Letters What do you think? In this issue From the CEO / LettersHeart and soul Good bone structure Big Idea: The code breakers Moving forward Noteworthy On Point: Insuring America's health |
I read Charlie Andrews' article titled "The Toughest Decision" in Momentum (Winter 2004). I applaud expanding and improving Emory Healthcare and the School of Medicine. However, I wonder why the congestion and space problems along the Clifton Corridor are considered so insurmountable. I am from New York and went to school in Boston, where space is hard to come by. Instead of expanding horizontally, better, more permanent solutions are developed. Otherwise it's just an endless cycle of sprawl and move on (of which Atlanta is fairly prototypical). Why didn't you mention the possibility of bringing a MARTA line to the Emory community? One reason why MARTA is underutilized is that it lacks the support of community leaders. Bringing MARTA here as well as using land more efficiently (such as building taller) could improve carrying capacity in the Clifton area and would keep Emory Healthcare centralized. Keeping the health care facilities physically adjacent to the heart of research (Whitehead, Winship, the Woodruff Memorial Building) is one of the cornerstones of true academic medicine. Scientists and physicians need to collaborate. It's hard to do that when doctors spend all their time commuting to faraway hospitals.
Counter to a true university The idea of moving the health sciences center away from campus seems totally counter to President Wagner's notion of being a true university. Moving the health sciences will just break up the notion of a university and would create a future traffic headache some place else. The main problem is a lack of a substantive mass transit plan. Moreover, the payment for such a plan would logically be a partnership of Emory, the federal government (CDC is a huge contributor to our mess), DeKalb County (CDC and Emory are large employers), and the state of Georgia (CDC and Emory are nationally recognized entities about which the state can boast). I would think these entities could put a budget together that could involve something like underground lines to the CDC and Emory.
Suburbs not the answer The presence of Emory Hospital, The Emory Clinic, and the School of Medicine, along with all of the other world-class institutions which share Clifton Road, is of incalculable value to both the image and the impact the university has in this region and in the nation. Running to the suburbs has long been recognized as a bad solution for urban growth, and it would be very short-sighted and ill-advised for Emory to even consider such a weak possibility. Traffic can be handled by people with skill and imagination, and the location of all of these resources in this tight area can become a powerful lever toward centralizing swift and serviceable public transport options. President Wagner's intention to make Emory a household name throughout the nation will be severely crippled if it becomes part of a sprawling collection of strip-mall-cum-office-park bits and pieces (to which every consumer would have to drive a car for many miles) in Woodstock, Douglasville, and Lithonia. The Clifton Corridor has the vibrant energy of New York, Berlin, and London -- all of them are crowded but disseminating their treasures amongst Slovakia, Iceland, and Belize is not a better idea. Our society is clearly headed toward an increasingly urban orientation. We should be the leaders in figuring out how to make that work, not among the lemmings running away from it. Please!
Refreshing approach Your piece in Momentum was timely, well written, and important. A candid view of our physical growth (which I support wholeheartedly) and our future options is a refreshing approach.
Nellie hits her groove I really loved reading your article "How Nellie got her groove back" (Fall 2003). Pam Auchmutey did a great job weaving in history with current happenings. I even learned a few things. Thanks so much.
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