concealed carry on campus?

(prompt) I'm not really sure where I stand on gun control, so I'm going to throw a few ideas around. I'm pretty well ignorant of the entire issue.

I don't understand why concealed carry is so important. I think if I were going to rob someone, I'd less likely rob someone who was openly carrying. If I see that you have a gun, I'll probably go rob someone else. If I don't see that you have a gun, I'll probably rob you, then get shot. Now I'm dead and you have some messy legal problems--at the very least, some irritating red tape--to deal with.

Security officials, including student workers, should carry while on duty, especially on particularly dangerous campuses (e.g. those in Flint). They should be trained in appropriate use and safety, and they should be visible all over campus, especially after dark. I think if I were going to rob you and an unarmed security officer showed up, I'd probably still rob you.

Who has the right to tell civilian students whether they may carry? Logistically, it doesn't make sense to legislate this from the state because college campuses are so different. Kettering University students--most of whom are men--don't feel safe walking 100 yards in the dark because of inner city-folk, but I have no problem walking across Hillsdale College campus by myself in the dark. It makes no sense for the state to make a sweeping rule on this; instead, college administrations should figure out a proper solution for their own college.

Civilian students--that is, students not on duty at security--should not be allowed to carry firearms on campus at Hillsdale because our campus is so safe. We aren't worried about townies coming onto campus and robbing us: anything worse than a suggestive whistle is big news. We don't need to worry about a Virginia Tech-like incident because it almost definitely won't happen. Virginia Tech made national news because it was such an abnormal event, so there's no reason to be paranoid about it. We all know someone who's been badly hurt or killed in a car crash--car crashes are so common they hardly ever make national news--yet we aren't afraid to drive.

Additionally, I'm not convinced that gun-carrying Virginia Tech students would have solved the problem. It may have helped. It may have turned into chaotic gunfire. I don't know.

Civilian students don't need to carry, and moreover, we shouldn't. College students in general do stupid things, like get drunk. I brought this up with an anti-gun-control friend and he looked at me very seriously and said "guns and alcohol don't mix."

Nonsense. Guns and alcohol are aluminum foil and draino, not oil and water.

You could legislate CUI and CWI offenses, but that isn't really going to prevent anyone from carrying while intoxicated. If you normally carry, you'll probably carry to your friend's house, and if your friend offers you a beer (as lots of friends do), you'll be CUI. I'm not much into the drinking culture, but it seems to me that most people don't plan to get intoxicated, and those that do plan to get intoxicated probably don't care enough to leave their firearms at home.

I'm still exploring the issue...

prayer before sex? GASP!

I don't know what's up with this article. I'd like to go on a point-by-point rant examining each error/inaccuracy, but it will get dull rather quickly. I think instead I will write about how great sex is. That's great as in lofty, sacred, etc.

This idea that anything enjoyable is sinful really irritates me. God made it; therefore it is good (cf Genesis). The problem is that we are fallen and therefore not in our natural state--and therefore not inclined to act in accordance with our true natures. A telescope with a broken lens does not function as a telescope, but it's still a telescope.

Sex is really, really great within its proper context (that is, a valid marriage which, by definition, is heterosexual and monogamous) and really, really bad without. A formal dress can make a woman look absolutely stunning at a formal occasion; however, if she wears a formal dress on an equipment move (trucks, canvas, grills), she will probably get hurt and ruin her dress and make everyone else angry because she can't be helpful.

Now there are a million more things to discuss--the incarnation of Christ and how that relates to baby-making; Christ's relationship with his bride, holy mother church; the creation story; Trinitarian theology.... but it's late, I have work to do and I don't have time to make it short. And these points I'm better explaining by talking than by writing anyway. So that's all you get for now.

100th post

"Just so you know, Maddie, you have a really dumb roommate."

