Aug. 31, 2012 Spartanburg Journal

Converse leaps to 3rd place in magazine’s college rankings.

PAGE 4

‘HELICOPTER PARENTS’: Letting go is the toughest part.

PAGE 11

SPARTANBURGJOURNAL

Spartanburg, S.C. • Friday, August 31, 2012 • Vol.8, No.35

A POLITICAL ‘COMINGOUT’ STORY. PAGE 17

A V  P GREG BECKNER / STAFF

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Converse College soars to 3rd place in magazine national ranking

By CHarles Sowell | staff

Greg Beckner / Staff

Converse College soared 40 places this year in Washington Monthly’s national college ranking from 43rd nationally to number three, according to results from the magazine released this week.

“This is an acknowledgement of the work we’ve done here,” said Betsy Fleming, college president. “We’ve done tremendous work here and this ranking is evidence the word is getting out.”

“The magazine, which hit newsstands Aug. 27, praises Converse in its lead story, noting ‘Converse College, an economically diverse all-female liberal arts college … is our third ranked master’s institution by virtue of its strong commitment to service and record of graduating women who go on to earn PhDs,’” said Beth Lancaster, the school’s director of communications.

Converse is a school that strives to give its students a complete college experi-

ence, Fleming said.

The faculty and administration have a strong commitment to public service, postgraduate work and to ensuring the student body is as diverse as possible, she said.

Converse’s high tuition, $37,130 for a full-time on-campus student, is more than offset by the school’s scholarship programs and commitment to making sure no deserving student cannot attend because of financial issues, Fleming said.

“Our donors give generously,” she said, “and that makes a tremendous difference.

There are also other sources of financing available.”

This year’s student body president, Erica Lane, is a prime example of the school’s commitment to making sure all deserving students get the best education possible.

Lane is the first member of her family to attend college. The 21-year-old from Myrtle Beach said, “Looking back on this from the perspective of a senior, I can see the difference Converse has make to me. We just had

my fourth ‘Serve Spartanburg’ event at the opening convocation and it shows a great deal about the school’s impact.

“I have a passion about being passionate and that was something that I learned here.”

Lane is a music major, but her major passion is baking. An odd thing, coming from a soon-to-be college graduate, but Lane hopes to own her own bakery one day and spread her love of cupcakes and other goodies to the public at large.

She has worked at the Cake Head Bakery to earn extra money while attending Converse and her love for baked goods

was developed there.

Ashley Page, a 20-year-old rising senior from Columbia, likewise expects to continue her service to the community after graduation.

She started a mentoring program at Converse pairing college and high school students and intends to continue that idea as a graduate by organizing mentoring for college students.

“I could have gone to school at USC in my hometown,” she said. “But when I first came to Converse and saw the place and then met Dr. Fleming, I started having doubts about USC. “Some time later, I returned for a second visit and saw Dr. Fleming again. She remembered me and called me by name.

That’s what sold me.”

Converse has a student body of about 1,500, counting the graduate program.

Fleming said the school has about 750 undergraduates and 750 in other programs, including the master’s program.

“Our postgraduate programs sent a lot of students on to doctoral programs at other schools,” she said. “So the master’s program here is a lot bigger than most would suspect.”

Contact Charles Sowell at csowell@thespartanburgjournal.com.

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JOURNAL COMMUNITY

OPINION VOICES FROM YOUR COMMUNITY, HEARD HERE

FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

A surprising offer from DHEC It was former President Ronald Reagan who famously said, “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.’”

So South Carolinians may be forgiven a reflexive skepticism when the director of the state’s environmental agency promises business owners the equivalent in a speech called “Help Me Help You.” Catherine Templeton was speaking to the S.C. Economic Developers Association in Columbia last week when she announced her intent to cut the red tape at the Department of Health and Environmental Control by giving business owners the equivalent of a “personal banker.”

According to the Associated Press, she told the stunned group, “I want you to be able to walk into DHEC, sit down and say, ‘I have a project. What do I need to do?’” and get one answer from one person. If applicants have to see a single other bureaucrat, “I’ve wasted your time,” she said.

This is a remarkable acknowledgment, not to mention promise, from an agency infamous for a lengthy, complex permitting system that is the despair of environmentalists and business owners alike.

DHEC administers more than 150 programs and issues permits for everything from mineral exploration to hospital beds to industrial air emissions. The 3,600-employee agency hasn’t had a “critical self-analysis in 30 years,” Templeton told the Charleston Post & Courier in May, and in the process has assumed a host of duties state law doesn’t require and in some cases doesn’t even allow, simply “because it’s always done them,” she said.

Gov. Nikki Haley has made abundantly clear her desire to make the agency less bureaucratic and more business-friendly, and Templeton assumed the top post at DHEC this February on Haley’s recommendation.

She immediately raised legislative hackles by eliminating nine support staff positions and hiring four highly-paid advisers to assist in her quest for a more efficient DHEC. Two are examining real estate and financial issues and two are scrutinizing the health and environmental divisions.

The personal-DHEC-guide idea presumably is a product of this quest. Templeton says state law requires new business owners to acquire a fistful of permits from multiple divisions across the agency – a process that leads to frustration and delays no matter how responsive staffers try to be. The state has liaisons between DHEC and the Commerce Department for large companies new to South Carolina, she said. Why not provide the same service to small business startups and existing businesses that want to expand?

Why not, indeed? This is the sort of refocus on client needs versus bureaucratic convenience that has transformed customer service at the state Department of Motor Vehicles. (Yes, there’s still a line at the DMV, but the wait’s a lot shorter than it used to be.)

Likewise, new business owners will still need that fistful of permits. The savings Templeton promises are in headaches and time.

Both of which are well worth saving. Templeton grasps what DHEC watchers have despaired of ever witnessing at the state’s fifth-largest and most cumbersome agency: the value of common-sense efficiencies. More important, she appears unbowed by the inertia that rules all massive bureaucracies.

DHEC has earned its reputation for waste, unaccountability and ineffectiveness, and environmentalists fret that the agency is already too lenient with its permitting. The legal battle over the pollution permit approved for the $650 million deepening of the Savannah River shipping channel is a case in point. But small, common-sense efficiencies can lead to big changes in an agency’s culture. Templeton is on the right track.

Lessons from an election year I’ve heard it said that war makes monsters of us all. I believe that politics makes monsters of us all. While the medical community deals with early-onset Alzheimer’s, the political community deals with Election-Onset Insanity. There is much noise and rhetoric – but little that qualifies as thought.

Our values make us who we are and give us the frame of reference for how we live our lives. It has been said that the man who stands for nothing will fall for anything. I agree. But I question whether many times we’re actually standing for our values, or are we merely mimicking someone else’s one-liners?

During election years when the stakes are high, the temptation is to enter the fray and antagonize those we should be attempting to engage. It infects both parties – the “I’m right, you’re stupid” stance.

We become victims of the disease of “jerkitis” that seems to be the norm from now until November.

Let us be reminded that “We see through a glass but darkly.” With limited vision, we see an issue based upon our personal paradigms. Often our perspective is skewed by our own emotions. We want quick fixes to massive problems, but fail to discern long-term ramifications. Without thoughtful discourse, it is often the loudest voice that prevails.

Republicans don’t have all the answers.

Democrats don’t either. Political parties are corruptible, human institutions, full of fallible and often corrupt human beings. Though we like to think our own party holds the keys to all wisdom and knowledge, both sides get it wrong in multiple areas. We will never pull this country together until we put party politics aside and focus on finding real solutions to real problems.

What if we paused long enough to take a breath, think, and really discuss the issues based on their merits? What if each of us would take the time to explore our area of passion and use that as an opportunity to improve our own corner of the world?

To those who are worried about the

IN MY OWN WORDS by SUZANNE DEKOCK

homeless, rather than look to the government for answers, why not work with homeless people? Volunteer at a soup kitchen. Build a home with Habitat for Humanity. Look for opportunities to positively impact one person each day.

Turn your passion into action.

To those whose heart is with children having children – come alongside one of these struggling families and help their children be raised in a loving home. Foster a child. Be a mentor. Take in a pregnant teenager. Love those who have no one to love them.

For those who complain about rich people not paying enough taxes, sit down and have coffee with a businessman or businesswoman who’s built a company from the ground up. Ask them how they started. How many jobs were provided within the community? What were their greatest struggles? What’s the tax burden been like for them along the way? Get another perspective.

Politics will never achieve what we can accomplish together if we are committed to personally making a difference. Complaining from the comfort of the La-ZBoy while mimicking the shouting heads on television will not solve the problems our country is facing.

Government cannot fix what’s wrong with this country. It is “we, the people” who have the right and the responsibility to make this country a better place. To do so, we must rise above the rhetoric, tune out the noise, and engage in thoughtful discourse.

