Spot News      the Web edition  Vol. 4, No. 2                                                   March 1999
A publication of the East Tennessee Chapter  of the Society of Professional Journalists	Back to SPJ Home Page

 

• March meeting Sticks and Stones
• Crime on Campus meeting report
• Follies get new director
• Briefly noted

Sticks and stones break my bones,
words never harm me . . . or do they?
 

         Representatives of African-American, gay/lesbian and feminist groups in the community will provide insight into issues of diversity and tolerance at the March meeting of ETSPJ.  “Sticks and Stones” is the topic of the program planned for 6:30 p.m., March 11, in the meeting room of Mandarin House at Gleason Road and Downtown West.

       Among those scheduled to speak are Nancy Mott, a counselor in private practice and convenor for “Integrity Knoxville,” a gay and lesbian Episcopal ministry;  Add Seymour, Jr., Knoxville News-Sentinel staff writer; Cassandra McGee, public relations director of the Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership and former reporter for WATE-TV; and Dr. Claudia Milstead, representing  the Knoxville chapter of the National Organization for Women.

       Jean Ash says that the idea for the meeting germinated from a brouhaha in Washington, D.C., in which David Howard, an aide to Mayor Anthony Williams, was forced to resign for referring to the manner in which he administered a government fund as “niggardly.” In accepting the resignation, the mayor said that Howard used poor judgment by choosing a word that could have been misunderstood.  Howard was later reinstated in another city job, not the one he originally held.

       In recent years American Indians have expressed displeasure over Native American mascots used by sports teams. They disapprove of terms like “Redskins,” “Braves,” the tomahawk chop, and mascots like Cleveland’s Chief Wahoo. Similarly, other groups have expressed concern over derogatory terms.

       Attendees can go through the buffet at the restaurant or come only for the program, which will begin about 7:00.  Reservations are strongly encouraged. You can call Ash at 691-2606 or e-mail her at jeanash@aol.com before March 9.

       “Campuses are safer today,” said one of the panelists at the Jan. 22 meeting of ETSPJ. Dr. Thomas S. Baer, father of a student murdered at UT in 1988, said that efforts by parents of murdered students and others have resulted in tougher requirements for schools in reporting campus crime statistics.

      Joining Baer on the panel were S. Daniel Carter, vice president of the Security on Campus organization, and Ed Yovella, chief of UT Police. Moderator, Dr. Dorothy Bowles, UT journalism professor, provided background on legislative efforts to make campus crime data available.
 
      A federal law requiring more openness regarding campus crime statistics, signed by President Clinton in October 1998, was modeled on the laws in Tennessee and Pennsylvania, the first states to enact such legislation. In Tennessee the legislation was brought about by the death of Baer’s son and an exchange student at Vanderbilt.  

Need to ask questions

     Baer said that parents and students, afraid that college admission status might be affected, are reluctant to ask questions about campus crime. He noted that state-supported schools do a better job of disclosing information than private schools primarily because education is a business. Schools must have customers. “If students don’t come, they have no customers,” Baer said.

     Yovella, who arrived at UT in 1967, discussed the changes in the types of crimes through the years. In the 60s, campuses were in turmoil because of the war in Vietnam. Crime today is more is most often related to excessive consumption of alcohol. Yovella said that concern for victim is always first with him. Yovella indicated, however, that sometimes the UT Police are left out of the loop.

     UT has an agreement with the city that allows the Knoxville Police Department to investigate the more serious crimes on campus, including murder and rape. “This has worked out wonderfully for us,” Yovella said.  He added that the UT police do not respond to all crimes in the area around the University. Crime statistics for UT will be greater this year because of changes in reporting. More offenses will be reported, including alcohol violations.

      Hate crimes under reported

     “Students have a false sense of security,” said Carter. He urged members of the student press to report more about hate crimes, which, he said, are under reported. Carter said that the definition of a campus has been distorted by some institutions to make instances of crime appear fewer. He mentioned one institution that did not regard the streets running through its campus as part of the college.

     At the time his son was murdered, Baer said that UT police did not have the type of training required to handle a crime of that magnitude. He applauded UT for working out an arrangement since that time with the city police to investigate more serious crimes.

    Baer said that his lawyer, unable to obtain information about the investigation into his son’s murder, appeared on the television show “20/20” to obtain publicity.

     The date and director for the 1999 Front Page Follies have changed. Carol Zinovage, who has directed the show for several years, will not be able to do so this year. Because of that, we had to change dates to accommodate a new director and an available date at the Hyatt. The new date is Saturday, July 17.

     Yes, I know that is later than we have typically hosted the Follies. I personally liked the June 12 date, but that’s just not going to work. The month of May is not an option because of Memorial Day, Knoxville Symphony fund raisers, Nike Open golf tournament, not to mention Golden Press Card. That would force the event to be in March or April, which is not feasible from a logistical standpoint. July 17 is the first day available that both the Hyatt and the director are not booked.

     Speaking of the director,

         the new director is
               (drum roll please …)
 

Wendell Werner!

 
      Wendell is Knoxville’s version of Quincy Jones – If there is something happening on the local music scene, he probably is involved with it. Many of you, I’m sure, have seen Wendell perform at events all over town. He is also very active with the symphony, churches and other groups in the community.

     Wendell will cost slightly more the Carol did, but the additional money is well worth it. We’ll be getting a top-notch director, who has name recognition within the community; Wendell has experience in working with casts of amateur actors; he is an absolute wizard on the keyboards, which means we will not need to hire an accompanist; and as a songwriter, Wendell has the ability to adapt music to David Lauver’s skits.

• Ruth Holmberg will be unable to appear at the Golden Press Card awards program. She will be in Europe.
• Wynne Brown will represent ETSPJ at the regional convention in Atlanta in May.
• Libby A. Reel, 1210 N. Kentucky Street, Kingston, is a new member.
• Tom Curley, publisher of USA Today, will speak April 15 at the Bright Ideas luncheon sponsored by the Knoxville Area Chamber Partnership as part of Celebrate Business ‘99. Tickets are $20 per person or $200 per table. Call 637-4550 for  information.
• Because some of us remember blizzards in March and big snows in April, it’s not too close to spring to mention the snow policy adopted by the board at its February meeting.
  If Knox County schools are closed because of the weather, any scheduled ETSPJ functions will be cancelled or postponed. If the ETSPJ event had required reservations, someone will phone those who made reservations  to tell them of the cancellation.