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Volume 57 - Issue 2
Campus observatory opens for public celestial viewings
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By Lary L. Peel
News Editor
I peel / @my.westga .edit
Who says you have
to go to Hollywood to
star gaze? Certainly
not Dr. Robert
Powell, director of the
UWG Observatory,
professor and chair
of the Department of
Physics.
Located off Plant
Op Drive on the
UWG campus, the
observatory is set to
give the public amazing
Strykers sports bar kicks off just in time for football season
By TFacy Ammons
Staff Writer
tammonsl @my.westga .edit
Four young men, one
dream—and it just became a
reality.
Rob O'Brien, Nathan
Michalewicz, Adam
Michalewicz, and Stephen
Lepore recently opened
Carrollton's newest sports
bar, Strykers Sports Bar and
Grill, on Aug. 28.
Adam and Lepore
recently graduated from
UWG; O’Brien and Nathan,
both members of Delta Chi,
are current UWG students,
a junior and a sophomore,
respectively.
“Adam, Stephen,
and I came from the same
subdivision in Alpharetta”
Nathan said. “We all grew
up together and came here
to UWG, and then I met
Rob, and we all used to be
roommates.” O’Brien is a
Fayetteville native.
The guys have had their
hearts set on a sports bar.
“Since I was a freshman
here, I’ve always wanted
a place where I could go
and watch a game and have
an option of what I want to
watch,” O’Brien said.
“Me and my brother—
actually, my whole family—
are huge Cowboy fans,”
Nathan said. “When we came
here to Carrollton, we spent
about two hours trying to
The West Georgian
views of the celestial
sphere that has inspired
scientists and dreamers
alike since the dawn of
humanity.
With the fall
skies offering clearer
views than the smog
infested summer, the
observatory will offer
incredible views of
the stars, moons and
planets that share
our solar system. But
Powell warns against
believing the emails
circulating the web
that promise a great
find a place where we could
watch the Cowboys game
on Sunday. And we couldn’t
find one without going all the
way to Douglas ville.”
Strykers is located on
Maple Street; it was formerly
known as Z’s. Zubeyde Yucel
owned the Z's restaurant,
but she is now leasing the
building to O’Brien and his
friends with an option to
purchase. The young men
hope to eventually buy the
building, but declined to
disclose the leasing costs.
Yucel also owns
the cluster of buildings
surrounding Strykers:
the Red Dtx>r Saloon, El
Jalepeno, and the Maple
Street Car Wash.
O’Brien was a cook for
Yucel at Z’s, and his hard
work lead to this business
opportunity.
“Between this and the
other building she owns, she
was running Z’s by herself,
so she didn’t have time for
anything else,” O'Brien said.
“She had mentioned before
that if she found a good offer
for someone to take over she
would be OK with it. So I
sat down and talked with her
and within a couple of days
she made up her mind and
we made a contract.”
The nearly 4,000 square
foot building has undergone
some renovations since
the guys began their lease
term June 1, many of which
In News
‘Rush'ing for
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WWW.TII EWES I GEORGIAN.COM
view of Mars.
“As the skies clear
this fall, Jupiter w ill be
the featured celestial
object, but beware
of the Mars hoax,"
Powell said. “Mars
was relatively close
to the Earth in August
2003.”
“Every two years,
e-mail has suggested
that it will be that close
again. Mars will not be
unusually close to the
Earth this year.”
The observatory
features a Cassegrain
were done themselves, and
with help from friends and
family.
In fact, the only jobs
that required a contractor
was fixing the bathrooms
to meet Americans with
Disabilities Act standards
and routing audio/video
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Photo by Tracy Ammons
cables for the new televisions
and speakers.
All the walls have
been repainted, and they
will be dressed with sports
memorabilia. The partners
also removed the tile from
the dining area.
“We wanted to go with
a rougher look,” O’Brien
said.
All televisions that
were on the inside of the
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romantic returns.
telescope with a 14
inch diameter mirror,
offering amateur
astronomers the chance
to gaze far beyond
the limits of standard
offerings of home
tripod viewing.
For more
information on the
observatory or to
schedule a special
viewing for a group or
organization, contact
Powell at 678-839-
4095 or send an e-mail
to bpowell®westga.
edu.
restaurant were affixed to the
outside patio, and new flat
screen TVs were added to
the inside—for a total of 20
televisions.
“We weren’t supposed
to go with 20 televisions to
begin with,” Nate said. “We
were supposed to hit 13
and be done with it. But my
brother Adam, and Stephen,
pushed it a lot. Plus we got a
great deal on all our TVs and
DJ equipment.”
“We went with DirecTV
and got every sports package
they offer,” O’Brien said.
“Because there are some
bars around here that do
push sports a little more, but
wanted a real sports bar. It’s
not quite what you would
In Sports
Wolves football
optimistic for opener.
Possible viewing opportunities
The Moon at apogee
around September 17
Venus
on October 30
Mars
on November 24 and February 24
Mercury
on March 10. 2008
The Moon at perigee
Oil April 21,2008
Lyrid meteors
on May 5. 2008
get in a huge sports bar in
Marietta, but eventually we
would like to add enough
TVs—up to 50 is our goal.”
“We’re gonna have
every single college football
game that’s televised in here,
and every single NFL game
each Sunday,” Nate said.
The guys proceeded to rave
about baseball, hockey, and a
multitude of other sports that
will grace their televisions.
They built anew DJ
booth, with the help of
friend Mike Shenker, giving
the entire restaurant a total
of 6,000 watts of sound.
Strykers will have three
house DJs to pump music
on a regular basis. The guys
detached all the booths from
In Entertainment
Superbad is a
super good film.
WEDNESDAY. AUGUST 29. 2007
the walls so they can easily
be moved to create dance
floor space.
“ We’ve had a lot of help
from friends and family—
w e tried to do all the painting
and ripping out the tiles
ourselves,” O’Brien said.
“Otherwise, we’d have three
or four months left at least—
we'd be so far behind.”
The kitchen, now
upgraded with new
equipment, will serve a
variety of bar foods—
specialty buigers. wraps,
gyros, wings, chicken
tenders, and the like. But
the guys are adding a few
special items to the menu,
such as New England clam
chowder, potato cream soup,
some alfredo pastas, and a
bison buiger.
They are hoping to serve
alcohol for the first few days
of business, but they are still
waiting on the state alcohol
license.
“We’ve already done
the background checks and
everything .they claim they ’ re
really backed up right now
so the paperwork is taking a
little while,” O'Brien said.
After a few weeks to
adjust to the flow of business,
the guys look to start doing
nightly events such as
trivia and poker. Hours of
operation will be Monday
through Saturday, 11 am. to
2 am., and Sunday 11 am.
to 10 pm.