Volume 2.
Issue 1.
The Falcon
A Keen Eye For News
IN THIS
ISSUE
Monday, January 14th, 2012
The Falcon is back for 2013
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College Night News Popular superhero’s most famous series cancelled page 3 page 2
Ribbon Hanging & featured spotlight
Do you know the defi n i t i o n of i n sani t y? CAMPUS
CROSS
Resonate Worship (BCM) January 15, 8pm –9pm BCM Dark Knight Rises on Big Screen January 16, 6:00pm–8:30pm Anna Irvin SGA Exec. Meeting January 16, 3:30pm–4:30pm SGA conference room Faculty Senate Mtg. January 18, 2pm – 2pm Merrill Rm NPC Sorority Retreat January 19, 10:00am–4:30pm Comer Auditorium & Farmer Hall
Spectrum Meeting January 21, 7pm – 8pm Morgan 203
Submit announcements facebook.com/ thefalconmontevallo
by Andrew Meechum Associate Editor “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” - Albert Einstein The shooting rampage by a disturbed young man in Newtown, Connecticut one month ago today has stirred loud, and often heated, debates across the country on gun control, mental health and school safety. How about we take a few minutes and examine these issues. Gun Control On the topic of gun control let’s first look at the Second Amendment to The Constitution: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,
shall not be infringed. Anti-gun advocates are often quick to argue the Second Amendment applies to Militias and doesn’t imply every citizen has a right to bear arms, especially in large quantities. If we step back and look at how the amendment was written, and take into account that English as a language has evolved over time, we can see that this argument is invalid. The founders spent a great deal of time, and experimented with numerous layouts, in an effort to make the amendment as concise and clear as possible. In the Annals of Congress we can see that James Madison’s original draft began, “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” After several rewrites the 1st Congress settled on the wording we see in the Bill of Rights today. However, the language stating the people’s right to bear arms and the govern-
ment’s inability to infringe on those rights remains to this day as a testament to how impassioned the founders were about this topic. If we look at the grammar of the Second Amendment we can see that the clause about militias and the clause about the rights of the people are separated by the second comma. This fact is supported by the Supreme Court in their landmark decision in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008). Given that ruling, the Second Amendment could be read as two separate ideas: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, shall not be infringed.” “The right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.” Should anyone look closely enough at The Constitution they would soon realize the Second Amendment is the only right we the people have that gives us (the people)
the power to protect all of our other rights from those who would take them from us (tyrannical government). Recently, Stanislav Mishin, a contributor to Russia’s Pravda newspaper and a witness to a country with little to no gun rights wrote, “For those of us fighting for our traditional rights, the US 2nd Amendment is a rare light in an ever darkening room. Governments will use the excuse of trying to protect the people from maniacs and crime, but [in] reality, it is the bureaucrats protecting their power and position.” Mental Health There is no doubt we have a mental health crisis in this country. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that one in four people in America have a mental health issue. But what classifies as a mental health issue and how will tying mental health to the purchase of firearms be effective? The Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition, (DSMIV), is widely accepted as the leading encyclopedia of mental disorder diagnosis. Mental health professionals, insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies as well as legislators regularly use the DSM-IV. The DSM-IV contains over 300 different types of mental illnesses. Should legislation pass tying mental illness to whether someone can own a gun pass, it is quite possible that nearly all of us would be stripped of our arms. For example, if a new mother battles with a particularly bad case of postpartum depression she may meet DSMIV criteria for having a “mental illness”. While postpartum depression is generally a temporary and treatable issue, new legislation will invariably be too vague in its meaning or interpretation that it could be used to disarm mothers and strip them of their constitutional rights. continued page 5
The Falcon guide to happiness: an introduction
by Kyle Jones Editor-In-Chief
There are many things in this world that we believe bring us happiness, and for each person those things differ, whether they be material, physical or emotional. For our parents; money, job security or their children’s happiness are assumedly what may make them happy. For those of us ranging from 18-23 what really makes us happy? For that mat-
