Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Hitt (Samecock I* ■■■ ■ ■ .. Student from page 1 -led information, via e-mail, on the extent of the damage. Although more than $100,000 worth of instruments was drenched by the sprinklers, a special response teanl brought in ovens and dehumidifiers to dry the instruments. Goode speculat ed the overall damage to the instru ments and equipment was probably less than $2,000. Goode said he will be meeting with an estimator on Friday, and a more concrete dollar figure will be deter mined then. The accident might raise some con cern about safety procedures within the Graduate Research Center. How ever, both Bryson and Dyke dismiss such potential concerns. Bryson main tains such an accident is very rare, and there are no grounds for alarm about safety in the building. Dyke asserted that the accident was a freak occurrence. He said chem istry can be dangerous by nature; half the solvents he uses are carcinogenic and the other half are combustible. Nonetheless, accidents are rare, he said, adding that the facility re sponded to the incident quickly and professionally. The university desk am be reached at gamecockudesk@hotmail.com. Volunteer from page 1 4 The volunteer is responsible for monitoring the family’s compliance with court orders, reviewing the case regu larly and meeting with the children. “Each case requires a big-time com mitment, about 18 months, from the volunteer,” said Davis. “The volunteer must visit with the child every four to six weeks and appear in court about twice a year.” Davis added that volunteers could find it becomes easier to take the time for visits once they take on a case be cause they come to care about the chil dren they work with. Volunteers undeigo extensive, 30 hour training programs before they are assigned to cases. They learn about causes of abuse, medical aspects, how to identify signs of abuse and how to compare the injuries on a child to the stories given by the family. Volunteers also receive cultural awareness training and learn about the inner workings of DSS and the legal system. All cases that c.ome to CASA must have DSS and Court involvement. Cases usually come to CASA in one of two ways. One particular incident can cause an officer to have to take a _child into emergency protective cus tody, in which case DSS and the court system will become involved. Another way is if DSS is offering services to a family and-the family sud <ienly ceases to comply, then the court system will become involved to ensure that the family does what they should, and a volunteer from CASA will be as signed to the case. Until recently, CASA was known as the \blunteer Guardian ad Litem Pro gram for Richland County. It changed its name in order to be consistent with their national affiliate and to gain wider name recognition. CASA prefen their volunteers be at least 21 years old, though exceptions could be made. People who are inter ested in going through the volunteer training program should contact Caro line Dennis at the Richland County Judicial Center, 748-5024, or by e-mail at ccdennis@richlandonline.com. The university desk can be reached at gamecockudesk@hotmail.com. Town Council votes to allow restaurant owner to fly flag by Jeffrey Collins Associated Press LEXINGTON, S.C. Saying they never meant to trample on anyone’s free speech rights, the Lexington Town Council voted unanimously to allow business owners to fly an additional flag on their flagpoles. Council members stressed that while the revised ordinance allows bar becue baron Maurice Bessinger to fly his Confederate flag at his Piggie Park restaurant in Lexington, it also al lows the McDonald’s restaurant in town to fly the Olympic flag or the sheriff’s office to fly a banner celebrating its re cent accreditation. The vote came during an emer gency session prompted by Bessinger threatening to sue the town, which had been ticketing him for refusing to get a permit to fly a flag other dian the U.S. or state flags. The ban was part of a sign ordi nance passed 16 months ago. Coun cilman Stewart Bond said the rules were intended to make Lexington less clut tered. “There never was any attempt to disapprove or prevent any kind of flag from flying in our town,” Bond said. More than two dozen people filled the council chambers. Many wore Con federate flag pins or other memorabil ia. Most cheered when one man thanked Council for allowing Bessinger to keep his flag flying. Bessinger lowered the U.S. flag and hoisted the Confederate banner last week. The South Carolina flag is now perched atop the flagpole at all nine of the Bessinger’s Columbia area Piggie Park restaurants. The move was a political statement, the Korean War veteran and one-time gubernatorial candidate said. “The states have the power and not the federal government,” he said last week. “Somebody’s got .to stand up and do something to emphasize our sovereignty and that’s why I’m taking this stand.” The Confederate flag is a com panion to the South Carolina flag “be cause it represents our heritage,” Bessinger