So we’re back. After a weeklong spring break, the hiccup that was four days of under-attended classes, and a three-day weekend, it’s now time to get back to work. Time to buckle down for the last five weeks of classes.

Awesome. The members of the Editorial Board are looking forward to it just as much as you are, which is likely not at all.

So put off your homework tonight and attend a different educational event.

Tonight will witness a debate of biblical significance. Namely stem cell research, and the ethical ramifications associated with it.

Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk from the National Catholic-Ethic Center will debate Eve Herold, the Public Education Manager for the Stem Cell Research Foundation.

It’s sure to be a lively event, and one that relates to almost every person on campus. Research suggests that stem cells might provide effective treatment for diabetes, heart attack, stroke, some forms of blindness, spinal cord damage and many other health problems, and each one of us will eventually encounter one of these problems either in ourselves, or in someone we know.

Ed Board is strongly in favor of scientific advancement, but that doesn’t mean that we’re in favor of killing babies, and that is often the decision pushed by news media.

In fact, stem cells can be harvested in a number of ways.

Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk in a recent interview said that the Catholic Church supports three of the four ways currently used in stem cell research.

These are stem cells grown from the patient or another donor, stem cells from umbilical cord blood after delivery and cells from fetal tissue after miscarriage.

The church is opposed to embryonic stem cell research because they believe it involves the killing of a human being.

Scientists believe embryonic stem cells to be more useful because they can be grown into a wider variety of tissues.

However, the U.S. is in danger of falling behind other countries, like the United Kingdom and China for instance, due to restrictions on stem cell research. If stem cells are as promising as they seem, America can’t afford to be behind the curve.

The debate is tonight from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Hughes-Trigg Theater.

Ed Board hopes that students take time from their back to school business to attend this important event.