ter, what is happiness and how do we achieve it? With happiness being defined as “a state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy” we get a sense that it is an easy thing to obtain, and something we’ve all experienced, but is it so simple? With 44 percent of American college students reporting feeling symptoms of depression, how do we separate what makes us happy and what is simply distracting us from our issues or life in general. In the coming weeks we will be exploring what makes our generation happy, and what actually brings us true happiness. Is happiness a moment or object
that brings us joy for a short amount of time or is it a broader and deeper term and state of being we must work to achieve and once found cultivate into a permanent state of mind? In Buddhism, two definitions for happiness are provided. One of these is in relation to an object and the other is in regards to the state of mind of the feeling itself. The first defines happiness as the experiencing of something in a satisfying manner, based on believing that it is of benefit to ourselves, whether or not it actually is.The second defines happiness as that feeling which, when it has ended, we wish to meet with it once more. In this series we will explore and
experiment with both aspects, exploring topics of happiness ranging from material things to intrapersonal things
like love/relationships, like to know what makes money, drugs, tech- you happy. Let us know nology, health, music, via facebook or twitter. success and family. For now we’d
The Falcon
news
Monday, January 14th, 2012
Page Two
“There can be no higher law in journalism than to tell the truth and to shame the devil.” -Walter Lippmann
One coin to bind them Amazing Spider-Man: the end of an era by Andrew Meechum Associate Editor
by Matt Lord Staff Writer
After 50 years of publication and more then than 140 million copies sold, Amazing Spider-Man has been canceled. Created in 1962 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Spider-man was an instant success for Marvel. Peter Parker, the nerdy teenager turned costumed hero, grew to become one of Marvel's most loved, and marketable characters. Lee’s idea for the character of Peter Parker as a teenage superhero had some resistance at first. It was thought to be a bad idea by Martin Goodman who ran the company at the time. Amazing Fantasy was about to be canceled so they put SpiderMan’s debut in Issue 15 of the title. It became an instant hit with fans. Peter Parker and his alter ego SpiderMan grew to become an American icon. In November of last year he got his own balloon in the Macy’s Day parade. Dan Slott, a fan favorite writer who headlined the decision to cancel the title, has received both support and outrage from fans for the decision. Dan Slott who has been with the title for almost a 100 issues has said, “Every now and then, you have to shake it up.” The last issue topped the charts as the most sold comic book of December. With the title Marvel beat DC sales margins for December. Amazing Spider-Man Issue 700 was the fourth best sold comic of 2012, selling more than 300,000 copies in its first printing. Dan Slott has said that the new title will be much darker
stating, “The one thing that does not go with this Spider-Man is the term 'Friendly neighborhood.' No. That's gone.” What does that mean for the title? Will fans accept the change? Lee’s 90th birthday fell on the week of the cancellation causing him to quip, “That’s one helluva birthday present for me.” Lee still supports the company and has a positive outlook on the future of his creation. Others are not so supportive of the decision even sending death threats. Slott received several threats over Facebook and Twitter once information was leaked about the issue. Slott took the threats very seriously taking a zero-tolerance policy, “From now on, they ALL get reported”. One fan Russ Bullingate of comicbook.com had this to say about the ending, “It’s still not a worthy finale for a character like Peter. And there’s no way to get around it–that’s sloppy.” One fan posted on a video on CNN’s website taking the title Superior Spider-man and calling it Inferior to illustrate his discontent. The outraged fan called the idea ridiculous. Kevin Smith, famed director and fanboy, said in an interview that, "Even if Dan Slott had done twenty pages of Peter Parker being gutted by Doc Ock, Doc Ock just playing in his guts and stuff, trust me, in one year's time Peter Parker will be Spider-Man again.”
In an effort to make an end run around debt ceiling talks and addressing government spending the idea of a $1 trillion coin was bandied about Washington D.C. last week. The idea, proposed by Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-NY, would call for the Department of the Treasury to mint a platinum coin that would then be deposited with the Federal Reserve Bank. If this idea sounds absurd to you, you’re not alone.