It is not we the Democrats. It is not we the Republicans. It is we, the people, who can make a difference – one person, one family, one community at a time.

Suzanne Dekock is a freelance writer and part-time health coach in Greenville. Visit her website at www.suzannedekock.tsfl.com.

IN MY OWN WORDS FEATURES ESSAYS BY RESIDENTS WITH PARTICULAR EXPERTISE WHO WANT TO TELL READERS ABOUT ISSUES IMPORTANT TO THEM. THE JOURNAL ALSO WELCOMES LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (MAXIMUM LENGTH OF 200 WORDS). PLEASE INCLUDE ADDRESS AND DAYTIME PHONE NUMBER. ALL LETTERS WILL BE CONFIRMED BEFORE PUBLICATION. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO EDIT ALL LETTERS FOR LENGTH. PLEASE CONTACT SUSAN SIMMONS AT SSIMMONS@THESPARTANBURGJOURNAL.COM.

6 SPARTANBURG JOURNAL | AUGUST 31, 2012

journal community

Amazon center may open by Christmas

By CHarles Sowell | staff

Word on an opening date for Amazon’s $50-million distribution center on John Dodd Road could come within weeks, an official with the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce said this week.

Amazon has been hiring for the one million-square-foot facility for some time now. Jobs are expected to pay from $14 to $18 per hour. There is no word on the number of jobs expected at the facility, but county officials said in December of last year that the initial hiring could be slightly less than 400 with seasonal peaks doubling that figure.

Amazon’s facility in Lexington County resulted in more than 1,200 jobs with seasonal peaks pushing 2,500.

“As far as I know construction is going very well there,” said Carter Smith, executive vice president of the chamber.

“Work is on schedule.”

Amazon wants to have the facility up and running in time to handle the load of this year’s Christmas season. Online shoppers have become a major part of the retail business around the country.

Plans on file with Spartanburg County show a 42-foot-tall rectangular building. It will have 64 bay doors; 764,000 square feet of warehouse space; 11,000 square feet of office and restroom space; a 6,000-square-foot break room and more than 1,000 parking spaces.

At the January announcement, Spartanburg County Councilman David Britt said county officials worked on the project for nearly two years.

He called the process of wooing Amazon to Spartanburg a “roller-coaster ride,” as issues arose at the state and local levels.

“I feel great satisfaction because I know how close this project came to not happening,” Britt said. “This was a total team effort. It happened because we had a lot of people stand up and say how we believe in business and industry. This project had life literally breathed back into because of our team.”

Amazon could not be reached for comment by press time.

For more information about jobs at the facility, see www.amazon.com.

The State Ports Authority is projecting an aggressive timeline for finishing a new rail hub in Greer with completion expected by the fall of 2013, said Allison Skipper, spokeswoman for the agency.

Last week, the authority’s board approved spending up to $25 million on the new hub. Engineering and architectural work is ongoing now, Skipper said. Patrick Engineering is handling the nuts and bolts of the project and Davis & Floyd are the architects.

Greer Mayor Rick Danner is expected to visit China soon on a trade expedition centered on the new hub’s completion, Greer officials have said.

on

TD Stage!

Contact Charles Sowell at csowell@thespartanburgjournal.com.

New rail hub slated to open in fall 2013

By CHarles Sowell | staff

EW LtIhV e NE

The rail hub is expected to give the city a big boost since it will be located within the city limits on property already owned by the ports authority near the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport.

Initially, the inland port will reduce truck traffic on Interstate 26 by 25,000 trips a year and has the potential to cut road traffic by 50,000 trips per year after the hub comes to full speed, Skipper said.

The hub has been described as a sort of mini-ports authority located in the Upstate with significant cost benefits for industries doing international business.

Contact Charles Sowell at csowell@thespartanburgjournal.com.

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Preserving an iconic view Resurrection of state land bank promises renewed protection of SC’s scenic views

By CHarles Sowell | staff Closed on Labor Day The Chapman Cultural Center will be closed on Monday, Sept. 3, in observance of Labor Day. Take the day off and enjoy the end of summer in some creative way.

Contemporary Still Life Exhibit Dr. Henry Fagen curated this exhibit of still life paintings, collected from artists from all over the country. In collaboration, both the Spartanburg Art Museum at the Chapman Cultural Center and USC Upstate will show portions of this fine example of one of art’s most well known genres. At SAM, the exhibits run through Oct. 20 and is open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

History of Race Cars The Spartanburg Regional History Museum presents Racing Legends of Spartanburg, a historical account of Spartanburg’s influence on the early days of race car driving. It all started with running moonshine. Open Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Ends Saturday, Sept. 1.

Art Exhibit: School District 4 Every month, a different student exhibit is hosted at the Chapman Cultural Center. It is always free and open Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. This month, see the work of students from Spartanburg School District 4. Aug. 29-Oct. 7.

Threads of Our Heritage Fiber Artist Jody Raines presents a collection of 10 landscape quilts and five thread paintings on silk. Free and open to the public Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. 5 p.m. at the Chapman Cultural Center. Aug. 29-Oct. 7.

History… Kessie: Life of a Slave The Spartanburg County Historical Association presents this informative presentation by Kitty Wilson-Evans Saturday, Sept. 1, noon-4 p.m. at the Historic Price House. She will will dramatically recount the life of a young girl taken from Africa and forced into slavery in South Carolina. $6/adults.

Music Sandwiched In The Music Foundation of Spartanburg presents The Spartanburg Little Theatre at this free lunchtime concert at Spartanburg’s downtown library, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 12:15 p.m. Cast members will sing selections from The King and I, Little Theatre’s first production of the 2012-13 season. Bring your lunch or buy one there.

542-ARTS ChapmanCulturalCenter.org 200 E. Saint John St. Spartanburg

8 SPARTANBURG Journal | AUGUST 31, 2012

Charles Sowell / Staff

Art Exhibit: Transitions The Artists’ Guild of Spartanburg presents local artists Robyn Spence and Eddie Schrieffer’s Transitions: Coast to Mill Towns, Sept. 4-28, Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Free for public viewing. These oil paintings depict South Carolina coastal and mill village scenes. Receptions: Opening on Friday, Sept. 7, 5:30-9 p.m. and ArtWalk on Thursday, Sept.

20, 5-9 p.m. Both are free.

Using part of $9.5 million in funding from a newly resurrected state Conservation Bank, Upstate Forever is closing in on an agreement to preserve Grant Meadow, an iconic 61-acre glade abutting Table Rock State Park, said Dana Leavitt, land trust special projects director for the conservation group.

Grant Meadow is one of the most-photographed scenes in the state. Viewed from Highway 11, the meadow rolls up to a rustic log cabin and draws the eye on to a small mountain called The Stool and then up to the massive stone face of Table Rock itself.

Seven separate Upstate Forever projects are included in this year’s funding, Leavitt said. The state has agreed to spend about $3.5 million to fund conservation easements on the properties.

Broadly speaking, a conservation easement is an agreement between a landowner and a conservation group designed to preserve the special properties of a piece of land, Leavitt said.

The property owner maintains his right of ownership and agrees not to develop the property in return for certain tax breaks.

“It’s the kind of thing you want to be very careful with, because once in place, it is there forever,” Leavitt said. “Easements are designed to give the working man a chance to do conservation on a scale he could not otherwise dream of.”

There are no Rockefellers in the list of names associated with this crop of conservation easements, Leavitt said. “These are farmers and retired people; folks who have owned land for generations.”

Letting go of control never comes easy, and there are financial considerations, too, Leavitt said. “Lawyer fees and the like can easily run as high as $25,000, and the property tax breaks don’t always cover as much as the landowner needs.

This money from the state has been the sweetener many landowners need to make things work.”

Hoyt Grant, 80, and his wife, Laura, who is in her 70s, moved in at the meadow in the late 1990s, onto property Grant purchased from an uncle decades ago.

Grant graduated from Pickens High School in 1951 and started working with an uncle in the logging business. After a few years, he married Laura and went on to work buying and selling property

Hoyt Grant and his wife, Laura, moved to Grant Meadow in the late 1990s, onto property Grant purchased from an uncle decades ago.

as well as logging.

“My great fear is that this (Highway 11) will turn into a Dollywood kind of tourist attraction one day,” he said. “I want to see this place protected.”

Much of the history of the region has faded through the years, destroyed by disasters like fires and through development.

However, the mountains remain, he said.

“There used to be an old house up here,” Hoyt Grant remembered during an interview in his spacious living room at Grant Meadow. “It burned down and we decided to build here, but never intended to live here.”

“Hoyt came up to me one day and said he’d sold my house in Pickens,” said Laura Grant. “I wanted to know where we’d live, and he said, ‘Up at the meadow.’ ” The couple has never looked back, despite problems like roving bears and nosy tourists.

