Move over Pat--you're not the only March Holiday!

St. Patrick's Day is right up there with Christmas and Halloween. Corned beef and cabbage are the staple meals on the 17th day of March. And this Americanized Catholic holiday is not complete without drinking alcohol throughout the entire day.

But while many are making their pub reservations in advance, we fail to recognize all the other holidays and days of observance this month. Yes, you Irish, St. Patty's Day and Irish-American Heritage Month are not the only ones celebrated in March!

• National Women's History Month--the theme this year is "Women Taking the Lead to Save our Planet."
• National Nutrition Month, where this month's theme is "Eat Right" in America.
• Music in our Schools Month raises awareness for the importance of music education, and their theme for 2009 is "Music! Just Imagine..."
• Going along with music is Poetry Month, so reach deep into your inner self this month.
  
• Despite all the bad press lately, National Peanut Month is still underway. Lots of other food holidays occur in March too.
• Red Cross Month is celebrated this month for the 66th time since FDR first declared it to help with World War Two efforts.
• National Frozen Food Month celebrates the laziness and inability to cook in all of us. This one may be my favorite.
• March is National Kidney Month, aiming to promote kidney health and awareness

A few weekly celebrations in March include:

• National Girl Scouts Week is from March 8-14
• March 15-20 is National Inhalant Prevention Awareness Week
• Since National Craft Month is in March, from the 16-22 you can celebrate National Crochet Week
• The 20-26 of this month is National Bubble Week
• American Chocolate Week is March's third week

Photo credit: Keith Srakocic/Associated Press

Deadly Beliefs--Who said Killing is Religious?

Perhaps it's the fact I live a sheltered life that's rooted in the golden rule and a laid-back approach to things; where my biggest concerns are grades and not spending too much on my mom's credit card. Yet I still don't get the point of suicide bombing in the name of God.

What makes sense about any sort of killing in the name of religion in both the past and present in all religions?

Do I not comprehend it because:

• I, like many twenty-first century college-age kids in America, don't experience religious zeal like people in Iraq, Pakistan, or other countries do?
  
• Because we don't dedicate our lives, or existences, to something so powerful and meaningful and therefore wouldn't have anything to die for?
• Perhaps the only person we'd take a bullet for is Brad Pitt, and only if we could make out with him?
  

Is this even dying for a cause when innocent people are killed in the process? Is it suicide for a cause or insanity?

And when it starts repeatedly happening, like it has been in Iraq for the past several days, I begin to wonder if it's your belief's you're dying for or the deterrence of someone else's.

In America, when one thinks of "terrorist" or "suicide bomber," Muslims or Arabs almost automatically come to mind. Minority groups are everywhere and don't make up the whole of a religion or party.

Whether it's Sunni's or Shi'ias or Buddhists or Catholics--violent religious struggle happens and has happened everywhere, even centuries ago in the Roman Empire. We all know the Medieval crusades were lame, and the Holocaust was one of the worst acts against mankind.

Yet it's still happening, and there's still no excuse for putting innocent peoples' lives at risk when any kind of person acts on their beliefs. If a mother of three in Kuwait or Sri Lanka did not personally attack you, what gives with blowing up the shopping center where she and 100 others are grocery shopping?

Maybe I shouldn't have a say in a problem that has been a struggle for centuries. Yet I'm probably not the only one who wonders if it will it ever end in our lifetime.

photo credit: Loay Hameed/Associated Press