Herenton Wins Fffth Consecutive Term
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The Vol. XCIV. NO. 4 Sou’wester Pete Francis plays this Thur. Read his interview inside. October 10, 2007 Th e Weekly Student Newspaper of Rhodes College See Page 7 Herenton wins fi fth consecutive term Petro to By Woody Lawson or no race at all. In total, 74,288 and that’s a concern . Th ere are speech: “If you’re not careful [whites Executive Assistant votes were collected in that period. some mean-spirited people in Mem- will] work a game on you. Th ey have discuss Th e King will stay in Memphis. According to a Commercial Appeal phis. Th ere are some haters in Mem- psychology.” Willie Herenton won his fi fth con- poll, all the candidates were roughly phis!” Apparently he did “shake the With this election containing secutive term as mayor of Memphis. even at this point: “Heading into haters off .” Seven members chose not more contention than any of the Putin Herenton won with 43% (70,200) of Th ursday, pollsters said the election to run for reelection—the highest previous, Herenton may have to be By Avery Pribila the votes. Carol Chumney was the was too close to call.” Herenton re- turnover there’s ever been. ‘careful’ indeed. A Commercial Ap- News Editor closest contender with 35% (57,200) ceived 24% of the early votes (3.7). Herenton’s platform included peal poll states, “In the 10 precincts On Th ursday, October 18, visit- of the votes. At a distant third, Her- Both Chumney and Morris received the need for continued progress and with the most white votes during the ing professor Nicolai Petro will dis- man Morris garnered 21% of the 19% (3.4). no deviation from previous policies. 2003 election, 7,073 white voters cuss Russia’s Presidency and Future votes. Th e other eleven challengers Herenton’s success was due Both Chumney and Morris cam- cast ballots. In early voting this year, in a lecture entitled “Vladimir Pu- received less than one percent of the largely to a split in his opposition paigned on the platform that there 5,689 white votes came from those tin’s Leg- vote. Combined, there were 165,360 vote between Chumney and Morris. needed to be change in Memphis. same precincts, representing 80% acy for ballots, roughly 39% of the 428,984 Herenton has vowed to “shake the Chumney called the election results of the total.” It seems as though it is Russia and total voters in the Memphis area. haters off ,” a reference to the opposi- “a disservice to the public,” while not the white vote that made the gap For the Th ere was a fourteen-day early tion that came from the city coun- Morris stated, “I will accept the will smaller this time around—it was in- World.” voting period. With regards to gen- cil during this election. Herenton of the people as expressed in this stead the minority vote. If this trend Th e lec- der, 63% of the voters were women states: “Th is last election has been election.” Herenton has promised continues into the next election ture— and 37% men. Racially, 46% of very disappointing to me. A lot of to try and attract more industries and the opposition vote is not split, sponsored the voters were black and 34% were people I thought were with me, and to Memphis. However, Herenton Memphis may have a new mayor. by Rhodes white; 20% indicated another race I found out they were not with me, also stated a warning in his victory College, the Uni- versity of Memphis Goodness gracious! (Indian balls of fi re) Nicolai Petro and the Memphis On Friday, October 5, the Regional Chamber—will be held Dhoad Gypsies of Rajasthan in the Orgill room from 6:00-7:00 performed in Tuthill hall. The p.m. and is free and open to the group of visiting musicians from public. India was on campus for a master Petro is a Political Science pro- class and demonstration spon- fessor at the University of Rhode sored by CODA. The Dhoad Island. In his lecture, he will dis- Gypsies are a group of six musi- cuss the legacy Russian President cians, one dancer and one fakir Vladimir Putin will leave as his sec- who sang and played a variety of ond term approaches an end. Petro traditional Indian instruments. will look at how relations with the They have successfully toured West will continue to be shaped by Europe and are now touring the Russian leadership, in addition to United States. suggesting an initial evaluation of Putin’s presidency. Gwen Weil/The Sou’wester Petro has always been interested in Russia’s social, political and cul- tural transformation. In September Petro met with President Putin and several other Russian leaders at a fo- rum sponsored by the Russian state news agency and a private think tank—Russia’s Council for For- eign and Defense Policy. Th ose in attendance at the forum discussed Russia’s religion, as well as its