Month: April 2005

Altered Perception

Post author By Mary Cashiola
Post date April 22, 2005

I recently said goodbye to a friend who’s moving to New York. I won’t get started about how all my friends keep moving away—that’s a different column—but I started thinking about all the ways that 1,100 miles are going to change her life.

There’s the cost-of-living difference, the crazy real-estate values, and how she’ll be selling her car and riding the subway or taking cabs. Cabs! I mean I see them drive by sometimes, but I’ve never actually seen anyone here in the process of hailing one.

But maybe it’s not as different as I think.

A few weeks ago, I said to her, “You’re going to have so much fun. There will be lots of single people for you to hang out with.”

You see my friend is in her late 20s—as, to be fair, am I—and she’s never been married. Assuming that the South is a little more matrimonially inclined, I thought New York would be a good place for her.

And then, on a lark, I checked the stats from the latest census data. According to those numbers, there are roughly 179,000 people in Memphis (over 15 years of age) who have never been married. In New York, there are 2.4 million people in the same category.

In the Big Apple, that’s 37 percent of the population. In the Bluff City, it’s 36 percent of the population. New York might be a bigger pond, but the number of fish in the sea is almost statistically equivalent. Which pretty much blows the theory that Southerners couple up sooner and more often.

In fact, it may be time to forget the idea that the nation is culturally divided along the Mason-Dixon Line. I have to confess: I didn’t go to the Southern Women’s Show a few weeks ago or maybe I’d understand what Richard Simmons and a doggie fashion show—two of the events—have to do with being a Southern woman. Maybe the entire idea of regionalism is more antiquated and less authentic than we think.

During the last presidential election, we divided states into “red” and “blue,” and in some ways, it worked out regionally. However The Stranger, a Seattle weekly, printed an interesting idea after the election: The most important factor politically wasn’t geography but urbanism. Red states typically are more rural, where voters tend to go for the GOP, while blue states have large urban centers with more Democratic voters. Think about the heartland state of Illinois—mostly red, but it’s blue at the top where Chicago sits, and it’s blue enough population-wise to color the entire state.

Have we become a nation culturally divided into country and city mice? People more comfortable around skyscrapers against those more comfortable under open sky? People who shop at Target versus those who shop at Wal-Mart?

In Dallas, a city of 1,188,580, the percent of people who have never been married is a little higher than 34 percent. In Chicago, that number is about 41 percent.

Compare those numbers to those of the sleepy burgs of Joliet, Illinois (population 106,221) or Abilene, Texas (115,930) or North Tonawanda, New York (33,262), or our own neighbor Fayette County (32,289). In these pastoral places, roughly 28 percent, 26 percent, and 24 percent of the population has never been married.

This is only an idea and certainly not a scientific analysis. I’ve simply picked places I’ve been or lived. But if marriage is a significant cultural institution, it’s worth noting how the percentage of “I do’s” differs.

Does the metropolitan marriage divide correlate to other cultural aspects? And where do the suburbs fit in? Could we split ourselves into “Urban cowboys,” “Burbers,” and “Bumpkins”? I don’t know but it would certainly explain the whole city-versus-county thing.

