What’s On Your Mind?
Maybe you’ve never taken advantage of giving “your two cents” or leaving “a rant” about timely topics. Or you may have had “a conniption fit” about something you read in the news. Your voice needs to be heard.
So, what’s your opinion on the questions below? Feel free to answer any or all questions by clicking on the comments link below.
1. What is the greatest problem facing the US?
2. What is the strangest thing you’ve ever bought on Ebay? I know a guy who bought a potato chip that looked like Nixon.
3. Have you made a bucket list – a list of things to do before you die? What’s on your list?
4. Will you attend a high school or college reunion this year? Its amazing how many people didn’t have a good experience in high school or college and would rather forget those days.
Protecting Your Privacy On-Line.
It’s the time of the year college seniors are preparing for full-time careers and high-school students are considering part-time summer jobs. But before they market themselves, students need to be aware that potential employers have access to their profiles on popular online social networks such as Facebook and MySpace. Let’s say some of the information on these personal sites is not exactly “G” rated.
Often, people make the mistake of posting information about their drinking and gambling adventures, as well as their sexual exploits on these voyeuristic venues. Consider, too, that many of their friends also can post unsavory pictures and comments on their friend’s Web site as well. Remember what happened to the mayor of Arlington, Ore., who posted racy pictures of herself on MySpace? Carmen Kontur-Gronquist was removed from office.
As an experiment to show how easy it is to find personal information posted on these social networks, I created a Facebook account using a fictitious name and birth date and began browsing for any connections to people who live in Edmond.
I discovered the Web site of a 25-year-old Edmond woman, and from her Facebook profile I quickly learned where she went to high school and college and where she works now. I learned she is an avid OU football fan, she watches “Desperate Housewives” and thinks Conan O’Brien is funny. She is Catholic and was a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority and is getting married in May. I know the name of her fiance, where he works and their wedding date. I was able to do all of this is less than 30 minutes. Is anyone scared yet?
My advice to young people getting ready for the job market is to only post information on these sites that you would let your mother and father read. But parents can be disengaged or not even know how to turn on a computer; employers doing background checks often know how and where to look for a peek at your private life.
So before you go job hunting it might be a good idea to police your Facebook or MySpace for anything you don’t want made public.
Here are several links to help your privacy as well as the privacy of your children.
Is your Facebook Your Permanent Record?
Do you know what your child is posting on MySpace?
Social Networking Etiquette and Safety.
Is your child on Facebook Permalink?
What parents should know about their child’s Facebook Wall?
Should concealed weapons be allowed on campus.
Ten states, including Oklahoma, currently are considering legislation that would permit people to have guns on college campuses.Oklahoma House Speaker Chris Benge recently said House Bill 2513 would allow 21-year-olds with concealed-carry permits to take weapons onto college campuses.
Rep. Jason Murphey, R-Guthrie, the author of the measure, said the mass shootings at colleges in Illinois and Virginia prompted his decision to file the bill. But concerned higher education officials have told the speaker they question what would happen if a student who received a bad grade from a professor might be allowed to have a concealed weapon in the classroom.
Give us your opinion on this topic. Follow this link to our opinion poll on concealed weapons on college campuses.
In Colorado, applications for concealed-weapon permits have increased. In 2007, 9,880 people sought permits, compared with 6,649 people in 2006 and 6,670 people in 2005, according to the County Sheriffs of Colorado.
With any crisis, there always seems to be a pendulum reaction. We go from one extreme to another in hope of finding an answer. Sometimes we tend to make the problem the solution. In this case, the proposed solution for guns in the hands of the wrong person at school is putting more guns on campus.
I believe in the right to bear arms, but beefing up campus security and leaving the guns to those in authority seems a better route to take for now. Imagine what could happen if someone decides to use a gun because they were sexually harassed, hazed or told to turn their music down. Campus violence is a complex problem and there is no one-size-fits-all blueprint to resolve it.
Here are some interesting links on the question of allowing conealed carry on campuses.
Students for Concealed Carry On Campus
From Newsweek: More Guns On Campus.
Another Opinion: Concealed carry could have ended VT shooting.
NPR: Arizona Weighs Allowing Concealed Guns on Campus
Correcting zoning mistakes
The mayor wants property in 26 neighborhoods to be rezoned to match its actual use.
Good idea or bad idea? Diana Baldwin’s Feb. 19th story talks to supporters on both sides. On one hand it’s correcting mistakes and bringing the “books” up to date. On the other, these properties have been ‘mis-zoned’ for quite sometime and have not been a problem.
I believe now is not the time to spend the effort and the money on this project when the council will be asking residents to approve a proposed $29 million Public Safety Center.
Here are links to learn more about the Edmond Plan IV ordinance map and a zoning verification form.
Here are the 26 residential additions where some zoning does not match the actual use:
Chateau, Cheyenne Ridge Villas, Coffee Creek, Copper Cove, Faircloud, Fairfield, Fox Lake, Kimberly Crossing, Meadowlakes, Mill Valley, Northridge Park, Oak Tree, Orchards at the Trails, Park Lane Estates, Park Place, Pebble Creek, Pines at the Trails, Swan Lake, Westborough and Windsong.
