Suck it up
I?d like to respond to the March 2 letter, ?Fighting chance.? The author asks the question, ?How many of us can say we?ve been completely proficient within the first few days of our new jobs?? We aren?t talking about burning bread at Subway, we are talking about the state of the nation. I feel that perhaps you think we shouldn?t expect Mr. Obama to be proficient in his first days of office. This may be the case, except that we, as a nation, were promised that he would be ready to perform his duties starting day one. If he needed a ?grace period? for mistakes, then perhaps he should have spent more time in the Senate gaining real experience. Maybe he should have waited for four more years while we had a president who actually was ready to perform.
Secondly, the author continues on speaking to the critics of Obama by saying, ?Unless you provide another option or solution, all we really get to read about is a biased opinion lined with ignorance.? Is it biased because we don?t agree with him, or is that what makes us ?ignorant?? Or is it ignorant to think that $250 million in STD research will stimulate the economy? I have a solution: rather than appointing criminals and inexperienced people to important positions, Obama should suck up his pride and call on people who are most qualified for the positions.
Matt Lukens
Marietta, Ga.
Nothing new
While reading about the different initiatives of those campaigning for BYUSA this week, the same thought kept coming to my mind: How do any of these candidates hope to accomplish such lofty goals? Every year around this time, we are inundated with promises of change, improvements of the campus and how it is presently constituted. Many promises are made, few are kept. Aside from ?Redefine Service? posters everywhere on campus (hello giant forehead blocking whatever was supposed to be read), I have not noticed a single iota of change instituted by the current BYUSA administration. I don?t expect the next administration to be any different.
Call me biased, jaded, pessimistic, wrong or lacking school spirit, but until I am proved wrong, please don?t waste my time with something so trivial as a popularity contest. If I were ever to run for BYUSA president (I can?t, I am not a member of BYUSA), my campaign motto would be something along the lines of, ?Taking money from the students to pad my resume,? or ?You thought high school was over, you were wrong!? I respect the desire of some to solicit our votes, so long as they respect my decision to not vote. BYUSA? Where pointless happens!
Dallin Lundin
Lake Havasu City, Ariz.
Don?t vote
BYUSA elections are a sham. Under its electoral system, students can only run for office if they hold membership in a certain organization, namely, BYUSA. According to its elections handbook, BYUSA must ?approve all initiative ideas and wording? before candidates are allowed to run. And if BYUSA is dissatisfied with the final election results, its elections committee will declare a winner by default, as was done in 2004, 2005 and 2006 ? and who knows how many other times it was done before those three years. BYU even fired one of its employees in 2006 because he called for reform to this corrupt election process.
In our four years at this university, no BYUSA presidents have fulfilled their campaign promises because none of them have held real power. Essentially, there are no differences between the candidates since none of them possess the power necessary to accomplish anything of substance for the student body. BYUSA is merely a service association, not a student advocacy organization. Because of this, we propose that all students abstain from voting this year. If you voted in the primaries, that?s OK, but refrain from voting in the final election. Let?s set a record low turnout in the farcical BYUSA elections!
It?s possible BYUSA will write a rebuttal to this criticism. Ignore it. Until BYUSA opens candidacy up to the entire student body, allows candidates to compose their own platforms, and reverses its policy of overturning unwanted election results, there is no reason to take its elections seriously.
Joseph Shurtleff
Tampa Bay, Fla.
Brian Voeks
Lehi
Leave us be
The week of constant badgering has fallen upon BYU. The quiet campus of BYU for one week has become a wolf?s den for the hopeful politicians for BYUSA. Now why does it have to be such a fight? I walk down the sidewalk awaiting an attack from the various colors of flyers being handed out by the motivated (overly motivated) volunteers for the potential candidates. I can?t look one direction without a pack of volunteers or candidates running trying to catch my eye. Let?s be civil here. If people want to know about your initiatives, they will come and talk to you. Say hi! Be nice! Don?t be the wolves looking for their next victims. I speak for the students of BYU. We don?t want to be your next meal!
Jeffrey Hammond
Provo
That?s politics
I would like to respond to the March 2 letter, ?Fighting chance.? Since the author is obviously somewhat liberal in his views, I would like to remind him of his party?s sharp criticism of president Bush. I would like to remind him of how his party picked Bush apart, criticized his every move and focused on his petty little flaws. A lot of the criticism he received was brutal, unfounded and disrespectful. Now that the author?s party is in control of the presidency, he pleads with us conservatives to give Obama ?a fighting chance.?
My response to this hypocritical request is, ?if you can?t take the heat, get out of the fire: that?s politics.? I believe very strongly that if you dish it out, you should be able to take it yourself. In other words, if you are critical of someone, you should be able to take criticism. So suck it up. That?s the way the game is played.
It?s also quite obvious that the author doesn?t like unintelligent arguments. Well, I don?t appreciate unintelligent arguments either. The author attacks the conservatives who write op-eds for The Daily Universe for unfounded arguments against Obama?s policies, yet I don?t see any well founded arguments in the author?s op-ed for Obama?s policies. So, until you can offer a well-founded argument for Obama?s policies, you?re not going to be convincing anyone of your position.
Chris Draney
Chicago
Life without BYUSA
What would happen if we didn?t elect a BYUSA president or vice president this week? Well, we?d have two extra $2,000-plus scholarships we could give to other students. We would have two extra chairs at devotionals, which when a General Authority visits could be given to someone like the custodial employees that have to clean the toilets at 5 a.m. Two students would have a missing line in their resume, and might not get a job, get married or ever find happiness or success. The administration would have to choose some other pair of students for visiting General Authorities and important people to meet who smile and look sharp and smart.
We wouldn?t be able to pretend that 10 percent of the student body voting really determines the best choice. Instead of just supporting the ideas of two people, the BYUSA coordinators would have to take a few great ideas from people not involved in BYUSA and help them actually get implemented. We wouldn?t have to avoid walking across Brigham Square or the area between the JFSB and the HBLL for a week. Classes would still be held; people would still get married. Activities would still happen and we?d still get boiling water with four cocoa sprinkles in the morning. Yeah, university life would be not worse, and would maybe be one percent better without a BYUSA president or vice president
Brigham Wilson
Plymouth, Minn.
Pray for democracy
In 90 days, it is quite probable that Proposition 8 will be nullified. It has been put to the courts (who undid the last voter initiative on this topic) to decide whether we voters have a voice at all. Please pray Prop. 8 will be upheld. I am speaking from the perspective of a voter who wants to believe in democracy.
Whitney Nielsen
Brentwood, Calif.
