State Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, is worried about madmen picking off people like ‘sitting ducks’ on the UH campus – and’ that’s exactly what happened to the homeless victim of Saturday morning’s shooting.’
Carl Carlucci, Vice President and Vice Chancellor for Administration & Finance for the UH System, implied in his letter regarding Saturday’s homicide, that the incident is somehow separate from our population. This lies in direct opposition to the administration’s intentions in other arenas.’ A homeless person being shot on campus is still a person being shot on campus – it directly impacts any member of the community who spends time here.
We were told the shooting was unrelated to the existing safety notification network and urged to update our emergency contact information for that system.’ As far as reassuring statements go, this was somewhat lacking in both relevance and comfort.
Overall, Carlucci’s message seemed to be ‘business as usual.’ Given our December community involvement award from the Carnegie Foundation, the increased visibility of our social sciences as authorities on state child welfare systems and our goal to build this institution into something that is an integral part of the surrounding community, marginalizing any member of the community is unacceptable.’
If UH is a city within itself, then let the standard rules apply – bodies in the street constitute governmental failure.’ Whether those bodies are those of tourists, citizens or homeless people, there is trauma that must be addressed, danger that mandates protection and the likelihood of a lack of confidence in the administration of the state.’
Quantifying a homicide on one of the most heavily-trafficked thoroughfares through campus as ‘unsettling’ is surely a masterpiece of understatement.’ This incident strikes at the heart of current events on campus. Public transit is a key component of both our parking and green solutions plans.’ Campus crime has been escalating in violence and flagrancy during the past few weeks, and we look to our campus leaders for active solutions.’ We saw no solutions nor an implication of them in Saturday’s letter.
