Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current, August 09, 2000, Image 4
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I've been following talk about the land use
plan. From what I can gather, the idea was to
come up with a guideline about development in
and around Athens. The idea was to preserve
what we have so that Athens doesn't turn into
another Atlanta.
I would like to know, if the County
Commission meetings to discuss the land use
plan aren't open to the public, why is a real
estate agent and a developer in the meeting con
ferring with the Commission? Are they not part of
the public? And if they are in these secret meet
ings discussing the development of Athens, which
no doubt they will personally profit from, this
whole process sound rigged. [Some of the meet
ings are dosed to public comment but do not
exclude the public. Ed ] Where are the naturalists
and conservationists to inform the Commission of
the environmental impact of their decisions?
Where are the studies of the financial benefit of
preserving wild spaces instead of development?
Everyone benefits from wild spaces, whereas
tearing down our woods to build subdivisions
makes only a few people rich.
Georgia has been bitten by the development
greed for money bug, and we obviously haven't
learned from other states who let a few devel
opers tear down their forests and sell the land off
and get rich. No one seems to connect the
destruction of *he neighborhood woods with the
loss of peace or serenity. Or with alienation of
young people. No one seems to think that getting
rid of those open spaces of nature and wildlife
will have any effect on people or their lives. But
there is a connection. When I go visit my sister
in one of these cities, I feel like a sardine in a
crowded can. There's no privacy in stamp-sized
backyards; rush hour lasts all day, and people
seem much too stressed on the weekend as they
rush off to get out of the city and out into
nature.
I come back to Athens, where life is still a bit
laid back and people are still friendly, and neigh
borhoods still have patches of cool, serene
woods. And I wake tip to the sound of birds
instead of boom boxes and freeway traffic.
In my neighborhood, two acres of forest was
torn up th’s week. People who have lived on this
street their whole lives have had the trees they
grew up with uprooted and hauled away. Not
even one tree was left on the property line to
shield the houses now exposed.
I'm worried. I'm worried about the sickness
that gets hold of people and makes them do any
thing for money, that makes them sell off a
neighborhood. I wonder what kind of person it is
that feels they need money that bad; bad enough
to bulldoze a littl? piece of nature on other
people's street.
We're taking Nature for granted in Athens. We
need to realize how much we're each benefiting
from our environment every day. We need to
realize that we have something really special here
that most cities have already lost. And, we need
to save out neighborhood woods from the bull
dozers and the individuals who would profit from
their destruction. It's time to stop thinking that
money can buy anything and that people with
money can do anything they want.
We also need to have a realistic discussion of
what greenspace is. Open, green, natural, wild
space. Preserved for wildlife and as a place where
people can go to appreciate nature. Where we can
take our children to learn a love and respect for
the natural world, which, they have to learn to
ensure the survival and prosperity of our planet.
Greenspace is not farmland divided into one, five
or ten acre ranchettes. It is public land set aside
primarily to preserve ecosystems and wildlife
habitat. It is public land in that the public has
access to enjoy being in nature, but not public in
the sense that the public can decide to destroy or
alter it.
Yes, Athens-Clarke needs green space. We
need places to go walking and renew our spirits
where we don't have to drive for hours in traffic.
Where we can see wildflowers in the spring, and
leaves turn color in the fall, and native plants in
their natural environment. And we need to recog
nize the value of the woods interspersed in our
neighborhoods and protect them from those who
would replace them with houses and irreparably
alter our community for their own individual
profit.
I dc.Tt have the money that the developers
have. But the woods are a beautiful, vibrant part
of our community and deserve to remain
standing. I'm thinking we need some different
County Commissioneis, people who could find
some creative ways to preserve nature both in
Lown and in the outlying areas.
