Author: opinionstogo

Mock The Vote?

Now that we’re well within another interminable presidential election cycle, we’re also immersed in countless “get out the vote” campaigns. The message emanates from a good, democratic place and is diversely delivered from “hip-hop summits,” Teamster voter-drives and editorial-board sermons.

Two things, at least one of which will sound blasphemous.

If voters have to be cajoled, hectored or shamed into voting, they should strongly consider staying home again. If taking part in one’s own system of governance by exercising the right and responsibility to vote isn’t sufficient motivation, sitting it out may be the most viable option. That was the blasphemy part.

On the other hand, why not encourage accountability beyond showing up — too often with agenda-driven marching orders — with a “Get out the informed vote” campaign?

Aquarium Gets Serious About Fun

Kudos to the Florida Aquarium for its well-received new attraction, the 2.2-acre, $1.9-million Explore A Shore water park. It’s a place for kids to have fun, while their parents sip a pina colada in the Caribbean Cantina.

It’s also the latest gambit in a strategy that has evolved since the aquarium’s opening in 1995. Back then, the experience was all about education, a well-intended, even noble pursuit.

That educational experience, however, works best within the context of flat-out fun. It’s what you do when you’re in the entertainment sector. It’s what you do when you want to continue growing the business and keep reducing the city’s subsidy.

Well done. Again.

Florida Still Stuck With “Stupor Tuesday”

Once again Florida has been relegated to “Stupor Tuesday” status.

In the aftermath of Sen. John Kerry’s “Super Tuesday” triumph, Florida is again left to ponder its irrelevance in the primary system. Before Florida’s meaningless, anti-climactic vote this week, 30 states already had cast ballots. All but two — South Carolina and Vermont — for Kerry.

Critical enough to be a “battleground” state and significant enough to be decisive during the general election, Florida is less important than Iowa or New Hampshire in determining actual nominees. The Sunshine State is a primary black hole.

Nothing, mind you, against the old fashioned, participatory politics of caucus-going, demographically skewed Iowans, the silo minority. And it’s hardly New Hampshire’s fault that it’s as tiny as it is unrepresentative of the rest of the country. But it’s a farce that such electoral vote-challenged states are major players in the nominating process.

And Florida isn’t.

Once again we are reminded that a presidential primary system front-loaded with Iowa and New Hampshire is good for pollsters, pundits — and the media self-interest of the two states. The media get to play momentum kingmaker as they poll recycled Cedar Rapids’ “undecideds” and Manchester malcontents to declare who leads the horse race, who is “electable,” and who may have done himself in with a campaign rally “primal scream.”

When New Hampshire voters cast their ballots, their choices included: Gen. Wesley Clark, former Gov. Howard Dean, Sen. John Edwards, Rep. Dick Gephardt, Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Sen. Joe Lieberman, former Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun, Rev. Al Sharpton — and Sen. John Kerry. When Florida Democrats voted this week, they were, in effect, handed a rubber stamp. Kerry may as well have been running against Ralph Nader. Or Ralph Kramden.

It’s enough to rouse nostalgia for a brokered convention. Remember John F. Kennedy only won seven primaries in 1960.

Both parties need to get serious about a primary system that ill serves its nominee-picking charge. Iowa and New Hampshire exercise an inordinate amount of influence. It’s time, candidly, to look at holding regional primaries on the same day. Would even make for less local pandering.

Prior to that, candidates can face the crucible of Don Imus for a real-world reading of their “electability.”

Make That TeacherS Of The Year

By all accounts, the accolades and congratulations were well earned by Mellissa Alonso, the Valrico Elementary reading resource teacher who was named Hillsborough County’s Teacher of the Year. Good teachers can’t get enough recognition and reward. There’s no pedestal big enough for those fighting the good fight on America’s educational front lines.

But here’s a suggestion. Make one fundamental change in the award. Give out two of them. One for secondary and one for elementary.

As it now stands, the Teacher of the Year Award goes to a single recipient selected from the ranks of all teachers. For example, the 10 finalists this year were a mix of two high school, three middle and five elementary teachers.

It’s really not appropriate to name one overall winner when there’s not consistent criteria or comparable skills evaluated. Secondary teachers, for example, are much more subject-oriented than their elementary counterparts. The methodology of instruction is inherently dissimilar. And classroom management is a whole different dynamic with more mature — or at least bigger — students.

All great teachers have obvious traits in common. They love their work; they’re effective communicators; they’re adept motivators. But to be comparing, say, an outstanding 12th grade physics teacher with a gifted first grade instructor is neither fair nor valid.

Selmon Steps Down — And Up — for USF

When Lee Roy Selmon stepped down as USF athletic director and stepped into the presidency of the USF Foundation Partnership for Athletics, everybody won.

