BYU NewsNet - Letters to the DU Editor for Nov. 19, 2008

Turn down the heat

Can I just throw out an idea for BYU? Lower the thermostat. I hate having to walk up the hill to class with my cold weather clothing on only to get into class and have to take it all off because I'm dying of heat. BYU should lower the thermostat by a degree or more. This could save them some money while at the same time be beneficial to the students. For one, if it wasn't so hot I'd be better able to stay awake in class. I mean, come on. How hard is it for us to stay awake as it is? For those of you who are cold in class, put some more clothes on. I can't take any more off. Thank you.

BRAD GRANT

Moses Lake, Wash.

Crossword puzzle location

Almost every day I grab a copy of The Daily Universe while I'm on campus. I usually start reading from the beginning of the paper, reading any articles that look interesting and paying special attention to "Letters to the Editor," political cartoons, the occasional "Police Beat," and the campus events calendar. The truth, however, is that I'm just making my way to the inside last page: the funnies and the crossword puzzle. "Police Beat" is great, but what I really want is "Get Fuzzy" and "Dilbert" (and in a treasured, not-too-distant past, "Foxtrot.") I fold the paper open to the last page, read the funnies and then I fold the paper in fourths giving me a perfect hand-held crossword puzzle. Imagine my horror the last few days when the crossword was moved to the opposite page, and worse, right on the crease! A faithful habit that I have developed over the past four years destroyed!

I realize that there are legitimate layout considerations that may occasionally make it more convenient to relocate the crossword. I also realize that I get the paper for free and you really don't need to care what I think. I'm just trying to give you some genuine reader feedback.

I weathered the years when "Sunday Challenges" occasionally made it into Monday papers (a very difficult and frustrating time in my life), and I laud those whose efforts remedied that problem of days gone by. Now a new challenge has arisen, and with it, a moment for the new staff to rise up and prove their mettle. I beg of you, put the crossword back where it belongs and leave it there! Viva the bottom right corner!

MATT ADAMS

Diamond Bar, Calif.

Standing behind the "Bros"

The viewpoint on the East Coast being better than the West Coast needs to be addressed. I hate to say this, but the way the West was portrayed made me a little butthurt. Southern California, which is where this "Bro Nation" is from, should never be looked upon so superficially. So-Cal, as the "bros" say it, is a huge melting pot and I don't think the author of the East Coast viewpoint likes what's cooking. I'm not going to deny the existence of bros, and especially bad representations of them here at BYU. However, I would like people to keep in mind that these bros are white - the minorities of their area. As a person of a light brown color, I'd have to say that making fun of bros is a bit racist and maybe xenophobic. The bros have been thrown into a melting pot that my people have created and have come out semi-messed up. They don't know what it's like to be in the elite East Coast, with your precious Harvard in wonderful Massachusetts that you are all so fond of spelling. Instead, they are having an identity crisis by trying to be white in the way they look while speaking like English is their third language like my immigrant grandma. I'm not ashamed of these bros and their overly fake-baked girlfriends (they just want to be tan like the rest of us.) I am proud of them and will stand with them wherever they be at.

TAWNEE MADLEN

San Diego

Tunnel singing issue

I have noticed a growing problem of late with tunnel singing. Too many go merely to socialize, and that ruins it for those who are striving for spiritual experiences. Tunnel singing should be a place where we can sing praises to God, but it becomes hard to maintain that focus when those around you are passing the time visiting with their friends. Socializing is great, but tunnel singing is not really the place for such lively conversation. For instance, this past Sunday we were singing Hymn 197, "O Savior, Thou Who Wearest a Crown." While most were respectfully and reverently honoring the Savior's Atonement, too many passed the time laughing and joking with each other. There is nothing wrong with such behavior, but there is a time and a place for it. Another issue is that for those who are there to sing, it becomes hard to hear what the next hymn will be when there is so much extra noise. Now, I am surely not perfect myself, but I would like to suggest that we all come together and endeavor to make tunnel singing a more spiritual experience. Thank you.

LEE CROWTHER

Mesa, Wash.

Wicked

In the wake of the recent Prop. 8 victory, I felt justified in taking a short rest from moral crusades until I read the East Coast opposing viewpoint in The Daily Universe on Nov. 17. I was born in New Haven, Conn., and moved to New York at age three. Unlike our East Coast rep, I have been to California, to the OC, even the very heartland of "Sweet-Bro"-dom. While I quite liked the beginning of the article, after reading paragraph four, I could go no further before committing myself to stand again for truth and righteousness or should I say "wickedness"? The author spouted off a list of occidental adjectives in an effort to assert Eastern superiority, but he made one crucial mistake by attributing "wicked" to the Calis. One quick Google search reveals that "wicked" originated in Boston. But then again, the Virginians never quite listen to the Yankees as much as they should!

DOUG VANDERWERKEN