No "P" In Pool
It has been accepted that it is unhealthy, unethical and disgusting to leave bodily fluids in a swimming pool. It is socially unacceptable. Yet, there are two other P's that should not be brought into the pool by the public. First is perfume. While an individual enjoys his or her own preference, one cannot assume that others do also. The pool is not the place to wash away scent. It disappears into the water much like pollution disappears into the air - not! It taints the water and irritates the respiratory systems of other swimmers. The next P is perspiration. The showers installed in the dressing rooms are to be used before a patron enters the pool. The pool is not a community bathtub. Perspiration, like perfume, does not disappear into nothingness but soils the water. Swimming in the pool should include the golden rule: do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. You, as a patron who enjoys swimming, swims for exercise, or for a class, do not want to swim in someone else's sweat. Be considerate of others in the pool and enter the pool as you came.
David Hansen
Orem
Sex Ed Increases Promiscuity
The philosophies of man mingled with scripture in responses to BYU's lack of sex 101 were surprising (Sept. 27, 2006). There are courses available on campus if you're that interested. School sex education increases promiscuity, pregnancy, and disease rates. As you rush your children off to their sex-ed classes, know that they will come back very educated and less likely to stay morally clean. At least they'll know how to do it safely. The official, sanitized sex education objective is to teach healthy sexuality and that parents should not impede their children's inalienable right to express their sexuality. "Under the mistaken impression we are making girls and boys more 'comfortable' with sex adults now teach that sex can be safe, that Eros is a tame god; thus they have released youngsters to face the onslaught of sex with no protection." [Gallagher, Abolition of Marriage p.153] Procreation is, in fact, sacred and education should happen individually with parents, a bishop or a counselor, not in a classroom. Full "education" should not take place until one is about to take that happy step of responsibility called marriage. The number one influence for teens not engaging in pre-marital sex is parental influence.
Kaleb Lord
Orem
Where Does It End?
I would like to respond to Lacy Croft's editorial "Mind the Language," (Sept. 27). She mentioned that she is peeved when people use the word "crap" because "we all know what that word is a substitute for." Well, one of my biggest peeves is when people try to argue that any exclamation is wrong because it takes the place of a "swear" word. If we can't say crap, then what about heck, darn, gosh, and shoot? We all know what those substitute! We even have words that have developed in Mormon/BYU culture that we find ever so comical - flip and fetch! Oh my heck, they could actually be replacing - well, I'm sure I don't need to tell you. People have taken ridiculing exclamations way too far. The point is, you could turn any word into a substitute for a vulgar one, so if someone's not saying the actual swear word, just let it go and lighten up.
Elizabeth T. Bingert
Chicago, Ill.
R-rated BYU Students
I work in the box office of the Carmike Cinemas up in the Riverwoods. We often get big crowds of students from BYU on opening weekends, which is understandable in this college town. However, this last weekend we were not opening a movie that I would think would draw a large BYU crowd. "Jackass Number 2" is rated R for "extremely crude and dangerous stunts throughout, sexual content, nudity, and language." Knowing this, I was surprised and extremely disappointed at how many BYU students came to this movie. It wasn't just the people wearing BYU hats or t-shirts (because technically anybody could wear that), but a very large number of people, when asked for ID, provided their BYU ID as proof of their age. It saddens me to imagine how many other BYU students might have come without anyone knowing where they went to school. Because of the content of this movie, I do not think it appropriate for anyone at BYU to see this movie in good conscience. If you aren't even comfortable saying the title of the movie, you probably shouldn't be going to see it anyway.
Brittany Morgan
Orem
Better Recycling Facilities Needed
According to the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, paper is the most recycled waste. BYU has paper drops. But what about the large amount of paper which is in the form of cardboard? There are no accommodations for it. What about plastic? It will never decompose, yet we have no way to recycle it here.
BYU needs a better recycle program. Yes, there are drops for paper, but not cardboard. Yes, there are some drops for aluminum, but not enough; and what about other metals? Do we use the lazy, ungrateful excuse of "The world is going to be burned at the Second Coming anyway" or "It doesn't matter because atomic wars will destroy the earth soon enough." Is there a false rectitude in the catch phrase, "Reduce, reuse, recycle?" If recycling doesn't matter, then why do I feel good when I take an empty can home to recycle it just because I don't want to throw it in the trash or when I throw the newspaper in the big blue bin? We have already got the recycling program under way. Doesn't that by itself show that it is important? Is it just not cost efficient enough to go the rest of the way? If that is the case, God help us.
Ryan Taylor
West Jordan
Are We Importing Sex Offenders?
While I am not a statistics major, I do have some experience reading bar graphs and histograms, and I have access to a dictionary. Apparently these are not luxuries enjoyed by the creator of the "Sex offenders per capita in Utah Cities"? graph. According to this graph, some cities are home to two, three and even seven sex offenders per capita. Random House defines per capita as by or for each individual person. So, this must mean that there are 6.94 sex offenders per person in Elberta. Wow. It is difficult to have more than one person per person. Are these extra (assuming every person in Elberta is a sex offender) 6 offenders out-of-towners, animals, inanimate objects, or extra terrestrials? Is there a Sex offender registry?? convention in town? I don't mean to make light of a serious topic, but I think this draws attention to an important problem. Journalists have an obligation to provide accurate facts, and it appears that little thought or copyediting went into this graph.
Nathan Allen
Haymarket, Va.
Inaccuracies In Sports Story
In reference to the article about Curtis Brown (Sept. 26), I just think it's sad that a story about one of our most famous student athletes doesn't have all it's facts straight. It was said that, "[Curtis] Brown is currently dating a member of the church and has been for about eight months when, in reality, he was married in August in the Oakland Temple.
Please report on our team a little better than that and include all the facts. Thanks.
Steve Holden
Boise, ID
Double Standard?
The Police Beat on Sept. 21 reminded us that bicycle riding is not allowed on campus during the breaks between classes. This is a reasonable rule because bicycles can easily cause traffic flow problems and are a potential danger to the thousands of pedestrians. So I thought it was ironic that the other day as I walked onto campus during a class break, I saw a large BYU truck pulling onto the sidewalk next to the Benson building and the Eyring Science Center, forcing pedestrians to move out of the way. Why is there such a double standard that a truck, with far more potential to maim or kill than even the heaviest bicycle from the fifties, is allowed to cruise the same congested sidewalks from which bikes are forbidden?
Gordon Mancuso
Rochester, New York
Simple Econ Lesson
Can the parking situation get any more ridiculous? I guess I had too much faith in the Parking Office, or BYU administrators, or whoever makes these decisions, but I guess Econ 110 is not a requirement for those jobs. According to the law of supply and demand, the price of a good determines its demand. So, if there's a limited supply (few parking spaces) but the cost is nothing (free parking permits), you're going to have a demand greater than the supply (more people wanting parking permits than there are spaces), and thus a shortage (nowhere to park). Now, if the price was raised to, say, $50 or $80, demand would be less (fewer people are willing to pay money to park on campus), and there would be places to park! Then we could even supplement bus passes again.
Oh, and what's with the empty A lots? Since the underground parking structure was built, no one parks in those lots. And why, I wonder, are colleges the only places that make their customers (students) park farther from the business (campus) than their employees (faculty and staff)?
Anyway, it's been said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. Last year it didn't work - did you really think it would work this year?
Adam Buchanan
Bellingham, Wash.
Copyright Brigham Young University 28 Sep 2006