said. The Town Council also agreed not to fine any other businesses that break the old ordinance before the new one passes. They also plan to address con cerns from area churches that the sign ordinance will keep them from drap ing cloth across crosses at Lent. Monday, August 28 • Underage possession of beer, 1500 South Circle, 10:10 p.m. Officer C. B. Williams, while on routine bike patrol, noticed a man loitering at incident lo cation and drinking a beer. After look ing at Rhodes’ I.D., the officer discov ered he was underage. Williams arrested Rhodes and took him to Richland Coun ty Detention Center. Sunday, August 27 • Larceny of wallet, Moore Laundry room, 1:30 p.m. Anton Fensk stated un known person or persons removed his wallet from his clothing basket while he was washing clothes. Items inside the black wallet were two MasterCards, two Visa cards, his South Carolina driver license and $80 cash. •Larceny of bicycle, 918 Barnwell St., 6 p.m. Alberto Zachary stated unknown person or persons cut his lock and re moved one silver, freestyle bike with pegs on the rear tire. Estimated value of the bike is $200. The case is still open, and the police have no suspects at this time. • Auto break -in, 400 Sumter St., around 11:00 p.m. Officers responded to an in progress auto break-in. When officers got to the scene, they found two men in the victim’s car. The two men, a 16-year old and Tyrone Rivers, 26, were trying to break the steering column of the ve hicle and steal the car. The officer couldn’t see through the back glass of the car, so at gunpoint, he ordered the two men out of the car. The officer took the two men to Richland County De tention Center. • Assistance Rendered, 1520 Devine St., Patterson Hall, 11:05 p.m. Officers re sponded to the room of 20-year-old Jameka Gowdens where she stated a bed frame in her room fell over and hit her in the head. Gowdens was transported to'Baptist Medical Center by Richland County EMS. USCPD responded first to the scene and the Columbia Fire De partment also showed up at the incident location. Saturday, August 26 • Found property, Park Street Lot 1, 10:30 p.m. Officers found a roadmaster bicycle in the lot near the west fence line of the lot. The bicycle is a 26-inch blue Mountain Climber. USCPD has the bike and will give the bike over to its proper owner after proper identifica tion. State sues companies to recover dump cleanup costs Associated Press GREENVILLE, S.C.—The state’s Health Department is su ing three chemical companies to recover the cost of cleaning up a Simpsonville dump site, and an Upstate prosecutor said his investigation into the site is al most complete. The site began taking waste in the 1970s, and the state De partment of Health and Envi ronmental Control began in vestigating it in 1992. Cleanup started in July 1997 and lasted 18 months. The state spent $4 million to investigate and dig up 3,700 containers — some filled with carcinogens — from what is known as the Kellett Site. Defendants in the federal suit include Millennium Petro chemicals Inc., a Vuginia com pany that is the successor of Try Ion Chemicals Inc., Emery Industries Inc., National Dis tillers and Chemical Corp. and Quantum Chemical Corp., ac cording to the suit. Also being sued are: Henkel Corp. of Delaware, Piedmont Chemicals Inc. of North Car olina, Ethox Chemicals LLC of Greenville and Wilbur Greer, who the state alleges was the principal process engineer of the Mauldin plant operated by Henkel and Quantum Chemi cal, according to the suit. Walter Worsham, president of Ethox Chemicals, said he didn’t want to comment on the suit until he had read it. “Cer tainly, we’ve cooperated with DHEC all the way, making in formation available,” he said. Greer refused to comment Monday, but his attorney Beattie Ashmore said his client denies any and all involvement in illegal dumping. Contaminants found so far during the investigation include metals, volatile organic com pounds, semi-volatile organic compounds and acids, accord ing to the suit. In February 1999, state in vestigators conducted a door-to door survey in search of clusters of cancer deaths, tumors and oth er health problems that may be linked to the site. In its lawsuit, the state is seeking punitive damages of up to three times the state’s cleanup costs. 1 I Students have * 0 to 4 drinks when « * they Party! | H 4T~* ■ p Dobson Volunteer Service Program UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA 2000-2001 LOCAL SERVICE INTERNSHIP NOW AVAILABLE THE DOBSON VOLUNTEER SERVICE PROGRAM IS A CAPSTONE SERVICE EXPERIENCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA. STUDENTS WILL BE PLACED WITH AN AGENCY IN THE COLUMBIA AREA FOR A 10-20 HOUR SERVICE INTERNSHIP. STUDENTS PARTICIPATING IN THE DOBSON PROGRAM WILL: © LEARN ISSUES AFFECTING THE WORLD © GAIN VALUABLE WORK EXPERIENCE © MAKE LIFE LONG FRIENDSHIPS © EARN ACADEMIC CREDIT © RECEIVE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE © SERVE OTHERS © CHANGE SOMEONE’S LIFE!! 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