Given how the relationship between the Federal Reserve and the Treasury works, it begs the question, how could anyone in Washington have taken this idea seriously? Every dollar and penny the Treasury produces is worthless. That is until it is deposited into the Federal Reserve Bank system. The Fed, as it is more commonly known, “holds” all of the United State’s money and acts as our nations bank.
When the government needs to access the money they printed/ minted they call the Fed for a release of funds. The Fed then loans the government’s money back to them, at interest. Economically speaking, minting the trillion-dollar coin would have similar effects on the economy as raising the debt ceiling. Perhaps the absurdity of having such a coin in circulation was the deciding factor in nixing the proposal altogether.
Democrats and the Obama Administration are seeking to raise the debt ceiling so government spending can continue unabated. Republicans are pushing to cut spending in lieu of raising the ceiling The White House and the Treasury have ruled out the idea as a reasoned response to debt ceiling talks. The takeaway from this -- many in Washington still believe there’s no such thing as a stupid question or a bad idea.
Calling back
The Replacements the band reuniting surfaced with Tommy Stinson nearly joining Paul Westerberg The Replace- on tour in 2002. In ments, the seminal 2006, a best-of compi1980’s pop-punk band, lation was released by have partially re- Rhino Records, with formed to release an two new tracks reEP of covers to raise corded by the survivmoney for former gui- ing original members tarist Slim Dunlap. and session musicians. In Feb The Replacements started in ruary of 2012, Slim suffered a 1979 in St. Paul, Min- Dunlap nesota. Singer Paul stroke, causing a “left Westerberg was the vertebral artery dissecband’s primary song- tion and a right subwriter and backing gui- arachnoid hemorrhage”, tarist. Brothers Tommy according to his wife and Bob Stinson played Chrissie in a Facebook bass and lead gui- post about his conditar respectively, with tion. She mentioned that Chris Mars on drums. Dunlap would have to The band released four go through “some serialbums before Bob ous rehab,” and that the Stinson was fired and right side of Dunlap’s later replaced with Slim body was paralyzed. In June, Dunlap for their 1987 Spin reported that tour. The band went on to release two more Westerberg and Stinalbums, finally dis- son would reunite to banding in 1990. Bob record a seven inch Stinson died of organ on Dunlap’s behalf. failure in 1995, after The following Octoyears of battling drug ber a report from Rolland alcohol addiction. ing Stone announced Throughout a full Replacements the 2000’s, rumors of benefit EP for Dunlap. by Reed Strength Arts & Culture Editor
According to the article, Dunlap urged Westerberg to reform the band, with Westerberg saying “When I mentioned this, it seemed like something he really wanted to happen. ‘You guys get together,' he said in a whisper. ‘Go play a song.’” Tommy Stinson and Westerberg got together in September to record four covers, including two Dunlap originals. We s t erberg originally told Rolling Stone that drummer Chris Mars, “didn’t want any part this.” However, it was recently revealed that the cover art of the EP was done by Mars. In addition, Mars covered Dunlap’s “Radio Hook Word Hit” by himself, and will be featured on the EP as well. The Replacements’ former manager, Peter Jesperson, now the Vice President of New West Records tells The Minneapolis Star Tribune that the EP will be auctioned off January 15.
Two hundred and fifty copies of the EP will be pressed on ten inch vinyl, and are scheduled to be auctioned off “via the ‘Songs For Slim’ website on eBay,” reports The Tribune. All the proceeds raised from the auction will go towards Slim Dunlap’s medical expenses. In addition to the limited ten inch vinyl version of the EP, The Tribune reports that New West Records, “will release the EP to radio outlets and digital service providers, and then print up standard vinyl editions for mass distribution….. within a month’s time.” We s te rberg told Rolling Stone that he was “closer” to a full blown Replacements reunion “than [he] was two years ago,” saying he and Stinson, “still rock like murder.” "After playing with Tommy last week, I was thinking, 'All right, let's crank it up and knock out a record like this,’” Westerberg claimed.
