Thieves

I ABSOLUTELY HATE THEM!!! Why can't people just go out and earn the stuff that they have like everybody else. I guess this would just be too logical. I bet you're asking why is he posting this random blog? So here's the reason: The other day, my friend asked to borrow my laptop while I went to go see Animal Farm. I said sure, since he had let me borrow his before, he also lets me borrow whatever else I want. When I came back, he was standing at the front desk of Richardson Towers with a worried look on his face. He was watching the video camera tape on the computer. I asked him what was wrong, and he began telling me the story. He had stepped out of his room to go play cards downstairs. In the 30 minutes that he was gone, somebody had stolen his flat screen t.v. the laptop, some clothes, and shoes. I could not believe the news I was hearing. MY LAPTOP, GONE? Nnnnnnnnnooooooooooooooooo... It had all of my papers and other work. And now I'm getting frustrated again thinking about it. But he said he was going to help me pay for another one, so I hope everything works out, or they find the person or people that stole it.

Part 4 Draft

The consolidation issue has been hit or miss since

it was brought up. Although here has been an enormous

amount of research done, there has been no alernative to

consolidation. This is part of the reason why it is

always turned down by the county. If a desireable

altermatum is not given, I do not think consolidation

will ever happen.

Full Consolidation will eliminate some of the

problems, but can cause even greater problems. It is

almost impossible to combine two totally different areas

and their governments into one. One of the systems will

eventualy rub off on the other, whether bad or good.


After completing research on this issue, I feel that full

consolidation is not a good idea, however, there are ways

that could make everything work out. As we all know, both

the city and the county are in major debt. This is what

struck the whole talk about consolidation. If debt was

not an issue, consolidation would not be an issue. Both

the city and the county have a debt deficit of a few

million dollars. Many Government officials say that

combining the two governments will eliminate this debt,

and give the city a surplus of money. If this is true, I

feel that it is alright to combine the governments, but

with different conditions then what they propose.

The current proposal is to combine everything

including the school systems and police and fire

departments. I strongly disagree with combining the two

school systems. I think this aspect should remain

completely separate. There is more downside than upside

to this situation, and this could put both systems at

risk. Education is the most valuable thing in this

country, and it should not be jeopardized. Improvement in

Memphis City Schools is greatly needed. Instead of

consolidation, the city should work on building more

schools and making the teaching standards higher. More

schools will lesson the amount of students and make

management and focusing on students much easier. This

would also crack down on some of the crime in the Memphis

school system. The Shelby County school system should

also build more schools, which would help out their

overcrowding concern.

The Police and Fire Departments are also important

issues in consolidation. The current proposal causes for

the city and county to join forces and cutting back on

the number of both. This is not what the county or the

city needs. Cutting back will put both parties in

jeopardy and could be the biggest mistake ever. With the

increasing crime rate, more police officers are needed to

protect the citizens. The surplus of money from debt

consolidation should be used to hire and train more

officers as well as fire fighters. Knowing they will

remain safe would put the County residents in a more

comfortable position. This would also drastically cut

down the number of crimes committed.

The full consolidation plan raises many questions

for the city and county. Although it is a good thought,

better alternatives are available in this situation.

These alternatives have not been looked into by anyone. I

think a revised plan for consolidation is the best way to

accomodate the city as well as the county. In order to

move forward successfully, changes to the current plan

are needed.

Go Tigers N0Ooooo....

Well I think I just experienced my first HeartBreak, and it wasn't even by a girl. I could I have it broken by a bunch of guys? (No Homo) We were so close to winning our first National Championship! I just knew we had the game in hand, but I guess I knew Wr0nG! I was ready for a GrEaT Celebration for like The Rest Of The MONTH!! LOL...But I guess it wont be happening. Its kind of funny how the one thing everybody said would kill us KILLED US! We had beeen shooting freethrows so well. Then, as soon as we got put under pressure, it all went D0wn. Not to take anything away from the Kansas JayHawks..but we GAVE that game away! I've always said only 2 things can beat the Tigers and thats US and the REFS! And I think that held true. But I still want to congradulate the guys on the best season in NCAA History, and hopefully we can do it again next year, but actually win the WHOLE THING!! GO TIGERS

