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Number Three When we started this issue of Sweet Tooth at the beginning of the summer, the writers were presented with the question "What do we have here?" with the idea that they would mull over the various phrasings: what do we have HERE? What do WE have here? etc. etc. to critically illuminate aspects of the city that the people living in it might not notice. Pulling out what is right, what is wrong, finding a greater message in the details is the aim of this publication. Whatever we had here back at the beginning of the summer was suddenly battered, demolished and/or rebuilt with Hurricane Gustav, a storm which illuminated both our vulnerabilities and strengths as a community, and despite being turned into a giant brush pile overnight, I think the city is a stronger one for it. We've had to take a long look at what we do wrong and what we do right, at what we have here so that we can now assess what we want to do with it. Do we want to build on potentials of bike commuting? Do we want to tear down monuments crafted out of idealism? Do we want to support our local artists in a meaningful, tangible way so that they don't need to go elsewhere for support? Do we want to continue stepping forward without having to take the expected two steps backward? These are the questions we are posing to you, Baton Rouge, hoping that you come up with some good answers. Alex V. Cook, Editor |