The Falcon
Monday, January 14th, 2012
Page Three
College Night13’ Ribbon hanging kicks off the homecoming season by Clarke Stackhouse Staff Writer
Although Christmas has ended and the new year has come, one of the most wonderful times of the year is here. College night officially started last Sunday with the ribbon hanging. Many a mighty moo was heard at the beginning of the night as the cheers welcomed in the season. As the cheers died down the leaders of both sides shook hands and the ribbon hanging commenced. People ran across the quad in a flash of purple and gold, as the trees sprouted colors of spirit. As the night came to a close almost every tree on the quad and the front of Farmer Hall were covered in purple and gold, marking the beginning of the college night. A season full of pride, spirit, and much exhaustion is to come. In my eyes this is the the year of Purple Victory.
Toler takes the lead
by Neal Embry Staff Writer Sean Toler’s first stint as conductor of the Gold Side orchestra came last year, in a most unexpected way. A week before cue to cue, Lorilyn Thompson, the thenconductor, had to have a major surgery, and Toler, at the time serving as music manager, was asked to step up and lead in her absence. The Gold Side won their second consecutive College Night, and this year, Toler, a 22 year-old MusicVoice major, was asked to lead once again as the conductor of the
Gold Side Orchestra. In his freshmen year, Toler got involved after his friends asked him to come to the orchestra rehearsals. He immediately became a Gold. Now, as a senior, he has the chance to bring new freshmen into the Gold family. “I’m excited about the new members we’ve added to the orchestra this year. Many of them I know because of the freshmen Bible study at the BCM (Baptist Campus Ministries). I know I can depend on them,” Toler said. College Night can certainly strain relationships with fellow Gold Side members, and although it’s impossible to become close with everybody, Toler says he has a great connection with his orchestra. “I’m not always the closest with some of the cabinet members,
mostly because I don’t know them as well,” Toler said. “When it comes to the orchestra members, they’re the people I get used to and spend the most time with. Last year, some orchestra members, even some from Purple Side, sat at Huddle House until three in the morning just talking,” Toler said. In the small amount of free time they get, Toler says the members usually hang out together, go to McDonald’s or watch a movie at someone’s house while waiting for rehearsal to start. During his first two years on campus, Gold Side lost. However, the unity and the fun experience are what kept Toler around, his thumbs up all the while. “I’m not in it just to win. I enjoy College Night for the fun and the experi-
ence, for the unity that it provides. I want us to do a good job and be proud of it,” Toler said. On a typical day, Toler helps out the composer with orchestrating or helping him arrange music. He leads rehearsals, and gets everything ready before everyone arrives, working behind the scenes. He also helps facilitate Gold Buddies, where each Gold Side member gives anonymous gifts to another member. “I am intensely extroverted, and I use that to my advantage and try to downplay the disadvantages as much as possible. I have to be active about asking if someone needs help with anything. I am fairly stubborn, which can be useful for a conductor,” Toler said about his leadership style. For Toler, College Night comes behind
his relationship with God, school, family, and church, along with his work at the BCM. “I am heavily involved at the BCM. Last year, I was the BCM president. The BCM is a nationwide organization, currently on 839 campuses nationwide. Our goal is to reach the campus for
Christ through events, community service projects and general outreach and evangelism,” Toler explained. While many things come before College Night in Sean Toler’s life, there’s no doubt, come February, his thumbs will be pointing to the sky hoping for another GV.
