Train would benefit Athens

(This letter is in response to Tuesday’s editorial, “A brainy idea?”.)

Despite its apparent nickname, the “Brain Train” is probably the best thing for Athens, Atlanta and perhaps the entire state of Georgia. Cars running on internal combustion is old technology. High-speed electric trains are relatively brand new.

Many think the solution to increasing grid lock is to expand existing roads. The way to solve grid lock is to provide alternative routes. Even if electric cars completely replace internal combustion engines, they still use energy and will never reduce grid lock.

Yes, the train may be used for Bulldog fans who make that once-a-week trip in the fall. If the volume is so high, maybe the train could pay for itself in one football season. Besides, the cost of a commuter rail in Georgia cannot be compared to the cost of a rail 3,000 miles away in Arizona.

The “Brain Train” should be the first of many. Trains are cheap, last longer, and are more efficient. Americans need to let go of this individual feeling of our personal cars that was born half a century ago and start working together to better our society and perhaps ease the energy crisis.

Robert Evans
Senior, Atlanta
Landscape Architecture

Exhibit respect to University facilities

It is amazing to me how students are able to complain about the facilities they live in (Mell Hall) and yet have no regard for the facilities that they and other students use on a daily basis.

It is absolutely filthy the way students feel free to put their dirty shoes on any piece of furniture on campus. I understand the ignorance of youth, but would their parents allow this sort of behavior in their own homes?

How would they feel if hundreds of people came to their dorm rooms daily and walked all over their beds or chairs? The facility managers at the MLC confirmed to me that regardless of whatever signs they post, students ignore public decency and continue to foul the furniture. It shames me to see such disgusting habits among my fellow students.

Ken Knight
Grad Student, Athens
Linguistics