Hoping for history

Professors should take a break at noon today and let us watch history be made

At approximately 12 p.m. today, Barack Obama will place his left hand on the Bible, recite an oath to uphold the Constitution and be sworn in as the first black president in our nation’s history.

And many of us will be stuck in a classroom.

We pray we don’t have to tell our grandchildren we missed this historic event because we couldn’t get out of biology lab.

For those of us who didn’t make the trip to brave the cold in D.C. today, we’re at the mercy of our professors. We encourage them to take a break from lecture and allow students to witness this historic event. It shouldn’t be too difficult, as most major news sources will stream live coverage of the inauguration on their Web sites.

It can be inconvenient for professors to break from their carefully micromanaged syllabi. But this is the eighth day of classes. There’s plenty of time in the term for professors to cover whatever they planned on teaching today.

Watching the inauguration will hold as much educational value as any lecture – if not more.

Yes, many of the inauguration events are tedious. We don’t plan on spending much time watching the balls and the parades. It certainly seems frivolous to toss millions of dollars on those events when most Americans are having trouble making house payments.

But the swearing-in ceremony of Barack Obama, a leader who seems to personify the feeling of hope that many Americans are desperately searching for, is mandatory viewing.

- Drew Wheatley for the editorial board

Save the boobies

Each year, the Gym Dogs ‘pink out’ one meet to raise money for cancer research

Using their popularity for good, Suzanne Yoculan and her Gym Dogs raise money each season for the Athens Regional Medical Center Breast Health Center.

At one meet each year, in addition to witnessing the gymnasts’ feats on the blue mats, attendees can help benefit breast cancer research by buying T-shirts or making a donation.

We’d like to congratulate Yoculan for starting a trend among collegiate gymnastics teams.

More University teams should take advantage of their stature and do some good in the community.

As Yoculan said, “There’s other things more important in life than sports.”

By raising awareness and money, the Gym Dogs are proving that message true.

- Shannon Otto for the editorial board