Author: opinionstogo

Gov. Jeb Adds Need-Based Aid

Florida’s ongoing challenge to attract black students to its universities – especially from out of state – is being pragmatically addressed by Gov. Jeb Bush. The governor has recommended spending more than $50 million in the 2006-07 budget for more need-based aid and the creation of a first-generation scholarship program. Minorities are disproportionately represented in such criteria.

Critics and cynics, however, have found the recommendations an opportunity to retrospectively bash Bush for his One Florida plan that eliminated affirmative action in higher education. In so doing, they note, he created a situation that would inevitably lead to a diversity default. They also cite statistics such as Florida ranking first (of the 10 most populous states) in grants that are unrelated to financial need.

But let’s not jettison all context here. Grants based on merit – quaint concept that it is – deserve a better spin than that.

More Self-Serving Rhetoric In King’s Name

One can only wonder what the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. would make of all that is said in commemorating his life. Perhaps the dream gets lost in translation. More likely, it too often morphs into rhetorical self service.

Sounding not unlike Kanye West, Sen. Hillary Clinton told a mostly black audience in a Harlem church that she was apologizing to Hurricane Katrina survivors for a government that “turned its back on you.” Clinton, who had been tacking to the political center, then ratcheted up the pander-speak by descending into an analogy of the (Republican-controlled) House of Representatives to a plantation.

“The House has been run like a plantation, and you know what I’m talking about,” declared Clinton to thunderous approbation.

King’s most remembered and revered lines were calls for inclusiveness – not slavish exercises in partisan divisiveness.

Then there was New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. Sounding not unlike a Crescent City Pat Robertson, he told a crowd at City Hall that not only will the city be rebuilt as a “Chocolate New Orleans,” but in so doing it would be “the way God wants it to be.”

Nagin has a hard enough time speaking for himself, let alone presuming to channel the Almighty with a demographic invocation. And this from a black politician who has arguably been part of the pre- and- post Katrina problem.

In an ironic way, however, maybe King’s words were revelatory. Wherever there is scapegoating, political pandering and race-baiting there is character content on display – irrespective of skin color.

Of Football Programs And “Perks”

When Armwood High head football coach Sean Callahan was going through the interview process at Valdosta (Ga.) High, there was more than speculation that he might leave. There was also – abetted by the media – criticism that greater appreciation hadn’t been lavished on Callahan and his ultra-successful program that had earned two state championships and a runner-up the last three years. And make no mistake, “appreciation” meant Hillsborough County doing more to keep him – like adding some perks.

Wasn’t it a disgrace, went the reasoning, that Armwood’s Lyle Flagg Stadium had, for example, no field house. Moreover, the locker room wasn’t air-conditioned and the weight room was unconscionably undersized. There wasn’t even a separate office for Callahan. And Armwood’s coaches were still subject to the countywide supplement of $3,200. If the program wanted something extra, such as trophy cases, nicer signage, or new practice-field sod, it needed to go the fund-raising route.

Two points.

First, there’s a lot to like about high school football, not the least of which is excellence achieved through effort, perseverance and teamwork. In some cases, it leads to scholarships that otherwise wouldn’t be forthcoming. And amid all the options open to young people in an increasingly churlish culture, this is still among the healthier avenues for having fun.

Having said that, we’re still talking about a game. An extracurricular activity like no other to be sure, but still a game. It’s not why students are in school. It’s not more important than most other school activities. It shouldn’t be yet another reminder that we live in a society skewed toward deified, double-standard athletes.

And, frankly, I’m glad we’re not Valdosta, where the head coach can make nearly $100,000 a year and doesn’t even have to pretend to “teach.” And where the facilities rival many college programs. All of which is absurd, and that genie of priorities run amok can never be rebottled.

The Hillsborough County School District has myriad challenges, including overcrowding and underfunding. It doesn’t need to underwrite pricey perks for sports programs, no matter how laudably successful.

As for Armwood, per se, pride, pep rallies, proclamations, banquets, scholarships and success for its own sake will have to do.

Storms Makes Case For County Mayor

Among those things that Hillsborough County Commissioner Ronda Storms is adamantly against is the very concept of an elected countywide mayor. The irony is that without her polarizing presence, one that fails to recognize the inevitable synergy between unincorporated county and the economic hub that is the city of Tampa, there likely would be no county mayor issue.

Ahmadinejihad?

Latest decree from Tehran is that, “until further notice,” CNN is banned. At a recent news conference on Iran’s nuclear research, CNN botched a translation of comments by Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The network mistranslated “nuclear technology” into “nuclear weapons.”

However, Iran is not claiming mistranslations for the apocalyptic Ahmadinejad’s comments calling for Israel to be “wiped off the map” or terming the Holocaust a “myth.” Those were all too accurate.

Print Media Still Had An Option In Mine Tragedy

Much has been written in the aftermath of the tragic Sago mine disaster in West Virginia. It was a cruel nightmare for families and an almost untenable predicament for most daily newspapers.

What happened was the perfect miscommunication storm for print media. Television, in effect, gets a mulligan. Shelf life is not a concern. What was said five minutes ago is lost in the ether. “This just in” immediacy trumps all.

But deadline hell and breaking news is as bad as it gets in the newspaper business; that’s how Tom Dewey won the presidency and the Lightning lost the Stanley Cup final. Then add a major measure of human nature: being able to convey miraculously good news in an industry too often defined by all that goes awry in the world.

Thus we have headlines and drop heads such as: ( St. Petersburg Times ) “They’re alive! Miners found”/”Twelve of the West Virginia miners that had been trapped 260 feet below the surface are found hours after the body of one was recovered.” And such as: ( Tampa Tribune ) “12 Miners Survive Ordeal”/”Rescuers first found body of 1 from crew.”

