Dear Editor,
I write to you in response to an article concerning campus safety and the protection of our academic community (“University decides not to arm campus safety officers” Dec. 26). Every community is made up of various parts, occupations and tasks. Each component helps advance and benefit the community. Campus safety officers, as the university website notes, are “the first responders in emergencies both big and small.”
Campus Safety’s job necessarily requires the use of inducements, directives, and force. Ironically, both administrators and professors are turning campus safety officers into their own likeness.
These members of our community are out-and-about preventing crime. What are we trying to communicate to the men and women that protect us everyday? In a few words, “We don’t trust you. We want you to protect us, put your life on the line, but we do not want to give you the proper tools.”
We do not want them carrying guns – fine. But batons and mace, give me a break. I assume that each campus safety officer has gone through university-mandated defense classes- are these classes sanctioned by the school’s pacifist beliefs? The University long ago “transgress[ed] on these founding principles” when it opened two military satellite campuses. This six-member committee of professors is selectively calling upon the University’s pacifist history.
Lastly, I want to call attention to University Chaplain Zandra Wagoner’s comments. She said, “I am motivated to figure out ways in which we can create a safe environment that does not require weapons or tools that can be used for harming others.” Dr. Wagoner is a truly marvelous woman. She once helped mediate a conflict I had with an adjunct professor. But the conflict I had with the professor was based on reason and we used our words.
When someone prefers to use violence to disrupt the peace, campus safety officers are the first responders. When someone chooses to harm you, neither your reason nor your religious piety will save you. The committee tried and failed to balance principles. Instead, the philosopher-kings have disarmed the warrior class.
Joey Torres
Class of 2011
Dear Editor,
Thanks for noting the upcoming conference presentations that the Academic Succes Center tutors will be delivering (“News Briefs,” Feb. 19). We are excited that the ASC can serve as a space of intellectual development for the students who work here. We’ve seen how much these tutors bring back to their work with students after these experiences.
Just to clarify, this is not the first time that ASC tutors have conducted or presented research at conferences. In the past year alone, ASC tutors have presented research at conferences in San Diego, Utah, and Florida, and several tutors have manuscripts related to their work here in the ASC accepted for publication or under review at peer-reviewed journals.
We here in the ASC are excited to continue improving how we serve students—those who come in for tutoring as well as those who work for us. We appreciate the Campus Times supporting us.
Matt Nelson
Director, Academic Success Center
Joey Torres