The Falcon
&culture
arts
Page Four
Monday, January 14th, 2012
Really loud burgers and squares
by Reed Strength Arts & Culture Editor Students were greeted with a jolt of punk energy Friday night when Really Loud Hamburgers and Nowhere Squares stopped by Eclipse Coffee and Books electrified the crowd to a frenzy. Really Loud Hamburgers were an uncomplicated band in the best ways possible. Their songs lasted mere minutes, and though the banging power chords could start to sound the same, they led the energetic crowd to dance. While dancing at an Eclipse show is never a rare thing, this crowd was ready to shimmy, shake and gyrate to what the ‘Burgers had to the dish out. Not that the band paid much attention. While the group’s set consisted of lightning quick punk rumblers that roared with authority, the subject matter of their songs was a throwback to the simple musings of The Ramones. Most of the songs revolved around negativity about one thing or another. One included details of how much the singer/guitarist hated his “wizard Dad”. Another was apparently about meeting actor Nicholas Cage in a grocery store, suspiciously titled “My Metaphysical Shotgun”. “I don’t wanna…” was a common lyric throughout the band’s set, and each song was counted off with a shouted “ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR!” from
the drummer. There were no flashy solos or slow burning anthems. To RLHB, there was only so much time to talk about what bothered them, and they were gonna have a good time ranting about it. University of Montevallo alums Nowhere Squares played a weirder strain of punk rock. In a recent interview with AL.com, they dubbed themselves as “nerdcore”. Each member had a collared shirt, with drummer Spencer Shoults and singer/ keyboardist Paul Wilm going a step beyond and adorning a tie and bow tie respectively. As the band plugged in, Eclipse’s projector was brought to life to show a psychedelic slide show while the band played. “Nowhere Squares-ACTIVATE” read the main menu. If the crowd was warm for RLHB, then they were downright hot for Nowhere Squares. It was obvious that these guys were a crowd favorite, as their songs received fan shouts and even some participation. During one song, a fan assisted bassist Andy Sizemore on his chorus bits, jumping to and from the microphone as the part came up. Paul Wilm was a sight to behold. He colored the music with his herky-jerky dance moves, at one point diving into a full blown “Monkey”, his outstretched arms and head hammering up and down to the beat. While Wilm was all too happy
to dance with himself, he would venture to the front of the crowd to bark at and groove with the patrons, looking each person in the eye. Wilm would tease the crowd with small keyboard pings, but the real sonic force came from guitarist Justin Cordes. His Gibson SG played hard gritty power chords that drove the songs and gave the band their punk edge. Wilm’s voice acted as the foil to this, his puny whine flavoring the music with teenage angst, despite the band’s older age and alumni status. As the band wound down their set, Wilm was drenched in sweat, as was the crowd. He thanked Eclipse and praised RLHB. Nowhere Squares new album, “Let’s Not” is available to buy digitally on their bandcamp page, and will see a cassette release on local Montevallo label “Happenin Records” in February.
Photos: Reed Strength
Paul Wilm of Nowhere Squares
Really Loud Hamburgers
Album Review: Yo La Tengo-“Fade” by Reed Strength Arts & Culture Editor To be a band as long standing as Yo La Tengo is quite a feat. Considering the fates of a lot of their early indie rock counterparts, the fact that the band has survived this long with nary a break up or foreboding “indefinite hiatus” also speaks to how well the three members can communicate and the synergy between them. “Fade”, the band’s thirteenth studio album, has a cover adorned with a large, healthy mangrove tree. The band can be seen under the monolith, as it basks in saturated color. The tree could be a metaphor for the band and the massive body of work they’ve pro-
duced, with its healthy shades speaking of how strong Yo La Tengo are in their musical ability and relevance. Album opener “Ohm” starts with light, distant percussion before drummer Georgia Hubley kicks in with a hi-fi drum beat. A crisp, psychedelic guitar strums in, and her husband, Ira Kaplan, begins to sing. The song rides the same beat for it’s almost eight minute
