thedailycougar.com » Letters to the Editor

Texas legislature should consider women’s health

The Daily Cougar Opinion Desk — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 06:20:34 +0000

In our view, the efforts of the Republican Party to prevent Texas women from accessing quality reproductive care from Planned Parenthood-affiliated clinics in Texas is the latest roadblock for women who have been given the least opportunities to better their position. Rick Perry has embraced a flawed philosophy that more restrictive laws will change a woman’s mind about whether or not to have an abortion.

Let’s consider a more realistic scenario for low-income women: Imagine that a baby girl is born into a family with few resources. This girl attends a public elementary school in a low-income neighborhood, where property taxes are low and the schools are failing.

Teachers at her school have no time to give her the attention and support she needs to thrive, because they are already stretched thin by overcrowded classrooms and under-supervised pupils.

When she goes home in the afternoons, she is left to her own devices, as her parents are working multiple jobs to make ends meet. A boy in her class asks her to hang out, and thanks to a variety of factors – including culture, lack of parental involvement and abstinence-only sex education – this young woman ends up pregnant.

Flash-forward to age 23: Our girl is single and raising two young children on her own. The Texas Legislature has again cut the budget for the Texas Women’s Program she relies on for free breast cancer screenings, birth control and pap smears, and the local women’s clinic she frequented was forced to close.

Now, the Planned Parenthood clinic she switched to is being threatened. In order to receive care and the birth control she relies on for endometriosis and pregnancy prevention, she is facing the prospect of losing valuable paying hours at work in order to travel 10 miles by bus after waiting three weeks, maybe more, for an appointment.

This vignette is not far from the true story of many Texas women’s lives. Access to the most basic gynecological care is being made more and more inconvenient by those who claim to be fighting for the lives of unborn children.

We believe these people, though they mostly have good intentions, are ignorant of the reality of what happens to women like the one described in the story above. More abortions, not less, will result from making it harder to get contraceptives and reproductive care.

Changes in culture and morality cannot come about from worsening the conditions of the lives of those in need, no matter how hard portions of the privileged population wish it to be so. Culture is not that simple because people are not that simple.

We want to help women get the health care they need from the provider they trust and choose. We want to put a stop to the political games. Republicans supposedly want the elderly to get quality health care from providers they feel comfortable with, so why not women?

We stand for policies that treat Texas women respectfully. We ask the Texas Legislature to stand with Texas women, too.

opinion@thedailycougar.com

UH Parking Unfair to Employees

The Daily Cougar Opinion Desk — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:43:48 +0000

My letter is to inform about the unfairness UH Parking&Transportation services is putting UH employees through. A portion of lot 1E will be shut down while renovations take place in the UC. No certain time when it will be complete but certainly, I think it will be longer than one semester.

Meantime, us that park there are being told by Parking&Transportation Services Director Robert J. Browand that they are going to move some people from that lot. And you know who that will be? The poorest. According to a statement from them, “Once we have a final count of the number of spaces available we will then assign the spaces based on pay grade”.

In other words, if you do not make good money, not only will you be kicked out of that lot, but also sent to another more expensive lot (garage as they suggest), so we are getting the double punishment. Walk further away, pay more when we make less. What kind of system is that? It should be based on the length of time you have been in that lot. The other alternative would be a student or economy lot. You know how that goes each morning trying to get a spot if you are not here at 7:00am. I just think they should reconsider the way decisions are made within parking.

-Mario Galvan

UH staff member

UH shouldn’t support Chick-fil-A because of its anti-gay donations

The Daily Cougar Staff — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 06:08:34 +0000

It is becoming more clear that Chick-fil-A has donated millions of dollars to homophobic organizations. The question we must ask as a campus community is, why does a University that rightfully prides itself with its diversity and its commitment to societal change allow this company two locations on campus? What about the LGBT students and their supporters from thousands of faculty members and students?

There are other chicken chains that are not donating money to hateful causes that can take its place.

Andrew Reiser is a graduate student and may be reached at opinion@thedailycougar.com

Letters to the Editor: Student service fee increase will add up negatively

The Daily Cougar Staff — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 05:28:35 +0000

You do not need a university degree to learn, but it sure helps you earn money.

