July 27, full issue: Sex ed, Trump, world trade center

Across the Lowcountry, spiders are spinning webs to snare something to munch on — and there’s lots of flying insects to choose from at this time of year. Be careful that they don’t nab you! Photo by Andy Brack.

IN THIS ISSUE

PHOTO:  Spiders spin sticky webs
FOCUS: Get facts straight on sex education curriculum
BRACK: Dump Trump — Americans deserve better
IN THE SPOTLIGHT:  Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
MONEY: Charleston’s World Trade Center
GOOD NEWS: New radio station to debut this week
FEEDBACK: Doesn’t like “unscientific” carriage survey
CALENDAR: July 27+: Comedy to back-to-school
BROADUS:  Piggybacking?
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Charleston single house

Get facts straight on sex education curriculum

By April L. Borkman, special to Charleston Currents

EDITOR’S NOTE: You can attend the next Charleston County School Board’s Secondary Education Meeting, which will be held 9 a.m. Aug. 4, at the school board headquarters, 75 Calhoun St., Charleston.

JULY 27, 2015 | Almost 20 percent of South Carolina middle school students have had sexual intercourse, according to the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey This number only continues to increase as students enter and attend high school with 57 percent of high school students reporting being sexually experienced. While we have made abundant strides in reducing teen pregnancy rates in South Carolina over the past 20 years, South Carolina still ranks 11^th for teen pregnancy nationally.

Borkman

On Aug. 4, members of the Charleston County School Board’s Secondary Education Committee (SEC) will vote on a new sex education curriculum, which is called “Making Proud Choices” (MPC). It is an evidence-based, proven, effective and comprehensive sex education curriculum. The U. S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Adolescent Health has placed it on their list of recommended teen pregnancy prevention programs. If approved, MPC will provide the only comprehensive sex education choice for middle schools in the county.

MPC stresses that abstinence is the safest and best way to prevent HIV, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and unwanted pregnancy. But it also acknowledges that if a person is sexually active, condoms are important. The committee will be voting to allow this program as an option for students in grades 8 to 12 in Charleston County public schools effective for the 2015-2016 academic school year.

Unfortunately, a small, fear-mongering, vocal group of abstinence-only-until-marriage supporters and members of other extreme conser

Click image to see a larger map.

vative groups have bombarded school board members with a plethora of inaccuracies to try to block this program from being allowed in Charleston County schools. For example, West Of contributor John Steinberger this month wrongly made several erroneous claims, including that:

• Planned Parenthood backs MPC;
• The curriculum depicts “graphic sex acts;”
• It “is not medically accurate” because it teaches that condoms protect against STDs, HIV and unwanted pregnancy;
• MPC “sanitizes abortion as ‘a safe and legal way to end pregnancy; ’”
• That parents have no say in what kids are taught at their particular schools.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Even a cursory review of the curriculum reveals that none of this is true. In no way does the program depict graphic sexual acts, nor does it mention abortion on any of its pages or accompanying materials and videos. Planned Parenthood in not listed in any of the materials nor is the group mentioned as having provided any intellectual or financial contributions leading to the development of the curriculum.

Furthermore, opponents of MPC are wrong to suggest the curriculum is inaccurate regarding the teaching of condom use. An abundance of doctors and medical professionals would line up around the corner to say condom use stems STDs and prevents pregnancies. In fact during the last SEC meeting, many did. Condoms have been used as a method of contraception and disease prevention for centuries, and according to a famous 1987 statement by U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, condoms reduced transmission of HIV significantly. A1992 analysis found condoms reduced HIV transmission by 69 percent (Weller, 1993). Additionally when used correctly, (something that MPC stresses) condoms are 98 percent effective at preventing unwanted pregnancies (Advocates For Youth, 2005).

Additionally, parents do indeed have a say in what is taught to their kids. Per the S.C. Comprehensive Sex Education Act, schools are required to send letters home prior to the start of any sex education program. As a result parents may make arrangements to view the curriculum material in advance and opt their kids out of the program if they choose. The MPC program would be no different.

At the request of the SEC, health education professionals have adapted the program materials. Professionals from South Carolina made changes carefully and judiciously to remove any reference that might be construed as promoting sexually activity among young people and replace it with alternate language or activities that promote the message of abstinence and the importance of condom use for those who become sexually active.

Finally, according to the South Carolina Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, 83 percent of South Carolinians support evidence-based sex education. Parents should feel confident that the Making Proud Choices program will provide much-needed information to their kids so that they can make educated and informed decisions about their health and their future.

April L. Borkman is a professional health educator and program coordinator working for the EMPOWERR Program at the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center at the Medical University of South Carolina. She is an officer for the Charleston County Teen Pregnancy Prevention Council and has 10 years of experience working in HIV and teen pregnancy prevention.

Dump Trump: Americans deserve better than bombast

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher

JUNE 27, 2015 | If you don’t want Hillary Clinton to be the next president, you better get off the escalating Trump bandwagon pretty darned quickly.

Having a big mouth that spews provocative remarks just to make headlines is not a qualification for being president. Americans deserve better than a reality TV star becoming political reality.

Fortunately, the billionaire isn’t going to be president of the United States, despite topping the polls now in a field of (what is it today?) 16 GOP candidates. Why? His star will flame out. His mouthiness already is getting him in some trouble. And he bagged an August New Hampshire debate opportunity in a fit of petulance.

But Trump could cause serious problems down the road for the GOP if his campaign juggernaut continues. There’s already talk about the possibility that he’d become an independent candidate for 2016. Sound familiar? Remember another gazillionaire whose entry into a presidential contest split the GOP vote and propelled a Clinton into the White House? Like Ross Perot in 1992, a third-party bid by Trump would peel away GOP voters, which would boost the Democratic nominee into the win column.

Observers suggest Trump will burn out because there’s a long time between today’s outrageous statements about immigration or John McCain and the February presidential preference primary in South Carolina. Trump can only use stunts, such as giving out Lindsey Graham’s phone number, for so long.

Voters, says Winthrop University pollster Scott Huffmon, eventually want to see more than a circus — they want to see serious talk about real issues, not bogeymen, from a presidential candidate.

“He’s garnered enough interest now for people to want to see what he says in the debates — to see if he is all bluff and bluster or to see if he has some substance to him,” Huffmon said. “He has clearly shown why he’s a popular reality show star because that’s what he’s doing right now. The question is, can he convert it to real presidential mettle and statesmanship? If it’s just a show, people will tune into something else later on.”

Trump

For now, a grenade-tosser like Trump is exciting to voters, particularly among Republican voters who are angry that a Democrat, Barack Obama, is in the White House — and won reelection in 2012. The GOP electorate is looking for someone who will shake things up. And with 16 people running, there’s a lot of unknowns about a lot of unknown candidates.

Upstate Republican strategist Chip Felkel says he understands how Trump is tapping into voter frustration, such as at a heavily-covered recent forum in Bluffton.

“I get it, but he’s not offering any serious solutions,” said Felkel, who says voters really want substance.

“Celebrity only carries you so far,” he observed “A lot of Republican voters think ‘celebrity’ is what gave us Barack Obama.”

So what has some people thinking these days is whether the 69-year-old Trump, who has an estimated $4 billion net worth according to Forbes magazine, will mount a billion dollar independent presidential challenge. According to OpenSecrets.org, the two major party presidential candidates spent $1.12 billion in the 2012 race while outside groups and parties spent hundreds of millions more. All totaled, the 2012 race cost more than $2.6 billion.

“There’s every indication that Trump is not for anything other than Trump,” said Felkel. “He’s not for Republican Party success. He’s about Donald Trump’s success.

“It’s not a big leap to suggest that his Manhattan-sized ego would lead him to take a stab at a third party candidacy, which would make it harder for the GOP nominee to win.”

So we’re back to our original premise — if you don’t want another Clinton in office, you’d better move away from Trump as soon as possible to deflate his presidential balloon.

Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Charleston Currents and Statehouse Report. You can reach him at: editor@charlestoncurrents.com

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

The public spiritedness of our underwriters allows us to bring Charleston Currents to you at no cost. Today we shine our spotlight on Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, founded in 1676 by the Drayton family. It has survived the centuries and witnessed the history of our nation unfold before it from the American Revolution through the Civil War and beyond. It is the oldest public tourist site in the Lowcountry and the oldest public gardens in America, opening its doors to visitors in 1870. Open 365 days a year, Magnolia offers its visitors splendid tours of nature and history and the role African-Americans played in the development of its award-winning Romantic-style gardens.

• Visit www.magnoliaplantation.com to learn how you can experience a complete plantation experience.

Our World Trade Center is making a difference

By Kyra Morris, contributing editor

JULY 27, 2015 | Our world is a global world. Our markets are global markets. Economic viability depends on our ability to interact within these horizons.

Charleston has an existing export market and our economy is diverse. Our success in the future depends on our ability do business on a global scale.   We have a local resource set up to help us do just that.

In 2011, the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce obtained the franchise from the World Trade Center Association and launched a World Trade Center here to be closely aligned with the Chamber. The vision was to have Charleston and our region thrive in global commerce. The mission was to be the international connection and resource that support our local businesses and lead them to success. It would offer opportunities to attend educational seminars, access international trade research and make connections with new international business opportunities.

World Trade Center Charleston (WTCC) is our own world trade center.   It represents an investment and our desire to encourage international trade at every level of business – no matter what the size. Our World Trade Center is part of the World Trade Center Association, which is comprised of 320 world trade centers in 96 countries. Our trade center is our catalyst for Charleston’s ability to thrive in a global market.

Recently, WTCC was one of eight centers selected to participate in the Metro Export Initiative launched by the Brookings Institution. This makes us part of the effort across the country to help firms understand and take part in exporting our goods and services. Charleston has a place as a leader in this effort.

You can learn more about the WTCC on its website – www.wtca.org/world-trade-center-charleston I do encourage you to learn more regardless of whether you have a business.   It is impressive and exciting to see all that is happening in our own backyard.

Our world is a global world.   Charleston is a global community making a difference.

Kyra Hollowell Morris, a Certified Financial Planner, is CEO of Morris Financial Concepts, Inc., in Mount Pleasant. A national leader in the financial planning profession, she has been named several times by leading magazines as one of the country’s top financial planners.

New station set to start broadcasting Saturday

Get ready for a new era of local radio when OHM Radio starts broadcasting 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 1, at 96.3 FM on the radio dial.

The new community start-up, which has been in planning stages for a couple of years, will be Charleston’s first community, commercial-free radio station. It will broadcast music by local, independent and legendary artists and spread the word about what’s being done to improve the community by local entrepreneurs, nonprofits and social groups. [We first offered info about the venture last year here.]

According to a Facebook post by the station, it will “explore sounds in jazz, soul, folk, hip-hop, oldies, reggae, indie rock, Americana, jam bands, world music, bluegrass and more.” Its talk programming will include shows on the experiences of travelers in Charleston, inspirational stories and interviews, a show everything from pregnancy to parenting, discussions with leaders who get things done and “Democracy Now! Nonprofit,” an independently-syndicated news hour on national and world issues.

From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 2, the folks at Ohm Radio Charleston will celebrate the first 24 hours of broadcasting at the Sunday Brunch Farmers Market on James Island, 1977 Maybank Highway. A live broadcast of the station will play on speakers at the market, which offers fresh produce, arts, crafts, food and adult beverages.

In other news:

Books for North Charleston. Begin With Books, the Charleston County affiliate of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, will host a fun Pop Up event from noon to 4 p.m. Aug. 8 to help fund free books for children in North Charleston. The event, which will be hosted by Coast Brewing (1250 Second St., North Charleston) will offer local artists, vendors, crafts, stories, food, beer and more.