“I went down to the mailbox not long ago,” Hoyt Grant said – nearly a mile walk from the house to Highway 11.

“There must have been a half-dozen cars parked along the side of the road.”

This year is the first time since 2008 that the Conservation Bank’s board approved spending money for new easements. The agency’s funding was put on hold when the recession started.

A portion of the documentary stamp fees paid on property purchases funds the bank. Last year, the agency received $2 million, and full funding of $7.5 million was restored this year.

The bank can make purchases of special properties outright, but prefers

working with local conservation groups to obtain conservation easements. The 19 new easements approved by the bank protected 10,320 acres for $4.9 million, or about $438 per acre.

The Grant Meadow tract was the most expensive easement at $2,054 per acre.

During the board’s discussion on Grant Meadow, several members balked at paying more than $2,000 an acre, Leavitt said.

“I happened to have some pictures of the property in my briefcase and showed it to them,” he said. “They approved the money.”

Upstate projects include: • Oconee County: Lombard tract, 117.89 acres; Ramsay Farms, 130 acres; Shinco-Chauga tract, 402 acres; Ivester Von Lehe Farms, 229 acres; Edward Davis tract, 20.2 acres; Marion Powell tract, 75 acres.

• Pickens County: Grant Meadow tract, 61.05 acres.

• Greenville County: Riverbend Shoals tract, 580 acres; Swamp Rabbit Trail, 49.2 acres.

To celebrate the success of Upstate Forever’s land preservation program, the organization plans the Upstate Forever Preservation Ride on Sept. 22. The bicycle ride starts at 8 a.m. at Strawberry Hill in Chesnee and offers a variety of courses to fit participants’ needs.

For more information see www.upstateforever.org/PreservationRide.html.

Contact Charles Sowell at csowell@thespartanburgjournal.com.

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News and information from Spartanburg Regional

healthmatters primary care: the starting point for everyone’s health Routine medical care by a primary care physician is the foundation for managing your health care.

The primary care physician evaluates your medical history and factors contributing to your health status, and is often able to treat medical problems without referring you to a specialist. Therefore, an important part of your primary health care is a physical exam.

A physical is an opportunity to discover and deal with often-silent health issues such as high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and vascular disease. It is also an occasion to address any specific medical problems and order appropriate testing and/or referrals. Most physicians recommend a routine physical every two to five years for those 25 to 39 and annually for people ages 40 and up.

Routine health care by a primary care physician can keep you on the road to better health. By monitoring your health and providing guidance and medications, the doctor can often prevent minor disorders from becoming worse. Early management of problems such as diabetes and obesity helps bring them under control before they advance to a more serious stage.

For a primary care physician referral, call 864-560-7999.

spartanburg regional adds three new robot-assisted surgeries

Spartanburg Regional has expanded its robotics surgeries role by adding three new surgeries to its long list of robotic procedures offered by da Vinci.® The three new robotic procedures are sleeve gastrectomy, revisional weight loss surgery and splenectomy.

“This robotic surgical system allows us to expand the breadth of our weight loss surgery program,” says Jason Johnson, D.O. Also, Christophe Nguyen, M.D. says “Robot-assisted surgery is my preferred approach for many patients.”

Spartanburg Regional’s highly skilled and experienced team of surgeons, techs and nurses have performed more than 3,000 robotic cases, which is more than any other hospital in South Carolina. For more information, visit spartanburgregional.com/robotics.

hangar b ball to entertain, raise funds for heart health Spartanburg Regional Foundation announces that Party on the Moon— because of the last three years’ extreme popularity—will again headline this year’s Hangar B Ball on October 4.

The event is held in an airplane hangar at the Spartanburg Downtown Memorial Airport, and proceeds benefit Spartanburg Regional Heart Services.

The ticket price includes entertainment, a barbecue dinner, drinks and a T-shirt. Tickets purchased by September 20 will be $60. Tickets after September 20 and at the door will be $75. To purchase tickets or obtain information about sponsorship, call 560-6727 or visit hangarBball.com.

expert care Derek Brenda, M.D., has joined Village Surgical Associates at the Village at Pelham Medical Office Building, Suite 2500. He is accepting new patients. Please call 864-849-9555 for an appointment.

foundation awards more than $545,000 in grants Nonprofits and hospital programs across Spartanburg County are receiving more than $545,000 in grants from the Spartanburg Regional Foundation.

The awards are part of the foundation’s annual grant ceremony, which is providing funding for 2012-13.

The monies will benefit a range of community programs that will help people diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease participate in a movement program, provide forensic assessments for abused children and support digital imaging at a children’s dental clinic.

“We are pleased to help fund a diverse group of programs and projects that will truly impact the quality of life for people across the Upstate,” said Sheila Breitweiser, Vice President and Executive Director of the Spartanburg Regional Foundation. “It is an honor for us to have the opportunity to assist these agencies and programs in making a difference.”

For more information about the Spartanburg Regional Foundation grant program or to see a list of organizations and programs that were funded, visit regionalfoundation.com.

Tune in To discover healTh on WYFF News 4 on Sundays to learn more about the latest advances in medical care at Spartanburg Regional.

10 SPARTANBURG Journal | AUGUST 31, 2012

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journal community

The trials of the helicopter parent

mind-body skills group

Tuesdays, September 4-Oct. 30 • 2-4 p.m.

Bearden-Josey Center for Breast Health Education Room

Greg Beckner / Staff

Adjustment to college isn’t limited to incoming freshmen

By Cindy Landrum | staff

Thousands of freshmen have arrived on Upstate college campuses and are trying to adjust to new roommates, new academic demands and new opportunities presented by the wide array of social activities available on and off campus.

But sometimes it’s their parents who have to make the biggest adjustment.

“It’s a tremendous transition for parents, especially those sending their first child off to college or their last child off to college,” said Mary Stuart Hunter, a University of South Carolina associate vice president in charge of the university’s freshman transition programs. She speaks from experience: She’s sent two children off to college herself.

The change is most challenging for parents who are accustomed to having a say in all their children’s decisions, large and small, and who swoop in to solve problems ranging from bad grades to bad relationships.

“Parents get messages all along, especially with school, to stay involved, to get involved, to help your children,” Hunter said. “Parents are doing what they think is the right thing.”

But often that help can make it difficult for their children to make decisions as adults, said behavior therapist and parenting expert Hannah Keeley, who had a child begin Furman University last year.

“We’re not raising children,” she said.

“We’re raising adults.”

Keeley said over-involved parents, often called helicopter parents because they hover around their children ready to step in at the sign of any problem or conflict, are robbing their children of the necessary experience of failure and success.

“We’ve got to give our kids the freedom to make decisions and live with the consequences,” she said – and it starts early.

“The truth is, do you want your child to make a poor decision at two, three or four years old and learn from it, or wait until he’s 22, 23 or 24, when bad decisions can carry some heavy consequences?” Keeley said. “Parents are afraid of their children making poor decisions when they get to college, but that stems from how we’re

upcoming events

Parents help their incoming freshmen move into their dorms at Furman University.

raising them up. If we want them to be able to make good decisions, we have to allow them to develop maturity so they are able to make those decisions.”

Hunter said there are ways parents of college students can stay involved.

“Parents should always be available to listen to their children and they should help the student to problem-solve,” she said. “Parents need to be careful not to fix things. If a student has an issue with a roommate, parents should help the student think through ways to solve the problem, not call the residence assistant and ask for a roommate change.”

If a child gets in trouble at school, parents need to be supportive and try to help the student think through what went wrong and how an alternative approach may have been better, Hunter said. The parent should not try to fix the problem for the student, she said.

“College is a time where students are going to have conflicts,” she said.

“Smoothing the road for the student is not always the best thing.”

College is also the place where some students face academic failure for the first time, Hunter said. “I know personally, I learned the most from the things that challenged me the most and were the most difficult.”

Hunter said parents can help by allowing their children to move toward a more independent lifestyle while they are still in high school.

Students should get up to their own alarm clock because when they are in college, their roommate is not going to make sure they get up for class. They should do their own laundry, help clean and help cook balanced meals, she said.

“You don’t micromanage children until they are 18 and then send them off to college and expect them to do all of it on their own,” Hunter said.

Contact Cindy Landrum at clandrum@thespartanburgjournal.com.

This is an eight-week program to learn the most effective tools for selfcare and stress management. Call 864-560-1981 for more information and to register.

heart wellness center grand re-opening September 4 • 1-5:30 p.m. • 299 East Pearl Street Ribbon cutting will be at 5:30 p.m.

mobile mammography

Call 560-7999 for an appointment at the following sites on the dates listed below: Sept. 6: Family Physicians at 290, 1575 E. Main Street, Duncan Sept. 11: Your Best Body, 1844 Old Georgia Highway, Gaffney (call 216-5912 for appointment) Sept. 12: Family Practice of Woodruff, 511 Cross Anchor Road, Woodruff Sept. 26: Inman Family Practice, 12230 Asheville Highway, Inman

weight loss information sessions

Wednesday, September 12 and Wednesday, September 19 • 6:30-9 p.m.