"No, Mary, I have a roommate who makes very poor decisions."

advice from my brother

"Most importantly, the amount of things that you unnecessarily set on fire should increase as you grow older."

don't catch the rape virus

soul glimpses, or, scraps of paper

Sad day: I pretty much ran out of things to give away. Still too many boxes in my closet, though, so I'm going through them trying to throw away as much as possible. It's pretty much all paper--essays from high school, journals, stories I started to write, etc. Every now and then I come across a sentence or phrase that I wrote down and kept because I found it very beautiful. I think I kept them in case I wanted to use them in a novel. I always forget about them until next time I clean out my closet, and anyway I'll write new ones that are actually relevant to my novel when I write it. If I leave my words here, maybe I can finally throw these (worn, crumpled, ripped) pieces of paper away.

...Rosary beads sliding through my fingers like water droplets leaking out of a half-empty glass.
I cut this from an application essay to a college I didn't go to.

...who walks off the muddy football field with clean pants.
I still remember who I wrote this about. This was the kid nobody liked, who talked to me for about 30 minutes in the teacher's lounge and taught me patience. He was a good kid.

Being late can be okay. The second mouse gets the cheese.
Saw this on a church sign.

Ideas. They come to my mind from my ears or my eyes. They travel down my head down my neck through my arm to my hand. There, they travel through my pen onto paper.
I wrote this in yellow pen on a yellow sticky note (what was I thinking?) with line breaks making it looks lightly more poetic.

Other things I found while cleaning out:

• my drill book from freshman year marching band
• activity rotation schedule from Camp Copneconic, eighth grade
• small green plastic seal or porpoise or something
• cassette tape of our late dog, Nellie, singing
• late slip excusing me to go to Tony's grandma's funeral
• a shoebox with every trophy, plaque, letter, pin, etc. since seventh grade
• the all-purpose poetry anthology for HH9 English
• Fiddler on the Roof music from junior year in high school pit band
• Western and American Heritage supplementary readers
• a note about balloon pop polka
• a shoebox full of poetry--poetry I would dismiss as melodramatic teenage angst if I didn't remember so vividly what was going on and how much I hurt when I wrote it.
• my junior and cadette girl scout vests, both of which will probably be worth a lot of money in a few years since Fairwinds Council folded. I've got a lot a lot of patches on my junior vest. I think I'll give it a few years, then find the Mike Beratta of girl scouts and donate them.
• a plaster model of my late dog, Nellie
• a hairbrush my grandmother gave me when I turned 10
• my old 35mm point-and-shoot and a roll of undeveloped film with photos of the Wisconsin Dells
• my double-jointed swiss army knife
• my protest against the artificial Christmas tree

That's all for now, folks. I have 13 boxes on my floor and two on my bed that will be on my floor in a minute so I can sleep.

what i learned this summer

Mark 8:34: "...If any man will follow me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."

Matthew 11:30: "My yolk is easy and my burden light."

Mother Teresa: "I know God wouldn't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he wouldn't trust me so much."

If I can get my knees under a patrol box, I can lift it--anyway, lift my half of it if my mind is in the game, too--and carry it to the truck, but usually I'm not strong enough to hoist it up to the bed. Usually someone will come by and give me a hand; if not, I just leave it by the truck and go back for the next one.

Some guys can lift a whole patrol box by themselves and toss it in the bed of the truck. Most partner up, though, and have this crazy upper-body strength that allows them to slide it into the bed.

I wish I were as strong as they are, but the fact is, I'm not. If I tried to lift the patrol box into the truck, I would back up the entire crew, hurt myself badly, and not be able to help with anything else, even mattresses and cots.

If I pretend I am stronger than I am and don't ask for help when I need it, I hurt myself and the group. Every time I help move a patrol box, though, I get stronger, even if I didn't lift it into the truck. (Those things are heavy!)

The same is true for non-physical strength. If someone's walking all over you, chewing you out for things that aren't your fault, harrassing you, taking advantage of you, don't pretend you're stronger than you are.

If you choose to let someone be rude to you, then be meek and humble and let them. It will toughen you up and strengthen you for the next challenge.

But if you let them be rude to you because you are afraid to speak up, or if they've gotten control of your emotions, you are not strong enough to handle this. And if you aren't strong enough, have someone help you. Talk to someone, hug someone, get the problem solved. If you pretend you're stronger than you are and don't ask for help when you need it, you'll hurt yourself and the group.