Whether you were here or not in 1995 probably doesn't matter. At one time or another you have probably heard the popular BYU aphorism, 'Cougars don't cut corners.'
The phrase was coined by 1995-1996 student body president, Wes McDougal, as part of his theme to encourage students to be their best, go the extra mile and, among other things, avoid the grass.
Avoid the grass? Would BYU administrators actually discourage students from going on the grass? Certainly not. Grassy areas have purposely been designed and preserved for the enjoyment of students, in terms of both aesthetic and utilitarian value. The issue is that many grassy areas are often quickly trodden into mud because of short cuts.
'There are certain parts of campus we try to preserve as open space,' said Bruce Maw, BYU's campus landscape architect. 'Around those areas we deliberately provide hard surface for pedestrian traffic.'
Unfortunately, people often go further than using the grass for studying, socializing and playing catch; corners of lawns are frequently transformed into pedestrian freeways. As Maw observes, 'Students have a tendency to pick the path of shortest distance.'
When an innocent short cut across the grass becomes frequently used, a hard trail develops which literally destroys the grass and becomes an eye sore. Indeed, because of their potential for destruction, those short cuts really aren't so innocent. Each year they cost the university a lot of money.
Paths cut in the grass by 30,000 odd students are just about impossible to repair. While grass can be cordoned off and allowed to grow undisturbed, laying new sod is often the only answer, a solution which amounts to thousands of dollars of unnecessary expense every year.
The campus planning office and the grounds crew work hard to beautify campus for students and visitors. Students should be respectful of their efforts and avoid destroying their work.
For the most part, a lack of awareness seems to be the problem. Students are here to study and remain inundated with a variety of deadlines: the next assignment, the next exam, the bishop's constant reminding of how much time remains to find an eternal companion. With the constant barrage of such pressing issues, it is understandable that one might be a little absent-minded at times.
In fact, according to Maw, when most students are asked why they cut across the grass or through a flowerbed instead of using a sidewalk, their responses go something like, 'Oh, I guess I wasn't thinking.' They are easily helped to understand that while 'cutting corners' across the grass isn't an intrinsically evil behavior, it really isn't what one would call a good thing.
Of course there are those who might also reply, 'What? It's shorter this way! What's the grass doing here in the first place?' Ironically, they are probably the same students who complain that there is too much stone and concrete in the new quad.
Don't have the impression that we consider anyone who walks on the grass to be morally deviant. We would simply encourage all to be considerate of the time and expense spent by the grounds crew and university planners to make BYU beautiful.
We were recently approached by administrators for our thoughts on how to address this issue. The truth is, we need students' ideas on how to solve the problem. Please reach us with your ideas on how to keep Cougars from cutting corners by e-mailing us at byusa@byu.edu. We promise you an immediate response.