Political and social ideas are often used in theater, poetry and music for their peaceful ability to describe the underlying assumptions of their corresponding movements.

Dow points are falling. Investors are scrambling. Banks are going down. You all know about it. Newspapers, magazines, radio stations, television newscasts and blogs seem to be talking about this every day, every hour, every minute.

The state government is using federal stimulus money to expand Utah's transportation highways and the Utah Transit Authority TRAX lines. Many U students depend on TRAX each day to attend classes and other events on campus. Unfortunately, the main TRAX line has fallen victim to tagging, primarily between 1300 South and 7200 South.

The body of the language is largely still problematic. For example, the policies and procedures explain that the media advocate, true to the position title, "advocates on behalf of student media." But it should be student editors and managers who advocate for their own publications and media outlets.

The best part of Drew Thompson's story ("Med school looks to offset cuts," April 22), was not in the description of our medical school's budget cuts and not in the details of possible governmental or administrative "solutions." It was in the last paragraph where Thompson describes the reaction of Bill Shelton, the applicant: "He plans to take the (MCAT) again and hope for better results next year."

In his column, ("Gun love fueled by fear," April 22), Jonathan Deesing commented on a quote from President Barack Obama: "When read in the proper context, his quote explains that when people mistrust or have become disillusioned with their government, they turn to guns and religion." Obama's and Deesing's implication is that this is a bad thing. That's why people are offended.

Jonathan Deesing ("Gun love is fueled by fear," April 22), is living in a world where the sun is always shining and birds are always chirping, but back in the real world, there are plenty of things to fear. What is wrong with dreading your security system going off in the middle of the night, or fearing what might happen if you get too close to Pioneer Park one night?

At some point during your life, you will have a Columbine moment8212;a moment when your view of the world changes forever. Although these times are never easy, you can fully count on the guarantee that someone has been through something worse. It will be a time when you'll learn life-changing lessons that will make you better and you'll emerge a stronger person.

As I rummage through my giant, black hole of a bag and then chase that elusive quarter through the hole in my jeans, I glance up at the vending machine I am about to feed my change to and instantly feel my face fall from caffeine-starved to absolutely crestfallen.

Almost all of us are attending college so that we can get a good job8212;a better job than we would get without a college education. We have been conditioned to believe this since our junior-high guidance counselors told us this. They put up a chart showing how much more money we would make with a college degree and sat back smugly waiting for our oohs and ahhs.