The weekend before classes has thankfully come and gone without any tragic events. However, this past weekend is only one of the entire semester where students may be consuming alcohol and faced with a particular decision on how they are getting home. According to the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists web site, 235 DUI arrests were made in DeKalb in 2005. That means there were 235 opportunities for a driver, their passengers and other innocent persons to be significantly injured or killed. Of course, not everyone who chooses to drive while drunk is caught in the act, and therefore drunk driving was more probable than the amount of recorded arrests. As a result, the Northern Star would like to remind students to think carefully about their decisions. Although you and only you can make a personal decision in regards to partying and the amount of alcohol you consume, there is no excuse for endangering the lives of innocent people by choosing to drive while intoxicated. Nationally, there were 16,694 alcohol-related fatalities in 2004- 39 percent of the total traffic fatalities for the year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration web site. These numbers can easily be decreased if individuals take responsibility for themselves by planning ahead and not driving to a party where they think they may consume alcohol. Friends should also step in and not allow a friend who is intoxicated to drive home and put themselves and other innocent people in danger. Remember to think carefully about the impact of your decisions and take away the car keys of anyone who seems to intoxicated to drive.