4 -- The Michigan Daily -- Tuesday, May 4, 1999 Edited and managed by EMILY ACHENBAUM NICK WOOMER students at the + Editor in Chief Editorial Page Editor University of Michigan Unless otherwise noted, Unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the 420 Maynard Street majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters and Ann Arbor, MI 48109 cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan taily. Two weeks ago, 18 year-old Eric Harris and 17 year-old Dylan Klebold walked into their high school in Littleton, Colo. and opened fire. They did not stop until 13 of their fellow stu- dents and teachers were dead, then turn- ing their guns on themselves. In the wake of a tragedy like Littleton, Americans are left to wonder what steps can be taken to prevent something simi- lar to this from ever happening again in the future. Although there is no simple answer, one thing is certain: without guns, the tragedy in Littleton would never have occurred. The federal government needs to adopt stricter gun control measures. In response to gun control sentiment, the pro-gun lobby often responds with the familiar phrase "Guns don't kill peo- ple. People kill people." While this is certainly true, it is also true that a person without a gun is significantly less dan- gerous than a person with a gun. In Common sense answer Gun control necessary to prevent tragedies 1992, Japan, a country possessing some of the world's strictest gun laws, report- ed 60 deaths from homicides involving firearms. In the same year, the United States reported 17,971 total gun-related homicides. Take away the guns to allevi- ate danger-it is that simple. Pro-gun lobbyists will also argue that any gun-control legislation is a shame- less violation of the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guaran- tees the right to own firearms. But while the right of Americans to bear arms is certainly ingrained in the Bill of Rights, the current interpretation of what the founding fathers intended is brought to question after a tragedy like Littleton. In drafting the Constitution, the framers included the Second Amendment in part to ensure the safety of Americans against rebel armies. Now the amend- ment's interpretation results in high- school kids bringing semi-automatic weapons to school. While abolishing the right of Americans to bear arms is not likely a constitutionally viable option, lawmakers can still make them reason- ably difficult to obtain. In drafting legislation to restrict gun availability, lawmakers can start by abol- ishing the sale of guns at local family stores. Many argue that gun control will not work because anyone who searches hard enough for as gun can find one. But when guns are easily available they become appealing not just for those who really want a gun, but to those who have only a mild curiosity. Moving guns out of small local stores will cause buyers to think twice before trying to purchase a firearm. Such policies may result int saved life. After the Littleton shooting had taken place, National Rifle Association presi- dent Charlton Heston said to Newsweek "If there had been even one armed guard in the school, he could have saved a lot of lives and perhaps ended the whole thing instantly." Heston was apparently unaware tht there was in fact an armed guard in the school at the time of the shootings, at.J the guard was unable to stop the ma sacre. The answer is not more guns, but fewer guns. Close to 40,000 Americans die each year from gunfire. If govern- ment begins to keep weaponry out of the hands of people who pose a threat to society, much of the danger can be alle- viated. Wrong solution Drug testing is not the cure for poverty Hacked out ITD must carefully analyze its weaknesses I n less than four years, approximately 94,000 Michigan families could see their right to privacy systematically vio- lated by their state government solely because of their socioeconomic status. Last Wednesday, Gov. John Engler signed a bill that would require at least three pilot sites around the state to administer drug tests to all individuals applying for public assistance. Current recipients will be tested when they come up for their annual reviews. Anyone refusing treatment faces the loss of all benefits. If the program proves success- ful and economical, it will be enacted statewide after April 1, 2003. The sign- ing occurred on the same day that U.S. Senator Spencer Abraham, (R-Mich.) introduced legislation that would give federal assistance to states with, that adopt similar programs. Despite lofty claims by proponents of drug testing that such policies offer a simple solution to the financial woes that lie at the heart of many families' dependence on public assistance, such programs are ultimately unnecessary and ineffective as well as blatant viola- tions of recipients' privacy rights. In order to garner popular support for drug screening policies, advocates paint lucid pictures of a welfare population wasting away and shackled down by drug addiction. Because traces of drugs like cocaine only remain in the body for a two to three