BEHOLD ATHENS

Congratulations must go to Patrick Dean for correctly illustrating the fear thrust upon us as the students return. Once again I write to you with general observations, and usually y'all down there at Flagpole are helpful in helping me understand all the shit going on around me, so here I come again.

First of all you need to know I recently moved to the Five Points area with my dog. Athens sure is changing here. I mean the fire station, the dawgs are everywhere (human and plaster), the traffic. Where did Five Points go? And what the fuck are these huge black grasshoppers looking things coming at me in my yard? Where do they really come from? I've heard the every-three-years rumor, a genetically engineered at UGA rumor, that they're called Lubbers or Locusts. Still no one really knows, and they keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger. I came home from class yesterday and one of them was in bed with my girlfriend. I don't know; I think it's a bad sign.

And where is downtown Athens? I'm driving through, of course the only parking available is $4.00, thinking, you know, after all the construction this place looks pretty fucking good. And then I look over and see... wait... a new bar... a big sign... The "G" Spot! Are you kidding me? Do the people of Athens want a business called the "G" Spot dead center downtown? I don't know, maybe they do. I don't. Hey proprietors of The "G" Spot, why don't you call the owners of Gator Haters, and see if y'all can't have a bar naming brainstorm and see if we can't come up with something better, please. Or take that trashy shit back to Atlanta, either one. I mean just for example, I don't own a bar or a restaurant but I could name one. I'm gonna serve pizza, Taco Stand food, beer, etc. Vinnie Barberrito's.

Could the Greenway rails-to-trails rumor be true? If they connect those bridges for bikes and walking, I'll be amazed. The year they tore it down, I rappelled off of it daily. I cried when it was gone. It was a beautiful, cool place that was ruined and could have been easily saved. Recently I took my dog and my bike on a ride through the whole Greenway, out to Sandy Creek Nature Center. The Greenway is beautiful, follows the river, the bridges are beautiful - it's a step in the right direction for sure. But as I rode over the new bridges I looked up and I couldn't help but think, if it took a hundred and fifty years for the town to build these bridges under the old ones, how long is it gonna take to get new bridges 150 feet above my head back where the old ones were? Please, please, please make it happen. Vaya con Dios,

Jack Crevelle

Athens

HOW LONG?

How long does it take to drive along Baxter from Lumpkin to Alps? Well, that depends. Last week, it would have taken about four minutes. But now that all the students are back, most driving solo, heaven help you if you're trying to make the trip during afternoon rush hour. Then it will take you at least 20 minutes of agonizingly slow, bumper-to-bumper, white-knuckles-clenching-the-wheel frustration. What is this, Atlanta? I have a plan to end this agony: are you ready? It is a brilliant plan. Here it is: Try Transit! Or Bike! Or Walk!

If just 50 percent of the students who were driving yesterday would choose another mode of transportation tomorrow, I expect every one of us could get where we're going in a reasonable amount of time. Have you heard that Parking Services has an Alternative Transportation Incentives program? Check it out on their website (www.parking.uga.edu/index.asp?page=registration&;subpage=at). You could reduce your stress levels, improve your health, save money on parking and do something positive for your community, all with one simple choice: one less car on the road.

Kirsten R. Hazler

Athens

LISTEN/AGREE

As a long-time Flagpole reader, I have always considered the general readership of this publication to be both educated and enlightened. I trust these readers to understand basic concepts such as the difference between the verbs "listen" and "agree." Listening is an action that may or may not lead to agreement however; every English language dictionary makes clear that the two verbs are not synonymous.

Recent editorial comments, articles and letters published here do not seem to recognize this difference. Most people with strongly held opinions feel that everyone would agree with them if the others would only listen to their ideas and carefully consider them. Who among us does not feel that our most carefully expressed and well thought-out opinions and ideas are compelling to everyone who hears them? Life experiences prove to most of us that this is not always the case. Hence, we often find people using the expression "they didn't listen to me" when, in fact, what they actually mean to express is "they did not agree with me." That generally presents no larger problem than any other idiom or colloquialism. However, this error in diction can, as it has been used in this publication, be misrepresented as a promise broken or a faith unkept when elected officials have made public promises to always listen and consider all sides before rendering any decision. This incorrect verb usage, whether intentional or not, often results in a distortion of fact.

If one were to subscribe to the prevailing definition of "listening equals agreeing" espoused in many of your recently published articles, comments and letters then, by the act of reading this letter (a form of listening), every reader is now compelled to agree with me! I don't expect that nor would any other reasonable person.

Let us all now begin to properly distinguish between "listening" and "agreeing." It will certainly help to clarify issues discussed in this and other publications.

Thanks for listening!

Al Davison

Athens