Kearney/UNK Issue

The first issue I came across was the concealed weapons ban that was repealed in Kearney just last month. According to the article, the ban had been in place for 50 years and now it is being repealed. It seems kind of scary to know that people could possibly be walking around with a weapon, but it was possible for people to do that before, now it is legal. Although the ban is repealed it is my understanding that no gun can be taken into a public building. This in my mind rules out a lot of places for someone with a gun to go. I figure that the majority of the buildings I go into are public, so I feel safe.

The other article I read about was the city's decision to purchase the Event Center. The final decision is going to be Tuesday night at the city council meeting. It seems that many people have mixed views about the purchase of the building. I do not really see the necessity for the city to own it as long as it is doing well like it is right now. I read this was the first year in the Event Center actually made a profit. This is in large part to the great acts they brought to town. I think the Event Center does enough to help the city on its own. I don't know why the city needs to own it.

The last article I came across was an article about J.B. Miliken. I have referenced this article in my earlier blog posts, but I feel this is an important issue, so I am bringing it up again. I attended Miliken's open forum a while back and was impressed with his optimism. He reassured faculty that it is premature to worry about pay cuts and the budget, but I think it is hard for any one today to not worry about money and their job. Even one faculty member at UNK lost her job, a 20 year veteran in fact. I think most faculty will be safe at UNK, but there will be those that will, unfortunately, have to take the fall.