UT Chancellor Should Be All VOL

UT Chancellor Should Be All VOL

I have watched the search process for a new UT Knoxville Chancellor with excited anticipation at the possibilities that could occur.  I now fear that I will only be disappointed with the choice being made by a professional head hunter group.

Nowhere in the list of candidates that has been released has there been a graduate of UTK.  Now many people will tell you that it is more important to find someone with the proper academic qualifications and a past history of teaching, fund-raising, and management experience to take the reins at the Knoxville Campus. To them I would say we have tried that and the results were abysmal.

UT Knoxville needs a leader who has gone through the UT Knoxville experience as a student if he/she is to relate to the students on campus.  We need a leader that understands the inter-relationship of the campus with the City of Knoxville, the farmers in Tennessee, the business community, and the Oak Ridge laboratory.

The news reports and press conferences that I have seen show UT Knoxville bringing in candidates to meet with faculty and staff, maintenance workers, and student representatives.  What is the purpose of having a search committee if they are just going to gauge public response and pick the least objectionable candidate?

UTK needs leadership and needs a strong presence as the head of the University.  My fear is that they are looking for a mouthpiece and a PR manager.  What we need is the next Andy Holt, Ed Boling, or Jack Reese.  For now, the Alumni wait to see.

Where's the Outrage? Ban These Instruments of Death Now!

Almost every day you hear of another life lost, yet these instruments of death continue to proliferate.  Day after day the numbers of licenses increase for individuals to own one.

Where is the voice of reason calling for us to ban once and for all these weapons of death?  You won’t hear it from me, or even the liberals among us.  The current statistic in Tennessee, as posted by the Tennessee Department of Transportation on their digital message boards is 622 roadway fatalities this year alone. So what does this number tell us?

It tells us that we are okay with people dying for the sake of convenience.  The liberal left will tell us that we must ban all guns because guns kill innocent people.  Automobiles kill far more people in this country than guns year after year, yet they are silent on banning automobiles.

So, if tragic deaths (automobile accidents) are not offensive, then you have to ask yourself why the outcry to ban guns?  Our founding fathers realized the importance of a well armed public that could defend themselves against the usurpation of our liberty by a tyrannical government bent on stripping away our freedom.

When our military personnel are sworn into service, they vow not to answer to a president, or to congress.  Their oath states that they promise to defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies, both foreign and domestic. 

We are a nation of free individuals partly because we have the right to carry guns.  Guns don’t kill people any more than cars kill people.

This blog is the personal opinion of the writer and is published as editorial comment.

Failure to Yield: It's Epidemic

From my office window, I have an excellent view of a quarter mile section of the westbound lane of I-40 through West Knoxville. Almost daily, and often more than once, motorists are pulled to the side of the road and issued a traffic citation for speeding. However, Failure to Yield is the true root of the traffic problems and road rage on our highways.

What is Failure to Yield? It’s driving in the left hand lane when traffic is backed up behind you, or the right lane is clear. It’s turning on your indicator and assuming you have the right to pull over. It’s pulling from an on ramp into traffic at 20 miles an hour below the posted speed. For the purpose of this article let’s focus on the left hand lane; the passing lane.

Just so you know I drive fast. In my defense, I walk fast too. The fact that someone drives faster than you, or the speed limit, doesn’t give you the right to tie up the left hand lane. I have a good friend that refers to their self as a “blocker.” He believes that it is his duty to slow traffic down in the left hand lane. The left hand lane is a passing lane. The sole purpose of this lane is to allow traffic to flow unimpeded. If you drive in the left hand lane you will notice a sign in the median that says, “Slower Traffic Keep Right.”

My wife would say, just pass them on the right, what’s the big deal. The big deal is I already know they can’t drive and to pass them on the right puts me in their blind spot. It causes me to merge into slower traffic and find enough room to get around them, when they are going the speed of traffic in the right hand lane already. And, it’s illegal to pass someone on the right hand side. That’s why we have a passing lane. Unfortunately, one does not have to venture very far to observe the behavior of these “blockers.”

Take Pellissippi Parkway from I-40 towards Maryville any weekday afternoon and you will observe far more traffic in the left hand lane than in the right. Oddly enough, I have noticed a pattern that many of these individuals have Blount County tags (that’s a tip for the officers in the area). You will notice a pattern of 8 to 10 cars in a line in the left hand lane and 2-3 in the same section of roadway in the right hand lane. This is what causes road rage. This is what causes accidents. So, how do you prevent it?

I would estimate that the Knoxville Police Department generates nearly $10 million each year in revenue from citations issued. This information used to be published in an annual report. Somewhere in the last 30 years that document went from being an accounting document showing revenue and expenses, to being a slick PR piece. If a breakdown was available of the number of citations issued for speeding versus those issued for failure to yield, I’m sure you would see why this is an epidemic problem on our roadways today.

This is not just a local problem. You can see this pattern on any interstate in the country today, no matter where you drive. The problem is not caused by our law enforcement officers it is the fault of the individuals oblivious to those behind them. So, if you are one of these “blockers”, move over. Your actions are just as illegal as the person behind you trying to pass.


This blog is the personal opinion of the writer and is published as editorial comment.

Bruce Pearl Has Paid the Price: Fight the NCAA

As an alumni of the University of Tennessee, I would like to go on record as saying that I believe we should keep Coach Bruce Pearl. Did he lie? Yes and he admitted that before the NCAA found out. Have we all made mistakes in our lives, absolutely.

