Month: January 2006

Categories
Politics Politics Beat Blog

POLITICS: Sorting Things Out





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Even as reports, circulated by intimates of Shelby County
Commissioner Julian Bolton, grew that Bolton was highly likely to enter
the race, the crowded field of already declared District 9 congressional
candidates redoubled their efforts to gain an advantage.

           

Several of these candidates were capsuled in this space
last week, on the eve of their appearance at a Tuesday night cattle-call forum
sponsored by Democracy for America at the IBEW union hall. One who wasn’t – but
clearly should have been – was Tyson Pratcher, currently an aide to U.S.
Senator Hillary Clinton of New York.

           

In word-of-mouth discussions after the forum and on the
local blogosphere circuits, Pratcher received high marks indeed for his spirited
and detailed answers to questions. As I suggested in online coverage after the
event: “…Pratcher [made] full use of his presumed
expertise and connections (“Senator Clinton and I did some work on this
issue….”) but persuasively rather than presumptuously so, going on in most cases
to spell out exactly what he meant. As in the case of specific labor legislation
when faced with …[a]question about union rights….”         

           

Others dominating post-forum discussions as having done
well were Joseph Kyles, a prominent member of the Rainbow/Push
organization; University of Memphis law professor Lee Harris; and lawyer
Ed Stanton, Jr. Reaction to three others – consultant Rod Redwing,
pastor Ralph White, and lawyer/activist Bill Whitman, a fresh
entry – was more subdued.

           

White, especially, raised eyebrows by expressing surprise
at being asked about the Iraq war and by giving an extended lament about union
corruption when asked about measures he might pursue regarding organized labor.

           

Though Redwing had seemed relatively laid-back and
non-committal at the forum, he was anything but that at a well-attended rally in
his honor on Saturday at April House on the old Defense Depot grounds. Running
down a litany of issues ranging from the war to “living-wage” legislation,
Redwing galvanized his crowd and offered thereby a reminder that his early start
last year had allowed him to develop a bona fide grass-roots organization.

           

Last week’s leading gainer, however, may have been Stanton,
who not only impressed attendees at the forum but was a runaway winner in a
$50-a-head straw poll/fundraiser sponsored by the Shelby County Democratic Party
at the Rendezvous restaurant. Stanton’s 56 votes put him ahead of the absent
Pratcher, with 19, and Redwing, who got five votes despite referring to the
event as requiring a “poll tax” and asking his supporters not to participate.
Other vote-getters were Kyles and Harris, with two votes each.

           

Another straw poll, conducted by radio station WLOK, would see Redwing the victor, with state Senator Steve Cohen second.

Absent from both the forum and the SCDP straw poll were lawyer Nikki Tinker, who has gathered significant name recognition but has not yet figured on the public stump, and Cohen, whose entry is now regarded as all but certain.

“If Julian gets in, this thing will come down to Bolton vs.
Cohen,” predicted Shelby County Commissioner Deidre Malone last week.

           

Meanwhile, this week saw a new entry
– businessman Marvell Mitchell, whose credentials include appointment by
Governor Phil Bredesen to the state Lottery Board, membership on the
Chamber of Commerce board, and service as chairman of the Black Business
Association.

 

Among the topics of discussion among the
Republican state senators who, en masse, attended last week’s hearing on the
Distinct 29 election dispute in U.S. District Judge Bernice Donald’s court was
the GOP’s quandary in finding a suitable opponent to run against Democratic
incumbent governor Phil Bredesen.

           

Two name Republicans – former state Representative Jim
Henry of Kingston and state Representative Beth Harwell of Nashville, a recent
party chairman – have opted out of a gubernatorial race in recent weeks.

           

One of the Republican senators in Memphis for the hearing,
Jim Bryson of Franklin, gave a shrug and acknowledged the likelihood when
asked if   a GOP member of the legislature might be drafted by the state party
to run as a quasi-official candidate.

           

Even as Bryson spoke, meanwhile, an unofficial but highly
visible and declared Republican candidate, Carl “Two Feathers” Whitaker — a
leader of the Minuteman movement, which attaches high priority to stopping
illegal immigration — was preparing to address a rally in Nashville, outside
the office of U.S. Senate majority leader Bill Frist.

