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Issue
4.25 | Monday, April 23, 2012 TODAY'S
FOCUS CURRENTS THE
LIST FOOD
& DRINK GOOD
NEWS HISTORY
ALSO INSIDE :: FEEDBACK: Bridge misspelling was lame :: SPOTLIGHT: Maybank Industries :: CALENDAR: This week ... and next :: QUOTE: Love and romance :: BROADUS: Project update |
ABOUT US CharlestonCurrents.com offers insightful community comment and good news on events each week. It cuts through the information clutter to offer the best of what's happening locally. What readers say WHERE IS IT?
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April 23, 2012 -- Remember that old Peace Corps commercial about "the toughest job you'll ever love?" Well, the same could be said for motherhood. In fact, sometimes it's the toughest job we don't love. Yes, we love our babies, but we don't always love the job -- the midnight feedings, the diaper blowouts or the tantrums in the middle of Target.
Being a mom is hard work, especially in those early days following childbirth. Just the physical aspects of labor and birth, the lack of sleep and the adjustment to a person who needs second-by-second care is enough to throw any woman into a tailspin. Now, add in the fact that estrogen levels that have risen during pregnancy drop rapidly within hours of delivery, and it's no surprise so many women experience a chemical imbalance that leads to severe depression or anxiety.
Symptoms of PPD may include:
The most important thing for women and their families to understand is that this is a very real medical condition. It's not a reflection of the woman herself or her capacity to love her baby. This is an illness. The other key piece for women to know is that PPD can be treated. With medication, counseling, a support group or some combination of the three, most women recover just fine.
Despite
the fact PPD is a treatable condition far too many women are silent about
their feelings. They are embarrassed to admit they are struggling and
they fear people will perceive them as unfit mothers. The sad fact is
women suffer in silence, going without needed treatment or waiting months
to come forward. PPD and break down the barriers that keep women from getting help. That's the mission of the Ruth Rhoden Craven Foundation for Postpartum Depression Awareness, which is dedicated to educating and supporting mothers and their families, the medical community and the general public about the signs and symptoms of postpartum depression, available treatment options and community resources. The foundation offers PPD support group for women as well as grants for moms who need treatment for PPD but may not have insurance or a means to pay for care. Its largest fundraiser, the Moms' Run, is coming up on May 12 and is all about celebrating mothers and bringing awareness to PPD and the resources the Ruth Rhoden Craven Foundation provides. Celebrate Mother's Day this year by participating in the ninth annual Moms' Run + Family Fun Day. Whether you've suffered from PPD or not, moms all around can agree motherhood is a tough job that requires a supportive community of fellow women who are holding each other up and looking out for one another.
APRIL 20, 2012 -- It takes four years for most high school students to graduate from high school. Most college students traditionally also graduate in four years.
But four years apparently isn't enough time for the state Supreme Court to come to a conclusion about a festering school funding case first filed by poor South Carolina school districts in 1993. Yes, 1993. A student in first grade back then should, by now, be out of college and could even have a master's degree. This thing has been going on that long. In June 2008 -- a year before then Gov. Mark Sanford changed the definition of what it meant to "hike the Appalachian Trail" -- the S.C. Supreme Court heard oral arguments appealing a 2007 ruling on the Abbeville School District v. State of South Carolina case. Since then, an opinion has been pending. "We have no idea of knowing" when a decision will be rendered, a court spokesman said this week. Really? After four years? The high court needs to get off of its robes and make a decision soon, particularly since state legislators now are gearing up to talk about (guess what?) revising the formula that funds public schools. Wouldn't it be nice for legislators to have the court's guidance on the constitutionality of issues related to public school funding before politically manipulating the formula so they don't have to redo everything if the court rules for the poor school districts? At issue is the case brought by poor, rural school districts like Abbeville County through the "Corridor of Shame" districts from Dillon to Ridgeland along Interstate 95. In essence, they complained 19 years ago that students in poor districts received a constitutionally-inappropriate and inadequate public education due to a variety of factors, most of which centered on funding.