So this comes down to deciding if we allow a man to make a mistake. I can guarantee you that if we let Bruce go our next coach will not be perfect. Bruce accepted and dealt with the punishment from the University and the SEC. If the NCAA comes out with additional sanctions, then they are saying that colleges and conferences are not capable of handling problems on their own. If the NCAA brings additional sanctions, then the University and the SEC should say in the future, “Why should we punish anyone, when the NCAA is going to do it.”

If the NCAA comes out with the death penalty and bans Coach Pearl from coaching for a period of time, then Mike Hamilton and the University of Tennessee should fight. Or maybe they have forgotten that the first six weeks into his first season we made more on concessions at Thompson Bowling than the whole previous year.

The University appears to be throwing in the towel and quitting. They should be defending the actions they have already taken; along with the conference. They should be fighting for not only our coach, but the good of our program moving forward. They should be pointing to the “body of work” that has occurred under Bruce Pearl’s leadership of the team and not allow the NCAA to throw all of that effort away.

Until Bruce arrived, our track record of hiring basketball coaches was pretty bleak. Do we think that all of a sudden we will be better at hiring a new head coach?

Practice forgiveness and keep Coach Bruce Pearl.

This blog is the personal opinion of the writer and is published as editorial comment.

Veterans We Remember

In 1918, on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, at eleven o'clock in the morning, an armistice was signed that would herald the end of World War I. Today we celebrate that occasion across our great nation and thank all of those who have served in any branch of the service. Whether in peacetime, or while at war, your service was a commitment to your fellow Americans to defend the constitution of the United States of America. We thank you for your service and want you to know that it will never be forgotten.

Remember our soldiers and hold accountable those who would lessen their sacrifice. If the reporter is biased, point out their inaccuracy. If the poet cheapens patriotism, write for yourself. If a protestor has the wrong message, stand up and yell. When a judge is soft on those who would take our liberty, take the gavel from their hand. If the politician would infringe on our right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, then VOTE. Our freedom has been paid for through the sacrifices of others.

God Bless America.

National Park Eliminates Trash Cans, Why?

Today was a great Father’s day. My child woke me up at 8:00. Later in the day, we drove to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) and drove around Cades Cove loop.

We stopped at the Cable Mill and I picked up a piece of trash in the parking lot; because that’s just what I do. When I looked for a trash can, there was not one to be found. So I carried the trash into the small store and asked if they could throw it away. I was told that they removed all of the trash cans. I said, “Excuse me?” That's what my brain defaults to when I hear something so absurd that I can't formulate a response.

The gentleman behind the counter said that they removed all of the trash cans on the site (except I did notice one in the bathroom for “diapers only”). Now, the GSMNP is perhaps one of the cleanest, most pristine, areas that I know. The water is clean, the trails stay relatively trash free, and you don’t notice litter along the roadways. So, what genius decided to make a policy to take the trash cans out of a major destination? How many people carry a trash bag in their car?

If you have a car full of kids and they are eating snacks, drinks, and using plates and napkins, wouldn’t it be a good idea for them to have a place to clean out the car? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to take out the trash everyday than to clean trash up along the roadway?

I’m sure that they have a theory, about how eliminating trash cans is a good idea, to keep the park beautiful; no I’m sorry, really? I can’t even type that line without my brain looking back over the sentence. I’m sure that somewhere in a file is a memo that outlines the rational and I would love to read that and know who signed on the dotted line.

This policy should seriously be reconsidered and I am asking everyone to call the Ranger at (865) 436-7777.

Oh, by the way, while walking back to my car I picked up another piece of trash, yeah, just because that’s the way my father raised me.

Tree Topping Hurts?

Recently the Knoxville Utilities Board (KUB) has been in a battle with a prominent local citizen over their tree trimming policy. KUB has been working on “preventive maintenance” to lessen the effects of storms on power outages; by trimming nearby trees away from the utilities right of way they hope to lessen the power outages caused by trees and limbs falling on power lines during thunderstorms and when it snows.

A prominent local citizen feels infringed upon because one of the trees they want to trim is in his yard. This created a review process that the utility is undergoing to justify their policy and to provide a citizen forum to implement future public policy regarding the protection of KUB’s right of way. So, what does this mean to the average citizen, or more importantly, where will we see utility rates go from here?

Obviously, power outages are inconvenient to us all. They cause accidents when traffic signals fail and they cause hardships on businesses and families. KUB attempts to prevent these outages by clearing away limbs and trees that, during a storm, would blow, sway, or fall and interfere with the power lines themselves.

Preventive clearing of these obstacles is cheaper, because crews are not on overtime and the work can be scheduled in an orderly fashion. If the door is opened for customers to contest this process, then the utility will have to “request permission” from the homeowner before they can clear a right of way they have already compensated the homeowner for in the past. This will lead to higher rates as KUB implements additional procedures and legal obstacles to reduce damage to power lines and equipment. So what is the answer?

Maybe homeowners should have to sign a waiver accepting any liability for the expense of clearing the power line during a storm and assume the liability to citizens for any damage caused by the power outage. Maybe because you were fixing dinner for an important family function or client, you can sue the owner of the tree because they didn’t let KUB prevent the power outage in the first place. Or perhaps KUB should charge the replacement of transformers and power poles to those homeowners that don't keep the right away clear themselves.

In the end, the only ones that will benefit are the lawyers that represent each side.