Joe Holleman's column in Saturday's Post-Dispatch refers to WU Senior Elizabeth Schranck as "Show Biz Kid" (read it here).
Crime in the Lou was published on May 5, 2013
An original rap addressing crime statistics in St. Louis as previously reported by Forbes and the CQ press for an online journalism class at Washington University in St. Louis.
An original rap written by Liz Schranck.
(C) 2013 Liz Schranck
https://www.facebook.com/LizzieWeberM…
Lyrics:
St. Louis is a city, yeah, a city with crime,
But crime is everywhere you go it ain't hard to find.
So 'why?' you ask was St. Louis number two
On Forbes' dangerous city list? Let me tell you—
As a small little town that sits on the bank,
Of the Mississippi River, St. Louis is ranked
Number 3 for assault and number 5 for robbery,
So bein' self aware is the way to be.
But as we look at the facts, and no I won't detract,
That while these ranks are fo real, the city lines are wack.
There's the county and the city, two municipalities,
But the city IS a county! (What?! That's crazy!)
Yeah, I know, I'm bein' fo real—
The perception could be changed if the two could make a deal
Cause what's bad for the city is bad for the county, foo,
So the Lou gets a spank and a rank of number two.
Let's keep breakin' it down—look at geography
There's 62 miles in St. Louis City.
Add 3,000 more and that's the county's score
Which brings me to where I must implore
Forbes to look at methodology-
Are auto-theft and murder the same? (That's crazy!)
These deceptions if inspected and corrected could change
The perceptions of St. Louis and the real crime rate!
Let's look at history
Back to the 19th century,
St. Louis City split from the county—
What if the lines were drawn as they were meant to be?
Now we took a good look at geography,
So let's take a peak at inconsistencies—
There are factors that do matter when we're lookin' at crime
Age, for example, and place and time!
Reporting, too, on crime and the like, from city to city by the FBI—
Chicago, Minneapolis and New Orleans,
Weren't even included on the listed rankings!
Let's look at history
Back to the 19th century,
When St. Louis City split from the county—
What if the lines were drawn as they were meant to be?
And I'd like to stress if the CQ press would take one request
At our behest,
If you take crime stats from the Lou as a whole,
We'd be ranked at this number (141), truth be told!