Gen. B.B. Bell
It's been a long stretch since I submitted an article for publication in Chattanoogan.com. The stunning aggravated rape by Ooltewah High School basketball players against their own and the subsequent investigations and public reactions bring me back to the keyboard.
First, I want to thank Mr. Roy Exum and many others in the Chattanooga press community for letting our citizens know what happened on Dec. 22 in Gatlinburg. Clearly, those in the Hamilton County School "chain of command", beginning with the basketball coach and ending with the Hamilton County Board of Education and its Superintendent, were and still are reticent to let us know the appropriate facts and circumstances.
I spent the better part of my life having the honor of serving in America's military with incredible young men and women. All of them were dedicated to the proposition that they would give up their lives to defend our Nation and our Constitution. And, many of them -- too many -- made the ultimate sacrifice with their lives. Almost all served with great honor and distinction. At the core of their service was protecting the 1st Amendment of our Constitution:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Thank you Mr. Exum and everyone in our free press for covering this horrible story so boldly. It is one we all needed to hear, and one which we would not have heard with clarity without your courage and dedication to a fully free and functioning press. Somebody around here deserves a Pulitzer Prize for opening this very dark door so we could all see the light.
General (Retired) B.B. Bell
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Clearly the three that are accused of this crime should be punished to the full extent of the law. No doubt about that. A message should be sent that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.
How do you send that message? Well, in Hamilton County you use slander, rumor, and innuendo in the form of Roy Exum's not so thinly veiled attacks to ultimately oust your school superintendent. It doesn't solve or address the problem, but it settles some kind of score Roy had against Rick Smith, and that's what matters. In Roy Exum's misguided journalistic world you amputate your foot when you break your little toe.
Sure thing though, give Roy an award. Hopefully this time, we can buy out contracts, waste money, start a search all over again, and finally find someone that will shut up and do exactly as they are told by folks like Roy Exum.
Job well done.
Herb Montgomery
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Roy Exum and others have exposed the long overdue truth about the "beast" of incompetence in the power structure in the school system there. They should be commended for having the courage to do so.
Although I now reside in another city, Chattanooga is my hometown -- the place where I grew up and was educated -- and proud to call home. As a native Chattanoogan, it is appalling to learn the extent to which responsibility by educational leadership in a system is tossed around like a hot potato, and culpability is ignored and instead replaced by apparent cover up. It is extremely disturbing that ethical codes that place the integrity of the profession and interests of the clients above personal interests have fallen victim to conduct unbecoming of those in leadership roles.
However, it is through journalistic reporting and public outcry -- not headhunting as some naysayers would cry -- that the sordid truth of systemic errors of omission and negligence and conduct adjudged blameworthy has now been exposed. It is a tragedy that the alleged sexual assault of students on a school-sponsored basketball trip has led to this.
In exposing the truth to a deserving public, hopefully there will be changes in which a school system will emerge with excellence in leadership, one that protects and ensures the safety of all its students, and one that educates at the highest academic standards that give students a real chance for success in society.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." The voice of truth is powerful, and will effect change in things that matter.
Janet Cover
Chattanooga High School
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga