by Barry Henderson
Gov. Phil Bredesen's handling of the University of Tennessee presidential fiasco has been exemplary. He deserves more than a little credit for his performance as chairman of the UT Board of Trustees.
With a set of trustees and a failed UT president that he inherited, Bredesen has trod carefully, putting the reputation of the state and its university first. There had to be a temptation to throw up his arms in exasperation and publicly condemn ex-President Shumaker's behavior early in the stream of accusations against him, the second president of the UT system to resign in disgrace.
But Bredesen held to a civil and measured set of responses, declaring that he would wait until a special audit of Shumaker's expenses and an investigation of Shumaker's other activities were completed and the evidence was in hand.
Only when the audit determined that Shumaker had altered evidence did Bredesen blow up, calling Shumaker a liar and absolving the UT Board of any obligation to honor the ex-president's negotiated severance package.
Bredesen's attitude toward ethics in government was evident early in his tenure as governor, when he created the toughest ethics policy for top state officials in the state's history and established a committee to review any suspected violations. The policy requires disclosure of financial interests and bans acceptance of gifts worth more than $50, among other provisions.
So when it became public knowledge this summer that Shumaker had been abusing the university airplane for private trips, dallying with a woman president of an Alabama institution under the guise of university business, and running up excessive expenses on the university's charge card credit and outfitting the president's residence with lavish accouterments, Bredesen should have known the president was only borrowing time.
Yet the governor waited until Aug. 7 to ask for Shumaker's resignation in a private confrontation in Nashville. The president quit the next day.
Now the university is engaging in the unpleasant task of attracting a new president, with Bredesen leading the search as board chairman.
He says the whole way the board conducts its business needs changing, with more openness and more active trustee participation.
And there's something about the way the whole outrageous turn of events has been handled by the governor that leaves the impression that any board reform will be positive, and the presidential search process will be efficient and fruitful.
That's an awfully optimistic position to take, but there a lot of confidence has been generated by the governor's style and statements. We'll see how it all works out over the next few months.
Boortz-manship
The editor's column last week lamenting the loss of the daily radio talk show on local political and social subjects hosted by Frank Cagle, in favor of the syndicated aggravation perpetrated by Atlantan Neal Boortz, produced an unexpected reaction that drew nationwide attention. Boortz was unhappy, on the air and on the Internet.
His website referred to the Metro Pulse editor's column under the headline: "NOW I'M GOING TO BE DEPRESSED ALL DAY." Boortz continued by saying, "The Neal Boortz Show recently moved to News Talk 99 - WNOX radio in Knoxville, Tennessee. Although we've received good response from the WNOX listeners through phone calls and e-mail, there is at least one person in Knoxville who is, shall we say, less than pleased.
"Barry Henderson writes in Knoxville's Metropulse[sic]. Here's just part of what he has to say about my efforts on WNOX.
"'Neal Boortz has been on Atlanta radio for something like 35 years. He's a right-winger with not so much an edge as a blunt instrument. Boortz calls himself a libertarian, thereby giving all legitimate libertarians a bad name. I'd mention that the late Lewis Grizzard, a friend of mine for years, was also a friend of Neal's, but one shouldn't speak so badly of the deceased. Personally, I've been listening to Boortz on and off—thankfully, mostly off—for more than 30 years.... Neal Boortz adds nothing to the argument. His hopeless cynicism and jerk-off rhetoric deserves no attention at all from thoughtful people, and his radio show deserves no airtime in this market. Is anyone listening?'
"It's telling that Barry Henderson also states his distaste for Fox News Channel in his column. That puts me in some pretty good company and helps to ease the sting of his negative review. As for his question, 'Is anyone listening?'—in due time the Knoxville listeners will have their say."
Of course, his listeners did respond, as evidenced in our "Incoming" letters to the editor on Page 11 in this issue. The responses came from all around the country, where Boortz's radio show is played. So, I have just these two things to say to Boortz about his rejoinder:
Spell our name right, and, I'm happy to see you indicate you're comfortable with the association with Fox News. I rest my case.
January 2, 2003 * Vol. 13, No. 1
© 2003 Metro Pulse
| 