After a flurry of motions and filings, the circuit court then held 102 days of trial, starting in July 2003 and ending in December 2004. It heard 102 witnesses in person or by deposition, which generated a 23,100-page transcript. Some 4,400 documents were received in evidence. A year later, state Circuit Court Judge Thomas Cooper essentially ruled that the state provided a minimally-adequate education to students in the poor districts. But Cooper, now retired, required the state to fund early childhood intervention programs to satisfy constitutional requirements under the "minimally adequate" standard. Cooper's ruling didn't make the plaintiffs or state happy. In 2006, both filed motions to get the court to change its 2006 order. Those motions were denied in July 2007. The following month, that decision was appealed to the state Supreme Court. In turn, it heard oral arguments on June 25, 2008 -- almost 46 months ago. Since then: not a word. If the court's not ready to rule yet, it might consider sending a signal that it still finds the case important by asking for further arguments, inviting additions to the record or accepting friendly opinions from interested parties. But to
do nothing is not in the interest of the public, especially in a state
where legislators this year underfunded public education's base student
cost by about $700 million. This case is too important for today's students
to have to wait another generation for a ruling.
We got several comments from people who didn't want to be named but who were irritated at how the state Department of Transportation misspelled the name of Sea Islands leader Esau Jenkins on signs across Church Creek between Johns and Wadmalaw Island [More, see 4/16 commentary].
A Mount Pleasant woman offered this: "Not sure if you heard about it, but the DOT bumbled the sign for another historic Charlestonian. A couple of years ago the sign on 526 at Long Point Road misspelled Pinckney [as} Pinkney. Truly, it's embarrassing." Folks on Facebook also were irked. "I do enjoy the irony of these news reports, especially since the local media are the biggest spelling offenders themselves," one man wrote. "Are you listening Channel Five? Get a dictionary!" Another said, "The Post and Courier news, like a fine Bordeaux, only improves with age. Looking forward to the Sunday feature on the great fire of 1861."
The public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring Charleston Currents to you at no cost. This issue's featured underwriter is Maybank Industries, LLC of Charleston, S.C. With broad experience in commercial and government operations, Maybank Industries applies deep-rooted commitment to teamwork, reliability and personal service to provide innovative business solutions for project development, information technology, logistics, vessel design, vessel construction, shipping agency services and marine terminal operations, both locally and internationally. Maybank Industries applies a powerful blend of professional expertise to research, analyze and develop tailored solutions with thorough plans of action, combining a heavy dose of common sense to solve today's needs that can adapt to changing or evolving requirements. More: Maybank Industries and Maybank Systems.
APRIL 23, 2012 -- Cooking for crowds can be a little intimidating, even if you're confident in your day-in-day-out culinary skills. With some recipes, doubling or tripling the amount of each ingredient doesn't add up to success. A more measured approach is the key. With a number of cook-for-a-crowd occasions coming down the pike-Mother's Day, graduations, Memorial Day, and the usual raft of summer get-togethers-I was happy to see the following quick tips on scaling recipes. They arrived via e-mail from a Virginia chef, Scott Jenkins, the executive chef at the restaurant Extra Virgin in Arlington.
There are
also various online tools to help you determine what the calculations
should be to scale a recipe. Just search for a recipe adjuster or recipe
scaling program, then type in the particulars of the dish you want to
scale. Cooking
Class Spotlight
A five-act opera by students? Yep. More than 50 students at Charles Towne Montessori are busy with last-minute preparations for a performance of "Persephone" at 6 p.m. April 27 at the Scottish Rite Center in West Ashley. The opera is written by Sanford Jones, one of the world's top composers of operas for children and a former CTM teacher. Jones is expected to attend Friday's performance.
