I am ashamed to see, day after day, columns in the opinion section of The Diamondback that focus mainly on all the negative aspects of campus life. In particular, I reference recent columns “Heads in the sand” by Cyrus Hadadi and “More guns, less crime” by Benjamin Rodkin.

These columnists want better on-campus security and increased police patrols? Is it the military they want? A referenced attempted robbery in broad daylight this past Wednesday was not stopped by police patrols due to a lack of efficiency or a lack of manpower. A patrol arrived to the scene as quickly as anyone could have. What would these column writers have law enforcement officers do? No credit at all is given to the people already working to serve and protect us, the student body.

Hadadi fails to provide an adequate solution to “the crime problem in College Park.” As far as I can tell, he would have an officer assigned to each and every student attending this school. Law enforcement cannot do much if students don’t act responsibly by first protecting themselves. There is no lack of security on the campus – police auxiliary, blue security phones, University Police, security cards to enter dorms, Nite Ride and Terp Taxi.

This doesn’t even include obvious preventative measures, such as the locking of windows and doors, not traveling alone at late hours and being aware of surroundings. Let’s be realistic: Law enforcement cannot prevent random occurrences such as the one encountered on Wednesday. These occurrences are rare – most crime can be prevented with the services already provided, along with a little common sense.

The fact is that there is plenty of security on the campus. I fail to see how more security will deter criminals who travel to the university for the sole purpose of committing crimes. Crimes will still occur, especially with the way columnists advertise that “the University of Maryland is full of easy marks” for criminals. And hasn’t this topic of crime on and near the campus been addressed before? Why continue badgering the issue?

And of course, no one can ignore the rash comments made by Benjamin Rodkin that more guns will solve the problem of crime on our campus. Is he kidding?! This will undoubtedly increase crime. The more people, including students, allowed to carry guns, as Rodkin would prefer, the more violent crime we will see on campus. The day students carrying guns is used as a deterrent to crime will be the day I drop out of this university.

Regardless, let’s try to eliminate some of the ignorance surrounding Rodkin’s statements. It is, in fact, not so difficult to acquire a gun in Maryland. The following website, www.mcsm.org/mdlaw.html, made by the Montgomery Citizens for a Safer Maryland, has the sole purpose of informing badly informed citizens of Maryland’s regulations, and actually supports the Second Amendment.

There are better things going on at this school than people care to mention. The positive things, though they are ignored, far outweigh the negatives. Certain students who write in the opinion section like to incite fear and anger on the campus. I read article after article from the same writers that focus on the downside of everything. Shame on all of them.

William Mori-Ramos is a freshman civil engineering major. He can be reached at will203@umd.edu.