Family Medicine Conference Room, Regional Outpatient Center

These free classes cover detailed information about weight loss surgeries. Visit spartanburgweightloss.com or call 560-7070.

prostate cancer screenings

Gibbs Cancer Center is hosting free prostate cancer screenings at two locations. Call 560-7999 to register.

Monday and Tuesday, September 17 and 18 • 5-7 p.m.

Gibbs Cancer Center, 101 East Wood Street, Spartanburg

Monday, September 24 • 5-7 p.m.

Gibbs Cancer Center at Gaffney, 724 Hyatt Street, Gaffney

cardiovascular screenings

Tuesday, September 18 • 8 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1-5 p.m.

North Grove Medical Park, 1330 Boiling Springs Highway

Free screenings for risk factors for heart disease and stroke: BMI, heart rate and rhythm, blood pressure, fasting cholesterol and glucose, stroke screening and peripheral artery disease screening. Eligibility requirements must be met for some screenings. Call 560-7999 for more information or to register.

service of remembrance

Monday, September 24 • 6 p.m. • Spartanburg Regional Hospice Home The service remembers those who have passed on, while encouraging and supporting grieving families and loved ones. Call 560-5641 for more information.

a gathering of men: men’s sexual health symposium

Saturday, September 29 • 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. • Gibbs Cancer Center Couples are invited to this symposium, which will highlight many issues facing cancer survivors. Topics will include sexuality, self and relationships.

A breakout session will be held for women. Visit gibbscancercenter.com or call 560-6747 for more information.

For a complete listing of events visit spartanburgregional.com

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AUGUST 31, 2012 | SPARTANBURG Journal 11

journal community

our community

community news, events and happenings

Discover what was life like for the enslaved African-American men, women and children who lived at Price House when it welcomes longtime historian and awardwinning interpreter Kitty Wilson-Evans to the site on Saturday, Sept. 1, for “Kessie: Life of a Slave.” Set against the backdrop of Price House’s authentic slave cabin, Wilson-Evans will dramatically recount the life of a young girl taken from Africa and forced into slavery in South Carolina. Additionally, visitors can hear the amazing story of how the enslaved Henry “Box” Brown mailed himself to freedom inside a wooden crate, and see a replica of Henry’s Freedom Box. Guests will also learn how cotton, which so many enslaved people toiled to produce, and corn significantly increased soil erosion in the Upstate and drastically changed the region’s landscape.

“Kessie: Life of a Slave” takes place from noon-4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 1. Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for ages 5-17, and free for ages four and under. Price House is located at 1200 Oakview Farms Road near Woodruff. For more information, email pricehouse@spartanburghistory.org or call 864-576-6546.

The 2012 Jam for Care concert is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 18, 6:30-9:30 p.m. at Wild Wing Cafe, 109 West Main St., Spartanburg. Proceeds will benefit Piedmont Care Inc., a nonprofit that offers HIV and AIDS prevention programs. Scheduled to perform that night are Melinda Moretz, Ray Dunleavy, Dirk and Catherine Schlingmann, Valerie Barnet, Sydney McMath, and, performing as The Soap Notes, Joe Boscia, Matt Lambert and Hank Shugart. The event will also feature a silent auction.

Tickets are $15 per individual and $25 per couple and guests check in at the door.

For more information, call 864-582-7773 or visit www.piedmontcare.org.

Wofford College Athletics has re-launched several programs targeted toward area children as the Growing Up Gold campaign. The goal behind Growing Up Gold is to show how academic and athletic excellence creates a lifetime of achievement. On Sept. 10-20, as part of Wofford SAAC Gives Back, dozens of Wofford student-athletes will visit area elementary schools to read to kids and make new friends. Sept. 13 and 19 will be the Youth Soccer Month Kids Skills Challenge. The Black and Gold Bowl Youth Football Night at Wofford will be Sept. 15 when all youth football players and cheerleaders in issued uniforms are admitted free. A Boy Scout campout follows the game. Oct. 13 will be Girl Scout Sports Day with more than 100 Girl Scouts interacting with the Wofford women’s soccer, women’s basketball and volleyball teams in a daylong mini-camp. Growing Up Gold Gameday is Nov. 10 where participating schools across Spartanburg County will reward students for reaching specific academic achievement milestones with two free tickets to the Wofford football game against Chattanooga. School administrators may contact Wofford Sports Marketing at 864-597-4090 for complete details.

CommunityWorks Carolina (CWC), a nonprofit and Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) formerly known as Greenville Housing Fund, has been awarded an $11,000 grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. The funds are part of a recently announced $22 million investment to revitalize neighborhoods across the nation. The housing grants from Bank of America will help nonprofits build and rehab affordable housing, offer foreclosure prevention services and homeowner counseling, and provide other services intended to revitalize neighborhoods and help working families find and keep suitable homes. Through its housing programs, CWC has assisted 222 families purchase their first home, which has generated over $29 million in local economic impact. The nonprofit recently expanded its programs to serve residents in Anderson, Pickens and Spartanburg counties. In the Upstate, three other housing nonprofits also received funding from this grant to aid their housing initiatives. The other Upstate grantee organizations are Consumer Credit Counseling Services of the Upstate, Community Conservation Corps at Furman University and Habitat for Humanity of Spartanburg. To learn more, call 864235-6331 or visit www.communityworkscarolina.org.

12 SPARTANBURG Journal | AUGUST 31, 2012

If you are sponsoring a community event, we want to share your news. Submit entries to: Spartanburg Journal, Community Briefs, 148 River St., Suite 120, Greenville, SC 29601 or email: spartanburgcommunity@thespartanburgjournal.com

JOURNAL BUSINESS

Getting to know you

From mailroom to CEO

Advance America and Grupo Electra are busy making their merger real

By DICK HUGHES | contributor

Trevor Gordon makes a home at the helm of the Sandlapper financial companies

By DICK HUGHES | contributor

GORDON continued on PAGE 14

Sandlapper Securities CEO Trevor Gordon’s office is decorated with memorabilia of various musicians from Frank Sinatra to Elvis Presley.

While Gordon is a music lover, he said his interest in the performers is also rooted in their abilities as entrepreneurs.

GREG BECKNER / STAFF

Fresh out of the Army and a couple of years beyond high school at age 20, Trevor Gordon got his start in the securities business pushing a mail cart at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Fla., and later moved up to a “dictation-taking, go-getmy-lunch secretary.”

It was “a great opportunity to see all the intricacies of the trading floor, the fixedincome department, syndication, watching money move, watching securities move,” he told the Journal last week. “I joke that if it paid better I’d still be doing it today.”

Well, he’s not.

Today – 21 years later – Gordon is founder and CEO of four Greenville-based financial companies that meld a complementary spectrum of investment products from the simple to the complex.

The four entities are branded as Sandlapper Capital Investments, Sandlapper Securities, Sandlapper Insurance Services and, the newest and soon most publicly

The ownership of Advance America by Mexico’s Grupo Elektra is into its fifth month and nothing much has changed at the Spartanburg payday lender.

“Well, we did have casual Friday for the summer,” said Jamie Fulmer, vice president for public affairs, when asked if anything is different.

But, he quickly added, “That was not necessarily related to the transaction. That was more a function of we were hot.”

Fulmer said, in fact, nothing has changed in the operations of Advance America beyond the companies spending a lot of time since the April 20 transaction closing getting to know one another.

“They have spent a lot of time learning about our company and how we do things, and we have spent a lot of time learning about their business and how they serve the middle market in Latin America,” he said.

As promised in the negotiations that led up to the sale, ADVANCE continued on PAGE 15

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JOURNAL BUSINESS Sandlapper Securities executives (from left) Jack Bixler, principal and national sales manager; Trevor Gordon, CEO; and Karl Leonard, president and financial professional, meet in Bixler’s office.

GORDON continued from PAGE 13

visible, Sandlapper Wealth Management – an addition Gordon considers a natural progression.

“It is a natural fit for us to move more toward the planning and advisory side of the business,” he said.

With the wealth management company, which the Securities and Exchange Commission approved to operate as a national financial advisory firm, Sandlapper now has what may be the only full-service broker-dealer agency in the state.

“I couldn’t bet the farm on it, but I haven’t seen any others,” Gordon said in an interview in offices in the Bank of America building in downtown Greenville. The Bank of America address is temporary. Gordon and his partners are in the process of acquiring property that they can redevelop as a place of their own with high public visibility.

In the three years Sandlapper has been in business as an independent firm, revenue grew from $1 million to $5 million.

