OCR Text |
Show Concealed weapons not the threat JOSEPH LANEY Opinions writer The issue of concealed weapons on campus has recently stirred emotions on both sides of the debate. Much has been printed about murder rates, suicide and accidental deaths, and much of this has obscured the real question: Am I safe? I want the safest learning environment possible. I certainly won't make light of what has happened at Virginia Tech or any other campus. But I do wish to put things in perspective. What is a concealed weapon permit? Why does anyone need one? Are the people around me dangerous? Concealed weapon permits only sound scary. Just like a driver* s license allows you to operate a vehicle, this permit allows someone to carry a concealed firearm, as opposed to drive a Prius - though both may be equally dangerous. Permit holders are fingerprinted and screened through state, federal and international databases. They are taught that the firearm is for self-defense only. It does not make the bearer a cop, deputy or a vigilante hero. The permit comes with a heavy legal responsibility. Holders are responsible for their firearm every second of the day. "I didn't know it was loaded" is not a legal defense. More than one person has gone to prison for carelessness with a gun. The question remains, though: Do these firearm carrying students make our campus safer? Of course not. That was never their purpose. A concealed weapon only protects the individual, and allows him or her the option to defend him or herself. We are neither more nor less safe. This leads to yet another question. Why in our modern society would anyone feel the need to carry a weapon? We have police. We have cameras. We have laws. We have all these things in spades. But the Trolley Square shooter walked right past the sign informing mall patrons that firearms were not allowed on the premises. Did it make a difference? Police are capable of many things but individual Al MITTONAJVU Review A concealed weapons permit only ensures the holder's safety. safety is not one of them. With response times ranging from six to 45 minutes, many cops will admit that in some situations all they can do is zip up the body bag. They simply cannot be everywhere. Would it be safer if there were no guns? Six years in prison have shown me that violence will exist no matter what tools are available. I have seen men killed with bare fists, rolled-up magazines, a spoon,and other School spirit with no sweat everyday items, each one as gruesome as the last. It is these kinds of violence against which permit holders seek to arm themselves. Those' I have spoken with share a desire to be Bitter medicine people doing the actual down and dirty work of Opinions editor making a government operl ate. , • Taxes. Everybody hates them. Well, those who actuAre we so averse to tax1 ally pay them hate them. At es in this'state that we are any rate, taxes are evil - at willing to punish the few least according to the prepeople who least deserve dominant Utah right-wing ' to be punished in order to Republican ideology. save the rest of us from a minor increase in our own Taking people's money contribution? away always makes the economy worse. And on These employees are not top of the richest of that, it is m—^^^^ • • i ^ ^ ^ ^ ™ the rich, who you might wrong to think would take money Roughly 4,000 be the ones from some to single out to give to county employfor financial others, even ees will have their punishment if you're paychecks docked, if you had trying to do someand the county gets to choose. They are thing good. the money. This middle class It's called sounds familiar, workers, the Stalinism. very kind of though. It's almost Enter the people one Salt Lake as if these employmight think County ees are themselves are extremeCouncil. ly important being taxed. Recently, to a functhey voted tioning local to reduce economy. the salaries — In ancient of county — employees Greece when by 2.75 persomething cent in 2010. The County terrible happened, a famine has a daunting budget to or a plague or a bad harovercome, and this measure vest, it was sometimes the will save almost $5 million, case that a city state would no insignificant chunk of choose a citizen, called a change. pharmakos, send them off into the wilderness, and Roughly 4,000 county either leave them to die, or employees will have their actively seek to kill them. paychecks docked, and the This was done in order to county gets the money. purge and cleanse the city This sounds familiar, of the problem that had bethough. It's almost as set it. Is the County Council if these employees are not treating its employees, themselves being taxed. in a way, like just such a Not only taxed, but taxed in pharmakos? That's bitter order to continue providing medicine. the necessary services of local government. Where's In our own county and McCarthy when you need at our own university, him - 1 think there are some we ought to consider this Stalinists up north. example when faced, as we undoubtedly will be, with There really is somesimilar choices. Even if thing hypocritical, or least we are against "sharing the self-deceptive, going on in wealth," we ought to be in Salt Lake