Go East!
As an East Knoxvillian of almost seven years, I have known and appreciated all the wonderfully unique people and places of East Knoxville. As I read the April 24 issue of Metro Pulse I puffed and puffed with pride and then puffed some more. So many of the Bests of Knoxville 2003 are right here in East Knoxville and East Knox County!
I am absolutely thrilled that the East is represented in two of the four Mega Categories. I was particularly pleased to see fellow East Knoxvillian Maggie Longmire as winner of Best Local Music Group/Musician (also Best Local Release for her solo album Teachers and Travelers, runner up as Best Female Vocalist, runner up for Best Writer, and her former band the Lonesome Coyotes was runner up in the Best Bluegrass/Country Band category). Puleo's Grille in East Knox County is a delectable new restaurant my husband and I frequent, and it very deservedly won Best Restaurant (Also Best New Business, runner-up Best Place to Eat Alone, runner-up Best New Restaurant).
Hector Qirko, another East Knoxvillian, makes a well-deserved repeat performance as Best Blues Band. I was also not surprised to see the Knoxville Zoo as Best Kids Spot and Best Tourist Attraction, nor Three Ridges as Best Golf Course, with Holston Hills as runner up in that category (although Holston Hills does rank #3 in the state of Tennessee and #35 among classical courses in the nation). Thanks also to Jack Neely for recognizing two of our multi-decade family businesses that we truly love out here as Best Saturday-Evening Family Diversion: Drive-ins. Cardin's on Asheville Highway and the Pizza Palace on Magnolia are both real gems. We also love family-owned Petree's Florist (runner-up Best Florist), which has one of their two long-time locations on Magnolia Avenue. And, finally, The Rush, with a location at Knoxville Center, is very popular here and deservedly won as Best Alternative Fitness and runner-up for Best Fitness. Short of listing everything, about 30 chain stores with East locations also won in various categories or earned the title of "runner-up."
These are all great people and businesses. Many of them (plus so many others) recently gave selflessly and generously of their time, talent, and energy to make Town Hall East's first-ever Holston River Festival on April 26 a resounding success. So much so that we're considering bringing the Festival back again next year in another great celebration of our East Knoxville community.
Melissa Hansen-Petrik
President, Town Hall East
Whither or Wither?
I've always looked to Metro Pulse for independent reporting and analysis. I read, therefore, with some fear and initial loathing of the recent ownership changes at Knoxville's Weekly Voice.
How, for example, can Metro Pulse continue to report on issues of real estate development and residential and commercial construction when the new publisher of the paper is the president of one of the largest and most influential property developers in the Southeast? How can Metro Pulse offer objective insight into Market Square development when the new publisher of the paper is a partner with the group now overseeing the Market Square Redevelopment Project? Is there no conflict of interest?
Will Market Square store owners' concerns continue to be discussed in Citybeat? Will egregious cost overruns or inappropriate architectural decisions find a way into Joe Sullivan's usually perceptive and compelling Insights column? Will business relationships among Cardinal Management Group, Cardinal Construction, Kinsey Probasco, and others preclude certain stories from being written or certain influential politicians or businessmen from being discussed? Whither Metro Pulse?
Steven Friedlander
Knoxville
Little 'Buckhead?' Star
Finally a restaurant worth reviewing! Knoxville's restaurant scene over the years has been "lacking" to say the least. As someone who has lived in Knoxville most of his life, it is great to see our "scruffy little city" opening its culinary pallets to independent restaurants who are more adventurous than the cookie-cutter corporate chains that homogenize and bastardize all genres of cuisine. Chef/owner John McKee has the passion and tenacity lacking in so many culinary professionals in this and other cities. Not to slight the obvious talents of his chefs and servers, also a cut above the rest. In a conversation with John before his opening, he and I were discussing the potential for the Homberg area to become a little "Buckhead" (Atlanta for those confused) and hopefully the addition of Little Star will move that goal closer to reality. Knoxville has a handful of talented and creative chefs, a number that is thankfully growing, who are pulling our town out of the culinary gutter, and I hope that more people will take the leap of faith and move away from cookie-cutter food and support our local businesses. Here's to striving for excellence!
Mark McKinney
Knoxville
Unequal Protection
I could be dismissed from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. I've never caused a disturbance, been arrested, or otherwise been convicted of a crime. I've never failed a class or been caught cheating on my assignments. I've paid my tuition and fees on time every semester, so I couldn't be dismissed for owing money to the university. I am, however, a lesbian, and according to the current nondiscrimination clause at UT, I am not protected from dismissal, harassment, or any other form of discrimination.
It outrages me to think that I came to Knoxville six years ago solely to attend this university. I've thrown my time, energy, and resources into an institution that fails to merely protect me from inequity and bias. Adding sexual orientation is not a matter of agreeing with the homosexual lifestyle. It's not about anyone or any institution "condoning" homosexuality. It's simply a matter of granting basic human rights to a group that has long been discriminated against, physically assaulted, and persecuted. In fact, the FBI crime statistics for 2000 reveal that 16.1% of all hate crimes are based on the victims' sexual orientation, constituting the third largest category reported and a 1,000% increase since 1998.