The company has 30 to 35 independent agents representing Sandlapper across the country, a number that could grow with the financial advisory business just underway.

“I feel like I could manage 100 relationships and really know and understand

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the people. That would be a nice sweet spot for us,” Gordon said.

However, if opportunities come along “to buy broker-dealers,” Sandlapper could handle 500 to 1,000, he added.

Still, keeping Sandlapper small and independent is important to differentiate the services from large national brokerdealers, he said. “Big firms don’t do a lot of products I am able to promote. A firm that has 12,000 to 15,000 registered representatives doesn’t have the time to do the due diligence I am able to do on an underwriting of a $20-million offering.”

Gordon has run the company since its inception without debt. “If I went out and borrowed a bunch of money, I probably could grow exponentially faster, but I have been able to manage the growth,” he said.

Gordon decided to stay in Greenville after flirting briefly with moving the business to Florida, where he got his start. There’s a large market there for financial services, he said, but also a lot of competition.

“It was a very short-lived process in thinking of taking it to Florida. I created a

home here. South Carolina has been very pro-business, and I haven’t had any impediments from the state, the city or the county in getting the business started.”

Gordon came to Greenville after stops in New York, Texas and Southern California, gaining experience in a wide diversity of investment products and honing his financial research and marketing skills.

In that span between St. Petersburg and South Carolina, he also earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from Kentucky Western University.

While working for a firm in Orange County, Calif., that packaged syndicated real estate under an IRS 1030 Exchange, Gordon got to know and joined John Boyd of TIC Properties in Greenville, which was doing similar work. The 1030 allows investors to defer capital gains if they use proceeds from sold properties to buy “replacement” property within a short period of time.

Gordon became a partner in TIC and affiliated companies, but when the bottom fell out of the real estate market in 2008, he found himself “staring at this massive portfolio of real estate and thinking to myself, ‘I am not even qualified to

be a receptionist there. Here I am a principal in this company, and there really isn’t a job for me.’”

He saw Sandlapper Securities, which had been created by TIC in 2005 but largely used to simply market its own syndication, as an opportunity to use his strengths in securities. TIC was the majority owner; Gordon “owned a little bit by myself.”

“I wanted to build a better mousetrap,” he said. “I saw a lot of broker-dealers, especially in the independent channel, go belly-up the last few years,” particularly in the area of private placement of investments.

Gordon figured his experience in private placement syndication, combined with his broker-dealer experience, gave him skills in careful risk management to identify red flags early and avoid pitfalls that brought down so many broker-dealers.

He went to his partners at TIC with his plan. “I said, ‘Guys, I want to build a fullservice independent broker-dealer.’ They said, ‘Great, best of luck to you. We’re real estate guys.’”

Gordon set out on his own with Sandlapper, recruiting Jack Bixler, an old friend and colleague, as a partner and Karl Leonard, a colleague from Raymond James, as president of the wealth management company.

When Gordon talks about the core values he infuses in Sandlapper, he harks back to what he learned from the mentor whose mail he delivered and later opened as her secretary in that first job in St. Petersburg.

“The job evolved into a marketing position; and in order to understand and market the research we were doing, I ostensibly became an analyst to place in perspective quantitative data with qualitative understanding.”

Contact Dick Hughes at dhughes@ thespartanburgjournal.com.

Grand Slam on Chile’s Table

By DICK HUGHES | contributor

Denny’s, which is aggressively building an international footprint, has an agreement with a franchisee to open 10 restaurants in Chile over the next 15 years.

The company said the Musiet Group expects the first restaurant will open in Santiago next year. The family-owned Musiet Group has diversified holdings, including operating Ruby Tuesday res-

taurants and owning PAL Airlines.

Denny’s has been playing catch-up in the international market and recently signed agreements for restaurants in China and Central America. Chile would be its first location in South

America.

“We are making significant progress expanding the Denny’s brand internationally with the right franchise partners and this is further evidence of our momentum,” said John Miller, president and CEO. As it approaches its 60th anniversary, Denny’s says it expects to become “one of the largest American full-service brands in the world.” In the past, Denny’s focused almost exclusively on the domestic market.

JOURNAL BUSINESS

“our management team has been given the ability to run the business in the United States as it has in the past and to continue to do so successfully.”

The management team led by Patrick O’Shaughnessy, president and CEO, has remained, as has the commitment to keep Spartanburg as corporate headquarters as a subsidiary of Grupo Elektra, he said.

“We’ve had people come and go but not as a result of this transaction.

That has been important particularly for our dedicated employees here in Spartanburg.”

With 225 employees in its downtown corporate offices, Advance America plays a vital role in the economic viability of the central business district.

On May 22, four weeks after acquiring Advance America, Ricardo Salinas Pliego, the billionaire CEO of Grupo Elektra, made a presentation “to our entire workforce, and that was extremely well received by folks in this building,” Fulmer said.

“It went a long way to help give them assurances that this, in fact, is what it was billed as – that is, an incredible opportunity for Grupo Elektra as well as an incredible opportunity for Advance America.”

In acquiring Advance America for $790 million in cash, Grupo Elektra gained its first foothold in the United States financial market. Advance America is the nation’s largest payday lender with 5,000 employees in 2,400 stores.

Grupo Elektra is a dominant lender of installment credit to Latin American consumers who do not want to work with traditional banks or would not qualify for conventional loans.

Grupo Elektra, along with its sub-

“There certainly is an appetite to expand our service offerings, not only to our existing consumers but those we don’t have a relationship with.”

GREATevent

the

ADVANCE continued from PAGE 13

Jamie Fulmer, vice president for public affairs for Advance America, on the company’s new Latin American market

sidiary Banco Azteca, had revenue of $3.7 billion last year, according to Forbes Inc. Forbes said it is one of the fastest-growing companies in its ranking of the 2,000 biggest in the world.

Salinas, who owns 70 percent of Grupo Elektra’s stock, is worth $14 billion, Forbes said.

“They are doing some very innovative things in Latin America,” said Fulmer. “They try to bring a broader section of the population into the mainstream and help those consumers improve their lives by providing access to credit.”

Advance America has long sought to find ways to diversify beyond payday lending, “so from our perspective it is an opportunity learn how they have sought to serve consumers in that Latin American market,” Fulmer said.

He said while it is too early to pinpoint any new credit products Advance America may want to introduce, “there certainly is an appetite to expand our service offerings, not only to our existing consumers but those we don’t have a relationship with.”

Contact Dick Hughes at dhughes@ thespartanburgjournal.com.

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AUGUST 31, 2012 | SPARTANBURG JOURNAL 15

JOURNAL BUSINESS

THE FINE PRINT

BY DICK HUGHES

Firm Drills Into Oil Industry

Synalloy Corp., the Spartanburg producer of stainless steel piping and specialty chemicals, has acquired a Texas company that produces fiberglass and steel tanks in oil- and shale-rich Texas basins.

The acquisition of Lee-Var Inc. of Andrews, Texas, which does business as Palmer of Texas, cost Synalloy $28 million in cash through purchase of outstanding Lee-Var shares held by principals.

Terms give Palmer shareholders the ability “to receive earn-out payments ranging from $2.5 million to $10.5 million” if the Palmer business unit achieves targeted levels of earnings before certain expenses over three years.

Synalloy has the ability to claw back portions of the purchase price over two years if those earnings fall below a baseline level.

The president of Palmer received a three-year employment contract and the comptroller a one-year contract.

Synalloy financed the transaction through a 10-year term loan of $22.5 million with BB&T and by adding $5 million to its credit line with the bank. The term-loan requires monthly payments of $187,500, Synalloy said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The acquisition gives Synalloy a presence in the Perm-

August 31

ian Basin of West Texas where Palmer is based, along with some rich shale areas it serves, Synalloy said in a statement.

Palmer makes oversized tanks for the international market at a temporary plant in Orange, Texas.

While tanks for the oil industry are Palmer’s core business, it also makes tanks for municipal water, wastewater, chemicals and food.

Palmer generated $32 million in revenue in the 12-month period ended May 31. It has 137 employees.

Synalloy had $17.6 million in revenue last year with net income of $5.8 million. In the latest quarter, Synalloy had income of $1 million on revenue of $48.9 million. The company said Palmer would add 30 cents per share to its annual earnings.

Before the acquisition, Synalloy reported having 441 employees.

SCC Offers Free Job Training

Spartanburg Community College is offering free training programs for 61 individuals to prepare them for jobs in factory, warehouse and transportation logistics and production.

The cost of the program is underwritten by Advance SC and covers all tuition, books, materials and testing fees.

The two programs earn students nationally recognized certification by the Manufacturing Skills Standard Council for logistics technicians and production technician.

Certification “offers both entry-level and incumbent workers the opportunity to demonstrate that they have acquired the skills increasingly needed in the technology-intensive jobs of the 21st Century,” said Ty Wright, operations administrator of SCC’s corporate and community education division.

