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Thumbs Up to the return of warm weather in Carbondale. I hope everyone took advantage of the warmer temperatures and got outside this weekend.

Don't get too excited, it's going to get cold again this week, but after everyone gets back from spring break, we'll start to see temperatures like the past weekend all the time.

I'll take 70 degrees in Carbondale on March 1 any day.

Thumbs Down to Gov. Rod Blagojevich's proposal to demolish Cole Hall at NIU and build a $40 million Memorial Hall to replace it.

Not that I'm opposed to creating a memorial to pay tribute to the victims, but come on - $40 million dollars to demolish and replace a functioning building is crazy. I wasn't aware that the state of Illinois had an extra $40 million lying around, because if there was extra money for education in the governor's pocket, we wouldn't be dealing with leaky buildings like Faner Hall here at SIU.

Kent State didn't demolish buildings after the massacre in 1970 and neither did Virginia Tech 27 years later. It's too early to condemn Cole Hall and a $40 million Band-Aid isn't going to make things all better.

Thumbs Up to Randy, Matt and the rest of the Saluki seniors for a great tenure here at SIU. Even though we couldn't close it out in the SIU Arena on Saturday for senior night, you've all had great careers for the maroon and white and have no doubt instilled your mark on the program.

Let's end your great careers on a high note next week at Arch Madness in St. Louis. Who knows, maybe with the right combination of heart, determination and Floorburn U, the Dawgs could go dancing once again.

Thumbs Down to the street renaming controversy in Carbondale. I think renaming something after Martin Luther King Jr. is a good idea and many cities and towns across the country have honored Dr. King with streets, bridges, high schools, community colleges - you name it.

Then we come to Carbondale. First the plan was to rename Oakland, then more recently they decided that Mill Street would be a better location. Mayor Brad Cole didn't seem to like the idea, saying that it was a "complicated issue."

I like the idea but I hope that whoever is planning this whole thing isn't just picking a random street out of the phonebook and going with it, which to me seems to be the case. We all know maybe Oakland Street was a bad idea and that Mill Street's historical significance might have been overlooked.

Let's find a better street and go from there.

Thumbs Up to the new emergency text messaging system SIUC has in place. It's about time we had something like this on campus. Students can sign up for the service at http://www.dps.siu.edu.

Thumbs Down to all the black coal shavings scattered around campus. When salt was unavailable during the ice storm, we used the next best thing: coal shavings that neither melt ice nor increase traction.

At least all the left over coal shavings hide all the cigarette butts.

Thumbs Up to spring break. I'm sure nobody would disagree with me on this one. To everyone heading off to Arch Madness, Cancun, Aruba or wherever, remember to have fun but take care of yourself and your friends.

Everybody here at SIUC wants you to come back safely and finish off the semester.

Fruth is a graduate student in curriculum and instruction.

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