"Not only are we celebrating our school's 40th year with this performance of 'Persephone,' but we're celebrating more than 25 years of operatic compositions by one of our former teachers," said Head of School and co-director Edward Jackson. He said students taking part in the opera ranged from those in the primary classes (ages 3 to 6), to elementary students (grades 1-6) who often take on multiple roles. More than 50 students are participating in the opera, which is expected to last more than an hour. "Our students are learning an enormous amount in the production of 'Persephone,'" Jackson said. "In addition to uncovering the world of ancient Greece and its myths, they are learning hands-on lessons about responsibility and teamwork. They're learning how to be confident in presenting themselves. And they're getting key lessons related to music and drama that will enhance their abilities to communicate effectively in the future." The public
is invited to attend the children's opera. Tickets are $10 for adults.
Children 12 and under are admitted for free. The performance will be at
the Scottish Rite Center, 1051 Sam Rittenberg Blvd., Charleston. More.
Nominations sought for local Baseball Hall of Fame The Charleston
Baseball Hall of Fame, now in its 11th year and created to recognize those
who have made significant contributions to baseball in the Lowcountry,
is seeking nominations for the Class of 2012.
Originally
designed for professional players who played for a local professional
team, the Hall of Fame six years ago was adjusted to include amateurs
and teams, in addition to those who played in the major leagues. The Charleston
Baseball Hall of Fame is located inside Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park, and
once an individual or team has been nominated, there is no need to re-submit. Review recognizes C of C as "green college" The College of Charleston is one of five South Carolina colleges to be recognized in The Princeton Review's Guide to 322 Green Colleges. Also on the list: Clemson, Coastal Carolina, Furman and USC-Columbia. The free guide was released in conjunction with the April 22 celebration of Earth Day and can be downloaded.
The review looked at 768 colleges in the guide, a partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council, and highlighted colleges that "demonstrate a notable commitment to sustainability in their academic offerings, campus infrastructure, activities and career preparation." The 322 schools in the new guide received scores of 83 or above. "After establishing the Office of Sustainability, our first initiative was to cultivate a sense of connection between people, culture and place as the foundation for building a resilient and ultimately sustainable community,"” Fisher explained. “"We are actively engaged in learning from and contributing to global scales of sustainability, and feel our role as a liberal arts educational institution provides a unique opportunity to research, learn, and evolve within this larger community." Stage set for May 6 polo match Ponies and partygoers will gather May 6 to watch professionals and amateurs face off in two polo matches that are part of the McDaniels Audi of Charleston Spring Polo Invitational at Hyde Park Farm and Polo Club in Ravenel. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Rein and Shine, a local nonprofit group providing horseback riding as therapy to children and adults with special needs throughout the Charleston area. The 2012 event will feature an expanded format with a pair of matches, beginning at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Among the players participating will be S.C. State Rep. Chip Limehouse (R-Charleston), whose team is sponsored by Halls Chophouse. His father, former state Secretary of Transportation Buck Limehouse, will serve as announcer for the matches. Also on tap is live music, food and beverages from local vendors. Reserved tents are available for groups that want to set up their own parties, while tailgating spots along the field can be purchased in advance or at the gate. The gate opens at 11 a.m., and all parking is free. Admission is $15 for adults, while children 10 and under are admitted free. More.
The impact of oratory was evident, from frequent joint debates held in most political campaigns, to Sunday sermonizing and summer camp meeting revivals, to courtroom lawyers arguing before their juries and large audiences of spectators, to ceremonial occasions such as the Fourth of July. In sum, oratory was a prime means of public education in the issues of the day, religious instruction, and public commemoration. South Carolinians practiced it as well as any other southerners, and better than most.
