Lawler-palooza

Jerry Lawler, long time professional wrestler and Memphis mayoral candidate, was campaigning on campus yesterday just two days before the city's special election.

Lawler, who is one of 25 candidates in the race, answered student questions while enjoying lunch in the Tiger Den. He said he was here to encourage college students to go out and vote.

"The election commission released a statistic yesterday saying only 7 percent of college students 18 to 25 have voted," he said. "They said that's the lowest turn out ever for an election."

Lawler said he wanted to know what students had to say about the policies candidates are presenting and how they could be convinced to voice their opinions at the polls.

"We thought we'd come out to The University and ask students what the reason for the low turn out was and find out if there's anything that any of the candidates have said that resonated with the students," he said. "We wanted to light a fire under everybody and hopefully get them excited."

Lawler said he has plans that will help the city's growth, starting with attacking the problem of crime.

"The number one issue on everybody's mind is the crime in Memphis," he said. "Everybody wants a safer Memphis. We were just recently voted the number two most dangerous city in America. It's an embarrassment, but more so than that, it's tragic."

One of the most pervasive problems in the city that contributes to the rising crime rate are gangs, he said. Lawler's plan is to bring back the gang unit, a tactical team within the Memphis Police Department, which investigates crimes that are suspected to be gang related.

"The city right now doesn't even have a gang unit to address the gang problems," he said. "The gangs are recruiting younger and younger to get them to do their dirty work. America has a war on terrorism-if I get elected, we will declare a war on crime."

Alex Tievy, freshman music major, said she believes a gang unit may help those involved in them.

"A gang unit is probably a good idea because it would specialize in a certain area and they could devote all their resources to that area," she said. "It could possibly open up programs for the young men who are in gangs."

Education will also be a top priority for Lawler if he is elected.

"In talking with teachers, we've got students that come in with no respect for education," he said. "We gotta get back to the basics. We have a 40 percent dropout rate in Memphis City Schools."

Lawler said he wants to partner with World Wrestling Entertainment to offer incentives for good grades.

"Instead of WWE standing for World Wrestling Entertainment, in Memphis it would stand for Winning With Education," he said. "It's an incentive program where, for instance, the city school that has the highest grade point average is going to get a reward at the end of the year. Maybe world champion John Cena comes and spends an entire day at their school."

Lawler said he would like to mimic other cities and allow the mayor to run the school system, rather than the school superintendent, which is currently Kriner Cash.

"What has been done in some of the other cities and what I would propose doing here is getting the charter changed and abolish the school board," he said. "You do away with the superintendent's position and the mayor becomes responsible for the city schools. It does away with a lot of duplicity and in-fighting in the school board. The buck stops with one person-the mayor. This has been done in other major cities and it has been successful in every one."

Lauren Lee, public relations graduate student, said Lawler's plan would give the mayor too much responsibility.

"Honestly, I don't think the mayor will have the time to focus on that," she said. "He should make sure to delegate properly to someone who can uphold the school system and be head of the school board. It should be somebody that he has faith in besides himself. I don't really think he needs to be doing all that when there's tons of other issues going on in the city right now."

Another hot topic Memphians are talking about is the Pyramid. A Bass Pro Shop is the last thing Lawler said the city needs right now.

"I'm not for a Bass Pro Shop in the Pyramid," he said. "That's the main part of our city's sky line. It's like the emblem of Memphis. For that to be turned into a Bass Pro Shop, I think, once again, would be an embarrassment."

Lawler said he would like to see an indoor amusement park and shopping mall in the Pyramid.

"There's nothing like that in the South," he said. It could be a huge tourist attraction. It wouldn't cost the tax payers one cent. I would want that person to come back to the table with that proposal. If that didn't go through, I still think there are a lot better options than turning it into a Bass Pro Shop. That might make us look like we're the red neck capital of the world."

Matthew Antwine, junior public relations major, said he isn't sure either idea is viable.

"The Pyramid is in an area where a lot of people don't feel safe," he said. "It causes some people angst and fear to even go near it. I'm not sure about the Pro Shop, and I'm not sure about the amusement park idea because you are going to have to draw people in there. One way to do that is by not only working on the Pyramid, but working on the area around it."

Lawler said the city government lacks a business mentality, something he would bring if elected.

"That's one of the things I bring to the table; run the city like a business, like I ran my successful business for 20 years," he said. "Part of what I did in my business was basically creating stars. I would take an average young man off the street and turn him into a wrestling superstar that people would plop down their hard earned money to come see. That's marketing. Memphis has never been marketed right to the rest of the world. I want to market Memphis to the rest of the country and make Memphis into a superstar city."