Newspaper Page Text
THE PATHOGEN CITY?
The weird Athens we know and love is an accident by design.
If Interstate 85 had followed its original route through here, we
would be metro Atlanta, and the B-52's would never have hap
pened. If IBM had built a semi-conductor plant on the land they
bought outside Athens, we'd be an IBM town. Ditto Mercedes on
that same tract of land.
We are a university town and always have been. The last boom-
let we enjoyed came 40 years ago when the Georgia legislature
for once got serious about having a first-class school here and
pumped in the money, bringing in lots of new, young Phd's and
the subdivisions to house them. At the same time came an influx
of industry, including General Time, DuPont, Reliance Electric,
CertainTeed and Westinghouse.
Since then, industry has tended to locate along the interstate
to our north, and growth of the University, though steady, has
lacked the jolt it got in the '60s. Meanwhile, the flip side of the
university town—low wages for everybody who's not on the faculty
or in the administration—has come to the attention of our lead
ers in town and on campus. The solution they all agree on is more
high-tech, clean (no chickens) industry that will bring in a lot of
people with the money and taste to enjoy sidewalk cafes, and their
tab will create jobs for the rest of us—not just serving them their
pinot, but fixing their cars and their taxes and their houses and
their legal problems: their rising salaries will float our loans.
Our industrial development teams have assessed our strengths
and decided that, given our resources—the UGA science labs, the
vet school, the U.S. Department of Agriculture research facility, the
poultry lab, the Merial vaccine-production company, etc.—our best
shot is to market Athens as a center for the study of strange stuff
that infects animals.
So, imagine the excitement at the University and in our lo
cal and state governments when the United States Department of
Homeland Security posted the notice that it was looking for a few
good sites to house a gigantic facility to conduct research into
antidotes for deadly pathogens that might be used by terrorists to
destroy our livestock. This was too good to be true, an unbeliev
able confluence of resources made to order for what we have to
offer. The University jumped on this bonanza like a linebacker on a
fumble. UGA's team assembled an impressive dossier detailing our
resources here and
in Atlanta, they of
fered free of charge
a piece of prime
real estate, they got
everybody on board
from our entire
Congressional delegation through the governor, the presidents of
all the affected colleges and universities, our mayor, Winder's may
or, the recording secretary of the Georgia Cattlemen's Association,
etc. Unanimous. No dissenting voices. They sent in the resume and
started talking to Kiawanis clubs and meeting with neighborhoods
and reading laudatory editorials in the daily to let the homefolks
know what was going on.
The homefolks, including me, weren't paying attention. This
world-class job app. was going forward in our name, and we were
like, whatever: Homeland Security, sure. Not that our paying atten
tion would have changed a comma of the whole enterprise. When
the recent news dawned that Athens has made the short list of
five sites in the finals for this research facility, some of us began
to go, do what? Deadly pathogens in our sewer system, in our air,
in our river? A big old prison-like facility where once there were
green fields? Our comfortable little town overrun by Homeland
Security storm troopers?
Once again the future and the feel of Athens will be determined
by forces outside our control. Homeland Security will choose us or
not. Will it all be safe? Probably. Will the terrorists try to blow it
up? Probably not.
If this golden ring is snatched from our grasp by one of the
other consortia vying just as determinedly, can we learn anything?
We can demand some kind of neighborhood notification system
that lets us know what our leaders are up to before it's a done
deal. The federal government required a local base re-location
committee to direct the re-use of the Navy School, and each step
of that process has been made completely transparent through
citizen participation.
Athens, all of us, should have an early say before we become an
IBM town or a Mercedes town or a Homeland Security town. I don't
know how that would work, but all the brainpower that has put us
into the Final Five for the National Bio And Agro-Defense Facility
could probably work it out over lunch.
Once again the future and the
feel of Athens will be determined
by forces outside our control.
Pete McCommons editor@flagpole com
USDHS accepts public comments through Friday. Sept. 28 at www.dhs.gov/
nbaf. Click on Public Involvement.
THIS WEEK’S ISSUE:
NEWS & FEATURES
City Pages 5
Drying Up
Which does Athens value more: chicken tenders or azaleas? Or neither?
