Hey, Don’t Be Slack!

This is your chance to get published in Slackpole, a prestigious local publication, leading on to, who knows? [A piece in the first Slackpole is now a major motion picture.] You’ve got to start somewhere. And we’ve got to stop somewhere. Flagpole’s staff needs to be slack for a while. We’re counting on you to write Slackpole, which makes up the bulk of our year-end double issue, but time is running out. We have extended the deadline to Tuesday, Nov. 27, so hurry. We need short non-fiction, short fiction, photographs, comics, poetry, jokes, puzzles, grocery lists, New Year’s resolutions, pre-nuptial agreements: anything. Just write it or draw it or photograph it or pull it out of a drawer and send it to us. But hurry! Time is running out. Time is of the essence. Carpe diem! She who hesitates is lost. Do it now! Send in your Slackpole submissions by Tuesday, Nov. 27. Send ‘em to [email protected] or Flagpole (Attn: Slackpole) 112 Foundry St., Athens, GA 30601. Slackpole needs you, slacker.

What a Deal!

Listen: we can all do this for just a little bit. The Clarke-Oconee Genealogical Society and the Heritage Room at the ACC Library are trying to raise $13,000 for a ScanPro 2000 digital microfilm scanner that would be a real boon to anybody doing research at the library. The Genealogical Society has committed to raising half the money. The Heritage Room must raise the rest. And fast. If they can buy the camera before December, the company will upgrade it to the newer model when it comes out early next year. The new one is more expensive, but it is 21-megapixels instead of 6. And get this: the company will upgrade the camera free of charge if we have the ScanPro 2000 in place by December. So, we’ve got to hurry. This is too good an opportunity for the library to pass up. To find out how to help, call Laura Carter at the Heritage Room at 706-613-3650, Ext. 327 or mail her a check at 2025 Baxter St., Athens, GA 30606. To do it online, go to http://www.clarke.public.lib.ga.us/hqdepts/heritage/hrdonationform.pdf.

Move Toward Mastery

Lemuel LaRoche, who holds a Masters in Social Work degree, is heading up a new program to teach chess in the schools, because he knows that chess teaches you to look before you leap, to plan out your next move. He knows these principles translate to life and can help young people take control of their own lives and move toward meaningful goals.

On Jan. 12 his group, Chess and Community Conference, will hold its first annual chess conference in Mahler Hall at the Georgia Center on campus. Chess teams will compete for a $1,000 prize, hear a guest lecturer and a panel discussion, with some refreshments and a live DJ—fun for all. In addition, scholarship awards will go to three area high school students on the basis of essays they write. Grady Thrasher and Kathy Prescott have signed on as sponsors, and LaRoche is looking for more. For information on this innovative program, go to www.chessandcommunity.org or email [email protected].

Flush With Success

Finally, ACC Public Utilities want to wish you Happy World Toilet Day, in celebrating 50 years of wastewater treatment in Athens-Clarke County. We never stop to think about the benefits of toilets and sewer sanitation, and it’s good we don’t have to think about it. Still, one of the most beautiful sights you’ll see is that swirl of water in the bowl as your toilet flushes. If you don’t believe me, just wait until the next time it doesn’t swirl. Or go to Afghanistan, where Kabul is the only national capital without a sewer system—where it all has to be hauled off or just runs in the streets. Happy World Toilet Day, indeed, and thanks to ACC Public Utilities for helping us to live in a civilized manner. Go take a tour: www.athensclarkecounty.com/waterreclamation. Your tax dollars at work, unless state Republicans figure out a way to cut them out. Even the Tea Party has to go—or especially the Tea Party.