See what newspapers around the country think about this week’s news

Watching the eyes in the sky

Powerful intelligence satellites have been used domestically for years on an ad hoc basis – for example, to assess damage after a natural disaster, to help with security at major events or for scientific studies. The FBI called in spy satellite help when tracking the Washington area snipers. Now, the Bush administration is forming a unit within the Department of Homeland Security to enable more routine domestic use of satellite imagery – for purposes such as protecting the borders and helping local law enforcement.

The greater use of this technology must be accompanied, however, by robust protections for privacy and civil liberties. It must be carefully reviewed within the executive branch and by Congress. Some capabilities may need to remain classified, but a change this significant ought to be publicly debated to the fullest extent possible, and there should be continued public disclosure about how much surveillance is being conducted for what purposes.

-The Washington Post

Perilous pop

Reducing soda consumption is just as much a life-and-death issue as reducing drunken driving. Virtually all of today’s soft drinks contain high-fructose corn syrup because it dissolves well, is sweeter than other sugars and is inexpensive. High-fructose corn syrup, however, is also high in calories, making soft drinks that contain the sweetener significantly less healthy than other beverages. Consider the numbers: A 12-ounce can of Coke contains 150 calories. A 44-ounce Coke contains almost 600 calories. Contrast that figure with your recommended daily caloric intake of 2,000 calories.

Soft drinks can pack quite a punch.

We don’t think it’s a coincidence that the national obesity epidemic began about 30 years ago, when corporations first started using high-fructose corn syrup on a large scale.

-University of Oklahoma’s Oklahoma Daily

Campus credit crises

The credit card industry has made a profitable art of corralling consumers into ruinous interest rates and hidden penalties that keep even people who pay their bills permanently mired in debt. The companies are especially eager to target freshly minted college students, who are na’ve in money matters and especially vulnerable to credit card offers that are too good to be true.

Colleges, which often allow solicitation on campus, need to do more to protect their students from taking on credit card debt that can severely damage their economic prospects once they graduate from school and join the world of work.

College students need to be told right off the bat about the dangers associated with the cards that the companies are going to throw at them once school starts. The students need to know, for example, that the penalties associated with delinquent debts will accrue to them – and not to their parents, as many students seem to think. They should also be told that delinquent debts can cause their interest rates to soar not just on their credit cards, but on car loans and mortgages as well.

-The New York Times

OPINIONS BOARD: Editorials are determined by the Wildcat opinions board and written by one of its members. They are Allison Hornick, Sarah Keeler, Connor Mendenhall, Jerry Simmons, Justyn Dillingham and Allison Dumka.