National Honor Finds Tampa Benefactor

My guess is that Steven Spielberg and Jimmy Carter have so many plaques on their walls they are personally responsible for felling an entire forest. Another guess is they don't have an official proclamation from the city of Tampa claiming it's their own day.

Franci Golman Rudolph does. Her day, as declared by Mayor Pam Iorio, will be Thursday.

Thursday is also the day Rudolph will be presented with the American Jewish Committee's annual Human Relations Award, an honor earlier given to filmmaker Spielberg and former President Carter. It will be presented at the organization's yearly banquet, being held in Tampa for the first time at A La Carte Event Pavilion.

Rudolph, who once taught special-needs students, is one of Tampa's best-known philanthropists, especially in education and the arts. Her name is on boards across the Bay area, including the foundations of St, Joseph's Hospitals, Berkeley Prep, the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, the Holocaust Museum, the Tampa Museum of Art, The Florida Orchestra and well, you get the picture.

She hasn't made any movies that I'm aware of nor does she go around the world talking about world peace. In this community, though, she has made a difference in our lives in more ways than we can list here, and it's kind of special the American Jewish Committee has come to Tampa to award her this honor.

No Ding-A-Ling

Despite an astonishing season, the Rays have rarely been able to fill Tropicana Field. Reader Vivi Lewis blames it on the cowbells.

"I love to watch the Rays, every game on TV. I can't imagine being in the stadium sitting next to, or being surrounded by fans clanging those cowbells. It would drive me crazy. I think I even heard on the radio recently that for the first 1,500 fans who bought a ticket, they would be given a cowbell. That didn't seem to work. There has got to be another reason they are not buying tickets."

•Well, these are tough times. Maybe instead of a cowbell, they ought to toss in a quart of milk.

The Tie That Binds

Here's a note from our own crackerjack jock Jack Harris you listen to in the mornings on WFLA radio:

"Steve, I loved your column on the low britches in the courtroom ... and the part about how the really egregious dress is coats and ties in Florida. I've been fighting it for years. ... 'Cursed be the tie that binds,' and 'Tie one off.' Maybe we should coordinate a campaign and push for common fashion sense for Tampa Bay.

"Jocularly, Jack Harris"

•I'm with Jack on this one. Autumn begins this week and it's still going to be pushing 90 degrees out there. I think we should declare that - because of global warming - nobody south of Atlanta can wear a coat or tie between May Day and the official end of hurricane season on Nov. 1. In between you can throw on a tie if (a) you get pressured from your spouse, (b) it's your wedding day, or (c) it helps you look a little better lying there at the funeral.

Making Mom Proud

Finally comes this letter from Candice Howard, who was shaken and stirred to write after reading an article in Mother Trib suggesting we lower the drinking age in college.

"As I read the article, 'Colleges Aim To Curb Binge Drinking,' I thought of my mother," Howard writes. She describes what it must be like to be one of the students quoted in the story explaining it to their mother.

"I can feel the excitement of calling her, saying, 'Mom, they quoted me in the paper!' so she can run out and buy a paper and start reading. 'We're out four times a week,' said Alex Bozinta, 21, who ordered three drinks at a popular bar recently so she wouldn't have to fight the crowd as often. 'We drink and drink. As long as you get drunk, it's fun.'

"Richard DeVoss, 21, lit a cigarette and leaned back on his barstool while talking with a handful of his buddies. 'We went out last night and we came out tonight; when I leave I'll be stumbling.'

"I can just see the tears of pride," Howard says, "knowing that all the years of hard work to send her child to college have paid off."

Before you write in, I believe Howard was being a little satirical.