The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, October 25, 2002, Page 2, Image 2
Sniper
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
whether he understood the
charge, he quietly answered,
“Yes, ma’am.”
Malvo is considered by the
court toibe a juvenile, and all of
his proceedings are closed. Police
said he was being held as a mate
ria:! witness, and they did not
identify him.
The suspects might have been
tripped up by their own arro
gance; authorities said they re
ceived a call on the task force tip
line taking responsibility for the
sniper attacks and for an incident
in Montgomery, Ala.
Evidence from a Sept. 21 rob
bery attempt outside a liquor
store in Montgomery, which
killed one employee and wounded
another, then led police to Malvo
and Muhammad.
Two senior federal law en
forcement officials, speaking on
condition of anonymity, said in
vestigators hadn’t ruled out other
accomplices, including some who
may have provided vehicles or
other support.
Moose said the investigation
was continuing, but authorities
felt comfortable with the day’s de
velopment^ He bowed his head
and fought back tears as he re
called the victims and their fami
lies.
“We will never know their
pain, and we only wish we could
have stopped this to reduce the
number of victims,” he said.
Muhammad, a veteran of the
Gulf War, converted to Islam, ac
cording to The Seattle Times.
Malvo is a citizen of Jamaica. The
Times quoted federal sources as
saying the two had been known
to speak sympathetically about
the hijackers who attacked the
World Trade Center and the
Pentagon.
But there was no indication,
authorities said, that they were
linked to al-Qaida or any terror
ist group.
The two were arrested with
out incident by members of the
sniper task force at a rest stop in
Frederick County, 50 miles north
west of Washington. The time
was 3:19 a.m.
Three hours earlier, Moose
had announced that Muhammad
and a juvenile were being sought
f
and issued a nationwide alert for
a blue, 1990 Chevrolet Caprice
with New Jersey plates. A mo
tofist and an attendant spotted
the car and called police.
The Caprice is co-owned by a
New Jersey resident, Nathanel 0.
Osbourne; FBI officials said he
was being sought as a witness.
The car has an opening in its
trunk that would permit someone
to lie inside and fire the rifle
while remaining hidden, two fed
eral law enforcement sources told
The Associated Press. That could
explain the lack of spent shell cas
ings in most of the shootings, the
officials said, speaking on condi
tion of anonymity.
Investigators now believe
that the Caprice was involved in
all the shootings. Sightings of
white vans and box trucks were
attributed to erroneous witness
accounts.
Police did not immediately
confirm a report in The
(Baltimore) Sun’s Thursday edi
tions that the Caprice was ap
proached Oct. 8 by Baltimore of
ficers who found Muhammad and
Malvo sleeping. That was the day
after a 13-year-old boy in Bowie
was wounded as he arrived at
school.
The two were allowed to go,
sources told the Sun, because in
vestigators were looking for a
white van. In the weeks after,
four more people were shot by the
sniper, three fatally.
All told, 13 people were shot;
three survived. The sniper left
notes claiming to be God, and
warning that children were not
safe “anywhere, at any time.”
Some residents greeted
Thursday’s news as if it was the
first glimmer of sunrise after the
darkness that stretched three
weeks.
“I feel a lot safer today,” said
Mary Beth Roberts of Stafford
County, Va. “Everyone’s smiling
and getting out more.”
She was shopping at the
Michaels craft store in
Fredericksburg, Va., where a 43
year-old woman was critically
wounded on Oct. 4; a regular cus
tomer,’Roberts felt safe to return
only after news of the arrests.
Schools kept kids inside for
recess again, just to be certain.
But La Plata, Md., where the town
council had voted to “strongly
discourage” trick-or-treating, re
versed course.
“I told my wife she better go
out and buy some candy,” Town
Manager Douglas Miller said
Thursday.
Police, who had been under
enormous pressure, turned their
attention to gathering evidence
that Muhammad and Malvo were
responsible. The first item was
Malvo’s fingerprint, found at the
Alabama scene on a magazine
about weapons, according to
Montgomery Mayor Bobby
Bright.
