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…

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