Freshmen move into Morris College SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2015
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Parents share words of wisdom as students settle in dorm rooms BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com
5 SECTIONS, 36 PAGES | VOL. 120, NO. 255
First-year college students at Morris College got a glimpse of their new living and learning environment as they moved into their dorm rooms during freshman move-in day on Saturday. Deborah Calhoun, director of admissions and records, said 440 potential, first-year students accepted an offer to attend the college for the 2015-16 school year. Saturday was a “one-stop shop,” of sorts as students
and parents checked in for move-in day at the GarrickBoykin Human Development Center, she said. Students had the opportunity to meet with representatives of the financial aid, student affairs and business offices as well as receive assistance with voter registration. While some students were signing in, others were getting settled in their new dorm rooms, preparing to say goodKEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM bye to their parents. Adrius Gaston-Banks, left, helps Star Asia Banks Mykala Sanders, 18, of
load her personal items onto a cart to move into SEE MORRIS, PAGE A9 her dorm at Morris College on Saturday.
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Veteran makes military replicas when he can’t sleep
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Brandon Brown, above, has trouble sleeping, and to combat the insomnia, he works in his shop creating hand-made, wooden replicas of military vehicles. Below, he created this Humvee for a military veteran.
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BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY kontantin@theitem.com Brandon Brown has trouble sleeping at night. The U.S. Army veteran has found a way to combat his problem, however, by making model military vehicles out of wood, a portion of which he donates to other veterans and military personnel. One sleepless night resulted in him picking up a new hobby, which brought back nostalgic memories from his deployment in Afghanistan. He made one model military vehicle in his garage. That was about a year-and-a-half ago. He has since made about 300 pieces. “I started making the models for
myself, but then I decided to share them with others, veterans and military personnel,” he said. The insomnia started after his deployment in Afghanistan more than four years ago, he said. Initially trained as a mechanic in the
U.S. Army’s 557th Maintenance Company, Brown volunteered to be a gunner for the company’s Quick Reaction Force. The unit would go on night patrol from midnight to noon daily. Although Brown said he does not suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, he could not get back to sleeping at night after returning to the U.S. in May 2011, after a oneyear tour. Back and knee injuries, a result of a military vehicle wreck he was involved in while stationed in Kuwait, added to his sleeping problems. He also suffers from eczema. “At age 30, I developed a serious
SEE MODELS, PAGE A9
Pentagon looks at stateside prisons as alternatives to Gitmo BY LOLITA C. BALDOR The Associated Press WASHINGTON — The Defense Department is taking another look at the military prison in Kansas and the Navy Brig in South Carolina as it evaluates potential U.S. facilities to house detainees from the prison at Guantana-
mo Bay, Cuba, part of the Obama administration’s controversial push to close the detention center. Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said a team was surveying the Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth on Friday and will do a similar assessment at the Naval Consolidated
Brig in Charleston later this month. Davis said the team will assess the costs associated with construction and other changes that would be needed in order to use the facility to house the detainees as well as conduct military commission trials for those accused of war crimes. The closure of the Guanta-
namo Bay detention center has been a top priority for President Obama, who pledged on his first day in office to shut it down. But that effort has faced persistent hurdles, including staunch opposition from Republicans and some Democrats in Congress and ongoing difficulties transferring out
the dozens of detainees who have been cleared to leave. Officials have to identify countries to take the detainees and must get assurances that they will be appropriately monitored and will not pose a security threat. About 52 of the 116 current
SEE PRISONS, PAGE A11
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