Bite The Bullet…
Or The Hand That Feeds

In his 1980 debate with President Jimmy Carter, responding to the economic performance of the Carter Administration, Ronald Reagan said, "The question is [big pause] are you better off today than you were four years ago?"

The election was lost, at that point, because Reagan had shifted the debate from national interest to self interest.

That's where it has stayed, largely. All presidents since have taken a public position of reducing government spending. But this is what governments do - they collect funds and disperse those funds, ideally on behalf of the people represented. Big government, small government, conservative, liberal: they all tax and spend. We have to pay for the country we want.

Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue's 2005 budget calls for cuts in Medicaid, perhaps as little as $173 million or as much as $328 million.

These cuts in spending occur at a time when Georgia is facing an ever increasing demand for services. While it's easy to dismiss cuts in Medicaid spending as necessary bullet-biting in tight fiscal times, the strategy certainly should be seen within the context of the demands facing Georgia's health care system. Cumulatively, Georgia has lost 67,400 jobs. Add to that number the news that Delta will be laying off 7,000 workers.

Further, the issue of health coverage is not limited to the unemployed. According to statistics gathered by the National Center for Primary Care at Morehouse School of Medicine, the working poor will also be affected by the governor's cuts for health care spending. The working poor are not eligible, generally, for publicly subsidized health insurance, and most of them cannot afford their own. The Who's Who of the working poor is surprising:

• 46 percent of metro Atlanta area construction workers are uninsured.

• 40 percent of rural agriculture workers are uninsured

•35 percent of personal services workers are uninsured

•30 percent of rural residents employed in non-hospital health care settings are uninsured

(www.hstatweb.org/reducing%20the%20uninsured.htm)

If you don't know anyone in any of those categories, you probably don't get out much.

The "uninsured" emerge not as a subset of a right-wing caricature of the welfare state, but as people who stand to be marginalized by Perdue's priorities. Governor Perdue is not responsible for escalating health care costs nationwide, not responsible for the record number of people who are now below the poverty level (36 million people, according the U.S. Census Bureau - 1.3 million more than last year), not responsible for the national economic slump and not responsible for George Bush giving away the surplus in spite of whatever the future might hold for our country. Perdue is responsible for the needs of those Georgians unable to provide for their families.

This is especially the case when other revenue streams have not been addressed, including closing corporate tax loopholes.

While this is probably a good idea, it won't be considered. The Bush Administration has turned imagination and flexibility into character flaws, and raising taxes in this political environment would be like cutting one's throat because of a bad hair day.

Governor Perdue is a product of Reaganesque nonsense, the view that the government that does less is the government that best serves its constituency. It's time to change the debate from self interest and back to a broader concern for the governor's constituency. We pay for the culture we want.

Sam Prestridge
Sam Prestridge is a local writer.

Have Venom
Will Eat Bugs

Opportunities for facing one's fears abound here in Athens, especially for those who find creeping creatures pretty scary. For example, the Bear Hollow Wildlife Trail exhibit, "Spiders and Scorpions - the Venomous Bug Eaters!" encourages visitors to discover the "pretty" attributes of these predators and not just the "scary."

The exhibit also helps raise public awareness of arachnids as awesome animals. Consider a world overwhelmed with insect pests if spiders weren't around to keep the insect population in check. True, some spiders and scorpions eat birds, small lizards and even little fish, but most prey on insects.

Also, it's true that some spiders are poisonous to humans. Yet, by far, most are beneficial. Ones to avoid around here include the black widow spider and the brown recluse of North America. The adult female black widow is shiny and almost plastic looking with a red "hourglass" on the abdomen (hindmost part of a spider's body.) She hides under rocks, logs and outhouse seats. The male doesn't bite and is eaten by the female after mating her. Live black widows are on display at Bear Hollow.

