SCIWAY News, No. 6 – October 1997

In this Issue

• First SCIway Poll
• New South Carolina Web Sites
• Technology Shines in Horry County Schools
• SCIway Adds South Carolina Sports Channel
• Rudolph Report: The Mystery Continues
• Upcoming Festivals, Shows, Events
• Thank You of the Month
• SCIway Poll Reminder

First SCIway Poll

Since the first issue of SCIWAY News was mailed in March of this year, the number of people who receive this monthly newsletter has grown to more than 12,000. Most of us live in South Carolina, and those who don't either work here, have lived here in the past, or are considering moving here.

SCIWAY News' wide circulation plus the ease and low cost of Internet mail provide us an opportunity to do something interesting that very few of us could afford to do individually: conduct statewide surveys or opinion polls. Assuming that a significant number of you want to participate in these "SCIway Polls," we will launch no more than three or four a year (so they won't get old) . . . limit each to one simple question (so they won't take long to answer) . . . and restrict responses to a word or sentence (so they won't take too long to count!).

The best part of this (I think) is that you get to suggest the questions. Please send your ideas to SCIway.News@SCIway.net.

Are SCIWAY News readers a representative sample of South Carolina's population? Probably not. Like Internet users in general, they likely have more education and higher incomes.

Are SCIWAY News readers geographically representative of South Carolinians? This is a more interesting question, and it leads us to our first SCIway Poll question: WHICH SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTY DO YOU LIVE IN?

If you would like to take part in this survey, just reply to this message and include the name of the COUNTY you live in. (If you live outside South Carolina, we would appreciate your telling us which state or country you live in.)

In addition, any South Carolinian who wants to subscribe to SCIWAY News can participate in this survey by sending the name of the COUNTY he or she lives in to SCIway.News@SCIway.net.

The results of this SCIway Poll will be presented in the November issue of SCIWAY News in two forms: the raw number of responses received from each of South Carolina's 46 counties . . . and the number of responses per 10,000 county residents. The second set of figures will show us which areas of the state are under-represented and over-represented among SCIway Poll respondents.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Individual SCIway Poll responses will not be shared with anyone.

Top of SCIWAY News No. 6

New South Carolina Web Sites

MUSC Health Chester Medical Center

https://muschealth.org/locations/chester-medical-center

Columbia Choral Society

http://www.columbiachoralsociety.org

Darlington County Library

http://darlington-lib.org

Laurens County Health Care System

http://www.lchcs.org - site no longer exists

Marlboro County

http://marlborocounty.sc.gov/

Pee Dee Pride Hockey Team - Florence

http://www.peedeepride.com/ - site no longer exists

Ronald McDonald House - Columbia

http://www.ronaldhousecolumbia.org

South Carolina Democratic Party

http://www.scdp.org

South Carolina Department of Probation, Pardon and Parole Services

http://www.dppps.sc.gov

South Carolina Department of Public Safety

http://www.state.sc.us/ppp

South Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles - DMV

http://www.state.sc.us/dps/dmv

South Carolina Historical Maps, Plats - by SC Historical Society

https://www.sciway.net/hist/maps/

Upchuck.com (serious satire strikes Charleston)

http://www.upchuck.com/ - site no longer exists

Upper Savannah AHEC Medical Library - Greenwood

http://www.ais-gwd.com/~usahec/libframe.htm - site no longer exists

WJWJ Television, Channel 16 - Beaufort

http://www.scetv.org/

Top of SCIWAY News No. 6

Technology Shines in Horry County Schools

Last fall I attended a college computer conference in Myrtle Beach. One of the speakers was Richard Nadeau, Director of Technology for Horry County Schools (http://www.horrycountyschools.net). As he described Horry County's recent advances in technology and the ways in which the district was integrating computers, networks, and multimedia into its instructional programs, I was struck by this irony: For many Horry County high school graduates, college is going to be a technological step backwards!

