Charleston, SC - Football smackdown

Football smackdown
Are you ready for some football? The Citadel Bulldogs and the Charleston Southern Buccaneers take to the field at 2 p.m. Saturday for the Chucktown Throwdown. The Citadel will celebrate 100 years of football as it welcomes CSU to the Johnson Hagood Stadium. Last year, the Bucs defeated the Bulldogs for the first time in the series history. The first recorded Citadel football game was in 1905 against Porter Military Academy. Both teams ended the game scoreless. However, The Citadel came back to defeat Porter Military in their next two match-ups, and finished the season with a 2-3-1 record. For more details, check out CSU Sports or The Citadel Sports websites.

as provided by Charleston Regional Business Journal

Charleston, state colleges rank high in national report

Two local and state higher-education institutions have grabbed first-place rankings in the U.S. America's Best Colleges 2008 report, and regional and state schools also fared well in a variety of categories.

The Citadel topped the charts in the report as the best-valued institution among Southern colleges, moving up one spot from last year's second place in this category. And the University of South Carolina's undergraduate program in international business is again the best in the country for the 12th year in a row, according to the report.

The magazine report ranked The Citadel second among public institutions in the South, moving it up from third in line, and placed it fifth among public and private institutions that award master's degrees. The college had ranked seventh in this category last year.

This is one heck of an education for what (students) are charged, said retired Army Col. Curt Holland, vice president for finance and business affairs at The Citadel.

The College of Charleston made the report's Top 10 list, moving from last year's 11th place to eighth in this year's rankings among public universities that award master's degrees. It ranked third among public Southern universities that award master's degrees, up from last year's fourth place.

Clemson also had a good showing, moving up three places from last year to 27th among the nation's doctoral granting institutions. There are 164 institutions in this category.

I'm very excited about the number 27, but I'm more encouraged by what's behind that number, Clemson President James Barker said in a statement, noting recent improvements around the campus, such as smaller class sizes, lower student-to-faculty ratios and strong retention and graduation rates, which may have led to the more favorable rating.

The University of South Carolina held its ground among public universities nationwide, ranking 54th overall again this year. The University of South Carolina Aiken ranked second among public baccalaureate colleges in the South and the University of South Carolina Upstate ranked fourth.

The report was posted online today and hits newsstands Monday.

The rankings are based on a number of objective and subjective statistical measurements, from student-to-faculty ratios to peer evaluations to reputation.

While some schools bemoan the rankings because they take into account the evaluations of peer administrators who may not understand the institution, South Carolina's colleges were parading the report around on Friday, highlighting areas where they shone.

This increase in our ranking is a reflection on our faculty and staff's passion for quality education, College of Charleston Provost Elise Jorgens wrote. While we have known for some time the many strengths of the College of Charleston, it is gratifying to see that affirmed once again with this ranking.

That's because, despite the criticisms it often receives, the annual U.S. News and World Report college report is a common go-to guide for parents and students shopping for a school. Administrators understand the importance of making the grade in the report, which in effect serves as an advertising tool.

If you're a parent with the tough choice of deciding where to send your child, you're looking for benchmarks. It's very difficult for a parent to go out and examine every college out there, said The Citadel's Holland. It's not like the car in your driveway where you can go out, open the hood and say, Well, that's a solid engine in there.

as provided by Charleston Regional Business Journal

Travel + Leisure lists Charleston in "World's Best" list

Charleston again has been honored as one of the “Top Cities in the United States & Canada," according to Travel and Leisure  magazine's 10th annual World's Best Poll.

Charleston joins New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Santa Fe, Quebec City, Vancouver, Montreal, Victoria and Seattle on the magazine's list of 2007's 10 best destinations in the United States and Canada.

“Charleston's consistent ranking as a top 10 destination is a tribute to the quality and enduring appeal of the destination," stated Terri Haack, chairman of the Charleston Area Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We are honored to have been so highly ranked again this year, and will work to continue being worthy of this recognition."

Charleston area hotels also ranked highly again in this year's poll of the “Top 100 Hotels in the Continental United States and Canada." Woodlands Resort & Inn ranked No. 2, The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort ranked No. 5, Planters Inn ranked No. 7 and the Wentworth Mansion No. 40. Woodlands, The Sanctuary and Planters Inn also earned the distinction of being named in the magazine's list of the “Top 100 Hotels in the World."

as provided by Charleston Regional Business Journal

5 things you may not know about LIGHTNING:

Lightning kills about 100 people in the United States each year, more than hurricanes or tornadoes do, and claimed the life of a South Carolina man this week.

Another 300 people are injured by lightning, often suffering long-term, debilitating symptoms, including brain damage.

It's not sissy to be afraid of lightning, it's just smart.

---------------------------------------------

No. 1

Survivors suffer: The electricity flowing within a lightning bolt can reach 200 million volts. Lightning kills about 100 people a year in the United States, but it inflicts severe, debilitating injuries on many more. It injures 1,000 people in the United States each year. Symptoms may not occur until a month after the strike and could include memory loss, sleep disturbance, chronic pain, dizziness and personality changes.

No. 2

The 30/30 rule: When you see lightning, count the time until you hear thunder. If it’s 30 seconds or less, the storm is close enough to be dangerous, so seek shelter, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. A house or fully enclosed structure is the best shelter. Stay away from telephones, appliances and plumbing. Don’t watch lightning from windows or doorways. A car with a metal roof and sides is your next-best protection. It’s the metal shell that protects you, not the rubber tires. After the last lightning flash, wait 30 minutes before leaving the shelter.

No. 3

We live in a hot zone: South Carolina ranks 13th in the nation in the number of lightning deaths. According to the National Lightning Safety Institute, 19 people died from lightning in the state from 1990 through 2003. You’re at highest risk in Florida, where lightning killed 126 people in the same time frame.

On Monday, a Hilton Head man was struck and killed by lightning as he walked along the beach. The last reported lightning fatality in the Charleston area was a year ago in July, when an 82-year-old man died after being struck while gardening outside his James Island home. The National Weather Service in Charleston recorded 214 cloud-to-ground lightning strikes within the hour he died.

No. 4

It’s unpredictable: In June, a Florida landscaper died after being struck by lightning outside a home even though it wasn’t raining. Although lightning always originates from a parent thunderstorm cloud, the storm can be more than 10 miles away from the lightning strike. Lightning from a seemingly clear sky is referred to as “a bolt from the blue.”

No. 5

Are iPods and cellphones safe? There have been several reports of people struck by lightning while talking on cellphones or listening to iPods, but these objects do not increase your chances of getting struck, according to the Lightning Research Center at the University of Florida. Lightning tends to strike taller objects. Most reported injuries are due to the fact the people struck by lightning were the tallest items around, not because of the portable electronic devices they were using. Still, it’s probably not a good idea to leave ear buds in your ears during a storm due to metal wires that conduct electricity, the center advises.

as provided by Charleston Post & Courier