The brown recluse (or violin spider) has a grayish or brown abdomen. A marking on the orange-yellow cephalothorax (front part of a spider's body) has a dark violin-shaped pattern. It hides in sheltered corners and indoors behind furniture. To avoid spider bites, it's best not to put hands or feet in such places without checking first. There are no live recluses on display.

Memorial Park Program Specialist Karl Enter notes, "The bite of the brown recluse is worse than that of the black widow. It's not worth having something that dangerous here, so only preserved recluses in vials are available for viewing."

The exhibit also shows how arachnids are intriguing. An interesting aspect of the spider world is their silk. People are often amazed to learn that these stretchy silk threads are stronger than steel thread of the same diameter. Web building by many spiders is both a familiar and eye-catching use of their silk. Enter says he's glad to have an orb weaver as part of the exhibit. Unfortunately, he had trouble finding many other native spiders this year.

But don't worry: tarantulas (large, hairy spiders) and scorpions from other places are also on display. Enter likes the fact that it's easy to see their interesting features because of their great size. The Goliath bird-eating tarantula is especially large. Enter says if one were flattened it out it could cover a dinner plate. When asked if tarantulas can be handled, he explains, "People often ask to hold the tarantulas. However, they are fragile creatures. If one gets dropped on the floor, it dies. Also, although it's rare, someone could get bitten. We don't want that to happen. So, although we have many hands-on programs here at Bear Hollow, this 'Spiders and Scorpions' program is not one of them."

This free exhibit for all ages is at the Bear Hollow Exhibit Hall in Memorial Park on Gran Ellen Drive off of S. Milledge Ave. on Sundays Sept. 19 and 26 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Call 613-3616 for more information.

Liz Conroy
Liz Conroy is a local writer interested in the natural world.

Tour de Sprawl
Coming Next Week

The Tour de Sprawl, sponsored by BikeAthens and co-hosted by Athens Grow Green Coalition, is a well established Athens tradition that combines a see-it-yourself bike tour with experts presenting principles of good growth and environmental friendliness.

Tour de Sprawl begins Wednesday, Sept. 22 with a Green Home Workshop by Dennis Creech of Southface Energy Institute. He will discuss and demonstrate techniques and materials for making homes more energy and environmentally efficient. His presentation is free at 7 p.m. at Little Kings Club, 223 W. Hancock Ave.

On Thursday, Sept. 23 Walter Brown of Green Street Properties delivers the free keynote address at 7 p.m. in the UGA Chapel on campus. His talk covers new urbanist principles, green building techniques and storm water management in livable communities. A free dessert reception follows at 8:30 p.m. in the Founders Memorial Garden near the Chapel.

Thus properly sustained and informed, participants are ready for the pièce de résistance, le Tour de Sprawl 16-mile bicycle ride (and it's okay to ride the free bus). The ride begins downtown on College Square at 8 a.m. Saturday morning, Sept. 25. Bring your own bike or ride the bus as you visit various spots to study public and private efforts to combat sprawl's effects. The $20 registration fee, payable when you register downtown, gets you drinks, food and support services at the rest stops, along with info from experts and the coveted Tour de Sprawl t-shirt. The ride starts downtown, hits the Greenway, goes out to the east side and comes back through intown neighborhoods.

The end result of the Tour's various activities is a heightened sense of problems and solutions and the camaraderie that grows out of putting some mental and physical effort into the venture together (including bus riders).

For more information contact Jared Bailey, 338-9019, fax: 613-0707, email: tds@bikeathens.com.

Animal Control
Last Week's Scorecard

Athens-Clarke County Animal Control responded to 64 calls.

11 complaints of animal cruelty
4 bite cases
3 complaints of barking dogs
5 citations for ordinance violations

38 animals impounded

27 dogs
11 cats
8 chickens
1 goat
1 duck

19 dogs placed

10 adopted
6 reclaimed
3 turned over to other agencies

ACC Animal Control press release for the week of Sept. 2-Sept. 8.
Pete McCommons Pete McCommons enjoys the camaraderie on the bus.