i'm in Atlanta, so it's not really that hilly, but sometimes i'm on a mild downgrade and i'll notice some oil smoke coming from the exhaust.....shouldn't there be baffles in the oil pan to prevent this, or is the grade just steeper than i'm thinking?

Usually a sign of worn valve guides. Coasting downhill with the car in gear produces a lot of vacuum in the cylinders, which sucks in whatever it can, usually oil from the rockers down past the intake valve. Sometimes past the rings, but it's usually from the valves. Unless it's really bad I wouldn't worry too much about it. When you begin to see that smoke on level ground when you're just coasing in gear up to a stop sign you'll need to start thinking about rebuilding the heads.