Columbia, ABC Fixed A Problem

In my post Columbia, We Have A Problem on March 19, 2013, I did like we bloggers do when we can't get information or answers via regular channels: we take to our respective soapboxen and start making a lot of noise on the internet. Like Jerry Orbach said to Patrick Swayze in the Emile Ardolino magnum opus Dirty Dancing, if I'm wrong I say I'm wrong. My loud-mouthiness aside, let me tell you what I know to be actual evidence-based reality: ABC Columbia listened. ABC Columbia stepped up, fixed a problem, and in doing so they made important information available again. Not to mention they warmed my cold and blackened heart.

Fussbudgets, I am so happy to report to you that the previously identified problem has been resolved. ABC's interview with Emma Davidson of Tell Them and New Morning Foundation has been re-posted on YouTube (thus, the direct url has changed), and WOLO updated all of their various social media channels to reflect it:

ABC Columbia on Facebook
Good Morning Columbia on Facebook
@abc_columbia on Twitter

Watch the interview:

Thank you, ABC. You did a good thing today.

Screenshots:
YouTube: http://flic.kr/p/e53tHJ
ABC Columbia on Facebook: http://flic.kr/p/e53rx1
Good Morning Columbia on Facebook: http://flic.kr/p/e53rxh
@abc_columbia on Twitter: http://flic.kr/p/e53rDN

Columbia, We Have A Problem

About a month ago, my friend Emma sat for an interview with our local ABC affiliate, WOLO, for their "Corner of Main and Gervais" segment. Emma is Manager of Strategic Mobilization at New Morning Foundation, and she was there to discuss the billboards which Tell Them - a program of the New Morning Foundation - had scattered throughout town, as well as the forum to be held that night at Tapp's Art Center. The interview was broadcast and added to their youtube channel, like the rest of what they do. Lots of us involved with Tell Them shared the interview, and really appreciated ABC's awesomeness in broadcasting Emma's righteous baddassery.

Cool, right? Not so much. Read on:

I shared the video link on 2/21/13, its original air date. Today I went back to re-watch it, and found it was gone. Then, I attempted to share the link again, and found that while the video is "unavailable", its associated information still shows up. Moreover, I've since learned that the interview was taken down the very next day without explanation, and that several calls to the station to ask why have not been returned. My tweet to @abc_columbia on the topic has yet to be answered, but that tweet is only about 4 hours old as of this writing.

This might not sound like a problem to you, but it sure sounds like one to me. Tell Them is an important nonpartisan, mainstream voice of reason with more than 10,000 members across the state of South Carolina. Their billboard campaign and the message it is sending is a call to standardize reproductive health care in our state and ensure that those teaching the subject are themselves properly educated. So what's with hiding that information after the broadcast fact? At best it's poor Internet practice to delete news they've already shared, and at worst it's actively dishonest.

I would like an answer. Wouldn't you?

Screenshot of my original share and reshare attempt: http://flic.kr/p/e4wUN3
Screenshot of Emma's Interview YouTube URL as of 3/19: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rtcITxF15s
Screenshot of ABC Columbia's tweet: http://flic.kr/p/e4uh2x
Screenshot of ABC Columbia's YouTube channel, where February 21, 2013 no longer seems to have happened: http://flic.kr/p/e4A62L

Why, Hobby Lobby, Why?

Source: Tell Them!

As you might have noticed by now, sometimes I write things, and these things are occasionally for contribution to other websites or organizations.

Here's one I wrote recently for a South Carolina based non-profit, my former office neighbors and buddies over at Tell Them! Presently the post shows over 450 combined visible shares, which I believe makes it their second most popular blog post (to date). I guess we hit a nerve?

Without further rambles: please enjoy my ranting and raving over at the Tell Them! blog in a guest post entitled Why, Hobby Lobby Why?!: Experiencing the Five Stages of Hobby Lobby Grief.

SC Governor Nikki Haley Contradicts Science, Just Because

"South Carolina's major exports are peaches, shrimp, and fodder for late night comedians." - Susanna King

Update 4/9/12: This post was featured as a guest article for Tell Them on April 4, 2012. Tell Them is a program of the New Morning Foundation, a statewide, reproductive health-focused foundation based in Columbia, South Carolina. In addition to making grants to improve reproductive health education and clinical access for citizens under age 30, the Foundation is committed to serving as a leading advocate for improving the state’s sexual health policies.

If there's one thing I never could stand, it's South Carolina politics. The Daily Show's Jon Stewart calls South Carolina "America's whoopie cushion", a nod to the countless jokes told about the regularly-occurring gaffes in the SC political arena. As a resident of the "famously hot" state of South Carolina for over 15 years now, most of the time I just roll my eyes and chuckle along with the rest of the country (world?), when SC shows up on the blooper reel.

But then this happened:

Dang it, Governor Haley! This is why we can't have nice things!

That is the governor of the state of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, appearing on ABC's The View on Tuesday April 03, 2012. I almost can't believe that anybody growing up female could bring herself to say such a thing without genuine fear of sprouting a Pinocchio nose and/or her pants bursting into flames on national television. Women do indeed care about contraception, and we care a great deal.

Governor Haley, like a lot of women, is an educated and successful person. She holds a B.A. in Accounting from Clemson University, and among numerous accomplishments on her way to becoming governor, she spent six years in SC House of Representatives.

Would Governor Haley have been able to meet her goals without access to, or use of, contraceptives? Anecdotally, one might say 'sure, maybe so'. Statistically, however, it's much more likely that the answer would be 'probably not'.

Here's why:

According to the famous 2002 paper "The Power of the Pill", the earlier a woman has access to contraceptives, the more likely she is to complete higher education and career goals . The authors state "The most persuasive evidence for a role of the pill is that its initial diffusion among single women coincided with, and is analytically related to, the increase in the age at first marriage and the increase in women in professional degree programs."

Forbes goes so far as to state that we women have "The Pill to thank for 30%" of our paychecks, in their report on a recently-released study of over 4000 women by researchers at University of Michigan.

So here I am, stating for the record: I care. If you live in South Carolina and you care, too, you can use this handy email form courtesy of Tell Them! to tell Governor Haley that you DO care about contraception, and that you do NOT support legislation which restricts your access to it. If you live outside of South Carolina, well, enjoy the current ridiculousness, and be glad it isn't you. Residents of Arizona, of course, exempt.

Internet Nation, I'll leave you with this quote, courtesy of my favorite astrophysicist: “The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.” Neil deGrasse Tyson