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Tuesday, April 1, 1997
NATION/WORLD UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
McVeigh jury selection begins
The Associated Press
DENVER — In a courtroom protected by barricades and armed guards, Oklahoma City bombing defendant Timothy McVeigh gazed intently at potential jurors yesterday as they spoke of their willingness to impose the death penalty for the deadliest terrorist attack ever on U.S. soil.
McVeigh, wearing a buzz haircut, an open-collared blue shirt and khakis, smiled and shook his attorney's hand as he was brought into the courtroom from a basement holding cell for the start of jury selection. He nodded and mouthed "Good morning" through a smile when the judge introduced him to jurors.
But during detailed and excruciatingly slow questioning, McVeigh's glare tightened over his folded hands as prospective jurors discussed how they could recommend execution if he was convicted of causing the April 19, 1995, blast that killed 168 people and injured hundreds more.
It's hard to place yourself in the role of deciding the fate of another
Timothy McVeigh
The man, a self-employed financial
adviser, said he had not formed an opinion about McVeigh but believed there may be other suspects who had not been arrested. "There are elements, potentially people out there that are ancillary to this case, that might want to make their strength and presence felt," he said.
The second prospective juror questioned, a grandmother in her 60s, said her dominant memory of McVeigh was the footage of him in an orange jail jumpsuit being led out of a county jail in Oklahoma.
"I felt very sorry for him," she said. "For such a young man to waste his life."
MVeigh attorney Stephen Jones
then asked: "You didn't feel sorry
because they arrested the wrong man?"
"I didn't know." she said.
As the prospective jurors took the stand to talk about everything from their view of the justice system to their opinions on the O.J. Simpson case, they were hidden behind a partial wall from nearly everyone in the audience section of the courtroom. U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch has promised the prospective jurors that their privacy would be protected during the questioning.
Given the slow pace — only four potential jurors were questioned by mid-afternoon — it could take two weeks or more for lawyers to choose 12 jurors and six alternates from a pool of hundreds, and all those picked must be willing to consider the death penalty as punishment.
Heightened security was evident at the stone-and-glass courthouse, which is ringed by concrete barriers, huge stone planters and temporary metal fences. Police officers on foot, horseback and in cruisers made regular passes around the complex, and at least one sharpshooter, wearing military fatigues, was stationed at
"I felt very sorry for him. For such a young man to waste his life."
prospective juror
the top of a parking structure across the street.
Chief prosecutor Joseph Hartzler intends to link McVeigh to bombmaking materials and a yellow Ryder rental truck used in the explosion.
The defense will attack the integrity of the evidence, focusing on allegations that results from the FBI crime lab were botched or altered to suit prosecutors. Jones also may depict MeVeigh as a patsy in a complicated conspiracy involving Iraq, the Irish Republican Army and American White supremacists. The prosecution has belittled that theory.
Study outlines vitamin E risks
Pills don't provide complete benefit
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — People loading up on vitamin E supplements to stay healthy may be making a mistake. Researchers said yesterday that most pills had only one form of the nutrient, and it can be harmful in large doses.
People should take only modest levels of vitamin E in pills and then eat foods that contain more complete forms of the nutrient, said Stephan Christen, a biochemist and researcher at the University of California-Berkeley.
To get full benefit from the vitamin, people also need gamma-tocopherol, found in soybeans, nuts and grains, he said. The researcher said he hoped vitamin pill companies would add gamma-tocopherol to their formulas.
In laboratory tests, Christen said, California researchers found that gamma-tocopherol also was the only one of the E vitamin forms that could permanently trap and remove nitrogen oxide.
Earlier studies have shown that vitamin E protects against heart disease and cancer and slows aging by absorbing oxygen-free radicals, destructive chemicals that form during metabolism and when the body fights disease.
But a study to be published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that vitamin tocopherol, the form of vitamin E found in pills, does an incomplete job of neutralizing some compounds.
Christen, lead author of the study, said of the E vitamins, only gamma-tocopheral gets rid of peroxynitrite, a highly destructive nitric oxide radical found at sites of inflammation. Where there is chronic inflammation, he said, peroxynitrite can start processes leading to cancer and heart disease.
Air bags responsible for minor injuries
Women,short drivers more likely to be hurt
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Nearly two-thirds of drivers in crashes of air bag-equipped cars were injured by the deploying bag, according to an analysis by University of Michigan researchers.
Most of the injuries were minor scrapes and bruises, but 3 percent of the drivers — or 18 — suffered broken bones in the forearm or hand, according to the University's Transportation Research Institute, where researchers studied 540 crashes.
The fractures were caused by the deploying air bag, the air bag cover or the air bag flinging drivers' arms and hands into the instrument panel or windshield, said Donald F. Huelke, a lead researcher.
Several of the breaks happened during a left-hand turn when a driver's right hand was over the steering wheel, where the air bag deploys, Huelke said.
Nearly two-thirds of the drivers had injuries to the arms, hands, face or upper body, and most injuries
were minor scrapes, bruises or cuts,
Huelex said.
The researchers found that 38 percent of the drivers suffered forearm and hand injuries while one in three drivers sustained a facial injury, according to papers they published this year.
About 2 percent — or 11 drivers — sustained eye injuries from air bag deployment, primarily scuffs on the eyeball or some blood in the eye. Huelke said. "In almost all the cases, the driver recovered from the injury and there were no long-term effects," he said.
However, a report published in March that reviewed five cases of air bag injuries treated at the University of California-Los Angeles ophthalmology trauma center concluded that air bags could be hazardous to the eyes.
"The study highlights that air bags need some changes in design," said Edward E. Manche, the paper's lead author and director of cornea and refractive surgery at Stanford University Medical Center.
Women and shorter drivers are more likely to receive facial injuries, Huelke said, because they are more likely to be close to the air bag when it deploys.
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The University Daily Kansan is accepting applications for the positions of
Business Manager*
and Editor
for both the Summer and Fall 1997 terms.
Applications may be picked up at The Kansan Business Office. 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall. Deadline for both Business Manager and Editor application submission is
submission is
Friday, April 4, at 12:00 pm
*The Business Manager is responsible for the entire operation of The Kansan advertising department.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN