BYU fans need to behave better at sporting events
I’ve been to my fair share of football and basketball games. They are some of the most cherished memories I have. However, as I’ve attended these events, the most consistent theme has been the poor sportsmanship and overall hatred shown, not by coaches, players, or officials, but by the fans.
At a basketball game against Wake Forest, BYU fans became so enraged at the referees that they began throwing trash onto the court. Most recently, just a few weeks ago several members of the student section were attempting to start an organized chant against the referees after several questionable calls.
It is possible to be proud of BYU and cheer for them like a maniac, while also maintaining respect. This is actually a rule that the BYU Marching Band is required to follow. We cannot require the same standards of spectators, but they, too, represent what we stand for as a university.
Sports are pretty temporary. The list of issues more pressing than a collegiate sporting event could be as long as we wanted it to be. For a university whose mission is to forward the work of salvation and bring others to Christ, it’s time for us to do better. We know better. Virtually every BYU fan in the world is taught on a weekly, if not daily, basis the importance of attributes like respect, honesty and mildness. And no, we don’t “check our religion at the door,” to quote Elder Holland. Relax and enjoy it, everybody.
— Joseph Baldwin
American Fork, Utah
BYU meal plans are a waste of money
Have you ever purchased a meal plan only to find out at the end of the year that you’ve wasted hundreds of dollars? When students purchase a meal plan they should be reimbursed for the money they don’t use. BYU shouldn’t set expectations for how much a student should be eating and it’s only honest for the university to return money students don’t use.
By making students (in the dorms) purchase meal plans, BYU is telling students how much they must eat to receive the full value of the meal plan. Everyone is different and everyone eats a different amount of food. At the very least, BYU could offer more diverse and flexible plans. Instead of wasting money on meals they don’t eat, students could save for their missions, pay for textbooks, insurance, healthcare, monthly bills, housing and other necessary items.
— Keena Klevan
Mt. Pleasant, Utah
Forget yourself
I believe BYU should require students to give an hour of service each week, aside from credit hours, to improve the community. By having diverse perspectives of students from all over, it allows for both the people we are serving to enrich the education of our students and allows them to learn different life lessons, like how to love and build up their characters. As stated in Mosiah 2:17: “And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” Helping others allows us to gain wisdom: we learn new skills, meet new people, and learn from them. At BYU we can get so caught up in our work and personal issues that we don’t think about those around us. Service helps us connect to others.
President Hinckley’s father said, “Forget yourself and go to work.” When we involve ourselves in the work of our savior or service, we forget about ourselves and focus our attention to those we are helping. By helping others, we open our mind from all the stresses in college for at least an hour each week. We forget about the problems we are enthralled with at school.
— Michelle Mayer
Los Angeles, California