The college said area companies such as SEW-Eurodrive, Timken, Schaeffer Group, Benteler Automotive and Rochling Automotive are seeking workers who are MSSC-certified.

The logistics training program course is accepting 35 students for its 78-hour course; the production technician course has openings for 26.

Applicants for participation must have a high school diploma or GED and attend an orientation session, which is not a guarantee of selection.

Orientation for the production technician course is Thursday, Sept. 6, 10 a.m.-noon, at the SCC Tyger River Campus. Applicants must register online at www.gonetoclass.com/mssc.

Orientation for the logistics course is Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2-3:30 p.m. at Tyger River. Applicants must register online at www.gonetoclass.com/logistics.

360 º H e a lt H e d u c at i o n

Su Salud, Su Familia, Su Hospital

Gynecologic Cancers

Sat., Sept. 8 • 11 a.m. -1 p.m. • Greenville Tech NW Campus (Berea) GHS clinicians and community health partners will discuss healthrelated issues affecting the Latino community. Program presented in Spanish. Free; lunch provided. Registration required.

Thurs., Sept. 20 • Noon-1 p.m. • Greenville Hilton Join GHS gynecologic oncologist Donald Wiper III, M.D., to find out about prevention and treatment of gynecologic cancers. Lunch provided. Free; registration required.

Girlology & Guyology Sun., Sept. 9, 16, 23 & 30 • Times vary • Patewood and Simpsonville These sessions help ease the transition into puberty through open discussion. Session fee: $50 for mom/daughter or father/son. For topics or to register, visit the events page at girlology.com.

Reclaim Your Life With Bariatric Surgery Thurs., Sept. 20 • 6:30 p.m. • Anderson Road Library Branch John Scott, M.D., a GHS bariatric surgeon, will discuss surgical options for weight loss. Free; registration required.

Take a Loved One to the Doctor Day Sat., Sept. 15 • 10 a.m.-2 p.m. • West End Cmty. Dvlpmt. Ctr. Obtain health information and get free prostate screenings.

Free clinical breast exams (this is not a mammogram) also are available. For information, visit 1073jamz.com.

To register, for more information or to see a full schedule of events, visit ghs.org/360healthed or call 1-877-GHS-INFO (447-4636).

National Cholesterol Education Month

Tues., Sept. 18 • Noon-1 p.m. • GHS Life Center® Learn what causes high cholesterol levels and treatment options from GHS’ John Goldsmith, M.D. Free; Lunch provided.

Registration required.

120621

16 SPARTANBURG JOURNAL | AUGUST 31, 2012

Journal Sketchbook

The elephant in David Lee Nelson’s closet Monologue to highlight comic’s coming out as a Democrat to his Republican dad

By Cindy Landrum | staff

Greg Beckner / Staff

Students study under the portico of Wofford College’s Main Building.

Re:Thinking Higher Education As tuition rises and job opportunities fall, liberal arts colleges face increased scrutiny

By Cindy Landrum | staff

As tuition rises and the number of job opportunities for recent graduates shrink, liberal arts colleges and universities find themselves in a familiar position – defending their place in this country’s higher education system.

It’s an issue that will be in the spotlight this school year at Wofford College.

“Re:Thinking Education” is a yearlong series of public lectures, symposiums, book clubs, conversation circles, roundtable discussions, workshops, plays and musicals exploring the meaning of liberal arts, their place in American higher education, how they shape Wofford College and what is their future.

The program, which is expected to

generate national interest, kicks off with a speech by Wofford President Bernie Dunlap, “Why Are We Here?

The Liberal Arts and the Meaning of Life,” on Sept. 6.

“Liberal arts colleges are on the defensive,” said Dr. Dan Mathewson, an associate professor of religion and co-coordinator of “Re:Thinking Education.”

Mathewson said two parallel conversations are going on in education, but they don’t necessarily overlap.

One is economic as parents and politicians bemoan the job prospects and debt loads of graduates. The other, he said, is a scathing analysis of higher education by Richard Arum called “Academically Adrift,” which said almost half of college students did not demonstrate any significant improvement in learning and those who did show improvement improved only

modestly.

“The failings tend to come in larger research universities,” Mathewson said. “Small liberal arts colleges are

“Small liberal arts colleges are succeeding.”

Dr. Dan Mathewson, an associate professor of religion and co-coordinator of “Re:Thinking Education.”

succeeding. They are actually the success of the higher education system.”

Mathewson said he believes that’s because the school’s primary mission is undergraduate education.

“We’re not trying to be Clemson or USC. We provide a four-year residential education,” he said. “We focus eneducation continued on page 18

Coming out to your dad is difficult – especially when you’re a Democrat and he’s a diehard Republican.

Greenville native David Lee Nelson was a Republican just like his Nelson dad, becoming the voice of the right while he was studying acting at the College of Charleston.

“I was out with it,” he said. “Very.”

Then came a move to New York to work as a comedian, the Iraq war and Sarah Palin.

Nelson switched sides, becoming a “flaming liberal and labor organizer.” He stopped listening to Rush Limbaugh and voted for Obama.

But he didn’t tell his father – for years.

“The Elephant in My Closet,” which Nelson will perform on two nights in September at Centre Stage in Greenville, tells of the comic’s transformation from that 22-year-old conservative Shakespearean actor to a 33-year-old liberal – a change he kept from his father, Lee, for years.

“My dad and I have always been very close,” said Nelson, who graduated from Wade Hampton High and attended the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities’ summer program, “and I hated that my political beliefs were something I had been hiding from him.

But it’s a delicate thing. How do you tell someone you’re a Democrat when they think ESPN is too liberal?”

Nelson wrote the monologue. Fellow Greenville native Adam Knight directs the show. Dramaturg is Kristin Veira.

“I write about my life, try to make it funny and interesting,” Nelson said.

“Then I bring it to Adam, and he makes it a play.”

Knight graduated from the Fine Arts ELEPHANT continued on page 18

AUGUST 31, 2012 | SPARTANBURG Journal 17

JOURNAL SKETCHBOOK EDUCATION continued from PAGE 17

GREG BECKNER / STAFF

Wofford College’s Main Building, constructed in 1854.

tirely on undergraduates. We don’t do anything else.”

But Wofford and other liberal arts colleges have to help students and parents afford the more expensive education, need to improve access to stave off perceptions of being elitist and have a genuine desire to diversify their student population, Mathewson said.

Mathewson said he doesn’t know of another college that has held as extensive a look at the liberal arts college’s role. The program, which includes a book club, is open to the public.

Events scheduled so far are: “Why Are We Here? The Liberal Arts and the Meaning of Life,” President Bernie Dunlap, Sept. 6, 11 a.m., Leonard Auditorium.

The Novel Experience Convocation, Tobias Wolff, author of “Old School,” Sept. 20, 11 a.m., Leonard Auditorium.

“Symmetry: How the Mathematics of Beauty Illuminates the Beauty of Mathematics,” faculty talks series, Dr. Matthew Cathey, Sept. 27 at 4 p.m., AAAS room, Burwell Building.

“Thinking Like a River,” roundtable discussion and workshop, Oct. 11, 2:30 p.m., Anna Todd Wofford Center.

“Native Tongues,” an international poetry event, Oct. 11, 4 p.m., Sandor Teszler Library Gallery.

“In Search of One Big Union: The Role of Folk Songs in the American Labor Movement,” Dr. Corey Dolgon, Oct. 15, 7:30 p.m., McMillan Theatre.

“What’s Justice Got to Do with It? Moving from Civic Engagement to Social Change,” Dr. Corey Dolgon, Oct. 16, 11 a.m., Olin Teaching Theatre.

“The Imperial President,” Dr. Lloyd Gardner, Oct. 16, 4 p.m., Leonard Auditorium.

Dr. Walter LaFeber, topic to be announced, Nov. 8, 7 p.m., Leonard Auditorium.

“The Shadow Box,” Nov. 8-10 and Nov. 14-17, 8 p.m., Tony White Theater.

“On Being a Jew in the South,” Rabbi Judi Schindler, Nov. 13, 7 p.m., Leonard Auditorium.

“College: What it Was, Is, and Should Be,” Dr. Andrew Delbanco, Nov. 29, time to be determined, Leonard Auditorium.

Roundtable discussion with Andrew Delbanco, Nov. 30, time to be announced, Anna Todd Wofford Center.

“Calculus: The Musical,” Dec. 4, 7 p.m., Leonard Auditorium.

“Back to the Future: the Radical Liberal Arts College,” John Kuykendall, Robert Knott and Charlie Reed, Feb. 18, time and location to be announced.

Events will continue to be added to the schedule throughout the year.

Contact Cindy Landrum at clandrum@spartanburgjournal.com.