At 6:58 a.m. on Thursday, there were tons of cars on the road. Inside of each vehicle was someone gliding along to his or her profitable job that makes waking up early and sitting in traffic day-after-day, week-after-week, seem like a no-brainer. There is something else in each of those vehicles, and if you back up, you can see it — a college degree.

The University of Houston is one of the few public universities locally available to the city’s more than 2.1 million people. If we want people who want to work to be able to work, we need to make university degrees financially-accessible. Believe it or not, the cost of a degree is not universal and is not set by some higher powers. Sometimes, the control actually lies in our own hands.

Members of the Student Fees Advisory Committee propose to increase the per-semester student service fee by $50.

Given that entering students have at least eight semesters in front of them and the federal student loan rate in 2012-13 will be 6.8 percent, and that many loans run for 10 years, the fee increase would mean that someone without money is $550 further away from getting a university degree.

You can vote today and tomorrow almost anywhere on campus.

—Lara Appleby

Biology graduate student

Alumni should pay athletic fees instead of students

The Daily Cougar Staff — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:25:18 +0000

I love the University of Houston. I love UH so much that upon completing my bachelor’s degree I came back for a master’s degree and a doctorate. And on Tuesday I will be voting against the student referendum for a new football stadium and the Hofheinz Pavilion renovation.

UH students face an unstable financial environment. In 2009, 42 percent of new students took out loans to pay for their tuition while 82 percent received some form of financial aid.

UH is made up primarily of students who attempt to work their own way through school or who receive assistance of some sort to make their way through.

Moreover, the job market upon graduation is bleak. UH wants 39,820 students who are facing financial uncertainty and who are already having a difficult time paying for school to give them at least an additional $90,000,000.

Students will subsidize the athletics department to a tune of $4,407,707 this year. Every semester you are charged a student service fee. This semester the fee was $190. About 27 percent of that fee is allocated for intercollegiate athletics.

If the referendum passes, over the next 25 years, students would pay at least an additional $90 million on top of the $4.4 million that we already pay. Students would be spending over $210 million to subsidize the athletics department.

Alumni who attend the games are financially stable enough to spend money on UH. The cash-strapped students should not be asked to shoulder the burden.

— Samuel Brower, Ph.D. student, education

UH alumnus receives Texas business honor

The Daily Cougar Staff — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:29:14 +0000

Houston is Cougar proud! Welcome Wilson Sr., class of ’49, joined an elite few as one of five inductees into the prestigious Texas Business Hall of Fame. Wilson received the honor Nov. 17, as more than 1,000 well-wishers looked on at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas.

I was glad to have witnessed the elegant event that recognized members of the state’s business community whose visions and careers have helped place Texas at the forefront of the 21st century economy.

It was the great Babe Ruth who uttered, “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.”

That mindset has obviously been core to the success of the inductees which also includes Barry G. Andrews, Colleen Barrett, Lee Roy Mitchell and Ross Perot, Jr., of Dallas. Wilson was the only Houstonian.

Wilson, a successful businessman, devoted alumnus and former UH Regent, has been instrumental in achieving UH’s Carnegie-designated Tier One status. Wilson also served as Chairman of the UH Board of Regents for three years.

Wilson joins the company of former President George H.W. Bush and UH alum and regent, Tilman J. Fertitta – all past inductees of the Texas Business Hall of Fame.

Congratulations, Welcome Wilson Sr.! We are Cougar proud!

— Rose Rougeau

Life Member, UH Alumni Association,

Graduate Student/HRD/College of Technology

Letters to the Editor: Andrew Taylor was a wonderful young man, will be missed

The Daily Cougar Staff — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 12:46:08 +0000

Thank you for the tribute you paid to Andrew Taylor in the October 31 issue. When I heard of Andrew’s death on Sunday, I had to sit down and cry. He was a wonderful young man and a memorable student in my class in opinion writing at UH in the spring of 2009.

He was not a journalism major, but somehow he found my class without the prerequisites and out-wrote everybody in it. He was warm, funny and down-to-earth. He was going places. What a great guy. What a terrible loss to us all.