Having said that, however, there is still the case for following the fundamentals, even – especially — in a worst-case crucible. When dealing with split-second decisions and less than take-it-to-the-bank sources, equivocation is a virtue. This isn’t Monday morning quarterbacking; this is a bet-hedging, journalistic rule of thumb.

Here’s how the Times-Tribune of Scranton (Penn.) handled it: “Families: Miners Alive”/”One body found, 12 allegedly living 41 hours after blast.”

When your source – amid a welter of emotions and a din of voices — is a family member or “they,” it’s imperative to include a qualifier. That’s the realistic best that can be done under such extenuating circumstances. The presses can only be held so long.

Sago mustn’t become shorthand for media screw-up, but a reminder for reflection. Nobody’s motives or ethics should be impugned. Nobody got it absolutely right; but some got it less wrong. And that matters.

Mayor Takes Charge

Politicians always have trouble finessing the “legacy” question. If their answer is too candidly concrete, it seems hubristic. As in “monument to me.” It’s easier, and typically more relevant, to talk in terms of “direction” and “progress” across a spectrum of issues.

While Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio won’t be able to escape the art museum as a barometer of achievement or disappointment, she has been taking on the monumental, decidedly unsexy task of infrastructure upgrades. Some long overdue, others merely due on her watch.

The stormwater fee was the former. A start in the retrofitting of a system long overburdened and unaddressed. An example of the latter is the recently announced $1,500-per-unit impact fee to pay for rapidly accelerating water distribution needs in downtown and South Tampa.

Not surprisingly, developers have taken umbrage. Only they called it “blindsiding.” Some city council members resented a fait accompli approach.

Presumably, Iorio could have been more forthcoming, even though the code call is hers — as authorized and implemented by the Water Department director.

But maybe it just comes down to this. Absent the fees, higher water bills are inevitable. The bottom line is growth paying for itself – too frequently an oxymoronic concept around here.

Yes, the mayor could have been more inclusive in her approach. Maybe even hosted a public forum, and demurely sat through another naysayers’ field trip. The minimum result, of course, would have been delay while the usual suspects played their agenda games.

Some times the top elected official just needs to get out in front of a problem and lead.

A Ride Like No Other

Valerie Hnatio-Dotts, 37, of Palm Harbor knew her boyfriend had something different in mind for her birthday. He said the recently purchased bracelet was merely Part I.

Kyle Cutcheon, 39, said they were going to do something unique and fun. He told her to dress casually–and include a hat, sunglasses and sneakers. And be ready before sunrise. Cutcheon, a loan officer for Bay Lending Corp. in St. Petersburg, had reserved a late summer, hot air balloon ride with Tampa-based American Balloons Inc.

The Lutz-Land O’Lakes area never looked so good, recalls Cutcheon. “You see everything, and you see it quietly,” he says. “I had no idea of the number of lakes; we saw horses out of their stables. And the sunrise was the best–as you’re floating through the air. Very romantic.”

It was “breathtaking and peaceful,” says Hnatio-Dotts. “It was romantic for him to even think of that.”

For Tom Warren, the FAA-certified pilot/owner of American Balloons, it was a familiar response. But it’s never another day at the office when you’re in a basket under a flame and 100,000 cubic feet of nylon-encased hot air, floating serenely 500 to 1,000 feet above it all. Above pastures, farms, ponds and neighborhoods–as well as fauna as diverse as deer, wild hogs, alligators, hawks and eagles.

On average, he’ll stay up for an hour–and travel 10-12 miles. He works with a seven-member crew that includes his wife and his mother. The former acts as crew chief, the latter is a notary and has performed marriage ceremonies prior to lift-off. There is also a chase crew in a van that is in radio contact with the pilot and follows the balloon’s path.

“I always enjoy it,” says Warren, who also owns T & A Truck Inc. of Tampa. “You see areas of Florida you can’t see any other way. Nothing is disturbed.”

For the most part, Warren’s world is a customer base largely comprised of celebrants: birthdays, Mother’s Days, anniversaries, engagements, weddings. Individually, the cost is $160 per person, which includes a champagne toast and light brunch. It’s $450 per couple–for an exclusive “sweetheart flight” in the 5′ x6′ basket.

It’s all part of an international pattern. Balloon rides–once the exclusive province of hobbyists and tourists to haunts more exotic than north Tampa–have never been more popular. There are no fewer than a half dozen companies in the Bay Area offering hot air balloon rides. Some have multiple balloons.

“The popularity is at an all-time high,” says veteran pilot Joe Settecasi, who owns Bay Balloons, Inc. of Tampa. “The technology is better, the equipment top of the line, and people now see ballooning as a safe, unique and wonderful experience.

“Plus there’s that element of romance,” adds Settecasi. “I would say that 95 per cent of those I took up were couples. They love the sense of the world waking up. It also lends itself to surprise, although you have to invent a pretty good lie to get up that early.”

That early hour is critical for such a weather-sensitive pursuit. Balloons must have stable air. The energy of the sun is an unwelcome variable. Surface winds of more than about 7 mph are problematic.

“We refuse to fly unless it’s safe,” underscores Warren. “We get weather updates like a 747 pilot. There’s nothing more peaceful, and we want to keep it that way.”

Ironic Iconic

Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., the architect of “borking,” is as iconic an inquisitor as the Senate Judiciary Committee has. His presence is also the most ironic. He’s the only member to be thrown out of law school (for cheating.) How many nominees would have loved to have thrown that one back at him as he postured for his nightly news sound bite during Supreme Court nominee hearings?