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Saturday, March 31 • 7-lopm 3rd Annual Spirit oS the Land State Botanical Garden’s Terrace Room GRSEN F^ST GeY Your GREEN HOUR 4 Community Wide estimation providing citizens with the opportunity to increase their awareness of and interest in improving the environment of their home, yard, business, and community. For more info> visit us at www.athensgreenfest.org Saturday, Marc!* 31 * 7-9pm Environmental Art Opening Reception ATHICA Gallery April 1 • April 30 Adopt-A'Highway Challenge / Great American Cleanup April 1 • April 30 Bin It and Win It April 1 - April 30 Monthly Bass Fishing Tournament Lake Chapman, Sandy Creek Park Wednesday, April 4,11 & 18 • li:i5*ltt4Spm Green Bag Lunch Series State Botanical Garden Visitors Center, Classroom A Thursday, April 5 • 7*9pm Oconee Rivers Audubon Society Monthly Meeting Sandy Creek Nature Center such a success! * r/ Tlxc CO**' Mark your calendars for the 15th Annual A Taste Of Athens February 24, 2008 MaefaUclMan, WGAU (comcast ^ SPOTLIGHT. BARRON’S RENTAL CENTER ATHENS Communitij Connection thanks oup sponsors, vencors, volunteers ana quests for maf inq A laste C f Athens 2007 HEM jsam/ CITY PAGES continued from page 5 headed hopefully for a temperature standard on campus" that will save energy, Crowe said. He expects that the Board of Regents will soon require 68-degree winter and 78-degree summer thermostat settings for all buildings in the state university system. There are no immediate plans to expand UGA's boilers, but UGA is expanding at three to four percent each year on average, he said, and is looking at the possibility of a second heating plant on campus. The University is also studying the possibility of burning wood waste left over from timber harvesting. "In a real pinch, they can burn chicken fat," UGA engineering consultant Bob Synk told Flagpole. As a grant-funded experiment, UGA did just that for six weeks in 2002, he said. The fat was bought from rendering plants in Griffin and Cumming, and it worked just fine, Synk said. But its price has since "skyrocketed" because chicken fat is now in demand to supplement diesel fuel ("biodiesel") for burning in vehicles. There appeared to be no definite objections to UGA's permit application. The public hearing was requested by local public-health activist Jill McElheney. (Because the permit was routine, a hearing was held only by request of a member of the public). McElheney told Flagpole she simply thought the application deserved a public airing. UGA will add a S2.5 mil lion "scrubber"—a pow dered limestone filter to remove much of the acid gases (including SO2 and HCl) produced by burning coal. James "Jac" Capp of the state Environmental Protection Division (EPD) said that "major source" polluters like UGA's physical plant (that emit at least 250 tons a year of at least one pollut ant) get on-site surprise inspections every year or two as well as having to run their own tests and submitting detailed records "to provide a reasonable assurance of compliance." And while air pollution laws are typically enforced through government agencies, the law also allows citizens to take violators to federal court, Capp said. Other significant Athens-area air polluters include the Louisiana-Pacific and J.M. Huber pressboard plants, the CertainTeed fiberglass plant, the Power Partners transformer plant, and Nakanishi, which makes ball-bearing retainers. Among the worst polluters ar$ drivers, both those in Athens and those in Atlanta, whose air drifts here. EPD figures suggest that—of four catego ries of pollutants tested—UGA's boilers produce more sulfur dioxide and fine-particle pollution than all the cars in Clarke County, but the cars produce far more nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. Jo.in Huie jphuie@alhens.net A Tri-Faith Effort The Abraham Alliance "It feels good to be back!" commented Lynn Gatchell of Milledge Avenue Baptist Church to fellow members of the Abraham Alliance. They were seated around a table at the At-Huda Islamic Center on Monday evening. Mar. 19, mak ing plans for their next community action proj ect: the rehabilitation of three boarded-up hous es in the Stonehenge neighborhood-for Habitat For Humanity. Others echoed Lynn's sentiment. They hadn't met since January and soon after that, one of their key members, Clyde Anglin, had passed away. They had mourned together, but now it was time to get back to work. The Abraham Alliance was born in the after- math of 9/11, when three local congregations de cided to work together for the good of their com munity. The Al-Huda Islamic Center, Congregation Children of Israel and Milledge Avenue Baptist Church started with a simple plan: a spaghetti dinner to raise funds for the Red Cross. After that, Habitat for Humanity approached the group with a proposal: a matching grant to build a house. The three congregations agreed to do it. They worked together on fundraising, including a "Tri-Faith Trot" 5K run. According to Pastor Ed Bolen of Milledge Avenue Baptist, they didn't divide the cost and labor in thirds. "We decided to do it cooperatively, and that's why we worked on Tuesdays," he explains. They built the house on weekdays in order to leave free each congregation's day of worship (Friday for Muslims, Saturday for Jews, and Sunday for Christians.) In 2004, the Abraham House was completed. Since then, the alliance has continued to put its efforts into fundraising and promoting cross- cultural understanding. In 2005, they hosted an event called "Three Weddings and a Party" to As UGA continues to build out its East Campus area —including this new home for the Lamar Dodd School of Art under construction—Athens-Clarke County is going forward with around $200 million in sewer plant upgrades that include an overhaul across the river from East Campus where, officials say. ‘obiectionable odors" will stop at the property line raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina. The "weddings" were performances by teenagers in each of the three congregations to demonstrate the different types of marriage ceremonies. In March of 2006, the group organized a discussion of the three holy books, the Qur'an, the Torah, and the New Testament, to help each other un derstand what the texts of their religions say. Larry Galzer, of the Congregation Children of Israel, emphasizes that the group is really not focused on religion. "Your religion, your culture, your traditions—those things don't matter. They don't segregate us from each other. The impor tant thing is working together." However, no one takes the interfaith aspect of the group for granted. Abid Ali of Al-Huda, a Pakistani with family in Saudi Arabia, com ments, "I've told my family about the Abraham Alliance, and the next time I go home, I have to bring proof because nobody believes it. Nobody believes that in the U.S., after 9/11, this group can exist." The new project for Habitat will cost about $8,000 per renovation. So besides recruiting hammers and hands, they'll need to start raising money again. Milledge Avenue Baptist Church •will be hosting a fundraising dinner on May 20 at 6:30 p.m. You can bring a donation and eat your fill of spaghetti—vegetarian or with kosher/ halal meatballs—salad, and dessert. Another Tri-Faith Trot 5K is tentatively planned for Labor Day, Sept. 3. The Abraham Alliance welcomes all participants, regardless of faith. For more information about upcoming events or to get involved, a website should be up soon at www. abrahamalliance.org. Nancy Heiges nheiges@gmail.com 6 FLAGPOLE.COM • MARCH 28,2007 NEWS & FEATURES I ARTS & EVENTS I MOVIES I MUSIC I COMICS & ADVICE I CLASSIFIEDS