Thanks for the support
I want to personally thank all of you for your tremendous support of the BYU Women’s Basketball team at our game Wednesday night against the University of Utah. It was a spectacular victory and the environment was electrifying. I realize the majority of you were there to get your reserved ticket to the men’s game, but your intensity gave us an immense home court advantage and helped us win at least a share of the Mountain West Conference regular season title. We could not have won without your support. That game was hands down, the best game I’ve ever been a part of here at BYU.
See you on Saturday as we cheer on the men’s team to beat the Utah again. Go Cougars.
Jeff Judkins
BYU women’s basketball head coach
Wasted evening
I am sure there will be many letters on this subject, but I just had to say the ticket dispensing after the women’s basketball game was completely unprofessional and a waste of 5,000 student’s time. It was hard enough to spare time to go to the women’s game, much less wait over an hour on top of that just to get a ticket. Many there would have just forked over the cash to purchase the tickets, rather than waste so much time to get them for “free.”
The organization of the ticket dispensations was so horrible they stuck a man in a shirt and tie at the line to apologize to everyone for the wait. I’m sure that made everybody’s night worthwhile. Thanks BYU ticketing for doing such a wonderful job of wasting my evening.
Derek Egbert
Livermore, Calif.
Deadline not for students
I have never had a problem paying my tuition. I have never even had a late fee. I don’t think, however, that BYU should credit the reason they want tuition to be paid so early on the fact they want to help students avoid debt. Uh, I can go into as much debt as I want as long as I pay you. Why should BYU make it their moral responsibility to keep me out of debt?
Secondly, the small number of students who had to discontinue all their classes because they hadn’t paid tuition half-way through the year. Would they be able to pay back a short-term loan three-fourths through the year? I don’t think so. The reasons are shady and such a policy is over-stepping the moral bounds of BYU.
Shay Allen
South Jordan
President, not dictator
In his letter, the author of “U.S. not true democracy” (Feb. 28) seems to imply that because the Constitution labels the President “Commander in Chief,” he has sole and absolute decision-making authority over all things military. He insists the only option Congress has for showing disapproval of the war is a politically suicidal vote to cut off funding.
Before he starts hurling accusations of Constitutional ignorance toward other writers, perhaps the author should be reminded that the wording of the Constitution is not as specific as he might like. Instructions directed specifically toward governance of militias omitted, the Constitution uses only 16 words to grant the president authority over military actions and only 65 words to grant such to Congress. Additionally, it makes no direct mention regarding specific with holdings of Congressional authority.
The Constitution grants Congress power “to declare war.” Logical reason would interpret that as power both to declare the start of war and to declare when war ceases. Congress is also specifically granted power “to make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces.” Congress has on several occasions passed resolutions dictating the amount of and types of force that may be used in certain conflicts, the number of troops that may be deployed, and when troops must be withdrawn. The potential ambiguities in the Constitution necessitated the Supreme Court uphold the authority of Congress to do so, and the Court has ruled that Congress does, in fact, possess such authority under the Constitution. Hopefully they’ll use it soon.
James Cragun
Eugene, Ore.
BYUSA elections tutorial
As a senior and former BYUSA officer, it is my duty to fill you in regarding BYUSA elections; you will be the ones voting since the rest of us know better.
In 2005, running-mates Jason Smith and Jay Griggs won by a landslide, but because Griggs’ ex-girlfriend’s best friend “tattle told” on Jay for staying in their apartment 30 minutes after curfew one night the previous summer: “an Honor Code violation” both were disqualified.
Uphold the Honor Code? Yes. Stink to be them? Right again. But who is the real loser when the “student body president” (so called by administration for accreditation purposes) was not even elected by the student body?
Last year, Jason Linford and John Romney (contenders again this year) dominated the primaries, but one of their campaign members received a discount to do some campaign printing from a friend’s business. BYUSA considered the discount an unfair advantage and took them off the final ballot. Ripped off? Big time. Controversial? Not only were the papers replete with student outrage but also BYU Student Leadership Coordinator Todd Hendricks was fired after writing a letter to the editor criticizing BYUSA student elections. Protests ensued, and once again, another BYUSA president won by default.
While I consider BYUSA a pseudo-student government and a waste of sacred funds, if someone has to win this year, it should be Romney and Linford; they must have altruistic motives to be slapped in the face one year and then to run again the next. Godspeed, freshmen.
Jonathan DeGraff
Gilbert, Ariz.
Well done on coverage
I wanted to thank The Daily Universe for highlighting the problems of domestic violence in Utah. Readers should also know Utah has a significant problem with rape – its rate of violence against women is 18 percent higher than the national average. Data from Utah Justice Department in 2005 shows one in three Utah women will experience some form of sexual violence during their lives.
Think about three women you know – your mother, sister, friend, wife or daughter, and then think about one of them being subject to some sort of sexual violence. On March 8, International Women’s Day, there will be a group of students near Brigham Square at 11 a.m. in a show of solidarity against the kind of violence against women that happens in our neighborhoods. Come if you would like to remember the women in your life and to think about how you feel that Utah doesn’t allocate a single dollar to rape prevention.
Brittany Leonard
Hayden Lake, Idaho
Prayer units
So I was sitting in class today thinking of nothing in particular when someone got up to say a prayer. Not terribly unusual but everyone in that class of 200 became completely silent. Throughout the rest of the class the noise level never reached that low of a level again. Even in the deepest parts of the lecture there was still background noise.
Having noticed this phenomenon before I realized that the same thing happens in every single group prayer I witness. From campus-wide Devotionals to small study groups all are silent for the prayer. It doesn’t matter if you are sure the person next to you is a heathen or even a liberal. When push comes to shove the people on this campus all have a deep respect for their Creator. I have never seen a group of people anywhere that could continually offer such respect for prayer even they see dozens of prayers a day. When I am confronted with some complaint or disagreeable comment about BYU I like to remember what an amazing place this is. In spite of the moots of dust around this university as a whole it is simply amazing. Honestly, I love BYU.
Riley Rackliffe
Taylorsville
Thanks for coverage
Brittany Duncan’s compilation of information on the different views of abuse proved to be some amazing journalism. Hopefully it contacts the people who need it most. Bravo to Brittany for her work.
Bryan Gividen
Snowflake, Ariz.
