Boylan Brief #73

Suing for Gun in School

The discussion over the right to carry guns in schools and universities has been opened up again, with a teacher suing an Oregon school district for the right to carry a firearm to work. The teacher claims that she needs to carry a gun to protect herself from her ex-husband. Yet, in a country still recovering from the tragic Virginia Tech shooting, allowing students and teachers the right to carry firearms to school is a very iffy matter. The Medford School District in Oregon prohibits teachers from bringing handguns to school. Nevertheless, the plaintiff cites her ex-husband’s abusiveness as the reason for her need of a handgun.

The school district comments that they have the right to regulate the behavior of their employees so that the students and staff will be safe. But the other side of the bench believes that state law gives the teacher the right to carry a gun. If the court grants a teacher the right to freely carry a gun into a school, what will this mean for the national discourse on gun control?

-Mohan Bell
Source: BBC


Printer Cartridges for Your Body

Computers aren’t only for surfing the internet about diseases anymore. HP is developing a new patch to distribute medicine to the body that is modeled after an ink cartridge for a printer. This new patch will have “microneedles,” tiny needles that will only penetrate the first layer of skin. HP has entrusted an Irish firm, Crospon, to develop these needles. Luck of the Irish, maybe?

The patch may be beneficial for those who cringe when they think of the pain typical needles bring. The microneedles will not pass through the layer of skin which feels pain, (the dermis). Additionally, it will be able to administer multiple medications at once. Those who would need to take multiple medications at one time will be eased of having to stick themselves with several needles or taking numerous pills a day. However, skeptics fear this new technology will be detrimental to a person’s health. They feel that creating microscopic holes in the topmost layer of skin will allow for bacteria to invade easily.This patch will take three years to create and then a few more to be tested. We will simply have to wait to find out if mini-printer cartridges will end up easing our fight against disease.

-Dominique Gauvard
Source: BBC


Gorilla Terrorists and Bananas

The Ohio based banana corporation, Chiquita, has agreed to pay a $25 million fine for giving protection money to the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) and to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Both groups are considered terrorist groups by the US and the European Union, and have been responsible for massacres and assassinations, although they are currently involved in peace talks. Chiquita has claimed that they began making payments after some of their Colombian employees were threatened, and were only trying to protect them. Chiquita has since sold the Colombian division of their business.

- Emily Carman
Source: BBC