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Daily Emerald on armed police

11/2/2010: Last year Emerald reporters Alex Tomchak Scott and Dave Martinez were the first to figure out that Frances Dyke and Doug Tripp were using student, staff and faculty parking fees to subsidize the new Matt Court underground parking garage. The Emerald editors ripped into this. Of course, nothing happened and we are still paying the subsidy, about $600,000 a year. But at least we know why parking fees have been increasing.

Now the Emerald takes on Ms Dyke’s plan to convert DPS to an armed, fully sworn force – an effort which is already costing UO millions.

… we’re not exactly lagging behind security-wise; DPS staffing has risen from 37 employees in 2004 to 46 last fall and still has a close relationship with EPD for situations that require more specialized expertise. But by going that extra yard and allowing fully-sworn officers with firearms on campus, the University would become the first school in Oregon to have an armed police detail.

All in all, the entire proposed change just comes across as an unnecessary expense. The DPS officers used in the current system have meet all of our needs when it comes to providing a safe environment to live and to learn. Given that, it just doesn’t make sense to sink time and resources into changing statutes and disrupting an already functioning system.

The questionable benefits just don’t seem to be worth the additional costs.

Of course, no one in the administration cares what the students think. They’ve made the call, and they are spending your money. You got a problem with that, you cost-benefit analyzing punk?

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