This new Agnes Scott initiative is very cool.  So cool, it got some love on the New York Times’ Tierney Lab blog!

The Metro Atlanta Solar System is centered at the Bradley Observatory, where the Sun is represented by a circular granite plaza about 30 feet wide. From there it’s almost half a mile to the 3-inch model of Earth (at the Decatur Public Library), nearly 12 miles to Uranus (at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport) and more than 18 miles to Neptune (at Sweetwater Creek State Park in Lithia Springs, Ga.)

According to the project’s website, at each of the designated planet locations, pseudo-space travelers will find two large-format panels, which show the location of each planet and a scaled image of that location’s planet.

Here’s the full list of locations for those uneasy with wandering aimlessly in space.

• Sun -  Bradley Observatory
• Mercury - Alston Campus Center, Agnes Scott College
• Venus - Decatur High School
• Mars - Columbia Theological Seminary
• Jupiter - Emory University-Physics Building
• Saturn -  Georgia Tech-Physics Building
• Uranus - Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport
• Neptune - Sweetwater Creek State Park

Thanks to Emily for forwarding the NY Times link!

Michelle at Agnes Scott writes in…

Just wanted to post that we have a free “Screen on the Green” tomorrow night 9/11 at Agnes Scott for City of Decatur Residents and friends.

We are showing the movie “Up” on the main quad at sundown. Bring friends, a blanket, food, etc. Should be a great time!

Our next two screen on the greens are:

Sept. 24th “The Soloist”

Oct. 10th “Star Trek”

FYI: sunset is at 7:49p this evening.

As DecaStan noted on Twitter yesterday afternoon, NPR’s All Things Considered featured a story by WABE’s Jim Burress yesterday, about Agnes Scott’s long time popularity as a filming location and it’s recent controversy surrounding the filming of the low brow straight to DVD film, “Beer Pong.”

The local blogs even got a shout out!

“They recognized we were upset, but I don’t think there was any policy change that they were considering because of it,” Hill says. “I think that making this public and being transparent about our concerns put some pressure on the administration.”

And pressure did come, in the form of blog items and newspaper editorials. Eventually, some alums withheld contributions – even swore off campus visits.

Sweet.

Lauren sends along this great poster…

Click the poster for more details

In case you couldn’t attend the Georgia Organics Conference keynote at Agnes Scott last month, here’s local food popularizer Michael Pollan’s speech in full.

h/t: Fresh Loaf

You may recall that PBS anchor/correspondent Gwen Ifill had to cancel a talk at Agnes Scott back in early February due to a death in the family.   Well now “grass is greener” sends along details for the rescheduled event…

Gwen Ifill

The Breakthrough – Politics and Race in the Age of Obama

Monday, April 20, 2009 – 7 p.m.  – Gaines Chapel, Presser Hall

This event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Tickets will be distributed at the door on the night of appearance only.

During the keynote address at the Georgia Organics Conference this past weekend, the city of Decatur, Agnes Scott, the DBA, the Oakhurst Community Garden, and Georgia Organics officially announced the city’s “agricultural initiative.”

I followed up with city manager Peggy Merriss and she sent along this note/release.  From the sound of it, “urban farming” is just the tip of the iceberg.

On Saturday March 21st, at the Georgia Organics 12th Annual Conference & Trade Show, Decatur City Manager Peggy Merriss, along with Agnes Scott College’s Director of Sustainability Susan Kidd and Georgia Organics Executive Director Alice Rolls announced the creation of the Decatur Agricultural Initiative (DAI) designed to bring together community partners around the issue of growing food locally. The Initiative currently involves Agnes Scott College, the City of Decatur, City Schools of Decatur, Decatur Business Association, Georgia Organics and the Oakhurst Community Garden.

Among the first tasks that the group will undertake will be the creation of a Master Plan that will identify existing community-based efforts into one unified plan.

The partners intend to take a comprehensive approach resulting in providing a variety of agricultural products, including food, which would be available through local producers and markets.

Examples of some possible outcomes might include: stronger community support for farmers markets, co-operative purchase of environmentally sensitive products, education programs designed for children and youth to be able to plant and support their own gardens, and more.

The possibilities are exciting and all of the partners are looking forward to working together on this brand new DAI in Decatur. “

As was recently clarified by Lyn in a comment to a previous post, the severe weather siren we’ve been hearing emenating from Agnes Scott is run by the college, not any city entity.

In a recent article, the AJC details Agnes Scott’s warning system and juxtaposes the lack of sirens in Fulton and DeKalb County with the plethora in other surrounding Atlanta counties.

According to the article, Agnes Scott and Emory have the only sirens in all of DeKalb.  Apparently, we should just be thankful that there’s a college with a siren in earshot of most of Decatur and stop complaining about when it is and is not going off.

Should the city invest in additional sirens?  The first time tornado watches threatened Decatur earlier this year, we got responses from many that heard the sirens (me included), but others, mostly on the north side of town, did not.

Aside: Either we’re getting really good at predicting the Decatur news ahead of time or the AJC is using tips off our blog.  This is perhaps the third story in as many weeks that we’ve brought to light, only to see it days later in the paper.

Either way, I see it as a good thing.

(Map courtesy of AJC.com)

h/t: InDecatur