WHAT: “The Elephant in My Closet” WHO: Solo show by Greenville natives David Lee Nelson (writer/performer) and Adam Knight (producer) WHERE: Centre Stage WHEN: Sept. 25 and 26, 8 p.m.

TICKETS: $15 in advance, $20 at the door INFORMATION: 864-233-6733

ELEPHANT continued from PAGE 17

USC Upstate turns your options into opportunities whether you are just starting college, transferring from technical college, or returning to learn.

18 SPARTANBURG JOURNAL | AUGUST 31, 2012

www.uscupstate.edu • (864) 503-5000

Center and was a former apprentice at The Warehouse Theatre who directed “The 13th of Paris” for the theater in 2010. He is the cofounder of Slant Theatre Project in New York. He has worked at the Folger Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Signature Theatre and the Strasberg Institute.

This is the third show from Knight and Nelson. “David Lee Nelson…

Status Update,” a show about his wife leaving him and him updating his Facebook status a lot, was part of the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

After its stop in Greenville, “The Elephant in My Closet” will move to New York’s Kraine Theatre for a six-show off-Broadway run in October.

Nelson moved to Los Angeles after college where he said he met a lot of

actors who weren’t doing a lot of acting. He decided to start writing comedy and he moved to New York.

He said he finds it ironic that the Republican Party turned from being a party originally centered in the Northern states, with a platform that included stopping the spread of slavery, to one that “has no black people.”

“Dad is with the tea party and I’ve been to Occupy Wall Street,” he said.

“You would think we have absolutely no connection with each other, but we’re related.”

Nelson said his father still loves him and they still talk – just not about politics.

“Thank God for football,” he said.

Contact Cindy Landrum at clandrum@thespartanburgjournal.com.

journal sketchbook

Less than an inch. The difference between off and on. For you, there is no in-between. Just today’s deals and deadlines. Clients to email and copies to make. You don’t think about all that goes on behind that switch. Because we do.

AUGUST 31, 2012 | SPARTANBURG Journal 19

Go the d ista nce. journal sketchbook

our schools

LOVE LIFE!

activities, awards and accomplishments

Spartanburg Community College’s Computer Technology Department is hosting a free Internet 101 seminar for parents who want to learn more about Internet safety, managing children’s online activities and free online resources. SCC’s Microsoft-certified instructors will teach participants how to become more Internet-savvy and present tools they can use to protect themselves and their computers from devious Internet activities. Internet 101 for Parents will be held on Saturday, Sept. 15, from 10 a.m.-noon at the Tracy J. Gaines Learning Resource Center auditorium on the SCC central campus, located on I-85 Business and New Cut Road. For more information on this seminar, contact Lisa Lopez at 864-592-4695 or via email at lopezl@ sccsc.edu.

Wofford College recently received national recognition as one of the country’s best institutions. The Princeton Review’s 2013 edition of its annual college guide, The Best 377 Colleges, lists Wofford as one of the 135 Best Southeastern Colleges and one of the 75 schools with the Best Values. Further, Wofford landed at No. 20 on the 20 Best-Run Colleges list and ranks No. 8 as an institution with Lots of Greek Life. Wofford’s recognition does not come lightly, as only about 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges are profiled in The Princeton Review’s flagship college guide, which bases ranking lists on surveys of students attending the colleges. In addition to the Princeton Review, Wofford is also included in the recently released editions of The Fiske Guide to Colleges, Forbes’ America’s Top Colleges and Universities and The Yale Insider’s Guide. The Chronicle of Higher Education also recently named Wofford a Great College to Work For. Submit entries to: Spartanburg Journal, Our Schools, 148 River Street, Ste. 120, Greenville, SC 29601 or email: spartanburgcommunity@thespartanburgjournal.com

SHARE. You’ve been together so long, it’s hard to remember life before you were a couple – and the best part of the day is still coming home, when you can share everything with the person who cares most about you.

Brand Handling Workshop

That’s why it’s important that both of you make your health – and prevention – a priority. Encourage each other to get a breast and prostate exam:

September 12, 2012 at the Kroc Center

Take a Love One to the Doctor Day Sat., Sept. 15 • 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

West End Community Center 404 Vardry St. • Greenvillle No registration • Free

Take your brand to the next level...

• Register for an interview to be featured as the “Nonprofit of the Week” on UpstateBizSC

Take care of your health today, so you can share tomorrow.

• Hands-on message development coaching

• Craft your: �> Elevator pitch �> PR boilerplate �> FAQ’s

Register at dnacc.com or call 864-235-0959 ext.0

Community Journals 20 SPARTANBURG Journal | AUGUST 31, 2012

120579GJNL

In partnership with

journal sketchbook

scene. here.

the week in the local arts world

Local oil artists Robyn Spence and Eddie Schrieffer will be featured in the Artists’ Guild of Spartanburg Gallery Sept. 4-28 with their South Carolina-based exhibit Transitions: Coast to Mill Towns. The exhibit, which is in the Chapman Cultural Center, is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., and it is free for public viewing. The opening reception will be Friday,

By Robyn Spence Sept. 7, 5:30-9 p.m., and is also free. Another free reception will be held during Spartanburg’s monthly ArtWalk on Thursday, Sept. 20, 5-9 p.m. For more information, call 864-542-ARTS.

Enric

h

your child ’s lea expe rning rienc Ar t Ed e with an ucati o n.

Crea

Chip Walters and Kristofer Neely will present a two-person art exhibition at West Main Artists Co-op entitled Applauding God/Reflections of the Spirit. This exhibit will feature colorful works on wood and canvas, in acrylic and mixed media. The exhibition will run from Sept. 20 through Oct. 13. The opening reception will be on Thursday, Sept. 20, from 5-9 p.m., during Spartanburg’s Art Walk. The public is invited and refreshments will be served. The exhibition may also be seen during WMAC’s regular hours on Thursdays from 3-6 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., or by appointment. West Main Artists Co-op is located at 578 West Main St., Spartanburg. For more information, call 864-804-6501 or visit www.westmainartists.org.

ting is a c Ar tists for Tomo urr rrow educ iculum ba ation sed a prog rt expo ram t ses c hat hildre throu n ag gh hi es 4 gh sc elem h o ol to ents of ar t t differ . Mak he ence ea in yo educ ur ch ation ild’s with A toda y for rt – c more a inform ll us ation .

The Gap Creek Singers will resume rehearsals on Sept. 4, from 7:15-9 p.m. at The Church of the Good Shepherd, 300 Jason St., Greer. The Gap Creek Singers is an adult, mixed choral group open to any adult who enjoys singing. To audition, just attend a rehearsal. For additional information or to schedule a performance, contact Wesley Welsh at 864-877-5955.

Send us your arts announcement. Email: spartanburgarts@thespartanburgjournal.com

Saturday, September 29 Fluor Field, Greenville Race Hotline (864) 234-5035 Register at www.KomenSCMM.org

tingA for sc r tistsForTo hedu le an mor row.c om d bro Studi o c : h 86 ure 1711 Old S 4.244.06 1 p Gree ar tanbur 6 r, SC g Rd .

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AUGUST 31, 2012 | SPARTANBURG Journal 21

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Over 1,900 neighborhoods online at SPECIAL TO THE JOURNAL

journal sketchbook

the week in photos

look who’s in the journal this week

The people that made the 2012 Rock & Boil Benefit for HALTER a huge success, from left: Janice Gelband, Michael Hollifield, Ashley Goodlett and Jennifer Orseck. HALTER (Handicapped Athletes Learning to Enjoy Riding) is an affordable therapeutic horseback riding program that has served handicapped residents of Spartanburg and surrounding counties and students at the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind since 1987.

Boots as vases: a creative way to decorate for the 2012 Rock & Boil Benefit for HALTER.

Crossword puzzle: page 26

The traditional spread of a Lowcountry boil, at the 2012 Rock & Boil held at the Carolina Country Club Pavilion. The event also included a silent auction, live music and a bucking bull.

The Doctors of Sound Medicine provided musical entertainment for the Rock & Boil.

B:10” T:10” S:9.75”

The chefs for this event are all part of the Crossfit of Spartanburg team.

Two of the chefs behind this event, “Mookie” and Nathan Cantrell, prepare a Lowcountry boil.

The bucking bull was great entertainment for those with an adventurous side at the Rock & Boil.

Sudoku puzzle: page 26

SEND THE DRIVE OUT WITH A BANG THIS LABOR DAY WEEKEND.

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AUGUST 31, 2012 | SPARTANBURG Journal 25

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journal sketchbook

26 SPARTANBURG Journal | AUGUST 31, 2012

figure. this. out.

