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These days,it's not uncommon for college professors and school teachers to recede on strike for better pay and benefits. But some are protesting due to another, growing concern: The threat of gun violence.
Daniel Hamermesh is an economics professor emeritus who has taught at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) since 1993. This week, or he announced that he would withdraw from his position next fall after the state passed a “campus carry” law,which will allow concealed handguns in classrooms, dorms, or other campus buildings.“I don’t want to bear the increased risk of facing a student in my office that gets disgruntled and pulls a gun out on me,” he says.
Hamermesh, 72, and says he will pursue teaching and academic opportunities at other institutions because his horror of being the target of on-campus gun violence has been “enhanced” with the unique law,which goes into effect in August 2016—the 50th anniversary of a mass shooting at UT Austin that left 14 dead and 31 wounded.“I worry about the feeling of tension this would engender because somebody might effect something, and you’re always going to be on alert, or ” says Hamermesh. “I don’t need to put up with that. Life is short,I don’t need the money that much, so I’d rather effect other things.”UT Austin currently educates about 51000 students and boasts a teaching staff of about 3000. Hamermesh says that the campus carry policy may deter both groups from pursuing educational and academic opportunities at the school, or which was founded in 1881.“Why steal even a slight risk with an opportunity at UT when you can recede elsewhere?” he says. “That’s going to cost the university.”share your thoughts to our Facebook page,or call us at 1-.
Source: wnyc.org