Waiting Room TV

Ever notice there are some TV shows that you never, ever see unless you’re in a waiting room? Last year I was spending down time waiting for my Jeep at Ferman, when I was privy to “Family Feud.” Amazingly, it’s still on. But who’s watching it who’s not part of a captive audience? That’s what’s truly amazing.

Then last week — while pressed out in a hospital gown and waiting in a procedure queue at Memorial Hospital – I sat through “The Price Is Right” in its entirety. Right through to the climactic “Showcase Showdown.”

I’ll readily concede that in the case of a hospital, it wouldn’t be a good idea to be depressing patients with, say, CNN updates on all that’s wrong in the world. But the Bob Barker time capsule took me aback.

I half expected the nurse to exhort us to “Come on down for your colonoscopy.”

New Chamber Chairman Has Practical Agenda

It was that time again, and the guard recently changed at the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce with the installation of Sam Ellison as chairman. And with the new chairman, who otherwise wears the (hard) hat of managing director of the Beck Group commercial construction firm, comes a new perspective. One, quite frankly, that is as welcome as it is overdue.

Ellison, of course, wants to maintain the John Ramil-inspired momentum that has concentrated on diversifying the economy through biotechnology growth. He also has cited international trade — especially with Mexico — and downtown redevelopment – notably affordable housing – as priorities.

But those should now be givens on anybody’s watch. As obvious as maxing out on the biotech potential of USF, recruiting more containerized cargo and overseas flights and creating a downtown that doesn’t look like a high-rise Potemkin at night.

What Ellison really brings to the table is a candid, practical agenda that emphasizes the role of the business community in education – especially vocational and technical. According to Ellison, the community has “lost focus” on those who don’t see college in their future. And that’s about one in five Hillsborough County grads. This works to our detriment, he stresses, because these are the people “we need in our industries.”

Bingo.

While we all acknowledge the need for those who are creative, technologically gifted and entrepreneurial, we can’t neglect our bread and butter, if you will. To wit: Construction – and its myriad trade subsets — as well as the health care, hospitality and tourism sectors.

Next step is an upgraded collaboration between business/industry and education and additional stress on apprenticeship programs. But first, somebody needed to say what Ellison said. That everybody doesn’t go to college; nor should they. We need plumbers more than sociologists. A construction guy would know that.

Could Redner’s Inferno Upgrade Ybor?

Earlier this month, Joe Redner opened Inferno, an adult, uh, “themed” club in Ybor City. In the grand scheme of things, this is not what Tampa’s historic Latin Quarter needs in its entertainment mix. That’s why there’s Adamo Drive.

But grand schemes aren’t what they used to be. At certain hours, Ybor still seems the exclusive province of the tattoo -and beer-by-the-can crowd. Then there’s the curfew-creating Club Bling.

Not enough adults spending enough money is an all-too-familiar refrain.

Enter Inferno. According to Redner and early reports from the field, Inferno is operating within the confines of zoning ordinances that prohibit adult businesses — but permit risqué business. The Inferno dancers, says Redner, wear tops and bottoms and will only engage in eye contact with customers.

Two points.

First, never forget that Redner will continue to push the legal envelope on adult-business ordinances. It’s his raison d’etre. Remember, he is still fighting to re-open Ybor’s adult Club Flamingo, which the city shut down in the 1990s.

Second, Redner – for all of his arrogance and hustle — knows his way around the First Amendment and is an astute businessman. He certainly knows his market – older guys with money – and knows they would be a welcome presence in Ybor.

As he told the Tampa Tribune, “My dancers are looking for mature men with a pocket full of money. They’re not looking for 18-year-olds.”

To be sure.

He also told the Trib: “I’m going to raise the caliber of clientele in Ybor City

Current Maps – and Updated Priorities

It’s no secret that Americans, especially when compared to Europeans, are woefully ignorant when it comes to geography and history. Maybe it’s because for too long the world had to come to us. And there were those two continent-dividing oceans. As a result, we didn’t deign to speak other languages or bother to familiarize ourselves with other cultures.

In the global village and marketplace, it works to our decided disadvantage.

Now we find out that Hillsborough County, which is probably not a national anomaly, has lots of schools where social studies has to be taught without benefit of reasonably current maps and globes. Teachers have to improvise and sometimes use outside sources, such as local chambers of commerce, for supplies. And when push comes to shove financially, sometimes an FCAT subject trumps geography.

