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Seven Days

Wednesday, April 30
The city budget is unveiled for next year, requiring no tax increase to maintain most service levels, despite revenue losses from the state. Is David Copperfield the unannounced candidate for mayor?

Thursday, May 1
Legislation to make the two-year-old, cash-rich UT Foundation's records subject to state audit (but not public inspection, of course) is reported being hashed around in Nashville. Don't those pesky legislators know that the whole point of the foundation's founding was to take that money out from under state review?

Friday, May 2
Sign of the mari-times? A Dandridge man is accused of setting fire to the Jefferson County Courthouse and attempting to flee the scene riding a jet ski on Douglas Lake. He's arrested by a sheriff's deputy who chases him down in a boat.

Saturday, May 3
The Associated Press reports that Tennessee lawmakers are considering setting up some sort of licensing test to operate a watercraft, making it next to impossible, or at least illegal, for 13-year-olds to drive a 70-foot houseboat or a 70-mph bassboat like they can now. Why don't they go ahead and vote to take all the fun out of boating?

Monday, May 5
The state Senate votes to ban smoking in the Capitol Building. It'll probably get through the House as long as no one tries to amend it to prohibit chewing, dipping or spitting on the floor of those hallowed halls.

Tuesday, May 6
Sen. Bill Frist pays off on his bet that the Lady Vols would whip Connecticut for the national championship. He'd bet Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., a barbecue lunch against a lobster lunch. "Lobster? Nobody told us we were playing for lobster!" Coach Pat Summitt responds.

Knoxville Found

(Click photo for larger image)

What is this? Every week in "Knoxville Found," we'll print the photo of a local curiosity. If you're the first person to correctly identify this oddity, you'll win a special prize plucked from the desk of the editor (keep in mind that the editor hasn't cleaned his desk in five years). E-mail your guesses, or send 'em to "Knoxville Found" c/o Metro Pulse, 505 Market St., Suite 300, Knoxville, TN 37902.

Last Week's Photo:
OK, the following readers wrote in last week and correctly identified the Knoxville Found photo from the previous week:
Aaron Kohring
Charles Busseni Richmond
Susie Holden�
Don Vowell
Michael Murphy
And we certainly want to acknowledge their perspicuity, but, the problem, folks, is that the deadline had passed on that photo. Y'all are supposed to be identifying last week's photo for this week. And, once again, nobody did.
So let's go over this, one more time. Because you irked us by not bothering to ID last week's photo or the previous week's, we are punishing you by not revealing what they are. And we don't want you to try to guess on them. Again: Don't guess on the previous two weeks' photos. No, we want you to identify this week's photo. Got it? This week's photo.
Now everybody better understand. So do you? Are you listening? Don't make us come over there and get you...

Meet Your City
A calendar of upcoming public meetings you should attend

METROPOLITAN PLANNING COMMISSION
Thursday, May 8
1:30 p.m.
City County Bldg.
Main Assembly Room
400 Main St.
A proposal to rename Salvus Street "Honor Our Troops Drive" is on the agenda, as well as many use-on-review changes to OS 1 (Open Space).

CITY COUNCIL
Tuesday, May 13
7 p.m.
City County Bldg.
Main Assembly Room
400 Main St.
Regular meeting.

PUBLIC BUILDING AUTHORITY
Wednesday, May 14,
4 p.m. City County Bldg.
Room 549
400 Main St.
Executive Committee meets at 4 p.m., Board of Directors meets at 5 p.m.

KNOXVILLE UTILITIES BOARD AUDIT & FINANCE COMMITTEE
Thursday, May 15
10:30 a.m.
Miller's Bldg.
KUB Board Room
445 S. Gay St.
Regular meeting.

KNOXVILLE UTILITIES BOARD
Thursday, May 15
11 a.m.
Miller's Bldg.
KUB Board Room
445 S. Gay St.
Regular meeting.

Affirmative Denial
Minority assistance not at all diverse at UT

While 400 white students sue the University of Michigan for discriminating against them through affirmative action, various ethnic groups at UT also feel unfairly excluded from their school's minority advantages.

UT's minority scholarships and other programs are aimed at increasing diversity among its student body. However, Asian Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans are not considered in the application process.

"If they're going to have anything for minorities, then it should include all of us," said Raniyah Rahman, a junior who sees the lack of other Asian-American students as a result of discrimination.

"You can't think you live in an ideal world where racism doesn't exist, because it does," she added.

The Minority Undergraduate Scholarship, given only to African Americans, is a result of a 35-year-old lawsuit, said Richard Bayer, dean of enrollment services. Rita Sander Geier was a professor at Tennessee State University when she successfully sued the state for supporting segregated campuses.

Although the university no longer has to maintain a quota of African American students and faculty, both the university and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission are required to offer a total of $675,000 annually toward scholarships for African Americans.

"The only reason they have scholarships for blacks is because the courts told them they had to," said Zachary Dewerff, vice-president of the new Latino fraternity. "What I'd like to see is them broaden out to Hispanics and other minorities like Native Americans."

Dewerff and other founders of Lambda Theta Phi decided they shouldn't only depend on the university to recruit more Hispanics. Instead they've taken the matter into their own hands by organizing different fundraising events. Their donations to the National Hispanic Scholarship Fund give high school graduates financial opportunities outside of UT.

"When we have our feet under us we'd like to have our own scholarships with the university. This way we'll be taking responsibility for ourselves," Dewerff said.