— Michael Berryhill

Associate Professor of Journalism

Texas Southern University

Letter: Burglary of friend’s car makes me feel unsafe

The Daily Cougar Staff — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 13:02:18 +0000

I recently wrote an email to the UHDPS regarding campus safety because I feel like there’s not enough safety on campus.

There have been added fees to our student fee bills this year, yet there are still as many car and apartment break-ins as ever.

Our security people are not doing enough, and I want my voice heard.

I refuse to keep quiet anymore because I am now personally affected as a victim, and our security officers are not doing all they can do. I’m completely disappointed.

On Friday night, my friend’s car was broken into; the passenger window was smashed.

He parked his car between the Csite and the UC, which is a safe place, being that there’s always security carts patrolling around, and there’s usually police SUVs camping out by the Hilton.

However, someone still managed to break into his car, and he has one of the newer Camry models with thicker glass that should make it difficult to smash with a rock.

Regardless of the item that was used in the burglary, the sound of glass should have been loud enough to attract attention, or at least be heard by someone.

The overall damage must have taken at least 30 minutes. Several personal items were stolen, including my car, house and apartment keys — which I’m struggling to recover.

A police officer was found thereafter, and files were reported. But in the midst of it, two security carts managed to pass by during the hour-long procedure, so it puzzles me to know where they were when the crime was taking place.

For this sole reason, I feel unsafe.

There’s no reason why a student who parks their car near the library, right under a light post, should have their car broken into.

This is unacceptable on a Tier One campus, especially when most security officers are based in the area where my friend parked his car.

— Sally Enemchukwu, biology major

Texas Open Beach Law keeps beaches out of wealthy hands

The Daily Cougar Staff — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 06:21:38 +0000

The Californian woman’s suit to overturn Texas’ Open Beach Law (after Hurricane Ike left her Galveston beach house in the middle of the beach) is coming back up for consideration before the Texas Supreme Court. Although the Court originally ruled in her favor, the public outcry was such that the Court is now reviewing the case.

What we need to ask ourselves is if we really believe in open beaches. Or do we think the vast majority of our water-front properties should be in private hands with no trespassers — translation, the public — allowed?

Make no mistake about it. If we allow this law to be overturned, it will be no time at all before only the very wealthy will control most of our beaches.

True, there will be a few public beaches here and there, but for the most part, we will become like California or the East Coast, where miles and miles of on-the-beach hotels and private homes have restricted access.

There is only “X” amount of waterfront property available.

If you have an opinion, let the Texas Supreme Court know NOW at:

Texas Supreme Court
P. O. Box 12248
Austin, TX 78711-2248

If you don’t speak up now — and encourage others to speak up — don’t complain later when you no longer have access to the beach areas you enjoy.

— Brenda Beust Smith, UH alumna

Letter: UH deserves a more public effort from Athletics Department

The Daily Cougar Staff — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 10:57:56 +0000

The Cougars are now ranked #22/#25 in the nation. In the past five seasons, the Cougars have a record of 41-24 and are now 6-0 this season. Houston boasts one of the most prolific offenses in FBS college football in the passing game.

While I am the first to lament about Houston’s poor attendance, especially in basketball, for the last nine home football games, students and Alumni have packed Robertson to 30,000 or more.

So the question remains: why Houston is still in Conference USA and not looking into realignment options.

An article published on ESPN.com today by Andrea Adelson brings to the surface the rumors about the Big East’s expansion. The Big East now looks to expand with six new teams, those teams in the running included East Carolina and Central Florida.

While geographically they make sense, geography is irrelevant in today’s football landscape. SMU has also publicly addressed their desire to move to the Big 12 conference. However, with the recent addition of TCU, this seems unlikely.

Besides rumors, I have not read any public announcement about the desire of Houston to move on to a bigger and better conference. While attendance could be better and facilities should be upgraded, the Cougars deserve the chance to be in the national spotlight on a weekly basis.

The athletic department should be actively pursuing ways to improve Houston’s position in college football.

There was once a time when Houston was nationally relevant. Now is the time to make a move and return to those days.