Caution: people overworking

Across 1 Gyro bread 5 Not just nerves 9 Pullers of plows 14 Summer staffing solutions 19 Net trading 21 __ ease: uncomfortable 22 Glorify 23 The border guard __ 25 Pass on 26 Move away 27 The actor __ 29 Sweet serving, often 33 Stage of existence 35 Avant’s opposite 36 They’re often marked in red letters 37 Consonant such as “f” or “v” 41 Votes against 42 Hardwood tree 45 Keep on teasing 46 Like major appliance repairs 47 Neighbor of Russia 49 The mechanic __ 53 “A great __ indicates a great man”: Cyrano de Bergerac 55 Back muscles, briefly 56 “By all means!”

57 Shabby 58 They’re heard in a herd 59 Bring to the mix 60 Thus

61 Very tired 63 Capital of Belgium’s East Flanders province 64 The tailor __ 70 Spelunkers’ haunts 71 Bargain and steal 72 40-day period 73 Dizzying genre 74 Like many doilies 75 Melted together 77 Cutter 80 Sacha Baron Cohen persona 81 “Brave New World” feel-good drug 82 The chef __ 85 Keyboard instrument with bell-like tones 87 Earthshaking events 89 Orpheus’ strings 90 Abbr. after Brooklyn 91 Many, many years 92 Ragged clothes 94 Lounging footwear 95 “The Crucible” setting 97 Cereal grain 98 Autocratic, Russianstyle 100 The elevator operator __ 104 Raised 107 “Farewell, mon ami” 108 The baggage handler __ 114 Arabian Peninsula country 115 Where many knots

are tied 116 Vanilla-flavored drink 117 Silver fish 118 Like Rod Stewart’s voice 119 Author __ Christian Andersen 120 Shortly Down 1 Bench in the nave 2 Cover at the bakery 3 Great deal 4 Tsp. or tbsp.

5 Unhealthy temperature 6 Sets upright 7 Property unit 8 Like Gen. Powell 9 Link 10 Natural environment 11 “The Aviator” (2004) actor 12 Oldest Gabor sister 13 Precipice quality 14 Most succinct 15 Board chairs, e.g.

16 Gobbler, for one 17 Certain drawing 18 Lid irritation 20 Customs 24 Processional leader 28 Lost one’s lap 29 Louisville race 30 Banish 31 Aligns oneself (with) 32 Dish with many recipes

By Maryellen Uthlaut

34 Way to go 38 Put up 39 Black as night 40 Renter 42 Ancient garland for the head 43 Peaceful occupations 44 Lacks

Medium

48 No longer in style 50 A cop might put someone under it 51 Nuts (over) 52 Perched on 54 Promise 58 Action at a 29-Down 59 Things to address

60 Come out 61 Time at a hotel 62 Bud 64 It’s not so hard to swallow 65 Is of use 66 Genesis father of three 67 Gave to another actor 68 In addition 69 Descendants 70 Mentor 74 Body shop convenience 75 Get really upset 76 Red power, initially 77 Phonograph needles 78 Buenos __ 79 Get by force 81 Priest’s vestment 82 Mayor’s responsibility 83 Back at sea 84 Hardly a compliment 86 Old TV series with underwater scenes 88 Cap attachment 93 Show at a theater 94 Address from Jeeves 95 Iron alloy 96 Cash, in slang 99 Letters from Greece 100 “Airplane!” actor Robert 101 The same as before, in footnotes 102 “The devourer of all things”: Ovid 103 Usually unproductive at bats 105 Engrave 106 Taj Mahal home 109 Like toast without butter 110 Federal agency support org.

111 Director Howard 112 Brief 54-Down 113 Go for the gold?

Crossword answers: page 25

Sudoku answers: page 25

ULLY IMMATURE.

journal sketchbook

in my own words with courtney tollison, ph.d.

From bitter split with founders, Furman has soared The freshmen who arrived at Furman University two weeks ago will experience a Furman very different from 20 years ago, as Furman has evolved significantly throughout its history.

In 1826, a group of white, Baptist men in South Carolina received a charter for an academic institution whose purpose was, in part, to train white men for the ministry. They named it after the recently deceased Dr. Richard Furman, a patriot, ardent supporter of education, and the most prominent Baptist leader in the newly created United States.

For the next 166 years, Furman was the crown jewel amongst the educational institutions affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Twenty years ago, all that changed.

The story behind the split between Furman and the SCBC dates back much farther than the early 1990s. Conflicts between Furman and Southern Baptists arose as early as the 1870s, when former Furman faculty member Dr. Crawford H. Toy was fired from the faculty of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville for espousing a controversial new form of historical Biblical criticism.

Toy’s reputation eventually garnered him a position on the faculty of Harvard University, where his portrait hangs today. In the interim, however, Furman audaciously extended him an invitation to return to Furman as president, in spite of the fact that the seminary was the primary training ground for the leadership of many churches who belonged to the SCBC, Furman’s parent institution.

The ideological gulf ebbed and flowed TM

TOTALLY PROFESSIONAL. DELIGHTFULLY IMMATURE.

TM

TM

TM

for the next several decades. Furman trustees, all SCBC appointees, increasingly exercised their stronghold on the campus. When students questioned religion professor Dr. Herbert Gezork about a recent campus speaker who denied the doctrinal position regarding the virgin birth, Gezork offered a variety of scholars’ positions. In spite of the fact that dozens of students, faculty, ministers and lay people defended Gezork, the trustees relieved him of his position.

Gezork assumed a position at the highly respected Andover-Newton Theological Seminary in Massachusetts. Furman experienced other casualties as a result of the Gezork affair: The chairman of the Board of Trustees killed himself, and President Bennett Geer resigned. In an effort to protect themselves, Furman faculty formed a chapter of the American Association of University Professors.

Throughout the 1950s, Furman students, faculty and administrators became increasingly resentful of the religious, social and ideological limitations imposed on them by SCBC-appointed trustees. The relationship became increasingly contentious, with disputes regarding academic freedom, the desegregation of the university and regulations on student life. As Furman pursued “excellence by national standards,” as President Gordon Blackwell often said, the SCBC tightened its grip.

The underlying tension concentrated on Furman’s values and identity as they contrasted with the values of and vision SCBC had for Furman. One student prophesized in a 1962 issue of The Paladin, “The battle … is just beginning, and the struggle for power

over this university, which now straddles the two worlds of a narrow, denominational school and a leading educational institution, will be bitterly fought.” Alester Furman, a descendant of the man for whom Furman was named, was so concerned that he asked alum Clement Haynesworth, who was later appointed by President Nixon to the Supreme Court, to examine the legal relationship between Furman and the SCBC. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention executed a carefully devised strategy of placing religious fundamentalists on the boards of Southern Baptistaffiliated institutions. The SCBC had a long practice of selecting Furman trustees from a list that Furman provided the convention. In the late 1980s, however, the SCBC began to disregard Furman’s preferences, and appointed one trustee who had to call the President’s office before a board meeting to get directions. He had never stepped foot on the campus.

Across the South, colleges and universities, church congregations and the media took note of what was occurring in Southern Baptist circles. A group of alarmed Furman alums approached thenPresident John E. Johns about their concerns and desire to cultivate more control over Furman’s institutional governance.

Johns allegedly advised the group: “If you go after the king, you’d better kill him.”

Furman Alumni Association President David Ellison appointed a legal committee to pursue this action. Attorneys Larry Estridge, Neil Rabon, Mike Ray, Lindsay Smith and Kurt Stakeman, all Furman alums, convened in a law firm in downtown Greenville. They

had to move quickly; the more fundamentalists who were appointed to the board, the more difficult it would be to gain autonomy for Furman. They researched Furman’s charter and South Carolina nonprofit laws and ultimately proposed an interpretation of the laws that disputed the SCBC’s perceived ownership of Furman.

In October 1990, the moderate Southern Baptists – who still comprised the majority of the board at that time – voted, under the leadership of Minor Mickel and with significant support from Rev. Dr. Lloyd Batson, to become a self-perpetuating body.

The SCBC would no longer appoint trustees to the board of Furman University.

The SCBC vehemently opposed Furman’s actions and engaged in a nearly two-year legal battle with the university, which placed many S.C. Baptists at odds with each other. Tired of the infighting, the messengers to the SCBC gathered in convention at the State Fairgrounds in Columbia in 1992 and voted to discontinue all financial support of Furman.

Furman’s efforts to become independent of the convention had succeeded.

This historic parting was received with sadness by some and elation by others. Left to independently cultivate its vision for itself, however, Furman’s academic reputation amongst the elite colleges and universities of the South has, in the past 20 years, soared.

Dr. Courtney Tollison is Assistant Professor of History at Furman and Museum Historian at the Upcountry History Museum.

TM

TOTALLY PROFESSIONAL. DELIGHTFULLY IMMATURE.

TM

AUGUST 31, 2012 | SPARTANBURG Journal 27