Another new year is upon us, and the time for resolutions is at hand. My resolution for 1996 is not to loose weight or cut down on my fat intake or even to exercise regularly. Important as those things are, this year they will play second fiddle to my main resolution which is to get an education outside the academic environment. To paraphrase Marcia Clark of O.J. fame, it is time to get a life. It has just dawned on me that while I shuttled between classes, crowded computer labs and an equally crowded library, I was missing a very important part of my education-experience in the real world. In the endless grade race, it is easy to get isolated from the realities of life. That is how the other part of my education passed me by last year. I am overcome with regret when I think of some of the educational opportunities I missed because I buried my head for excessively long periods in the sands of academia. The list of missed opportunities is long.

Last year, the Ku Klux Klan, those gallant patriots who have made a name for themselves because of their tireless defense of faith, family values and the American way of life, came all the way to Benton, Ill., for a rally. I was too Busy to pay attention to the event. I missed a chance to see this famous organization which I have read so much about in the history books.

Having witnessed some of the positive achievements, as well as the excesses of the United Nations, I regret that I did not attend the Southern Illinois Patriots League’s flag-burning ceremony. It is very symbolic that the U.N. flag went up in smoke in Southern Illinois on the organization’s fiftieth anniversary.

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My education also suffered loss when I failed to pay attention to other critical events and activities which took place in the area last year. Observing demonstrations on both sides of the abortion issue would have been instructive. The same goes for the Shawnee National Forest logging controversy. The final campus event I missed last year was the World AIDS Day candle light vigil. I must admit that I skipped it not only because of term papers and final, but because I thought AIDS existed in a different planet from that in which ordinary people like you and I live. I have since learned that any one old enough to have sex is not too young to have AIDS. I now realize that though the virus has not infected all of us, it has definitely affected all of us in one way or another plan to be at the next AIDS vigil.

My only resolution which involves avoidance has to do with Halloween. During the Halloween weekend, I intend to give the strip a wide berth. I will put as much distance as possible between downtown Carbondale and myself when the party begins. Quite frankly, I do not like being roughed-up by the police.