Student brings a gun to campus. Student acts out a Virginia Tech-style scenario. Nearby people flee for their lives. Student is arrested. It turns out the gun was fake. Student is not prosecuted. Student is allowed back in class.
Doesn't it seem to you like at some point Ryan Labenz should be punished for being an idiot? Whether or not he is a threat to other students -- UNL says "We would not knowingly jeopardize staudents safety" -- surely when a student has "I am a total moron" on his resume, an institution of higher learning would be expected to exclude that student from their classes. Which isn't to say people don't make mistakes, people can't change, yadda yadda yadda. They do and they can. But come on, the people Ryan Labenz terrorized could end up in classes with him. Talk about a callous disregard for the innocent.
I'm a firm believer in the idiot tax. While idiocy alone may not be illegal, it should come with a cost. In this case the cost should be, at least, a temporary ban from the University of Nebraska. Doesn't that seem fair?
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I would counter with this: I think it’s safe to say with this kid that it won’t happen again. I didn’t hit the link. Was this the kid that was playing that assasin game? Did it truly terrorize other students, or did it just rattle the administration?
In Richards Hall, he pulled out a (toy) gun and started yelling, “Get Down!”. Several students, fearing their lives, went out the first floor windows. Several students felt terrorized and traumatized. This was about 18 months after the Virg. Tech massacre.
The administrators, in my opinion, should have banned him from the university permanently.
Here’s an interesting letter to the Daily Nebraskan..
http://www.dailynebraskan.com/opinion/letter_to_editor_unl_wrong_to_re-admit_student_who_brought_toy_gun-1.1600229
Yeah, I think I’d ban him too. I couldn’t recall the specifics.
Definitely should have got booted from UNL.
What I don’t understand is why the charges were dropped. If someone in a bar yells “I’mm gonna kill you” and a cop is nearby, and it scares you, that’s assault. Why isn’t scaring people enough to send them out windows and acting like you are going to shoot them not assault? Just wondering.
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