Letters to the Editor
Issue date: 3/27/09 Section: Opinion
Tasers remain deadly
I am not sure if the UA Police Department is still considering utilizing Tasers, but news today indicates it should not.
A 15-year old boy was killed over the past week in Detroit after being shocked by a Taser.
All tolled, 351 people have died after being shocked by these lethal weapons since 2001.
Obviously, the profit-seeking corporate manufacturer Taser International denies its weapons killed all these people.
However, it just makes sense that Tasers do and will kill considering cardiologist Zian Tseng has said Tasers "can cause very rapid, dangerous heart rhythm ... (and) the longer you hold the trigger, the higher the danger to the heart."
Furthermore, after writing my previous letter on this subject, I received a thank you letter from an epileptic student. He said that shocks such as those from Tasers could induce seizures and potentially harm him.
Surely, there are other students with other health conditions, especially heart conditions, who could have their lives threatened should they be shocked.
I hope the lives of these young people are on the minds of the Taser policy decision-makers.
Tasers are not worth it. Can't police just continue the policy of sub-lethally beating non-cooperative people down with clubs instead, or is the absence of abuse evidence an issue under consideration?
Abel Tomlinson
Graduate student
Political science
Joke was taken out of context
For many of the students who might have read Celia Anderson's "guest column" on Monday, it was the first time they had heard of this incident, but for students in the drama department, this issue has become old hat.
That "mystery person" in Celia's letter is drama major Christy Hall. She is my friend and colleague.
She has chosen not to respond. I have chosen otherwise.
What Celia fails to mention in her letter is that, after the "incident," she sent an e-mail addressed to Ms. Hall (though it was carbon copied to every member of the class.)
I am not sure if the UA Police Department is still considering utilizing Tasers, but news today indicates it should not.
A 15-year old boy was killed over the past week in Detroit after being shocked by a Taser.
All tolled, 351 people have died after being shocked by these lethal weapons since 2001.
Obviously, the profit-seeking corporate manufacturer Taser International denies its weapons killed all these people.
However, it just makes sense that Tasers do and will kill considering cardiologist Zian Tseng has said Tasers "can cause very rapid, dangerous heart rhythm ... (and) the longer you hold the trigger, the higher the danger to the heart."
Furthermore, after writing my previous letter on this subject, I received a thank you letter from an epileptic student. He said that shocks such as those from Tasers could induce seizures and potentially harm him.
Surely, there are other students with other health conditions, especially heart conditions, who could have their lives threatened should they be shocked.
I hope the lives of these young people are on the minds of the Taser policy decision-makers.
Tasers are not worth it. Can't police just continue the policy of sub-lethally beating non-cooperative people down with clubs instead, or is the absence of abuse evidence an issue under consideration?
Abel Tomlinson
Graduate student
Political science
Joke was taken out of context
For many of the students who might have read Celia Anderson's "guest column" on Monday, it was the first time they had heard of this incident, but for students in the drama department, this issue has become old hat.
That "mystery person" in Celia's letter is drama major Christy Hall. She is my friend and colleague.
She has chosen not to respond. I have chosen otherwise.
What Celia fails to mention in her letter is that, after the "incident," she sent an e-mail addressed to Ms. Hall (though it was carbon copied to every member of the class.)
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 5
Jeremy
posted 3/27/09 @ 6:56 AM CST
Sadly the joke is not quite has funny now that I know the full context, but it is still funny and is the word play and stereotype, not race, joke I expected. (Continued…)
Norman Farrell
posted 3/27/09 @ 2:51 PM CST
Abel Tomlinson commented on UA Police deploying Tasers. In Vancouver Canada, a formal inquiry under Judge Thomas Braidwood is being conducted to examine the death of Robert Dziekanski. (Continued…)
naffel
posted 3/27/09 @ 4:47 PM CST
I must say; my ancestors never owned slaves, but they did live under the confederate flag. To them, it was a symbol of the south, not of slave owners. (Continued…)
Alioth
posted 3/27/09 @ 5:39 PM CST
The drama department? Hmm, well they are generating drama...
Get it? ...
...
I hate you all.
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