Guns in the classroom a flawed idea

Introducing more guns into the classroom is not conducive to promoting a safe learning environment, and fighting violence with violence is not treating the root of the problem. Instead, it is putting the responsibility of this problem into the hands of people inadequately equipped to deal with situations such as campus shootings.

To obtain a concealed weapons permit, individuals are only required to take eight hours of training. Renewal only occurs every five years. Someone with such minimal training lacks the capacity to act calmly, decisively and effectively in such a high-stress, life-threatening situation. Arizona police officers undergo far more rigorous and substantial training before they are expected to handle situations of this magnitude.

In order for this legislation to be fully effective, all of the following must take place:

At the location of the incident, there must be an individual present carrying a concealed weapon who is able to access his or her weapon and effectively use this weapon against the perpetrator without harming or potentially killing a bystander. Are all these conditions likely to be met?

From past events it is clear that the majority of the students who wreak havoc have the intent of suicide anyway. Would having another gun really deter this from happening?

According to the Center for Disease Control, 789 people died as a result of accidental gun deaths in 2005. The same year, zero people died from a shooting on a university campus. (The authors of this letter did not include K-12 statistics because those schools are not included under this legislation.)

We acknowledge that since 2005, more students have been killed as a result of university shootings; however, that number still pales in comparison with the general trend in accidental gun deaths. While we respect the existence of the Second Amendment, in the confines of this issue we feel that in order to protect the physical and intellectual environment expected of a university, guns should not be permitted on campus.

Sarah Nelson
junior majoring in biochemistry and molecular biophysics

Sara Button
junior majoring in classics and creative writing

Raymundo Galvez
journalism sophomore

Katherine Greene
senior majoring in English

Achyut U. Sompura
anthropology senior

Sarah Herrmann
psychology sophomore

Somu Perianayagam
computer science graduate student

Carrie Bieging
classics graduate student

Myriah Mueller
physiology senior

Alyssa Newcomb
sociology sophomore

Ashley Harris
criminal justice administration junior

Rachel Arney
junior majoring in biology and psychology

Andra Farcas
freshman majoring in mathematics and psychology

Meghan Evans
psychology senior

Fashion Facts ‘offensive and completely irrelevant’

I normally try to be tolerant of the Wildcat’s emphasis on campus activities at the expense of more significant news stories, but “”Fashion Facts”” (Thursday) was offensive and completely irrelevant to anything a newspaper should be reporting. Now, not only are we forced to sift through pages of opinion columns to locate any meaningful national or world news, we must endure an entire page devoted to insulting other students. Attacking another person’s appearance or style is both immature and unnecessary, something that adults and aspiring professionals should have outgrown. Elementary school students are taught not to bully or make fun of others, yet at the Wildcat such taunting is given an entire page to encourage this adolescent behavior.

The Wildcat has wasted more space criticizing people for trivial fashion choices than actually reporting on important issues, locally or otherwise. The Wildcat claims to be a reputable publication, yet decisions to pursue articles like “”Fashion Facts”” shows both a lack of creativity on the part of the journalist and any kind of tact on the part of the newspaper. Articles such as these reflect badly on both your newspaper and the UA. What if someone in the community picked up the Daily Wildcat and noticed that more space in the paper was given to one student’s shallow opinion of her peers than national news? I am ashamed of the fact that our campus newspaper, instead of trying to unite the student population, has attempted to alienate a few students to amuse those who still find it satisfying to be rude and superficial. The fashion trends of students, good or bad, should not overshadow important news events, and it is the role of a newspaper to realize this and be a dependable source of information for the community. I would rather see another page of advertisements than this low quality journalism. This was a distasteful and pathetic attack on UA students by one of their peers, and I would be embarrassed to see it happen again.

Elena Ruiz
public policy sophomore