There is a photo on the final page of the 1969-1970 edition of the Ohio University Athena yearbook that features a group of Ohio National Guard troops marching single-file past the Athena Cinema like armed ducklings below a marquee that reads simply "Z."

Two locally situated books have been published in this year, both unique stories of counterculture, plenty of drugs, and vivid scenery.

An Athens business that's been a constant for over 50 years will soon disappear from the city. It's a small, utilitarian place. It was open later than most bars. It had wall-to-wall merchandise, cheap cigarettes and a calm, weary dog. A half-lucid voice at the counter never failed to ask, "You want matches?" If you haven't already guessed, it's the Campus Sundry on West Union Street, and by 2012 it will be a memory.

In 1977, Guy Philips started as a freshman at Ohio University. Coincidentally, that was also the year that The Athens NEWS started publication. While still in college, Philips took a job selling advertising space in The NEWS. Today, 30 years later, he is still an ad salesman for the paper. He is also, however, a part owner of the business, and has been so for many years.

Athens wasn't always the peacenik enclave that it is today. OK, so maybe it isn't exactly that today either, as evidenced by some much-publicized rowdy behavior around town in recent years. But there sure aren't any gunfights going down on Court Street.

Despite its name, Radar Hill may seem like just another place to hike, enjoy nature and observe an impressive view of Athens. Located on Ohio University’s Ridges property, Radar Hill has a unique past.

The Ridges campus looms high above Ohio University. The complex has added to the mystique of OU for more than a 100 years. It entrances many onlookers with its 19th century architecture.

Over the years at Ohio University, countless students have formed bands. Often these outfits break up at graduation; sometimes, they stick together and try to make it in the music business.

To hear it from some sources, giants once roamed these parts. That’s right, giants. Giant Indians. Whole tribes of them. Seven to eight feet tall.

Athens and Ohio University have come to expect a variety of floods, even welcoming some of them at times. Whether it’s the yearly influx of thousands of people for the Halloween celebration, the numerous beer-laden musical festivals that draw large crowds, or just the annual back-to-school deluges, the area handles floods well.