More recently, I traveled to Conway to visit with Richard and see some of Horry County's facilities. Here's what I learned:

• Horry County, one of the fastest growing school districts in America, has invested more than $9 million in technology in the past three years.
• All of the district's 41 schools have high speed (T1) connections to the Internet, cable TV connections, and within-school computer and television networks.
• Virtually all of the district's 1,500+ classrooms have at least one networked PC.
• A team of seven rotating "technology teachers" (on loan from their normal classroom responsibilities) provides computer support for district schools. Each of these teachers helps five or six schools develop and implement technology plans. They also teach computer training classes and help faculty and staff troubleshoot problems (see http://www.horrycountyschools.net/pages/Horry_County_Schools/3352373296737269426/Technology).
• Horry County schools have benefitted greatly from a continuing part- nership with Horry Telephone Cooperative (http://htcinc.net/). HTC has donated expensive networking equipment and provided advanced communications services early and at an attractive price.

According to the Educational Testing Service (which administers the SAT), South Carolina ranks fourth in the US and first in the South in providing its public schools Internet access - something we should all be proud of. But the extent to which state schools and school districts are actually using these connections varies greatly. Horry County is an impressive example of what can be done. As in business, it takes both money and leadership.

Top of SCIWAY News No. 6

SCIway Adds South Carolina Sports Channel

If you're a sports fan, we think you're going to like SCIWAY's new sports section (https://www.sciway.net/sports/). It includes more than 70 links to South Carolina high school, college, and professional sports Web pages. But if we've missed one of your favorites, please send its address to SCIway.News@SCIway.net.

Top of SCIWAY News No. 6

Rudolph Report: The Mystery Continues

Last month we asked if anyone knew who was planting red dots on the noses of deer-crossing-sign deer along South Carolina's roadways. Since then, we've received several reports of red-nosed deer within a large triangle that extends from the Greenville-Spartanburg area east to Myrtle Beach and Charleston. We also received a tongue-in-cheek offer to put up a Web page that would plot Rudolph sightings on a state map.

But . . . no one admitted to being the deer decorator or offered any promising leads as to his or her identity. However, Mike Helfert of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources was willing to narrow the field slightly:

It's probably too frivolous to be a governmental activity, and I doubt that the deer are doing it. Everyone else is suspect.

"Who is putting red dots on South Carolina's deer-crossing signs?" we asked.

Minutes later we received this terse e-mail response: "Who nose?"

Top of SCIWAY News No. 6

Upcoming Festivals, Shows, Events

For the latest information on upcoming South Carolina events, please see https://www.sciway.net/calendar.html.

WorldFest - Charleston, Nov 1-9 (Please note new dates and URL.)

Sumter Business Expo - Sumter County Exhibition Center - Nov 6-8

World Finals Rodeo - North Charleston, Nov 11-15

Colonial Cup Race - Camden, Nov 16

Lander University Original One - Act Play Contest - Deadline: Nov 21

British Car Club Fall Flashback Rally - Charleston, Nov 23

Santa Train Rides, SC Railroad Museum - Winnsboro, Nov 29-30, Dec 6

Top of SCIWAY News No. 6

Thank You of the Month

This issue is fast approaching my four-page limit, but I want to use a few lines to thank the South Carolina Department of Transportation for planting several large beds of purple, pink, and white flowers (cosmos, I think) along I-26 between Columbia and Clinton. When I passed that way earlier this month, they were really beautiful.

Top of SCIWAY News No. 6

SCIway Poll Reminder

If you plan to participate in our first SCIway Poll, please send us the name of the COUNTY you live in - either by replying to this message or by sending a message to SCIway.News@SCIway.net. Vote early! But not often. Only the first vote from duplicate e-mail addresses will be counted.

Top of SCIWAY News No. 6

To subscribe to SCIWAY News, send a one-word message that says "subscribe" to news@sciway.net. To unsubscribe, send an "unsubscribe" message to this same address. If your e-mail address changes, please let us know soon.

News and new Web site addresses should also be sent to news@sciway.net.

SCIway, pronounced "sky-way," is an acronym for South Carolina Information Highway.