 

The rally, which took place on
Friday, drew “a thousand” people to hear his discussion of “this issue of
illegals,” Whitaker later reported.

 

Judge Donald’s ruling on the District 29 matter
was promised for this Wednesday. At issue were at least three aspects of the
dispute – her own jurisdiction over the issue; continuation of an injunction
prohibiting further action by the state Senate to void the election; and the
prospect of further judicial review of Democrat Ophelia Ford’s
allegations of due-process violations.
           

Should Donald allow the Senate to vote, it is expected to
ratify (probably this week) a previous vote nullifying last year’s special
election, in which Ford was the provisional 13-vote winner over Republican
Terry Roland, who has alleged various frauds and irregularities in the
voting.

           

If the Senate ends up completing action this week, the
burden will then be on the Shelby County Commission, to choose between Ford,
Roland, or a third party as an interim senator, pending this fall’s general
election.

 

David Pickler, the perennial chairman of
the Shelby County School Board, this week became the first board member to
announce his candidacy for reelection, advising that, if reelected to a
four-year term, it would be his last.

           

There could be a change of plans, however. Pickler remains
a possible candidate for the District 31 state Senate seat (East Memphis,
Germantown) held for decades by Curtis Person, if Person should decide
not to run for reelection. Other prospective candidates for an open District 31
seat would be state Rep. Paul Stanley and former state Representative
Larry Scroggs.

 

Person’s name has been mentioned frequently of late as a
possible candidate for Juvenile Court Judge, and his candidacy for that job, if
he goes on to consider it, would also be conditional – dependent on the
reelection plans, so far unannounced, of longtime incumbent judge Kenneth
Turner, whom Person serves as a part-time aide.

 

In other developing races:

 

Juvenile Court Clerk: A showdown is brewing in the
Democratic primary between Memphis school board member Wanda Halbert and
former clerk Shep Wilbun. Halbert has already filed for the position,
while Wilbun, who has been making frequent media appearances to stoke a return
to public life, hasn’t as of yet. He has, however, pulled a petition from the
Election Commission.

 

Probate Court Clerk:  The on-again, off-again
struggle between incumbent Republican Chris Thomas and employee Sondra
Becton, a Democrat, may be on again. Becton last week drew a petition to run
again for the job, which she has sought before. Some years back, she also filed
charges of harassment (non-sexual) and discrimination against Thomas, which were
settled out of court.

Criminal Court Clerk: Kevin Gallagher,
formerly an aide to Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton, has company in his
Democratic primary race. Gallagher, who had a well-attended announcement party
late last year, will be opposed by veteran activist Vernon Johnson, Sr.
Republican incumbent Bill Key is seeking reelection.

Shelby County Commission, District 3, Position 2:
“It would be a shame if the people of this district should lose so effective a
spokesman”: That ringing endorsement of the incumbent, Cleo Kirk, comes
from a prospective candidate for his seat, businessman Bob Hatton, who
is, in fact, something of a protégé of Kirk. Hatton, who is also considering a
run for two other commission seats, will not run for Position 2 if Kirk’s appeal
of the county’s current term-limits provisions is upheld by the state Supreme
Court.

Another
declared candidate for the District 3, Position 2 seat is former Teamster leader
and interim state Senator Sidney Chism, who may also choose another seat
to run for if Kirk’s appeal is sustained. [Update: Chism informs the Flyer that he will run for the District 3, Position 2 seat regardless of what the lineup turns out to be.] 

Categories
Editorial Opinion

EDITORIALS: “Wishful Thinking,” “Coretta Scott King”






WISHFUL THINKING

 
As we write, federal judge Bernice Donald has not yet pronounced judgment on the
thorny question of who gets to sit in Nashville on behalf of Memphis’ state
Senate District 29. As you read this, her decision has likely already been
announced — to the consternation of one set of supporters, to the delight of the
other.

But there are still matters to resolve,
regardless of whether Democrat Ophelia Ford has been sustained as the winner in
last fall’s special
election,
temporarily or otherwise, or, conversely, whether the state Senate, acting on
complaints of fraud and irregularities lodged by Republican Terry Roland, has
been permitted a final vote to void the election.