At Wharton High, for example, school maps haven’t caught up with the implosion of the Soviet Union or the unification of Germany. Don’t even ask about Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia or Zaire. Reportedly Siam, Persia and Prussia have, however, been updated.

One other point.

Up-to-date maps are no guarantee of up-to-date knowledge and frame of reference. World geography has to be made a classroom priority or else students will simply have better maps to ignore.

Aquarium Making Bigger Splash

It was re-affirming to see the numbers for The Florida Aquarium’s most recent fiscal year. The Channel District attraction took in revenue of $11.8 million, the best ever performance in its nine-year history. As a result, the city’s subsidy was lowered (from $850,000 to $750,000) for the current operating budget.

What was re-affirmed is that the Aquarium can be both educational – and fun. And marketed mainly as the latter. It didn’t open that way and debuted to disappointment.

While attendance — 608,000 compared with 582,000 in 2003 – was up, that’s only part of the equation. Visitors also stayed longer and spent more in the gift shops and restaurants.

A key reason is the new Explore A Shore, a 2.5-acre play area for kids that has been a magnet for moms and young children. The key catalyst was Thom Stork, the Aquarium’s president, who overcame some staff doubters and pushed hard for the $2-million addition. Statistics show that visitors have doubled their stay on average – from two to four hours – since the introduction of Explore A Shore in March.

Prior to his arrival in 2002, Stork had been in senior management positions with Busch Gardens and SeaWorld in Orlando. It shows.

Moreover, the upturns in revenue and attendance have been achieved without compromising the integrity of the environmental education that remains at the heart of the Aquarium experience.

But first you have to get your visitors through the turnstiles.

New History Center: It’s Our History – And Our Museum

While Jan Platt arguably has earned her “Commissioner No” moniker, her legacy will include an affirmative response she delivered back in the 1980s. That’s when, in an earlier stint as Hillsborough County commissioner, she gave the go-ahead to a task force to study the need and feasibility of a local history museum. The process would take a circuitous path, but the true believers never gave up.

Now those need-and-feasibility questions have been answered, and the city and county recently signed a deal to build the $17 million Tampa Bay History Center. The 32,000-square-foot facility will rise on a stretch of land that is part of Cotanchobee-Fort Brooke Park that fronts Garrison Channel across from Harbour Island. The opening is planned for 2008, at which time the current cramped quarters within the Tampa Convention Center will itself be rendered a piece of history.

The significance of the signed museum agreement cannot be overstated. Any more than history can be overstated.

As Kierkegaard put it, “Life must be lived forwards, but can only be understood backwards.” We need to know where we’ve been – as a societal guide to where we’re going. Tampa – and the Tampa Bay region — is hardly an exception.

In fact, with a population that is so native-challenged, knowing the history of this place we all call home is critical to our identity as a community that is both evolving – and fast-forwarding. There’s enough that divides us through our often competing interests. But if you’re here, it’s your history too – city and county.

What is also significant is how the pieces came together.

For openers, the hard-core history backers had to do a lot more than make the case in the abstract for a museum – regardless of what Kierkegaard said. They had to hustle and fundraise as an incentive for tax money. To date, they’ve raised some $9.5 million toward a $20-million, permanent endowment. The county, via the Community Investment Tax, had pledged $17 million for construction.

Then the Florida Communities Trust provided funds for a land segment that was the final phase of Cotanchobee-Fort Brooke Park.

Finally, the County Commission, which is hardly a rubber stamp for projects actually located in Tampa, reaffirmed its commitment with a unanimous vote in October. Last week Mayor Pam Iorio and county commission Chairman Jim Norman signed off on the agreement bringing downtown Tampa a notch closer to a cultural arts destination.

One final thought. Here’s hoping that this recent lesson in cooperation is not soon forgotten, and that there’s no reversion to the “us-vs-them” mentality that has characterized so much of past city-county relations. Then it won’t be Kierkegaard – but Santayana who will need quoting: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Railing Over Streetcar Scenarios

There were some dropped jaws and quizzical looks after that recent Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization vote that nixed a plan for going after federal dollars to extend Tampa’s 2.4-mile streetcar line. This came one day after Tampa City Council had voted to do just that.

