One semester, sixteen weeks

As students struggle through their last few days of classes, The Miami Hurricane takes a moment to look back on the ups and downs of the fall 2007 semester.

The university began on an exciting note in the first few weeks of school, making history at the Bank United Center as Univision hosted the first presidential forum that simultaneously translated candidate responses into Spanish. The university has surely worked hard this semester to get the student voting population involved as the Republican forum is planned for Dec. 9. But unfortunately, Hardball with Chris Matthews, scheduled for Nov. 26 and Nov. 27, was postponed because there were no guests.

As for student safety, the university has taken steps in the right direction since the Virginia Tech massacre last spring. A campus-wide emergency alert system was tested, and, although there were problems, it was still the largest safety test attempted by the university so far. UM police department have also been proactive in running sting operations this year.

In the realm of sports, this season has seen losses: losses in games and the loss of our beloved stadium. Adding insult to injury, our last season in the Orange Bowl ended with the worst home game shutout in the team’s history. The devastating loss to Virginia certainly didn’t add to the already somewhat bitter feelings about the move. A highly publicized halftime show and post-game laser light performance were weak attempts to help raise the spirits of the evening. Although new coach Randy Shannon started the season with a bang against Marshall and a sweet victory against rival Florida State, his overall record for the season reflects another lackluster performance by our team – our first losing season in a decade.

And a little more than a year after the tragic death of Hurricane defensive lineman Bryan Pata, former Hurricane safety Sean Taylor dies from a gunshot wound after being assaulted in his Cutler Bay home. After the long and unsolved case of Pata, which seemed to disappear from most news outlets, one has to wonder what will become of Taylor’s murder.

After reflecting on the events that have occurred in the last few weeks, we can only hope that the good will continue and the bad will teach valuable lessons.

Editorials represent the majority view of The Miami Hurricane editorial board.