 If Ford has been
allowed to continue, we trust that conscientious Republicans, certainly those in
the Senate itself, will restrain the impulse to heat and reheat the controversy
for partisan reasons. We hope they will respond in the spirit of GOP senator Jim
Bryson of Franklin, who said to Ford at the close of last Thursday’s exhaustive
single-day hearing in Judge Donald’s court, “See you tomorrow.” Meaning,
presumably, to work together fruitfully and without rancor on legislative
business important to the state. If Ford has ended up the loser and is compelled
to vacate her seat, we expect the Democrats to suck it up and move forward
without recriminations too. After all, they’ll still be favored to win a
regular-election rematch.

 Meanwhile, the
loser will presumably be free to appeal the decision.

 The real burden
of decision is the one that must be borne by the members of the Shelby County
Commission in the event that the election, now or later, ends up being voided.
In that case, we hope the men and women of the commission will be commissioners
of the public trust first and political partisans second. Meaning? That they not
attempt to name either Ford or Roland as interim senator to represent the
district. By definition, the election results are ambiguous and clouded, and any
attempt by the commission to name the winner arbitrarily will be a further act
of unfairness perpetrated on the citizens of District 29, who deserve to be the
clear arbiters of the matter themselves, the ones who will ultimately set things
right.

 The appointment
of a respected centrist candidate, or whichever party, or even of a political
independent, would do just fine in the meantime, thank you.

 And, regardless
of how this thing has come out, we have the right to expect better henceforth
from our local election machinery, as well as from the officials whose
responsibility it is to supervise it and sit in judgment over it.

 Maybe all the
foregoing is so much wishful thinking — a fact, however, which won’t stop us
from either thinking it or wishing it.

 




CORETTA SCOTT KING


   
Like the survivors of other great individuals, the widow of Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr., herself now deceased, was

faced with the enormously difficult task of enduring through grief and
continuing with her own life and that of her family while
representing and bearing witness to her husband’s legacy. That she did so with
dignity for several decades was a great achievement in its own right. She too
will be missed. 

 

Categories
Opinion

CITY BEAT: Deferred Gratification






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 If you’re going to college, plan to go to college, or
paying for someone else to go to college, a recent report on endowments might
surprise you.

College endowments are loaded, and
they’re growing as much as 25 percent each year. The increase is due to a
combination of exceptionally large gifts and investment gains.  The University
of Memphis has been one of the big winners, with a $175 million endowment and a
gain of nearly 16 percent last year.

Other
colleges and universities in Tennessee and the Mid-South saw gains ranging from
5.2 percent at Rhodes College to 23 percent at Mississippi State University. A
bigger endowment means more financial aid for students, said David Easley, chief
financial officer of the Mississippi State University Foundation, where about
half of the endowment income goes toward scholarships.

The National Association of College and
University Business Officers publishes a report each year on endowments of 746
colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. Their Web site,
nacubo.org, has the full report.

Harvard, with $25.5 billion, has the
largest endowment. The only university in Tennessee with an endowment of more
than $1 billion is Vanderbilt, with $2.6 billion.

The big gain at Mississippi State was
due to fulfillment of a $25 million pledge from a private donor. The university
earned a return of 8.4 percent on its investments, which is slightly below the
9.3 percent average return for all colleges in the 2005 survey. At the
University of Memphis, three gifts of more than $1 million boosted the
endowment, said Julie Johnson, vice-president of Advancement.

For students, parents, and donors,
endowment surveys point out things that may not be heralded in the institution’s
alumni publications or fund-raising appeals.

Endowment gifts, as opposed to, say,
gifts to the athletic department, don’t get spent right away. Donors are helping
future generations of college students live off the interest. College financial
officials say that, on average, they spend only four to five percent of the
endowment each year. If inflation takes three percent and management fees
another ibe percent, a  nine-percent return keeps the endowment at roughly the
same level.

It’s never a good thing to lag one’s
peer group, and endowments are no exception. The difference between a
five-percent gain and a 10-percent gain on $200 million is $10 million. That
translates to thousands of dollars per student at a time when tuition exceeds
$5,000 a year at public colleges and $25,000 at some private colleges.