Some opponents to expanding the nondiscrimination clause argue that civil rights protections should not be granted to homosexuals because we choose to be this way. I beg to differ on the grounds that discrimination based on religion and veteran status is prohibited in practically all places of employment. Both worshiping how you please and joining the military involve much more choice than someone's sexual orientation. Besides, I can tell you with certainty that being a lesbian is not my choice. If I had a choice, I would never choose to be the girl at whom everyone stares when she enters the room, or the girl who listens to the laughter as she passes by. The fact of the matter is that I am a lesbian, and regardless of whom I choose to spend my life with, my basic human rights should be protected.
Expanding the nondiscrimination clause is not a new issue at UT. In 1999, the administration failed to pass a resolution to add sexual orientation, although the motion had passed by large margins in the Student Government Association and the Graduate Student Association. The main argument against expanding the clause was that Tennessee state law did not include sexual orientation in its anti-bias policies, and therefore UT, as a state university, could not include it either. Yet, over 300 institutions of higher learning across the U.S. have done just that, including East Tennessee State University, Vanderbilt University, and Austin Peay State University.
I urge all the citizens of Knoxville to challenge the university to add sexual orientation in its nondiscrimination clause. I find the lack of an inclusive anti-bias policy frustrating and frightening as a student representative of UT, and as a Knoxvillian I find it infuriating. UT is a nationwide representative of the values and beliefs of the people of Knoxville. I call upon each of you to encourage the university to represent the community and the people who sustain it in a more inclusive, accurate, and responsible way.
Nikki Cook
Knoxville
Business in Education
I agree with Joe Sullivan's notion that "branding" a university is a bit odd sounding at first blush. On the other hand, UT is a business. It has operating expenses, it makes money, it loses money. It buys and sells goods and services. Maybe treating it more like a corporation and less like the 30-year-old with good intentions but still living in mom's basement isn't such a bad thing.
Do we privatize UT? Well, no. Clearly there is a need for land grant institutions with state subsidies to make higher education more widely available. On the other hand, it is rarely the private schools that are bleeding like a propeller mechanic with poor depth perception.
I'm a corporatist and have worked for companies both large and small, public and private. Working in academia has shown me things that would make Ross Perot roll down his metaphorical shirtsleeves and stand in utter silence. For example, in the private sector working a second job (maybe even having one's own business) is frowned upon. At a university, it is discussed openly and even extolled by the administration, "Professor Smith has his own widget firm when he is not teaching widgetry."
I would have lost my job if my email signature line at Corp. X had directed recipients to my side business' website—not so UT. In either case, I personally have no problem with second incomes. The problem arises (and this is what corporate strictures recognize) when devotion to the outside job eclipses the primary one, or worse strays into the dreaded "conflict of interest" realm. Naturally, there is a need to do research; of course, there is a demand to publish. It is the good professor who knows that those 60 eyeballs staring back at him or her are what matter most.
A person who truly earns the title "educator" uses those outside pursuits to enhance the classroom experience rather than using the classroom as a patron to finance forays into the real world.
At a seminar I once attended, a tenured professor (don't get me started on the idea of running a corporation on the tenure model) voiced that traditional business models can't work in academia because there is no board of directors who demand accountability. I argue that there is a board of thousands of directors, all of whom expect the best possible return on their four-year investment. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think if the students find it is no longer worth showing up, those of us employed by the university stop getting paychecks. Definitely sounds like accountability to me.
Students are both the product and the currency of the university. Products in the sense that you seek to send out into the world the best one you can make. Currency in that it is their positive experiences and achievements that "buy" another supply of the raw materials. I don't think that anyone need worry about President Shumaker turning UT into the GE of public education, but sometimes a leader has to lead and not seek to constantly build consensus. That's what great CEOs know, and maybe Dr. Shumaker does too. Then again, maybe I am just a cog in the wrong machine.
J. Cary Wiedman
UT College of Architecture & Design
Misinformed
I want to congratulate you with your "Best in town" issue. I imagine much time was spent putting it together and no doubt many have read it and some agree with your choices. I want to congratulate Disc Exchange for being your choice for best "record store," they are a good store, however, there are other good stores in town too.
First of all please change your title of "record store," music stores of today are CD stores. Record stores haven't been around for years (yes, I know, Disc Exchange does carry some vinyl). Also, an album is a "collection," like a picture album, and it doesn't necessarily mean vinyl).
Second, you make a judgment on mall stores insinuating they don't know what they are talking about. This is false. Stores generally know what they sell. Mall stores sell a different mix of music, therefore they generally know their particular mix of music, which is a little different than other stores. Also, over the years Disc Exchange has hired former mall employees and I don't feel they would hire people that don't know anything, even if they did come from the mall.
By the way, there are several people from the mall stores that are in bands. One mall store employs the lead singer of a popular local band and another one has an employee who used to have his own rock magazine. Furthermore, my assistant and I have over 20 years of full-time music retail between us.
Also, if I don't know an answer for someone, I sometimes call other competitors, and they sometimes call us for getting answers too. So don't assume what you don't know. I feel we, the music retailers, are friendly competitors and have our own particular niche in our market, so for future "Best Record (CD) store in town" article, please do better homework.
Tim Masten
Knoxville
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