But instead of looking at what motivated the shooter or why he committed such a horrendous act, it would seem now is a good time to look at what the possible ramifications of Saturday’s tragedy could be.

Sadly, it appears that greater space, both literal and figurative, will be placed between citizens and politicians that are elected to represent them. A further sense of alienation between American citizens and their political representatives will likely continue because of this.

One of the things I am sure will come as a result of Saturday’s attempted assassination and mass murder is a more robust security force to protect members of both the U.S. Congress and Senate against the threat of such violence. It would not surprise me to see politicians with security details that are more reflective of the U.S. President than that of members of the Congress or Senate.

But as security increases, so too will a physical barrier between politicians and their constituents. As more police and guards surround those elected on our behalf, these representatives will be even more removed from the people they were voted to serve. And with such a wall between them and their political leaders, people will probably be less inclined to try and engage in a dialogue with said leaders.

The shooting may also affect the willingness of politicians to engage their constituents openly, and in public.

According to a Jan. 12 Associated Press report titled, “Dad pursued Ariz. massacre suspect before shooting,” Rep. Giffords was shot at a shopping center while taking part in what was referred to as “Congress on Your Corner.” During such events, Giffords would meet and speak with voters in her district out in the open, in public places.

It’s doubtful politicians are actually beaming at the prospect of going out into public arena and engaging with voters while one of their own sits in a hospital bed after trying to do just that. If anything, these sorts of forums for open government, such as “town hall meetings,” are likely to grow less frequent.

If these kinds of forums grow fewer and fewer, the distance between politicians and citizens will grow larger than it already is.

With the potential for increased security around them, a lack of willingness to take part in open forums like “Congress on Your Corner” and fear that they may be attacked, members of both Congress and the Senate may turn their attention inward.

As these elected officials’ attention may be turned inward, it will only detach them from their constituents and increase their attachment to entrenched special interests, i.e. political lobbyists.

Surely those lobbyists will have greater access (more than they already do) to our representatives than voters if these politicians choose to retreat from the public realm and surround themselves with security. Yet, after Saturday, how could anyone blame a member of Congress for feeling safer meeting with a lobbyist than with individual members of the public. After all, lobbyists generally want something from our elected officials, but it’s not to shoot them in the cranium.

But when it comes to engaging openly with the public, a senator or congressional representative can never be sure that some lone gunmen may not be in the crowd waiting to gun them down. Many politicians may largely remove themselves from the public eye

This will surely not enamor the voting community with their politicians. If anything, it will reinforce the whole concept that our elected representatives are beholden and serve at the behest of special interests; at least moreso than they are to the people they’re supposed to serve.

This will most likely increase the sense of disillusionment many have towards government.

So while you can blame partisan political rhetoric for motivating the shooter, this means little or nothing in contrast to the ramifications that may come as a result of the massacre.

None of which bodes well for increasing the contact between those elected officials and those they are charged with representing. Nor does it enhance the likelihood that public’s faith in their representatives is going to increase—not at least anytime soon.

Email the author: sstaley2@uwyo.edu

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Toastmasters is a group of Laramie community members that practices forming and delivering of speeches. The group meets 6:45 a.m. on Mondays in Room 106 of the Animal Sciences/Molecular Biology Building.

The group has had about 20 members involved at any time. Most Mondays, about 12 of these members attend.

As a weekly morning ritual, the toastmasters recite their mission statement, “The mission of a toastmasters club is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment, in which every individual member has the opportunity to develop oral communication and leadership skills, which in form foster self-confidence and personal growth.”

Following this mission statement, every member starts with a manual that includes 10 speech projects. Each week, two to three speeches are given by members of the group.

Each speech is rated by an audience evaluator.

The last part of each meeting is called “Table Topics,” which is a portion of the meeting when a member will pose a random question to another member. After the question is asked, two to three minutes are allowed for an answer.

Table Topics functions to improve an individual’s impromptu speaking abilities.

“Individuals have their own goals. At the completion of the first 10 manual speeches, a member is awarded the title of Competent Communicator. From there, he can pursue advanced manuals or prepare speeches on whatever he chooses,” Susan Mavrich, one of the Laramie morning toastmasters, said.

Even if a member is not giving a prepared speech on a given week, other duties are given. A different member is assigned to be the toastmaster, timer, main speaker, evaluator or the questioner for Table Topics.

“The Toastmaster for the week officiates the meeting, introduces the speakers, makes sure all the duties are fulfilled [and] ensures that the meeting runs in a timely manner,” Mavrich said.