The love and practice of oratory did not emerge full-grown in antebellum South Carolina. South Carolina College, where training and experience in public speaking was a central focus of higher education, was a hothouse for developing orators. Within a year of the 1805 opening of the college, the first literary and debating club, the Philomathic Society, was organized. Less than a year later it was split into two nearly identical fraternal groups, the Clariosophic and the Euphradian societies. Over the next half-century, virtually every student at South Carolina College belonged to one or the other of these societies, where they heard and presented many a declamation or original oration and debated timely political, social, religious, and historical questions. Students understood, as did most educated southerners, that the supreme skill for a leader was oratory. An early historian of the college called the societies "the nursery of eloquence" and asserted that they provided a strong career start for "many of the distinguished men of Carolina." One of those distinguished men of Carolina was William C. Preston, called by some South Carolina's Cicero. Preston was considered the "most finished orator of the Southern school." But Preston was only one among many stars in the South Carolina oratorical gallery. In a region that held eloquence in the highest regard, the Palmetto State set the standard for the rest of the South. Probably no other southern state had as many outstanding well-known speakers in the antebellum years. Preston, Hugh Swinton Legaré, John C. Calhoun, James H. Hammond, James Hamilton, Dr. Thomas Cooper, Robert Y. Hayne, William Harper, and George McDuffie held their large and appreciative audiences enthralled by their rhetoric. The large issues of states' rights, nullification, slavery, and impending war provided more than enough impetus for their oratory. The tradition continued long after the Civil War, focusing primarily on political stump speaking and ceremonial oratory; it was the era of the "southern demagogue" and the "Lost Cause." After Wade Hampton's oratorical recollections of the Civil War helped to "redeem" South Carolina from Reconstruction, Benjamin "Pitchfork Ben" Tillman, Coleman Blease, and Ellison "Cotton Ed" Smith held forth on the hustings, defending the small farmer and upholding white supremacy and racial separation. Their oratory, based on fear tactics and emotion rather than reasoning and valid evidence, exploited the poor whites' ability to vote, their deplorable economic conditions, and their long-standing fear of their black neighbors who were just below them on the economic ladder. Attacking scapegoats such as Wall Street, corporations, railroads, Jews, immigrants, and especially blacks, their language was violent and unrestrained, but they spoke for the little guys in the state who, up to that point, had felt they had no spokesmen. Another prime venue for oratory in postbellum years, extending well into the twentieth century, was the ubiquitous ceremonial address proclaiming the "Lost Cause." Delivered at countless Confederate veterans' reunions, monument dedications, and Confederate Decoration Day ceremonies throughout South Carolina and the South, this oratorical genre created, glorified, and sustained a mythology of the Old South, the Civil War, and Reconstruction that remained alive long after the last veteran and commemorative orator were in their graves. Remnants of this oratory were still being heard in debates across the state over the placing of the Confederate flag on the State House grounds at the end of the twentieth century. While radio,
television, mass entertainment, and the Internet have made oratory mostly
obsolete as a form of education and entertainment, it does continue in
perhaps the only, certainly the leading, example of the old tradition
of "stump" speaking left in America: the Galivants Ferry Stump
Meeting. This popular political event is held every two years on the first
or second Monday in May and is highly important in the tradition of South
Carolina politics. Begun by Wade Hampton in 1876, this affair has continued
unabated and in the early 21st century still drew as many as five thousand
South Carolinians.
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Strap on the skis
"Men always want to be a woman's first love -- women like to be a man's last romance."