The rich get richer. Yale, with an
endowment of $15.2 billion, also consistently has one of the best investment
returns of around 16 percent. Stanford, with a $12 billion endowment, grew 19
percent last year thanks to investments in the stock of Google and emerging
companies in Silicon Valley. On the other hand, size can be a disadvantage.
Givers may wonder how much is enough? What difference does a $100 gift make to a
university with an endowment of more than $1 billion as opposed to a similar
gift to the local food bank or high school?

Endowment growth, coupled with the
Tennessee Lottery, is good news for college students. Lottery proceeds,
constantly replenished by gamblers, are projected to be $240 million this year,
and most of it gets spent. By statute, the lottery reserve fund is only $50
million. Some 70,000 students will get a $3,300 scholarship if they attend a
four-year in-state college.

Here’s a summary of the rank, size, and
growth of endowments of colleges and universities in the Mid-South:





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Text Box:      Vanderbilt University, 23rd, $2.6
billion, 14.5 percent.

Text Box:      University of Tennessee system,
81st, $714 million, 7.3 percent.

Text Box:      University of Arkansas system,
83rd, $691 million, 10.4 percent.

Text Box:      University of Mississippi, 135th,
$397 million, 8.3 percent.

Text Box:      University of the South, 187th,
$253 million, 5.4 percent.

Text Box:      Rhodes College, 202nd, $223
million, 5.2 percent.

Text Box:      Mississippi State University,
207th, $211 million, 23 percent.

Text Box:      University of Memphis, 236th,
$175 million, 15.8 percent.

 

Categories
From My Seat Sports

FROM MY SEAT: Super Bowl Top 40 (Part II)

Resuming where we
left off last week, here’s a primer for your Super Bowl party this Sunday. The
top 20 stars in the game’s history.

20.
Jack Lambert (Pittsburgh) — Gap-toothed, Hall of Fame face of
four-time-champion Steel Curtain defense. Edges out Joe Greene, Jack Ham, and
Mel Blount.

19.
Lawrence Taylor (Giants) — With Butkus, one of two greatest linebackers
in NFL history. Backbone of championship teams in XXI and XXV.

18.
Larry Csonka (Miami) — MVP in VIII. His 297 yards rushing (in three
games) are second most in game’s history.

17.
Kurt Warner (St. Louis Rams) — Former stockboy came out of the arena
league to lead the Rams and their “Greatest Show on Turf” to a pair of Super
Bowls, beating Tennessee in XXXIV when he passed for a game-record 414 yards and
was named MVP.

16.
Marcus Allen (Raiders) — MVP in XVIII when he ran through Washington for
191 yards. 74-yard touchdown jaunt is longest run in game’s history.

15.
Richard Dent (Chicago) — MVP of XX, Dent was the player honored among
the finest defense in Super Bowl history. Mike Singletary, Dan Hampton, Gary
Fencik, Wilber Marshall . . . and the Fridge.

14.
Jim Plunkett (Raiders) — Representing Oakland in XV and Los Angeles in
XVIII, Plunkett led the Raiders to a pair of championships after two franchises
had given up on his career.

13.
Doug Williams (Washington) — The first (and still only) black
quarterback to win the Super Bowl, Williams led the Redskins in the most
dominant offensive half in the game’s history, tearing up Denver before halftime
in XXII.

12.
Roger Staubach (Dallas) — Led the Cowboys to victory over Miami in VI
and Denver in XII. Lost a pair of close ones to Pittsburgh.

11.
Bart Starr (Green Bay) — Winning quarterback and MVP of the first two
games. The face of Vince Lombardi’s dynasty.

10.
Lynn Swann (Pittsburgh) — NFL Films has made a fortune on Swann,
slow-motion replays of his acrobatic catches in X and XIII being highlights
among Super Bowl retrospectives. Only one receiver has compiled more yardage
than Swann’s 364 (in four games).

9.
Troy Aikman (Dallas) — One of only four quarterbacks to win three Super
Bowls. MVP of XXVII.

8.
Emmitt Smith (Dallas) — Star among stars for three championship teams in
the Nineties. MVP of XXVIII, Smith rushed for 289 yards and 5 touchdowns in his
three appearances.

7.
John Elway (Denver) — No other quarterback has started five Super Bowls.
The Broncos’ Hall of Famer gained redemption for his losses in XXI, XXII, and
XXIV by beating the favored Packers in XXXII and the Falcons in XXXIII.

