The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • Page 8

8A Tuesday, February 22, 2000 THE TENNESSEAN www.tennessean.com EDITORIALS LETTERS 1 The TENNESSEAN A Gannett Craig Moon Publisher and President Frank Sutherland, John Seigenthaler, Senior Vice PresidentNews and Editor Chairman Emeritus Sandra Roberts, Directors Managing EditorOpinion Kathy Cheatham, Human Resources David Green, Kate Cleary, Circulation Managing Editor Leslie Giallombardo Senior Vice PresidentMarketing Assistant Managing Editors Kelly Harville, MarketingNew Media Catherine Mayhew, News Joseph W. Hawken, Finance D'Anna Sharon, Visuals Rick Koelz, Systems Cindy Smith, Planning Ron Krengel, Production Catherine Straight, Gary Wortel, Advertising Deputy Managing Editor Patti Crecelius Wortel, Diane Nottingham. Nights Customer InformationPrograms Bill Bradley. Sports W7 fv Iranian voters craft a more moderate future SANDY CAMPBELL STAFF One result could be healthier U.S. relations Letters to the Editor Moderate Iranians sent two messages with last weekend's elections.

Overwhelming margins for moderate candidates to parliament put the nation's powerful clerics on notice that Iranians want greater freedom. A more subtler message for the United States seemed to be that Iranians are fully capable of handling their own affairs after all. Women and young people, two groups victimized by Iran's clerical rule, turned out in huge numbers to give Iranian president Mohammad Khatami the moderate parliament he has needed since his own election as a reformer three years ago. While the elections don't automatically assure better relations with the United States, President Clinton was quick to applaud Iran's vote. The two nations have much animosity to overcome.

The takeover of the American embassy more than 20 years ago and the U.S. involvement with the late Shah of Iran helped empower the religious zealots who have led Iran since that time. The fundamentalist clerics should now answer for the spate of corruption within Iran's religious institutions. But it is their power over courts and other institutions that led to the moderates' victory. While the Aya-tollah Khameini retains his powerful cial rights on certain groups, as some ill-informed critics have claimed.

A major reason for hate crime legislation concerns the fear that such crimes engender in the targeted group. When children in Los Angeles are shot at solely because they are Jewish, then Jews across the country experience fear. When an African-American man is dragged to his death behind a truck because of his race, African-Americans generally feel the grip of fear. When a man is beaten and left to die because of his sexual orientation, gay men everywhere feel threatened. More than 18 groups have come together in the Tennessee Coalition Against Hate to support this bill.

The men and women in these organizations have said they are willing to stand up to the perpetrators of hate crimes. Our legislators should do the same by passing the hate crimes bill. Joseph Sweat 3517 Central Ave. 37205 role above the president and parliament, he and his fellow clerics may have little way to stop reform. Candidates very boldly promised to challenge the status quo in the courts, in parliament, and in the voting booth.

The huge numbers of female voters suggest more social reforms. They've had to face countless rebuffs to freedoms they once had enjoyed in Iran. Some candidates even boldly suggested warmer relations with the United States. For Iran, an embrace of new friends would be helpful. The nation's economy is in poor shape, despite the boost in oil.

Iran doesn't have enough jobs for its citizens. That can hardly come as welcome news to the clerical powers in Iran. They have retained their power partly on the strength of hatred against any foreign powers, but especially the United States. For its part, the United States should be patient. After all these years the Iranian people have shown they didn't like the system any better than outsiders did.

Now, they're changing it on their own terms. Nashville Public Television Outdoor show was one of station's best To the Editor: I believe that Nashville Public Television (formerly WDCN) is going to do a good job with programming in the years ahead. However, I want make accurate information about a show that aired on the public station for nearly 28 years and which 7Tie 7 ennes-sean mentioned in a recent article covering the refurbished WNPT.The Tennessee Outdoorsman was not one of the station's weak programs, as both 7Tie Tennessean and a local competitor have seemingly gone out of their way to claim in front-page articles. I'm fairly sure that Outdoorsman, hosted by Jimmy Holt and Glenn Smith, was for many years the station's No. 1 locally produced program and that even as it came to an end was among the station's most popular shows.

In a 1999 summer television Nielsen survey, Outdoorsman along with Tennessee Crossroads, helped pull in the second highest sharesratings numbers in America for PBS stations. Also, the show was not "dropped," as reported, but rather ended because of a contract dispute. Holt and Smith produced a fresh show nearly every week for almost three decades. Many thousands of sportsmen watched the show and miss it. I know this because I appeared as a weekly guest for much of the 1990s and have talked to countless upset people who want it back on the air.

