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OPINIONS
Voice of the people
Include HJC in TTA free rides
I was saddened to find out that TTA is extending the free rides in September program to include Ohio University Southern students. We students at Huntington Junior College have tried for several years to have our school included in this program. We have even circulated a petition at our school.
I have been a TTA passenger for years and am grateful to have this form of transportation, but I truly believe it is unfair to not include our school in the free rides in September program.
Jennifer Adkins
Huntington
Crime should be city's top priority
John Locke, in his Second Treatise on Government, said that the purpose of a government is to protect life, liberty and property. Following that logic, one would say that the two most important branches of local government are the police and fire departments.
That said, the city of Huntington should focus most of its limited resources on getting a handle on the crime and drugs that have become such a problem in our city.
Protecting our citizens from crime should be the focus of our city government before any significant effort or money is spent on removable floodwalls. Such an endeavor should be a low priority, pursued after the suppression of crime and the repair of our street and sewer infrastructure.
Randolph Cullum
Huntington
Not every crime is an act of terror
In the August 30 edition of The Herald- Dispatch, page 7A, Lindsey McMullin, a mink fur farmer in Utah, was quoted saying the criminal attack on her farm was perpetrated by "animal rights terrorists." What categorizes this crime as a terrorist act?
Crime is crime, despite its motives. Terrorism is a crime that implements fear for material or political gains. When someone's ideals are enough to categorize them a terrorist, it allows anyone's beliefs to be subject to persecution. Terrorism is a serious crime, and by misusing the allegations, it desensitizes alertness to authentic terrorism as well as misleads by contexts the true meaning of a terrorist.
The act of criminalizing one's beliefs and ideals is oppressing one's right to form and support a personal opinion. That is a terrorist act. And that is the danger of misusing these allegations. Lindsey McMullin is a victim of a criminal act. By considering this a terrorist act, every B&E, robbery, vandalism and more becomes a terrorist act. Then what divides criminals from terrorists?
George Holderby
Huntington
