HENRY W. GRADY HIGH SCHOOL, ATLANTA
Midtown moves FOR the music By Rachel Citrin and Olivia Kleinman obs of people flooded the meadow at Piedmont Park. Mosh pits formed in front of the two stages, some people weaving through the crowds to get closer to the stage while others were rushing across the field to acquire prime positions for the next performance at the other stage. The ground shook as loud music poured out of giant speakers and flashing lights illuminated the different artists performing on stage. The 18-hour festival, which spanned Friday, Sept. 21 and Saturday, Sept. 22, included performances by Neon Trees, Foo Fighters, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Florence + the Machine, Civil Twilight, LP, Girl Talk, Garbage, Adam Ant, the Avett Brothers and Pearl Jam. There were several Atlanta-based artists: T.I., Ludacris, Van Hunt and O’Brother. “Florence was my favorite,” senior Claire Hasson said. “I’m kind of in love with her. I’m obsessed with her voice and sound, and the whole atmosphere was awesome.” O’Brother, whose members are from Lawrenceville in Gwinnett County, grew up attending Music Midtown. “The crowd was awesome,” drummer Michael Martens said. “It feels good to have support from our
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hometown. I think it was a little scary playing so early, opening the festival today, but I think there was a solid crowd.” ‘I’M A HARD, HARD WORKER EVERYDAY’ Seven days before the concert would open, several workers fanned out across the meadow, mapping out the open field and marking measurements with circles of orange spray paint around neon pink flags. In one week, this area would be completely transformed and flooded with an estimated 35,000 attendees Friday and 50,000 Saturday, which was sold out. Site coordinator David Helberg hovered over two large scaled maps of Piedmont Park placed on the hood of his car and a four-inch binder filled with calculations and plans for the setup. “I produce the festival,” Helberg said. “You can call me the production manager. I arrange buses, trucks, hiring, firing, setup, set design, and crew and move widgets around.” Helberg pointed out the immense amount of work that goes on behind the scenes to make the festival a success. “[The actual performances of the bands] should be the anticlimax of the whole show,” Helberg said. “I work 10 man hours in preparation per hour on stage, some insane amount of input
for 18 hours of the festival.” Helberg started working for Music Midtown because of his music experience. He has been in the industry his whole life and traveled with bands such as the Wallflowers, Counting Crows and Susan Vega. “I tried to make it as a musician, but I couldn’t pay the rent … so I’m doing the next best thing, supporting musicians,” he said. Helberg has a long history working for Music Midtown, but the 1997 festival is especially memorable. “I proposed [to my wife] on stage at Music Midtown in 1997 before Cracker went on stage to perform,” he said. “Some people were chanting to say ‘yes’ and some people were chanting to say ‘no.’ It was a very interesting experience.” ‘HERE WE GO AGAIN’ The week leading up to the festival, Helberg said he arrived at the park at 7 a.m. everyday and worked into the night. Saturday, Sept. 15 marked the first day of physical setup. After the stage was constructed, lights were set up on Wednesday, Sept. 19, sound systems were placed on Thursday, Sept. 20 and bands arrived Friday, Sept. 21.
OlIVia Kleinman
see MUSIC, page 13
news
VOLUME LXVI, NUMBER 2
Oct. 3, 2012
OUT-OF-ZONE FAMILIES FACE PROSECUTION O
By Olivia Veira n Aug. 31, Atlanta Public Schools sent a letter to students announcing it would be removing outof-zone students from Grady. In the letter, students living out-of-zone were encouraged to leave Grady and enroll in their zoned school. APS director of media relations Keith Bromery said by sending out this letter, APS attempted to ameliorate overcrowding. To Emily* an out-of-district student, this letter seemed like another of APS’s empty threats, until she received a personalized version of the letter. The letter surprised Emily because it was sent to her home, rather than the address that she gave APS in order to go to Grady. “It was strange,” she said. “It was suspicious. We took that as a sign. All we knew was that a course of action should be taken before something worse happens.” Emily’s family used a fake address to enroll at Grady. Her real address is just outside Grady’s zone. Her family decided to enroll despite being out of district because they felt Grady excelled academically compared to other APS high schools. “While the district is encouraged that so many parents believe Grady High School is the appropriate choice for their child, we also have a responsibility to ensure that students currently attending Grady are there appropriately,” regional K-12 executive director of schools David White wrote in the Aug. 31 letter. “As a result, we will be examining all aspects of registration documents, including affidavits. The enrollment affidavits signed during enrollment and registration verify under oath that the information provided is true and correct.” Emily and her mother decided to take the letter’s advice and she transferred to her zoned APS school, hoping to later return to Grady. At her zoned school, she quickly realized she would not be challenged academically. “First of all, they didn’t have Spanish 4,” Emily said. “I couldn’t take any AP classes and within [my U.S. History class] I already know the information just by reading the first day [of class]. I already knew what they were talking about for the next three days, so it was kind of a waste of time. And then in my lit class all we did was packets and my teacher didn’t interact with us at all and then they weren’t informative.” In addition, Emily could not participate in any of the extracurricular activities she enjoyed at Grady. After a few days of attending her zoned school, Emily found out a family member had purchased property within Grady’s zone and they would allow her to use the address to enroll. She reenrolled at Grady using the new address. APS’s letter describes the consequences of fraudulently enrolling a student at Grady and states that parents see DISTRICT page 9
9 a&e
Emory University’s decision to cut many of its departments, including its journalism program, angered members of the Emory community.
14 lifestyle
This roadmap is a guide to unexpected restaurants on Buford Highway, an Atlanta hidden gem that satisfies appetites from Korean to Guatemalan.
15 thesoutherneronline.com
The Crim campus provides a nuturing environment for students, proving that common misconceptions of Crim High School to be false.
Students must pass through metal detectors and undergo a bag search each morning, but questions remain about the efficacy of the procedure.