4 I The Behrend Beacon
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This week
By Chris Brown
copy editor
Gun control became an issue again
after a student went on a killing spree at
Virgina Tech and killed over 30 of his
fellow classmates. My prayers and
thoughts go out to the students and fam-
ily members at Virginia Tech. Nobody
will ever really understand why the
gunman did what he did, but it is impor
tant to gain some understanding of how
such a tragedy was able to happen.
In the days and weeks following the
killings, a number of investigations will
surely be conducted and finished to try
and ascertain exactly what went wrong,
but no doubt they will all offer up the
same excuses and scapegoats everyone
expects them to: the College President
and the Campus Police at Virginia Tech.
Everyone is quick to question why the
campus wasn't closed down after the
first shooting and why students weren't
notified. While those are important
questions to ask in order to prevent
another tragedy at another campus in
the future, I'm sure all the administra
tors acted in compliance with their own
rules; no one could have expected the
carnage that took place.
Unfortunately, no investigation will
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for next sernesterH linterested? Email Chris LaFtnia
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Letter
I am writing in response to Ms.
Theresa Di Buono's , comments on
Definition of Diversity? [April 6]. Her
claims that Behrend' is one of the most
"inaccessible campuses for handicapped
people," that the college "lacks concern"
and that we are somehow denying an
education because of our "horrible con
ditions" are unfounded, irresponsible
and plain wrong!
Let me first note that the preferred
term is "people" or "student with disabil
ities"—putting the emphasis on "people"
or "student" first. "Handicapped people"
as referred to in the piece has a demean
ing tone. I encourage her to research the
reasons why.
Indeed, the physical characteristics of
this campus present challenges for a stu
dent in a wheelchair. We are very well
aware of these challenges and have con
tinuously explored and put into place
ways to make flow and access easier for
all students. We have established a sys
tem of elevators and ramps that enable a
student in a wheelchair to reach the
uppermost part of the campus, from Erie
Hall through Senat, the elevator tower, to
the apartments and so on, as well as safe
ly return to the lower level.
Colleges and universities face many
challenges providing complete access to
all of their buildings for individuals with
limited mobility. Some of the older uni
versities struggle greatly in this respect.
We certainly confront some of those
challenges here with a couple of our
older buildings. The majority of the
buildings on this campus, however, are
fairly new and provide more than ade
quate accessibility. Close attention has
been paid during the design period to
assure that buildings not only comply
with ADA regulations, but that they also
provide the best access possible for our
students with disabilities. This not only
applies to buildings, but also parking lots
and other structures.
Our Maintenance and Operations staff
look into the larger effect question and
cause of our nation's gun control laws.
We had a real opportunity after the last
major school shooting in Columbine
High School to enact meaningful gun
control legislation, but over the past
eight years a Republican-controlled
Congress has rolled back those laws
and stopped new ones.
Now it looks like the Democrats are
taking a page out of the Republican
playbook and will not make gun control
an issue. Democrats fear that all of
those seats they fought so hard to gain
in the last election will be lost if gun
control comes up because those swing
districts and states are all against gun
control. In every politician's defense I
guess, they are just representing our
interests which they are supposed to do
as representatives.
If that is true, then what are we think
ing? Gun control is not about banning
Gun control Zsiabout
getting guns that
have no use for
hunting off the
streets, stopping
criminals from
getting guns, and
keeping people safe.
guns or prying them from hunters'
"cold dead hands." Gun control is
about getting guns that have no use for
hunting off the streets, stopping crimi
nals from getting guns, and keeping
people safe.
Our constitution is a living document,
meant to be changed and adapted to the
Get involved!
to the Editor
work very hard to assure that sidewalks
and other pathways are plowed and
accessible for all on campus. This
process starts very early in the morning
and throughout the day. Unfortunately,
many students don't notice a lot of the
work that takes place around campus at 6
a.m. or earlier in order to get the campus
ready to operate. In fact, we discuss
among the staff and many times with the
students themselves, the routes taken by
students in wheelchairs in order to assure
a clear pathway when they are in route to
class. Needless to say, the weather in
Erie presents many challenges in this
regard, but we do our best to manage its
impact.