— Peyton Hill, graduate student

Send yours to letters@thedailycougar.com

UH blood drive alienates and stigmatizes LGBT coogs

The Daily Cougar Staff — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:12:42 +0000

In the days following the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the military policy that banned gays, lesbians, and bisexuals from serving openly in the United States military, one of the last things I expected to see was a reminder of how the LGBT community is being kept from active participation in the betterment of our society. Boy was I wrong. Merely walking into the UC on Wednesday September 21 was enough to remind me that I am still a second-class citizen. What was this reminder? A hate crime? No. A person using derogatory language about gays? No. It was a blood drive.

Homosexuals have been prevented from donating blood since the 1980’s because of the then high correlation between homosexuals and the AIDS virus, HIV. In today’s society it seems odd to think that in a world where every blood sample is being tested and much more is known about the virus that such a policy would still be in place.

There are arguments against the legal discrimination against one group’s involvement in society. If gays are prevented from donating blood because of a once statistically high prevalence in the community, then why haven’t other groups been targeted by a similar policy, such as the poor who are statistically more likely to have disease or African-Americans who have had a huge swell in the number of HIV infections since the 1990’s. No one advocates restrictions on these groups from donating, nor should they. They should merely evaluate the situation as it currently stands.

Another argument that should be raised is that HIV is not the death sentence that it once was thought to be. I must admit, I have lost three friends to HIV/AIDS but it was their own faults. Refusal to take the medications that would lengthen your life is the same as tying a noose around your own neck.

I do have friends with HIV who participate regularly in society and have no visible signs of the virus.

Some may say that if I really want to donate I should just lie on the donation questionnaire. My response: I don’t lie to myself or to anybody else because of who I am. Some might say that I just shouldn’t donate or raise a fuss because it isn’t a civil right or a civil liberty.

I agree. Donating blood is not more a right or a liberty than voting or military service. It is a civil responsibility or duty that should be above discrimination.

The final point I will make is that I do not think it is appropriate for educational institutions to allow discrimination on their campuses. Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Keagen also agrees with this sentiment. In her time working as an administrator for Harvard, she booted the military off the campus because she cited the policy of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell conflicted with university anti-discrimination policy.

Allowing blood drives on campus is endorsing discrimination which is against our university’s policy.

I am not advocating that all people should not give blood or that others should be discriminated against, but I am arguing that it is inconsistent to allow discrimination on a campus that prides itself on its inclusion.

If every college campus who had similar policies began booting blood drives from campus and explicitly stating why, the policy put in place by the Food and Drug Administration would be repealed in short order.

I think every person should ask themselves, “Would I rather die because there is a shortage of my blood type or have the blood that has been tested and is clean of someone who may be a homosexual or bisexual male flowing through my veins?”

— Derek Fuzzell, Economics Senior

Letter: Cover of 9/11 issue was offensive, unprofessional

The Daily Cougar Staff — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:04:31 +0000

I find it extremely unprofessional and insensitive to have used the image of one of the tragic and fatal explosions of the towers. It is disrespectful of all the families and friends that were directly and indirectly affected by the tragedy of that day, and insensitive to the American people. People don’t use images of car wrecks or freak accidents at their loved one’s funerals do they?

Instead of having used such a horrid image of a fatal event, why wasn’t an image of the new memorial used instead, or simply the American Flag? I am asking again for the writer of the article, and the staff involved in the choosing and approval of that image (including yourselves), to apologize for its use as soon as possible on a forthcoming issue of the Daily Cougar (noticeably on the cover), on your website, on twitter, and facebook pages. Not to myself, but to everyone that was offended and for the profession of serious journalism. As someone else offended by the image reminds us in the comments “ Codes of journalism: Harm limitation principle – Be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief.”

— Pedro

Re: Greek coverage

The Daily Cougar Staff — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 11:32:55 +0000

Thank you for the recent influx of articles on Greek life at the University of Houston. As a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity, it is thrilling to see The Daily Cougar cover the exciting happenings surrounding the fraternities and sororities at UH.

However, many individuals are still quick to jump to conclusions regarding Greeks without doing the proper research. At this University, the accomplishments of fraternities and sororities stand second to none.

