I'm glad our offer of privatization as an option for all 4-year state-supported colleges and universities in South Carolina has stirred the pot a bit.

We simply have to become more competitive as a state if we're going to be successful in creating jobs, bringing capital investment and raising income levels here in South Carolina.

Small businesses are the backbone of job creation in South Carolina, but we're not maximizing our potential when we've got what's effectively the highest income tax rate in the Southeast holding us back.

It's the only game in town in terms of classifying colleges and universities, just because everybody uses it.

Cabrini has about the same percentage of smokers on campus as do most colleges and universities. This population is actually in the minority of the overall population, and with effective smoking cessation programs available for smokers, the number will hopefully continue to decrease.

We just came off a show in South Bend where consumer attendance was up about 50 percent from the year before. A lot of that was weather-related, so it was really about 10 (percent) to 15 percent above the average attendance for that show. Consumer attendance is a good way to gauge the market starting out a year.