Since you’ve been gone, things have changed, a lot.

For one, all that construction that was nothing more than an eyesore and a disturbance is finally gone.

It’s still kind of hard for me to believe.

For another, they found George Zinkhan, a convicted felon was found to have had access to student Social Security numbers, and the Georgia Theatre burned down.

Wait, what? More on that later.

Let’s start with the newest monstrosity on campus, Tate Airport – I mean Tate II, sorry.

Rather than sport the world-renowned red and black colors synonymous with the University of Georgia, some genius decided to make the colors of Tate II black and steel grey.

Willie Banks, director of Campus Life and the Tate Student Center said the colors were chosen to make the facility appear timeless anticipating the building to last a long time.

For what we, the students, paid for it, it had better last a long time. Whenever I walk into Tate II, I expect to hear, “Flight 1785 with service to Atlanta will begin boarding from Gate 2 in 10 minutes.”

But enough of the Tate II bashing, as in 10 days, on Aug. 20, the ribbon ceremony will occur and it will officially be open for business.

Yay! Let’s get excited!

There’s a Larry’s Giant Subs and a Barberitos and a (no-alcohol) sports lounge called The Dawg Pen and Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings, Rudy) is going to lecture on Aug. 31.

I know I for one will be there.

OK, maybe not, but still.

Oh, and don’t forget the giant roped off arch that no one can step on just inside the front door.

I give it about a week before some drunk idiot decides to test that rule.

But what upsets me most about the new Tate II is that it blocks Sanford Stadium and the Bridge from view from Lumpkin Street.

There were few things I enjoyed more than seeing the endzone scoreboard on my way to class.

New topic, shall we?

At least the cops finally found Zinkhan. After a massive multi-week manhunt, his body was found shortly during the end of finals in a shallow, self-dug grave in a woods near his abandoned Jeep Liberty.

And around the same time as the Zinkhan search concluded, William O. Mullen a former IT Manager in the Registrar’s Office began serving a 10-year jail sentence on May 12 for theft by deception from his former employer, Habersham Metal Products.

He pled guilty to on April 28, but neglected to tell his employer until a week before he was set to begin serving his sentence.

And sadly, right before AthFest was about the kick off, the venerable Georgia Theatre caught fire and has been condemned.

A landmark in Athens, it hosted such bands as R.E.M. and The Police and owner Wilmot Greene poured his pocketbook into making the theater one of the finest in the country.

But if the response at AthFest was any indication, the Theatre will be back.

Enough of the negativity, let’s be positive.

There will be more student parking in the fall (assuming the decks don’t collapse) so that’s always good I guess.

The softball team had a breakout season as the under-classmen loaded Bulldogs fought their way to the semi-finals of the Women’s College World Series. Heck, they even beat the eventual champ Washington and Player of the Year Danielle Lawrie, something then-No. 1 Florida can’t claim.

And as each day passes, the start of football season comes closer. The arrests have been at a minimum this year, unlike last summer when it seemed like half the team got in trouble with the law.

No offense to the departed Matthew Stafford, but I believe the leadership from fifth-year senior Joe Cox is a big reason for the football team staying clean this summer.

This team lacks the “star power” that causes the heads at ESPN to drool and foam at the mouth, but so to did Alabama last season. And it nearly made it to the title game.

Keep the faith.

This has certainly not been a slow summer and as a new school year approaches, things certainly have changed since you’ve been gone.

- Michael Fitzpatrick is the editor-in-chief of The Red & Black.