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OMKS READ THIS WHENEVER YOU THINK ATHENS SUCKS Y ou've got to have history. You can't even dis cuss music without histoiy: "sounds like The Byrds, The Stones, The Beatles, The Who, The Whatever." To understand Athens and the University of Georgia, you've got to know where they came from. Let's make this easy. We don't have to go back to the Trustees and the Indians and all that. Let's just go back to, say, 1960. There are still people walking around who were alive then. Really. There are even some people alive who were in college then: still some automobiles on the road that were new then; still a few buildings left that were up then. Athens in 1960: the live music scene was one guy playing classical guitar at the Campus Hideaway pizza joint in Five Points. That was also the year pizza was invented, and people thought you were supposed to just eat one piece, like a piece of pie. Having pizza for supper meant going to bed hungry. Downtown did not exist at night. The Varsity (downtown then) and Western Union were the only places open after dark except for the movie theaters. After the movies and the curfew, guys used to drop by the Varsity to eat a dog and maybe compose a telegram to their loved ones. This was well before email. Total enrollment at the University was around 7,000. Girls could not wear shorts on campus or stay out after 11:15 p.m. weeknights—12:30 a.m. weekends. Freshmen could not have cars. The total UGA police department consisted of Dusty, a tall, skinny old guy in gray khaki shirt and pants with a .38 revolver stuck in his hip pocket. He walked everywhere. The science center was new. No grad studies or coliseum. No Tate Center, J- school, bus system or parking decks. There were basically two bars downtown: Otho's where the Georgia Bar is now, and The Old South, on the corner across from the bus station, where the parking lot is now. They could only serve beer and wine. Sure, people played rock and roll; they just didn't do it in public. No Georgia Square Mall, no Beechwood, no Wal-mart, no 316 to Atlanta, no college radio, no Internet, no CDs, no air conditioning, no birth control except condoms and abstinence— "plus la change, plus la meme temps." College professors in those days were so dread fully underpaid that they were instantly recogniz able by their outdated clothes. They wore coats and ties to class (there's weren't many women on the faculty) and their ties and lapels were always too wide for the prevailing style. I here were no backpacks; can you believe it? Students lugged their books in their arms, making it extremely difficult to light cigarettes. Backpacks were strictly for camping, ?nd nobody would have been caught wearing one on campus. If you wanted to eat out, besides the Varsity and the Campus Hideaway your choices were Tony's, a cafe downtown where Rocky's is now; the Snack Shack, where the Holiday Inn Express is now; Harry's, where Five Points Bottle Shop is now, and Allen's in Normaltown, where Allen's still is: same decor. The Farm was some where I can't remember. There were several boarding houses around town that served all-you-can eat- meat-and-vegetables to the public. Other than that, you could drive way out into the country on the Atlanta Highway and grab a barbecue sandwich or a hamburger steak at Poss's, which was along about where Target is now. Nobody ever ran or jogged. If you saw some body running, you knew he or she was in trouble. It was almost the same with people walking, espedally at night. You just didn't do it, except on campus, and then just from a car to a building. UGA had a good foot ball team in 1959; other than that it was pretty spotty. The stadium w<>s never sold out. The Dogs rarely had a winning season. The only other sports were baseball, basketball, tennis, track, golf and swimming. Cars were strictly big Amurcan models: Fords, Chevys and Chrysler products, with a smattering of American Motors cars like the Rambler. Nothing Japanese. A few British sports cars. The first Volkswagen Beetles made their appearance in Athens around 1958, and they were oddities. You didn't drive a pickup unless you were a farmer and couldn't do any better. Jeeps were still the war- surplus kind. The country was mired in the kind of political and social conservatism that it's probably headed back toward row. 1960 was the high-water mark for the kind of play-it-safe, don't-rock-the-boat, go-along-to-get-along, dull, success-oriented con formity that the later '60s rebelled against after being awakened by Jack Kennedy's vigorous young political energy. What goes 'round comes 'round: there are people in political power right here right now with a strong nostalgia for the good old days of the '50s. They'd love to dismantle the music scene and anything else fun that they don't control. If that sounds good to you, then party on, partner and don't worry. They'll take care of all the details for you. If, on the other hand, you like Athens as it is instead of as it was, then get your ass registered to vote and pay attention to all the heavy stuff in the front part of this maga zine. History: either you make it, or you become it. Tilton B. Merritt In 1960 the tie had to just touch the belt and the boy had to just touch the girl. Then things started to change with Kennedy. Would like to wish a Happy First Birthday to We Deliver Campus » 581 S. Harris St. • 548-7803 Eastside • Green Acres Shopping Center • 208-0911 Westside * Athens West Shopping Center • 549-7700 * * * * * POSTERS* * * * FILM* * * * MUSIC* * * * * * * * EXPLORE YOUR VISUAL : : AESTHETICS I *******224 EAST CLAYTON STREET****** * AUGUST 16, 2000 FLAGPOLE D PHOTOGRAPHY******** 706-543-3919