Columns

Editor’s note: Former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley, now President Trump’s representative at the U.N., gave a commencement address and received an honorary doctorate Thursday at Clemson University. She is a 1994 graduate of the school. Here are excerpts of her speech.

It’s a great day at Clemson University! And it’s a great day in South Carolina!
Congratulations to the College of Business and the College of Education Class of 2018. And thank you for this amazing honor.

The National Freedom of Information Coalition (NFOIC) has contacted Google about Gmail’s new “self-destructing” email feature, which could allow government employees to delete public records subject to federal and state open government and freedom of information laws.

In an open letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, NFOIC board President Mal Leary cited that most states have clear record-retention laws aimed at making sure public records, electronic and otherwise, such as official correspondence between public officials, are secured and maintained.

In one of my darkest moments, I considered entering the content-writing market.
I even reached out to a company and they offered me an assignment. They said 1,500 words in 48 hours on a topic I knew nothing about, complete with multiple interviews over the weekend. I told them no.
One, there was simply no way I could line up all the interviews. Two, I’m an extremely fast writer, but two days for a 1,500-word assignment is insane.

For years, S.C. officials have repeatedly tried – and failed – to convince the federal government to allow jamming of signals in prisons from contraband cell phones routinely used by inmates.
But officials haven’t worked nearly as hard to try to persuade wireless carriers to voluntarily block their own signals in prisons, which, according to corrections officials, the companies are permitted to do. It is against federal law for states or local governments to do it.