jfp op/ed
opining, grousing & pontificating
EDITORIAL
Stop Stalling Flood Control
I
t becomes more clear with every Levee Board meeting that the strategy of hard-core Two Lakes development supporters is to stall any alternative plan that could render their plan moot—even though the local levee board has voted to pursue other options. That strategy is severely flawed. It’s been one effort after another in recent months to circumvent the authority of the Levee Board. There were blatant attempts in the Legislature to expand the Levee Board with more state appointees and to set up a stateappointed board to review its decisions, as well as one seemingly designed to take away authority from the folks who oversee the reservoir (the Two Lakes plan requires using the reservoir for flood control, although its board and every expert interviewed says it won’t work). Those efforts—which the Two Lakesat-any-cost Northside Sun made clear were about reviving Two Lakes—failed this session. Then this week, the Levee Board showed up for its meeting to find out that Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann—the long-time treasurer and a director of the Two Lakes Foundation—had listed the board (which gets no state funding) as a “state agency.” Thus, the board’s attorney has to research how to keep that apparent control attempt from moving forward. Two Lakes supporter and Levee Board member Leland Speed also managed to delay the study of the “Lake 255” proposal (see page 6) that could be a way to get flood control, downtown development and avoid the massive environmental upheaval of Two Lakes. But delay and win-at-any-cost seem to be the tunnel vision of some Two Lakes supporters. Mr. Speed circumvented talk of more study of the more environmentally friendly Lake 255 proposal Monday by insisting that the board look at the possibility of moving an underwater dam further down the river rather than doing levees—another attempt to keep the Two Lakes proposal alive. Any new ideas are welcome—and long overdue, considering that Two Lakes proponents have framed the entire argument as levees v. Two Lakes for more than a decade now, rather than supporting the pursuit of alternatives. And Speed’s apparent delaying tactic Monday left many in the room including Lake 255 strategist Barry Royals frustrated at another apparent delay tactic. The backroom takeover politics must end, and all responsible parties must come to the same table to look for viable alternatives that won’t cost more than a billion dollars and destroy our local environment. The sport of blaming the albeit-imperfect Corps for not approving an unfeasible development plan is wasting time and energy; we need flood control that can happen in our lifetimes.
KEN STIGGERS
Naked Truth
April 15 - 21, 2010
B
12
oneqweesha Jones: “This is a ‘Qweesha Live’ television news special report! Let’s go to TaaQweema Jenkins, Suma Cum Laude graduate of Hair-Did University School of Cosmetology, reporting live from the Ghetto Science Team’s Museum of Fine Arts and Culture, where the controversial Brother Sylvester, Christmas Missin’ Toe artist, has another thought provoking exhibit titled ‘Breast-N-Plants: Exposing the World to the Naked Truth.’” TaaQweema Jenkins: “Brother Sylvester has pushed and shoved the envelope straight out of the box with some very incendiary works of art. What inspires you to create and produce such art?” Brother Sylvester: “I’m inspired by people, places and current events in our society. I’m compelled to counteract injustice, intolerance and impatience with the stroke of a paintbrush or pen. Therefore, my artistic creation mirrors and exposes the major quirks within our society.” TaaQweema Jenkins: “So you’re like that little child who told the emperor that he was truly ‘butt naked.’” Brother Sylvester: “I call it like I see it.” TaaQweema Jenkins: “Describe some of your artwork for our viewers.” Brother Sylvester: “The first piece is an enlarged black-and-white photo of a sign I noticed in the waiting room of a doctor’s office titled ‘Sign of the Times: No Dogs, Negroes, Mexicans or Supporters of Health-Care Reform.’ The second piece is a line drawing of a nude figure looking out from a second story window titled ‘Naked Truth: An Alternate View.’ It’s my ‘window seat’ tribute to singer Erykah Badu.”
OBAMA EXTREME FREEDOMS SOCIALIST COMMUNIST
KAMIKAZE
Open the Dialogue
M
y father and I are the only non-educators in my immediate family. My mother and my siblings were once or are all teachers. And since my father sees every conversation as a "teachable" moment, I guess he could qualify as some sort of "teacher." But I digress. As a child, I watched my mother come home, check our homework, prepare dinner for five, and then grade her assignments. Without fail, she ended each night by calling the parents of every kid who'd either missed homework or was failing her English class. Didn't matter if it was two or 200, those calls were made and most times in enough time to tell each of us good night. She was rare: one of the good ones. To her, education was the single most important thing to a child's future. She demanded the best of us and likewise demanded the best of those who were our teachers and administrators. She was harder on her peers because she expected them to care as much as she did. Quite frankly, some did and some didn't. But in all my years of public schooling I never heard her put down public schools or the quality of product they were producing. Times have changed, oddly enough, and every child isn't getting a fair shake. Teachers, our greatest resource, are being spread thin. They're underpaid,
over worked and sometimes ill-prepared to handle their workload. And those are the good ones, like my mom. Then there are the unqualified, lazy, "just drawing a check because I had no other job leads" teachers: the ones who are "too busy" to call parents; the ones who don't go the extra mile, but barely go half of it. They are one reason why public schools have become a pseudo-scapegoat. Admittedly, some schools are underachieving, poorly run and poorly staffed; however, the playing field is still skewed, and without a good start we can't expect our kids to make a decent finish right? That brings up the debate of charter schools. Are they indeed effective? Or are they just a way to further alienate the struggling student in the struggling school? Are they a means to rescue some of our kids or get rid of them? I haven't developed a firm opinion yet but one thing is clear. There are nearly 200 failing schools in Mississippi. Our state continues to languish near the bottom in education. And when our legislators need to make cuts, what's the first place they look? Yep. Education. Summarily, our kids suffer. Clearly what we're doing is not working. Now is the time to open a dialogue. Our children's future depends on it. And that's the truth ... sho-nuff.
E-mail letters to letters@jacksonfreepress.com, fax to 601-510-9019, or mail to P.O. Box 5067, Jackson, Miss., 39296. Include daytime phone number. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Or, write a 300-600-word “Your Turn” and send it by e-mail, fax or mail above with a daytime phone number. All submissions are subject to fact checks.