Amendment banning flag burning gets local support

Many residents in favor of proposal

July 4, 2005

By KENNY MAPLE
Index-Journal intern

With July Fourth today, American flags will be seen flying high as people celebrate America.
For many, the flag is a symbol of this freedom, and they say it should not be desecrated. But others think that it is their constitutional right to burn the flag if they please as a means of free speech.
On June 22, the U.S. House approved a constitutional amendment for Congress to ban desecration of the American flag. If the amendment makes it through the required two-thirds vote, it will be sent on for ratification in the states.
Many Greenwood and Lakelands residents voicing opinions said they are for the amendment.
“I really don’t like for people to mess with the flag. I don’t think it’s right. It’s something to be proud of,” William Nabors said.
Some residents even went so far as to talk about flags in general.
“I don’t think that anyone’s flag should be desecrated,” Joy Johnson said. “Nobody’s. It’s senseless.”
Others were more angered by the thought of burning the flag.
Thomas Harvin said he dislikes seeing people in other countries burning the flag, and when Americans burn the flag, he said “they should be prosecuted.”
Harvin added that they “shouldn’t be in America.”
Greenville resident Yuriy Volosyuk said he is against flag burning.
“It is very bad, ridiculous, unacceptable,” he said.
Not everyone had the same beliefs, though.
Some people said they think that it is a person’s right to do as they please.
“I feel like it’s free will,” Alisha Bradfield said. “This country is about who you want to be. It’s a form of free speech.”
“I think Congress should have better things to do than worry about what we do with our flags,” Anita Collins, from Waterloo, said.
Other responders said the only time a flag should be burned is for flag disposal.
“I only want proper disposal of a flag,” said Jody Gable, a teacher at Cambridge Academy in Greenwood. “I couldn’t start the day without saying the pledge with my kindergartners. It’s a part of our morning routine.”
“Everyone should be respectful of the flag and it should be disposed of properly,” Kim Sweet, of Greenwood, said. “We really must remember it’s a symbol of our freedom.”
Finally, people explained what the flag means to them.
“I don’t think it should be burned,” Phyliis Harris, of Newberry, said. “It’s a historical icon; it stand for the U.S.A.”

Greenwood native closer to dream of being lawyer

July 4, 2005

By SHAVONNE POTTS
Index-Journal staff writer

As a young child, David Bornemann never really thought about how he’d become a lawyer. He just knew it was something he had to do.
Now, the Greenwood native is but a few months away from his childhood dream.
Bornemann is approaching his final year of law school at the University of South Carolina.
“It’s kind of one of those things I saw myself doing as a little kid,” he said.
Being able to defend a client, argue a point of view on someone’s behalf and complete a case were things that appealed to Bornemann. “It was something early on that I was drawn to,” he said.
During his time as an undergraduate in college, he became a page for U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond and state Sen. John Drummond.
Bornemann said he strives to emulate the genuine concern and unwavering commitment that he sees in Drummond, who represents Greenwood County in the S.C. General Assembly.
“I consider Senator Drummond to be a positive role model, a remarkable legislator and a dear friend whom I greatly admire,” he said.
“I have known David and his family for many years and have continually been impressed with David’s conscientious, professional aspirations and outstanding achievements,” Drummond said in a letter to The Index-Journal suggesting Bornemann as the subject for a newspaper article.
Bornemann is currently the president of the Student Bar Association where students perform service activities such as organizing the law school’s blood drive, organizing orientation for incoming law students and working to address a wide range of student concerns.
“There are a few policy issues we are trying to lobby against,” he said. “Tuition increases is one we’re trying to curb.”
He’s also highly involved with a program he founded — the Law School Advocates Program. It is set up to assist the admissions office with recruitment activities that include open house, campus tours and orientation as well as alumni events.
“It’s sort of like being an ambassador of the law school. It’s all been fun and beneficial,” Bornemann said.
He also participates on the University Safety Committee, the Parking Appellate Court and the South Carolina State Student Association, a student lobbying group made up of students from every state-funded school in South Carolina.
He was also featured in the movie “Radio” as a T.L. Hanna High basketball player.
Bornemann recently returned from studying abroad in London and is now working as a law clerk at a Columbia firm.
“It gives you an inside look at what it takes to be a lawyer. I do a lot of legal writing,” he said.
It’s a careful balancing act with his job, school and the many other activities he’s involved in.
“The activities are all things I was interested in. It makes it easy if you don’t view it as work and have good time management skills,” Bornemann said of how he finds time for his activities.
He said he envisions himself starting with a law firm in Columbia or Charleston and seeing where it takes him.
Still, Bornemann said he misses Greenwood where his family, friends and familiar restaurants are.
“There are some great restaurants that I drive back home for,” he said.

Shavonne Potts covers general assignments in Greenwood and the Lakelands. She can be reached at 223-1811, ext. 3306, or: spotts@indexjournal.com.

