Providence
radio station WPRO-AM.
“All of us outstretched our
hands and put our hands up on the
glass,” she said. “Tim lifted his
head up fully and looked over at us
and acknowledged each one of us,
looked each one of us straight in
the eye.”
McVeigh’s body was taken to a
local funeral home to be cremated.
The cause of death was listed as
lethal injection. At his request, no
autopsy will be performed.
Mcveign originany was
scheduled to die May 16, but the
federal government postponed the
execution after it was disclosed the
FBI withheld nearly 4,500 pages of
documents from his defense before
his 1997 trial.
The Oklahoma City bombing
was a turning point in the nation’s
consciousness: America learned
that terrorism could be homegrown
and committed by anybody —
even the boy next door, back from
the war with a Bronze Star and a
cold rage.
Only in recent months did
McVeigh publicly admit to the
bombing, telling the authors of a
book that it was necessary to teach
the U.S. government a lesson. “I
did it for the larger good,” he said.
After the execution, Rob Nigh,
a McVeigh attorney who witnessed
his client’s death, spoke of
McVeigh’s insistence that his
actions were justified.
‘To the victims of Oklahoma
City, I say that I am sorry, that I
could not successfully help Tim to
express words of reconciliation that
he did not perceive to be
dishonest,” Nigh said.
He also criticized the death
penalty as a means of making
amends for a horrific crime.
“If killing Tim McVeigh does
not bring peace or closure to them,
I suggest to you that it is our fault,”
Nigh said, referring to the
survivors and families who lost
loved ones. “We have told them we
would help heal their wounds in
this way. We have taken it upon
ourselves to promise to extract
vengeance for them. We have made
killing a part of the healing
process.”
In Washington, President Bush
declared that McVeigh “met the
fate he chose for himself six years
ago.”
Pete Souza/College Press Exchange
Jack Poe, a chaplain in the Oklahoma City, bows at the chair of Thomas
Hawthorne on Sunday. Hawthorne was one of the victims in the 1995 bombing.
Thomas Cooper Society
elects new president
Cristy Infinger
The Gamecock
The Thomas Cooper Society
will soon be headed by local
attorney and businessman
Stephen Fitzer.
Fitzer, a member of the
board of directors for three
years, has been elected president
and will take the office in July
2002.
Fitzer said he’s looking
forward to his one-year term with
enthusiasm and praised the
society for its contribution to the
libraries of USC.
“The Thomas Cooper Society
is a fundraising and publicity arm
of the Thomas Cooper Library,”
Fitzer said.
Such efforts by the society
have included the recent South
Carolina Writer’s Festival and the
acquisition of the new Ernest
Hemingway Collection.
According to special
collections librarian Patrick Scott,
one of the future endeavors of the
society will be a visit to the
university by Ray Bradbury,
author of “Fahrenheit 451.”
Scott also said some of the
other areas of the Thomas
Cooper Society dealt with
recognition.
“The society provides support
for the library and runs special
events and recognizes donors,” he
said.
Including members from all
backgrounds, the society’s
purpose is to preserve the
intellectual integrity of USC
students and the community by
providing opportunities otherwise
not available, such as physical
exhibits of rare collections and
meeting different writers.
"I have essentially signed
on to the society with a
three-year commitment: one
year as president-elect, one
year as president and one
year as former president.”
Stephen Fitzer
Thomas Cooper Society president-elect
Membership in the society is
available not only to university
students, but also to high school
students, families and businesses.
Members receive borrowing
privileges at the Thomas Cooper
Library and discounts on books
published by USC Press and on
some publications of the Thomas
Cooper Library.
The obligations of the
president include overseeing all
facets of the society, which has
grown tremendously over its 10
years of existence.
special meetings, exmoits,
seminars and workshops about
rare book collecting are only
some of the society’s activities
that will have to be planned and
executed by the president.
“I have essentially signed on
to the society with a three-year
commitment: one year as
president-elect, one year as
president and one year as the
former president,” said Fitzer.
In addition to being president
of the society, Fitzer also has
another link to the university —
his wife, Patti Marinelli, is a
senior instructor for the
Department of Spanish, Italian,
and Portuguese studies.
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Intern CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Phillips said she thinks the
benefits of internships are
worthwhile.
“I get to work with invoices,
inventory and charge accounts. I
am a fashion merchandising major,
and I want to work in the fashion
industry,” she said. “I get hands-on
experience at Exotica working with
all facets of retail.”
For help on both local and
national internships, as well as how
to approach resumes, interviews
and post interviews, a good place
to start is the Career Center in the
William H. Close Building.
In addition, most colleges in
the university will work with the
companies so students can earn
grades for what they leam on the
job.
Another option similar to an
internship is a co-op. In a co-op,
students work every other semester
to earn a steady income and gain
more experience than a three
month internship can offer.
Kenneth Burton, a third-year
student in the Darla Moore School
of Business, likes the challenges in
the co-op program.
“You’re finding answers
without being able to look in a
book,” said Burton, who’s been in
the program for a year. He spent
last summer and fall in the Air
Force Audit Program and has gone
back this summer as a student
auditor.
The negative aspects of being
off campus for such a long period
of time have been balanced by the
fact that Burton gets competitive
pay and standard benefits without
affecting his graduation.
Burton has already been
approached for full-time
opportunities after graduation.
Though internships are
available year round, the largest
number are available in the
summer.
The best internships are filled
by the end of the year, so in order
to find a worthwhile internship,
students should begin looking now.
The news desk can be reached at
gamecockudesk@hotmail.com