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Editor:
Yes, the UA should be weapon-free. But must we really surround the campus with signs - and slap decals on every building - proclaiming that?
Will such stern huffing-and-puffing have any useful effect whatever? Or will it merely inculcate a fortress mentality, and feed a needless paranoia?
In 1995, there were 10 reports of weapon violations, resulting in four arrests. Would there a have been fewer if the campus had then been plastered with these ominous signs?
Has anyone calculated their psychological cost? Their chief effect will be to heighten the sense of danger, and raise the level of anxiety, for all who work and study here. At the same time, they'll falsely imply to visitors that we are under siege.
Perhaps it's not too late to scale down plans for their further distribution.
Jonathan D. Penner
UA English professor
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