Recently, the Daily, particularly the opinion section, has been criticized for being too negative. Some folks feel that the columnists, letter writers and Quick E senders alike have been more concerned with the bad than the good.

I, for one, feel that we at the Daily owe it to our readers to provide some reminders of what’s right with the world today.

While no one’s ever going to accuse me of being a panglossian optimist, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to just mention a few of the positive things about life at Iowa State. I can’t mention everything, of course, so I’ll try to cover the good things that not enough people seem to appreciate:

1. The campus is not being overrun by squirrels. I had never really worried about this happening until a friend of mine at University of Minnesota explained to me that it’s become a topic of concern in their newspaper. I guess you shouldn’t take it for granted that the resident rodent population will be held in check.

2. We have the 16th worst percentage of classes with under 20 students, according to U.S. News and World Report. At first that might sound bad, considering they ranked over 200 national colleges and universities, but look at it this way: There are 15 schools that have even fewer small classes than we do!

3. Sixty-seven percent of college students haven’t driven drunk. I was made aware of this heartwarming factoid by a table tent in food service. I think we should all be happy one in every three students is guilty of driving under the influence. After all, that means a mere 8,000 Iowa State students have put countless lives at risk.

4. El Ni¤o has nothing against the Midwest. While Californians have been bombarded by crappy weather recently, we’re enjoying one of the warmest winters on record. It may be dreary, and the sun might not be out much, but it could be a lot worse.

5. We never have to worry about being lured away from our homework by a broadcast of “South Park.” How many college campuses across this country are served by greedy cable companies more concerned about making a buck than about helping students achieve? We should all thank the wonderful people at TCI for once again demonstrating they have our best interests in mind and not carrying Comedy Central.

6. Thus far, only one fraternity has suspected its members used the date-rape drug. Given the size of our Greek system, that’s not too shabby. I suspect there are lot of schools having more problems with this than us. In fact, as far as I can tell, we live on one of the safest large campuses in the country.

7. Veishea has been gutted, yet remains intact. A lot of people are still complaining and making wisecracks about the upcoming dry Veishea. For those with short memories, I remind you that Veishea’s mere existence was in serious doubt not too long ago. Seriously, we should be happy with what we have.

8. We haven’t all died of anthrax. I typically worry about this as much as I worry about the campus being overrun by squirrels, but recent news events make me wonder if I ought to be paranoid on a more regular basis. Anyway, I’m glad we’re all still alive. I, for one, would prefer not to be killed by something that a metal band has named itself after.

9. Only one campus building’s name has been brought into question. Seriously, when you think about it, probably every person for which a building has been christened is guilty of some impropriety, be it racial bigotry, having an affair with an intern, or lying. Fortunately, we’re usually willing to blindly overlook our prominent alumni flaws. Isn’t that good to know?

10. Cigarette lighters, curling irons, microwaves and countless other devices capable of starting fires haven’t been banned: just halogens lamps. It’s no secret that if you’re stupid, you can start a fire with just about anything that needs to be plugged in. Fortunately, the folks in charge of the residence halls seem to have faith in our abilities to handle most such equipment. I’m sure there are campuses with much stricter dorm prohibitions — and their room and board rates are probably higher.

11. Our women’s basketball team kicks ass. I’m dead serious about this one. The team’s lack of recognition is one of my pet peeves. If you haven’t been following the women’s team, you’re really missing out. They’re fun to watch and are undefeated at home. What’s even better is that they’re a pretty young team and will in all likelihood be even better next season (they’ve got a great recruiting class on its way). When Coach Bill Fennelly devises a scheme to take Hilton Magic on the road, they’ll be unstoppable. It really ticks me off that Hilton isn’t totally packed for every home game, as it would be if the men were ranked. Their last home game is tomorrow night: why not go?

There, 11 things that aren’t negative. Some are more serious than others, but my point is this: Really, things aren’t so bad if you look at them in the right way.

Sure, life will never be perfect, but things could be much, much worse.

Ben Byrne is a junior in graphic design from Minneapolis, Minn.