Commentary Review, Public Restrooms!

I’m reviewing Jennifer Silva, “Taking Culture Wars to the Toilet”, article. Her blog focused on Target's new policy allowing transgender to choose which restroom they think it’s right for them. Jennifer mentioned that customers are worried for their kids and how a grown adult man could probably do harm to their child. In which she agrees with a man and a woman to have their separate restrooms. Jennifer did a great job saying what the issues were and what were her opinions about gender restroom. And while I agree that a man or woman not transgender being able to walk in the opposite sex restroom may look weird, it still doesn’t take away from the fact that why shouldn’t a transgender go in the restroom they feel they are meant to be in. We all know what a transgender means, it means that they don’t believe that they are the sex they were born to be. So why should a transgender men or woman have to go to a restroom where they don’t feel like they belong in! Restrooms are a place to go in and come out, that’s it, why think more than that! To those parents that fear for their kids, they have two options in my opinion. One, is leave the restroom and go to another one, or second, if you fear for your kid just lookout for them. Transgenders are going to restrooms for the same reasons as me and you. So why make it a big deal for someone who believes to be a woman or a men to use the bathroom to the gender they believe to be. At the end of the day, transgender man and women will always be given a second stare. If a transgender man walks in a men’s restroom dressed as a woman his not going to be wanted, so why not let her pee in the place where she feels comfortable in.? And if someone pretending to be a transgender wonder in the wrong restroom, that can be taken to court. Why punish other peoples rights and equality because of fear of something that might not happen!

What Could UT Do To Be Safer.

In this blog I will be expanding on the Haruka Weiser blog, on how UT can be made safer. In blog 5 I wrote of a UT student who was killed on a Sunday night while heading to her dorm after dance practice. UTPD worked with the Austin Police department on finding a black male on a bike who appeared on the campus camera and later appearing by the football stadium with a backpack not worn before in the first video he was seen in. Due to this tragic event, students and faculties were shocked that one of their own had passed. But with the fear of one of UT student being murdered, the university did all it could to make sure students and faculty felt safe and knew of the incident. The university sent out texts and emails explaining every step of the way of what was occurring throughout the investigation, they increased patrols, and offered escorts to anyone who felt unsafe around the campus. But was that enough? Could UT be made safer?

UT being the largest university in the country with 50,000 students and over 24,000 faculty and staff, overall is a very safe place to be in. With the last on-campus tragedy being over 50 years ago, when Charles Whitman climbed to the top of the tower and gunned down 49 people, killing 16. This type of tragedies make people wonder what could off been done to prevent it or prevent it in the future. In my opinion a good way to start is setting metal detectors on every important building, so what happened 50 years ago could never happen again. In Weiser's case, increasing officers at night to walk around the each build, and adding more emergency call boxes around places were it might be dark and no cameras can reach to see, could make UT a bit safer. Time wrote an article called, Can We Make Campuses Safer? ,were it said that some schools have done what is called a prox card were its used to track the comings and goings of individuals students and gives buildings the control access to the dorms to electronically open the dorm doors, which was made to prevent sexual assaults and other incidents. Other ways to make UT safer is putting up a message board on each classroom so when something happens, it will appear on the small screen making it faster to reach those students who are in class. Adding "smart" video cameras around campus to detect suspicious activity. "This will alert a security officer if it films someone climbing up a fence, walking down the alley late at night or lingering by a windowsill." This type of technology will be pricey but all worth it at the end. Some schools like Princeton "train professors how to spot signs of depression, and access to metal-health services," this will be a great resource in UT's life. Lastly, adding more self-defense classes for woman weekly will also be a great way that UT could be made safer. But there’s a point where you can’t make a school too safe because than you'll be making, prison 2.0.