This Month Is SO... Hectic

April has to be the busiest month EVER for me! This is when all of the school work hits you hard. All of the papers are due, and not to mention FINALS! Man, there has to be a better way. Then we had all of the Memphis Tigers Stuff. On top of that I have a crap load of other stuff. I've had two weddings to go to this month. I also have two college graduations to go to. Then there is the DREADFUL High School Prom I have to attend with my "ole lady". So I had the pleasure of looking for a tuxedo for literally THE WHOLE DAY! I decided to just get mine custom-made, which is pretty darn expensive! And on April 26, I get the pleasure of actually going to prom... yippeee! Then I have so... much music stuff also. I have four shows this month, and I've been in the studio almost everyday working on tracks for me as well as my buddy, whose album comes out Tuesday! (so i get to go promote that also!) Now I'm preparing for my two performances on April 19 at Africa in April and this chicks Sweet 16. I hope I make it out of this month still in my RIGHT MIND! (i'm already a little crazy as is)

Part 4, Part 2

Completing part 4 this week was a little easier for some reason. I guess at first, I just did not understand exactly what we were supposed to be doing. Now everything is flowing pretty well. I actually completed this part faster than I did any other part. I know there has to be some mistakes and improvements but I'm not really worried. Hopefully its pretty much like it is supposed to be. This paper has taken a lot of time out of my life! I never thought that we would get to this point when it is just about done! I dont have any idea on how i'm going to combine all four without somethings being repetitive, but I guess that's another road ahead! GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!

Scapin

Last Friday I attended a play called Scapin for my Theatre Class. I must say that it was one of the strangest plays that I have ever seen. I expected a traditional play with a fancy set, and predictable actors. I guess thats what I get for expecting. The set looked to have been sketched up the day before, but it did the job. The actors came out wearing all kinds of goofy stuff like plad, golf shoes, ankle beaters with high socks, etc. Honestly, it was like the funniest crap I've ever seen, but it took me until after the intermission to figure out what the play was even about. The play was filled with random people suddenly laughing aloud, which made the play even funnier. I guess since there was only 24 people there, all of these little things were very noticeable. After the play, I drove like 150 mph so I could get home to watch the rest of the Memphis game. The play doesnt compare to that, but I really enjoyed it. If you have time, you should go see next week!

Part 4 Of Big Paper

So today I officially started on Part four (I probably should say ATTEMPTED to start). As I sat down at my laptop, I knew I had a hard task in front of me. What I didn't know is that it would take me the whole day to get practically NOWHERE! I looked thru a lot of sources trying to find information that would suggest a better outcome for my topic. I looked thru source after source and realized that no one has offered a better solution. Everyone is either for it or against it. So am I supposed to think of my own what if now, or am I supposed to keep looking for the rest of my life?? I have like 3 days to figure this out, or its going to be a DISASTER!! I wonder if anyone else is having this same problem!? Somebody help me!

Andre Allen

Boy oh Boy, Where should I begin with this one??.... Well as we all SHOULD know Tiger Senior Guard Andre Allen was suspended for the rest of the NCAA Tournament for a failed drug test. The drug test was a random one, given by the NCAAA. This is a big let down for the team as well as the fans. If the rules are upheld, Allen will also not be able to return next year for his last year of eligibility. This absolutely sucks!!! Although this was very wrong and DUMB, I feel sorry for Andre. I know drugs are horrible and NO ONE should do them, but this is a horrible way for him to be remembered. On top of the I'm pretty sure that he knows that he F'd up, and we really dont have to constantly beat him down. (Thats probably not the best thing for this situation right now) I think Calipari did a great job of handling the situation and the press conference. He let Andre know that he still loves him and always will. I hope he is able to learn from this experience and use it for good in his life!

Final Four

Tomorrow is the big Final Four Game and I can't wait! I've waited for this time to come the whole year! It would be more fun if I could actually go, but I guess I will make the most out of it here. If we win tomorrow, I'm definitely going Monday! I will be enjoying the game tomorrow with my family, then I'm going to another Tigers party with my friends. I've been watching Sportscenter all this week, and It seems like all of the sports announcers are coming around. Now, all of a sudden, they picked Memphis to win it all the time?!? WTF??? Anyways, it should be a pretty interesting game, Dorsey against Love... That will probably be the deciding factor of who wins. That and how well Derek Rose plays. Who would have ever thought that we would make it this far this soon. Well I did, but not too many other people did. Go TIGERS!!!!

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!?!