We Recommend We Recommend

thursday, 21

Post author By Tim Sampson
Post date April 21, 2005

I read with great interest this week an article in The Commercial Appeal about Americans not getting enough sleep and some of the reasons for this. See, I have suffered from sleep deprivation since the age of 3 because of, well, many reasons. When you sleep with a pet squirrel named Mister, as I did during my youth, it sometimes was difficult to get a lot of shut-eye, especially when pecans were involved in the wee hours of the morning. But the article pointed out some good measures to take in order to get the right amount of sleep. However, some of them pose some challenges. 1) Go to sleep and wake up at the same time each day, including the weekends. I would do that, but I can’t get the people who stop by my house in the middle of the night on the weekends to stop by at the same time. You know who you are. Get on a routine! As for weekdays, I do usually go to bed and wake up at the same time: 2 a.m., 3 a.m., 4 a.m., 5 a.m., and 6 a.m. For some reason, though, this doesn’t help. 2) Create a cool, dark, and quiet sleep environment. Right. I happen to live directly in the landing path of every airplane that flies in and out of Memphis. And I guess falling asleep each night with the light on and the television blaring doesn’t really help either. It does make for some strange dreams. Last night I dreamed that Pink came to my house with a new CD and her body painted with glitter and not covered by much else. Then a plane hit the top of a building downtown and someone turned The Pyramid into a big tattoo parlor. 3) Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine: Hmm, I don’t think going through withdrawal would bode well for getting a lot of sleep. Out of the question. 4) Sleep only in the bedroom: But there’s no blaring television in the bedroom and my cat sleeps in the middle of the bed and won’t budge. 5) Sleep until there is sunlight: I don’t allow sunlight into my house; it takes away from the cavelike atmosphere. 6) Don’t lie in bed awake: What? If you can’t lie in bed awake while trying to go to sleep, what are you supposed to do? This makes no sense. And who can’t lie in bed awake with all there is to worry about. Whether or not Martha Stewart is uncomfortable with that device around her ankle. Whether or not school board member Sara Lewis is going to lunge at someone during a meeting. Whether or not Miss Wheelchair is going to lose her crown because she can stand up from time to time. Whether or not national morning-news anchors are ever going to stop reporting stories about groups of babies being hacked to death by a madman with a butcher knife while the parents are forced to watch and then interview the parents and ask them, “How did that make you feel?,” and if the parents are ever going to just look at the anchor and say, “Wow! It was really, really great! I loved watching my babies get butchered to death! Thanks for asking such a pertinent question!” I could go on and on, but I’ll spare you, and suffice it to say, I need some sleep! In the meantime, here’s a quick look at some of what’s going on around town this week. Tonight, the New Moon Theatre Company’s Hamletmachine, Despoiled Shore Medeamaterial Landscape with Argonauts is at TheatreWorks. Tonight’s “In the Mix II” concert at The Dixon Gallery and Gardens features 2004 Grammy Showcase winner Will Graves & Soul and the current art exhibit by Robert Sturman. Today kicks off the Memphis International Film Festival 6. Today also kicks off the Black Writers Conference and Southern Film Festival at Marriott Hotel, Peabody Place Entertainment Center, and Muvico 22 Theaters and features lectures by authors, a youth symposium, and a festival of black-themed films. The annual Africa in April celebration gets underway today at Robert E. Church Park. Memphian Tammy Parker signs copies of What’s Left, a book of artwork by Alzheimer’s patients, tonight at Davis-Kidd. Joyce Cobb is the featured artist at tonight’s Sunset Atop the Madison party at the Madison Hotel. Just a few blocks away, there’s a Peabody Rooftop Party with Dr. Zarr’s Amazing Funk Monster. The Jumpin Chi-Chi’s are at the Blue Monkey Midtown tonight. And David Brookings is at Neil’s.

News News Feature

NO DEAL ON M.L.G.W. MERGER

Post author By Mary Cashiola
Post date April 20, 2005

Prior to Mayor Herenton’s budget presentation to the city council Tuesday afternoon, council members rejected a proposal to merge four departments of MLGW.

With a resounding no vote — minus an abstention by council member Janet Hooks — the personnel committee killed the plan, which utility administrators insisted would have saved the city more than $4 million.

The plan would have combined legal services, human resources, audit services, and information services.

In a follow-up to an initial presentation before the council, MLGW director Joseph Lee and city chief administrative officer Keith McGee sought support for the plan. Before the vote, skeptical council members repeatedly questioned the need for the merger, arguing that savings could be realized between the two entities with simple cooperation.

“There are ways to reduce expenses without the dog and pony show of a merger,” maintained council member E.C. Jones. “We can’t even get our own business with the city straight.”

Utility employees and retirees in attendance had bombarded Lee with questions before the start of the committee meeting. Most were inquiring about the status of their pension, retirement, and healthcare plans in light of the merger proposal and the possible sale of other utility divisions. “I’m going on the record to say that there has been no discussion of a sale of MLGW,” Lee responded.

Council member Carol Chumney, whose comments were not heard prior to the vote, told committee members during a break that the savings numbers presented by Lee and McGee would have been skewed had the measure passed. Plans were included in the merger to raise city salaries to those of MLGW equivalents. Chumney’s independent calculations suggested that qualifying the salaries would cost almost $500,000, a sum that would correspondingly diminish the $4 million projected savings.

In a post-budget presentation press conference, Mayor Herenton lamented the merger vote. “The MLGW veto shows a lack of understanding of economies of scale by the city council,” he said. The mayor left council members to mull over a proposed FY 06 budget that calls for a 54-cent property tax increase. Herenton cited a lack in revenue, a downtown in the economy, and 9-11 security requirements as reasons for the budget shortfall.