There's a difference between the
topography of the campus and "horrible
accommodations." The fact that some
one feels guilty because of their own
mobility and/or capability to move about
the campus has nothing to do with the
effort the college has made to provide
equal access for all of its students.
I would also like to point out that the
piece refers to "handicapped people"
only in terms of mobility and comparing
our services to a "small undertone...
almost to the point of pathetic in its
`meeting its requirements' standards." I
wonder if this individual is aware of how
many students with documented disabil
ities exist on this campus? Does she
have any idea of what the largest disabil
ity group is here? Does she know the
services these students receive? Does
she know who oversees services for stu
dents with disabilities at Behrend? Has
she contacted that office and asked for
their perspective? I don't believe she
has. Supporting and providing services
for these students involves great coordi
nation and interaction among a number
of staff and faculty members. We all do
it gladly and have received very positive
responses in surveys given to this stu
dent population.
In terms of the definition of diversity,
in politics
times we live in. That is why I don't
understand people who preach on the
Second Amendment right to bear arms
till their faces turn blue. If the same
logic they use to justify gun ownership
was applied to the whole constitution,
women wouldn't be able to vote and
owning slaves would still be legal,
because, with their logic, changing the
constitution would violate its sanctity.
Not only is this logic historically inac
curate and corrupt, it is causing a great
deal of harm to Americans.
Only in America can we spend bil
lions of dollars on a war in Iraq and on
anti-terrorism efforts, two of the sup
posedly greatest threats to our security
when over 30,000 people die every year
from firearms, a number far greater
than the amount of people killed from
terrorists. If politicians really want to
be pro-security, then they would get
serious on gun control.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
(D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reed (D-NV) met with President
Bush on April 18 to try and work out a
deal for the passage of a war spending
bill. Bush has urged lawmakers to stop
delaying the necessary funding for the
troops. Bush has chided congress for
dragging its feet on the issue, but so far
the .Democrats have been remarkably
quick to pass the legislation compared
to their Republican predecessors who
took almost 120 days to pass their
spending bill in 2006.
Both the House and Senate spending
bills in Congress have those timetables
that Bush is so vehemently opposed to
in their texts, but Bush has vowed to
veto them because of the attachments of
timetables for troop withdrawal. Bush
may unwittingly hand Democrats a
major victory by delaying the 'neces
sary' troop funding with his very own
veto.
the college offers this definition on its
web site: www.pserie.psu.edu/diversity.
This web site includes information and
resources for students with disabilities
among others. In the past, I have invited
students (via a college-wide e-mail) to
peruse this web site. I offer that invita
tion again.
I admire and appreciate the fact that
your staff cares for our students with dis
abilities and have a passion for diversity
issues. I suggest, however, that they
expand on their research in order to
ensure that they have a complete picture
of an issue before they reach insufficient
conclusions and make speculative accu
sations on a public forum such as the
Beacon.
We are certainly not perfect and know
that we face many challenges on this
campus. Some we can manage and
improve upon, some are beyond our con
trol. Nonetheless, I can assure you that
we care deeply about all of our students
and strive to provide them with the best
experience and service we can. We wel
come their ideas and input if there are
things they feel we must address.
has made speculative accusations or
reported wrong facts. Just as we strive to
improve our services, I encourage you to
more carefully monitor what your paper
is putting into view to make sure that
information and opinions are presented
in impartial and just manner.
I would be happy to discuss this and
any other concern you or your staff may
have about diversity issues on our
beloved campus.
Thank you!
Andy A. Herrera
Director of Educational Equity and
Diversity Programs
Friday, April 20, 2007
This is not the first time the Beacon