VIEWPOINT
Increased availability ofguns will prevent crime
Jeffrey Kosseff's June 7 anti- much weaker than they are. gun. Criminals, on the other
gun column, "A simple solution What does Kosseff think a hand, could easily get bullets just
to a deadly problem," really dis- criminal is going to do if he as they do crack, cocaine, illegal
played some type of convoluted believes his intended victim is guns. pot, what have you -
thinking on his part. Did Kosseff armed? Move on to another, because that's what criminals do.
think his arguments through or unarmed victim. What if every- Even scarier, however, is
does he just chug along on his body is armed? The answet is, Kosseff's blatant disregard for
computer writing up whatever find a new line of work. the original intentions of the
liberal agenda happens to suit his On to Kosseff's argument Second Amendment. tie may
needs that day? about having guns, but no bullets. think that we have a great gov-
Let's say that Seitz and his How about, in an effort to curb ernment now, and that nothing
friends had guns. Would more pollution, we allow the manufac- could ever go wrong. Citizens
people really be dead? Probably ture of cars, but not gasoline. should always be armed, which is
not, since the potential shooter What a great idea! We could why Thomas Jefferson wrote that
would have realized the risk to extend that idea to other things. It "...when a long train of abuses
himself had he assaulted a group would be marvelous - knives and usurpations, pursuing invari-
of armed individuals. without blades, etc. We could ably the same object evinces a
When one country decides to eradicate crime and death forever design to reduce them under
declare war upon another, think if we merely remove the things absolute Despotism, it is their
about the mentality that goes on. needed for the implementation of right, it is their duty, to throw off
Has Slobodan Milosevic any tool used (intentionally or such Government, and to provide
attacked Kosovo because the not) to kill others. new guards for their future secu-
LA is armed with the latest and What Kosseff fails to realize rity"
reatest in military equipment? is that regardless of the law, crim- When the State legislature
Obviously not. No country inals will always be able to find passes the new concealed hand-
invades another without a reason- guns, knives, etc. That is why gun bill in the fall (once all ofthis
able expectation of victory, they are called criminals - anti-gun hubbub has quieted
Likewise with your average because they break the law. down). you can be damned sure
criminal. He or she does not walk Banning bullets will hurt the that I'll be the first one in line to
up to an armed guard and rob average gun owner, for example. get one.
them. If they're smart, they'll since their nice Colt .45 would - This viespoint was
attack an individual who vill make a better flowerpot (as wiritti hl- LSA senior
most likely he unarmed, and Kosseff siggested) ttan a targct C/ris Geogandis.
0 ! 0'
Homemakers
deserve credit
TO THE DAILY:
I agreed with most state-
ments in Emily Achenbaum's
June I column, "Social gains for
women are far too slow" on the
*cial gains of women, such as
the abhorrence of the violence
women fear and the unfairness
of unequal wages, and I had
varying degrees of agreement
with other parts. But I would
like to focus on one opinion I
strongly disagreed with, the
probably unintentional, yet real,
denigration of homemakers.
Speaking on homemakers,
s. Achenbaum "wonders what
they are doing." They are work-
ing hard raising families, a more
important joh than what goes on
at universities or companies. I
have a friend who is a home-
maker and works harder than I
do as a graduate student. She did
not go to college to meet a man
and live off his earnings, as the
editorial seems to itsinuate.
Rather, after marriage she
earned a master's degree. After
her first child, she continued to
work outside the home, but with
three children, she and her hus-
band now feel it is best for her to
be home. In the time she has
been a full-time homemaker, she
has spent countless hours in
community service, most
notably directing a large
women' Bible study group
which brings friendship and dis-
cussion to hundreds of
Northwood residents. Her fami-
ly and her community have
gained from her decision.
I am not saying this is the
way all families must go; itsis for
each family to decide. I cannot
dictate the path of feminism, but
it seems a laudable goal to
encourage every woman to fol-
low the path she desires, includ-
ing those who take the "tradi-
tional" route. Success should
not be defined by money and
power, but rather hosv we,
women and men, help others.
DENNis KEELER
RACKHAM
Monday, June 14, 1999 -- The Michigan Daily - 5
It s time to get over "depression chic
I do n'sknow when depression became chic, People whose well-off, well-meaning par-
but 'depressed' wannabes - who won't ents have no problem footinga therapy bill for
even benefit from this column because they their child who thinks that they need a trained
have no idea who they are -- reek of so much professional to help deal with typical college
na/vetS that the smell makes me nauseous. woes, such as not knowing what to do with their
This affliction, which originated among tor- lives.
tured-artist types who thought bemoaning their Don't get me wrong - I am a huge advocate
so-called depression made them of increased awareness about mental ill-
"deep," is spreading. With trendy tan- ness and changing medical insurance
gibles like having a therapist and pop- policies to cover treatment. Mental
ping anti-depressants, feeling down health is a field that has been grossly
- and telling anyone who will listen neglected by the medical community.