be lovely, if a screeching violin didn’t fight the vocals and cause the song to become jumbled. The album’s sound noticeably “fades” as it progresses. The opening songs are plugged in and upbeat, like the sprightly “Well You Better” with its R&B undercurrent. The chugging “Studuration, and blossoms pid Things” introduces into a more memorable a slowing pace. The song with each listen. gorgeous “Cornelia It also introand Jane” stars a gorduces new producer geous vocal melody John McEntire’s touchfrom Georgia Hubley, es on the sound of the and introduces a tastealbum. While everyful horn section that thing sounds incredibly helps to lift the chorus. clear and crisp, songs By the medilike “Is That Enough” tative “Two Trains”, suffer from too much the album slows to a sound saturation. gentle crawl. Where Kaplan’s careful mel“Two Trains” keeps the ody in the verses rises mood repetitious and into a Hubley harmoechoed, “The Point of nized chorus that would It” shows how master-
ful Yo La Tengo is with a simple acoustic song. Kaplan’s quiet rasp is beautifully reassuring as he sings lines like “Honey that’s okay/If we’re getting older/If we’re not so strong/If our story’s told/That’s the point of getting old,” reaffirming the aging process as something to look forward to. Album closer “Before We Run” showcases a loud and present Hubley drum beat, much like the opener. Her voice is steady as the horns that so greatly colored “Cornelia and Jane” begin to sink in. However, they overstay their welcome when Hubley’s voice drops out. The horns play the same passage over and over as strings strike in and out, dragging the song out to an unneces-
sary six minute length. The album’s best qualities rely on how pretty and detailed Yo La Tengo remain at their craft. Thirteen albums in, it’s easy to feel that the band has written these same ten songs before. The fact that they sound just as fresh and crafted as the first listen one gives to the band speaks volumes about how aware Yo La Tengo are on what to tweak about their sound, and to what extent. The tree that graces the cover of the album does give fans a bookmarked visual representation of what the band has achieved thus far. Despite the mildly gloomy title, the band is far from fading away, and their “tree” can only continue to grow into something more impressive from here. The Falcon gives this album an 8/10.
The Falcon
Page Five
Monday, January 14th, 2012
2013 Oscar predictions
by Mandy Steadman Staff Writer The 85th Annual Academy Awards is one of the most prestigious nights for actors, directors, writers and designers alike. It is a night to celebrate and to award those who have created masterpieces with their craft and have captivated their audiences in memorable ways. On February 24, 2013 the Academy Awards will honor the winners of these categories and more with the glorious and magnificent Oscar Trophy. I would like to take the opportunity to make my Oscar Predictions for this year’s Academy Awards. I am a huge movie junkie and it is fun to predict who or what will win the shiny, golden Oscar. I will not discuss all of the categories and nominees because there are so many, but I will discuss seven of the main categories. The first cat-
egory on my list is Best Picture. The nominees are: Amour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Zero Dark Thirty, Silver Linings Playbook, and Lincoln. In all honesty the film that inspires and astounds me the most is Argo. It is suspenseful, eye-catching, and realistic. It is like nothing else that I have seen on screen. The next category is Best Actor. In all honesty I cannot decide between Hugh
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sica Chastain played her part well in Zero Dark Thirty, but I do not feel it is Oscar worthy. However, I could be wrong. Best Supporting Actor and Actress categories are pretty easy to predict. Anne Hathaway hands down has the win for her performance in Les Mis. Her performance astounded and impressed me the most this year. Alan Arkin has my vote for Best Sup. Actor. He is brilliant and his performance is just spectacular. The animated film Brave I believe is sure to win Best Ani-
mated Feature Film. It has humor, amazing graphics, and it is not like any other Disney Princess movie. It is a joy to watch and it deserves that Oscar trophy. The winner for Best Cinematography I predict will be hands Life of Pi. The camera and special effects work on that film is so incredible and absolutely stunning. It is a masterpiece in cinematography. The last category that I will mention is Best Director. My prediction is that Ang Lee will win the Oscar for his work in Life of Pi. It
seems to be so difficult for a director to create a movie and film it when the majority is working with a young man in front of a green screen and incorporating computer generated animals. Well there are my predictions! I hope they are somewhat accurate. Be sure to tune in February 24th on ABC at 7 p.m. to see which of your favorite actors, designers, and films has made it to the Oscar winners’ list. Also check out www.oscar.go.com for more information, pictures, and nominations.
