If you see this woman off-campus, you might assume she's armed.

If you're a gun-toting homicidal maniac with ties to Wright State and thinking of pulling a Virginia Tech there, you might steer clear of the departments of Religion, Philosophy and Classics, whose secretary is in favor of allowing (properly licensed, I assume) people to bring concealed weapons on campus and has seen the announcement by Wright State President David Hopkins of a special observance honoring the Virginia Tech victims as an opportunity to lobby for Wright State's ban on concealed weapons to be lifted:

From: Siobhan Semmett
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2007 8:14 PM
To: David R. Hopkins
Subject: Re: [OFFICIAL-L] Observance Honoring Victims of Virginia Tech Tragedy

Dr. Hopkins,

I am speaking only for myself here: I believe everyone at Wright State would be far safer if the restriction against conceal carry on campus were abolished.

One mature individual, registered with the police and trained in the use of firearms, might well have prevented the carnage at Virginia Tech. Such an individual would not legally be permitted to carry a weapon at WSU. In the case of such an horrific event, all of us are, like the VT victims, essentially defenseless until the police eventually arrive.

It seems to me that the students & faculty of VT were victimized twice, once by their assailant, and once by the administration which had decided that they were somehow better off being completely unable to defend themselves.

Lifting the ban on conceal carry would add an extra measure of safety to whatever plans the university already has in place.

Thank you.
Siobhan Semmett

On the other hand, if you are in fact planning an attack, you might want to go before the ban's lifted and while this secretary is still defenseless.

This evening I attended a performance of the Wright State University Chorus. Well, actually I attended the first half, leaving at intermission not because they weren't good but because I had an incredibly long day and was tired.

The reason I went to the concert in the first place is because my EDS333 professor, Dr. Patricia Renick, offered us extra credit to attend. Dr. Renick told us in class about how she'd never been able to sing, or so she'd thought until she joined the University Chorus and started learning. As the conductor of the chorus, Dr. James Tipps, pointed out tonight, the majority of the members of the University Chorus are not music majors, and some are not students (the chorus is open to members of the Dayton community as well).

However getting us to see her sing was not Dr. Renick's primary objective in encouraging us to see the concert. Instead she wanted us to notice which people with disabilities participated in the chorus, how they were included, what accommodations, if any, were made for them, and how it affected our enjoyment of the performance. The point of all that is that the University Chorus is an example of how students with special needs can be mainstreamed, not only for their benefit but to the benefit of all. I noticed two chorus members who use wheelchairs (in addition to Dr. In-Hong Cha, director of orchestras at Wright State, who uses a very sporty racing-style wheelchair), two members who use a cane or crutches, and one blind member. There may have been members who have less obvious disabilities, perhaps not orthopedic or sensory (presumably there are no deaf members).

For the last piece the chorus had to step into the audience as the crew rearranged the stage to make room for the members of the University/Community Orchestra. The performance was held in the Concert Hall in the Creative Arts Center, and in the hall is a "1977 28-rank, two-manual Cassavant pipe organ" (according to this page about Wright State's keyboard studies program). The console to play the organ was wheeled on stage, connected to the organ's mechanics by a long digital umbilical cord. Not quite as elegant as seeing the NCR Mighty Wurlitzer rising from and descending into the orchestra pit at the Victoria Theatre downtown before summer films, but interesting nonetheless.