Posts Tagged ‘the tennessean’
Compassion ought to be more valuable
No one enters social work to get rich, but a college graduate like Roberta Graham shouldn’t have to choose between compassionate service and her own livelihood. When that’s the reality, something isn’t working.
Tags: community, community-service, compassion, economy, poverty, social work, the tennessean
Tent City: People first, property second
Any changes to the tent city that many of Nashville’s homeless residents call home should focus on helping those in need first and worrying about the future of the property second. I agree that allowing this situation to continue indefinitely is dangerous for its inhabitants, but trying to wipe tent city away immediately is likely to cause unneeded suffering and harm.
I imagine that few, if any, of the tent city residents chose to call it home out of preference, but rather out of necessity. It may be a harsh and unsafe way to live, but it may have been the best option for staying alive for many residents at the time they moved in. I’m glad to see the emergence of a more compassionate approach to this problem than what was suggested earlier this month.
Tags: homelessness, nashville, tennessee, tent city, the tennessean
Preds proving to be wrong kind of distraction
If you were hoping that the Preds might provide a distraction from the Titans and their self-destructive season, you may get your wish. Unfortunately, it may not be the kind of distraction you had in mind. Defenseman Shea Weber summed up the situation well:
“The chances we’re giving up are breakaways or point-blank chances,” Predators defenseman Shea Weber said. “We need to be a hard team to play against, especially in our own zone.”
After riding strong goaltending to a 2-0 start, the Preds lost a tough one to Buffalo. Then, the wheels started coming off against Edmonton and Dallas this week. In two games, Nashville has allowed 12 goals and scored only one.
That the offense is having trouble putting the puck in the net isn’t a surprise, but that end of the ice won’t make a difference if the Preds keep allowing six scores a night. It’s one thing to try to eke out 3-2 wins, but it’s another thing entirely for an offensively challenged squad to start allowing goals left and right. If this keeps up, and chances are that it might with Chicago coming to town this evening, it could be a long season. Someone needs to right the ship, and fast.
Tags: chicago blackhawks, dallas stars, edmonton oilers, hockey, nashville, nashville predators, national hockey league, nhl, shea weber, tennessee, the tennessean
Jermaine Doster needs a hand, and quick
I’m certain that arrests and suspensions are among the last things that the late Kwame Doster, a beloved Vanderbilt running back, would have wanted for his kid brother. It’s been a long time since the good news that Jermaine Doster would follow in his brother’s footsteps by becoming a Commodore, and the younger Doster is fading fast.
It may already be too late, but someone needs to reach out to this troubled young man and help him stop self destructing. Even if Jermaine never plays another down of football, the last thing the Doster family needs is another brother to mourn.
Tags: college football, jermaine doster, kwame doster, nashville, southeastern conference, tennessee, the city paper, the tennessean, vanderbilt, vanderbilt commodores
There’s plenty of room for another Nashville law school
Adding another law school in Middle Tennessee only strengthens the area’s ability to develop talent and attract businesses, if you ask me. This is great news from Belmont, and I hope it will only challenge Nashville School of Law to offer even better training. Both schools and Vanderbilt should be able to coexist. It was unfortunate when Tennessee State University and NSL couldn’t work out a deal to merge and create another accredited law school in Nashville. Belmont’s plans to establish one of their own are welcome.
Tags: belmont university, education, gail kerr, nashville school of law, the tennessean, vanderbilt university
Nashville can thank Fisk, not fiddles, for its nickname
Did you know that Nashville’s identity as Music City didn’t originally have anything to do with country music? The Fisk Jubilee Singers, who celebrate their 138th anniversary with a performance today, received high praise from the England’s Queen Victoria when singing for her during a fund-raising tour in 1871. Impressed by what she heard, the queen remarked that the singers must hail from the “city of music.”
The queen was right. In the years since that fateful trip, Nashville has never relinquished that name. It may be even more true today than in the past, as the city’s music scene is more vibrant and diverse than ever before. That’s clear from looking at Next Big Nashville, the festival opening its fourth-annual session today, and last week’s International Bluegrass Music Association’s World of Bluegrass events, and that’s just scratching the surface. Nashville is fortunate to have such a large presence in such an important creative industry, even as the recording industry struggles to embrace the digital era.
Tags: fisk jubilee singers, fisk university, international bluegrass music association, music, music city, nashville, next big nashville, recording industry, tennessee, the tennessean, WTVF-TV
Let McNair’s PSA footage save lives
If there’s a more compelling public service announcement about the dangers of suicide than Steve McNair’s never-aired version, I haven’t seen it. Taken by itself, the announcement is pretty average as far as such commercials go. In light of McNair’s murder at the hands of his girlfriend and her subsequent suicide, though, it’s haunting.
It was the right call to hold off in broadcasting the PSA in the immediate wake of the murder-suicide, but maybe it’s time to use that footage after all. Editing that footage respectfully to emphasize the importance of getting help for anyone who’s considering taking a life — theirs or anyone else’s — might mean that more people see “better days.”
Tags: associated press, depression, mental illness, murder-suicide, nashville, sahel kazemi, steve mcnair, suicide, tennessee, tennessee department of mental health and developmental disabilities, tennessee titans, the tennessean, virginia trotter betts, wsmv-tv
Preds goalies: 1A + 1B = 0
Paraphrasing conventional football wisdom, if you have two starting goaltenders, you don’t have one. Preds Coach Barry Trotz, who’s had a disturbing tendency to swap netminders in recent seasons, needs to settle on Pekka Rinne or Dan Ellis and stick with his choice. Being wishy-washy about who the #1 goaltender is won’t boost either keeper’s confidence or the team’s win total. If it were up to me, I’d go with Rinne.
Tags: barry trotz, dan ellis, hockey, nashville, nashville predators, nhl, pekka rinne, the tennessean
