The Idaho Argonaut Editorial Board says there's a lesson to be learned in the tragic accident that killed two students and sent four others to the Gritman Medical Center Saturday morning: “Under no circumstances is driving drunk a choice any person should make. Although it’s a message most of us have heard since kindergarten, we tend to belittle its importance. As college students we have the mentality that we are forever young and indestructible, and something as horrible as dying in a drunk driving accident could never happen. It’s unfortunate that it takes the death of one or two of our peers for the reality of drunk driving sink in. College culture exposes students to new freedoms, including the freedom to drink alcohol. But with this newfound freedom comes responsibility — responsibility to make decisions protecting your own safety and the safety of people around you”/UIdaho Argonaut Editorial Board. More here.

Question: Have you lost a family member or a friend as a result of a drunken driving accident?

In Idaho, now more than ever, it is time to focus on the importance of teachers and the benefits they provide students in high school. The four years of high school are crucial in determining how students progress in their education. Teachers provide encouragement and are the mentors students need as they strive for higher education and find their niche in the workforce. Reducing the in-person factor with online classes will ultimately hurt students, which contradicts Luna’s main reason for adding the requirement. Luna said requiring high school students to take online classes will prepare them for college. In college, however, students aren’t required to take online classes and those offered aren’t worth it. True education and learning is lost when the only means of obtaining information is from a computer screen/Elizabeth Rudd, UI Argonaut. More here.

Questions: Do you suppose Superintendent Tom Luna considered how his online class requirement will affect high school students who move on to college?

Student ticket availability for the Nov. 12 football game against Boise State was scheduled to continue through Wednesday, but tickets were sold out by 4 p.m. Monday. Students were originally told they would be allotted their student ticket as well as the opportunity to buy two guest passes for $35 each. Lines started forming early Monday morning and extended outside the Kibbie Dome at points during the day before the final ticket was sold sometime between 3 and 4 p.m. UI Athletics spokeswoman Becky Paull said 5,400 tickets were allotted to students, up from the 4,400 that were originally made available, a change made in 2008. Director of Marketing and Licensing Nick Popplewell refused to comment on the topic and Athletic Director Rob Spear declined to be interviewed by a reporter outside his Kibbie Dome office, instead deferring to a departmental statement/Dara Barney, UI Argonaut. More here.

Question: Isn’t it cool that tickets to an Idaho Vandal football game are a hot commodity again?

The media seem to have their focus on cancer recently, constantly giving the public updates on studies and causes. With all of this flying at us at once, how can one possibly take it all in and therefore heed the advice given? Jade Goody (pictured), a British reality show star who got her fame on “Big Brother,” is a 27-year-old terminally ill cancer patient. Her cervical cancer spread to her liver, groin and bowel, and she has said she will die during March. She’s done various interviews about her illness and even wed her husband on TV Feb. 22. “I’ve lived in front of cameras,” Goody told the Daily Mail Reporter. “And maybe I’ll die in front of them”/Kelsey Husky, UI Argonaut. More here.

Question: Kelsey Husky goes on to say that studies show that cancer is more survivable than ever. She goes on to say that the media should provide updates on possible cures rather than focus largely on dying patients. Do you agree?

K. Ray Johnson/UI Argonaut

There has been a lot of recent outrage on campus over the Program Prioritization Process. The University of Idaho is contemplating cutting up to 41 different degree programs, including the physics bachelor’s degree. Anyone who has been on campus in the past several weeks knows this hasn’t gone over well with students and faculty. While supporters of physics write letters to the paper, circulate petitions and hold up signs at games, no one has asked an important question. If not physics, what program should get the axe? In an ideal world, the university would have all the money it needed for education and research, but this isn’t an ideal world. State and local governments across the country are cutting back spending to survive the recession. This, sadly, includes UI/Jeffrey Reznicek, UI Argonaut. More here.

Question: Is the University of Idaho approaching budget cuts realistically by proposing that less popular programs be cut?

I recently overheard a group talk about how “when walking in the streets of any European city, I feel so much safer than in the United States.” While they may have reason to feel that way in the ritzy neighborhood of certain larger areas (I happen to know they were referring to Paris), overall my experience growing up in France was not by any means a safe one. I was harassed and beaten constantly when leaving school. I got money, CDs, CD players, shoes, jackets, etc. stolen from me. In our rather quiet neighborhood, we were the only people on our street to not get their house broken into (many were robbed like this at gunpoint). My mom was mugged approximately five times, and my grandmother has been mugged so many times she doesn’t really bother to mention it anymore/Charles Boespflug, UI Argonaut. More here.

Question: Do you feel safer in the streets of a foreign city than you do in the streets of a US city?

Recycling is something most people will agree is a good idea, but a fraction of those people will actually follow through. The biggest excuse for not recycling is inconvenience. For some, it’s hard enough to get their trash in a garbage receptacle, let alone distinguish what is recyclable and then find a place to properly dispose of it. Today, the University of Idaho produces about 350 tons of carbon-equivalent emissions in its waste stream. To get an idea of how much students are throwing away that could be recycled, just ask one of the people who sorted through campus garbage to remove 11.5 tons of recyclables in the last year/Sydney Boyd, UI Argonaut. More here.

Question: How much do you recycle?

Quotable Quote: Not only did “The Boss” nearly die trying to get his old ass up on the piano Super Bowl Sunday, but in a dramatic turn of events, old Bruce found himself singing a couple of octaves higher after accidentally slamming his nads into the camera after a 5-foot knee slide. The “Glory Days” are over, and “The Boss” should retire — Levi, UI Argonaut. More Off The Cuffs.

Question: Is it time to put a fork in Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band?