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(NEW) Spring Celebration: 8 p.m., April 27; and 4 p.m., April 28, Burke High School Auditorium, 244 President St., Charleston. The Robert Ivey Ballet Company will present "A Spring Celebration," a collection of classical ballet and lyrical dance. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for students and seniors. More. (NEW) Two concerts, one day: 1 p.m., and 7:30 p.m., April 28, Memminger Auditorium, 56 Beaufain Street. Chamber Music Charleston will present the finale of its Classical Kids Series with "America's White Table" featuring kids singing along and listening to stories. Later that night, the group will offer "A Celebration of America" with performances of music by Foote, Brubeck and more. More info. Aquarium gala: 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., April 28. The S.C. Aquarium's annual gala, this year titled "An Evening in Madagascar," to generate money to support environmental programs. In addition to a seated dinner and theatrical performances will be an Environmental Stewardship Awards presentation. More. CALENDAR: ONGOING AND SOON (NEW) Two art exhibitions open: May 4, Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston. In the Main Gallery of the museum through Sept. 9 will be "Mary Whyte: Working South," a display of watercolors of vanishing blue-collar professions from 10 Southern states. At the same time, the Rotunda Gallery will feature "Places for the Spirit: Traditional African American Gardens of the South," a series by fine art photographer Vaughn Sills. More. Tall ships in Savannah: May 3 to May 7. The five-day festival will give visitors the chance to view 14 tall ships and board many of them. It's the only Southern stop during an Atlantic coast race. Tickets are $20 to $50. Learn more. Magnolia's photo
contest: Entries due June 6. If you want to submit pictures
to the 2012 photo contest by Magnolia Plantations and Gardens, you can
start taking picture now. Submissions start April 1 for photos
taken between March 5 and May 31. More
info. Weekend water
fun. Splash Zone Waterpark at James Island County Park, Splash Island
at Mount Pleasant Palmetto Islands County Park, and Whirlin' Waters at
Wannamaker County Park will be open on weekends in May. Splash
Zone will open daily beginning May 21, Whirlin' Waters and Splash Island
open daily beginning May 28. More: www.splashparks.com Bird walks: 8:30 a.m. to noon, every Wednesday and Saturday. This is the time of year that a great variety of migrating birds fly through the Lowcountry so what better time to take part in one of the regular early morning bird walks at Caw Caw Interpretive Center in Ravenel. Pre-registration is suggested. Cost is $5. Learn more online. FOLLOW US ON TWITTER
FOCUS ARCHIVES
6/11: Derreberry:
Maximizing talent 5/29:
Laird:
After-school programs 4/30:
Geiger:
Mobile payments 2/27:
Curley:
"Inga Binga" 1/30:
Tisdale:
Home House Press DOUG
BOSTICK: 5/21: Robert
Smalls ANDY BRACK 6/11:
RFK's
passion 5/29:
PeopleMatter,
more 3/26:
Mutant
bugs attack 2/27:
South
is changing 1/30:
Carrier
visit is awesome ANN
THRASH: 6/4:
Huguenot
torte GREG
GARVAN: 4/30: Waterkeeper
event LIST ARCHIVES 6/11:
Okra
5/21:
Happiest seaside towns 4/30:
Gifts
for grads 3/26:
Joe's
accomplishments 2/27:
Charleston
history 1/30:
Enterprising
fun facts IN OUR SISTER PUBLICATION
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About
20 percent of women will experience perinatal mood and anxiety disorders,
the most common of which is postpartum depression (PPD). PPD can develop
any time in the first year after a woman gives birth. 
By
1999, the state Supreme Court made a ruling in an appeal that set a standard
for "minimum adequate education." Before remanding the original
case to the lower court to be considered again, it defined the standard
"to include providing students adequate and safe facilities in which
they have the opportunity to acquire: 1) the ability to read, write and
speak the English language, and the knowledge of mathematics and physical
science; 2) a fundamental knowledge of economic, social and political
systems, and of history and governmental processes; and 3) academic and
vocational skills."
A
James Island resident wrote, "I completely agree. That is lame. Mr.
Jenkins was one of the most important civil rights leaders in America!"
When
it comes to preparing bite-sized appetizers for a crowd, base calculations
on eight pieces per person. This will give you an idea of how many you
need to make altogether. 
Mount
Pleasant writer and editor Ann Thrash can be reached at: 
CTM
students in the elementary class (grades 1-6) and primary classes (ages
3-6) have been practicing their roles for weeks for "Persephone,"
which was written by former CTM teacher Sanford Jones, one of the world's
top composers of operas for children.
Anthony
Wright, known around town and to RiverDogs' fans as "Tony
the Peanut Man" is getting a little help from area baseball
fans following a home fire last week in which he lost about $10,000
in equipment. 
"This
national recognition is an important milestone for sustainability at the
College," said Brian Fisher, director of the Office of Sustainability.
“"As we begin to develop more metrics and baselines, we will
have hard empirical measures of our progress for institutional sustainability.
Beyond that, we must continue to work on social dimensions of sustainability
and contributing to the resilience of the Charleston community. But The
Princeton Review is recognition that our first steps have been significant
ones."
When
the warm weather hits, it's not unheard of for local businessman Win Gasperson
to hitch a boat to his Suburban and head to a place to water-ski. Here
are his five great places in the state to water-ski or wakeboard:
