South Carolina Focus

Virtual reality and simulation tools are helping people in the Midlands "exercise their empathy muscle." Richland Library has a mobile empthy lab that travels to its various branches, giving customers the chance to "try on" someone else's life and see things from a new perspective. In November, the My Life Experience Empathy Lab immersed customers into the life of someone who lost their job, was evicted and eventually became homeless. This particular simulation was developed Standford University

A breed of dog that came to North America with man thousands of years ago over the Bering land bridge and was overlooked in the South for many years has recently been saved from extinction with the help of a pair of Aiken breeders. What is now called the Carolina dog, a common "yaller dog" of the South, was rediscovered by University of Georgia professor I. Lehr Brisbin in the 1990s and introduced to Billy Benton and Jane Gunnell, who became fascinated with the largely-unnoticed dogs - most of

Ask Wynton Marsalis to name his favorite holiday song and he might tell you, “The Christmas Song” by Mel Torme. Then he’ll likely explain it’s personal. When Marsalis first moved to New York, he played in a show with Torme. He was 18 years-old. “The contractor thought I was only a classical trumpet player,” Marsalis recalled. “He said this boy can’t play. I don’t know why he’s playing this gig, and Mel heard me play and said, this boy can play. Leave him alone.” Marsalis chuckles as he tells the

The question of who will pay for the failed V.C. Summer nuclear reactor project is now in the hands of the seven-member S.C. Public Service Commission, the state’s official utility rate setting authority. Last week, the PSC completed three weeks of contentious hearings on how much South Carolina Electric and Gas Co. should be allowed to charge its over 700,000 electric ratepayers for the abandoned reactors. They’ve already paid in over $2 Billion. Ever since the $ 9 Billion nuclear reactor

You may say to- MAY-toe and I may say to-MAH-toe, but the 1930s pop song "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" demonstrates playfully that there are often various ways to pronounce certain words. Even numbers are subject to differences of opinion. Take this year, 2018. Some people say "two-thousand-eighteen" while others say "twenty-eighteen." Is there a correct way to pronounce the year? USC journalism professor Doug Fisher said it often depends on the region or dialect of the speaker. "What you're

A South Carolina resident figures in the story of a Vietnam veteran's search for the man who saved his life when PBS and SCETV begin the second season of We'll Meet Again, hosted by Ann Curry, Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. The program focuses on reunions of people whose lives have crossed at pivotal times. The searcher is Dave Johnson, whose helicopter was shot down in Cambodia during the war. Surrounded and under heavy fire, Johnson and five others were rescued by another helicopter crew led by

Nov. 11 is Veteran's Day, which was once known as Armistice Day. It's also the 100th anniversary of the original Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 1918, on which ended World War I, then known as "the Great War," or - with hope, but sadly, not truly - "The War to End All Wars." Sparked by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary by Serbian nationalists in June 1914, the war quickly grew into a worldwide conflagration that no one would have predicted, as Russia, France, and England

Halloween brings out the ghoul and monster in both kids and adults, and a perennial favorite is Mary Shelley's ground-breaking character, Frankenstein. Acknowledged as the first science fiction novel, Frankenstein has hit another milestone this year: first published in 1818, it turns 200, and has enjoyed popularity virtually from the moment of its first printing. University of South Carolina English professor and Shelley expert Paula Feldman said the story speaks to the mysterious fears of our

It’s been a little more a than year since the Citadel started its Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Center. One of the goals is to help the once all-male military college in Charleston acknowledge its history in perpetrating racism and continue to evolve into a more inclusive community. The school is now holding what it calls CitListen sessions to encourage change through conversation. “They’re designed to get people to interact with each other through personal story telling, deep

A conference thousands of miles away in California has inspired an early childhood education public awareness campaign in Florence. That’s where district one teachers heard a woman from Denmark talk about serving children’s needs so they are better able to learn and grow. The speaker was author and early childhood education expert Helle Heckmann. “I’m a global traveler protecting childhood,” Helle says. She’s been teaching kindergarten for nearly 33 years at the Waldorf School in Copenhagen,