Letters to the editor:
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Forgive Us Our Stupidity

Oh, Metro Pulse, Metro Pulse... I love reading you. What else is there in Knoxville? But I gotta say it: You guys are living in the sexist past.

For your Jan. 13 cover story [Vol. 10, No. 2], "Future World," you interviewed 36 people about their visions of Knoxville in 2100. Of these, six were women, as far as I could tell from their first names. Yes, I know. In the South, where Carol and Lynn may be men and Mike and Bradley may be women, it's hard to determine gender from first names. But still: SIX? In other words, 17 percent, when more than 50 percent of adults are women? C'mon!

And, while I have nothing against hair piece promoters, matchmakers, clothing designers, tattoo parlor owners, or frog collectors, surely you could have found SOME other women, in addition to the wonderful Carlene Malone, who are government officials, planners, historians, and activists. Surely, too, SOME of them have faces worth photographing, rather than having a "boy's only" club for your nine photos.

My own vision for 2100 is a world where a woman wouldn't dream of writing a letter like this. She wouldn't have to. But you need to help make that happen.

Mary English
Knoxville

Now That's Shoppertainment!

OK, I agree that the dome over Market Square is ridiculous ["Downtown's D-Day," Vol. 10, No. 3], but as a property owner and soon-to-be resident of the Square, I am more concerned about those pesky covenants. Will I lose my current tenant, a breakfast and lunch only restaurant? And how will the "shoppertainment" concept affect possible neighborhood service businesses? But wait! I'm having a magnificent vision of the Marcus Shirley Group performing Thursdays at 10 p.m. at the local drycleaners!

Mel McHugh
Knoxville

So Sleepy...

Did I sleep through part of the year or did you forget something? ["The 1999 Year in Review," Vol. 9, No. 51]. Didn't that incident about Mr. Keith's alleged DUI happen in '99 or was that '98? Anyway, his firing of an officer who was involved in "the plot" on a trumped-up charge of police brutality certainly happened this year. I must admit, though, that probably isn't as newsworthy as the one about the Mayor's Mum or the communications tower.

Regarding your lines about the Sheriff's "undercover investigation," what if this produces favorable results? Don't you think there will be some red faces in newspaper offices when they decide whether or not to apologize to Mr. Hutchinson or just hope it will go away and not report it as has happened so often in the past few years.

Ken Redmond
Knoxville