Editorial

Progress Report

PASS Local restaurants receive a gold star for acting as an Uptown welcome wagon to an incoming competitor. bw-3s Buffalo Wild Wings Grill and Bar is coming soon to the former Dewey's location at 23 W. Union St. in June. But local restaurant owners have displayed a hearty welcome to the competition. The Pigskin Sports Bar and Grill manager Ryan Pigman said the market has room for the competition and Wings & Rings owner Debbie Clary said "Bring them on."

PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE In a role reversal within the halls of Nelsonville-York High School, students should get a lollipop while administrators are reprimanded for their actions regarding Lockdown. Students who worked on the independent paper deserve praise for calling the administrators' bluff. Administrators threatened suspension if Lockdown was distributed. The students distributed the paper off school grounds, upholding their rights to free speech.

The administrators should spend some time in detention thinking about what they have done. Luckily for the First Amendment, they took no action against those distributing the paper, but they refused to discuss the issue publicly and make their position known. The administrators' silence makes their order to stop distribution seem foolish. The 'Because we said so' argument does not show respect to the students, nor will it gain the respect of the community.

PASS The Athens' Office of Code Enforcement and Community Development is adding significance to the second part of its name - community development. Many Ohio University students who live off-campus are unaware when they violate city codes concerning snow removal, parking, trash, recycling and lawn maintenance.

Those who violate these codes often do not know their responsibilities. Code enforcement wants to educate OU students of their violations before taking action against them. By making students aware of their duties, officials improve student-citizen relations within the city and the quality of the area.

PASS Six local churches are making the community a better place. The Church Build Coalition has raised $30,000 of the $40,000 needed to build a house for a low-income family in Athens County. Christ Lutheran, Christ the King University Parish, The First Presbyterian Church, First United Methodist, First United Methodist Church in Nelsonville and Richland United Methodist Church formed the coalition to help Athens County Habitat for Humanity. The churches hope to start their project in late spring and are looking for more churches to help a local family build a home.

HOMEWORK Ohio University: Continue to make improvements to TRIPS and OU's scheduling system. OU offers more one-hour classes, but all the classes fall in a narrow window of hours. In some cases, the schedule of classes book does not match course offerings. Students often are not notified when classes are canceled and sometimes classes that no longer exist are listed as prerequisites.

We would rather see students' college pathways shaped by the classes they want and need - not what fits into their schedules. It's a big job, but somebody has to do it.