Most importantly, the move allowed Selmon to back away from the AD pressure that was adversely impacting his health. But it also positioned Selmon to be of even more help to USF.

Selmon’s value lies in his Hall of Fame name and his classy image. The right doors open for a local icon with the gentleman’s touch. Those attributes are invaluable in fundraising, which will be his main charge.

Those same traits, however, are of negligible value in the Byzantine, pressurized world of intercollegiate conference hopping, scheduling and budgeting. Selmon was not at his best when presiding over such details and occasionally dropped the ball, especially on scheduling.

USF didn’t so much lose an AD as it gained a leg up on fundraising. That will be critical to any success the Bulls have in the Big East conference, which they join in 2005.

A healthy Selmon may be just what the doctor ordered for USF’s relatively budget-challenged athletic coffers.

Violent Crime Stats Need Context

First, the good news — as was emblazoned in the recent headline: “Violent Crimes Decline in 2003.” The number of reported violent crimes in Tampa dropped nearly 9 percent last year. For stat buffs and those who live in the abstract, that also calculates to 10.8 crimes per 100 people — a not insignificant decline from 11.3.

Now, for some context. While robberies were down, rapes and homicides were, well, up.

Atlanta Comes Clean

As a former resident of Atlanta, I was hardly shocked that the city has officially acknowledged underreporting crime to boost its ultimately successful effort to woo the 1996 Olympics. Anyone who has lived there can bear witness that the archetype of the “New South” and Mecca for the black middle class goes to extremes to keep its progressive image well burnished. Even when it isn’t pitching the Olympics.

Atlanta may be “too busy to hate,” but it has never been too busy to self promote. To paraphrase Benjamin Disraeli, there are lies, damn lies and Atlanta crime statistics.

Leaving A Legacy — And A Void

This media market — and, more importantly, this community — lost an invaluable asset with the passing of Chris Thomas. As so many have already noted, he was knowledgeable, witty and fun. Listeners to his late morning show on WDAE-620 felt better for having been privy to his insights and his antics.

Conversely, viewers of Channel 8 still felt cheated for having been deprived of his presence since WFLA-TV cut him loose in 2000 and started playing the junior varsity. Management still bears the responsibility — borne mainly of cost-cutting — for not renewing Thomas’ contract. And it still bears responsibility for having ratcheted down its on-air quality and chemistry — at 6 p.m and 11 p.m. — after Thomas’s firing.

What the station jettisoned was a media personality who truly saw sports for what they were. He was never defined by the athletic celebrities in his orbit. Nor did he ever play the part of “homer,” even if references to RayJay as the “CITs” wore a bit thin. No way were athletes “warriors” to Thomas.

Sports, as Thomas would remind us in his inimitable way, could be fun and exciting, but they — especially at the professional level — were also part of a parallel universe that was more like the theater of the absurd. Ultimately sports were just about games.

Thomas called it as he saw it — through his unique prism of knowledge and surrealism.

But in so calling, he manifested a depth of understanding and frame of reference that surpassed anyone else in this market. Thomas was the only on-air, sports personality in Tampa Bay who could have made it in any market. He was a pro’s pro who made it fun.

He has left both a legacy — and a void.

Colorado Scandal Context

Let me say this up front: the unfolding sex-and-rape scandal at the University of Colorado is beyond abhorrence. If the allegations are proven — and there are seven rape claims since 1997 — the university needs to take a long look at what it has, in effect, condoned in the name of fielding a competitive Division 1-A football team. It needs to consider imploding the program and starting over — maybe at the intramural level. Moreover, it should be an alarm bell for a lot of other major college programs that don’t exactly comport themselves like monasteries.

If the charges are proven, then head Coach Gary Barnett, is at fault and accountable — even if he had “plausible deniability.” The person in charge is the point man for the group culture. If you don’t know what’s going on, it’s because you don’t want to know.

But it also appears that the media could have been flagged for piling on. Many outlets played fast and loose with some of Barnett’s quotes, such that they were seen as the epitome of insensitivity and a basis of culpability. One typical account, which was picked up across the country, was from the Los Angeles Times. It said: “Coach Gary Barnett was placed on leave after downplaying an allegation by Katie Hnida, a former Colorado kicker, who said she was assaulted by a teammate. Barnett called her a ‘terrible’ player.”

Most pundits jumped at such an assessment as proof positive that Barnett was somehow dismissing the seriousness of the allegation because the alleged victim wasn’t very talented. Barnett certainly could have picked a better time and place for such candor, but what he said was in answer to a direct question — one of many — about Hnida’s skill level.

This often happens in journalism. The reader/viewer never sees the complete context of a comment. Only in this case the answer to a direct question was inserted into a context that read a lot differently than it sounded at a pack-journalism interview with individual questions raining down. Even Barnett, who has a lot to answer for, deserved better than that.