all about it - is cool. But whats so frustrating about the
Let me just clarify a few things to posers is that while they may get a taste
the throngs of posers out there: of depression, they're just skimming
Everyone has days when they don't along the surface of a very dark, terri-
want to get out of bed. fying condition, but think their limited
Tipper Gore is not a courageous experience earned them a place in some
hero for announcing to the nation that EMILY sort of club.
site's been in therapy. But the hoopla ACHENBAUM The real deal is not something you
she's creating in Washington - like lAMKND IN brag about on the phone or toss into
the recent conference on mental T'HiE R. hjal:i conversation because it makes you
health she spearheaded - is good for sound like you actually have something
the greater cause. going on in your otherwise boring, undramatic
The majority of us get into funks that stretch life. Saying you're in therapy doesn't make you
on for a few weeks, maybe even a few months, deep.
during which our life seems pretty out of con- Real mental illness is debilitating. It's a stig-
trol and miserable - relationships on the fritz, ma. It's a piece of information that can damage
GPA going down the tubes, feeling generally your credibility in the eyes of co-workers and
unhappy. peers. It's often a life-long condition that
You know what? Life blows sometimes. But requires treatment, not is "helped" from it.
this does not mean you have a chemical imbal- And the posers cheapen the concept of what
ance or are unable to pull through a rough patch actually suffering from a mental illness is like.
without downing soise Prozac. Feeling hopeless So listen to your Tori Amos, read old love letters
and overwhelsed does ot msean you need to be and cry into youdr pillow.
hospitalized for suicidal soghts. Hits dot' go dragging yourself o a psychol-
I know pope who sarch over o their do- ogis or a pharnacis. If you really need he help
tors to get a prescription for an anti-depressant they can provide, they have a way of finding
after self-diagnosing themselves with "clinical you.
depression" and honestly believe that they need - Emily Achenbauscas n be reached over
to be on some sort of medication. e-mail at emiltlsa@mich.eu.
Society must reevaluate role of higher education
T here are very few good reasons to own a tele- noble motives as getting to eat whatever they
vision without a VCR, but one of those rea- want, getting to stay up late, partying etc. At best,
sons is Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with the idea of Ferris being a place to continue one's
Jon Stewart," which is, in my opinion, one of the education was marginalized.
only shows on television with intelligent or witty Do the types of students Ferris seems to be
writers. Fellow fans of the show will remember looking for sound like they seek knowledge in
Stewar's interview with Natalie Portman a few order to enrich their lives? Do these people sound
days back when Stewart sarcastically like they'll make any effort to retain
remarked that he attended DeVry - as what they've learned after they've taken
in the trade school that advertises in the 'a test? Somehow I doubt it. The phe-
middle of the day next to personal nomenon seems to be relatively com-
injury lawyers. mon. If learning was a student's last pri-
At the time, I found Stewart's com- ority, why would they want to continue
ment pretty funny, but the more I their education? Because they believe,
thought about it, the more I realized and rightly to a certain extent, that a col-
that it demonstrates a destructive bias lege education is the only route to finan-
that has led to some serious problems in vial security down the road.
higher education. High school can no longer adequate-
College is no longer an option, if NICK ly prepare people to function success-
one hopes to have a good shot at mak- WOOMER fully in the world. Higher education
ing a decent livinig - or so people 'iA - Iin ) can, but is it the only path towards mon-
think. As this notion spreads through TEI Y M uVV v, etary success? Certainly not. It seems to
the collective consciousness of me that a lot of peoples' time could be
America, enrollment in community colleges and saved if we'd only rethink our attitude towards
unselective colleges and universities increases. technical and business schools. Oftentimes, skills
As snobby as it may sound, society has built a like drafting and employee management do not
network of unremarkable institutions to satisfy require four years to learn, and yet millions of
the needs of a population that is convinced high- families are struggling to send their children to
er education is the only way to a well-paying four-year institutions so that they can learn the
career. skills necessary to lead a financially secure life.
There is little doubt in my mind that the vast People need to lose this romantic vision of a
majority of students enrolled in the nation's col- well-rounded, populace of semi-intellectuals and
leges and universities are there for two reasons - get practical. There are plenty of people who have
getting inebriated and better career opportunities no desire to learn anything that has no clear prac-
in the future. The notion that education should be tical applications and this is fine. Everyone
sought for its own sake is fading would be better served if we de-stigmatized tech-
This is evidenced by the way some institu- nical and vocational schools and allocated more
tions need to advertise. This year, Ferris State public money in that direction rather than throw-
University for example, placed inserts in high ing it away on some misguided utopian fantasy.
school newspapers across the state. The adver- - Nick boimer can be reached oner e-mail
tisements seemed to pander to seniors wyith such at nWmsoomer@sum/ich.edu.
* *% p' S ' S 5E
""N"
- T7
i
____________ 1