About Flagpole. (Athens, Ga.) 1987-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 19, 2011)
r’AUL VARKOK PHOTOGRAPHY Called to Defend Animals Humane Society CEO to Appear at UGA over a quarter century. Wayne Pacelle has been fighting for P ose who cannot defend themselves against onslaught of societal issues: neglect, abuse ana starvation that even the most "innocent" among us have helped to spur on. Needless to say. Pacelle is a busy man. t that isn't stopping Pacelle—who has een serving as the president and CEO of the nnane Society of the United States for the past seven years—from visiting the University Georgia Oct. 19 to bring students and fac- ’y a message tnat is alt too often forgotten amid the hustle and bustle of everyday human life. "People are causing so much cruelty to animals, and it's not just random acts of cru elty. but also institutionalized forms of cru elty, such as industrialized agriculture," says Pacelle. "If we can create the problem, we can also turn it around." The main gist of Pacelle's talk will revolve around his book, The Bond: Our Kinship with Animals. Our Call to Defend Them. According to Pacelle, the book focuses on the important roles that animals have played in forging our past, and our modern quandary of professing a great love for animals, yet putting them through tremendous grief by exploiting them commercially. While it's an exciting opportunity for stu dents to hear Pacelle speak on the subject of helping to mitigate this exploitation, it's just as important to Pacelle to be able to spread his message to those who may one day carry the animal rights banner. Speaking to col lege students in a Southern town as diverse and open-minded as Athens is an appealing chance for Pacelle to reach out to people who are no older than he was when he first became involved in the animal protection movement. "UGA is an important thought leader in Georgia, and I want to reach the future thought leaders in the state and plant the seeds of animal protection," Pacelle says. Among those planning to hear Pacelle speak are UGA senior Erne Halt and Eric Griffith, a reference librarian at the university who helped coordinate Pacelle's visit. Both Halt and Griffith are heavily involved members of Speak Out for Species (the tatter serving as a faculty advisor), the campus animal rights group that is sponsoring the talk. Both see themselves as doing their part to help precipi tate change within the Athens community. "We try to raise awareness for vegetarian ism and veganism, and what's happening in the factory farms, says Hall. "I basically come and volunteer and try to help out wherever I can. We usually do a lot of work at the Humane Society of Athens-Clarke County." And according to Griffith, Hall's words regarding the spreading of awareness on a dietary level ring true: students involved in Speak Out for Species have gone so far as to petition UGA to increase the number of vegan food options in its dining halls, thus proving that there is a dedicated group of people in Athens who have the chance to take Pacelle's words and run with them. "Wayne's visit to UGA offers a great opportunity to inspire people in our community with a message of compassion and respect for other species, and to encourage people to get engaged actively in animal pro tection," Griffith says. "For the stu dents in SOS, it also helps to connect the work that we do locally with the larger national movement to create a more humane world for all animals." Pacelle is also hoping to connect the issues that animals face nation ally with those that can be read ily identified in the Athens-Clarke County community. He sees many of the same problems in cities across the nation. "It's not just euthanasia of healthy and treatable dogs and cats in our communities or an occasional random act of cruelty," Pacelle says. "Animal exploitation is all around us—in the food chain, in the cos metics and household products we buy in the marketplace, at the pet store down the street. There are moral prob lems all around us, but that means there are moral opportunities around us. If we are seri ous about stopping animal cruelty, we have to look inward and then focus our attention on driving change in corporate and political insti tutions in society." Hall and Griffith are among those who are wilting to take extra steps to drive change toward giving animals the respect and the rights they say they deserve as living crea tures. According to Pacelle, that's what the movement is all about. "It's more about us than them," he says. "We have all the power in the relationship with animals, and how we handle that power is a test of our humanity." F. Tyler Elrod Wayne Pacelle will speak at 1 pm Wednesday. Oct 19 in Room 102 of the UGA Miller Learning Center. Admission is free and the event is open to the public. For more information, go to www.uga.edu/sos r Wayne Pacelle TRANSPORTATION TAX: YES OR NO? You would not think that politicians from 159 counties