Feed me! Feed me! Feed me!
Feed me, Seymour
Feed me all night long
That’s right, boy
You can do it
Feed me, Seymour
Feed me all night long
‘Cause if you feed me, Seymour
I can grow up big and strong – “Feed Me (Git It)” – Little Shop of Horrors

Saturday’s headline in the Northwest Arkansas Times read:

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University Buys More Property
Parking Lots, Sororities To Replace Buildings

In its Little Shop of Horrors fashion, the University of Arkansas has set its sights on even more land surrounding the campus; will outsiders soon be required to show their passports before entering the grounds?

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The land in question? It ain’t empty parking lots.

Five duplexes, five rental houses, one owner occupied home and the Wesley Foundation’s campus ministry chapel – which I have always been sort of fond of, simply because it doesn’t look modern, or all steel and chrome. It looks as if it doesn’t belong that close to the campus, which is reason enough to leave it standing, in my book.

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If we as truly a progressive (liberal?) city as we sometimes like to pretend – remember the days when we were the Athens of the Ozarks? – elected officials (or at least a few candidates for public office) would raise the subject. For crying out loud, these are voters/taxpayers who will probably be moving out of one’s ward – or even the city altogether. Maybe a little bleating, somewhere, even if it is insincere?

Voters.

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Taxpayers.

Human beings.

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Every few months, it seems, yet another grand scheme is hatched for a new Eco-Spiritual-High Water Colonic apartment project in our fair town – which usually involves turning down or massively refurbishing something that is already in place. Those already living there are sometimes given the chance to stay there – at greatly increased rents.

They often end up moving, to far less desirable digs than they had before. And there they can live happily, until another developer casts their eyes upon the property . . .

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At some point, it might be nice if somebody, somewhere in Fayetteville city government stood up publicly – with cameras on – and spoke in defense of these folks – and was even willing to stand in front of a bulldozer, if only with their words.

******

UA: The Colonists in our midst

Did Mike Johnson, associate vice chancellor for facilities, really, actually say that the sororities whose houses will be built on the site of the Wesley Foundation chapel would be “colonizing?”

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Colonizing?

*****

Quote of the Day

America believes in education: the average professor earns more money in a year than a professional athlete earns in a whole week.~ Evan Esar, American Humorist (1899 — 1995)

rsdrake@cox.net

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