About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (June 1, 2011)
'AT TIMOTHY RD. Ion the patio THURSDAY, JUN£ 2 OPEN AAIC NI6HT CONTACT PtN TO SI6N JP HMOTHY(a)DEPALMASITAUA«CAFE COM OP 706-‘J?2-l237 BODY PIERCING Provided by Virtue &Vice, Inc. Athens’ Own Randy Smyre & Bethra Szumski Association Professional Piercers Board Member WBiB»rflpainan:aMonger«omi Restaurant The Food is Our Reputation” LUNCH BUFFET Available 6 Days a Week at Peking Eastside Location Only DINE IN • TAKE OUT • DEUVERY 706-549-0274 Major Credit Cards & Checks Accepted Green Acres Shopping Center • 1935 Barnett Shoals Rd. LAST CHANCE f V Flagpole Athens Music Awards DEADLINE SUNDAY JUNE 51 See WWW. flagpole. com “ or Ballot on pg. 13 ATHENS NEWS AND VIEWS A Kink in the Plans: At last Thursday's special mayor and commission work session (minus, once again, Mayor Nancy Denson, who had surgery on her injured leg that day and to whom we wish a very speedy recovery), the M&C were supposed to review architects' "final” schematic design for the Classic Center expansion in order to approve the plans at their June 7 voting meeting. That scenario, alas, won't come to pass, ACC Manager Alan Reddish informed the assembled, because preliminary cost estimates indicate that the expansion as currently designed cannot be built within the project's ever-dwindling $20 million budget. So, the design team will make some adjustments and come back in a month or so—maybe before the M&C's June 23 agenda setting session, maybe not—with a reduced- cost plan for them to vote on July 5. The most intriguing possibility for corner-cutting mentioned by architect Chuck Hall was that a large atrium, origi nally planned to wrap around three sides of the Fire Hall, could be reduced in size and disconnected from the structure. Commissioner Kelly Girtz took the sug gestion a step farther, proposing that a "24/7 keyhole" be left open between the atrium and the theater, preserving unfettered pedestrian access through the middle of the Classic Center campus between Thomas and Foundry streets. The passage would be a roofed but open-air walkway fol lowing the current stair way along the north wall of the theater, which would require some rethinking of the atrium's design, but doesn't seem too outra geous a proposition—especially considering, once again, that the commission specifically mandated that the expansion's design facili tate just such a passage when they approved the conceptual plan less than two months ago. We'll keep you posted. Florida State of Mind: The news last week that Garnett Stokes, Dean of UGA's Franklin College for the past seven years, would leave to accept the job of provost at Florida State University immediately brought to mind the question of whether one of her first duties in her new position will be to wade into the controversy over academic freedom at that institution. FSU P r esident Eric Barron recently said he will invite faculty leaders to review the university's 2008 contract with the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, which estab lished a $1.5 million endowment to the FSU economics department. Under the terms of the agreement, the gazillionaire right-wing activ ist's "philanthropic" arm was given the highly unusual power to approve faculty hires funded by the donation—a flagrant violation of prin ciples normally held dear by academic insti tutions regarding outside (and, especially, paid) influence over faculty derisions. Koch has made donations, with similar con ditions attached, to several other institutions, including Clemson University, West Virginia University and George Mason University, where a huge Koch endowment created the Mercatus Center, a free market-oriented think tank that wielded huge influence over the Bush administration's environmental deregulation policymaking. Stokes hadn't responded to a request for comment at Flagpole's press time, which, in fairness, was early this week because of the Memorial Day holiday, but we wish her luck in her coming endeavors—if this is an indication of what she can expect at FSU, she may need it. Bearin' "Dem" Blues: The June 21 special elec tion to replace Hank Huckaby, the freshman Representative who's leaving his not-yet-warm 113th District post to become chancellor of the University System of Georgia, will be fought out among three Republicans—Alan Alexander, Sarah Bell and Chuck Williams—and one underdog Democrat familiar to a lot of folks in these parts: longtime Athens writer Dan Matthews, who moved to Oconee County a while back and now serves as the chair of the Democratic Committee there. It's a heavily Republican district, and Matthews says he's under no illusions about that, but he points out a couple of things that could work in his favor. First, he's got the full support of his party's state apparatus behind him—at least until a runoff, which most observers expect to take place. And second, if he can motivate the admittedly small Democratic contingent in 113 to get out to the polls, he might be able to take advantage of what will probably be rela tively low voter turnout. He'll get his chances to stir up the base at a pair of candidate forums in the weeks before the election. The first, organized by Lee Becker, the UGA journalism professor who writes the highly in-depth Oconee County Observations news blog, and fellow Oconee citizen Russ Page, will be at 7 p.m. June 8 at the Oconee County Library in Watkinsville. The second, hosted by the Oconee County Chamber of Commerce and moderated by radio newsman Tim Bryant, will be at 7 p.m. June 16 at North Oconee High School. If you want to know how you can help, contact Matthews at danjmatt@ beilsouth.net. Dave Marr news@flagpole.com May Doldrums: The North Campus quad was deserted this recent weekday af ternoon. except for a UGA grounds crew spreading a lot of mulch in front of the library. 4 FLAGP0LE.C0M-JUNE 1,2011
