THE GREATEST value of Innovista, the thing that is exciting and worth pursuing, has always been the idea of the state's flagship university using its academic weight and vision, much as leading research universities long have done, to develop marketable products and attract entrepreneurs and transform one of the nation's most struggling economies - not the buildings in which that work will be done. But you'd have been hard-pressed to remember that in recent months, as all the buzz about USC's research campus has centered on how the shiny buildings and parks could transform the physical face of downtown Columbia - or not.
Many of South Carolina's workers are hurting due to our 12.6 percent unemployment rate. MSNBC.com recently covered the hardest hit professions; it was no surprise to my colleagues and me that architecture was No. 1 with 17.8 percent in job losses.
We've always known that America's reign as the world's greatest nation would eventually end. But most of us imagined that our downfall, when it came, would be something grand and tragic.
AT FIRST glance, the "South Carolina Sentencing Reform Commission Report to the General Assembly" seems like the "duh" report of the decade. The long-awaited report calls for relying more heavily on alternatives to prison for non-violent offenders and longer sentences for the most dangerous criminals.
Nearly 100 million people were expected to watch the Indianapolis Colts take on the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV Sunday. A few weeks later, the U.S. Census Bureau will begin its massive job of counting the nation's more than 300 million people - about three times the largest TV audience ever recorded for a Super Bowl.
President Obama is right; what we need more than anything is a spirit of reconciliation on Capitol Hill, a desire to sit down and hash out differences and come up with workable solutions to our critical problems - especially the economy, decent jobs and, yes, health care reform. I will call Sen. Lindsey Graham's office once again to urge him to step out from the pack of naysayers.
Andre Bauer's stunningly careless comment likening the poor to stray animals is not offensive because it is politically incorrect. It is offensive because it is just plain incorrect, prejudicial and mean. As a leader who has been granted the public trust expressing, this kind of economic prejudice is not only shameful but also dangerous.
Updates from the S.C. State House and beyond. Find your lawmaker, learn what's happening in the General Assembly and more.
IF COLUMBIA mayoral candidate Steve Benjamin is elected, he might not have to recuse himself from issues involving payday lending after all.
AT FIRST glance, the "South Carolina Sentencing Reform Commission Report to the General Assembly" seems like the "duh" report of the decade. The long-awaited report calls for relying more heavily on alternatives to prison for non-violent offenders and longer sentences for the most dangerous criminals.
OVER THE PAST quarter century, South Carolina's prison population has skyrocketed, from 9,000 to 25,000 inmates, and the cost to taxpayers has gone up even faster - from $64 million to $394 million.
"I am pleased to see that the governor is finally taking an interest in South Carolina's public schools."
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