firearms sounds great on the surface, especially given that the recent Postpartum de- spate of shootings were pression often leads perpetrated by mentally many new mothers to ill individuals. Withkill their newborns, out close monitoring of themselves and in rare the language injected instances anyone near- into the proposed legby. In such cases the islation we may turn cause of death is often around and find that suffocation, drown- mental health is being ing, a few instances of used as a backdoor to dropping from great disarming the populace. heights and being set on fire. So taking their School Safety guns away won’t help Ideas ranging that problem, but do from arming teachers to we really want to start fortifying school secudisarming our mothers? rity have been brought Another exam- forth in the last month, ple is myself, an Army yet there seems to be veteran with three com- no clear consensus bat tours under his belt on which one is best. and more than a few Herbert Hoover medical records cata- is credited with sayloguing my struggles ing, “Children are our with re-acclimating most valuable natuto civilian life. Bur- ral resource.” Hoover ied deep in my records wasn’t wrong, but the there is even a piece of way we treat our chilpaper that says I’m psy- dren in schools would chotic! This was later suggest otherwise. overturned and chalked Turning school up as being overly hon- campuses into gun-free est on a psychiatric test. zones has proven to Should we al- be ineffective at best. low veterans, people Since the adoption gunwho swore to defend free zone legislation the Constitution and the there have been over nation against all en- 50 school shootings naemies foreign and do- tionwide, with many of mestic, to be stripped those shootings resultof their rights as well ing in a single casualty. because they come Even with an overall back from serving their decline in school shootcountry with traumatic ings, the legislation brain injuries or PTSD? hasn’t done anything The idea that the to make schools safer. mentally ill shouldn’t be Rep. Thomas allowed to buy or own Massie, R-KY, perhaps
said it best, “Gun-free zones are ineffective. They make people less safe by inviting criminals to a target-rich, no-risk environment.” The answer however isn’t strictly getting rid of gun-free zones and arming every teacher and principal until they look like Wyatt Earp. We have technology on our side after all. Creating choke points, or fatal funnels, at schools should be a starting point. Steps toward this would include installing heavy metal doors, preferably bulletproof, that only open from the inside at all entrances and designating one entrance as the primary for all traffic in and out of the campus during non-peak hours. At the main school entrance install cameras with facial recognition software (a tool our military and law enforcement agencies already widely use). During school hours the main entrance can be sealed and only a confirmation by the software and a human, say the person already at the front desk, will allow the doors to open.
an issue here, but if we can install quick release mechanisms on buses and armored military vehicle windows, surely we can devise a solution for our “most valuable natural resources”.
Jackman and Daniel Day-Lewis. Jackman put so much passion and risk in his role as Jean Val Jean in Les Mis. However, when I watch Day-Lewis in Lincoln I truly believe him to be Abraham Lincoln. He has the voice, the movements, and the look exactly how I have pictured Lincoln to have been like in his time. Now for Best Actress I predict it will be Jennifer Lawrence. Her character in Silver Linings Playbook is so unique and challenging. Lawrence played her role beautifully. Jes-
INSANITY continued
Obviously there would be a sizable upfront cost associated with such renovations but it would pale in comparison to assigning additional resource officers, making police precincts organic to schools or hiring outside security firms as some legislators have suggested. Regardless of what changes are made to gun control, mental health or school safety we should look not to Washington for advice, but to our own communities to find a solution that works best where we live. A solution that works in Alabama may not be ideal for Minnesota. For that reason alone we shouldn’t allow the federal government to dictate how the states handle this issue. For another good reason, refer to Amendment Ten of the Constitution.
As former Speaker of Installation of bullet the House of Represenproof windows on the tatives Thomas Reed first floor that only open once said, “One of the from the top, and only greatest delusions in the a few inches (if at all), world is the hope that the would help as well. Ob- evils in this world are to viously fire escape is be cured by legislation.”
The Falcon
next year’s issue
Monday, January 14th, 2012
the staff
Page Six
Editors Editor-In-Chief: Kyle Jones Associate Editor: Andrew Mechum
-College Night: Sign Raising -UM welcomes new Art professors -Album Review -Assault Weapons and the media -Happiness Part 2
Art & Culture Editor: Reed Strength
and more... January 21st, 2013
Web www.facebook.com/thefalconmontevallo @theumfalcon www.thefalconat.tumblr.com
is accepting articles and applications for staff positions contact us at thefalconeditor@gmail.com
Staff Writers
Mandy Steadman Neal Embry Matthew Lord Clarke Stackhouse