6 APR 05: THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE
When I moved to Columbus eight years ago, "Beacon College" was in a modest building on 13th Avenue. Now it's Beacon University, in a multistory building on Veterans Parkway. And who knows - perhaps in a few years, they'll put an actual beacon atop that building so you can find it.
The latest project in Beacon University's growth began only a couple of days ago. It's WBUE-FM, the university's own radio station. Shame on those of you who looked at those letters, and thought they play David Bowie albums....
WBUE is playing what they call in the business "contemporary Christian music." Or as another Christian radio station down the dial sometimes likes to call it, corrupted music of the devil.
It's a bit surprising for me to hear Beacon University's radio station play Christian songs with a pop and rock beat. I thought the administrators were more conservative than that. After all, some of the female musicians appear in videos wearing outfits other than dresses.
I guessed if contemporary Christian music ever returned to Columbus radio, Cascade Hills Church would have something to do with it. They play that sort of music during services every weekend -- and one male guitar player I saw there recently had hair so long, "Locks of Love" needs to recruit him.
People who like modern Christian music haven't had much to hear on Columbus radio in a few years. WVFJ "J-93.3" in Manchester adjusted its signal a few years ago, to go after Atlanta area listeners. You can hear it in Harris County on a nice day, when the wind's blowing the wrong direction.
There was also an attempt at contemporary Christian music on 1270-AM a few years ago. But it barely attracted any listeners - and now is as forgotten as "the unforgettable 1270" which followed it.
I gave WBUE a try as I drove around the area Tuesday - but I ran into one big problem. The signal at 96.1 FM is very weak, and skipped in and out downtown. It may be run by "Beacon," but the power at this point is more like a flashlight.
(That location on the dial is quite interesting, by the way. The station at 96.1 FM is only two positions away from the newly-moved 95.7 "The River." People who want to "trip out" on classic rock might wind up TRULY out of this world....)
But you can solve the signal problem by listening to WBUE online. There's a link to the station at the Beacon University web site. The music is a lot more up-to-date than everything else there -- like the message about celebrating Christmas.
From what I've heard so far, WBUE broadcasts a Christian radio network based in Nashville around the clock. It's a lot like WEAM-AM now airing nothing but ESPN Radio -- if you want to hear something local on these stations, it could be a long-distance phone call.
The programming on WBUE isn't always what a buttoned-down Christian might expect:
+ A nightly contest called "Cell Phone Superstars" lets listeners call in and sing. On Monday, a contestant actually sang Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight" -- which somehow I always thought was about a human boyfriend.
+ A rock song Tuesday night about "my Father's house" claimed that house had "a great big yard, where we can play football." Were they singing about heaven, or the University of Notre Dame?
+ A big hit by the gospel duet Mary Mary was played Tuesday. So this station actually plays non-white artists -- which is more than we can say about WEAM-FM and WHAL playing white singers.
(Somebody's got to say it - if 11:00 a.m. on Sunday is the most segregated hour of the week in this country, many Christian radio stations have their clocks stuck at around 11:30.)
E-MAIL UPDATE: For those of you who simply HAVE to know what "IsOurCitySafe" is doing, we have the latest two e-mails from him. This one came first:
I recently saw an article in our city newsletter written by our new over paid city manager, Mr. Hugley. In the article, Mr. Hugley writes that he wants to be accessible to the citizens of Columbus. He even states that he would love for citizens to stop and talk with him in the mall, elevator, telephone, email, and anywhere else you see him. Apparently Mr. Hugley is lying through his gap teeth. The following is an email from a concerned citizen to Mr. Hugley. Apparently he only wants to be accessible to certain citizens. The names in the email have been deleted due to the fact that I did not receive the email directly from the author.
Hey XXXX,
I just wanted to share this with you. My wife, XXXXX, got a little upset a couple weeks ago with the news of the possible raise for Mr. Hugley. She sent an email to Mr. Hugley asking a few questions, which were: How can you justify such a raise for yourself? What is your plan of action to raise the
Officer's salary? Have you ever ridden with an Officer in Columbus? And, Have you ever had to make a life and death decision in a moments notice? I didn't know she had done this until I saw his response.
He responded with a one sentence email, which was: "Thank you for your e-mail sharing your concern." XXXXX was not satisfied, so she kept sending him her original email, hoping for answers to her questions. I guess she has annoyed him, because he has sent an email to the Chief and Major Graham, which asked this: "Did you get a chance to speak to officer XXXXX to let him know that my door is open if he would like to get an appointment to talk to me?"
Apparently he thinks XXXXX is an Officer, or more likely, he has not read the email. Well, I didn't like him sending an email to my Chief, since XXXXX doesn't work for him, and I had not emailed him. So, I sent this email to Hugley:
Dear Mr. Hugley,
You obviously don't read the emails, do you? My wife, XXXXX XXXXX, who does not work for Chief Boren or Major Graham, has been writing you these emails. I, XXXXX XXXXX (the Officer), have not written you any emails, until now. My wife, XXXXX, just wants an actual response from you. Your only response to her, one of your Columbus residents, was a "thanks for your concern." This response indicates one of two things: either you have not read the email, or you are choosing not to answer or address the questions in my wife's email to you.
I am curious as to why you have been forwarding these emails from my wife, XXXXX, to my Chief. Quite frankly, my wife's questions to you have nothing to do with the Chief. They were addressed to you, a City Counsilor, from a citizen of Columbus. Do you send all emails from citizens to the Chief of Police?