Bright did not specify
whether the print was found be
fore or after the telephone call
claiming responsibility for the
sniper attacks and the liquor
store shooting, but it was the cru
cial break.
A composite sketch of the sus
pect in the liquor-store shootings
was made and “there are some
very good similarities” to Malvo,
Montgomery Police Chief John
Wilson said. He said the gun used
in Alabama was not the same as
the one in the Washington, D.C.
area shootings, however.
Police traced Malvo to a
house in Tacoma, Wash., that was
searched Wednesday. He had
been living in the house with
Muhammad, a source told the AP.
FBI agents carted away po
tential evidence, including a tree
stump from the yard that inves
tigators planned to examine for
bullets or bullet fragments.
Pfc. Chris Waters, a Fort
Lewis soldier who lives across the
street from the Tacoma home,
said he called police after hearing
gunshots in the neighborhood
nearly every day in January.
“It sounded like a high-pow
ered rifle such as an M-16,” he
said. “Never more than three
shots at a time. Pow. Pow. Pow.”
Muhammad did not receive
sniper training during his Army
career. Muhammad had training
in three areas, mainly as a com
bat engineer, which was his spe
cialty during the time he served
in the 1991 Gulf War.
He also was trained as a metal
worker and a water transport spe
cialist.
Muhammad enlisted in the
Army on Nov. 6,1985, and was
discharged at Fort Lewis on April
26,1994. After leaving active duty
he served in the Oregon National
Guard until 1995. Before coming
on active duty, he served in the
Louisiana National Guard from
1978 to 1985.
His highest ranking on active
duty was sergeant.
Muhammad changed his
name last year from John Allen
Williams, years after he convert
ed to Islam, investigators told the
Times.
FBI agents visited Bellingham
High School, 90 miles north of
Seattle, on Wednesday. Mayor
Mark Asmundson said
Muhammad and Malvo had been
in the area until about nine
months ago.
PHOTO BY CHUCK KENNEDY/KRT CAMPUS
Police transport a car seized in the arrest of two suspects in
the recent Washington, D.C.-area sniper shootings.
As an engineer in
the U.S. Air Force,
there’s no telling what
.you’ll work on.
(Seriously, we can't tell ^ou.)
United States Air Force applied technology is years ahead
of what you’ll touch in the private sector, and as a new
engineer you'll likely be involved at the ground level of new
and sometimes classified developments. You'll begin leading
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the Air Force today. To request more information, call
1-800-423-USAF or log on to airforce.com.
U.S. AIR FORCE
CROSS INTO THE^BLUE
POLICE REPORT
Each number on
the map stands
for a crime
corresponding
with numbered
descriptions in
the list below.
DAY CRIMES
(6a.m.-6p.m.)
□ Violent
O Nonviolent
NIGHT CRIMES
(6 p.m.-6a.m.)
■ Violent
• Nonviolent
CRIMES AT
UNKNOWN
HOURS
□ Violent
© Nonviolent
These reports are taKen directly tram the UbU h
Compiled by Allyson Bird.
Tuesday, Oct. 22
O ILLEGAL USE OF
TELEPHONE, COLUMBIA HALL,
918 BARNWELL ST. Alicia
Balentine said someone
continually called her and hung
up. Reporting officer: N.
DeHaai.
® ILLEGAL USE OF
TELEPHONE, WADE HAMPTON,
1528 GREENE ST. Ramona
Echols said someone who
called himself John repeatedly
called her from Richland
County Detention Center.
Echols turned her phone off
and was shown how to block
such calls. Reporting officer:
J.A. Clarke.
Wednesday, Oct. 23
□ ASSAULT AND BATTERY,
COLUMBIA HALL, 918
BARNWELL ST. Lisa Stone said
Dlice uepanmem.
she and April Mobley were
involved in a verbal fight that
became physical. Stone was
told her rights but did not want
to prosecute. Reporting officer:
T
® MALICIOUS INJURY TO
PERSONAL PROPERTY, BATES
HOUSE, 1423 WHALEY ST.
Benjamin Doddato said
someone poured water on his
computer and damaged it.
