Think back to elementary school in February. The arts and crafts activities for the week have come to a screeching halt and the valentines box is prepped with pink paper, maybe some bows, and it is dripping with colored Elmer's glue. This little card chest on the front of the desk is screaming donations and love, in a totally non-biased way. Every student gives at least one card to every other student. There is no worry about boys giving cards to boys or boys to girls.

So, it's Valentine's Day, and, once again, you find yourself alone. Instead of dressing in all black to mourn the loss of America's soul due to commercialism, renting all of the chick flicks in your local video store before any happy couples can get their hands on them or calling in to every radio show and requesting "Love Stinks," consider that being single is not a death sentence.

No one is chaining you to your couch and forcing you to eat those five gallons of Ben and Jerry's. Enjoying Valentine's Day - or not - is your choice.

It's that time of year again - the one and only Valentine's Day.Today is traditionally the day to profess love for that special someone and to fill the pockets of Hallmark, Olive Garden and chocolate manufacturers around the world.

And for singles, today is traditionally the day to lament their lack of a loved one or attempt to ignore the over-commercialized holiday all together.

It's no doubt Valentine's Day has multiple meanings depending on where one is in life. For some, it can be good. For others, it can carry a bad stigma.

More students could be starting businesses in Fort Worth next fall.Alumnus Bill Shaddock is working with the Neeley School of Business to establish the Bill Shaddock Investment Fund to support student-run businesses. The fund would provide resources to students who either need the money to further grow their businesses or to students who have ideas and need a little money to get their ideas started, said David Minor, director of the Neeley Entrepreneurship Center.

After a relaxing Spring Break in Bermuda, you're ready to hop back on the plane before school starts again. Just one problem ... you can't board the plane.Due to a new travel regulation, people re-entering the United States by air are required to present proof of U.S. citizenship, such as a passport.

To help students, faculty and staff prepare for this change, Mailing Services and the Brown-Lupton Student Center are hosting a passport fair Feb. 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Student Center Lounge, said Glen Hulme, post office manager.

In an effort to increase funding for the Texas Tuition Exchange Grant, 11 students spent the past two days lobbying at the state Capitol in Austin.The TEG gives money to private institutions to use for student financial aid and scholarships.

According to a 2007 report from the Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas, there are 40 independent - nonprofit and tax-exempt - colleges and universities in the state. These institutions award more than 22 percent of all bachelor's degrees in Texas.

Valentine's Day is upon us. It's a day for love and chocolates, flowers and romance, teddy bears, hearts and jewelry.It's also a day for mass marketing and consumerism.

Each year, around Feb. 14, people desperately scramble to pick out the perfect present for the one they adore. According to Hallmark research, more than 180 million cards are exchanged for Valentine's Day (second only to Christmas when about 20 billion cards are exchanged).

Eleanor Roosevelt said absence makes the heart grow fonder, and college students in long-distance relationships hope she was right. According to research conducted at Ohio State University, about 75 percent of students have been, are, or will be in a long-distance relationship at some point in their college career, said Laura Stafford, associate professor at OSU and author of the book "Maintaining Long-Distance and Cross-Residential Relationships."

A communication plan is now in place in case of an outbreak of an airborne virus or disease. Campus Life has implemented a pandemic plan that includes ways of trafficking information to the public with extra phone lines and Web sites.

Laura Crawley, assistant dean of campus life and health promotion, said the university is trying to be proactive by coordinating plans for an outbreak on campus.

She said a pandemic could be the avian flu or even something the public doesn't know about yet.

Every year, one day comes around where candy, flowers, cards and gifts are exchanged in the name of love. It is the inevitable Valentine's Day. There is some skepticism about how Valentine's Day came to be or why we celebrate it.

In one legend, St. Valentine wrote a letter to a girl he liked during his confinement in prison expressing his love for her before he was sentenced to death, according to history.com. After his death, Feb. 14 became a day for lovers to celebrate their love for one another.