SECOND PLACE SUCCESS FLEECE PHILANTHROPY Eastern’s football team is now ranked second in the nation for both FCS Coach’s Polls. Page 8
Members of the Black Student Union made fleece blankets to donate to the community through One Stop Christmas. Page 3
Dai ly Eastern News
THE
WWW.DAILYEASTERNNEWS.COM
Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013
VOL. 98 | ISSUE 46
“TELL THE TRUTH AND DON’T BE AFRAID”
Administraton
‘Gun culture’ debate continues at panel By Robert Downen Administration Editor @DEN_NEWS Standing in front of a packed Lumpkin Hall auditorium Tuesday night in National Rifle Association garb, Donald. J. Huskey emphatically voiced his disdain for gun control and firearm regulation. Huskey hosts his own radio show out of his hometown of Effingham, yet he articulated a portion of his arguments in German—a gesture to the two panelists with who he was critiquing. As he continued, he was greeted with a mixture of applause and admonition—a trend that would continue for the remainder of the evening. The panel, which focused on gun control in Germany, Chicago and the United States, was hosted by Captain Franz Plueckthun of the Bavarian State Police as well as Michael Tentier, a consultant for the German BKA (FBI), among others. Plueckthun said he was surprised by the emotion that had enveloped the room so early in the discussion, noting that in Germany, gun violence was virtually nonexistent. After 33 years of service as a police officer and narcotics agent in Munich, he said he still is unconvinced that guns should be so freely carried, as they often are in America. Germany, he said, still has some of the strictest gun laws in the world— a consequence of the complete ban on weapons in the years following World War II and the collapse of the Nazi regime. His colleague, Tentier, said he agreed completely. “In Germany, we need a good reason to keep guns,” Tentier said. “Hunting and sport are OK, but you can’t just walk in, buy a gun because you think it is fun.” Hafeez Muhammad, a long-time resident and community activist in Chicago, spoke on the dangers of what he described as a “gun culture” in his hometown. He said the problem of gun violence
Jason Howell | The Daily Eastern Ne ws
Donald J. Huskey of Effingham poses a question to the panel during a gun forum on Monday in the Lumpkin Hall Auditorium. The event was moderated by professor Kevin Anderson and included representatives from Germany, a community activist from Chicago, and Lt. Brad Oyer of the Charleston Police Department.
in Chicago was a product of economic and social constraints that often encourage Chicago youth to join gangs or the drug trade, where violence is merely an occupational hazard. However, he also said simply regulating guns would not end the problem. More so, he said the city’s poor education system and the romanticization of weapons were the first hurdles to curbing the city’s violence. “I believe this is not something just unique to Chicago, however. It is an American culture, and we must do
"We’re not always going to agree. No one’s a good guy, and no one’s a bad guy." Kevin Anderson, political science professor something to change that,” he said to loud crowd applause. Ultimately, however, the idea of “gun culture” remained a point of contention throughout the night, reaching its most divisive point as one Eastern student questioned a claim that Chicagoans
were often responsible for violence in Charleston, voiced by a local resident. The crowd immediately broke into adamant dispute until Kevin Anderson, a political science professor and the event’s moderator, eventually regained control of the room.
Despite the overall tension of the event, Anderson was eventually able to unite many in the crowd. “We’re not always going to agree. No one’s a good guy, and no one’s a bad guy. But we must keep the conversation going, and we need to keep it civilized,” he said. “This is small potatoes to what America has gone through before.” Robert Downen can be reached at 581-2812 or at dennewsdesk@gmail.com.
C AMPUS
Organization to explore nonviolent revolutions By Rebecca Ayers Staff Reporter @DEN_News The Students for Peace and Justice organization will be examining nonviolent revolutions through a Nobel Peace Prize recipient’s work, which has been used in uprisings since 1989. The event will center on the film, “How to Start a Revolution” by Gene Sharp a Nobel Peace Prize recipient, and a panel discussion led by Eastern faculty. Charles Delman, a mathematics and computer sciences professor, Craig Eckert, department chair
for the sociology department, Chris Hanlon, an English professor and Jinhee Lee, a history professor will lead the discussion. “How to Start a Revolution” will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Phipps Lecture Hall of the Physical Science Building. Ryan Freer, the chairman of Students for Peace and Justice, said the documentary highlights 198 nonviolent weapons “It follows the story of Dr. Gene Sharp, his book on how to have a non-violent protest and immense influence of it through the past several decades,” Freer said. The panel discussion will focus on
promoting nonviolent methods to bring political change. Freer said the group is about educating people on events and circumstances in the world. “We try and teach human rights and what is going on in the world, we try and get students to think,” Freer said. The Students for Peace and Justice group is based out of the Newman Catholic Center. The group makes an effort to devote itself to specific causes annually, Freer said. Last year, the groups focused on guaranteeing the clothing sold at the University Bookstore in the Martin
Luther King Jr. University Union was made in establishments with suitable working conditions for its employees. Students for Peace and Justice worked with Worker Rights Consortium, an independent labor rights monitoring organization that focuses on protecting the rights of workers who make apparel and other products. The group additionally worked with the Fair Labor association and monitoring groups to achieve this cause. The organization’s largest project is Global Justice Week. This series of events takes place in the spring. Ev-
ery day during the week, the group focuses on a different topic. These topics included human trafficking, fair trade, land mine conditions, international campaigns and immigration. A more recognized event hosted by the Students for Peace and Justice group is the Fair Trade Sale, which will take place in November. The Students for Peace and Justice Group meets at 8:00 p.m. every Thursday in the Newman Catholic Center. Rebecca Ayers can be reached at 581-2812 or dennewsdesk@gmail.com.