Part 3 of big paper

Consolidation has been the center of Mayor Willie

Herenton's focus for Memphis, Tennessee for some time.

Some people are confident that it will make things

better, but others are not quite so sure that this is the

case. Key concerns about consolidation are debt, school

systems, crime, and a host of other smaller issues. To

this day, all of Herenton's arguements have been one-

sided, and no downfalls have been mentioned, but is this

really the best thing for the city?

Many good arguements have been made for

consolidation, but the downsides have been consistently

left out. The biggest arguement for consolidation is that

it will get rid of the outstanding debt for both the city

and the county. This theory is that consolidation should

produce economies of scale which allows cost savings to

be achieved- average costs are reduced when spread out

over a wider set of users. What is not brought to light

is that this does not always happen. There are many

things that cause this which are; Labor intensive,

Bureaucracy growth, Merging personnel-related costs,

Merging service quality costs, and One-time transition

costs. Through resent studies, it has been proved that

consolidation can even cause and increase in spending

which would put us further in debt. This would


defeat one of the most important reasons for

consolidating.

Combining the school systems is also a major

component to the consolidation issue. Mayor Herenton

wants to join Memphis City Schools and Shelby County

School systems. There are many problems with this

suggestion. The Shelby County School system is known to

be very good with passing grades. On the other hand, the

Memphis City School system is the complete opposite. It

is known as a horrible school systems with most of the

schools failing in many areas. Shelby County Schools are

also well-known for their up-to-date technology such as

computers and sources, while Memphis City Schools are

behind in this department. I do not see how bringing

these two totally opposite school systems together will

help. At best, this change will make both school systems

mediocre. If the best is mediocre, what about the worst?

It could bring Shelby County's school system down, and

there is no positive in that situation.

Crime is another area of concern that consolidation

raises. Memphis has one of the highest crime rates in

America. It is also in the top five most dangerous

cities. The areas that would be consolidated such as

Collierville, Germantown, and Bartlet do not want this

crime to affect them. These outskirts of Memphis are

fairly quiet with minimal crime, pollution, etc.

Consolidation could change all of this. The crime and

other concerns could leak into this normally quiet towns

and raise havoc. It could also bring things such as house

values down. These are all major concerns that these

small, growing towns have.

Although there are many big issues with

consolidation, there are also smaller concerns. These

concerns range from who will be over trash and recycling

to the fire and police departments. All of these aspects

determine the appearance of the city as well as the

county. The county is known to be tremendously clean

compared to the city. Most of the neighborhoods are kept

up and held to certain standards, therefore, having a

clean appearance. The city is known for being very dirty

and sometimes foul smelling and filled with pollution.

County-livers do not want this to come into their

beautiful communities. Police and Fire Departments will

also have to change. They have discussed reducing the

amount of police officers and fire fighters. This will


potentially be harmful to everyone. Citizens already feel

like there needs to be more police officers, and now

there will be less. This means that the ones that are

left will have to cover a bigger jurisdiction, which

could result in more criminals getting away clean. There

has also been countless numbers of situations where whole

houses and buildings have been burnt down. By down-sizing

the number of fire fighters, more buildings will be at

risk of burning completely down before help can get to

them. I don't think that any of this is worth the risk of

consolidation.


Consolidation can be potentially good or bad. Many

risks have to be taken in order to consolidate. These

risks could possibly put both the city and the county in

danger and in unwanted predicaments. Some feel

consolidation is good, but I do not feel it is the best

decision.

River City Writers

Gabe and I attended the readings last night for the River City Writers. We had no idea where the Galloway Mansion was, so we were driving slowly. We came upon this HUGE house and we knew that this was it. We parked, got out of the car, and walked up to the front. Two ladies asked us were we in Wendy's English class. They had to be at least in their mid to late 20's. We both said yes, and they said okay, make sure you sign the sign up sheet. As we walked closer to them, one said,"yall are cute, how old are yall?" I said I'm 19 and Gabe said the same. One woman said, "I told you they were young." So we walked in the house and acquainted ourselves with our fellow classmates. Soon after, a woman came up and introduced the writers. I just knew this was going to take ALL NIGHT! The readers came up one at a time and read passages from their books. Since they read the best parts, it was interesting for the most part. Gabe and I were still anxious to leave because we had other plans. LoL..(Sort of like how I am right Now!) So I guess i'll go into deeper details about the writings later!

Dr. Lord

Yesterday our English class had to attend a information reading by Dr. Lord. He discussed a lot of things that have to do with school assessment. Although this is not my topic, I found myself very interested in what he had to say. Usually when people are giving informational speeches, they are boring and make you sleepy, but I really enjoyed listening to him. He actually knew what he was talking about, and he made it so that everyone could understand. I like the fact that he gave out handouts so we could see and have the information right in front of us. I had no idea that so many Memphis Schools were "failing". I also would have never thought that White Station would be below level. Its funny how they rate those kind of things. I want to see a list of Shelby County schools now so I can compare them. I think his information will help me on my consolidation topic.

