Graford editor wins scholarship

Mark Engebretson, managing editor and general manager of the Lake Country Sun in Graford, was named the winner of the 2005 TPA First Amendment Scholarship.

Applicants were required to submit an essay and a biographical sketch. The TPA Contest Committee reviewed all the applicants and on Jan. 20 selected Engebretson as the winner.

The scholarship pays the recipient’s $1,500 tuition to attend the First Amendment Institute sponsored by the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas. The institute is a four-session intensive study of the First Amendment’s guarantees.

Engebretson has been with the Sun since 2000. Prior to that he with the Mineral Wells Index and served in the U.S. Army from 1967-87.

Following is his winning essay:

“Freedom — something not really appreciated until it is gone and with the very real threat to our nation today, it would seem that too many believe the price of safety is the restriction of freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution.

Having spent 20 years of my life in military service, 11 of those in “free” nations in Europe, I realize what an illusion freedom can be and how easily it can melt away like an iceberg drifting into warm water.

I have stood at the edge of freedom and looked across the abyss that was once the Iron Curtain. I have seen the wire which imprisoned those who yearned to be free and stood at the wall that was once the the dividing line between East and West.

What can I learn? More of what I need to know to ensure that my readers never lose the understanding of what freedom means. Journalists are at the forefront of America’s freedoms and there are those who would chisel away at the very foundation of our democracy. The only way to stop this erosion is through education, a loud cry and the focus on what we have achieved, where we are and where we may someday go.

What I offer is the experience of seeing first hand what freedom means, not only to Americans but to those who would be free.”