'High time' to remove 'illegals' I simply don't understand it. In the March 19 article "Workers' rights group pickets Travis County Jail," the protesters carried a sign extolling and seeking the virtues of "dignity, justice and equality." What is dignified about violating a nation's sovereignty? What is just about Americans who are forced out of jobs because companies can pay illegals less and reduce their overhead? And equality - well, I wonder sometimes myself where this one has gone. Giving in-state tuition to illegals sounds anything but equal. I applaud the Travis County Sheriff's Department for finally taking progressive steps to remove Austin from the long list of sanctuary cities in the U.S. It is high time that the rule of law be respected and followed. I sympathize with hard-working Latino families who are seeking better lives, but their work ethic and circumstances don't excuse their unlawful entry into our country. Edward C. Oden IV Government sophomore Article Reference Link
Advice from the chief Amid the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings and the recent events at Northern Illinois University, many people have sought me out for advice. Although everyone's individual worries and personal connections to these incidents vary, I always hear one unwavering question: "How can we prevent something like this from happening at UT?"
My honest answer is that police efforts only go so far, so it will ultimately be the 67,000-plus students, faculty and staff of this campus who make a difference in preventing a tragedy. Prevention depends on every member of our community remaining alert and reporting any concern, whether it be a sudden change in a friend's temperament, a troubling e-mail from a classmate or an alarming statement heard from a stranger in passing.
I urge you to report these issues to the Behavior Concerns Advice Line anytime at (512) 232-5050. People too often come forward after tragedies and say they saw warning signs but never thought to speak up. They say, "I wonder what would have happened if I reported that strange e-mail," or "Man, I wonder if I could have prevented this from taking place." I don't want a single member of our community left wondering these things.
The advice line was designed in the summer of 2007 specifically to provide a secure, confidential sounding board for the safety concerns of our community, and it is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Even if there is not a safety issue, professionals can help find support or services for students, staff or faculty members of concern. You should never hesitate to call, because we'd rather look into 1,000 concerns that turn out being benign than find ourselves saying, "I wonder what would have happened if ... "
Too many great things take place at UT for anyone to have to worry about safety all the time, and I want to reassure everyone that UTPD is trained and fully equipped to react to incidents on campus. I hope every call to the Behavior Concerns Advice Line will make UT more secure and prevent police from ever having to respond to a tragedy. After all, the most powerful tools we all share at UT are information and knowledge, and I encourage everyone to use that power each day to help keep our community safe. Robert Dahlstrom UTPD chief of police
A method to the Madness The name "March Madness" is genius, because that's exactly what the NCAA tourney brings to fans around the country. Every year, I , along with countless other hoop-heads, am subjected to a moral dilemma: whether to make the "smart" picks or the "heart" picks. To me, there are certain teams that have no chance whatsoever of advancing on my bracket, no matter how high their seed is, while others are immediately fast-forwarded to the Sweet.
Take this year, for example: I'm sure most of you have North Carolina going to the Elite 8, at least, but my hatred for the Tar Heels has them exiting to Indiana in the second round. Meanwhile, Duke, who is admittedly suspect, is Elite 8-bound. I also have the Aggies and Sooners taking first round exits for no good reason at all.
As you might have guessed, I am everyone's dream opponent in the many Facebook bracket groups, supported by the 20 or so bracket groups I am a part of, because I am a perennial whipping boy for hoop-heads, casual fans, women who hate the sport but do brackets to beat their bragging boyfriends, soccer fans and people who pick winners based on mascots. On top of that, I am guaranteed to lose at least $50 every year on prideful gambling. I'm hoping that one of these days my pride will subside, and I will make picks that actually make sense, triumphing over my opponents like a 16 over a 1 seed. Until then? Duke and Texas are automatic final four candidates every year - and down with the Tar Heels. Let the Madness begin. TJ Finley University Interscholastic League
Checking the facts In reading "Earnest hypocrisy," (The Firing Line, March 18), I was agreeing with Mark Phillips.
1. No "islamo-fascists" in antebellum Iraq - check.
2. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are where most "islamo-fascists" live - check.
3. Iran is more powerful because of the Iraq war - check, check.
But then he went on this tear against Christians, like the author of the op-ed he was critiquing. There are two problems with that: First, perhaps I am just not as well-informed as he is, but the op-ed did not even mention Christianity, or whether its author was a Christian, much less whether he was a "conservative fundamental Christian," as he called him. Certainly, his arguments did not require Christian belief. So, that seemed to miss the mark. Secondly, his characterization of Christianity was way off-base. Comparing theologically-conservative Christianity with theologically-conservative Islam might offer some fruit, but comparing conservative Christians with "islamofascists" does great injustice to those of us that call ourselves Christians. I worship the prince of peace, not the god of suicide-bombers. In fact, I've never even heard of a suicide bomber who was understood to be a Christian, or even claimed to be a Christian. Please, spare us the moral equivalence, and go bury your broad brush. Chris Erickson UT alum General Secretary Christian Democratic Union
From a student veteran The Iraq war started when I was a high school senior. I had just joined the National Guard and was pretty sure that I'd be going to Iraq. People assured me it would be just like '91, and we would be out in a couple of months. This, of course, was not the case. A year and a half later, I was conducting patrols, checkpoints and convoy security operations in central Iraq. I had my share of close calls, but was luckily never injured. My company, Strategic Studies Group, lost one man, Tommy Folks, to a roadside bomb.
I'm proud of my service and what we accomplished, but I'm sick and tired of is the liberal left using veterans as pawns in their struggle for power. Were mistakes and miscalculations made during this war? Absolutely. But stop trying to portray us as victims of Bush's war. We signed up for this job. While you were taking bong hits and doing keg stands, we were dodging improvised explosive devices and sniper rounds. We don't need your sympathy. We can kvetch all day about the war's failures. But as my platoon sergeant once told me, stop stating the problem, and come up with solutions. Samuel J. Ellison Middle Eastern studies junior
Copyright article undermines students' intelligence In Thursday's article on note-sharing Web sites ("Student sites may violate UT rules," March 20), Dean of Students Soncia Reagins-Lilly misinformed students and demonstrated an astonishingly poor understanding of copyright law.
The U.S. copyright office states, "Copyright protects 'original works of authorship' that are fixed in a tangible form of expression." No one could ever hope to copyright "the knowledge that is being imposed and imparted upon students." The dean also fails to mention the doctrine of fair use, which is vital to the academic world. Copyright law says "the fair use of a copyrighted work ... for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching ... scholarship or research is not an infringement of copyright." Furthermore, the term "misappropriation of intellectual property" has no legal meaning. The fact that the dean sought to appeal to a legal doctrine on an ethical matter shows a growing willingness of organizations to assert ownership in areas where it'd previously be unimaginable. Plagiarism, unauthorized collaboration and cheating are wrong, but not illegal.
Toree Roy's use of the phrase "may be infringing on copyright laws, according to UT scholastic rules" is nonsense. UT scholastic rules do not define what can be copyrighted or how copyrights can be infringed. This statement should either have been sourced to the dean or to a particular section. During a brief search of the University's rules, I was unable to find any section that could even possibly suggest this proposition. One does not infringe copyright law, one infringes another's copyright.
I fear that senseless intellectual property and copyright claims discourage innovation and discussion. We ought to encourage the exchange of ideas and academic discussion, not to try to own every idea we've ever had. Reagins-Lilly ought to apologize for and seek to clarify her remarks. Quinn Martindale UT law student Article Reference Link
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