There are 8,800 children under five in North Charleston and the nonprofit is seeking to enroll as many as possible to receive monthly books by mail. But it costs money — about $33 per child per year. Enrolled children receive one age-appropriate book in the mail every month from birth through age 4, for a total of up to 60 books per child. Because Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library delivers free books directly to children’s homes by mail, the access barriers of time, transportation and money are completely eliminated, allowing all pre-school children and their families to take advantage of the many educational benefits associated with early exposure to books. More info: BeginWithBooks.org

Flag for Hope. The first 100 visitors to the Folly Beach Fishing Pier from noon to 2 on July 28 and at the James Island County Park from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. will be able to participate in the Flag for Hope art project. It is touring 60 cities across the country to gather handprints from local residents as part of a major art project to make a flag from painted handprints. More info: CharlestonCountyParks.com

Didn’t like “unscientific” poll on carriage horses

To the editor:

I wouldn’t put too much stock in an unscientific online poll that accompanies a distressing story about a very rare carriage mishap.

Here in New York City, anti-carriage horse extremists routinely touted such polls as “proof” that 75 percent of NYC residents supported a carriage ban. Then in January 2014, Quinnipiac conducted a scientific poll, and discovered that in fact, by a margin of 3 to 1, New Yorkers support the carriage industry. That number hasn’t changed in the past year and a half over a half dozen polls. I strongly suspect that in reality the average Charlestonian loves their carriage horses and wants them to stay. They also know that the carriage horses there are very well cared for and heavily regulated.

— Christina Hansen, spokesperson, NYC carriage industry, Teamsters Local 553, Manhattan, N.Y.

Rant.  Rave.  Tell us what you really think.  If you have an opinion on something we’ve offered or on a subject related to the Lowcountry, please send your letters of 150 words or less to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com. Our feedback policy.

July 27+: Comedy to back-to-school

(NEW) Taming of the Shrew: Thursdays through Sundays through Aug. 16, Threshold Repertory Theatre, 84 1/2 Society Street, Charleston. The group’s fourth annual Summer Shakespeare Workshop offers the timely comedy set in the American Southeast on the brink of World War II. Tickets are $25 for adults; $15 for students. More info.

(NEW) Tax free weekend: Aug. 7 to Aug. 9, across the state. Parents with school supplies to buy — and people who want things like computers, sheets, towels and lots of other stuff — can save money during the state’s sales tax holiday. Learn what’s exempt from the state’s 6 percent sales tax.

Back to School Bash and Basketball Showcase: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Aug. 8, Schroder Community Center, Hollywood. Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission and The Parklands Foundation will host the free event for families with kids up to grade 12 who are going back to school. Lots of activities. More: 843.795.4386.

(NEW) Begin With Books Pop Up: Noon to 4 p.m., Aug. 8, Coast Brewing, 1250 Second Street, North Charleston. Join the nonprofit for food and fun as it seeks to raise money to help provide kids with books. More: BeginWithBooks.org

Natural history exhibit: Through Aug. 10, 2015. “From Land to Sea: 35 Million Years of Whale Evolution” will be featured in The Charleston Museum’s lobby gallery with displays of whale fossils from millions of years ago. There’s limited availability for an overview by Natural History Curator Matthew Gibson on opening night. Learn more. 

Back to School Bash: 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Aug. 13, Haut Gap Middle School, Johns Island. Parents and children returning to school can meet county parks and recreation staff at this event to get ready for school. Lots of activities. More: 843.795.4386.

Shaking a leg. The Folly Beach Pier is set to have more Moonlight Mixers throughout the summer starting at 7 p.m. A DJ will spin great old tunes to keep your feet moving. Dates are Aug. 21 and Sept. 18. In Mount Pleasant, the Shaggin’ on the Cooper series will be held Aug. 15 and Sept. 12. Click here for more.