Annually, thousands of dollars are raised for non-profit organizations such as the Children’s Miracle Network and the Houston Area Women’s Center.

Moreover, fraternity and sorority participation make major events such as Frontier Fiesta — which dates back to 1940 — thrive.

Greeks have a celebrated legacy at this University. For instance, any Saturday at Robertson Stadium students are surrounded by traditions established by Greek life such as the Blaze, which was ranked #14 in the September edition of Texas Monthly under “20 reasons to Love College Football.”

It is also worth noting that both current offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury and UH play-by-play announcer Ted Pardee are both members of a fraternity.

The impact of going Greek on one’s life and the leadership it can bring about are two central benefits, but ultimately, everyone will gain something unique to themselves.

As new dormitories are built and campus life expands, so will Greek life and we’re glad to have The Daily Cougar on board.

Andrew Pate is a UH junior.

Re: “UH students have too many logins”

The Daily Cougar Staff — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 12:43:42 +0000

As Executive Director, UIT Security and UH Chief Information Security Officer, I couldn’t agree more! As Mr. Schneider notes, having multiple accounts and passwords makes it difficult for students to consistently use good security practices in safeguarding their account information.

We are fortunate that UH is focused on meeting the needs of our students. As a result, the current situation of multiple accounts evolved out of a desire of campus departments to provide as many services as possible on-line. However, over time this has created an environment that is difficult for our users, as well as our staff to manage.

Good news! University Information Technology (UIT) has been working to address this problem, and we are pleased to report significant changes are in progress. Coming soon, students, faculty and staff will be able to login with one account and password to get access to many systems that currently require separate logins – such as myUH, Blackboard, Parking, CougarCard and others! Users will no longer have to remember and maintain separate passwords for these systems.

UIT will be collaborating with campus departments interested in utilizing the new system for their users. We will work hard to include as many systems as possible.

I appreciate Mr. Schneider’s efforts to highlight some of our security challenges. I encourage any Cougar that has a security concern or idea for how we can improve information security at UH to contact me at mdickerson@uh.edu.

— Mary Dickerson is the UIT Security Executive Director, and the UH Chief Information Security Officer.

Re: Kiosks make campus parking safer

The Daily Cougar Staff — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:38:43 +0000

When I hear Kiosk, I think of the computer at CVS that scans my photos, not the elevated guard shacks found in prisons, most military bases and now University of Houston.

It seemed like just yesterday I was reading a story in the Daily Cougar titled “Solitary Confinement is Unethical” Today, I’m being led to believe by favorable quotes this practice will make our campus safer. Despite the fact that the Chief of Police was quoted “I think it’s a great idea”, it is highly unlikely that either him or SGA Representative, also quoted in the same story, will be posted in a kiosk, so of course they’re in favor. In case you’re wondering what it would be like to work in a kiosk, sit in a restroom stall for 8 hours. This will simulate the space, climate, and the eventual smell. If students really want to feel safe, the last thing UHDPS should do is put a minimum wage employee inside a 4×6 cage and expect him to maintain 360 degree surveillance for an entire shift without falling asleep or becoming engulfed in whatever electronic device they bring along for entertainment. If UH is to take this approach, I think they should just post scarecrows in each lot; they have a better track record and work for much less. Is this really the direction we want to take our security presence on campus — guard shacks? Why not foot patrols? The lack of restraint and walking requires a higher level of alertness than sitting.

Mark Vollert is a UH student.

Hooters plane unwelcome presence on campus

The Daily Cougar Staff — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 13:51:56 +0000

Walking across campus on Friday, August 26, 2011, a buzzing noise caught my attention. I looked up to see a small plane carrying an advertising banner which read, “Hooters: Have fun, get money.” Hooters, the restaurant that serves up women’s breasts and chicken wings for public consumption, was cruising our campus for employees. It seems incongruous that they should fly above an institution of higher learning where women are more focused on the size of their GPA than the size of their bust. At the Women’s Resource Center we are working for a day when a woman’s intellect is viewed as her most valued asset and her brain is her most admired (and sexy) body part.

