House of Eratosthenes

Professor Nicholas Winset has been fired from Emmanuel College. Not for soaking up perfectly good tuition dollars teaching about the antiquated male patriarchal oppressive blah-blah-blah involved in potato chips and chaw tobacco…or anything like that…but instead…

“If there were more guns in society, the response time to the (rampage) might have been much faster,” said Winset, an adjunct professor of financial accounting. “Someone might have been able to do something to stop it.”
:
Winset, 37, of Newton called the college’s decision to fire him “pathetic,” and said it will have a “chilling effect” on professors’ willingness to engage in open discussions about controversial issues.

“A classroom is supposed to be a place for academic exploration,” he said. “It’s just gotten so politically correct. It’s sad that we have come to this point.

”Winset said he gave students a disclaimer before he started his Virginia Tech re-enactment, which involved him pointing a Magic Marker at students and saying, “Pow.” He then had another student shoot him with an imaginary gun to make the point that Cho could have been stopped by another student with a firearm.

See, that’s the thing about gun-free zones. They work great. As long as nobody brings a gun.

Try playing paintball some weekend. Go out with a few of your buddies, make some new friends on the range, try to get 32 people on the course. Then try this…”kill” all 32 of them without getting splattered yourself. Not even once. You would have to play in “gun-free-zone” mode, with your 32 pals all leaving their paintball equipment in the truck while you go after them.

What if, say, 25% of them are allowed to keep their paintball hardware? Heh. Tell you what…if you try this, be sure and e-mail me the results. With pics.

And that’s the point I believe the good Professor was trying to make. And he’s not only fired, but express fired.

Administrators at the college apparently did not appreciate Winset’s classroom message. They quickly fired him via a one-page letter delivered by courier yesterday.

“You are hereby directed not to enter the College campus or any College owned property at any time for any reason,” the letter states. “Also enclosed . . .is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts form, How to File for Unemployment Insurance Benefits.”

Holy cats, I don’t even know of anyone who’s been fired like that. It would do my heart good to see someone busted for slandering Catholics, or holding forth a bunch of venomous spew about “Bush went to war to avenge his daddy” as some kind of vital bedrock principle of — I dunno — economics. Linguistics. Home economics. To see someone do that, get busted for it, and get fired that way. “You are hereby directed not to enter…at any time for any reason,” by courier letter. Not holding my breath.

So. Next item. I read this in the newspaper, while waiting to pick up a package that is to be my son’s tenth birthday present. What did I get him? I think he needs something more sophisticated than the pellet gun…but it’s not quite up to the hand-cannon Dirty Harry was toting around. Something in between. Let’s just say the gun-grabbing Nazis aren’t going to be happy with my choice. So it arrived, and I have a bit of a wait in collecting it. There’s a newspaper sitting here so I’m reading the letter’s section — hope you’re sitting down. Look what people had to say (registration required)…

The challenge is here at home

Re “Horror, outrage at campus killings,” April 17: So where was the mighty triumvirate — President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff — while our children were being slaughtered in Virginia? Is this what they call homeland security?

Not all the terrorists wear turbans. Maybe it’s time the White House spend some time thinking about the United States and the people who pay the taxes to support its daydreams abroad.

Get a clue and concentrate on America. Here is where the challenge lies.

– George Peasley, Sacramento

Violence is never the answer

My deepest sympathy goes out to the family, friends, the students and faculty who lost loved ones, were wounded or had to witness the tragedy at Virginia Tech.

My wish is that Americans take a really hard look at what we have become in the last six years. Are we a nation our children can be proud of? Or have we created a society that accepts violence (and deceit) as the only answer, as long as it doesn’t make it beyond the gates of the wealthy?

I hope America can reclaim its dignity, heal the minds of our children so engrossed with violence and have a future. War and violence are never the answer.

– Susan Wallior, El Dorado

The innocent victims

In the next weeks, we Americans will grieve for the deaths of the students at Virginia Tech, we will try to make sense of this senseless tragedy and will pray for those affected — the murdered and their families.

Let us also offer a prayer for the Iraqi people, the families and friends of countless innocent victims and the American troops stationed there, who for four years have lived with parallel grief and random violence.

– Edith Thacher, Carmichael

Before we attack again…

The shootings at Virginia Tech are another horrifying wake-up call that the current administration needs to start taking care of this nation. This needs to serve as a tragic reminder to President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other like-minded supporters of the failed policies in Iraq that until we can protect our own people in our own land, we cannot hope to make the people of Iraq (or any other nation they plan to attack) safe and secure.

– David Van Gee, Sacramento

Why this dad is jittery

Two weeks ago, a man was murdered 20 yards from my doorstep on Lerwick Road in Sacramento in broad daylight with 100 children around.

Five U.S. soldiers are killed in action the other day in Iraq.

My eldest son, Sgt. George Heath — a two-tour combat vet of Iraq — accidentally calls me from Kentucky at 3 in the morning Pacific time. My wife and I are in near panic because one of our twin sons, Specialist David Heath, is part of the surge in Baghdad. More stress because David is in the same ‘hood his twin, Staff Sgt. Joseph Heath, was four years earlier on Joe’s first tour. Joe’s second tour was outside Baghdad.

