In response to the uptight 'Barefoot Blunders': as a fellow senior at BYU, I am also familiar with the Honor Code. I think many of us are. It's available on the BYU web site. Were you trying to be funny? I almost feel sorry for the poor girl who got her picture taken after slipping off her shoes on the grass (I would wager they were flip-flops or sandals, which are easily removed and replaced) only to be called 'wayward' by a student who doesn't even know her. If you're going to be judgmental about the Dress and Grooming Standards as the weather gets warmer, I would be more concerned with the girls - and guys - who, anxious to get a head start on that summer glow, push up their sleeves and expose their stomachs in order to achieve a more even tan between classes.
This concerned reader's rantings smack of some of the extreme Puritan indictments of the seventeenth century that we laugh at today: 'Is Babylon slowly sneaking into the University through The Daily Universe? How can we be a peculiar people if our own campus newspaper promotes this subtle unruliness?' Remember, he's talking about a girl who took her shoes off while sitting on the grass. So banish her already! If people like 'Blunders' have influence around here, I expect an upcoming expose' on the various ways people violate the Honor Code. I'd like to see a front-page spread on 5:00-shadow guys, or girls who gossip, or the Abercrombie club with holes in their jeans, or professed scholars who skim SparkNotes in place of skimming the book.
Instead of accusing people of bare feet, and sounding like a hypercritical fanatic, I would suggest, unless an Honor Code violation hurts or distracts us or others, that we leave the personal interpretations up to individuals. Though I agree that the Honor Code should be taken literally, and we definitely could step it up a notch, I also believe that honor prevails on this campus. I think students as a whole are doing a great job at contributing to the clean, bright atmosphere BYU is famous for.
Lastly, I do confess that I too have enjoyed the feel of warm grass beneath my toes while sitting with legs crossed on BYU campus in the spring and summer months - naively enduring stares of shock and disapproval, apparently. Then, when the bell has rung, I've slipped my flip-flops back on and walked to class. Good thing I'm graduating, so I don't have to worry about bringing that up in my next Ecclesiastical Endorsement.
Eliza Selander
Monrovia, CA