L. Briggs
Athens
JUST SOY NO
I find it deeply ironic that the Republicans
reserved an entire night to highlight the impor
tance of the Armed Services and yet there has
been little press mention of the fact that for the
first time in nearly 50 years, the Republicans will
nominate two candidates who both have never
served in the active duty military. Dick Cheney,
who has readily admitted that [he] "had other pri
orities in the 1960s than military service," actu
ally received more draft deferments than President
Clinton. The true story on Gov. G. W. Bush's spotty
and strangely incomplete service record in the Air
National Guard may never be fully known, but Gov.
Bush was seemingly AWOL for much of the period
of 1972-1973. There is yet no real verifiable infoi
mation from the Bush campaign on the where
abouts of the governor during these extended
periods of unexplained and highly unusual
absences. Still, this incomplete service record is
very telling about the character of a man who
campaigns to "return honor and integrity to the
Oval Office." Honorable men do not shirk their
duty when involved in the defense of America.
Men of integrity are not absent without leave for
months at a time with no explanation other than,
"My daddy's a rich, well connected Congressman,
so I thought I could skip out for awhile." There
were more than 1500 stories examining every
scintilla of Mr. Clinton's draft record before the
1992 election, but somehow the press seems les'
than interested in following up on this story that
speaks volumes about the candidates' respective
"characters." If this was the period when Gov.
Bush was just "young and irresponsible," (as help
fully re-defined by the press as any period prior to
his 45th birthday), we can then ask "When did he
become responsible for his actions?" T o the
answers of these vital questions the fate of the
free world might depend.
A few miles from where the Republicans met,
the Continental Army once spent a winter freezing
and hungry in Valley Forge. Those that remained
with General Washington dedicated their lives in
defense of our freedom despite incredible hard
ships. Gov. Bush's lack of dedication to his duty in
the ANG, despite a life of exceptional privilege, is
a dramatic contrast that speaks volumes about his
personal sense of honor.
J. M. Prince
Cartersville
TBit MWIII W«Bk»
by TOM TOMORROW
RANDOM VIGNETTES FROM THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION
0 larry king Sits down next to m£ in
A STAR0JCK5 ONE. MORNING. HE IS FRIENDLY,
TALKATIVE--AND UTTERLY CAJSTIC ABOJTvTHE
REPUBLICAN S SHOW OF DIVERSITY.
WHITES IN THE
AUDIENCE AND
BLACKS ONSTAGE*
ALL THE BlACKS
ARE ONSTAGE
If THERE'S A
BELLMAN
AROUND, THEY
INVITE HIM ON
STAGE!
3) SAM DONALDSON CAN FREQUENTLY BE FOUND AT THE
A8C.COM SOOTH IN ONE Of THE HUGE MEDIA PAVILIONS OUTSIDE
THE CONVENTION CENTER, PONTIFICATING ABOUT THE INTERNET--
WHICH THE VISIONARY NEWSMAN BELIEVES IS MUCH MORE
THAN A PASSING FAD...
/•v - numiii •
-MARX AND LENIN—EAT YOUR HEARTS
lour; THESE ARE the revolution
aries—the people on THE H
nf you aren't on the web, you
ARE SOON gonna BE A DINO-
\SAUR! WE'RE GONNA LOOK AT YOUR
BONES AND SAY, WHAT WAS THIS?
LET'S SEE If WE CAN RECONSTRUCT |
THE FLESH
I mote: since me smi*. TO be IT LCAST is ’With it" is SAM domalvSoM. me i
►OJTEO PHOTOS FROM THE CONVENTION ON OOP MEBSrrE: WWW.TMlSMOOCBNNCWOl.COM.'
H) AT A CHRISTIAN COALITION RALLY
IN A BALLROOM FAR FROM THE WARM
l FUZZY G.O.P. CONVENTION, PAT
Robertson explains why he sup-.
PORTS GEORGE W. BUSH IN THIS SEA
SON of INCLUSION...
I DON'T WANT MY MONEY GOING TO
fund DlRVt PICTURES or THE
PLANNED PARENTHOOD ABORTION
CLINKS'.!
EHIFgangifi
**
From: ATHENS
TIMES A DAY
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□ FLAGPOLE AUGUST 9, 2000
00-b-8