Poor Sportsmanship

While I was delighted with the outcome of the BYU-Air Force Academy game Saturday, I was appalled at the rudeness of our BYU student fans. The boo which greeted the Air Force Academy when its team took the floor at the Marriott Center was, mildly put, embarrassing. I thought we missed a wonderful missionary opportunity. It may be more difficult to open doors in Colorado Springs and elsewhere as these soon-to-be Air Force officers scatter across the earth.

How can right-thinking people justify booing any team that comes to BYU as guests, let alone those athletes who are wearing the uniform of this nation and will soon be placed in harm's way in defense of our liberty, or in religious terms, our agency? To those who have served missions, has it been so long that you have forgotten the chill of icy indifference?

Impressively, the Air Force team remained reverently at the sideline while the invocation was offered. They stood at rigorous military attention for the presentation of the colors and the national anthem. BYU's team had gone to the locker room for final instructions. One could ask: "Who had their priorities right?" And BYU students, in the final analysis, who is it that you represent?

Allen Christensen

Director Benson Agriculture and Food Institute

Tickets Gone Too Quick

Over the weekend, once again, BYU Ticketing Office displayed its ineptitude at doing anything right. On a scale of 1 to 10, I rate the BYU Ticketing Office as total baloney. Only a month after the bungled handling of the Vegas Bowl tickets, the ticketing office outdoes its past performance of financially gluttonous behavior. Selling out the stadium by pricing tickets at $1 apiece, they left hundreds of All-Sports cardholders out in the cold.

I am confused by the administration's indifference, and their lack of respect for students who paid good money to attend games. I don't want to hear about some clause buried in the All-Sports Pass agreement. I don't want to hear how it's within your legal rights to sell out the stadium and scam students for money. I do want to hear about how you feel you can ethically choose to maximize profits while exploiting students. I do want to hear about your hiring process, and how you seem to hire people who have absolutely no customer-relations skills whatsoever, cannot direct customers to management, do not even look at customers in the face when speaking with them and ultimately handled Saturday's mess very poorly.

I will not be purchasing an All-Sports pass next year, and while most students may just let it slide, I just don't feel like dealing with an organization that treats paying customers like garbage.

Ben Rotz

Orem

Not Enough Smalls

I am writing to inform the powers that be of an egregious travesty; namely, the overabundance of XL and 2XL T-shirts at the BYU vs. Air Force basketball game. I find this disturbing on several levels.

First and foremost, the large amount of XL and 2XL shirts and the scarcity of medium and small sizes are not representative of the student population. I arrived at the game early in order to support the greatest basketball team on Earth, only to find myriads of students scavenging the stands in search of the one small or the one medium shirt. If we are going to spend the money to buy shirts for the students, let's make sure that the shirts fit.

Second, in the Lord's Doctrine and Covenants, we read that we are to seek moderation in all things. Can we classify XL and 2XL shirts as moderate? No, we should be purchasing medium shirts, yea even extra medium. Only in this way can we truly draw close unto the Lord.

Lastly, I am sure that those shirts were made by underage, overworked, underpaid, and overstressed children in Haiti. By ordering so many XL shirts, we are adding work to those poor children who will have to sew the extra long seams of these huge shirts.

Brooke Huddleston

Taylor

Down With Big Belts

Can somebody please explain to me the new huge belt trend that is currently sweeping our campus and our places of worship? I can't go anywhere anymore without encountering droves upon droves of attractive, young ladies donning enormous strips of cowhide, or similar textile, over their shirts or blouses. Yes, you heard right, over their blouses, completely ignoring conventions of modern dress by wearing accessories that do absolutely nothing to sustain the waistband.

Call me crazy, call me utilitarian, but I always thought belts were used to hold up one's britches. The concept seems simple enough: feed through belt loops, buckle, and enjoy. I guess I'm behind the times, but this new fad seems more than slightly absurd. Ladies, please, leave the big belts to the pro wrestlers.

James Potts

Atlanta

Blessed Land

I almost could not believe the ridiculous arguments "Clean up American Heritage" (Jan. 29). I will leave it to others to respond to the author's faulty criticisms of BYU's fusing of religion and education, his suggestion that Columbus be placed in a straitjacket for claiming inspiration from God (claims which compare fairly well with the likes of Moses' burning bush), Joseph Smith (seer stones), and the Mormon pioneers (quails and seagulls).

Instead, I want to address his assertion that "inequality makes America the sparkling paradise it is today" and assists in the quest for exaltation. Perhaps he should consider what prophets have said regarding economic equality. Orson Pratt stated, "An inequality of property ... is a principle originated in hell; it is the root of all evils." In the Apostolic "Proclamation on the Economy" of 1875, they explained, "The people of communities and nations among whom wealth is the most equally distributed, enjoy the largest degree of liberty, are the least exposed to tyranny and oppression and suffer the least from luxurious habits which beget vice." Capitalism should not concern Mormons in the least. Instead we should strive to live The Law of Consecration. Capitalism, which promotes competition and self-interest, opposes the selfless service and cooperation that the Gospel of Jesus Christ stresses.

Perhaps the author should read the scriptures, focusing especially on D&C 42, 70, 72, 82, 104, 49:20, and 51:3. But this would probably offend his belief that religion and education ought not to be fused.

Christopher Jones

Plano, Texas

Unibrows Break Code

With all the recent discussion concerning the Honor Code I have with some disappointment noted that one indiscretion continues to go unpunished here on campus. The violation of which I speak is that of grossly unkempt and untrimmed eyebrows, which falls under the "facial hair should be neatly trimmed at all times" clause in the Honor Code.

While we readily point the finger of scorn at those with fuzzy chins, somehow we have allowed these "unibrowers" to escape our righteous judgments. Whatever excuse they may give, the fact remains that this disturbing trend is an outward manifestation of an inward lack of conviction to the gospel, and when left unchecked can fester into greater sins, such as gambling, illicit drug use and, in some cases, prostitution. The perpetrators of this violation may think they are simply "sticking it to the man" while in reality they are subverting this university's and the church's impeccable image.

Jeremy Heckaman

Carlsbad, Calif.

Copyright Brigham Young University 30 Jan 2007