Newspaper Page Text
“All of us." someone answered.
Access to archives of various types was
Prelinger's main topic. He said he's learned a lot
about what makes archives important through
his experience with his own archive. “Archives
are justified by use. whether that's tomorrow or
300 years down the road," he said. In 2000, after
collecting thousands of physical copies of films
(sometimes purchased at flea markets). Prelinger
went looking for a nonprofit organization or pub
lic institution to take control of the collection.
He called Brewster Khale, founder of www.ar-
chive.org, in San Francisco and tried to get Khale
to find a group interested in buying the archives.
Instead, Khale suggested putting the collection
on www.archive.org and letting people have at it.
"This was 20 seconds after I first started talk
ing to him," Prelinger said. “I don't know how
to give things away. It took about three months,
but I realized he was probably right."
The Prelinger collection went on-line in late
2000. Prelinger said his shift in thinking came
after realizing the value of a model of plenty.
“Culture is not like cheese," he said. “It does not
diminish through use. Since we gave away our
material, we've increased our sales 62 percent."
Physical copies of material in the collection
can be purchased through Getty Images. For
those who can work with digital versions, www.
archive.org declares that. "Any derivative works
that you produce using these films are yours to
perform, publish, reproduce, sell, or distribute in
any way you wish witnout any limitations."
“Many, many people are remixing the ar
chives." Prelinger said. “Wonderful and unex
pected things happen when people get access to
archives."
One of the most promi
nent results of remixing
footage from the Prelinger
Archives appeared in the
film The Corporation, which
Prelinger said included about
100 pieces of film the producers didn't pay any
thing for.
The content distribution structure the
Prelinuer Archives use is a way for archives to
survive in the future. Widespread adoption of
that typt of structure will require a shift in how
society feels about control of content.
"Archives don't know the meaning of open
ness, because in society we don't know the
meaning of openness," he said. “We’re talking
about public access to our heritage.”
Prelinger ended his presentation with a show
ing of his movie Panorama Ephemera, a mon
tage of films from his archive revolving around
the idea of the spirit of America. It's a bit like
Chunktet’s "Lost & Found Video Night" collections
without the annoying snarkiness. The movie is
available at www.prelinger.com.
Sebastian Blanco sqb geo%ahoo com
Capitol Impact
Real Problems, No Solutions
What are the biggest problems facing Georgia
at this point in time? Here are some that would
be included on many lists: we're falling behind
in education. Georgia still has one of the high
est dropout rates in the nation, with 40 percent
or more of our kids not making it through high
school. Those students who stay in high school
have slipped back into last place among the 50
states in the ranking of SAT test scores. Rural
school officials have filed a lawsuit against the
state Board of Education to try to squeeze out
more funding for schools in economically dis
tressed counties.
We're losing good jobs. The Ford and General
Motors auto plants in the Atlanta area are being
closed down. DaimlerChrysler decided against lo
cating an auto assembly plant in Chatham County
and is placing it in South Carolina instead. Four
military bases are being shut despite Gov. Sonny
Perdue's close friendship with President George
W. Bush. Delta Air Lines filed for bankruptcy and
will eliminate thousands of jobs. BellSouth is
also cutting numerous positions.
Our population is getting sicker and our
healthcare is getting more expensive. More than
a million Georgians do not have health insurance.
Gov. Perdue's money-cutting proposals will likely
result in thousands of people being knocked off
the Medicaid and PeachCare rolls.
Surely, you would think, these issues would
be at the top of the General Assembly's priority
list for this session. But you would be wrong.
Here are the issues that have consumed the
largest part of our lawmakers' time and energy:
making it illegal for businesses and schools to •
prohibit employees and students from saying
“Merry Christmas;" authorizing local governments
to post the Ten Commandments at the local city
hall or courthouse, with the state's taxpayers
picking up the legal tab when the inevitable
challenges are filed by the ACLU; making it easier
for persons to carry firearms into workplaces;
designing a Bible studies course for public high
schools, even though such a course will probably
be tossed out by the courts; busting up school
clubs and organizations that include gay students
among their members; redrawing legislative dis
tricts to discourage Democratic candidates from
running against Republican incumbents.
These are all very important issues to which
ever lawmaker who authored a particular bill.
They will not, however, prevent a single person
from dropping out of high school, raise SAT
scores by a single point, create a single new
job, or provide health insurance to a single
one of the million-plus citizens who now lack
it. It is legislative sessions like this one that
cause thoughtful, concerned Georgians to bang
their heads against the walls in frustration. Our
esteemed elected officials
are concentrating on issues
that, in the long run, will
have no substantive impact
on anyone and aie taking a
pass at resolving the issues
that are holding our great
state back. One reason, of course, is that it's an
election year. Legislators traditionally take it
easy in even-numbered years rather than stick
their necks out on issues that might require hard
decisions on how we expend our tax resources.
After all, those decisions could haunt them on
the campaign trail while they're running for re-
election. As a result, any chance at solving our
urgent problems falls by the wayside.
There was a governor some years back who
cautioned his political colleagues to pay atten
tion to the “kitchen table issues"—the kinds of
things that people talked about when they gath
ered around the table at home, such as finding
a job or figuring out how to pay the utility bills.
“Those are more important issues to people than
things like abortion," that former governor would
say. That governor was Zell Miller, but even
Zell has fallen in step with the current political
trends. On his most recent visit to the capitol. he
didn't talk about jobs or education or healthcare.
Instead, he made a spirited speech to a Christian
Coalition rally calling for an end to abortion.
Problems? What problems?
Tom Crawford ;crawford@capitolimpact com
Animal Control
Last Week’s Scorecard
Athens-Clarke County Animal Control respond
ed to 54 calls:
2 complaints of animal cruelty
I bite case
7 complaints of barking dogs
10 citations for ordinance violations
29 animals impounded:
20 dogs
5 chickens
4 raccoons
25 dogs placed
7 adopted
II reclaimed
7 turned over to other agencies
ACC Animal Control press release for the week
of Feb. 9 to Feb. 15.
“Wonderful and unexpected
things happen when people
get access to archives."
WHHLUT
TO AN HOUR?
HAPPY
HOURS
Twice a Day
4pm-7pm & 12am-1 am
Drink
Specials
$ 1.00 Shooters
$1.00 Off All Drinks
ATHENS ONLY HICROBREWERY
140 E. WASHINGTON ST.
ATHENS • 546-1102
w
wm
•TDl
)©Rfe
Kl
Real Men
Play
Hardball!
cm 2000
2006 Draft
March 4
2006 AAMBL
SEASON STARTS
IN APRIL
18 AND OVER LEAGUE
$200 Per Player
28 AND OVER LEAGUE
$200 Per Player
Contact the League 706*548-4289 or
peterthorne@charter.net
www.aambl.com
CALL ASAP TO GET IN
ON LEAGUE PRACTICES
PRIOR TO DRAFT
FEBRUARY 22.2006 • FLAGPOLE.COM 7