ROSE (roz) n. One of the most beautiful of all flowers, a symbol of fragrance and loveliness. Often given as a sign of appreciation.

RASPBERRY (raz'ber'e) n. A sharp, scornful comment, criticism or rebuke; a derisive, splatting noise, often called the Bronx cheer.

We hereby deliver:

• ROSES to the Benton County students, their parents and teachers and school officials whose efforts have produced the lowest drop-out rate in Oregon - 1.9 percent, or less than half of the state dropout average of 4.4 percent.

That's good news on top of good news, because Oregon's dropout rate has plummeted since the disturbing 7.4 percent high of the 1994-95 school year.

In local real numbers, that means of the 3,427 Benton County students who attended high school last year, 64 dropped out. That put Benton County teens as the most well-schooled in the state for counties with more than 1,000 high school students.

All those numbers really boil down to a solid commitment by everyone involved in Benton County education.

The reasons for students dropping out vary widely, but having to work more than 15 hours a week, falling behind or parents who don't care about education themselves are cited as the most common.

It is clear from the numbers that Benton County parents do care, but they also have the support of a community that puts real effort into giving its young people the best possible start.

Extra roses to those students who managed to stay in school, despite immediate pressures that seem to indicate the best solution would be to drop out. To those students who are considering dropping out: Ask someone who dropped out 10 or 20 years ago if they would do the same thing if they had it to do over again.

• ROSES to more than a billion people around the world who are celebrating the Lunar New Year. Known most commonly as the Chinese New Year, it is celebrated as Tet in Vietnam and Solnal in Korea.

The "Year of the Monkey" officially commenced at midnight Thursday, but no mere kiss-and-sip-of-champagne celebration this! Instead, it marked the start of 15 days of feasting, partying and - best of all - lion-and-dragon dance parades all culminating with the lantern festival.

The Monkey is one of the 12 animals who alternate on the lunar calendar. You were born under the Hsia calendar's monkey sign if you were born in 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980 or 1992. That means you are clever and inventive, with the ability to turn a liability into an asset.

Famous "monkeys" include actors Elizabeth Taylor, Will Smith and Jennifer Aniston, emperor Julius Caesar, poet Lord Byron, artist Leonardo da Vinci and President Harry S. Truman.

A lot of people know how to say "Gung Hay Fat Choy," for the Lunar New Year, which actually translates into "May your burdens become prosperous." But if you really want to impress your friends, try "Saehae Bok Mani Paduseyo" for the Korean and Chinese versions or the Vietnamese New Year's greeting," Chuc Mung Nam Moi."

• RASPBERRIES to small-but-disturbingly-growing number of parents who are naming their babies for products.

According to Cleveland Evans, a psychology professor at Bellevue University in Nebraska, the legions of Tiffanys, Michaels and Joshuas born every year are now being joined by Chevys, Camrys, Darvons and even a few Courvoisiers (named for the cognac.)

Now, OK, the cognac may have played a part in the baby's being here in the first place, so parents might get a pass. But… Essence, after the magazine, for a girl's name?

Clearly these parents are not thinking ahead. By the time little Camry reaches the age of participation in the all-cruelty-playground Olympics, Camrys might be as popular as the Edsel.

Just ask Atari Bigby. The 22-year-old junior at the University of Central Florida has endured years of teasing because his grandmother came up with her name, which is identical to the now-defunct computer gaming system of the 1980s.

Who could blame DeLorean Winzens, now an English major at Stetson University - born in 1982 at the height of the DeLorean news flow - if she plotted to one day put her parents in a nursing home in Kabul? Sure, parents have the power to name their helpless baby whatever they want, but before anyone starts musing about what a great name "Lexus" is, consider: some day, that little creature could be holding a grudge - and the power of attorney.

• ROSES to Phyllis Lee, one of the Oregon State University staff members honored this year at the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Breakfast. Her name will now grace a new award given annually to those who show "extraordinary dedication to social justice, human rights and access to higher education.

The MLK awards recognize work to advance civil rights, diversity and community action. The award is especially timely, as Phyllis Lee is retiring as director of multicultural affairs at OSU.

Also receiving honors were Raquel Tambio, Derron Coles, Tony Robbins and Sandy Tsuneyoshi, recipients of the Frances Dancy Hooks Award. Earlean Wilson Huey, Isaac Magana, Prudence Miles and Jo Frederic earned the Martin Luther King Jr. Exemplary Service Award.

• RASPBERRIES and the "You-said-it-with-a-straight-face" award to Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Elliot.

The feds are prosecuting Greenpeace for its 2002 protest against a shipment of Amazon mahogany under an 1872 law that prohibits pimps from clambering aboard ships entering port.

Elliot said "There is no evidence that the government has discriminated against Greenpeace because of its political views."

Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and the American Civil Liberties Union expect this charge to be laughed out of federal court.

• ROSE-BERRIES to the cell phone. Yep, the thing that you reached for when your car skidded off the road a few weeks back is the same thing you want to flush after it squeals out the "Star Wars" theme on your son's phone 12 times a day.

The cell phone topped the list of most-hated-and-most-needed technology, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MIT annually ranks the technologies that adults say they hate, but couldn't do without. Coming in close behind the cell phone were the alarm clock, television, razors, microwave ovens, computers and answering machines.

Odd that nobody mentioned the digital scale.