THWUGA: As much about us as them

By Matthew Winkler

Editor-in-Chief

If it's your first year at Georgia Tech­-or if you are a University of Georgia student lucky enough to lay eyes on this issue of the Technique-allow me to introduce you to "To Hell With Georgia," a very special edition of the "The South's Liveliest College Newspaper." In the next 24 pages you will find alcohol, rednecks, farm animals and lots of dawgs.

We members of the Technique are often asked how the tradition of THWUGA began. Friends say that by producing such a "rag," we Tech students merely perpetuate unfortunate stereotypes-of Athens students as drunken rednecks and ourselves as geeks with inferiority complexes-that are no longer as true as they once were. The answer to these questions are the same every time; THWUGA is as much about us as it is about our rivals.

Some 93 years ago, the first edition of the Technique published on Nov. 17, 1911 was a four-page paper that focused primarily on the upcoming football contest with Georgia. It predicted, arrogantly and incorrectly, that the Jackets would triumph over the Bulldogs.

From these "modest" roots, the present day Technique came into being. And it is these roots that we as a staff honor when we produce "To Hell With Georgia."

Over the years, the Technique has produced various issues mocking UGA's daily newspaper, The Red and Black, and the constituency it serves.

It's been called The Rude and Bleak and UGA Today, and its lead story has ranged from airport security classes, Uga V's sex change operation and a plethora of barnyard critters.

But it is not the name of the paper or the content within it that matters most to us; it is the tradition embodied in this issue that we hold dear-a tradition of ingenuity and creativity that binds us together not only as a newspaper staff, but also as a Tech community.

While the jokes may tend to be the same, lame or just plain crude, we stay dedicated to the fact of honoring our humble beginnings. Maintaining high journalistic standards and being the voice of the students is the primary concern of the Technique , but through this special issue we still keep alive the moniker of "The South's Liveliest College Newspaper".

So as you flip through the pages keep in mind it's all in good humor and meant to make you thankful and proud to be a Jacket. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed creating it.

Remember this issue is as much about you, me and Ma Tech as it is about UGA.