Editorial: There’s more in the world than classes

Today begins the first full week of classes. Students naturally
divide their lives in terms of coursework. The first few weeks are
more relaxed; textbooks are tossed to the side and weeknight
parties are frequent. Midterms come around and the workload and
stress level picks up. Later weeks bring papers and projects and
before long, finals determine whether it was a successful
quarter.

But the next 10 weeks will bring much more than academic
assignments.

Scientists will learn more about the cosmos, as they continue to
explore Mars. United States military and intelligence personnel
will continue their search for terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. A
democrat will emerge as the favorite to challenge President Bush.
March 20 ““ the Saturday of finals week ““ will mark
one year since the start of the United States’ invasion of
Iraq. Thousands of troops will come home and people will hear what
the war is really like from better sources than Fox News or
CNN.

Winter quarter will be a big quarter, an important 10 weeks
““ and not just for students taking a full class load,
struggling for straight As to boost their med school applications
or hoping to drop a few pounds before Valentine’s Day.