Sweet 16

Tonight is the big sweet 16 game between the Memphis Tigers and Michigan State. I can't wait for us to whoop their behinds. Watching the sports shows really amuse me. Its so funny how we are a number one seed, but yet, we are the underdogs! How could this be? In that case, they really should have made us a number 5 seed and Michigann State a number 1 seed. It makes more sense doesn't it? We lost one game the entire season, but we still get NO CREDIT. I can't wait to see the game, but there's only one problem. I can only watch the second half. I have to go to this stupid play, called Scapin, for my theatre class. What a horrible night for me to have to go see it. But anyways, Tennessee lost last night, and I'm kind of disappointed. I wanted them to make it to the Final Four so we could beat them and be known as the King of College Hoops! Hopefully we can still earn that title, because they definitely arent going to give it to us!

Make up your Mind Herenton

I knew that Mayor Herenton just all of a sudden stepping down was too good to be true. I mean why would he want to just up and resign? He had been working so hard to get the consolidation thing going. It really didn't make sense to me. Well, I turned on the television a few days ago, and there is another news story about him. So now he is resigning with certain stipulations. WTF? He wants his old job back as Superintendent of the Memphis City Schools. He once held this position and stepped down in 1991 when he became mayor of Memphis. I don't see a problem with him retaking his old position if he's the best candidate. But there might be someone else who is better for the job than him. If he loves the city so much, he should do what is best for it. I hope everything works out well, because Lord knows the city really needs some improvement.

Part 3!!

As we all know, part 3 of our big paper is due Thursday. I feel like my paper is going to be a total DISASTER!! Part 2 was so much easier compared to this. I am starting to feel like all my information is the same. I don't want people to get bored reading my paper. I wish I had of known that consolidation would be so hard earlier. I probably would have picked another topic. Consolidation has taken a 360 degree turn. Mayor Herenton is resigning. Am I supposed to add this to my paper also? I don't really know what to do from here. I understand the assignment, but how do I keep it interesting? The last eight pages have been hard enough, now I have four more to due Thursday and four more after that. After we finish everything, hopefully we get to take some stuff out and trim the edges on the paper. I think this will knock out some of the repetitive feel.

Peer Editing

Peer Editing, wow, I've always hated this step in writing papers! Why? Because, who likes having their paper torn apart by someone that they don't even this is worthy of an opinion? This is the stubborn mode that I had been in since I started high school. Many times, the peer edit did not even help. It mostly just made me question myself and eventually made my papers worse. I thought when I got to college those days would be OVER. Now I see peer editing in a whole different perspective. Maybe it isn't so bad after all. I guess the difference is that I actually feel that the people who are critiquing my papers are more educated than I am. Sometimes I still want to be stubborn, byt I know that I have to let that go. We all (hopefully) have the same objective, to have the best paper possible. As I was editing, I felt like I had to pay extra attention to every detail. Who wants to let their group mates down after they've worked so hard? Hopefully, I exceeded their expectations of improvising, and hopefully, I will be able to take their advice and make my paper much better!

Mayor Herenton Resigns?!

When I got on the internet yesterday, my internet page was covered with this huge article on Mayor Herenton. He has decided to step down effective July 31. This was such a suprise to me. I thought he was going to be the kind of person that stayed around FOREVER!! Especially with the consolidation issue still hanging in the balance. Today I watched the interview on Fox13News.com, where he explained why he had decided to resign. He talked about him writing the Memphis School System a letter and also about visiting teens in juvenile hall. He started to get emotional while talking about this experience. He said that he knew then, that his calling was children. He made it clear that he was stepping down on his on term and not by anything else. I wonder who will be named interim mayor and if there really was another reason behind this. I am still shocked, and I hope the city improves from here on...!

Floyd Skloot

So I had a chance to go to the Floyd Skloot reading earlier this week. I must say that it was quite interesting. He read passages out of his books and a couple of poems. The most interesting part had to be the brain infection that he suffered while he was on a plain going overseas. I had never heard of anything like this in my life. They still don't know what caused this or what it was. This injury plagued him from then up until this present moment. He explained to us the difficulties he faced and how the illness changed him completely. It seemed as if he lived two separate lives. At first, he was very strict and commanding. After the injury, he couldn't even remember how he was before! Today, he still has trouble transferring things from short term to long term. He talked about this while answering questions for us. If you missed this event, you really missed a treat! I guess we all ought to be thankful for everything being as good as they are, because it could be much worse!

Buildings' Best Future Hinges On City And County Involvement

What a Major Loss! Shelby County is proposing selling its part in The Pyramid, Mid-South Colisem, and the Liberty Bowl for $4.3 Million(which represents the debts that they have with the Pyramid). So basically, the County would be giving away the Mid-South Colisem and the Liberty Bowl for FREE!!! I personally think that this is a HORRIBLE idea. Is there no other possible way of raising revenue. I understand that they are in debt, but why just basically give stuff away. They could get a lot more money for those three buildings than that. This proposal was put into consideration to help fund the $16 Million funding gap that Shelby County has. The head of this operation is Shelby County Commissioner Sidney Chism. He wants the pyramid to be turned into a Bass Pro Shop. I also do not agree with this proposal. I think it could be used for so much more! I guess we'll have to see the outcome in the future!

