Spread positivity
With the average college debt running up into the tens of thousands, I’ve felt lucky to be able to go to a college that provides a good education at a low cost. Overall, I’ve felt like I’ve had a pretty good experience here at BYU. That’s why it came as a surprise to me when a bunch of my friends started posting on Facebook about how upset they were about the $75 increase in BYU tuition. When these posts started to multiply, I began to wonder if this is how they really felt, or if they were just taking the path of least resistance.
I realized I was seeing this same negative trend in posts about politics and celebrities. But are political candidates really from the devil? Are musicians really horrible people? And is BYU really that expensive?
When people start spreading negativity just because it’s the popular thing to do, it creates an environment that brings people down. I understand that it’s easier to jump on the bandwagon, and it certainly can make for a lot of likes on social media. But does that make it right? We come to college to develop independent thoughts and to figure out the kind of people we want to be. If we spread popular ideas without giving them any consideration, we are doing a disservice to ourselves and to the world.
— Justin Gooch
St. George, Utah
Waitress pet peeves
As a waitress there are several pet peeves I’ve developed because of customers. As a food costumer, please read and learn from these common customer mistakes.
1. Don’t say you’re ready to order when you’re not. As servers, it’s not that we don’t care or are easily annoyed, it’s the fact that we’re busy and have a lot to do. Staring at you while you think is not effective time for a waitress or waiter when they’re busy and you’re not their only customer.
2. Don’t blame us for the food taking a long time to come. We understand how frustrating it can be to wait for food when you’re hungry, but please remember that we don’t make the food. If you’re mad your food took too long, ask to speak to the manager or the chef, but please don’t get mad at the server when it truly isn’t their fault.
3. Don’t be a lousy tipper. People need to understand that tipping at a sit-down restaurant is not a courtesy, it’s expected. 15 percent is the minimum expected from a customer. I’ve had college students write, “Sorry, I’m a poor student,” on the tip line. This is an outrage. If you’re too poor to tip, you shouldn’t be going out to eat. Keep in mind that more than likely your server is a poor college student themselves, which is why they’re working as a waiter.
Try not to be offended by these pet peeves, but take note and learn from common customer mistakes that could help you learn some class.
— Lydia Jorgensen
Provo, Utah
Utah and BYU rivalry
“The deep, dark dirty secret is that our fans aren’t disappointed,” said Chris Hill, the athletic director of the University of Utah. He was referencing the two-year break in the annual football rivalry between BYU and the U of U in an article done by the Deseret News. Is that true? To me, you can’t just stop a game that has made such an impact on football in the state of Utah for nearly the past century.
There are people that say Utah is in the Pac-12 conference so they get to play teams like Oregon, UCLA, USC and Stanford every year. The U. should focus on its conference and getting more national attention, which comes from being in one of the “Power-5” conferences. Others have said the whole reason that the rivalry got big was because of the conference championship implications; back then there was something to fight for.
But there will always be something to play for; this is the Cougars and the Utes we’re talking about. To the young, the old, Ute, Cougar and even some Aggies, it’s all the same — people want to watch this game. Back in the day when November would roll around, everybody would choose a side, no matter who you were.
No matter how you feel about the rivalry, one thing will always be the same: when the Utes and Cougars are on, lots of people will be watching.
— Jake Roush
Syracuse, Utah
