Commentary on Commentary: My Response to Susie Calderon

After reading Susie Calderon's analysis of safety precautions at UT in the controversial wake of a student's death Texas Universities Dont Care About Your Children, I am inclined to agree with her on various points that Susie mentions, yet wonder how much of this case was preventable. Yes, it is tragic that a student died. But I do not think the fault lies within the UT administration. The killer supposedly selected her at random and did not even attend the university. To buff up security in the aftermath of a shocking crime would not make students feel safer, in fact quite the opposite. From my personal view, this event is not a cry to bring more regulation to our campuses, but rather an argument of freedom versus security.

The question is not why did this happen, but instead what must we take away from this horrific occurrence. Yes we can post security guards at every door, start screening students for dangerous items and start mandatory educational courses of various dangers, but how much further can we take it? To what extent do safety measures actually make students feel safe before it creates a terrifying unknown? Will bubble wrapping students and teachers from the truth that there are some acts which are too horrifying to take precaution worth it, or must we all believe that all lives can be saved through countermeasures?

Editorial: PAC Mobilizes to Defend Vaccine Exemptions in Texas

In an article entitled, PAC Mobilizes to Defend Vaccine Exemptions in Texas, Morgan Smith, a reporter for Texas Tribune covers the anti-vaxxer movement in Texas, detailing the Political Action Committee created in response to filed legislation "taking aim at a provision in state law that allows parents to opt their children out of school immunization requirements". While many parent's hold only their child's interests at heart, the risk that they potentially bring to their children and many others are simply too much of a liability to let stand. 

While many could argue this is an issue of parental rights, it is much more reasonable to consider this notion a case against the general welfare of society. Since its discovery, vaccines have been found to be the sole reason for the eradication of many preventable diseases, perhaps the most well known of those being the smallpox vaccine in 1798. Yet this new movement that questions the legitimacy and effectiveness of vaccines has brought back what many once thought a thing of the past into our current society. It is due to this that outbreaks of measles and whooping cough are once again reappearing in areas where parents choose to not vaccinate their children. 

Having to file a "conscientious exemption" form to simply not vaccinate should be unacceptable. To be part of a society, there must be conformity to the laws and rules by which it stands. That is to say, if a parent submits that their child be exempt from particular social standards, then they should be willing to take their child out of public institutions if their interests should clash. Certain peanut products are often banned from schools due to allergies, why shouldn't certain children be banned for diseases? Not only should Texas ban vaccine exemptions, there should be federally enforced legislation on the regulation of vaccinating children. This is not a right so much as it is a standard to be met as a member of society.