On Campus Football Stadium

I think an on campus football stadium is a great idea! I mean, there are so many upsides to it. I know everything that has a plus also has a minus, but I think it would help our school. The biggest questions are how much would it cost and where would we build it, and will it raise student tuition(Lord knows the tuition is already high enough!)They have come up with a few suggestions, but I don't think that a lot of people want it to happen. I really think that this could potentially be very beneficial to the U of M. It could raise much needed revenue. We could host other events that would bring in money and put it towards the school. This could in the long run help keep tuition down! Although it doesnt look like its going to happen now, who knows about the future!?!

The Mystery Of Edwin Drood

So I went to go see this play two weeks ago, and it was really AmAzInG! I've never been a Theatre type of person, but I actually enjoyed it. It is based on Charles Dicken's last book. He died in the middle of writing it, and that aspect is incoorporated in the play. The play allows the actors to interact with the audience. I thought that it was cool that we got to pick the investigator, killer, and the lovers. I had gotten so used to the ordinary boring school plays that you dreaded attending, but had to because it was a grade! The only thing that sucked about this experience is that on the way home, it was soooo..... foggy that I couldnt even see the street on the express way. Other than that, I am happy that I went to go see The Mystery of Edwin Drood!!

Feelings on Part 2 of Our BIG Paper!

So I just posted the second part of my paper, and I thought I'd talk about it a little. Honestly, the second part was a little easier then the first part. The part that I had the most trouble with was finding the actual information. That actually took me longer to do then write the actual paper.Once I found the information, I knew I was on the right track. For once, I actually felt like I knew what I was doing. The guide Wendy gave us really helped. I knew what I had to talk about, and I feel that I successfully did that. However, I do KNOW that I made some mistakes. I'm glad that we have our groups to kind of help us out. I think they will play a major part in whether we make a good grade or not. I really can't wait to see what they have to say about it, and how I can make my paper better. Lord knows I need a good grade on this! Especially since this is like 9,000,000,000,000,000% of our semester grade! LoL... I wonder how everyone else feels about their writing process on the 2nd part!?!

Part 2 of Big Paper

Government consolidation has been a part of the U.S.

for over 200 years. Even though it is not that common, it

has still been a factor in County governments. The number

of local governments has a net decrease of 31,801 units.

This is mostly due to the rising number of school district

consolidations and not government. School district

consolidations have caused school districts to decline by

more than 79%.

The first known governments to consolidate in the U.S.

were New Orleans and New Orleans Parish in 1805. Since the

first consolidation, only 32 more have followed. Out of

these 32, only 24 are considered true consolidations.Today

there are 3,069 County governments, which makes the percent

of consolidation less than 1%. The time period from 1960 to

1976 was the biggest consolidation period in America. There

were a total of fourteen county consolidations during this

period. Since then, only 8 county government consolidations

have taken place.

Consolidating Memphis City and Shelby County has been

the center of issues for some time now. Although it is a

fairly new topic to most of us, it actually can be traced

back to 1962. The idea was quickly shut down and did not

come about again until 1993. This is when Mayor Willie

Herenton first brought it up. In order to move forward in

the consolidation project, Mayor Herenton wanted to take a

look back. He wanted to study other Tennessee counties that

had consolidated. This was one of the best ideas that he

has ever had. Knowing the history of something gives you an

insight on what will happen in the future!

The first counties to consolidate in Tennessee were

Nashville and Davidson Counties on April 1, 1963.

In Tennessee, between 1958 and 1991 there were 15

consolidation votes with only 2 successes (Nashville-

Davidson County and Lynchburg-Moore County). Statistics

show that voter support for consolidation research groups

are at about 73%, but the percent of voters who actually

support the establishment is a suprising 47%. Since 1991,

there has only been one successful consolidation in

Tennessee (Hartsville-Trousdale County). Although approval

percentages are really low, it does not stop the counties

from trying.

People wonder, if consolidation is so controversial,

where did it come from, and how did it come about? The

intent of consolidation was to strenghten the government

and make it less complicated. Many counties have local

governments that need a change. Things are out of order, or

they face major financial deficits. The idea of

consolidation was to merge the two governments and make

thing more stronger and effective. With the consolidation

of governments, many improvements were meant to be made.

The thought was that by combining, it would decrease the

amount of money needed to be spent by the counties. The

concept would be much like consolidating credit debt. When

first brought up, the issue seemed like a genius idea,

because no downfalls were known. Other issues of

consolidation came along with the government. Issues

consisted of schools, roads,fire and police departments,

and simple things such as buildings. School has always been

a major concern. As we all know, some school systems are

better than others. By consolidating, will this bring the

good schools down, or the the bad schools up? There is

really no proven right answer to this matter. Other simple

problems were, Who would be over the trash pickup and sewer

problems as well as recycling? These problems may be small,

but they are a huge problem for the citizens that live in

the consolidated areas. One of the biggest issues on this

matter is, if money is saved, how will it be used in the

future? These issues cause consolidation to be

controversial.