The group is available to the public. “Laramie Morning Toastmasters is a diverse group. They may be university professors, university students …, or regular townspeople with non-university jobs. Members may be professionals or blue-collar workers. We have members that have been toastmasters for over 25 years, just because they love it. We have members who join for a short time to get a boost to their careers. There is a great mix of ages and vocations in our group,” Mavrich said.

Email the author: dbonner1@uwyo.edu

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The Branding Iron is a Student Media project. Student Media gives University of Wyoming students valuable experience in writing, editing, advertising, sales, graphic design, photography and production through its publications with the guidance of professional staff members. If you find a mistake in an article, e-mail us at bi@uwyo.edu. We will make sure to torture the poor soul until it's corrected. Just kidding. We probably won't do anything, since we're busy studying for finals.

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The office is seeking applicants for ASUW directors of policy planning, marketing and public relations and diversity and student outreach.

Last semester ended with the resignations of CJ Young, director of policy planning, Tyler Neasloney, director of marketing and public relations, and Liz Radar, chief of staff.

Dan Adams, former director of diversity and student outreach, immediately filled the chief of staff position.

Applications are also open for new senators from the Colleges of Health Sciences, Arts and Sciences and Law, according to the ASUW website. These resignations are just three more in a line of resignations that began the first week of last semester.

Applications for executive positions are due at noon Friday, and applications for senators are due at noon Jan. 19.

ASUW is also working to plan the ASUW Capitol Spring Break trip.

The trip is designed to give students a unique opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. and see some of the activities behind federal governance.

ASUW recently passed a resolution dedicating funding to the project to subsidize the cost of the trip for the students; however, students may need to pay up to $500 for the experience.

Applications and participation agreements are due by Jan. 26 at 3 p.m.

Later in the semester, ASUW will sponsor Student Fee Day and Elect Her on Feb. 10.

Elect Her is a one-day conference that encourages women to run for student government leadership positions on their campuses.

The conference will help women with campaign strategies, developing a constituency and public speaking.

The event is free and open to students.

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The Branding Iron is a Student Media project. Student Media gives University of Wyoming students valuable experience in writing, editing, advertising, sales, graphic design, photography and production through its publications with the guidance of professional staff members. If you find a mistake in an article, e-mail us at bi@uwyo.edu. We will make sure to torture the poor soul until it's corrected. Just kidding. We probably won't do anything, since we're busy studying for finals.

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Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot while hosting an event she called, “Congress in your Corner.”

A Federal District Judge and a nine-year-old girl were killed in the shooting, according to NPR.

Many people on the left claim that prominent conservatives, such as Sarah Palin and Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, openly fuel rhetoric that is increasing hostile.

On the right, commentators such as Glenn Beck have called for increased security, insisting repeatedly that, “there are nut jobs on both sides.”

As the fiery rhetoric rises around the country, some students at UW seem to share similar views about the tragic events that took place last Saturday, according to one student’s interview.

“I think the extreme violent rhetoric constantly coming from public figures like Michele Bachmann, Sharon Angle and Sarah Palin validates actions such as this in the minds of irrational people who are extremely anti-government,” Will Welch, a chemistry major, said.

“You can’t blame [public figures] personally for the shooting, but you can blame them for implicitly endorsing this kind of action in their daily public discourse.”

Other students voiced their opinions as well.

“I think it’s a very tragic event, and a grim reminder of how our society handles mental illness,” Sonny Montoya, a senior in political science, said. “Had this obviously disturbed young man gotten on someone’s radar, he could have received the help he needed and prevented this senseless crime from happening.”

Giffords is in critical but stable condition in a Tucson hospital with her attending physicians expressing cautious optimism about the likelihood of her recovery.

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The Branding Iron is a Student Media project. Student Media gives University of Wyoming students valuable experience in writing, editing, advertising, sales, graphic design, photography and production through its publications with the guidance of professional staff members. If you find a mistake in an article, e-mail us at bi@uwyo.edu. We will make sure to torture the poor soul until it's corrected. Just kidding. We probably won't do anything, since we're busy studying for finals.

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Facebook is currently the most preferred service for sharing accounts for 78 percent of social network usage, according to socialnetworkingwatch.com. However, the evolution of social networks did not begin with Facebook; rather, the site’s popularity is the result of extensive attempts by various networking outlets that have all contributed to the progress social networking has made.