6.
Tom Brady (New England) — One of only four quarterbacks to win three
Super Bowls. MVP of XXXVI and XXXVIII.

5.
Franco Harris (Pittsburgh) — A record 354 yards rushing in four
victories. MVP in IX.

4.
Jerry Rice (San Francisco, Oakland) — He’s to NFL receiving records as
Wayne Gretzky is to NHL scoring records. And that includes his 33 receptions and
589 yards in four Super Bowls. MVP of XXIII (though let’s remember John Taylor
caught the game-winning touchdown pass).

3.
Terry Bradshaw (Pittsburgh) — Four Super Bowls, four victories, twice
the MVP. So he had a Hall of Fame tailback and two Hall of Fame receivers to
catch his passes. Bradshaw showed the Cowboys’ Thomas Henderson he could do far
more than spell “cat.”

2.
Joe Montana (San Francisco) — Leading that brilliant game-winning drive
against Cincinnati in XXIII gives Montana a slight edge over Bradshaw. And he
was just as good as a third-year pro in XVI (also beating the Bengals), whipping
the Dolphins in XIX, and  lighting up the Broncos in XXIV. A three-time MVP.

1.
Joe Namath (Jets) — From the fur coats to the Fu Manchu, from the panty
hose(!) to the playmates, he was and remains the definitive Joe Cool. With that
ridiculous guarantee of victory for his AFL New York Jets over the mighty NFL’s
Baltimore Colts in 1969, Namath — once and forever — put the SUPER in Super
Bowl. Jets 16, Colts 7.

  

Categories
News The Fly-By

HEADLINE OF THE WEEK

Oh, so many wonderful headlines and so little space to share them. The Commercial Appeal ran a piece by Mary Powers titled “Memphis Nurses Disciplined,” which sounds like a porno movie about naughty Memphis nurses getting the spanking they deserve. In fact, it was a non-porno story about naughty Memphis nurses getting the spanking they deserve. We were very disappointed.

WMC ran the too-true-to-be-funny headline: “Sweeping changes might be ahead for Memphis City Schools’ students,” which, in the current climate, sounds more like a guidance counselor suggesting career options than a plan to overhaul Memphis’ crappy schools. But our favorite headline this week comes from WREG’s Web site: “Dogs Gone Wild in North Memphis.” Okay, a headline suggesting that there are dogs in North Memphis willing to bare it all for your viewing pleasure wasn’t really that funny, but the story included the line: “It’s about 20 to 25 dogs in there … all kinds rockwilers,” which made us giggle. For those who don’t know, the “rockwiler” [a.k.a., “Rottweiler”]is a breed of vicious fighting dogs trained specifically to tear the tires off a three-wheeler.

Categories
News The Fly-By

Platter Matter

First came the plates. Then came the Saucer.

Flying Saucer owner Shannon Wynne didn’t know what to do with the plates he picked up while antiquing. That is, until he decided to open a bar and hang the plates wall-to-wall.

In 1995, the first Flying Saucer Draught Emporium opened in Fort Worth. Last Friday, the 11th location opened in Cordova, and Wynne hung all 1,500 plates himself.

“Believe it or not, there’s a right way and wrong way to hang the plates,” Wynne says. “A lot of calculation has to be done. You can’t have too much of one color in one place, and you want the ones with words close to the bottom so they can be read.”

Wynne buys plates from antique shops, estate sales, and souvenir stands, rarely paying more than $12 per plate. And he’s not picky. It’s not uncommon to see valuable collector plates hanging next to plates proclaiming “God Bless This Mobile Home.”

“There’s a plate for everything,” Wynne says. “I can show you a plate commemorating pregnant women, oceans, boats, nations, or capitals.”

Categories
Opinion

Fallen Hero

Atlanta’s version of the 1993 Harold Ford trial and the ongoing Operation Tennessee Waltz investigation got under way this week as former Mayor Bill Campbell went on trial on federal corruption charges.

This one bears watching in Memphis for several reasons.