— Beverly McPhail, Ph.D., Director, Women’s Resource Center.

Re: Perry needs to evolve

The Daily Cougar Staff — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:52:25 +0000

Emily, I agree that religion has no place in school. And I am not a fan of Rick Perry but I do not agree that he, or anyone else who believes in creationism, is stupid for trying to fight the teaching of evolution.

Yes, faith is a most personal matter and has no place in a classroom but those who believe in intelligent design have the freedom to do so.

Freedom of religion is in the Bill of Rights is it not? And the same freedom of religion is also what allows people to believe in evolution if they choose.

Too many people are criticized and questioned about their faith.

I’m sure everyone who watched the video of Perry talking to the little boy in New Hampshire noticed how the boy’s mother was using him more or less to criticize Perry for his beliefs.

Emily, dont join in on the criticism. I agree that his view of teaching intelligent design in school is wrong but you cant claim that ‘Perry needs to evolve.’

I think your article is good and you are obviously knowledgable about the topic but in the future I would focus more on the political matters (the seperation of church and state and why that means that religion should be seperate from public schools) than on evolution versus creationism.

I know this is the Opinion section of the school paper but in politics when you start including your personal feelings in your writing (you obviously believe in evolution over creationism, which is fine because you have the freedom to believe in whatever you want) it starts to take away from the real argument, which is whether or not intelligent design belongs in public schools.

And obviously because of our religious freedom, which seperates the church and state, the answer is no.

Religious teachings belong at home or church/synagogue/temple/… because of our freedom to choose to believe or not believe in them, not because evolution is fact or theory.

Again, I want to stress that I agree with you that religion does not belong in the classroom.

Religion is a hard topic to touch without including personal feelings and I applaud you for taking it head on.

Just be careful not to attack a group of people for beliefs that are protected by basic rights, stick with the core of the argument.

P.S. Please do not think that I am attacking you.

I think you’re brave for writing about such a touchy topic. Anyways I wish you the best and look forward to reading more of your articles to come.

Zachary Tews is a UH student.

Letter to the editor

The Daily Cougar Staff — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 19:12:14 +0000

As the Director of the University of Houston’s Women’s Resource Center, I was disappointed to read the editorial Fraternities receive too much scrutiny (June 15, 2011) by Marcus Smith.

Smith wrote that when Yale University’s Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) fraternity members chanted, “No means yes and yes means anal,” those words should be laughed at or shrugged off or were merely “a simple chant.”

However, advocating rape is not a laughing matter or something to be shrugged off. The words were offensive, hateful, and create a hostile sexual environment that promotes disrespect towards women and creates a climate in which sexual assault is not only tolerated, but encouraged. Words have meaning and consequences.

Instead of holding the fraternity members accountable, Mr. Smith employed two fallacies to cloud the issue: 1) making fraternities the victim instead of acknowledging the pain and trauma of the real victims: women who are sexually assaulted and 2) making the imposed five-year campus ban an indictment of all fraternities, when in reality DKE was the only fraternity involved and the punishment was specific to them.

Instead of defending and minimizing this offensive behavior, Mr. Smith could have done UH a service by strongly condemning the actions of this fraternity and demanding respect for women on this campus and all campuses.

I speak to young fraternity men on campus about the importance of gaining affirmative sexual consent.

Opinions like this that minimize hateful language and violence against women make my work all the more difficult.

Beverly A. McPhail, Ph.D., is the director of the Women’s Resource Center.

Campus carry rights protect students

The Daily Cougar Staff — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:31:40 +0000

Zoe Wales’ March 21 op-ed (“Guns on-campus don’t make any sense”) demonstrates a lack of knowledge of Texas law.

Wales suggests, “Who’s to say that student A would or would not pull out their [sic] gun as a joke and accidentally fire it off and hit someone across the yard.”

This completely ignores the fact that a license holder who even tells another person that he or she is carrying a concealed handgun can be sentenced to one year in jail for failure to conceal.

Wales continues, “Who’s to say student B receives a failing grade and pulls their [sic] gun on to their teacher to change their grade.”

What good is a passing grade if you’re spending 20 years in prison for aggravated assault?

