Although Utah's economy isn't bulletproof and certainly won't see an immediate end to the recession, we are predicted to do a lot better than the rest of the country. During these times, it's important to remember to explore non-traditional, yet honest methods to create value and mutual benefits in business activities.

We encourage students of both circumstances to not lose their resolve. Obama mentioned virtues such as hard work, honesty, courage, fair play, tolerance, curiosity, loyalty and patriotism as "the price and the promise of citizenship."

During one of the most important days in our nation's history, I found myself sitting in a class8212;a class that didn't have a TV, a class that didn't discuss current events, a class that did not once mention the inauguration of Barack Obama.

The victims of an impaired driver are just as dead when the impaired driver was gabbing away on his or her Nokia as they would be if that driver were guzzling a bottle of Jack Daniels.

A cut in funding is a cut in the quality and quantity of Utah health care. Without adequate nursing staff, hospitals are left unable to expand to meet the increasing medical needs and specialties of a diverse population.

In order to become a more hospitable state for outside business and tourism, Utah needs to start retooling its alienating and confusing liquor laws, not adding to them.

May we remember King and honor his legacy by continuing to pursue his dream of equality, freedom and human rights.

As you watch the inaugural address8212;hopefully you do8212;focus not on where you were at the time, but what you personally did to embrace the change occurring and how you will make an impact from this time forth.

Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Today is a new day. Today, we, as a nation, put aside the brutal and cruel past that has haunted our nation for hundreds of years and we press forward.

I'd like to make a suggestion: For the months of January and February, when the inversion problem in Salt Lake City is the worst, we impose an additional five cents per gallon tax on gasoline.