What was at stake was some $3 million in federal transportation funds to take the line from the Tampa Convention Center north to Whiting Street near the Fort Brooke Parking Garage — about three-eights of a mile. The plan was part of an overall, long-term strategy to create a more diverse ridership by luring downtown workers.

The 6-5 vote did not include Tampa City Councilman Kevin White, who had to leave early. But it did include a surprise “no” from the Tampa Port Authority representative, Deputy Director Zelko Kirincich. The Port Authority, with lots of frontage on the line and conspicuously appreciative of any cruise-passenger amenity, has been a streetcar supporter.

Proponents of the streetcar – and eventually light rail for Tampa – see the MPO vote as a serious blow to the trolley’s future as something more than an economic development tool and tourist attraction. They also see the heavy-handed yet deft orchestration of Commissioner Ronda Storms at work.

They’re now looking to Mayor Pam Iorio, whose long-term outlook envisions the trolley as a viable automobile alternative, for help. Said one insider still taken aback by the MPO vote: “The question is, ‘Does the mayor have the will and ability to turn this thing around and get it re-heard.'”

In other words, will the mayor go to new Interim Port Director William Starkey – Kirincich’s boss – and ask him to step in? Is the street car extension – and future commuter scenarios — important enough right now to warrant a battle of the bully pulpits with Ronda Storms?

Or is it already time to quote Santayana again?

Gator Grad Upgrade?

In his brief Gainesville appearance last week, new University of Florida head football coach Urban Meyer made the rounds and made the right, positive impressions. He spoke glowingly about the “flagship” university that is UF, and how much he’s admired its nationally prominent football program. He said he considers the Gators to be the “premier” job in the country, and he welcomes the high expectations of Gator Nation.

He also reiterated his mantra: “Go to class, live right or don’t play.” By all accounts, it’s not an Urban myth.

If graduation rates are a barometer – and a priority — Meyer will have some upgrading to do at Florida. UF didn’t fare particularly well in a recently-released study by the Institute of Diversity and Ethics in Sports that shows the graduation rates – both overall and black — of the 56 bowl-bound teams. Florida finished 44th – sporting an overall graduation rate of 42 percent and a black graduation rate of 36 percent. This is also part of Steve Spurrier’s legacy.

As for Utah, Meyer’s old school, the Utes were 46th. Since Meyer was only there two years, the figures are no reflection on his tenure. The overall Utah rate was 41 percent; the black rate 31 percent.

It all underscores the immense challenge that even consummate disciplinarians such as Meyer face. “Student athlete” is too often an oxymoron. Gator graduation rates are unacceptable. And “going to class” is obviously not an end in itself.

Let the Urban renewal begin – on and off the field.

Hey, Tom: Congratulations

Saying Tom McEwen was a sports writer is like saying Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer. It doesn’t tell you nearly enough.

Tom McEwen, the former Tampa Tribune sports editor, was a force. A valued resource. An old-school, home-town community asset. More on that later.

Fact is, the 81-year-old McEwen still has a lot of shelf life – not just legacy stock. He still writes – and has his own web site.

Sure, he can reflect on Pete Rose and the early signs of talent, tenacity and trouble. He can tell you what Bear Bryant was like as a coach — or a golfing partner. Why George Steinbrenner never got over not buying the Buccaneers. What Al Lopez remembers most about Minnie Minoso. And he can give you the inside, dog-and-pony skinny on how the Buc franchise came to Tampa.

Unlike anyone else around here, McEwen can put current sports events into historic perspective. He knows the minutes from previous meetings. He probably kept them.

But he’s also where contemporary media go, for example, when they want to know what Steve Spurrier is really thinking. Some reporters would kill to have his Rolodex.

McEwen has long mattered to this town: For his scoops, his insights, his civic loyalty, his institutional memory and his myriad stints as a master of ceremonies for all manner of black-tie occasions and charity events. The city’s current “I am Tampa” slogan was embodied by McEwen an era ago.

So, it was most appropriate when an endowed scholarship for USF mass communications students was named in his honor. It will be funded fittingly by Media General and the Tampa Tribune .

McEwen was no Red Smith or Jim Murray or even Martin Fennelly. You won’t find “McEwen” and “wordsmith” in the same sentence – except for ones such as this. Too many sentences beginning with “Thought here is