OCR Text |
Show Page 3 Friday, September 22, 2006 Editorial The Signpost Signpost Viewpoint Remember to bleed purple despite the gray To students, Homecoming Week is an opportunity to watch their home team annihilate another football team, dance, win prizes and par-tay. But to alumni, it's about returning home, seeing how much campus has changed and reminiscing. So far, this year's homecoming colors have been dark and gray, accompanied by wet weather and umbrellas. Maybe Mother Nature is trying to put a damper on Weber State University activities by trying to put everyone into a depressing mood, or maybe it's her way of trying to tell the WSU community that this homecoming week, Weber needs to see more color. Purple, in fact. This is the one week out of the year specially devoted to campus pride. Students have already been partying and winning prizes, and tomorrow tailgates will open near the Stewart stadium, BBQ grills will heat up and football supporters will paint their faces purple and white. Now, it's time to break out more purple and fight back the dreary clouds that have been hanging over WSU for the past week. As alumni return to campus to watch how students are running the show now, they see purple they can take pride in - not just the football team, but the student support as well. Fill the stands with purple wear and the football team will literally be able to see how much the WSU community backs it. Bleeding purple isn't just about wearing purple to show pride toward campus, it's about showing support to those lives, interests, talents and hard work and devotion that intermingle with our own. It's about realizing that other students work as hard as each of us do individually With all the dreary weather, construction, stress of class and cramped student space lately, let's not forget to take time for ourselves and support each other. Break out the purple. Bleed purple. Rain down purple cheers at the homecoming game and help push the football team into the end zone. And let's do our part to fight back the dreary colors that so easily bring spirits down. The tipping point As appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Friday, September 15 Round Five: on zoos and such.... How do you feel about zoos? Are they a humane break from the dangers of living in the wild, or unfair imprisonment? You're dining out at a swanky restaurant. Your server has helped you and your date get a romantic little table in the corner. He's given you the skinny on the coq au vin and the rack of Iamb, and he's delivered your meal with perfect timing. His fina! act of the evening is to bring you the check. Do you give him a fabulous tip? Or'do you stiff him? ' Restaurant patrons beware: If you leave a stingy tip, the world may find out about it. The Associated Press recently reported that waiters are employing the Internet to express their displeasure with their customers. One Web site gives waiters around the country the opportunity to divulge the names of customers who have tipped less than 17 percent. On other Web sites, waiters mouth off about people who tip less than 20 percent. One New Yorker has a blog (WaiterRant.net) on which he gives scathing reports about rude and impatient customers, including details on their poor tipping habits. It's hard to blame the waiters. There aren't many occupations in which you do the work and then the employer decides how much to pay you (or whether to pay you at all.) A former Atlanta waiter who's now a restaurant manager has been trying to persuade restaurant owners to follow the lead of Europeans and charge an automatic 20 percent service fee on every check. Michael Lynn, a professor at Cornell University's Center for Hospitality Research, has found that many people do The -^ A feel strong social pressure to tip in the 15 to 20 percent range. (Increasingly they're feeling pressures to drop change in tip jars as well. But we digress.) "We've found that customers tip more when servers do things such as writing thank you on the check, calling the customer by name or even squatting to talk to the customer,-'JLynn said. • In general, customers don't want automatic service charges. It strips the server of the motivation to do a good job if he or she knows he's going to be paid the same anyway. Research shows that customers believe waiters should be paid more, but customers aren't always willing to pay higher prices for their meals to subsidize those higher wages. And restaurateurs aren't always willing to hike their menu prices and/or take a bite out of their profits to boost waiters' salaries. It seems unlikely that many U.S. restaurants are going to adopt the automatic service charge, though many do impose one for larger groups. Waiters' earnings will continue to be based in part on tips, and those tips will sometimes be generous and sometimes stingy. That's the nature of the job. A word of advice: Give them a break. If you can afford the price of the meal, you can afford to be generous to the waiter. And treat them respectfully. A seat at the table doesn't come with a license to treat the waiter like a lackey. And if