would be able to set aside their personal differences and local biases tong enough to agree on a list of expensive road projects, but it seems to have happened. The "regional roundtables" of elected officials from 1? districts around the state have now finalized their lists of highway and transit projects for the 2012 referendums on whether to impose a one-penny sates tax, the T SPLOST, to pay for the construction work over the next 10 years. "It's been a joy for me, but I'm glad it's over with," said Douglas County Commissioner Tom Worthan, after voting with his col leagues to adopt the project list for Metro Atlanta. The pot of money in each dis trict varies widely, as does the scope of the projects involved. In Metro Atlanta, they propose to spend more than $6.1 bil lion on transportation projects, with more than half of the money dedicated to bus and rail transit facilities. In districts outside Atlanta such as the Northeast Georgia region that includes Clarke, Barrow, Oglethorpe and Jackson counties; the amount involved is about $630 miltion, and the money would be spent primarily on road or bridge projects. If the tax is approved by the voters next year, it will represent one of the largest com mitments of public funds for infrastructure ever seen in this state. It's probably the best opportunity Georgians wilt have to deal with traffic congestion and road improvements. We now spend less money on highways than every other state except Tennessee, but that ranking would change if voters in some or all of the districts passed the T-SPL0ST. "We are in the bottom tier of investment," says Todd Long, planning director of the state Department of Transportation. "This will put us in the top tier." Now that the political disagreements have been resolved over which projects will be funded, the hard work begins: convincing vot ers, in the middle of an economic downturn, to approve a sates tax increase. The date for the tax referendums is now set for July 31, which coincides with the Republican and Democratic primary elections. That choice of dates could be the one hurdle that supporters of the transportation tax are not able to clear. There is already strong opposition developing to the T-SPL0ST among Tea Party organizations and other anti-tax groups around the state. Holding the referendum at the same time as a low-turnout primary election in the middle of the summer could possibly make it easier for the anti-tax activists to defeat it. Even if the July 31 date is not changed, business organizations like the Georgia Chamber of Commerce will spend an estimated $6 mil lion to $10 million to urge approval of the tax. "If you move it to November, the prospects for passing it increase by about 1 percent, the data shows," Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed says. "We're not going to quit if we have a July election." Polls that have been conducted on the T-SPL0ST issue show only tepid support for it. The district that appears to have the best shot at passing the tax is Metro Atlanta, where drivers have to deal with some of the worst traffic congestion in the country. "We are losing business relocations in all of our counties because of traffic," Reed con tends. "There's nobody who can look at the traffic in Atlanta and tell you we don't need to fix it." The politicians make a valid argument for a tax increase to pay for better transportation facilities. It's not clear if their constituents wilt agree with that argument. "It's up to the public," says Norcross Mayor Bucky Johnson, who chaired the Metro Atlanta roundtable. "It's in their hands." Tom Crawford !crawford@gareport com SUDDENLY— THE OCCUPATION! IF YOU'RE INVISIBLE, WHY ARC YOUR FLAWS SO READILY APPARENT? SHOULDN'T YOU BE AT A DRUM CIRCLE, OR SOMETHING? THIS MMIIH WtILI X HADN'T BEEN HURT SINCE WAS CRITICAL DOM T THEY UNDERSTAND [that *€ nA* feelings TOO? by TOM TOMORROW FEAR NOT, HARD-WORKING CREATORS' IT IS X - -TOUR HL a8LE SERVANT! INVISIBLE-HAND- OF-THE-FREE- MARKET-MAN? YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE W CAN NOT TO MEN TION THE BESMIRCHED HONOR Of CAR KALIS* tTSELf! THEY'RE STILL DOWN THERE--AND THEY'RE STILL SAYING MEAN THINGS About US' SO. HERE'S MY PLAN...WITH THE HELP Of CERTAIN COMPLIANT CON SERVATIVE PUNDITS, WELL PAINT THE PROTESTERS AS MILQUE TOASTS WITH SMALL IDEAS-- --WHILE PORTRAYING AUSTERITY HAWKS WHO WANT TO CUT SOCIAL SECURITY AS THE TRUE VISIONARIES.' SORRY, DID YOU JUST USE THE WORD "MILQUETOASTS'*? \ ^ NEXT'. AN UNANTICIPATED DEVELOPMENT? WHAT ARE THEY LAUGH ING AT? a.: I-I DON'T KMOW... MEANWHILE, WE LL PROMOTE STORIES Of POVERTY-STRICKEN DEBT-RIDDLED AMERICANS WITH NO HEALTH IN SURANCE WHO ARE NAPPY TO MAKE DO WITH LESS-- :s=ran ix- . --so THAT WEALTH PRODUCERS SUCH CAN BE REWARDED WELL, IT ALL SOUNDS PERFECTLY CONVINCING TO ME! HOW COULD RAIL TO BE SUADED BY SUCH COMPELLING AR GUMENTS? JOVE, HAND — 6 FLAGP0LE.COM OCTOBER 19. 2011 1*M IO11 ...www.thlsmodemwoHd.cofn..,twitter com/lomtomorrow