Finally, Wales asks, “Who’s to say that student A and B leave The Den and get into a brawl and pulls [sic] their guns out, shooting each other.”

But under the revised law, carrying a firearm in The Den would be no more legal than it is now. It would still be a third-degree felony punishable by up to ten years in jail.

Wales concludes, “All of these scenarios could in fact happen.” What he fails to realize is that all of these scenarios could just as easily happen now. Brandishing a firearm, threatening a professor and carrying a gun in a bar would all be just as illegal under the revised law as they are under the current law. If someone is likely to commit one of these serious crimes, that person is just as likely to carry a gun illegally.

The scenarios posed by Zoe Wales are all hypothetical. The 71 college campuses outside of Texas that currently allow concealed carry have yet to see a single resulting incident of gun violence (including threats and suicides), a single resulting gun accident, or a single resulting gun theft. In Texas, a person is 20 times more likely to be struck by lightning than to be murdered or negligently killed by a concealed handgun license holder.

Laws should be based on facts, not make-believe. Why should license holders be allowed the means to protect themselves at a movie theater on Saturday and at a church on Sunday but not in a college classroom on Monday?

W. Scott Lewis
Texas Legislative Director, Students for Concealed Carry on Campus
Editor, CampusCarry.com

Letters to the editor

The Daily Cougar Staff — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 08:25:23 +0000

Attacks on church are a misguided effort

It is said, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

As a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, I condemn al-Qaeda’s massacre of 60 worshippers assembled at the Our Lady of Salvation Church in Iraq.

This horrendous act was perpetrated in the name of Islam, whereas the Quran categorically sanctions the protection of all places of worship, specifically churches (22:40-41). This is yet another example of Al Qaeda’s exploitation of Islam to promote their unholy agenda.

I offer my condolences to the families of the victims. Unfortunately, we live in an age of “guided missiles and misguided men.”

Khalid Bhatti is an application developer and works at the University of Houston.

In response to the article: Perry’s unprecedented perilous tenure continues

My sentiments exactly. I am ashamed of my generation’s ineptitude in exercising our civil rights to impinge on Perry’s ingress on Texas and our future. His interests are to serve those who put him in office and keep him there — those being the corporations that hold the most financial interests in this state, read: energy.

There are at least five people I personally know who did not vote, and it infuriates me. This is the result of the apathy, cynicism, ignorance and contempt for the government that should serve you. Now you’ve chosen to let corporations give rise to a government that indentures you to its service.

You can’t have such unbridled greed and the extraordinary wealth of so few, whilst also having a free, educated and stable society. Milton Friedman, “Reaganomics,” deregulation, Adam Smith, Rand Corporation and self-interested, self-invested unbridled greed has created this global economic meltdown.

You idiots who didn’t vote — you let this happen, and you may b***h and moan, but in the end you are supplicated by minutiae designed to distract you, where you’ll happily return to being just another brick in the wall. I’m 24 and I’m not going to bring any children into this world if they’re doomed to live shoulder-deep in this ignorance and waste.

The saddest part is that I’m sure the worst of this has yet to come. It is those who are so obsessed with the end of the world, that — in all the irony — they are indeed hastening the march to just that. History, as told by the vigilant spectators of this world, will be the judge. I soulfully dream for the day where we will see humanity save itself from its own stupidity.

Aurash Fidel Kamalipour

In response to the Staff Editorial: Shoplifting is a crime — but so is killing someone

Moral of the story: Don’t steal. Don’t turn good people upholding universal values into criminals and make them live with the consequences because of the poor choice you chose to make yourself. The man that runs that shop is kind to all of his customers, has young children and works hard to run an honest family business. Before you write an editorial of judgment based on limited facts from the Houston Chronicle release, you should wait for more details.

Montrose Lefty

I am not surprised that DC editorial has backed the wrong side yet again in an opinion on crime and justice. Remember, this staff championed police brutality in its column “In a modern day and age, justice is still being served,” on Oct. 27. No jury is going to convict the shop owner. You are in Texas, and the law is on the clerk’s side. This is what the Texas Constiution Penal Code says about using deadly force to protect property.

Lisa Street