John Speck

While everyone has been tuning into the presidential debates and following the latest comments from Donald Trump, this is all for an election more than a year away.

Due to the most recent Oregon shooting, the nation has begun its recurring, but short-winded debate about how to fix our “gun problem.” Those on the conservative side of the spectrum tend to emphasize the need for better treatment of mental health and the need for the protection of the Second Amendment: the peoples’ right to bear arms.

"As the son of an immigrant family, I am happy to be a guest in this country, which was largely built by such families." Pope Francis said in his opening remarks to his trip here in the United States last week.

For over a century, “The New Colossus,”the sonnet adorning the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, has challenged us to accept the world’s huddled masses.