The internet has always been a medium for social activity. A Digitaltrends.com page titled The History of Social Networking states that long before Facebook was the now-archaic Bulletin Board System, which allowed users to share files and post messages to other users. Though the technology of the 80s and 90s restricted the potential of BBS sites, the concept resonated with the public and became popular. In the same era was CompuServe–a system that began to thrive in the 80s. Like BBS, it allowed users to share files and access events but it also provided the first true interaction between users and email. CompuServe didn’t invent email, but it was the first to offer email to the public. According to the Digitaltrends.com page, users could also join any of CompuServe’s thousands of discussion forums any time of day. Those forums proved to be incredibly popular and marked a big milestone in the evolution of social networking.

Many social networking sites existed throughout the 90s, but the next network that marked a major milestone was Friendster. A Social-networking.com page on the history of Friendster explained it is viewed as the original social networking site. It operated on the principle that an online community can only thrive between people that have common bonds and that there were plenty of ways to discover those bonds. This concept is what paved the way for subsequent online dating and business-oriented networks. LinkedIn arrived next on the scene and offered business people a way to connect with other professionals. Users on LinkedIn were referred to as ‘connections’ to emphasize the professional nature of the site.

MySpace arrived in 2003 and quickly became more popular than Friendster. It enabled members to access a wide array of media (predominantly music and music videos) through more intimate connections with artist’s actual profiles. Furthermore, it allowed members to create a unique space via funky, creative profile layouts and the ability to decorate with icons. With these new innovations, MySpace quickly garnered a membership three times the size of Friendster, reports a consumeraffairs.com page titled What’s Inside Myspace.com?

Facebook was launched in 2004 by Harvard students and existed as a campus-oriented network for two years before it opened to the public in 2006. The site has since garnered more than 500 million members and is leading social networking. According to a report released by techcrunch.com that details the top 50 websites in September, other leading networks of this year include Youtube, Blogspot, MySpace, and Twitter. The data by Techcrunch.com ranks the networks by the number of unique visitors each received throughout the entire month of September.

Social networking continues to evolve. In order to remain a leader of the social networking pack, Facebook needs to constantly work to propel itself forward. Its founders recently announced the launch of Facebook’s own email service, specifying that the network will provide an @facebook.com email address to any user that wants one.

While many might find it hard to remember what life was life prior to Facebook, it is important to give credit where credit is due and to recognize that social networking is process that continues to evolve. Facebook may be the front of social networks today, but one should always be excited for the next networking milestone that technology brings us.

Email: Davis Bonner 

codyconnor

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As a part of Geography Awareness Week, geographer Andrew Marcus will speak about new ways to study rivers in his keynote speech Thursday 4:10 p.m., in the Business Auditorium.

 “A well respected geographer, who has done some exciting research on new methods of studying rivers,” the faculty sponsor for the geography club, Carl Legleiter said of Marcus.

His speech is titled “New Views of the River: A Geographer’s Perspective.”

Geography Awareness Week is an annual, nationwide event organized by National Geographic.

Geography Club public relations chair Hannah Gunderman said that the event “emphasizes the importance of geography.”

“Awareness of geography is important because a lack of knowledge about geography affects people’s ability to understand economic and political world affairs,” Gunderman said.

Each year, Geography Awareness Week has a different geographical theme. This year’s theme is “Fresh Water” and consists of three educational speakers and the annual geography knowledge bowl on Wednesday night.

Ellen Wohl from Colorado State University will also give a talk titled, “What should these Rivers look like? Historical Variability and Human Impacts in the Colorado Front Range.”  She speak at 4:10 p.m., today in the Business Auditorium.

James Meacham, senior research associate and InfoGraphics Lab Director from the University of Oregon will speak at 4:10 p.m., Wednesday, also in the Business Auditorium. His speech is titled “Atlas cartography: Exploration and Experience in the Mapping of Oregon, Yellowstone, and the Mongolian Altai.”

All the events for Geography Awareness Week are open to the campus community and the public.

For more information, contact Richard Vercoe at rvercoe@uwyo.edu or Stephanie Bartlett at sbartlet@uwyo.edu.

Gamma Theta Upsilon, which is the geography club on campus, will have a table set up in the Union breezeway Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Email the author:  jmagrum@uwyo.edu

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The Branding Iron is a Student Media project. Student Media gives University of Wyoming students valuable experience in writing, editing, advertising, sales, graphic design, photography and production through its publications with the guidance of professional staff members. If you find a mistake in an article, e-mail us at bi@uwyo.edu. We will make sure to torture the poor soul until it's corrected. Just kidding. We probably won't do anything, since we're busy studying for finals.