Lawyers For Artists 9
Help is Here, in Athens and Across Georgia
Local artists need look no further than UGA’s Public Interest Practicum and Georgia Lawyers for the Arts.
AmTS (§2 EVENTS
Movie Picks 18
A Promise of Violence
Cronenberg's Eastern Promises. And, what happens in Vegas? Resident Evil: Extinction, that’s what.
Lost Picture Show
Indie on a Dime
Low-budget movies: The good, the bad and the really disturbing.
19
COVER DESIGN by Kelly Ruberto
featuring a sculpture by Emily Holt from
"Interior Landscapes”
at Clayton St. Gallery. Through Oct. 7
[M1USB©
Hard-Headed Fool 29
With Another Album Released, Corey Smith’s Success Surprises Even Him
The Jefferson native drops his third album, just in time for two Classic Center shows.
All Together Now 30
Local Studio Celebrates Its Third Comp With A Packed Show
Athens isn’t all indie-pop and layered psychedelia, as Pigpen Studios makes clear.
LETTERS 4
CITY PAGES 5
CAPITOL IMPACT 7
COMMENT 8
LAWYERS FOR ARTISTS 9
OUT THERE! 10
MOVIE DOPE 16
MOVIE PICK 18
LOST PICTURE SHOW 19
ABC 20
ABC@ATL 28
COREY SMITH 29
PIGPEN STUDIOS 30
RECORD REVIEWS 32
THREATS & PROMISES 33
COMICS 34
REALITY CHECK 35
CLASSIFIEDS 36
EDITOR & PUBLISHER Pete McCommons
ADVERTISING DIRECTOR l PUBLISHER Alicia Nickles
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Larry Tenner
MANAGING EDITOR Margaret Moore
ADVERTISING SALES Anita Aubrey. Melinda Edwards. Jessica Pritchard
MUSIC EDITOR Chris Hassiotis
CITY EDITOR Ben Emanuel
CLASSIFIE0S, DISTRIBUTION I. OFFICE MANAGER Paul Karjian
AD DESIGNERS Ian Rickert. Kelly Ruberto
ILLUSTRATOR Jason Crosby
CARTOONISTS James Allen. Ruth Allen, Cameron Bogue. Jacob Hunt. Missy Kulik, Jeremy Long, Clint McElroy
ADOPT ME Special Agent Cindy Jerrell
ABC Chits Hassiotis
WRITERS Pam Avery. Michael Barthel. Hillary Brown. Phillip Buchan, Tom Crawford, Robm Geddie. John Huie,
Gordon Lamb, Mat Lewis, Garrett Martin. Alex Moore. John G. Nettles. Trey Pollard. Maggie Summers.
Michael Wehunt. Drew Wheeler
CIRCULATION Charles Greenteaf. Jimmy Courson, Justin Ccurson. Alex Moore, Lena Trotochaud. Alex White
WEB DESIGNER Ian Rickert
ADVERTISING ASSISTANT Nicole Haysler
ADVERTISING INTERN Katherine Johnston
MUSIC INTERN Scott Reid
OFFICE INTERN Maggie Summers
STREET ADDRESS: 112 S. Foundry St.. Athens. GA 30601
MAILING ADDRESS: P.0. Box 1027, Athens. GA 30603
EDITORIAL: (706) 549-9523
ADVERTISING: (706) 549-0301
FAX:(706) 548-8981
ADVERTISING: ads@flagpole.com
ARTS & EVENTS: outthere@flagpole.com
COMICS: comics@flagpole.com
EDITORIAL: editor@flagpole.com
LETTERS: letters@flagpole.com
MUSIC: music@flagpole.com
MUSIC LISTINGS: abc@flagpole.com
WEB SITE: www.flagpole.com
VOLUME 21
ISSUE NUMBER 38
Flagpole, Inc. publishes Flagpole Magame weekly and distributes 1 / 000 copies
free at over 275 locations around Athens. Georgia Subscriptions cost $55 a year.
$35 for six months. O 2007 Flagpole, Inc. Ail rights reserved
« OO
JUtaiUtton at ARantato* Nawaaatlwi
NEWS & FEATURES I ARTS & EVENTS I MOVIES I MUSIC I COMICS & ADVICE I CLASSIFIEDS
SEPTEMBER 26, 2007 • FLAGPOLE.COM 3