Estimated damage: $390.
Reporting officer: R. Baker.
Thursday, Oct. 24
O ILLEGAL USE OF
TELEPHONE, PATTERSON HALL,
1520 DEVINE ST. Elizabeth
Garby said someone continued
to call her after she asked him
to stop. Reporting officer: J.
Means.
Award emphasizes
excellent advisers
BY BLAKE CLANCY
THE GAMECOCK
With advisement under way for
the spring semester, students and
professors have similar ideas
about what makes a good adviser.
Advisement — students meet
ing with faculty members to dis
cuss their course selection — is a
process that touches nearly every
student at USC.
To emphasize the importance
of the advisement process, the
Provost’s Office established the an
nual Outstanding Undergraduate
Staff Adviser Award in 1990, fund
ed by the USC Educational
Foundation. The academic adviser
award was recently renamed for
Ada B. Thomas.
Peter Werner, a professor in the
Physical Education Department,
won the award in 2001. He said a
good adviser has many qualities.
“They need to have a primary
interest in students, be good lis
teners and show personal con
cern,” Werner said. “They also
need to be good mentors, be acces
sible and try to be understanding
of whatever problems a student
may be dealing with.”
But Werner said his primary
goal when advising a student is
simple.
“My main objective in advise
ment is to create a program of
study for students that will help
them graduate on time,” Werner
said.
Dan Berman, director of the
University 101 program and an as
sociate professor in the Art
Department, won the 2002 award.
While Berman had a similar view
of the basic qualities of a good ad
viser, his technique focuses on a
familiar adviser-student relation
ship.
“A good adviser is someone
who takes a real interest in his ad
visees and is able to draw on past
experiences,” Berman said. “The
most important skill is to be a
good listener.”
Several students had their own
ideas of what makes a good advis
er.
Kate Wurster, a second-year
pre-pharmacy student, looks for
honesty in an adviser.
“I think a good adviser is a per
son who actually gives his honest
opinion on stuff and directs you
where you should be going,”
Wurster said. “He supplies you
with all the options possible with a
certain track.”
Kishan Patel, a first-year busi
ness student, looks for familiari
ty with an adviser.
“A good adviser knows what
you want to do before you say any
thing because they understand
you that well,” Patel said. “They
listen more than talk and really
want to help you.”
While advisers play a vital role
in advisement, both Werner and
Berman agree that class choice is
mainly up to the student.
“To make advisement easier,
students need to sit down and read
the course catalogue and know the
requirements,” Werner said.
“When a student goes into the ad
visement appointment, he or she
should have a good idea of what
they need to take.”
Berman said: “I think the best
adviser is someone who encour
ages his advisees to be knowl
edgeable and proactive. The ad
viser shouldn’t be a crutch, but
rather one who engages in a dia
logue with the student to help
them ultimately achieve their
goals.”
Students can get nomination
forms for the Ada B. Thomas
Outstanding Faculty Adviser
Award at the Student Services
Office in their college or depart
ment, from a resident adviser,
from academic advisers or from
Werner’s office by calling 777-8113.
The deadline for nominations is
Dec. 13.
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockudesk@hotmail.com
Bush
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Wesley Donehue, a USC
College Republican, said Bush
should have more power to act
against Iraq. “Bush is the com
mander in chief of the military,
and the Democrats are holding
him up in Congress,” he said.
Fourth-year English student
Elizabeth Catanese, who also
helped organize the teach-in, dis
agreed with Bush’s explanation
of why terrorists hate America.
Terrorists “don’t hate us be
cause we’re free; they hate us be
cause we’re number o^e,” she
said.
Catanese said terrorists see the
United States as “the spearhead
of the Western world” and “dete
riorating traditional Islamic val- 1
ues.”
Ultimately, Bush communi
cated a desire to establish peace
in the Middle East and in the
world. “Out of that evil and harm
and hurt and tears can come a
more compassionate and decent
society,” he said. “There’s no
question in my mind that this
great country will lead the world
to peace.”
Comments on this story?E-mail
gamecockudesk@hotmail.com