that doesn't convince you, remember: You don't want to show up on WaiterRant.net. Weber State University weDer estate university Signpost Editor in Chief Managing Editor News Editor Sports Editor Copy Editor Lifestyles Editor Entertainment Editor Business Editor Photo Editor Graphics Editor Online/Graphics Editor Advertising Manager Office Manager Adviser Distribution Publisher Signpost Fax David Fairchild Cynthia Loveland Maria Villasenor Jon McBride Jason Sherman Andrea Bean Molly Bennett Nick Dragon Tricia Gerrard Brady Leaver Matthew Evans Shelley Hart Georgia Edwards Allison Hess Lindsey Hall Dr. Randy Scott 626-7121 626-7614 626-7655 626-7983 626-7659 626-7621 626-7105 626-7624 626-6358 626-7661 626-6358 626-6359 626-7974 626-7499 626-7974 626-6464 626-7401 • The Signpost is published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during the semester. Subscription is $15 a semester. The first copy of The Signpost is free, each additional copy is $.50. • The Signpost is a student publication, written, edited and drafted by Weber State University students. Student fees partially fund the printing of this publication. Opinions or positions voiced are not necessarily endorsed by the university. • 77?© Signpost welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must Include name, address, telephone number and the writer's signature. Anonymous letters will not be printed. • The Signpost reserves the right to edit letters for reasons of space and libel and also reserves the right to refuse to print any letter. Letters should not exceed 350 words. Bring letters to the editorial office In room 69 in the Stewart Library, mall to: The Signpost, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, 84408-2110. By Cynthia Loveland managing editor | 7/?e Signpost By David Fairchild editor in chief | The Signpost We would no longer suffer Wouldn't it be great if there were some benevolent beings from road rage or the annoyance looking out for our happiness? of a malfunctioning automobile. They could benevolently Instead, we would gallop happily remove us from our lives of around our stone enclosures chaos - take us away from and splash in the muddy the traffic accidents, disease, water benevolently provided suicide and depression - take for us. We would swing on our us away from the murderers, thieves, attorneys and other criminals, and carefully place us in stone enclosures with appropriately researched food, vitamin supplements and native foliage, complete with a little sign describing our expected behaviors and natural habitats. They could hose us down weekly and remove our feces regularly for our heaith and comfort. We would no longer have to suffer the woes of dating - suitable mates would be chosen for us by our peoplekeepers who truly want us to be happy and who would feel awful when we retreated to the corners of our cage to mope. Our suitable celebrated tire swing and nuzzle mates would be removed and our new tiny gray kitten happily, returned weeks later to see if unconcerned with such things our interest could be piqued. as work or education, parties or If we remained uninterested, benevolent scientists would religion. We would relax in our analyze our behavior and stone comfort, patiently contemplate the best course of awaiting the mealtimes that action, which would invariably were scheduled scientifically, include the celebrated insertion of a new tire swing based on our observed and or the highly publicized gift of anticipated needs, served in a tiny gray kitten. such a way as to make us feel Other benevolent beings entirely at home. And it would be all right would watch us through the iron and stone and ooh and that no one asked us if ahh when we brushed our we wanted to live in the teeth or showed affection peoplezoo, because now our toward each other. benevolent protectors could "Look darling, it seems to observe us more closely, and be trying to say something." that would help them study "They almost look smart, and understand us so they don't they?" better knew how to protect One or two small us from the pollutants they'd benevolent children would introduced into our habitats. try to feed us some tasty And though we would have treat until the peopiekeepers little or no privacy, it would be frowned disapprovingly at OK, because we would be safe them and they stuck it back in from the bad stuff. their pockets. After all, didn't I'd spend the mornings walking with a little brown bear. I'd whistle tunes and she'd come running. We'd walk back and forth along the front of her cage. When I'd stop whistling, she'd sit up like an infant on a blanket and listen to me talk about what they know we could bite their You can reach reporter Cynthia hands off? ' Loveland by calling 626-76/4 Many protestors claim animals in captivity starve, don't exercise and are mistreated or depressed. Some of these protestors think all animals should be released back into the wild where they can be happy fighting the elements instead of living in climate-controlled buildings, or be happy having their entrails ripped out by predators or members of their own kind. