Research at what cost?
August 13, 2006
By
LESLIE DRAFFIN
Index-Journal intern
President Bush’s veto of legislation to fund stem cell
research with taxpayer dollars hits home in the Greenwood area,
with residents affected by Alzheimer’s, diabetes and
Parkinson’s wondering what benefits could come from extra
research.
Roy Beckam, a resident of the Due West Retirement Center whose
wife suffers from Alzheimer’s, says, “I do not approve
of embryonic stem cell research when it’s taking the life of
a child or fetus. But, I would approve of research through
another means, like the umbilical cord blood stem cell research.
I do think it would advance knowledge about Alzheimer’s
disease.”
Greenwood attorney Bill Patrick said his wife was diagnosed with
Parkinson’s in 2001.
“I believe that stem cell research offers a strong
possibility of someday leading to a cure for Parkinson’s and
other diseases. I support Congress’ bill to fund expanded
stem cell research.
“I disagree with the president’s veto. I believe that
expanded stem cell research would hasten the discovery of cures
for Parkinson’s and other diseases for which there is
currently no cure. This would bring relief to millions of
Americans and their families and have a significant impact on
reducing health care costs to treat patients with these diseases.
“I believe in the sanctity of human life, but I also believe
that stem cell research can be done in an appropriate manner with
appropriate safeguards.”
Greenwood residents who attended diabetes education classes
Thursday had mixed opinions on stem cell research but were mostly
in favor of any research that might advance any knowledge about
their disease.
“I’m for whatever would help gain knowledge about
diabetes. I’d rather see taxpayer money spent on diabetes
and things people can’t help rather than spent on things
people choose, like having too many children,” said Sandra
Lovette, who has suffered from Type 1 diabetes since she was 29.
Harold Lovette, Sandra’s husband, said, “Taxpayer money
needs to be redirected for medical research.”
In regards to embryonic stem cell research, Sandra asked, “Why
waste what’s already created?”
Helen Hodges, of Hodges, who has suffered from Type 2 diabetes
since 2000, said she supports all types of stem cell research
that could possibly cure diabetes. Hodges, whose brother has
Alzheimer’s, said, “It’s a terrible disease. If
they could find a cure for Alzheimer’s, that would be
wonderful.”
Brothers James and Donald Burnette have differing opinions on
embryonic stem cell research, even though both suffer from
diabetes. “I’m against it,” Donald said, “because
I believe in the right to life.”
James said, “I think we should use every resource we have
because I’d like for things to happen to help me in my old
age. I want to live to be 150 years old.”
Donald said he does not have a problem with umbilical cord blood
or research on adult stem cells but worries that “with
embryos, you can see the ultimate end, and I’m afraid if you
allow society to do something like that it will get out of hand.”
But James said, “When it comes down to it, it’s all
about when life begins.”
Dr. Bob Lebel, senior clinical geneticist and director of medical
ethics and adult genetics programs at the Greenwood Genetic
Center, said arguments on embryonic stem cell research depend
entirely on the starting point of life: “There are three
theories for when life begins: at fertilization, when the egg and
sperm meet; around the third day, when there is an integrated
genome and the male chromosomes begin to help in cell division;
or at the time when the egg has its radical individuality, when
it can no longer divide and become two (twins) or come together
from two eggs and be one person, which happens around the seventh
or eighth day.”
Lebel said all three forms of stem cell research —
embryonic, umbilical cord blood and adult — could be
useful, but embryonic stem cells have the most potential. Lebel
said embryonic stem cells are pluripotent, meaning they can
theoretically become anything.
“It may be possible to teach these cells to specialize and
become anything we need them to, like cells that produce insulin,
which could cure diabetes,” Lebel said.
Umbilical cord blood and adult stem cells are multipotent and are
not as flexible as embryonic pluripotent cells, but these might
still hold promise.
“There are no guarantees since not enough research is being
done so far to know how great the likelihood of finding cures may
be,” Lebel said. “To perform research and collect the
blastocyst stem cells from embryos, you must destroy the whole
thing, so it’s crucial in discussion to decide when the egg
has rights as a human.”