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. Walks also are conducted on James Island and Folly Beach. Learn more online.

If you have an event to list on our calendar, please send it to editor@charlestoncurrents.com for consideration.  The calendar is updated weekly on Mondays.

Riding piggyback?

Hanahan photographer Chuck Boyd was driving in Raleigh for a Rolling Stones concert when he did a double take after he saw what looked like a small car riding piggyback on top of a van. “Moments later, I saw it really was a transport truck hauling a load of cars to a dealership,” he wrote. “I caught it at just the right angle to create a silly illusion.”

Last week’s Mystery Photo got lots of answers, most of them correctly identifying the pink flowers as those going with tobacco plants. In this case, the photo was taken in a tobacco field near Sniders in rural Colleton County. Hats off to April Gordon of Mount Pleasant for winning a pair of tickets to Magnolia Plantation. Others who guessed correctly were: Kimberly LeGere of North Charleston, Deborah Getter of Johns Island, Chris Brooks of Mount Pleasant, Susan Breslin of Folly Beach, Elizabeth Stevens of Mobile, Ala., and Hank Simon and Bruce Jayne, both of Charleston,

• Have a mystery photo? If you have a picture with which you’d like to stump our readers, send it along to editor@charlestoncurrents.com.

Charleston single house

S.C. Encyclopedia | The single house is the building form most closely associated with eighteenth-century Charleston architecture. It first appeared in the early eighteenth century and emerged as a favored residential form after the fire of 1740. The typical single house stands two or more stories in height and is built on a rectangular plan with its narrow end facing the street. Each floor has two rooms with a central stair-hall in between. Piazzas occupy the long wall facing the inside of the lot, and the chimneys are located on the opposite wall, in the rear of the house.

43 Legare St., Charleston, S.C. Library of Congress image, taken sometime after 1933. More.

Architectural historians have devoted considerable study to the origins of the single house. The most common explanation holds that the form developed as a response to the hot and humid Lowcountry summers and the scarcity of space in the urban environment. The tall, slender profile allowed breezes to circulate freely across the broad piazzas and through the main rooms.

The orientation of the house removed it from direct engagement with the public street, secluding the occupants from the life of the city. In the words of the architectural historian Kenneth Severens, “As a free-standing house communicating more with a side garden than with the street, the single house offered a masterful but still vernacular solution to the residential problems of achieving comfort, privacy, and propriety.”

Gene Waddell, however, has suggested that fire protection was a more important consideration. Observing that the single house became popular after the fire that swept through the waterfront district in 1740, Waddell has argued that its freestanding form and nearly solid rear wall represented a departure from the paired dwellings and row houses of the colonial era and reflected a desire for increased fire protection in a dense urban environment.

Another interpretation has been offered by Bernard Herman, who argued that the social and symbolic stature of the single house and the dependencies found in the rear—slave quarters, carriage houses, and outbuildings—effectively made it the urban equivalent of the plantation “big house.” The organization of the lot placed formal social spaces nearest the street and utilitarian activities in the rear, while the house offered a vantage point for the occupants to keep watch over their domestic slaves and access in and out of the lot. Viewed in this context, the development of the single house reflected Charleston’s role as the gateway between the world of Atlantic mercantilism and the Lowcountry plantation landscape.

The single house is widely recognized as one of the most distinctive vernacular forms in the South. Numerous examples remain in the historic core of the city. Among those that illustrate the evolution of the form are the Charles Elliott House at 43 Legare Street (ca. 1759; altered in 1911); 90 and 94 Church Street (ca. 1760–1765); the Robert Pringle House at 70 Tradd Street (ca. 1774); the Simmons-Edwards House at 14 Legare Street (ca. 1800); and the Timothy Ford House at 54 Meeting Street (ca. 1800–1806).

– Excerpted from the entry by Daniel J. Vivian. To read more about this or 2,000 other entries about South Carolina, check out The South Carolina Encyclopedia by USC Press. (Information used by permission.)

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