Campbell, 52, was a black mayor in a Southern city that once called itself “too busy to hate” and which has had a black mayor since 1973. A janitor’s son who graduated from Vanderbilt University, he was mayor of Atlanta from 1994 to 2002 and spokesman for the city during the 1996 Olympics. He was indicted in 2004 on 11 counts of bribery, racketeering, and fraud after a seven-year investigation that has convicted 12 city officials and city contractors.

National news coverage of the trial has noted that, with some notable exceptions, it has divided the city along racial lines. The Los Angeles Times quoted Democratic state representative Bob Holmes, who said, “White people think he was an awful, corrupt mayor. African Americans see him as a champion of the poor.”

There are similarities to the trial of former U.S. representative Harold Ford Sr., who was investigated for several years and tried twice before being acquitted in 1993. Ford was a legendary Memphis congressman who fought to keep his trial in Memphis instead of Knoxville, where federal prosecutors wanted to try him. Ford won with a mostly white jury but not until both sides had played the race card.

Now it is former state senator John Ford who is under indictment in Operation Tennessee Waltz, along with two other current and former state legislators and Shelby County commissioner Michael Hooks. All of the Memphis defendants are black, and all have pleaded not guilty and, so far, have indicated they will go to trial.

Memphis mayor Willie Herenton and John Ford will be following the Campbell trial closely, and Herenton may be called to testify as a witness along with former Herenton aide Reginald French.

Herenton was a political friend and occasional host and companion of Campbell when the former Atlanta mayor visited Memphis and Tunica. In 2003, Herenton testified for the federal government in Atlanta against Herbert McCall, one of the Atlanta city officials who has been convicted. McCall and former Atlanta chief operating officer Larry Wallace pitched a contractor, Johnson Controls, to Herenton in 2000. Herenton smelled a rat and rejected them. On several occasions, including a press conference this month, he has called proposals by bogus contractors and their consultants “crazy stuff.”

The middleman for the meeting in 2000 was French, a sometimes consultant and current candidate for Shelby County sheriff, who has been with Herenton in various capacities since the mayor was elected in 1991. French, who was not charged, gave $10,000 to the Atlanta hand-out crew and testified for the government at the trial in 2003.

Consultants, of course, are central players in Tennessee Waltz. Memphian Tim Willis worked undercover for the FBI to net John Ford and paid the former senator $10,000 in cash. Ford was a consultant for Johnson Controls to help them get a state contract with a medical facility in Chattanooga. Ford was also a consultant to TennCare contractors.

Another Memphis connection to Campbell is Dewey Clark, a Memphis native who worked in Campbell’s campaign in 1993 and lived in Campbell’s basement apartment for six years while working as a mayoral “special assistant,” according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Clark fell out with Campbell and has accused him of taking bribes.

The seven-year duration of the Campbell investigation suggests Tennessee Waltz is far from over. After some Atlanta defendants were sentenced in 2003, the Journal-Constitution, citing defense attorneys, published a story saying the City Hall investigation was about to wrap up and Campbell was “seemingly in the clear.” He wasn’t. The feds take their time in high-profile, racially charged cases. It ain’t over until it’s over.

Categories
Letter From The Editor Opinion

Letter from the Editor: The New “Conservatives”

Remember that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything you have. — Barry M. Goldwater

Where is Barry Goldwater when you need him? Now there was a conservative. He wanted a small government and a balanced budget. He was for a strong military but only for defense, not nation-building. Goldwater was a man of principle, unafraid to point out hypocrisy, whether it emanated from a Democrat or a Republican. Of course, he got slaughtered in the 1964 presidential election by Lyndon Johnson, who went on to create the Great Society, the largest government social-engineering program since the New Deal.

I’ve been reading about the 1960s lately, and what has struck me most is how clear the line was between conservatives and liberals. The nation was divided, yes, but the division was about political philosophy — how best to govern. Liberals wanted to use government to solve the nation’s social ills — racism, poverty, hunger. Conservatives wanted to leave such things to the “free market,” believing the best government is that which governs least.

So how is it that “conservatives” are now supporting our largest-ever budget deficit? And why are “conservatives” in favor of letting the government invade our phone calls, our emails, our library records, our Internet searches, our bedrooms, and our pull-life-support-or-not decisions? And when did “conservatives” become such cowering nancy-boys, jettisoning the Constitution in the name of “national security”?