Post 20 pounds out win

Greenwood batters collect 13 hits to defeat Walhalla

July 4, 2005

By RON COX
Index-Journal sports writer

The Greenwood American Legion Post 20 baseball team pounded out 13 base hits to knock off Walhalla, 8-5, Sunday afternoon at Legion Field in a make-up of a rainout game.
The Emerald High School trio of Milton Brown, Wade Scott and Justin Lovvorn each recorded three hits for Post 20, which improved its League VII record to 8-5.
With the win, Greenwood maintains its second-place position in league standings, trailing first-place Greenville by two games with three remaining in the regular-season schedule.
“It was hot and humid out here, but we still managed to hit the baseball well,” Post 20 coach Billy Dean Minor said. “We got some decent pitching, but during this whole thing, we’ve been hitting the baseball.
“Now, we have to settle down and finish out the season one game at a time.”
Post 20 returns to action at 7:30 Tuesday night at Greenville. Greenwood’s regular season home finale is Thursday night against Belton before closing out the regular season Friday at Walhalla.
Nick Milford, coming off his complete game victory over Belton Thursday, picked up the pitching win for Post 20 against Walhalla.
The Dixie High School graduate scattered 10 hits and five runs over seven innings of work, while walking only one Walhalla batter.
Greenwood High School graduate Kyle Behrendt pitched two scoreless innings in relief to close out the win.
Post 20, which never trailed in the contest, got on the board early against Walhalla starter Tim Fournier. Clint Burden notched a two-out double to bring in Brown and Scott for the 2-0 lead.
Burden drove in another run in the third. After Will Gary scored from third on a passed ball, the former Calhoun Falls standout scored Scott on a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1.
Walhalla’s Nick Chambers brought the score to within one, 4-3, with a two-run homer off Milford in the fourth.
After Greenwood plated one more run in the fifth for a 5-3 lead, Walhalla’s Matt Trotter’s two-RBI single in the sixth tied score at 5.
But Post 20 put the game away in the bottom of the inning. With the bases loaded, Gary was hit by Fournier to bring in Justin Jenkins for the go-ahead run.
Scott provided some insurance by following with a single off reliever Travis Cox to score Lovvorn and Brown for the final score, 8-5.

Opinion

Independence Day, 2005: words worth remembering

July 4, 2005

On this Independence Day, it may be helpful for the “sunshine patriots” of 2005 to think about the sacrifices our Founding Fathers made for our freedom. Most lost all of their possessions. Some lost their lives. So, remember what they gave us, and think of what others have said to help us remember:

“On the day of his (John Adam’s) death, hearing the noise of bells and cannon, he asked the occasion. On being reminded that it was ‘Independent Day,’ he replied, ‘Independence forever.’” Daniel Webster

“If the American revolution had produced nothing but the Declaration of Independence, it would have been worth while.” Samuel Eliot Morison

“I believe there are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.” James Madison

“Dear Madam, I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.” Abraham Lincoln, in a letter to a grieving mother

“We, too, born to freedom, and believing in freedom, are willing to fight to maintain freedom. We, and all others who believe as deeply as we do, would rather die on our feet than live on our knees.” Franklin Delano Roosevelt

“For every man who lives without freedom, the rest of us must face the guilt.” Lillian Hellman

“A democracy – that is a government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people; of course, a government of the principles of eternal justice, the unchanging law of God; for shortness’ sake I will call it the idea of Freedom.” Theodore Parker.

That last quote comes from “The American Idea.” What could be more appropriate on this day of liberty?

Editorial expression in this feature represents our own

Obituaries

Joann Quinn

WARE SHOALS — Mary Joann Jeans Quinn, 49, of 19 Balentine Drive, wife of James Randy Quinn, died Sunday, July 3, 2005 at her home.
Born in Greenville, she was a daughter of Paul D. and Mary Smith Jeans. She attended Ware Shoals Pentecostal Holiness Church.
Survivors include her husband of the home; her parents of Ware Shoals; a son, John Paul Alewine and a daughter, Crystal A. Kay, both of Ware Shoals; two sisters, Carolyn Montjoy of Flagstaff, Ariz., and Connie Montjoy of Ware Shoals; and a grandson.
Services are 3 p.m. Wednesday at West Main Street Church of God, conducted by the Rev. Aaron Hodges. Burial is in Oakbrook Memorial Park, Greenwood.
Visitation is 7-9 Tuesday at Parker-White Funeral Home.
The family is at the home of her parents, 4½ N. Greenwood Ave.
Parker-White Funeral Home is in charge.

Clayton ‘Cowboy’ Tate

WATERLOO — Clayton Paul “Cowboy” Tate, 87, of 731 Whitten Road, widower of Beatrice Conwell Tate, died Sunday, July 3, 2005.
The family is at the home.
Services will be announced by Harley Funeral Home, Greenwood.

Edna Mae Wideman

HODGES — Edna Mae Gaskin Wideman, 64, of 118 Embassy Court, Cokesbury community, wife of Willie Wideman, died Saturday, July 2, 2005 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Callison, she was a daughter of the late John and Willie Mae Moss Gaskin. She was a homemaker and a member of Bailey Bethel A.M.E. Church, Troy. She was a worker at Holy Spring Baptist Church, where she was a Gospel Chorus member. She was also a member of Women’s Home Aide Society No. 98.
Survivors include her husband of the home and a brother, Frank Gaskin Jr. of Greenwood.
The family is at 3616 Highway 246 N.
Services will be announced by Parks Funeral Home, Greenwood.