Jordan River Forum: Letters and responses

A response to Kyle Bandy’s “Letter to the Editor: On gun control on college campuses”

I am a member of the professional staff here at IUB. I thought I’d take a moment to respond to Kyle Bandy’s open letter of June 20 in the IDS, supporting a change in policy to allow the carrying of concealed, licensed weapons on campus.

Kyle, you indicate you spent “countless hours” researching this subject, and I believe you. All the materials that you cite in your letter firmly support the view on this issue that you already held.

Did you happen to spend any time researching, listening to, or otherwise coming to terms with arguments and data that differ from and oppose your view?

If you’re going to succeed in law school, you’ll need to learn how to do that, as part of making an effective and convincing argument, as soon as possible.

A handgun concealed under your clothing won’t help you there.

Jay A. Showalter, IU University Division Advisor

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idsnews.com commenter ThomB, in response to Samir Reddigari’s column “Congress is out of (gun) control”

Hm. In a liberal world, that shooting in California couldn’t have possibly happened ... Campuses are supposed to be “gun free zones,” right? I guess the shooter didn’t catch the sign on the way in.

But, in regards to barring “mentally unstable” people from owning guns, the problem is about who defines what a “mentally unstable” person is.

THAT’S the problem.

The hypothetical situations that could arise are staggering in how it can affect society. Because it won’t be just the legitimately insane, but it will also be military veterans, police, or average Joe that suffered from depression or an anxiety disorder, was prescribed a drug for it, and then WHAM!, his health care-provided reports him as a “mentally unstable person.”

It’s that easy.

Posted June 19, 2013

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Letter to the Editor: An alumnae in support of the continuing efforts of IU on Strike

I graduated from IU in 1959. Afterward, I lived in Ann Arbor Michigan for 10 years.
More races and cultures were exemplified at the University of Michigan than at IU.
Now living in Columbia, Mo., where the University of Missouri is located, many races and cultures are exemplified as well.

Indiana University was and is very conservative.

I prefer that tuition is not raised $45/credit hour and the Board of Regents allow more cultural diversity to augment campus culture.

Ellen Atkins, BS, Indiana University, Phi Gamma Sigma, Cum Laude

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Letter to the Editor: Thoughts for teachers and professors during the summer

Summer is here, you’re done worrying about lesson plans, hall and cafeteria duties, recess, discipline forms, faculty meetings, grading papers, and other people’s children. Now it’s time to put on your shorts, go to the pool, and not care about anything for three months.

WRONG!

You’re a teacher, a public servant, someone’s tax dollars or tuition dollars pay for your lifestyle. Just like a politician, in this day and age, everywhere you go you have a target on your back.

I am teacher just like you. I know that we aren’t getting paid to sit around all summer. In the summer we get our back pay that we allowed the district to hold, free of interest. But that doesn’t matter to anyone else.

You dedicated your life to making other people’s kids succeed, and then when you get time to worry about your own life, you get criticized. But that is where we are in society. That is part of the job, take it or leave it.

So the question is what are you going to do? Grow a hard heart and join the league of people who are teachers only because their job title dictates it, or will you be a teacher because you were born to make your city, country, and world a better place.

During the school year you can spend hours in your faculty room talking about the many “if only” statements. If only the kids would work harder, our test scores would be better.

How about this statement, “If only I would have the courage to take responsibility and do everything I can to make my class work, I could be a great teacher.” I doubt you have ever heard someone say that last statement in the faculty room.

I had a professor that taught a class called American Education in Theory & Practice in college. One day he asked the class, “Whose fault is it if you get an F in a class but your professor’s an a******?”

The class had its say with each side arguing its point on why it was the student’s fault versus the professor’s fault. He stopped the discussion and proclaimed, “It was your fault if you get an F in a class.”

Regardless of the argument he received, he would counter with a statement that began with, “You didn’t....” He was exactly right, no matter what happens, if you don’t do what you are supposed to do, you will fail.

Now that it’s the summertime, as you enjoy your hard earned time, don’t write your calling as a teacher off. Don’t wait until the school year starts to ask, “If only” and then shrug your shoulders when there is not easy answer. If you were really born to be a teacher, you would want to be the best teacher you can be regardless of what season it is.

Start now, in the summer to solve your problems before they happen. Don’t act like the students you loath who only do their homework if class time is given. Your administration, students and their parents could all be a*******, but what can you do to make sure that you are a successful teacher?

If you have those answers, the targets painted on you will be harder to hit by those taking aim — especially in the summer when it seems like we stop becoming moving targets and float around a pool like ducks on a pond.

B.C. Tozer, member, National Education Association, National Association for Music Education

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