My logical conclusion is that you have not bothered to read the email, or you thought XXXXX, my wife, is an Officer with the CPD, which she is not. The only other conclusion is that you think the Chief wants or needs to know my wife's opinion and questions to you. Again, I ask, do you send every email from citizens to the Chief of Police? I highly doubt that, as that would waste our Chief's time with political matters meant for you, an elected official.
I'm inclined to believe this email will also not be read by you, but rather forwarded to the Chief because you saw "XXXXX" in the sender's email address. So, whoever reads this email, please let Mr. Hugley know that XXXXX XXXXX, who does not work for the City of Columbus, would like her questions addressed or answered from her original email to Mr. Hugley. If Mr. Hugley would rather speak to XXXXX in person, rather than respond by email, then please send a quick email stating so. An email to my Chief is really not necessary since my wife, XXXXX, does not work for the Chief.
Thank you for your concern,
XXXX XXXXX
Don't feel bad Officer XXXXX. My father wrote Mr. Hugley with the same question of how he can justify his own salary when Police officers who make life and death decisions on a daily basis aren't getting raises for years and years on end. Mr. Hugley thanked him for his concerns too, but gave absolutely no answer.
I wonder if I will get a response from Mr. Hugley about this email.
Continuing to irritate,
Wade Sheridan
Oh, where do we start here? For one thing, if Mr. Hugley had those several extra thousand dollars, maybe he could afford a trip to the dentist about those teeth.
If you keep sending the same e-mail message to ANYBODY, doesn't that qualify sooner or later as spam? I've had so many offers to grow (ahem) certain body parts that if I took advantage of them all, I could be nine feet tall by now.
But it's interesting that Isaiah Hugley passed on an e-mail to the police chief about his door being open for appointments. Maybe it's a hint that the City Manager is about to fire several secretaries at the Government Center.
(And please note City Manager Hugley and Police Chief Boren are working together -- African-American and "Euro-American," for One Columbus. There may be only one patrol officer when it's over, but at least....)
It could be that the plan to increase public safety pay depends on the budget proposal Chief Rick Boren will offer the City Manager in coming weeks. That budget plan probably is taking extra time to prepare - so all of Councilor Nathan Suber's questions get answered right off the bat.
I might try sending an e-mail to the City Manager, simply to ask how many e-mails he receives each week. After all, do you expect members of Congress to send individual replies to all their e-mail? If they did, they'd barely have time to campaign for reelection.
The irritating (his word, remember) Mr. Sheraton passed this follow-up to the above message around his chain only hours later:
Hey XXXX,
Well, Mr. Hugley responded to my email today. He responded to me with three sentences, which were:
Thank you for your email expressing your concern. I have provided your wife the response that I intend to provide. Have a great day.
Here is what I emailed back to Mr. Hugley:
Mr. Hugley,
I want to thank you for at least clearly stating you don't intend to address any of my wife's concerns or questions with anything more than "thanks for your concern".
I feel obligated to remind you that, as an elected official, you are a REPRESENTATIVE of the people of Columbus. Your response and attitude indicate to me that you don't feel my wife's concerns matter or are worthy of a response. You are a representative of the people of Columbus, not a superior of the people of Columbus. As a representative, you DO have a responsibility to address the concerns and questions of the people of Columbus.
Your response of totally ignoring tough questions is not surprising to me because of my experience as a city employee (Police Officer). My wife is a little naïve, but she is quickly learning from your apparent attitude and response.
If later you possibly feel guilty, or more likely, feel enough political pressure to answer my wife's questions, I will list them again for you:
1. How can you justify such a raise for yourself as city manager?
2. What is your plan of action to raise the Police Officer's salaries?
3. Have you ever ridden with a Police Officer while he/she is on duty?
4. Have you ever had to make life and death decisions in a moment's notice?
Quite frankly, Mr. Hugley, 2 of the 4 question are yes or no questions. Would it be too much for you to answer those questions?
Thanks for your concern,
XXXX XXXXX
Instant Message to XXXX: This is off the subject -- but did you know there's a beer in Australia named after you? It's made by Foster's, and I don't think it's pornographic at all.
But anyway -- do you see where XXXX is hurting himself in these e-mails? In the first one, he calls the City Manager a "Councilor." In the second, he calls Isaiah Hugley an "elected official." Neither of those are accurate -- and Robbie Watson isn't on hand to correct things, the way she does on "TalkLine."
If Isaiah Hugley won't take on the four questions in these e-mails, I'll be daring and do it myself:
1. He offered to take on more responsibilities with higher pay, including the lack of a Deputy City Manager. The Columbus Council decided against it - and now he's taking on more responsibilities, anyway. It's not like he's e-mailing the Council every week, asking for that raise again.
2. I could help raise police officers' salaries - but those impound auctions always are on Saturdays, when I go to church.
3. I've ridden with on-duty officers a couple of times in my life. No, I was not arrested on either occasion.
4. If you've ever driven 55 miles per hour on the interstate with speeders all around you, as I often have - yes, you've made life-or-death decisions in a hurry.
Now some quick things, which may or may not be matters of life and death:
+ The Environmental Protection Agency removed Columbus from its pollution "watch list." There, you see? All that rain in the last couple of weeks did something good.
+ Georgia's Governor signed a bill changing the rules in criminal trials, so each side in a case can remove nine potential jurors. Talk about a bunch of wimps! First Georgia had a "two strikes" law - and now it's up to nine?!
+ Phenix City priest Thomas Weise prepared to head for the Vatican, and the funeral of Pope John Paul II. I hereby nominate Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino to be the next Pope - since he led a "college of Cardinals" to the final four last weekend.
(BLOGGER'S NOTE: Daily blogging may diminish over the next couple of weeks, as we conduct our annual serious spring cleaning.)
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