Classic Daily Universe Op Ed letters

[marsupial]

This post took me back to my days at BYU working for the Daily Universe

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

No, they have better paintings than that. They will be hanging up Jim Christensen dwarf paintings.

James Christensen had just come out with a new book and we had published a picture of two bikini clad mermaids from the book in the newspaper. The next day we received a barrage of letters from students outraged that we would print such filth in the newspaper. Letters talked about the affects such pornographic pictures had on the male mind. (Apparently some students at BYU have a cartoon mermaid fetish.)

Anyway... I was wondering what great Op Ed debates you remember from your years at BYU.

[danimal]

My favorite was the controversy over the one strap backpacks. These book carrying devices, designed by Lucifer himself, were worn across the chest with the strap going between the breasts. Apparently this accentuated womens' breasts to such a degree that wholesome young mens' minds were resembling Goatnapper's. This resulted in quite an uproar.

[Mormon Red Death]

Originally Posted by danimal

My favorite was the controversy over the one strap backpacks. These book carrying devices, designed by Lucifer himself, were worn across the chest with the strap going between the breasts. Apparently this accentuated womens' breasts to such a degree that wholesome young mens' minds were resembling Goatnapper's. This resulted in quite an uproar.

Yes... those straps got me through a very lonely time...

[YOhio]

Originally Posted by marsupial

Anyway... I was wondering what great Op Ed debates you remember from your years at BYU.

Good topic! One of the raging debates was started when a male student wrote a letter to the editor asking that female students stop wearing their over-the-shoulder packs across their chest. He was upset because it cut a line between their breasts, thereby accentuating their endowments and forcing surrounding males to have lustful thoughts. The barrage of letters defending this heinous practice ensued and many people were "shocked and appalled." I still wonder if the guy who wrote the original letter was joking.

Another issue was created by a couple of hometown friends of mine, Phillip and Ryan. They were both brilliant students and had always kind of been competitive with one another. Phillip was naturally more intelligent (he eventually went on to graduate from Wharton B-school) and he liked to give Ryan a lot of grief. When they were freshmen, Phillip wrote a DU letter denouncing students who bleached their hair, noting that it was a violation of the commandment not to defile our sacred bodies. THe letter also noted that this was a prominent trend amongst the arrogant students from California. Phillip didn't believe any of this nonsense, so he signed it in Ryan's name. Ryan got home that afternoon and had multiple voice mails calling him out and insulting him in every way possible. Once he found out that the letter was Phillips handiwork, he wrote a letter to the Daily Universe explaining the whole situation and placing the blame on Phillip. The DU published portions of the letter, but they refused to name Phillip. The clarifying letter was unconvincing and Ryan's name was never fully cleared.

[Detroitdad]

A guy I went to high school with wrote a letter that started "as a gay BYU student" to the Daily Universe. He went on to lament the treatment of gays at BYU and to detail the fact that he was gay but celibate. Apparently he recieved so many hateful e-mails and phone messages that he had to change both, or so I heard from a mutual friend. I lost touch with the mutual friend, but I heard from others that he was dismissed from school on the basis of that letter, but I cannot verify whether that is true or not.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Originally Posted by Detroitdad

I lost touch with the mutual friend, but I heard from others that he was dismissed from school on the basis of that letter, but I cannot verify whether that is true or not.

Possible but doubtful. A few years back there was an English prof who announced he was gay but celibate. He stuck around for a while and eventually left, but insisted it was his decision. There was another prof not too long ago that gave a talk on campus listing all of the research indicating biological causes for SSA and strongly encouraging the church to adopt a more tolerant view towards gays. Here is an article about it:

http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/49488/1121

Still on campus apparently:

http://bacs.byu.edu/FacStaff/index.aspx?ID=13

But of course, there was a time when such a letter would probably get someone the boot, so your story could be true.

[Detroitdad]

Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski

Possible but doubtful. A few years back there was an English prof who announced he was gay but celibate. He stuck around for a while and eventually left, but insisted it was his decision. There was another prof not too long ago that gave a talk on campus listing all of the research indicating biological causes for SSA and strongly encouraging the church to adopt a more tolerant view towards gays. Here is an article about it:

http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/49488/1121

Still on campus apparently:

http://bacs.byu.edu/FacStaff/index.aspx?ID=13

But of course, there was a time when such a letter would probably get someone the boot, so your story could be true.

This happened in September-October of 1997. I will ask some people with better knowledge of the situation whether he was dismissed.

[marsupial]

Originally Posted by Detroitdad

This happened in September-October of 1997. I will ask some people with better knowledge of the situation whether he was dismissed.

Actually, I was the Opinion editor then. I remember publishing that letter. I don't think he got dismissed, but I guess I don't really know for sure.

[Hazzard]

Originally Posted by danimal

My favorite was the controversy over the one strap backpacks. These book carrying devices, designed by Lucifer himself, were worn across the chest with the strap going between the breasts. Apparently this accentuated womens' breasts to such a degree that wholesome young mens' minds were resembling Goatnapper's. This resulted in quite an uproar.

I remember regularly seeing a stunning 5'11" blond European-looking girl who used her single strap bag to create what can only be described as the Swiss Alps.

[il Padrino Ute]

A Marist, I created an uproar when I wore a tee shirt to class that said:

President Reagan is awesome

No letters to the editor, but I did have a number of granola eating socialist type students call me a fascist.