During his presentation to the council, the mayor had said that the city was still being affected by the 2003 windstorm, although much of the city’s costs were reimbursed with federal emergency management funds. During FY 05 budget presentations, the mayor and other division leaders cited the windstorm as a reason for budget increases, as well.

When asked by the Flyer about the true lingering costs of the storm, Mayor Herenton admitted that the storm accounted for an “infinitesimal” amount of the budget increase. “It all listed [in the budget proposal]. I just told you it was infinitesimal. Look in there; you’ll see.” The Flyer had looked, there and elsewhere; we will subsequently provide more details on windstorm damages and its portion of budget costs.

Politics Politics Beat Blog

POLITICS: Cohen Agonistes

Post author By Jackson Baker
Post date April 20, 2005

COHEN AGONISTES

State Senator Steve Cohen, who is never shy about taking on potentially contentious issues nor concerned, evidently, about whom he might offend in the process (including Governor Phil Bredesen, a frequent nemesis), has two new causes on the front burner — both involving local political figures.

One of them concerns the membership of the five-member Shelby County Election Commission — currently up for reappointment. As of late Tuesday, when he was notified of a ruling by the state Attorney GenEral’s office, Cohen seemed sure to have one in the win column. At issue was whether Maura Black Sullivan, one of the commission’s three Democratic members, is eligible to serve.

Sullivan is director of planning for the Shelby County school system, and there, says Cohen, is the rub. The senator says that state law clearly prohibits elected officials or governmental employees from serving on the election commission and maintains further that state Election Commission director Brook Thompson has backed him up in that contention.

The issue came up last week during a meeting of the Shelby County legislative delegation’s Democrats to vote on members of the county election commission. The delegation’s Republicans had already renominated members Nancye Hines and Richard Holden. When the Democrats convened, several names were put in nomination, including those of Sandra Richards and Taurus Bailey, both of whom are employed by Shelby County.

It was at that point that state Rep. Ulysses Jones, a friend of Richards, made a disclosure to his fellow legislators about the requirements of the up-until-then obscure provisions of the statute and concluded regretfully that Richard was ineligible to serve. Further debate among the delegation suggested that, in that case, Bailey was also governed by the prohibition.

After perusing a copy of the statute, Cohen then insisted that, in that case, Sullivan should have been ruled ineligible for her first term, to which she was elected in 2003, and was in any case precluded from serving a second two-year term. Sullivan and various defenders emphatically disagreed, citing ambiguously worded exceptions regarding teachers and other school-system officials. The outcome of the voting put her and the commission’s other Democratic holdovers, chairman O.C. Pleasant and Greg Duckett, ahead of the other contenders.

Matters did not rest there, however. Cohen pressed the case and on Tuesday got the formal opinion he had sought from the state Attorney General’s office: Not only is Sullivan ineligible, but the members of the state Election Commission, should they go on to appoint her anyhow, would be subject to penalties themselves.

On another front, Cohen is pushing a proposal to redefine state law so as to extend pensions and other member benefits only to those legislators who have been elected to office. Cohen says his measure to that effect has won the approval of the Senate’s State and Local Government committee, which he chairs, but has been bottled up in the House State and Local Government committee, chaired by Rep. Jones.

Interim state senator Sidney Chism, who earlier this year was chosen by the Shelby County Commission to succeed former Senator Roscoe Dixon, now an aide to Wharton, says the measure is aimed at him. “I don’t know why he’s singled me out. I haven’t actively sought a pension or any benefits from being a legislator. I’m just here to serve,” says Chism.

Cohen — who, along with several other legislators, had opposed Chism’s appointment — insists that his bill merely concerns issues of equity, as does his position regarding the reappointment of Sullivan, whose husband Jeff Sullivan unsuccessfully opposed state Rep. Beverly Marrero in a special House election for District 89 last year. In that race, Cohen maintained that Jeff Sullivan did not live in the district and sought, at one point, to have felony charges brought against the candidate.

Homage in Bartlett

The overflow turnout at last Sunday’s funeral services in Memphis Funeral Home on Germantown Parkway for Velda ‘Louise’ Bodiford Byrd, widow of Madison Arthur Byrd, was testament not only to the graces of the late Mrs. Byrd, who died last week at the age of 89, but a tribute as well to the extended Byrd family — one with profound influence in Shelby County, through the family-owned Bank of Bartlett and through the political and community activities of various family members.