Six tours for these parents are quite enough.

Excuse the old man as my cynicism asks, “With trillion dollar wars, who needs safe American streets or schools or to be able to rest at night without trepidation?”

– George W. Heath, Sacramento

They’ve been there, done that

The April 17 editorial, “Death on a campus,” eloquently captures the grief and despair we feel when confronted with the violent deaths of 33 innocent people who could be our friends, relatives and neighbors.

We should imagine what it would be like to live in a place where this happens twice a day, every day. That place is Iraq.

– Stephen Barnett, Woodland

Mmmkay. Got it? The theme is pretty consistent…now that we’ve been dumb enough to suspend students for carrying sidearms they’re legally allowed to carry, and declare our colleges “gun free zones” so that the outlaw with a gun can mow the innocent down at his leisure — rather than take this opportunity to learn something valuable about our individual right and obligation to defend ourselves when need be, let’s do some more navel-gazing about Iraq.

A couple of the letter writers tried valiantly to make a more tangible connection between the two issues. Iraq has somehow deluged us with a culture of violence, and that’s why this deranged fellow had a gun in the first place. Hey, when you write a letter you’re limited to 200 words…it’s not very convenient for someone to respond, and if anyone does you don’t have to counter-respond. So you get to write garbage. What’s the connection? I dunno. I don’t know if the letter-writers themselves know.

So from yesterday’s paper this fellow writes in…

How a newspaper can be helpful

Monday evening as my wife and I sat solemnly discussing the events of the day, namely the tragedy at Virginia Tech, we got into a lively debate. Mostly, it was the usual stuff: gun control, the incompetence of the Virginia Tech police, the number of nuts in the world.

Then I said something that really got her hackles up (I have an uncanny ability to do this). I said, “You know, there are people who are going to blame the president for this.”

“Don’t start with that,” she said. “No one’s that crazy.”

I’d just like to thank The Bee and each of the writers of the first six letters (“In memorial”) in Wednesday’s paper for helping me to win my first debate with my wife.

– David L. Beasley, Rocklin

…priceless.

Of course when it comes to arguing with one’s wife, the happy fellow is the one who lost. Or fooled the missus into thinking he lost. But whatever…Beasley’s the last man standing in that one, no question about it.

Speaking of last man standing, this all reminds me of a quiz I filled out this morning. Now, now, calm down…just a quiz…

What Type of Killer Are You? [cool pictures]

You are a Samurai.
You are full of honour and value respect. You are not really the stereotypical hero, but you do fight for good. Just in your own way. For you, it is most certainly okay to kill an evil person, if it is for justice and peace. You also don’t belive in mourning all the time and think that once you’ve hit a bad stage in life you just have to get up again. It’s pointless to concentrate on emotional pain and better to just get on with everything. You also are a down to earth type of person and think before you act. Impulsive people may annoy you somewhat.

Main weapon: Sword
Quote:“Always do the right thing. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest” -Mark Twain
Facial expression: Small smile
Take this quiz!

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Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler reminds us how stunningly useless some apologies can be and says no thanks. I agree. In fact, I would add that any human emotion that would lose value if the person feeling it was to be placed in complete solitude — never had any value to begin with. None whatsoever. And that is why guilt is something just about as precious as a bag without a bottom.

Think about it. What’ve you done in your life because you felt guilty? Are you glad you did it?

Rottie is on fire, actually. He captured a great quote from Fred Thompson…

Whenever I’ve seen one of those “Gun-free Zone” signs, especially outside of a school filled with our youngest and most vulnerable citizens, I’ve always wondered exactly who these signs are directed at. Obviously, they don’t mean much to the sort of man who murdered 32 people just a few days ago.

Can we get a big fat DUH on that one. Amazingly…some people still don’t get it.

Gun-free zone. Pfeh. Like repealing the law of gravity with a signpost.

[…] …Sportzia More […]
- PB260043 | paintball | 04/21/2007 @ 17:33
I found your blog by following the story on Nicholas Winset’s firing – a high school teacher … maybe BUT at a college, discussing and role playing to get kids thinking about the second amendment and how this tragedy has an emotional component but didn’t impact Wall Street at all.

Fred Thompson is a very smart man indeed.

Tammy

PS. BUT… I wanted to leave a comment on your “Movies You Ought Not to Spoil” but couldn’t see how so …. yes I agree with you right down the line especially your choice of #1 but would add Presumed Innocent.
- siahsmom | 04/21/2007 @ 19:57
We’re plumb pleased to have you.

And yes, I forgot this movie. Unfairly. It definitely makes the cut. I did see that spoiler coming, but by only three minutes ahead-of-time or so. The earlier, smaller spoilers were complete surprises. That’s the best way to do it, I think.
- mkfreeberg | 04/21/2007 @ 20:42
[…] Try playing paintball some weekend. Go out with a few of your buddies, make some new friends on the range, try to get 32 people on the course. Then try this kill all 32 of them without getting splattered yourself. Not even once. … …Sportzia More […]
- Doritos College and High School Paintball Championships | paintball | 04/22/2007 @ 06:27

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