South Carolina legislators in Washington say forms of stem cell
research that do not endanger human embryos would be the best
method for use of taxpayer money. According to his Web site, U.S.
Rep. Gresham Barrett, R-S.C., has voted in favor of legislation
that would facilitate the use of umbilical cord blood stem cells
in biomedical research and in the treatment of disease. “Stem
cells derived from adults and umbilical cords are already used in
over 60 successful therapies today and hold the most promise for
the future. We have the ability to advance science while
protecting life — we do not have to choose between the two,”
Barrett says.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., says, “After careful
consideration, I come out on the side of not using taxpayer
dollars to condone the destruction of viable embryos for research
purposes. At this moment in time of scientific development — and
as the moral debate continues to move forward — I
believe the answer should be a no vote on sanctioning the
destruction of viable embryos. All of us, no matter our
differences, were once viable embryos.”
U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., says, “We don’t have to
choose between science and ethics; we can advance both.
“Stem cells derived from adults and umbilical cords have
been used in many successful human therapies and hold great
promise for the future. While there have been over 60 successful
human therapies using adult stem cells, there have been no
successful human therapies using embryonic stem cells.”
Cindy Alewine, CEO for the Upstate chapter of the Alzheimer’s
Association, reported the national Alzheimer’s Association’s
policy on stem cell research.
Adopted in June 2004 by the national board of directors, the
policy states: “In keeping with its mission to eliminate
Alzheimer’s disease, the Alzheimer’s Association
opposes any restriction or limitation on human stem cell
research, provided that appropriate scientific review and ethical
and oversight guidelines are in place.”
However, according to the policy, human stem cell research is not
a current research priority for the Alzheimer’s Association.
But Hodges says, “If they can find a cure, more power to
them.”
President Bush talked about his reasons for not supporting the
legislation in July.
“In this new era, our challenge is to harness the power of
science to ease human suffering without sanctioning the practices
that violate the dignity of human life,” Bush said. “...
Unfortunately, Congress has sent me a bill that fails to meet
this ethical test. This legislation would overturn the balanced
policy on embryonic stem cell research that my administration has
followed for the past five years.
“This bill would also undermine the principle that Congress,
itself, has followed for more than a decade, when it has
prohibited federal funding for research that destroys human
embryos.
“If this bill would have become law, American taxpayers
would, for the first time in our history, be compelled to fund
the deliberate destruction of human embryos. And I’m not
going to allow it.”
Ware Shoals Hornets host jamboree
August 13, 2006
By
RON COX
Special to the Index-Journal
WARE SHOALS — The defending champion
impressed, a struggling team surprised, while a wounded squad
rebounded.
The Region I-A jamboree gave many of the high school football
fans that took to Riegel Stadium in Ware Shoals Saturday an
interesting taste of what’s to come in the 2006 football
season.
Defending region champion Ware Shoals got 81 yards rushing from
Patorious Leverette and two rushing touchdowns from Tony Lomax to
knock off Class AA Southside, 22-6, in the finale.
McCormick, which entered the season winless over the past two
seasons, opened the three-game jamboree by amassing 194 yards on
the ground to upended a young Calhoun Falls squad, 20-8. Dixie,
which had several players out with injuries, battled back to
force a 14-14 tie with Thornwell.
Ware Shoals set the tone early against Southside, forcing the
Tigers to punt after a three-and-out on the game’s opening
series. A key third-down conversion, on a pass from Preston Lee
to Lomax, put Ware Shoals in scoring position.
Two plays later, Lomax sprinted around the left tackle for the
9-yard score.
“I’m extremely proud of the way we moved the ball on
that drive, with that young offensive line,” Ware Shoals
coach Jeff Murdock said. “Our goal was to out-hit and
out-hustle, and improve every week. That’s our goal at every
jamboree. Over the course of the past week, we’ve really
improved.”
Lomax’s second score came with some assistance from the
defense. After Southside recovered a Ware Shoals fumble on the
Tigers’ 3-yard line, the Ware Shoals defense forced a safety
on fourth down.