Two of the several successful children of Louise and Madison Byrd, Harold Byrd and Dan Byrd, had served as members of the state House of Representatives, representing Bartlett as Democrats — no small accomplishment, given what in recent years has been the overwhelming domination of that sprawling community by the Republican Party. Harold Byrd also launched campaigns for Congress and for Shelby County mayor. Brother Bob Byrd served as a member of the state Board of Education, and various other family members have pulled their oar in a variety of causes — notably in advancement of the University of Memphis.

Today’s Bartlett, a booming, bustling suburb, would be unimaginable without the efforts of the Byrds and the family bank. And it remains to be seen whether the political community has seen the last run by a family member.

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News The Fly-By

WAGONS EAST!

Post author By Chris Davis
Post date April 20, 2005

From a blog entry by Peggy Phillip, news director for WMC TV-5: “I hear WREG is now interviewing reporter candidates for their Germantown `bureau.’ It will be housed in the strip mall at Poplar and Forest Hill-Irene along with the Germantown Appeal. Hopefully the TV stories will be just as frivolous and non-appealing as the G-town Appeal is now.”

In a related story WREG weatherman Tim Simpson has a new weblog which, according to promotions, is, “full of pictures and [Tim’s] own personal stories about the weather.” WREG also pre-empted 60 Minutes II”s interview with the Italian journalist and former hostage, Giuliana Sgrena, who was shot by U.S. soldiers in Iraq to run a pre-recorded infomercial for St. Jude starring Marlo Thomas.

“That Girl” probably plays better in the suburbs anyway. — Chris Davis

Plante: How It Looks

News News Feature

LETTER FROM MEMPHIS

Post author By Kenneth Neill
Post date April 19, 2005

(YET ANOTHER) OPEN LETTER TO HAROLD FORD JR.

Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act – Vote Passed (302-126, 7 Not Voting)
The House gave final approval to this bill intended to make it harder for people who declare bankruptcy to get out of paying their debts.

Rep. Harold Ford Jr. voted YES……send e-mail or see bio

Congressman, I could actually understand, at least at some level, your decision to vote in favor of this heinous measure, IF you had been able to attach an amendment that exempted from its draconian provisions the 45% of bankruptcy filers who are in that position as a result of medical catastrophe.

But alas, no such amendment. So I’m afraid that makes your YES vote on this bill equally heinous to the Bush Administration’s “reform” itself….

Given your affirmative vote on bankruptcy “reform,” as well as your recent YES vote in support of what I like to call the Terri Schiavo Judicial Interference Act, your Congressional voting pattern suggests you are making a big mistake by remaining in the Democratic Party. Surely, given your interest in winning a Tennessee Senate seat in 2006, your chances of success would appear to be much enhanced if you joined with your Republican colleagues on a more permanent basis.

In the meantime, I think I can speak plainly for thousands of your Ninth Congressional District constituents: with your affirmative votes on these two bills, you have brought shame to the Democratic Party in Memphis, and to the majority of your constituents who, I suspect, wish you would have voted otherwise on each of these congressional travesties.

In case you may have missed the story, I am attaching a link to an April 15th NYTimes article on the subject of the fiendishly-titled Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act; I have taken the liberty of including in this letter two paragraphs (below) from that particular NYT piece. Specifically, I call your attention to the Harvard University study that suggests that roughly half of all bankruptcies today are the result of “heavy medical costs.”

This information would seem to be of extreme relevance to you and your Ninth District constituents. I can only hope that many others besides myself voice their opinion to you about your appalling vote on this matter.

Sincerely,

Kenneth Neill

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/041505Y.shtml

“The legislation had been opposed by many bankruptcy law professors and judges who testified in recent months that it was unnecessary and would create more problems than it would solve. They said that it would impose new obstacles on many middle-income families seeking desperately needed protection from creditors, and that it would take far longer for those families to start over after suffering serious illnesses, unemployment and other calamities.
“In a letter to Congress two months ago, 104 bankruptcy law professors predicted that ‘the deepest hardship’ would ‘be felt in the heartland,’ where the filing rates are highest: Utah, Tennessee, Georgia, Nevada, Indiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Ohio, Mississippi and Idaho. A study conducted by legal and medical specialists at Harvard University of 1,771 personal bankruptcy filers in five federal courts found that about half were forced into bankruptcy because of heavy medical costs.”

Kenneth Neill is publisher of The Flyer.

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News The Fly-By

HEADLINE OF THE WEEK

Post author By Chris Davis
Post date April 19, 2005

As if the impact of computer technology on our daily lives weren’t extraordinary enough, the CA provides us with this: “Information about Duck Calls just a button push away.” At last! — Chris Davis

Plante: How It Looks

Sports Sports Feature

FROM MY SEAT

Post author By Frank Murtaugh
Post date April 18, 2005

82 DOWN

With the curtain lowering this week on the 2004-05 NBA regular season, here are eight story lines that made this the most compelling such season since Michael Jordan left Chicago in 1998.