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For the past 15 years, the Women’s Action Network, an RSO at UW, has focused on raising awareness on gender issues across campus.

“I think the biggest interest this year is for WAN is to let people know that this is a place to come and talk about these issues, to talk about our concerns for gender equality, the way we perform our gender, ideas about masculinity and femininity in this culture at large,” Danielle Pafunda, assistant professor of Gender and Women’s Studies and the faculty supervisor for Women’s Action Network, said.

Throughout the year, WAN focuses on having at least one event per month on campus to help further their goals.

The biggest event is the Take Back the Night Rally they host every April. 

Hosted on almost every college campus in the U.S., WAN uses the rally to bring attention to issues like domestic abuse, sexual violence against women, public issues for women and other similar issues. 

Each year, the RSO brings in a variety of speakers and performers to the rally.

Other activities throughout this last year included participating in the Women’s Leadership Conference, a showing of “Twilight” followed by a break down of the gender dynamics in the movie and brown bag conversations. 

The topics of the brown bag conversations have ranged from whether or not one should change their last name after marriage to how one balances work with taking care of children.

Anyone is invited to join the brown bag conversations and the last event had attendance of about 40 people, according to Pafunda.

“The interests are pretty wide-ranging. We are looking at stuff in pop culture, public safety, public policy issues and looking at more theoretical and applies issues,” Pafunda said.

Currently, WAN is starting a “mentorship” program to help teach individuals that want to participate in the RSO to make a difference on campus. 

The “mentorship” includes teaching individuals how to organize large events, hold fundraisers, work with other groups on campus and other important tactics for running an effective Recognized Student Organization. 

They are also planning a chalk-writing campaign around campus soon for anyone to come out and write their favorite slogan for gender equality.

According to Pafunda, WAN is time flexible. 

“We like to be able to accommodate people’s schedules, to get engaged and get involved … but not have to make a lifetime commitment if they don’t have time for it,” Pafunda said.

She also noted that WAN is not just for women.

“We have had a lot of guys as part of Women’s Action Network in the past,” Pafunda said. 

“Gender is as crucial to men as it is to women, as it is to anyone on the gender spectrum.”

Email: Max D’Onofrio 

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The Branding Iron is a Student Media project. Student Media gives University of Wyoming students valuable experience in writing, editing, advertising, sales, graphic design, photography and production through its publications with the guidance of professional staff members. If you find a mistake in an article, e-mail us at bi@uwyo.edu. We will make sure to torture the poor soul until it's corrected. Just kidding. We probably won't do anything, since we're busy studying for finals.

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UW is not an Ivy League school, but it has many great things going for it. By the numbers, it is one of the great schools out there.

Starting with tuition, UW is one of the best schools for the price. Whether in-state or out-of-state, it is known for its affordable price. This is true even after the recent jump in the cost of tuition.

In the 2009-10 year, UW almost ranked last out of all U.S. public doctoral institutions for its price of undergraduate resident’s tuition and fees with UW ranked 145 out of 150 for the cost of tuition for resident graduates.

Those are some good numbers for those individuals who are looking for an education at a nationally competitive university.

Another statistic that speaks to the school’s strength is the high acceptance rates of those who apply to UW with 96 to 97 percent of all applications that apply accepted for admission. This number is very high considering national standards. When you consider how UW is the only four-year institution of higher learning in the state, the acceptance rates are even more impressive. Although the acceptance rate is high, the enrollment rate is much lower, around 48 percent.

So how are our numbers nationally once the students are accepted?

A very important number to look at is UW’s fall-to-fall retention rate. It shows the number of students who are staying in college and not dropping out before graduating. UW is at 73 percent, which is the roughly the same as the national average of 76 percent. 

Additionally, the UW graduation rate each year is almost the same as the national average for other public institutions. About 22 percent of students enrolled at UW graduate in four years; nearly 55 percent of students who start out as freshmen at UW eventually graduate from the institution.

UW’s ratio of 14 students for every faculty member is also an impressive number for being the only four-year public institution in the state.

Although the university and its administrators have stressed that they do not like national rankings from many publications, the school does not do terrible in them.

UW moved into the first tier of nationally ranked universities listed in the 2011 edition of Best Colleges by U.S. News Media Group.

UW ranked 153rd among all national universities and ranked 81st among public colleges. The rankings were out of more than 1,400 schools nationwide.

