The cold virus, unlike measles and influenza, has no vaccine because there are more than 200 different types.

In the wake of this tragedy, I thought it might be appropriate to show people some of the positive things that have happened this week.

While most schools in the Big 12 say they would like to use commercial aircrafts, the small size of the towns where the universities are located often makes smaller aircraft flight a way of life. OSU, in a response to the accident, is pledging to re-examine its policies in the same manner. It is not yet known how Oklahoma State athletes will travel for the rest of the season.

“We will do a complete review of our policies and re-evaluate the standards of safety that have to be a part of any activity such as this,” Harry Birdwell, OSU vice president for business and external relations, said during a Sunday press conference.

And that is most unusual for someone who makes journalism her chosen career.

Whether you knew them or not, they cared about you. They cared enough to devote their time, energy and talent to making your university a better place. They deserve your attendance to honor their legacies and memories.

That is an impossible task. Nobody around the Cowboys will ever forget the radio call in 1995 after OSU defeated Massachusetts in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

Although none of the victims were members of the Church of Christ, they made an impact on the 50 people at the service, said Monty Daffern, director of campus ministries.

The broadcast will be fed live from the Gallagher-Iba Arena to the OSU-Tulsa Auditorium on the Tulsa campus.

The memorial service will begin at 3 p.m. this afternoon. Doors to the OSU-Tulsa Auditorium will open at 2:30 p.m.

Past the door, the room is warmly lit by a single lamp sitting on a desk crowded with pictures of family and friends. Van Delinder herself is softly lit with a blue tint from the computer she is watching intently.

Pictures of cats, family and husband seem to watch over Van Delinder from the walls of her office as she prepares her next lecture.

Van Delinder is an assistant professor at OSU and has a doctorate in sociology with an emphasis on theory and women’s issues. Her position as an expert on women’s issues makes her story ironic and unique.

It wasn’t.

“All of (the) sudden, one morning (I) got up and read in the newspaper really shocking news for all of us,” said Karphik Ayodhirananujan, mechanical engineer graduate student. “Saturday morning (I) heard about a major earthquake (in India) and that night again we see more tragic news (at OSU) and we didn’t know who was dead.”

There has been no official word of any exchange students who have lost loved ones in the quake, but many are still waiting to hear from home.

He knew no stranger and he always wore a smile, his colleagues said.

At 3 p.m. today, Denver Mills will be remembered at the memorial service in Gallagher-Iba Arena. He was the pilot of the plane carrying 10 members of OSU’s family who died Saturday in a plane crash near Byers, Colo.

Luinstra was working for Wichita State University as an assistant trainer when he was offered a job in the OSU Athletics Department.

My heart truly goes out to them. I can relate to those who have lost friends and loved ones in this terrible event. As a sophomore in high school, I lost a friend to a major car wreck. Then, as a senior, I lost another friend to a gunshot wound to the head at point blank range. Then, just last year, I lost my uncle to aggressive liver cancer. Believe me, I’ve had a host of opportunities to reflect on life — and death.

Now, once again, this recent event prompts me to ponder life and death. Sunday, I sat reflecting at this event. I realized again that none of us are guaranteed our next breath. Yet, how many of us take life for granted? What particularly strikes me about this event is that there were passengers on the fateful plane who were younger than I am.

Should I not arise every morning and thank the Lord Jesus Christ that he has given me the opportunity to see the light of another day? Every minute of life that we have is truly a gift from God because we do not know the time of our departure from this terrestrial sphere. Consider the first high school friend mentioned above.

One minute, he’s backing out of the driveway, and the next he’s unconscious and being cut out from his badly mangled car. He died in intensive care a week later. Could he have ever suspected that it was his time?

Consider my other high school friend. One minute he’s walking to the bus stop, and the next, he’s dead from a point-blank gunshot wound to the head. Why? He was wearing the wrong color of pants. Could he have ever seen it coming? Similarly, these gentlemen got onto a plane.

They were probably bummed from the loss to Colorado. Yet, did they ever dream that they would face eternity that very evening? Never. No one ever expects it. That is the way of death. It creeps upon us like a panther stalking its prey. We do not see it until it is right upon us. That is why I encourage the reader to reflect on life daily. Never take a day or an hour for granted. Every moment of life is a precious gift from God of which we as individuals are unworthy. Yet, God chooses to grant us it anyway.

I also encourage the reader to consider death on a daily basis. Yes, we should be thankful for every moment of life, but let Saturday’s event be a lesson to us. Death will one day overtake each and every one of us. These recent events have shown us that we don’t know when our times will come. That is why we need to be ready at all times.

In closing, let me share my deepest sympathies with those who were closest to the recently departed. I hope that each individual will carefully consider this column.

Last week, I probably would have torn apart my room, truck, and my desk at The O’Collegian trying to find the missing class material.

Lawson, junior guard from Detroit, was living out a big-city kid’s dream, playing ball for Oklahoma State University and pursuing a degree that would advance his career, friends said. His love of life and zest for basketball was apparent.

At least that is what Tom Dirato, coordinator for radio and television for Oklahoma State University athletics, said he thinks happened.

Fleming died when the Beechcraft King Air 200 carrying members of the Oklahoma State University basketball team crashed on Saturday, Jan. 27 outside Byers, Colo.

He walked onto the Cowboy basketball team in 1999, despite being brought up as a Sooner.

Gallagher-Iba Arena rarely has an empty seat during mens basketball game. But on nights our ladies take the court, or on days our softball team sweats it out on the diamond — where are all of those loyal Cowboy fans?

There are more than 100 women student athletes at OSU. For those who don’t know, OSU is home to eight different women’s athletic teams.

In light of the Jan. 27 tragedy in which 10 people, including two Oklahoma State University students and four staff members, were killed in a plane crash while trying to return to Stillwater from Colorado, many people have been affected, and are turning to their faith.

Instead of traveling from Sweden to celebrate their son’s wedding, they are here to mourn his death in the Saturday plane crash that killed 10 men.

“It was where he ultimately wanted to end up, as ironic as that sounds,” Brem said.

“I’ve never seen it this full before,” said Meredith Henderson, undecided freshman. “I think it’s because some people need a sense of closure and comfort that the people who died are going to a better place.”

Henderson called attention to the quote projected on the screen as the students entered the sanctuary that said, “Trouble is one of God’s great servants because it reminds us how much we continually need the Lord.”

“That really says it all,” Henderson said. “This is where I come, trouble or not, but when there is trouble I know I’ll find comfort here and I hope other people realize the same thing.”

Students from OSU and Stillwater High School filled the pews, the balcony and the aisles as 10 candles representing the 10 victims lit the darkened room.

SGA Vice President Marilyn Martin will be leaving this morning for Washington, D.C. to represent Oklahoma State University at the annual National Prayer Breakfast. “I tried to cancel my flight so I could stay here because I kind of thought it was more important to be at the memorial service, but Dr. Halligan and Kent Sampson thought that my presence would be even better at the National Prayer Breakfast,” Martin said. “It’s with George W. Bush — I actually contacted them and (the OSU tragedy) should be on the agenda for them to pray about.