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Re: Slackpole
Every year at this time we put out a double issue and take
a week off at Christmas. This means early deadlines two weeks
back-to-back, because we've got to put one paper out early
and then turn right around and put together the double issue,
and get in some Christmas shopping. It's always one of those
situations where by the time we get through putting out twice
the number of papers in half the time, we're too exhausted to
enjoy the days off.
This year, we started trying to think up a better way to do
it. We thought about just not taking the week off (nah). We
thought about putting out a calendar instead of the double
issue (nah). What we were trying to come up with was some
thing we could do ahead of time, so that we didn't have to kill j
everybody cramming two weeks into one.
Finally, it occurred to us, hey: this town is full of fine writ
ers, photographers and cartoonists, and we frequently get
requests to publish fiction and poetry and other stuff we don't
usually carry. We also always get an outpouring of stories for
our Halloween short story contest.
What if we put out a call for our readers to help us write
the double issue—would we get any response? We thought
we would, but there was always the chance that we'd sit here
hoping for copy and none would come in, or what came in
wouldn't be useable. Not to worry. This is Athens.
All along, the idea was not that the contents would be slack
but that we would be. We would “slack off' and let our readers
write part of Flagpole while we were fighting our backed-up
deadlines. And, no surprise, a lot of Flagpole's great readers
are also great writers. We got far more than enough to fill the
space available in this issue, so we just didn't have room to
run all the great stuff everybody sent in for Slackpole. Hmm,
maybe there'll be another Slackpole next year.
Thanks to everybody who went to the trouble to sit down
and write something or draw it or photograph it Slackpole
begins on p. 21. Take a look, and you'll agree that our readers
came through with a bunch of informative, enjoyable contribu
tions, augmented by some staff-generated fun and games for
your pleasure. Thanks a lot to all of you who allowed us to
slack off and conserve some energy for enjoying the holidays.
50 Years Since the Tear Gas
Beginning with a reception Sunday evening, Jan. 9 in
the Grand Hall of the Tate Center, the University of Georgia
will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the admission of
African-American students to the college. They've got a lot
of stuff lined up, including r lectures and panel discussions.
Charlayne Hunter-Gault will speak. Hamilton Holmes is no
longer living, but members of his family will be here. So will
Mary Francis Early, who received her master's from UGA the
year before Hamilton and Charlayne graduated. There will also
be a good deal of attention paid to the legal issues involved
in the desegregation of the university. Those discussions will
include Judge Horace Ward, who was himself denied entrance
to the UGA law school on account of his race, went elsewhere,
out of the South to obtain his law degree, and then came back
here on the team that successfully sued to get Charlayne and
Hamilton into the university.
Those were days filled with drama and tension—the best of
times, the worst of times (a Dickens of a time).
What should be a routine celebration of events that trans
pired a half-century ago gains currency from the realization
that the same forces that tried to keep our colleges racially
segregated still seethe in our body politic Only the interven
tion of the federal courts got Charlayne and Hamilton into
UGA. Given the state political climate today plus the rightward
stance of the courts, one could hazard that we're hardly much
further along than we were in 1961, particularly since the
Hope Scholarship has gone primarily to well-off white students
rather than to needy black students.
Would Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter be admitted
to the University of Georgia today if they were the first black
students applying? The answer is not as obvious as you think.
Why do we have 6 percent black enrollment in a state with 31
percent African-American population? For a better understand
ing of these issues, check out the schedule (desegregation.uga.
edu) and show up for some of these 50th anniversary events.
Pete McCommons editof®fiaapote com
THIS WEEK’S ISSUE:
NEWS & FEATURES
City Dope
Athens News and Views
Everybody put your hands together for Athens-Clarke County's rockin' new website'
ARTS & EVENTS
Movie Pick
2011’s Most Wanted List
Drew Wheeler lists the fhcks he is looking forward to most in the new year
MUSIC
Don’t Miss
New Year’s Eve
Get out there! Our picks for live music on NYE in Athens
7
9
A Remembrance 35
The World’s Smallest Airport
Recalling Athens' own daredevil ftymg circus
SlackLibs: Write Your Own Music Feature.. 37
Holy (expletive), This Band Is Amazing
This band is (adiective ending m -er) than every other local band ..
LETTERS 4
CITY DOPE 5
MOVIE DOPE 6
MOVIE PICK 7
THREATS & PROMISES 8
DON’T MISS 9
THE CALENDAR! 10
BULLETIN BOARD 16
ART AROUND TOWN 17
CLASSIFIEDS 18
SLACKPOLE COYER 21
FREE STATE OF ATHENS 23
ATHENS 100 YEARS AGO
24
BACON WARS
.25
A NICE DAY
26
CROSSWORD
29
FORENSIC SCIENCE
.30
A GREAT DISTURBANCE IN THE FORCE 32
REALITY CHECK
.33
WORLD’S SMALLEST AIRPORT
... 35
CROSSWORD
....36
SLACKLIB
.... 37
WORD SEARCH
38
DOUBLE EXPOSURE
...39
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