Boost your karma

The Athens Volunteer Expo Friday will feature a large variety of opportunities

Introducing a Classic Center fair that doesn’t involve nervous handshakes and excessive résumé-printing. More than 50 Athens-based community organizations will convene Friday for the Athens Volunteer Expo, as reported on page two of today’s Red & Black. The Expo will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., which offers some schedule generosity for students.

The event is for those eager for opportunities to serve but unsure where to begin, and we recommend students attend with their diverse, specific interests in mind. We understand students often lead hectic lives, but with a little time management every now and then, students can squeeze in some time to give back.

Even so, volunteering doesn’t have to be perceived as an arduous outside effort. Getting your degree in veterinary science? Get to know your field by helping out at the Athens Area Humane Society. Relish your time outdoors? Spend some of it at the State Botanical Gardens of Georgia.

If nothing else, use the Expo as an opportunity to boost your awareness on our community’s needs, and move forward from there.

These organizations need your help, and it doesn’t have to feel like strenuous work. In addition to helping the organization of your choice, volunteering offers a unique social venue – especially for those younger students still searching for their niche – and improves your karma. The Beatles said it best: “In the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

Thanks to Athens-Clarke County Mayor Heidi Davison, September is “Volunteer Athens Month.” So in the spirit of celebration, let’s make the last week count.

- Jennifer Paxton for the editorial board

Widespread panic

Scared consumers drive up gas prices, so let’s all calmly wait out the shortage

“Don’t panic.” So reads the cover of the most useful book in the Universe – “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”

OK, maybe the book is fictional, but it still offers sound advice to Georgia drivers.

Since hurricanes Gustav and Ike hit the Gulf Coast, the gas situation has gone downhill fast – literally. Athens gas stations are running low on fuel, as reported on the front page of today’s Red & Black, but not only because of dwindling supply.

As consumers panic about the possibility of sitting on an empty tank for longer than a few minutes, they rush to the nearest station and significantly drive up demand. The result? Higher prices and less fuel to go around.

The Red & Black editorial board suggests everyone calm down. As Emory University professor Gregory Berns told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about panic behavior, “The perception of what is rational and what is irrational becomes blurred very quickly when you see a large number of people doing something.”

Well, panicked people have cars in lines down the street hoping to access gas pumps, but we don’t all need to follow them.

Gov. Sonny Perdue has indicated the shortage will end in about a week, so until then, let’s all relish in the fact there’s a home game this weekend – no need for long-distance travel.

- Kelly Shaul for the editorial board