Holt and Smith deserve a much better legacy than to be told their show was unpopular and a drag on Channel 8. Doug Markham Drive 37220 dougmarkhamhome.com Racial targeting is a proven fact To the Editor: In response to the recent article in The Tennessean about racial targeting, I was mildly amused that it was presented as late-breaking news on the front page. C'mon. Who are we kidding? Racial targeting has been going on since officers of the law were given badges and wheels along with the authority to uphold "justice." As a white woman, the last time I was pulled over by the police was 18 years ago. I was driving home after a Thanksgiving party at midnight and was stopped after turning left at a red light without using my blinker or my headlights.

In addition to being inebriated (which I'm ashamed to admit), my tags were expired. For my multiple offenses and extremely bad judgment, I received a wagging finger and was given a warning by the policeman "to be more careful." He even wished me Happy Thanksgiving. In retrospect, although I appreciated his compassion for a stupid adolescent, I am clear that my "whiteness" was my good fortune rather than my charm or dumb luck. Whenever I tell that story to my white friends, they can always one-up me. Most whites I know have similar stories of close encounters with the law which have happy endings.

Unfortunately, that is not the case with African-American, Latino and other friends and associates of color. Whenever I've shared this story with my black friends, they just shake their heads and look at me as though we inhabit separate planets which in a way we do. This explains the sinking feeling I get whenever I observe a person of color being pulled over to the side of the road. I know in my gut that the chances of him or her being extended the same courtesies and treatment I've experienced arc slim to none. Molly Secours P.O.

Box 681 Mt. Juliet 371 22 Improper use of a medical description To the Editor Why does 7 Tie TVroicsseun persist in misusing the word "schizophrenic," as it did in a recent headline for a review of Mozart's "The Magic Had the newspaper quoted John Hoomes' comment which was in the body of the review, it would be more palatable. John's job is to know opera, not illnesses. The same probably would apply to the reviewer, Alan Bos-tick. But the newspaper's headline writers should have some guide to the proper use of a word that describes one of the most serious illnesses that can strike a person.

At this point in time, there surely is an awareness that schizophrenia does not describe a split personality. George Haley President Tennessee Mental Health Planning Council 4400 Belmont Park Terrace No. 23837215 'Monster' vehicles terrorize the timid To the Editor Amid all of the mayhem and various other indignities that man inflicts on his fellow men, all daily reported in the news, there has lately appeared one encouraging story I he sale of SUVs is declining. for those normal motorists who venture forth in search of their daily bread, there amid he no better news. Any diminishing of rhe number of these motorized n.onsters, which H'x siiiisefs I visbjitv, sure ly is in the public interest.

Darkened and as ominous as dread-naughts, they pollute the air, crowd traffic lanes and blind you at night with elevated headlamps. When it is raining, they race by you and cover your car with as much spray as 18-wheelers. Emerging from a parking space from between two of these ugly monstrosities is a dangerous venture and hazardous to safety and mental health. Their lofty and heavy doors inflict damage on cars parked alongside. Drivers of these oversized pickup trucks seem to develop corrupting senses of power and arrogant superiority.

Haughtily, they gaze down upon normal, timid motorists. They are big and tough, and they know it. So let us fearful drivers of traditional vehicles pray that the number of SUVs will continue to decline, so that peace of mind, happier and safer highways and fewer nervous breakdowns return once more to our streets. Cawthon A. Bowen Jr.

3901 Harding Road 37205 High school sports deserve more coverage To the Editor I am a sports fan. I love the Titans, the Commodores, and especially Volunteer football. Most of the time, 77ie Tennessean takes care of my need for news about those teams. Unfortunately, I am a high school sports fan as well. For years I have complained to friends about the rapidly diminishing coverage, but this past week has been the last straw.

I have been trying to follow the District 8 AAA basketball tournament which includes my hometown Coffee County teams. The coverage was virtually non-existent. I know the usual excuse that the paper has to meet press deadlines, but that has become very lame. It is unusual for a high school football or basketball game to last past 9:30 p.m. That should be plenty of time to at least get the scores, if no other details.

This past Friday the Coffee County girls played at 430 p.m. Not only was that game not reported on Saturday, it didn't make it into the Sunday edition either. I have been a faithful reader of The Tennessean for over 40 years and I plead with you to take the high school sports fan a little more seriously. David Dale 346 Deerfield Circle Manchester 37355 ddaleedge.net Hate crimes bill deserves approval To the Editor: Hate, as the bumper sticker says, is not a family value. Nor should it be a societal value.

That's why we are obligated, as a society, to add extra punishment for criminal acts motivated by the hatred of entire groups. A bill now pending in the Tennessee General Assembly provides for such an extra penalty. Passing that bill will speak volumes about where we stand as a people in the face of blind hatred meted out in criminal acts perpetrated upon victims selected simply because they belong to a certain group. Contrary to one misrepresentation, this bill does not in any way whatsoever interfere with thoughts or ideas or expressions. In fact, nothing in this legislation prevents a person from distributing hate material or urging others to hate people because of their race, religion, color, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry or gender.