days, most state-adminis- tered drug tests will pass over those most in need of help. Meanwhile, mil- lions of dollars will be spent on costly testing procedures and rehabilitation programs in order to find and treat users of relatively benign drugs such as mari- juana. Lawmakers must be wary of suc- cumbing to the stereotype-laden argu- ments employed by many pursuing anti- welfare agendas. The most common wel- fare recipients continue to be single white women with one or two children who are eager for work. Legislators would do better to spend tax dollars on programs that enable those on public assistance to find and take jobs that will enable them to adequately provide for their families. Rather than stigmatizing the poor and searching for ways to force them off the welfare rolls, state govern- ments should look into empowering solutions like helping recipients develop employable skills, providing transporta- tion or giving employers incentives to hire welfare recipients. Popular stereotypes have not only played a role in bad policy decisions, but they have also contributed to the senti- ment that one forfeits fundamental rights upon receiving public assistance. While it has been deemed legal for employers to give drug tests to their employees-and schools the right to do the same with athletes-individuals choose to be employed by a particular entity or to participate in athletics. Conversely, people do not choose to live in poverty with the embarrassment of being on public assistance. The principle behind welfare is to allow those in the midst of severe financial crises' to live with the bare necessities of modern exis- tence. It may be a shrewd political move to play off of common misconceptions sur- rounding welfare recipients. Enacting costly, ineffective legislation that affects nothing at best and harms many in a worst cast scenario is unconscionable- N umerous Information Technology Division posters across campus read "passwords are like underwear." Yet despite these warnings, 1,500 user pass- words were compromised during the last week of winter semester, as the ITD com- puter system was hacked into by an unknown intruder. Although a small number of students, faculty and staff were affected, this is the second time in a month where ITD computer systems have been intruded upon, the first being the recent Michigan Student Assembly elec- tions. The case has been forwarded to the Department of Public Safety and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, but as the summer sets in, ITD should use this time to carry out a complete evaluation of their system, as many students have returned home. ITD should do all it can to ensure that students are not going to be affected by the recent breach when they return to the University in September. Earlier in the month, a lot of hassle and chaos was caused during MSA elec- tions when around 100 students' accounts were cracked. This time 1,500 user pass- words were compromised -- a potential of 20,000 users could have been affected. The users were signed on to the login ser- vice during the period of active attack. The cause for this attack has not yet been identified. According to Virginia Rezmierski, Director of the Office of Policy Development and Education for the Chief Information Office, having an insufficient number of system analysts on duty made the network more vulnerable to electronic penetration. Whether or not this is the root of the problem, it high- lights the simple fact that ITD systems are not safe, and measures must be taken to ensure that the network is secure enough to prevent any future attacks. The ITD acted swiftly and sent out e- mails notifying the affected people to change their passwords. With some stu- dents away for the summer, ITD will reset their passwords today to prevent damage done by the intruder. ITD should be coA mended for acting swiftly before the intruder carried out any significant dam- age. In the age of information technology, many students and faculty rely on com- puters for personal data storage and com- munication. To avoid intrusion upon their important information, all students should regularly change their passwords. Services such as Wolverine Acc4, which contains grades and personal schedule information, could be accessed and changed without the knowledge of the user. Many students who rely on remote hard disk space to store their documents after the recent phase-out of disk drives could have important documents compro- mised or even destroyed. With over 30,000 users using the computer system at the University during the school yer, a large amount of information is stc on the network. It is vital for ITD to ensure that the system is as secure as pos- sible. The prevalence of recent security breaches in recent weeks can not be ignored. While neither of these detected attacks resulted in serious, long-term problems for the Universtiy community, the potential for an information cataso- phe still looms. ITD must spend the sh- mer months exploring ways to beef up network security in order to preserve the integrity of campus computer systems.