And finally, how did “conservative” come to mean being anti-science — against stem-cell research, global-warming research, or even the teaching of evolution — and favoring the insertion of fundamentalist Christianity into our governmental and educational institutions? Goldwater would be turning over (to the right) in his grave if he could see what passes for conservatism these days.

Which reminds me of another Goldwater quote, issued in his dotage in response to some foolishness uttered by Jerry Falwell: “I think every good Christian ought to kick Falwell right in the ass.”

You go, Barry.

Bruce VanWyngarden, Editor

brucev@MemphisFlyer.com

Categories
News The Fly-By

The Cheat Sheet

1 Memphis recently made another of our nation’s top-10 lists, and again for the wrong reasons. It seems our city ranked third in a 2004 survey of major metropolitan areas with the highest number of stolen cars. Finally! An explanation for all the bad drivers here: They’re in cars they’ve never driven before.

2 A demolition crew finally cleared the remains of the so-called underground house on McLean — a place so ugly it recently made the Flyer‘s list of the 10 worst eyesores in town. Built in the early 1970s, the building wasn’t actually underground but was covered with mounds of dirt and monkey grass. It had been abandoned for years, and the residents of Central Gardens nixed an owner’s plans to expand the structure. Now if we could just get rid of everything else built in the ’70s.

3 What park officials feared was a northern snakehead, found dead in a Shelby Forest lake, was actually a giant snakehead. Though the name itself makes the fish sound much more dangerous, the giant version of this carnivorous creature can’t survive Memphis winters, so it was probably dropped in the lake by somebody who owned it as a pet. The obvious question, then: Who keeps giant snakeheads as pets?

4 Isaac Hayes is admitted to the hospital. Friends say he is just suffering from exhaustion; other reports suggest he had a mild stroke. Get well soon, Soul Man.

Categories
News The Fly-By

Tent City

Like many Americans, the human suffering in Africa doesn’t register on my day-to-day worry meter. Typically, I stay isolated from the misery and displacement that accompany endless civil wars in countries such as Sudan.

My sensibilities changed last week when I called Rhodes College senior Rachel Boulden to ask about the mock refugee camp she organized at the school. Boulin, a passionate advocate for the many Sudanese refugees who call Memphis home, says she hopes the camp stimulates compassion and action by students and area residents alike.

“We have hundreds of refugees in Memphis with heart-breaking stories of loss and separation,” Boulden says. “Once they get here, they become almost invisible, struggling to learn the language and determined to give their children the opportunities they never had.”

Intrigued by Boulden’s fervor, I arrived at Rhodes last Saturday to find a cluster of tents made with plywood, clothesline, and tarps. Student guides explained the camp’s namesake, Camp Kakuma, where 90,000 Sudanese refugees wait out the years in the desert region of Kenya. Next, the guides recreated the arduous process of camp life: trade a name for a number, get a ration card (lose it and you don’t eat), wait in line at the medical tent (lice, cholera, and tuberculosis are rampant), drink a small ration of water (once a day at an assigned time), and then eat a ladle of red beans, hominy, and cornmeal mush (with your fingers because there are no forks).

“You sit and sit and sit because, except for cooking the meals, there is nothing to do,” says Janet Banga, a Sudanese refugee who came to Memphis after living five years in a Kenyan camp. Today, Banga is perched on a large aluminum can near a tent and a crude fire pit. The cans, she says, were valuable because they could be shaped into stools or plates or containers for cooking. “The cans were all we had, plus dried beans and corn and a little salt,” she says.

Her sister-in-law, Flora Elisa, shakes her head, agreeing with the memory. “Finding firewood was very hard,” she says. “We had to walk five or six miles, always looking for more wood.”

I listened carefully, amazed by the women’s forthright accounts, told with no weariness or regret. “We have jobs and a good life now,” Elisa says, smiling. “But there are many people still in camps. We cannot forget them.”

Her words are like the closing remarks made a few days earlier by Rawandan hero Paul Rusesabagina at a Martin Luther King Week event. Rusesabagina reminded Rhodes students of Sudan’s western Darfur province, where 200,000 people have been killed since 2003 and thousands more displaced by rebel fighting.

“There are so many voices calling for rescue,” he said. “They need you. They need your help.”