Grizzlies Griping — Over their first four years in Memphis, the Grizzlies have remained remarkably familiar, even as they’ve grown into a playoff team under Hubie Brown and Mike Fratello. Shane Battier, Pau Gasol, Jason Williams, Lorenzen Wright, and Stromile Swift represent an all-too-rare quintet of players who have comprised at least half the team’s rotation over four full seasons. But this year, grumbling could be heard from within the team’s fancy new downtown den. Whether it was Swift taking some extra time for assorted ailments or internal strife between Williams and Bonzi Wells, the feel-good NBA story of 2003-04 became at times that cliche of spoiled me-first “professionals” fighting for their own interests in 2004-05. Regardless of what transpires in the postseason ahead, a few of these familiar faces will be wearing new uniforms next fall. Swift is almost certain to depart as a free agent. And the guess here is that Williams or Wells may be back, but not both.

Kobe’s Club — You gotta hope Kobe Bryant is happy (I guess). Having chased no fewer than four superstars (counting the coach) out of Los Angeles, Bryant’s biggest victory this season came off the court, when his attorneys negotiated a settlement with the Colorado woman who accused Bryant of raping her in 2003. With the Lakers suffering their first losing season since 1993-94, we’ve gained some perspective on the mini-dynasty that won three titles earlier this decade. Once and for all, Bryant was Scottie Pippen to Shaquille O’Neal’s Jordan.

Bullish Trio — In examining the NBA futures market, you’d do well to buy some stock in Chicago. With Eddy Curry, Tyson Chandler, and Ben Gordon — each 22 years of age — the Bulls appear to be on the fast track to title contention. (Here’s hoping the irregular heartbeat that has sidelined Curry for the postseason is merely a bump in the road.) As long as general manager John Paxson can keep this troika together, the Bulls will be the team to beat in the East when Shaq finally hangs up his work boots.

Malone Mails It In — Karl Malone’s midseason retirement has to be the quietest sendoff for a player of his stature in the history of American team sports. While the Utah Jazz have plans to erect a statue to honor the Mailman (one to stand beside that of longtime running mate, John Stockton), the rest of the basketball world slept as the greatest power forward who ever lived hopped into one of his prized 18-wheelers and rode into the sunset. In a sport driven by ego, it’s remarkable that Malone hung up his sneakers merely 1,459 points shy of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring record. He was named first-team All-NBA a record 11 times (yes, more than Michael, Larry, or Magic).

M Valuable P — There is no more difficult award to win in sports than the NBA’s MVP trophy. Since the Hawks’ Bob Pettit was given the first honor in 1956, every single winner is either already in the Basketball Hall of Fame or is a mortal lock to be enshrined upon his retirement. For some perspective, you might consider that six members of the origiinal 1992 Dream Team (John Stockton, Patrick Ewing, Clyde Drexler, Chris Mullin, Scottie Pippen, and Christian Laettner) never earned MVP accolades. Which makes the candidacy this season of Phoenix point guard Steve Nash so delicious. Nash will not be among the league’s top-ten scorers, and he’s by no means guaranteed a ticket to the Hall of Fame. But he has well-nigh single-handedly turned a collection of talented losers into a 60-win division champion. In measuring value, Nash edges Miami’s O’Neal for the hardware.

Minus a Plus in Big D — And what of Nash’s old running mates in Dallas? Unlike the collapse of Shaq’s former outfit, the Mavericks have managed to improve even as their former playmaker seizes headlines in Phoenix. With Dirk Nowitzki broadening his already sublime offensive role and Jason Terry taking over the point, Dallas has won more than 50 games for the fifth straight season (one of only three teams to have done so). The defensive-minded Avery Johnson has taken over coaching duties from Don Nelson, so the Mavs may be a dark horse worth watching in the Western Conference playoffs.

Fab Five — Here’s my 2004-05 All-NBA squad. Guards: Steve Nash (Phoenix) and Dwyane Wade (Miami). Forwards: LeBron James (Cleveland) and Kevin Garnett (Minnesota). Center: Shaquille O’Neal (Miami).

One short, simple thought for all those who called Jerry West crazy for coming to Memphis three years ago: The Grizzlies are in the playoffs and the Lakers are not.

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