county. These favor of sharing the burden employees are being asked of paying for local governto foot a disproportionate ment instead of dumping piece of the bill to govern it on the very people who a much larger polity, even make it work for us. though they are the very DAVID SELF NEWLIN MATTHEW A. JONASSAINT '^AsstrOplfiions editor . - & . If you've been anywhere near the bookstore, you've likely seen the entrance blanketed racks of clothes and mannequins modeling wares. Sweats, hats and even clothes for toddlers all emblazoned with the Wolverine or UVU logo are available for purchase to show school spirit. It may not have occurred to those who browse this section that some of the clothing sold in the bookstore was likely shipped in from a sweatshop. The majority of our apparel, just like most other colleges, are made by big producers like Adidas, Champion, MV Sports, and Under Armour. These companies maintain factories in Mexico and South America or in countries overseas like China, Pakistan, and Vietnam, where working conditions are poor and unionization is difficult, if it exists at all. Most of the workers have no guarantee that they will receive livable wages for their work and some must work under dangerous conditions. These things have been of increasing concern among college students across the country and there are anti-sweatshop campaigns on many campuses, even in Utah from time to time. It's time for UVU to be the first in Utah to take on these problems with . collegiate apparel. Here's how to start. In the past few years, college students have formed a network, the United Students Against Sweatshops, UVU apparal may involve sweatshop labor. to promote worker's rights. They've gained much support for the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP), a project that ensures the enforcement of university codes of conduct mandating proper wages in factories that produce collegiate apparel. Under this program, universities make it a point to include in their contracts and licenses with clothing companies that if their current costs aren't enough for the factory to pay out decent wages, the brands address their price tags. Universities and colleges coast to coast, from Washington State to Colorado to Michigan to Florida (not to mention the entire university system in California), are all engaged in anti-sweatshop activism and officially illustration by TRENT BATES/UVU Review support the DSP. Unfortunately, Utah is not represented anywhere on that list. As an institution that prides itself on equal opportunity education and success - not to mention an eye for the environment - we should be an example as well in the realm of social justice and human rights. The Peace and Justice Studies program is a fantastic first academic step, and we would be remiss to neglect an opportunity to be a leading example by supporting the DSP and institutionalizing fair-trade apparel in our bookstore. It shows that we engage the community both on a local level and on a global level. It's time for us to take the lead. Letter to the editor The UVU testing center is no vacation. Unfortunately, my classes this semester have left me no choice but to pay frequent visits to this dreaded piece of land. Each time I go, I pray that my next experience will be better than the last and so far my prayers are left unanswered. I like to consider myself an average test taker who has never minded Letter to the editor requirements it\'u.rcv'w\\\opuwms(&) taking a test and until this semester, it has always been easy for me to stay focused and perform well. I realized my UVU testing center disease when I took my first test there this semester. The moment I walked through the doors, the clock stopped ticking, my heart started to race, amnesia hit me and I perspired as the temperature increased with each step that took me further into the building. Believe it or not, waiting in line was the least of my worries. During the 45 minutes that I waited in line, I concentrated real hard, but not on the test that I was about to take. I concentrated on not letting my current physical state overtake me. Once I conquered the line I thought it couldn't get any worse until I was put in a small classroom that was even hotter than the hallway and crammed with even more students who were in no better a state than I was. Scoring high on the test wasn't the real challenge, making it out of the testing center alive was. Sharee Merrell • Letters must be turned in on Wednesday by noon in order to be printed in the next edition. ; • We make no guarantee that letters will be printed. • Letters 300 words or less have a greater chance of being published - anything longer will be edited for content. • Please provide an electronic copy regardless of whether or not you wish to submit a hard copy, • All letters become the property of UVU Review as soon as they are submitted. 1 • Anonymous letters are only publishable when the safety or professional status of the letter writer is in jeopardy. safe on campus and feel this is the best course of action. If you wonder what type of student would bring a gun to class, look around. The answer may surprise you - but it shouldn't frighten you. |