The Barometer Online

Issue date: 5/17/07 Section: Forum

End the genocide - Discussion needed

Every year, at about this time, the soft green grass in the MU Quad, so wonderfully lit by sunshine as a respite from rain and clouds, is tainted by vile images of slanderous persons bent on "shocking" our student community into submission. Feelings of frustration, rage, and contempt creep up my spine, gripping my chest at I read, "End the genocide." Not that this phrase is morally deplorable, since indigenous Sudanese tribes would gladly have this message spread throughout the world, it is its context that irks me.

Some uncomfortable thoughts soon take hold, how should I respond to this psychological abuse taking place in our community? Should I react violently and destructively? Should I refuse to feed into their sick ploy and simply ignore them? As I write this, two young females are discussing the graphic images, posted no more than fifty yards from where we sit. Their discussion yields the answer.

-Marco Clark
senior, political science and international studies

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The folly of gun possession on university campuses - Concealed weapon usage leads to increase violence

I am truly grateful to Mr. Nunley and the rest of the College Republicans (and their sponsors) for so eloquently expressing their ineptitude to reason in a logical manner. The plethora of arguments he used in his last letter are actually amusing, as they reflect a profound inability to understand the folly of gun possession in university campuses or elsewhere for that matter. To truly solve this horrible problem inflicted on our society by fire arms, one must deal with its roots, not with the symptoms associated with it. If possession of fire arms were not permitted, then most would have a chance to avoid injury when a deranged individual targeted potential victims.

Given the fact that we have archaic laws in this country regarding gun possession, then the next best thing is to amend the law so that ownership of potent weapons by civilians not be permitted. Furthermore, the argument that "decent" citizens should be allowed to run around campus with concealed weapons is downright stupid, as statistics show that over the years many "decent" citizens have used such weapons in moments of rage to end the lives of other persons. In fact, such proposal would result in further escalation of violence in society.

Also, Mr. Nunley and the rest of the republicans could enlighten themselves by reading a recent article in the local Gazette Times that provides the murder rate statistics due to fire arms to learn that we in fact live in the most violent country in the world. Finally, many of us in engineering at OSU do not permit the usage of electronic aids of any kind when testing the students, because we want them to be critical thinkers instead of automatons who only parrot what someone else tells them.

-Prof. Mario E. Magaña
School of EECS

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Green campus energy story - Looming questions resolved

I would like to respond to the 5/4/07 article "Students want clean, green campus energy," which I feel probably left students with more questions than answers.

Now that the green energy initiative has passed, here is what will happen in the fall: 89,000 megawatt-hours (OSU's 2006 energy consumption) of renewable energy will be purchased and added to the electric grid. The "electric grid" refers to the network that transmits electricity from energy producers to various consumers. So buying renewable energy does not mean that we completely reconfigure the electric grid, but it does mean that enough renewable energy to power our campus will be added to the grid as a whole, reducing our environmental impact just the same.

So I'm sorry Mr. Przybyla (Letters, 5/7/07), there is no magic switch to turn and no, we will not erect all new power lines and completely rewire the electric grid. Doing so would be outlandish and would certainly cost students more than $8.50 per term. We chose to purchase renewable energy in the way described above because it covers approximately 100 percent of OSU's energy needs while also being the cheapest, most affordable option for students.

Speaking of cheapest options, ASOSU Environmental Affairs and the OSU Sustainability Office have already begun working on reducing the cost of the fee. By working to secure funding for energy conservation upgrades on campus and collaborating with payroll to give OSU staff a way to contribute, we can begin to reach the task force's long term goal of reducing the cost to students and increasing contributions from all stakeholders at OSU. If you would like to join our efforts or simply have more questions, I invite you to contact me at enviro.affairs@oregonstate.edu or by dropping in 149 Snell Hall. Make your opinion an educated one.

-Andrea Norris
Director, ASOSU Environmental Affairs

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