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 Delta Gamma sorority and Phi Delta Theta fraternity. Officials from the Benton County Health Department told us that they did all the right things when several members of both houses were hit by a particularly nasty stomach flu.

When the sickness hit, ill students were quickly isolated and both houses enacted unofficial quarantines to minimize risk of the norovirus spreading. The appropriate officials at the university and the county health department also were immediately notified.

Meanwhile, those who still were healthy not only gave good care to their ailing Greek sisters and brothers, they also gave both houses a good cleaning with a recommended disinfectant to help keep the norovirus from coming back.

• RASPBERRIES to the calculation by Welsh psychologist Cliff Arnall that we’re coming up on the most depressing time of year, supposedly Monday, Jan. 21.

Arnall figures that the post-Christmas let-down, winter weather and the arrival of Christmas bills don’t help.

Spring, if you’re counting down, is about 62 days away, but we’re predicting that in just a few weeks, the valley will be covered in daffodils and flowering shrubs and trees.

In the meantime, here’s a blues-banisher: Tuesday — the day after the unofficial “most depressing day” — the “Gearing Up for Gardening” series begins at 12:20 p.m. at the Corvallis-Benton County Public Library. Its organizers at the OSU Extension Benton County Master Gardener program know that there’s nothing like talking about seeds and soil to get us thinking about spring.

(If that doesn’t work for you ... hey, there’s some sweet deals right now on vacation trips to Kauai. We’d just bet there’s no designated “most depressing” day there.)

• ROSES to Bill Inman from Lebanon, the far-ranging farmer. After last summer’s Strawberry Festival, he saddled his horse Blackie and embarked with his wife, Brenda (and a motorized support team), on a cross-country journey to his wife’s hometown of Hendersonville, N.C. They arrived Sunday to a hero’s welcome.

We admire the spirit of adventure that prompted Inman, who said that he wanted to find the good in this nation after being discouraged by news reports of the bad.

The Inmans are planning to share some of the heartwarming encounters along their seven-month journey in a book. They expect to return to Lebanon this spring in time to ride in this year’s Strawberry Festival.

• RASPBERRIES and our “What were you thinking?” award go to Washington State Trooper Bedford A. Moon. He went patrolling for speeders in an unmarked Dodge Charger that he’d equipped with his own Oregon plates, from before he moved.

Moon said he was just trying to “be creative” in pulling over speeders, but he apparently didn’t tell his supervisors about his idea. If he had, it’s quite possible they would have reminded him that it’s illegal to switch license plates between vehicles.

Now one of the people whom Moon pulled over for speeding in his stealthy, plate-switched Charger is contesting his speeding ticket. The thing is, the man may have well deserved the speeding ticket, but because of the trooper’s “creativity,” we suspect the court will indeed throw it out.

Once again, the lesson here is that the law is the law for all, or it just doesn’t work.

• ROSES to Oregon State University’s College of Business, which celebrated its centennial this year with an open house last Wednesday. There’s a bonus honor to celebrate: Record enrollment!

The 2,877 students who enrolled at the college last year now represent a 12 percent leap over the enrollment total of five years ago. That’s real growth, and it’s no accident.

We commend the college for so ably taking care of business.

• ROSES to those new beige recycling carts that Allied Waste has rolled out. We have to say it ... they’re as cute as can be for collecting and storing our co-mingled recycling.

• ROSES also to the First Alternative Co-Op, which spent $30,000 to spiff up its recently reopened recycling center for polystyrene containers and again to Allied Waste, for picking up half of the co-op’s $500-a-month cost for leasing the land.

The area closed in October amid concerns about its look and because the place where some of the stuff went stopped accepting it.

What we don’t get: Companies that ship goods pay for this stuff in the first place, right? And we’re a clever nation. Why can’t someone find a way to get the still-usable, clean shipping “peanuts” back to local shippers at a discounted rate?