incoming (2007-13)

Carol Zinavage

Feedback Feed Bag

First, I feel that the Chipman Street murders were probably more class motivated than race. If Christopher and Channon were inner-city dwelling, using and/or selling drugs, [or] prostituting, the perps probably wouldn't have given them a second glance. The crimes also wouldn't have caught the attention of the media and suburban Knoxville if the above scenario were true.

Also, I couldn't agree with Jack Neely in "The Littering Exemption" more. Often when I'm sitting at a traffic light and I see a smoker throw his/her butt out of the car window I'm tempted to get out, run up to their car and throw the smoking butt back in!

George Matthews

Butt Out

The Knoxville Environmental group SPEAK (Students Promoting Environmental Action in Knoxville) conducts every so often an activity called "Friends of the Fort" in which UT students join forces with other Fort Sanders residents to scour the streets and put a dent in the overwhelming trash problem in the predominantly student-occupied neighborhood. I was drawn to this event one Sunday morning last fall not   by the prospect of a cleaner neighborhood but by the promise of free food after the work was done. After being assigned to the coveted "cigarette butt patrol" position I quickly realized that picking up a city block's worth of extinguished cigarettes was going to be a lofty task, both emotionally and physically.

People do not realize that 95 percent of cigarette filters are made of

cellulose acetate (a plastic). It is incredibly difficult for this substance to decay. The life of a cigarette from extinguishment to decomposition can be up to 12 years. Some may argue, "At least it decomposes!" With that mentality the number of butts that will accumulate in that 12-year period will be staggering. Needless to say, a "Friends of the Fort" cleanup in 2018 would be an unimaginable cigarette butt nightmare.

Perhaps I should have derived some amount of pride by picking up decade old relics of the past. "This cigarette butt here is from 1998, wow!" On the contrary, I was quite disgusted by the whole experience. Four garbage bags later and 20 pounds of butts on my shoulder, I thought I had done something good for the neighborhood, and maybe I had. But as soon as I turned the next street corner I was overwhelmed by another wave of abandoned butts at which time the task seemed futile.

Cleaning Fort Sanders of its cigarette butt accumulation problems is not futile. In fact, it can be as easy as tossing your butt into the nearest garbage can or empty beer bottle. For smokers who feel this request is encroaching on their right to smoke: Smoke on. Heck, I'll join you for one. However, you won't see me throw a butt on the ground again, and I sure don't want to have to pick up yours when you do.

Sam Fargotstein

Miscible Solution?

If the city government is committed to urban renewal in Knoxville, and committed to services for the homeless, a better solution for successful coexistence must be developed and enforced.

Sally Mitchell

Rule by Nepotism

Now, in this proud progression toward ever more enlightened and caring forms of government, the Knox County Mayor and Commissioners have left no doubt about their unique East Tennessee vision of progress in representative government: Nepotocracy!

Robert Loest

Incoming Quality Control

Josh Hogan

Guidelines for Incoming Mail

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