Minority Enhancement for UT is another program designed to introduce potential African American students to the university. Yet Dewerff says discrimination is not the reason why Hispanics have been left out of it. He said Latinos need to follow the struggle of African Americans in order to find their own voice.

Although Hispanics recently became the nation's largest minority group, this trend is not as visible in the UT student body. The university's freshmen class had only 55 Hispanics in Fall 2002, as compared to the 775 Hispanic seniors in all state high schools at the time.

"You have to keep in mind that not all of them scored higher than an 18 on the ACT," Bayer said. Only 172 of the (Hispanic) high school seniors in Tennessee scored more than an 18 last year.

Nevertheless, the creation of the Latino task force at UT shows an effort to increase diversity among staff and students. Tim Rogers, vice-provost of student affairs, organized the task force in order to attract more Hispanics to UT through admissions and employment.

"We were honored to be invited to participate, " Dewerff said. "One of the things we discussed in some of the meetings is the development of a Hispanic student scholarship at UT."

Aside from scholarships, some students think the Minority Advisors program could also benefit other ethnic groups struggling with cultural barriers. The program currently provides academic support, social guidance and campus survival skills to African American students.

The use of the term 'minority' is inaccurate if it excludes Hispanics, agreed Theotis Robinson, vice-president of diversity.

Yet Dewerff believes that achieving representation is an "embryonic" process, and not something that will happen from one day to the next.

"Hopefully here in the near future when people think of minorities, they will see this whole different rainbow of people," he said.

—Alexia Campbell

The Winds of Change
The consequences of dirty air are too severe to ignore

In what's become the same old song and dance, Knoxville has again placed among the 10 cities with the worst air in the country, ranking at No. 9 this year.

Although the region has yet to make any significant progress on reducing ozone pollution, local officials are starting to realize they have to do something. Knoxville and the surrounding area are in imminent threat of being declared a non-attainment area by the Environmental Protection Agency because it has had consistently high ozone pollution.

Such a designation has much more immediate and tangible effects than the harder to measure environmental and health damage air pollution causes.

"It's almost like a scarlet letter of industrial recruiting," says Mike Arms, Knox county commissioner and the county's chief of staff.

Industries won't locate in non-attainment areas, because there are too many extra regulations and legal hoops to jump through regarding air emissions, Arms says. Non-attainment areas are also at risk for losing federal transportation funds, he says.

The EPA is expected to declare this region a non-attainment area in April 2004. However, the Bush Administration has created an escape clause for regions threatened with non-attainment, says Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE).

By creating an "early action compact" that shows they're taking air quality seriously, non-attainment areas can get a reprieve, Smith says. The compact outlines what actions local governments and the state will take to reduce emissions and reach attainment.

"What's really motivated [County Executive Mike] Ragsdale and everybody to find religion on clean air is they see this non-attainment designation coming at them," Smith says. Not that Smith is complaining.

"We've got some concerns [with their approach], but as a general rule, it's a good thing that they're taking a look at this," Smith says.

TVA's old coal-powered plants have been blamed for much of the pollution in this area. After years of criticism and lawsuits from environmentalists, the utility company is now making major pollution reductions at its coal plants. "When it comes to this particular pollutant, ozone, we're seeing TVA is making significant improvements that are just coming into play," Smith says. "But even with TVA's reductions, we've got to do more."

A lot of things are contributing to ozone pollution—people are driving more in less-efficient vehicles, there's a great deal of diesel truck traffic coming through Knoxville on Interstates 40 and 75, people are using too much energy (Knoxville has one of the highest per capita energy use rates in the country, probably because energy is so cheap here), and the georgraphy and weather are also conducive to ozone formation.

This is where the local governments come in. Late last month, 12 county executives from East Tennessee met at UT to talk about ways they could reduce air pollution. The counties hope to have a compact drawn up by June, Arms says. The four areas they're looking at include energy efficiency, alternative fuels, steps to take on high ozone days, and commuter choices, he says.

It's too early to say what actions the counties will decide on, but it will involve a variety of programs encouraging conservation and probably penalties and checks to limit polluting behavior.

For instance, on high ozone days, using gas-powered lawn-tending equipment might be restricted. Vehicle emission checks might also be required, Arms says. "They do them in Nashville," he says. "They do them in about every area that is in a non-attainment zone. That may be something we have to do."

The counties will also be pushing more efficient transportation programs and energy conservation. They also hope to get truckers to plug into electric power systems at rest stops, instead of idling their engines for hours.

"It's real easy for people to say this is industry and this is TVA. That is part of it. But there's also the part we generate and something we can do something about," Arms says.

Groups like the American Lung Association and SACE have long been declaring the environmental and health consequences of air pollution. Knoxville's been on the American Lung Association's worst ozone cities since it started ranking them in 2000. Last year, the city ranked 8th.

Ozone is formed when nitrogen oxides react with oxygen, sunlight and volatile organic compounds (released by cars, oil and chemical facilities, and some natural sources). Ozone sears the lungs and can cause headaches, burning eyes and shortness of breath. There's some evidence it can lead to chronic lung diseases, especially in children. People with asthma are especially at risk.

Ozone levels are usually the highest during warmer months. People can reduce ozone levels by reducing their driving, conserving energy, keeping the cars tuned up, and using electric lawn equipment. During warm months, filling gas tanks at night also helps.

For more information, visit the Lung Association's website at www.lungusa.org.

—Joe Tarr