devel- opment and future. Petro received his B.A. summa cum laude in history, his M.A. in public administration, and his Ph.D. in foreign aff airs from the University of Virginia. He has also written or edited eight books about Russia, including Th e Rebirth of Russian Democracy and Crafting Democracy. He served as a special assistant for the U.S. Department of State and as a temporary politi- cal attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Gwen Weil/The Sou’wester Gwen Weil/The Sou’wester Moscow. Page 2 Opinion Wednesday, October 10, 2007 The Herenton wins, Memphis loses Sou’wester By Ford Porter and Nate Maxwell Edwards on his poverty tour of America. And unfortunately, Leadership has a harder job to do than just choose sides. It Mayor Herenton doesn’t seem to want to address these issues. Editor-In-Chief must bring sides together. Mayor Herenton wants to talk about “haters.” Ford Porter -Jesse Jackson In an incredibly turbulent summer for the mayor, Herenton Associate and Layout Editor accused white attorney Richard Fields of organizing a conspira- Daniel Jacobs Can Willie Herenton bring us together? I didn’t separate us. cy to catch him in a sex-romp, while deriving his slogan “shake News Editor -Willie Herenton the haters off” from an offensive rap song, and all but declar- Avery Pribila ing war on the Commercial Appeal and the “white establishment” Opinion Editor On October 4, Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton was re- press. Most recently, Herenton seized the moment after his recent Nate Maxwell elected to an historic fifth term, defeating City Councilwoman reelection to give a victory address that was an angry diatribe Entertainment Editor Carol Chumney and former CEO of MLGW, Herman Morris, in against those who failed to support him and the white citizens Adam Teer his closest race since first winning the mayoralty in 1991 by 142 of Memphis. The problem is not that these racial inflammatory Sports Editor votes. Prior to becoming the city’s first black mayor, Herenton tactics have not worked; on the contrary, they may be largely re- Andrew Skrzat was the outspoken but respected superintendent of Memphis City sponsible for Herenton’s most recent victory. The trouble is that Copy Editor Schools for twelve years. Over the last 16 years, he has had success negative racial politics are bad for Memphis. Kristen DeLuca on several fronts, including the economic revitalization of down- White people have not stopped supporting Herenton because Photography Editor town and the disappearance of rundown public housing around of the color of his skin: they have voted for him before many Gwen Weil the city. However, Memphis today faces daunting challenges, and times. Herenton’s decline in popularity has more to do with the Online Editor the mayor’s effectiveness appears to be waning at best. Memphis fact that he has been in office for 16 years and has grown in- Holly James needs new leadership that can meet these problems with fresh and creasingly arrogant and complacent in office. With the city fac- Business Manager innovative new ideas. After sixteen years leading the city, Mayor ing problems in crime, education, economic progress, and racial Sara Haney Herenton is not the man to provide a new look; instead, it will tensions, the mayor has failed to step up to the plate and deliver Staff Writer Chief continue to be ‘business as usual.’ new solutions for Memphis. Certainly, Herenton is right that he Kate Mara Herenton’s challengers alleged that the mayor’s reign has been did not create the difficulties that Memphis faces, but that is Assistant Layout Editor marked by several negative trends, most notably the recent rise in no excuse for failing to accept the responsibility for providing Lee Bryant crime rates. On Thursday, September 27, Memphis was named leadership in solving them. If Herenton does not feel that he can Executive Assistants the nation’s most violent metro area by the FBI, with 1,262.7 vio- fill that role, then he should not be mayor. Unfortunately for Jennifer O’Connor lent crimes per 100,000 residents. The city’s school-system, 21st Memphis, Herenton is content to fill the office of mayor without William Bruce largest in the nation, includes many schools deemed unsafe and meeting its responsibilities. And so, Memphis is condemned to woefully inadequate by the Department of Education. Poverty is another four years of “King Willie.” hugely visible, most recently drawing presidential candidate John How to Reach Our The “F” Word: How free is Rhodes speech? Authors and Us By Ben Lyon posting signs on campus, the most am- tosterone-packed, power-hungry opinion As the offi cial newspaper of Rhodes Col- Can we say the “F” word at Rhodes? biguous is that the sign must pass the columnist.