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 fast-responding officials at Western Oregon University in Monmouth for quickly informing students, faculty and employees Thursday that there was a probable outbreak on the campus (See story, A1).

Kudos as well to the medical personnel of Corvallis, the Benton County Health Department and all of the cool-headed people out there who are committed to providing the kind of information that helps ease irrational fears and "work the problem" about the threat of the swine flu - now officially being called H1N1 - strain of influenza.

Unlike the horrific pandemic of 1918 to 1919 caused by the flu, we have mass communication to assist people with taking simple precautions such as covering coughs and sneezes, frequently washing hands and staying home if sick. (We also like the idea of bowing slightly as a substitute for handshaking, at least until the threat has passed.)

• RASPBERRIES to denying Oregon State University students a vote - by their own student government. The Associated Students of OSU pulled from the ballot a week ago a proposal to let students vote on a $1 per term fee to underwrite a citywide wireless network.

There was some concern about the quality of the wireless reception and the additional $6 a term for full Internet access. But students should have had the right to decide for themselves.

We can't imagine what would happen if state elections officials, concerned that voters didn't fully grasp ballot measures, simply pulled them.

Matt Pennington, chief of staff for the Associated Students of OSU, said "We didn't want to put that kind of burden on students, even though they might have opted into it themselves -. We were worried that students wouldn't realize what they were voting on."

We wonder what the students think of that.

• ROSES to innovative thinking in hard times.

Dale Ullrich, the man behind Dale the Builder, Construction and Handyman Service, has decided to jump-start the lagging housing market in his own way. He's building a 650-square-foot "mother-in-law" house in the 2900 block of Northwest Hayes Avenue.

So what? Well, he's using Styrofoam for the floors and ceiling beams. Although more expensive, it's more energy-efficient and easier to use, making completion faster, which reduces costs. Ullrich is banking that it's the wave of the future.

We salute people of vision who aren't hunkering down under the weight of troubling economic news.

• RASPBERRIES, PART 50 to identity theives, who latch onto hardship like ticks. You almost have to admire their persistence. While the rest of the world frets and fears the swine flu outbreak, ID thieves just see it as another opportunity to mine fear and go "phishing."

Oregon Attorney General John Kroger and the Better Business Burea warned this week that a "phishing" e-mail often has "Madonna caught swine flu!" in the subject line but it's the same old line designed to hook someone by linking the recipient to a bogus health site, supposedly to educate them about how to avoid the illness. Of course, a request for personal information is an inevitable part of the whole deal.

For swine flu information, see the Department of Human Resources Web site at www.oregon.gov/dhs or the Centers for Disease Control, www.cdc.gov.

• ROSES to Jan Brooks of Corvallis, who called us this week to suggest the we give a "raspberry" to the persistent tag-team con men who repeated called her in an attempt to get her to agree to remote repair of her computer for $54 or $99. (They said - despite getting no no input from Jan - that she had the $99 kind of trouble, and that they'd accept a credit card number).

Jan said the caller wanted personal access information. But about the third time he called back after she declined, she decided to do some calling of her own.

"It just made me furious!"

She alerted the Department of Justice and asked if this was a scam making the rounds. Indeed it is among the latest crop of spring scams cropping up around Oregon.

Giving the unknown man a raspberry would have no effect, particularly because Jan said the scam apparently originated in India.

But we can award Jan a rose for taking the time to warn our other readers to beware of unsolicited calls offering computer repairs.