SB 858 a bad idea all around

Oklahoma Senate Bill 858 is a bill intended to allow citizens to conceal weapons on college campuses.

Although advocates say the bill will allow concealed carry on college campuses but not inside classrooms, SB 858 raises more questions than it answers.

A study compiled by John Wood of Rose State College found in the U.S., from May 2007 to the present, concealed permit holders in the U.S have killed at least 282 individuals, nine of which were law officers.

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Healthcare reform needs more work

Despite the many useful reforms the recently passed healthcare bill includes, it is fundamentally flawed in that it forces individuals to buy and maintain insurance.

Of course, there are many arguments in favor of President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform.

Strong among them are the provisions to eliminate refusal of coverage for pre-existing conditions, and the provision allowing children to remain on their parents’ insurance up to age 26.

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Prof promotes award-winning poet

To the editor:

Poet Nathan Brown will read his work at OCCC from 12:30 to 1 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10, in Room 132 in the Visual and Performing Arts Center.

Nathan will also host a poetry writing workshop for any interested persons from 1 to 1:30 p.m. the same day.

Brown believes poetry “should be written to be understood and the message of a poem should be accessible to everybody.”

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Cubbyholes invite crime

As the new semester begins, familiar sights abound: cars fill the parking lot, students buzz through the hallways, and dozens of backpacks are left ripe for the stealing in front of the OCCC Bookstore.

For those of you who do not know, the bookstore forces students to abandon their backpacks near the cubbyholes in front of the store, where they are left out of the owner’s sight and unsecured.

While at least one campus security officer routinely prowls the bookstore aisles, bags containing everything from expensive textbooks to laptop computers go unwatched outside.

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Martin Luther King Jr. taught non violence, reader says

To the editor:

Martin Luther King Jr. was an amazing man and his contributions to the civil rights movement in America are not only phenomenal, but also are without parallel.

Deservingly, we celebrate his leadership, strength, and perseverance on his birthday every year. However, there is something missing from our celebration of Dr. King’s life.

It is this something that I have been trying to impart to my son and it is for this missing element of his message that my son and I marched in the MLK parade with the Oklahoma Center for Conscience (a group that defends conscientious objectors to war).

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