OPINION:

After the recent attack on Ohio State University (OSU), a question that has swept the nation in the past has resurfaced. The question is whether or not college campuses should allow concealed carry. The answer is no.

Imagine if OSU did allow concealed carry on their campus. Now imagine if students, not trained and certified emergency responders, began to open fire on Abdul Razak Ali Artan when he was harming the innocent students. Unless one of the emergency responders saw the attack unfold in person, he or she would not know who committed the crime.

Odds are that officers will not see every campus attack right before their eyes and begin to suppress the threat before it becomes serious. Odds are that they will show up at the scene of the attack moments after it begins.

If there are multiple people shooting at each other, how do you expect anyone to know who is a real threat and who is just trying to defend themselves and other students around them? You do not.

Not only would this cause confusion, but it could cause more harm than good. If there was a way to ensure that everyone who was carrying a weapon would use it only for non-aggressive purposes, I would be all for it. But there is absolutely no way to ensure or enforce that.

For that reason, I just cannot get myself to support Ohio representative Ron Maag. I just cannot fully get myself to support concealed carry on college campuses.

But most importantly, I plan on attending college in less than a year and I cannot risk the safety of myself and my friends at college.

SPORTS:

Whenever there is a playoff that is chosen subjectively, there are going to be people who are upset. We have seen it every year when selection Sunday comes around for college basketball. Every year teams feel slighted by committee decisions, and this year that team was Pennsylvania State University.

The Nittany Lions finished the regular season with a 11-2 record and the Big Ten title after beating Wisconsin 38-31. They have won nine in a row, including a 24-21 win over Ohio State, and finished number five in the final rankings which determine the playoff.

This time, the committee got it right. While Penn State made a late run and made the final decisions interesting, they do have two losses. And shockingly, two is greater than one.

The committee is tasked with the purpose of “preserving the excitement and significance of college football’s unique regular season where every game counts.”

That means that losing two games, while not ending your season, will mean that you would not only have to win all other games and have an incredibly tough schedule, but also have to be convincing in those wins.

Penn State did not have the schedule nor the convincing wins to make it up.

Penn State had a great season. A season better than anyone thought they would have, even some of their own fans. They even have a nationally-recognized kicker in Joey Julius. However, they do not have a playoff berth, and it was the right decision.

SPORTS:

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis’ coaching career has been anything but remarkable despite turning around a dead franchise. Sort of.

His tenure has made Cincinnatians want to rip their hair out again and again. So with zero playoff wins in seven appearances and a few dismal regular season turnouts, how is Lewis still coaching this team?

He is the ultimate insider in a championship-less franchise. According to ESPN, he talks with 80-year-old owner Mike Brown every day. Brown says he is very candid with Lewis, but I think that is one of the biggest lies I have ever heard.

Lewis has continuously taken hometown discounts with his salary, making any owner want to keep him due to the amount of money they save.

The NFL has their employees retain their jobs based off of current production; yet in the past 14 years, Lewis has continued to coach this cursed franchise, and he has produced nothing.

No ring, no playoff victories, no order. The only other current coach who has been with the same team longer is Bill Belichick, who has four Super Bowl victories and has accomplishments left and right.

Lewis does not; he is far from it. He may have brought the Bengals to six straight playoff appearances and the team was extremely close to a win last season, but two players he vouched for, Vontaze Burfict and Adam Jones, were the ones who led the team’s downfall in that game.

Cincinnati needs a change. 14 years is too long to have nothing to show for. If the Bengals were not the dysfunctional franchise that they are, a change would have been made long ago.