Three plays later, Lomax scampered 45 yards for the score. Tommy
Walker’s second PAT gave Ware Shoals a 16-0 lead.
Sophomore Lance Richardson scored on a 4-yard run to make it 22
unanswered points.
The shutout ended on Southside’s ensuing drive when punter
Tony Redd fumbled the snap, picked up the ball and ran 64 yards
for the score.
McCormick wasted little time trying to wipe away the sour
feelings of the past two seasons. The Chiefs, lining up in a
wishbone offense, needed only three plays after the opening
kickoff to score the jamboree’s first touchdown.
Halfback Zack McDuffie followed a 36-yard run from Jerel Franklin
with a 24-yard run and a 12-yard dash to the end zone.
It was the first of three straight scoring possessions for the
Chiefs, including a 30-yard run on fourth-and-4 from Franklin.
“I believe they’re starting to enjoy it,”
McCormick coach Art Mann said. “They had fun. We wanted to
come out here and do a good job. All in all, I’m proud of
them. They’ve got a lot of class. They work hard. They’re
good young men.”
Franklin and McDuffie led seven different McCormick backs with 84
and 78 yards rushing, respectively.
Fullback Octavius Blair added 38 yards on eight carries.
Sophomore running back Jeffrey Ford had 20 yards rushing to lead
Calhoun Falls, with quarterback Jeffery Ford and running back
Adrian Tatum adding 17 and 14 yards, respectively.
Tatum provided the Flashes’ lone touchdown. After fumbling
the kickoff to start the Flashes’ third drive, Tatum broke
through the pack, shed one tackle and dashed to the end zone for
the 89-yard score. Ford’s two-point conversion run made it a
20-8 game.
Dixie went down early, allowing the Saints to score touchdowns on
each of their first two possessions. But a key pass play brought
the team back from the brink.
On second-and-10 during the third drive, quarterback Drake Dunlap
launched his first pass that hit a streaking Jorre Donalson in
stride. Donaldson easily sprinted in for the 56-yard score.
Playing with momentum, the Dixie defense forced a three-and-out
on Thornwell’s next series. The offense responded, behind
the rushing of Kyle Crawford, with an eight-play game-tying
touchdown drive.
Ontavious Plummer capped the drive with a 2-yard run.
“They big play really gave us the momentum. The next drive
we just moved the ball really well on them,” Dixie coach
Steve Dunlap said. “We had 10 players that weren’t
dressed out, five are starters. With so many people out, we can’t
get a true picture of what we have.”
Crawford picked up 20 of his team-high 59 yards rushing on the
final scoring series. Drake Dunlap finished with 62 yards passing
against the Saints.
Opinion
Pressures
on the church ‘deeper’ than expected?
August 13, 2006
Religion
has provided a strong foundation for this nation ever since the
Pilgrams came to these shores. Through the years synagogues,
mosques and churches of every faith have been integral to the
goodness of America that has been a strong attraction for people
everywhere. People have always wanted to come here because of the
things we too often take for granted: the freedoms we all share.
Things have changed, though, and change these days is almost
constant. Figures show that more than a few “mainline”
churches have been losing members for several years. It’s no
different in South Carolina than in any other state, either.
Why this has been happening may be debated by some. In the final
analysis, though, it would be hard to deny that social radicalism
and a decline in morality are at least partly responsible for
those losses.
THERE ARE, TO BE SURE, SEVERAL issues that have
created discord among church members. Perhaps the most revealing,
though, has been the disagreements over whether practicing
homosexuals and lesbians should be ordained as ministers or
whether same-sex marriage should be condoned. As a result of
those two things, membership has declined and it has gotten to
the point where many churches are actively considering splitting
from their affiliations and associate with another. Some, in
fact, have already done just that.
Splits don’t come without problems, of course. Property
rights, for example, are likely to create a legal maze that even
lawyers will have a hard time negotiating.
STILL, FEELINGS ARE RUNNING SO high in some
cases that angry church members are willing to do whatever it
takes to stay true to their beliefs and principles.
