Guns on campus
As a University of Arkansas faculty member, I am deeply concerned about House Bill 1077, which just passed out of committee and moved one step closer to becoming law. It would force Arkansas’ public colleges and universities to allow faculty and staff to carry loaded, concealed handguns on campus.
HB1077 is moving forward despite widespread opposition from students, administrators, faculty members, and police chiefs. Since the passage of concealed campus carry two years ago, which gives schools the opportunity to decide for themselves, all of Arkansas’ institutions of higher education have opted out of allowing guns on campus.
Our schools are currently some of the safest places in America. Forcing our schools to allow guns onto campuses would only put students and educators at risk. Take Idaho, for example: after its legislature forced guns onto campuses last year, a professor shot himself in the leg during class in the second week of school.
Safety isn’t the only concern: Campus carry is expensive. Before Idaho passed its law, Boise State University estimated it would face $2.5 million in new security expenses over three years. When Arizona considered a similar bill, the state Board of Regents estimated it would cost over $13 million to allow guns on campus, with an additional $3 million in annual expenditures. Arizona’s governor wisely vetoed that bill.
This bill is a serious legislative overreach. Rather than increase our schools’ financial burdens and put our campus communities at risk, our elected leaders should work to make Arkansas safer—and let colleges focus on educating our students.
ANGELA HUNTER
Little Rock
Too good to be true
With the price per barrel of oil dipping as low as $44 in January, it leads me to question what’s next.
Because of recent strikes and some closures due to the astronomically low prices, smaller oil companies are shutting down to cut production costs. The origins of this significant oil price drop from ramped-up production, as brought to the forefront by major oil powerhouse OPEC, are now being reversed. Recently even OPEC’s Secretary-General Abdulla al-Badri has said prices have hit rock bottom, and with the decreased production of crude oil that he sees coming, prices could skyrocket to as much as $200 per barrel.
Wasn’t OPEC claiming just a few weeks ago that production would stay steady and that these astronomical prices were a thing of the past? Was this sharp drop in oil prices anything more than a ploy by these huge oil companies to make even bigger profits?
DYLAN PARKER
Little Rock
ISIS/Hezbollah
Israeli Ambassador Meir Schlomo recently has described Hezbollah and ISIS as terrorists who despise freedom (Democrat-Gazette, Feb. 26). Let’s look closer at who they are and how they originated.
ISIS emerged in 2003 as Al-Qaida in Iraq after massive destabilization from unwarranted aggression by the United States. It has morphed into an extremist jihadist pseudo-state with some 30,000 fighters in parts of Syria, Iraq and Libya bent on establishing a caliphate with strict sharia law. Containment will require a joint effort by an array of Middle Eastern countries with some Western assistance.
Hezbollah came into being after the unwarranted invasion of Lebanon by Israel in 1982 and subsequent occupation until 2000. Without its opposition, Israel may well have annexed Southern Lebanon up to the Litani River. Currently Hezbollah, a Shiite socio-political-military faction, is fighting in support of the Assad government, which protects and is supported by most of the Christian and Shiite minorities in Syria.
Since the end of World War I, the Middle East has been besieged by a gamut of interventions by Western powers. In balance, the effects of these intrusions has been more negative than positive. The United States in particular would be wise to refrain from further attempts at regime change and unwarranted pre-emptive attacks.
JOHN R. PIAZZA
Bethel Heightss
Income disparity
Recently Mr. Bradley Gitz has argued anyone advocating policies that would reduce income disparities in this country is forced to advocate the admittedly absurd notion of no disparities at all.
Why? Forgive me if I have this wrong, Mr. Gitz, but you seem to be saying it’s because no reformer can say exactly what a fair distribution of income would be. True, but neither can we say exactly how many hairs can be on the head of a man who is bald. Must we then say that no man is bald who has not lost his very last follicle of hair?
More germane to the issue would be the inflation rate. Knowledgeable of some economics, Mr. Gitz no doubt embraces the notion that some inflation is a good thing. Does it follow that he must be able to say what exactly perfect inflation would be?
CLEVE MAY
Little Rock
Search for support
When it comes to passing laws, some politicians use the Bible to support their positions, as is evident by recent opinions expressed by some Arkansas legislators who support House Bill 202. I have a question for these individuals. If given the choice between searching the Bible in order to find reasons to hate, or in order to find reasons to love, WWJD?
R. L. HUTSON
Rose Bud