These numbers are excellent for the University of Wyoming nationally, though I am sure that many in the administration will argue that the university deserves to be higher.

It doesn’t stop there. The Princeton Review ranked UW in its best Western Colleges and Top Colleges.

The National Research Council ranks the University of Wyoming’s Department of Economics and Finance in the College of Business as the nation’s leader in faculty research output and eighth overall in research productivity. The review ranked 120 economic doctorate programs in the U.S. 

UW’s department ranked in the top 10 in overall research productivity and quality, along with the economics departments at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, University of California-Berkeley Economics, University of Chicago, Harvard’s Kennedy School and the California Institute of Technology.

UW’s MFA Program in Creative Writing recently was named one of the top 50 programs in the country.

I’m sure there are many numbers and rankings that have been left out and probably deserved to be on this list, but the point is that if anyone needs proof of the high academic value of the school, you need only to look at the numbers.

Email: Max D’Onofrio 

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In the basement of the Albany County Public Library, about a half a mile of shelves are filled with books looking for new owners. The fall book sale at the Albany County Public Library is almost here.

The book sale starts at 12 p.m. on Saturday and will continue through the week. On Sunday, the library is open 1 p.m. to 4:45 p.m., closed on Monday, and open Tuesday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. On the final day, the sale will be open from 1 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. 

“We’d like the students at the university to know the tremendous resources we have here at very inexpensive prices. Classics, science, just about every subject of used books that have been donated,” chairman of the book sale Penny Schenker said. The volunteer group Friends of the Library helps raise money for the public library when it holds the book sale. 

Starting on Wednesday, the prices drop 25 percent and Thursday almost every book in stock drops to 50 percent off. Nov. 13, the final day of the sale, is a five-dollar bag day, when a full grocery bag costs only $5.

“It’s a great way to build your library.” Schenker said.

At the end of the sale, the books will be recycled so the Friends of the Library can start with an all new selection of books for sales next year. All the books at the book sale are donated by the community and withdrawn books from the library.  This year, Friends of the Library is using some new technology to help get the best price for book lovers and the library alike. Their small machine plugs into a cell phone and allows the user to scan books to see how rare they are. 

If Friends of the Library do stumble across a rare book, they send it to a book dealer to sell it.

In the past, a yearbook from 1910 was donated from West Point Military academy the year Dwight D. Eisenhower graduated. 

A dealer helped sell the book and the profit, like all books from sale, went to help the Albany County Public Library.

“I always came to the book sales,” Friends of the Library volunteer Mary Vrooman said. 

“And then I retired and I had time to focus on things that I love; and I love books.”

Email: Lauren Kottenstette 

codyconnor

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Many voters may take greater notice to presidential elections (after all, you are voting for the leader of the nation). But when you vote in today’s midterms, you’re making decisions on local and state issues; you’re choosing state and local candidates. 

By voting, you are determining the officials who will represent you. You will make decisions on ballot initiatives that will have an impact on your day-to-day life.

Nowhere is this truer than when looking at whether the 5th cent sales tax, officially known as the General Fund Excise Tax in Albany County, is renewed. 

If voters decide to renew the tax, it means that between $4 million to $5 million will be available for general operating expenses in Laramie. This funding goes to support police, firefighters and road maintenance, just to name a few services. 

If voters choose not to renew the tax, the city will have to go without millions of dollars and city services will probably have to be cut back. This could mean fewer firefighters and police to protect Laramie, and more potholes in the city’s roads. 

While we may argue about government spending at the federal level, its government spending at the state and local level that immediately impacts our lives and communities. The 5th cent sales tax is just one example of this.  

Who is chosen to become Wyoming’s next governor will personally affect every student who attends the University of Wyoming. 

Wyoming’s governor appoints all of the members who sit on the UW Board of Trustees. These trustees determine the annual cost of tuition for attendance at UW. 

Voters’ decision on who will be Wyoming’s next superintendent of public instruction will have a major impact on the state’s K-12 education system. 

Wyoming’s next superintendent of public instruction will make choices concerning statewide testing procedures, oversee local school boards and act as the leader of the state’s public education system.  

So if you thinking about staying home today, or that there’s no reason for you to vote, you should think again. Your vote will help determine the direction of our state for the next few years. 

Sure, a presidential election may be more likely to grab attention and make you take notice. But if you ask me, it’s the midterms that will have the greatest impact on local communities, states and our individual lives. 

So get out and vote today. 

Email: Shane Staley 

jsindt

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