The extremism and what results from it is not simply a matter
affecting individuals, individual churches or even the various
denominations as a whole. Whether anyone wants to face it or not,
the present situation, escalating as it is, will continue to have
a debilitating effect on religion in general, all over the
country. That, in turn, will result in an ever-diminishing
influence that religion has for good throughout the world, and
especially in America.
If that sounds too preposterous, think again. Falling numbers and
discontent, as they say, tell it like it is. Furthermore, at the
risk of sounding overly concerned, maybe that’s what some
people want to happen.
Obituaries
Marshall L. Cobb Jr.
WARE
SHOALS— Marshall Louie Cobb Jr., 87, of 26 Dairy
St., husband of Margaret Gwinn Cobb, died Friday, Aug. 11, 2006
at Self Regional Medical Center in Greenwood.
Born in Greenwood County, he was a son of the late Louie Marshall
and Rose Crane Cobb. He was retired from Ware Shoals District 51
as a maintenance supervisor, formerly employed by Riegel Textiles
for 45 years, a World War II U.S. Army veteran having served in
Korea, member of Ware Shoals First Baptist Church,
Mattison-Baracca Sunday school class, Riegel Quarter Century
Club, Greenville Lodge of Perfection, Scottish Rite, Hejaz
Temple, Order of the Eastern Star, VFW and Woodmen Of The World.
Survivors include his wife of the home; three sons, James L.
“Buddy” Cobb and John Robert “Bob” Cobb, both
of Ware Shoals, and Calvin Bruce Cobb, of Callison; two
daughters, Gwen C. Brocklehurst, of Cross Hill, and Marsha L.
Cobb, of Ware Shoals; a brother, James H. Cobb, of Greenwood;
three sisters, Mattie Jean Crawford and Barbara McCurry, both of
Ware Shoals, and Betty Cooper, of Atlanta; 10 grandchildren; 10
great-grandchildren.
Services are 2 p.m. Tuesday at Ware Shoals First Baptist Church,
conducted by the Revs. Leon Jones and Scott Cobb and James L.
“Buddy” Cobb. The body will be placed in the church at
1. Burial with Masonic rites is in Greenwood Memorial Gardens.
Pallbearers are nephews.
Honorary escorts will be men of the church, Masonic Order, NHC
nurses and the Smith Brothers.
Visitation is 6 p.m. until Monday at Parker-White Funeral Home.
Memorial may be made to Ware Shoals First Baptist Church, P.O.
Box 449, Ware Shoals, S.C. 29692.
The family is at the home.
Parker-White Funeral Home is in charge.
Edith Smith
ABBEVILLE
— Edith Rhodes Smith, 88, resident of 503 Marshall Ave.,
widow of Charles J. Smith, Sr., died August 11, 2006 at the Agape
Rehabilitation Center in West Columbia.
Born in Georgia, June 17, 1918, she was a daughter of the late
Virgil N. and Bertha Smith Rhodes. She attended the public
schools in Greenwood and was formerly employed by Eckerd Drugs in
Greenwood. She had made her home in Abbeville since 1974 where
she retired from Savitz Drug Store.
Mrs. Smith was a member of Upper Long Cane Presbyterian Church
where she served as church hostess for many years. She was twice
married, first to the late John L. Rook.
Surviving are two sisters, Ruth R. Mobley of Columbia and
Geraldine R. Pressley of Lexington; two step-sons, Charles J.
Smith, Jr. of Greenwood and George H. Smith of Surfside Beach;
nephews, Lytle Pressley, Jr, Sam Pressley and Newt Pressley.
Graveside services will be conducted at 2:00 p.m. Sunday in
Greenwood Memorial Gardens with Rev. Alvin Hodges officiating.
The body is at Blyth Funeral Home in Greenwood.
The family will receive friends immediately following the
graveside service.
Memorials may be made to Thornwell Home for Children, 302 South
Broad Street, Clinton, SC 29325, Hospice House of Greenwood, 408
W. Alexander Ave., Greenwood, SC 29646 or to the charity of one’s
choice.
For online condolences please visit www.blythfuneralhome.com.
Blyth Funeral Home & Cremation Services is assisting Mrs.
Smith’s family.
PAID OBITUARY