Speech, even the most virulent hate speech, is constitutionally protected. The bill does say, however, that if you are convicted of committing a criminal act against a person from one of the groups cited above and if the district attorney can prove you intentionally singled out your victim because of your hatred of the group to which the victim belonged the district attorney can ask the judge to tack a little extra time on your sentence. That's a i.ircrv from conferriro' spe Public television in Nashville today assumes a new name to go with its new structure and new leader. The call letters WDCN, which were derived from Davidson County, Nashville, will officially change today to WNPT, representing Nashville Public Televisioa What's behind the name change? In this case, plenty. For the last decade, the public television offerings in Nashville, while credible, have erred on the side of dull.

While other PBS stations were airing cutting-edge documentaries and specials, Nashville's station's decision were guided instinctively by the need to not rock the boat. Part of the problem was the station's structure: It was one of a handful of public television stations in the nation owned by the local board of education after most other stations were granted their independence. Except on budget matters, the school board rarely spent much time dealing with WDCN. Nevertheless, when the board had to choose between funds for schools and funds for the station, it opted for schools. Moreover, there always lurked in the background the possibility that school board members who are directly elected by voters could begin second-guessing the station's programming decisions.

With such a structure, any program deemed controversial even by a small percentage of viewers could have quickly become a political hornet's nest. Last July, the stage was set for today's change when the station's ownership was transferred from the Nashville deserves a pre-eminent PBS station school board to a separate non-profit organization. Steve Bass, former chief programmer for the Boston PBS station WGBH, was lured to Nashville as WDCN's president and CEO in 1998. From his earliest assessment of the station, Bass has advocated enhancing the station's line-up with more programs featuring Nashville's cultural institutions and harder-edged public affairs programming. Some of the programming changes are already apparent.

Others will take considerably more time. Bass candidly explains that the separation from the school board has required an early emphasis on fund-raising. For most viewers and potential viewers, the station's name isn't important. Neither is the station's structure or its leadership. What matters most to viewers is that WNPT offers stimulating PBS programming, locally produced programs that reflect the character of Nashville, and education programs that fulfill the station's educational missioa The new leader, the new structure, and now, the new name have given WNPT a level of enthusiasm un-equaled in the station's 37 years.

This station has all the elements to become a pre-eminent public television station. If Nashville fully supports WNIT, the city will then have the PBS station it deserves. Smooth exit for Blue Cross Holiday should reflect only great presidents To the Editor: Let's do away with the President's Day holiday and go back to celebrating George Washington's birthday. Not all of our presidents have been honorable and are unworthy of being included in a federal holiday. Republicans certainly feel that Bill Clinton is not worthy of being included in a holiday, and Democrats would certainly feel that Richard Nixon should not be honored Of all the individuals in American history who deserve a holiday named after them, George Washington is the most deserving He is known as the father of our country.

But, as a compromise, since Abraham Lincoln would probably be thought of as the second most deserving, and his birthday is in mid-February also, we could call it "Washington-Lincoln Day." But President's Day just doesn't make sense: It honors the honorable and the dishonorable. We need to honor the real heroes of this country, not just those who happened to be elected president. Patrick Edwards 4345 Sheffield Dnve 37211 mm Both the Sundquist administration and BlueCross BlueShield have much to gain by finding common ground on TennCare. More to the point, they both could lose big if Blue Cross' pullout from TennCare is as absolute and as acrimonious as once feared. Throughout TennCare's existence, Blue Cross has been a silent partner in the program.

Blue Cross was essential in building the program. Blue Care, the insurance giant's TennCare managed-care organization, now covers nearly half of TennCare's enrollees. But Blue Cross, which has complained about the degree of risk assumed by TennCare's MCO's, seems to be sticking by its decision to shut down Blue Care and withdraw from TennCare. The question now Is whether the jdnunistration an i mi' Cross can work together so that Blue Cross' withdrawal doesn't result in a collapse of TennCare. Officials of both the administration and Blue Cross acknowledge that there may now be some wiggle-room in Blue Cross' withdrawal date, previously set for June 30.

Any flexibility could greatly help the administration in its attempts to recruit additional MCOs to fill the void. Flexibility would also give the Sundquist administration the chance to design an interim program for Blue Care enr llees, in case one is needed. While me of the issues plaguing TennCare require a perplexing combination of grueling effort and good iik k. the Blue Cross issue is not one of them. The insurer should do reason to help the state make the transition to a TennCare rp'i'r rn Blue Cross..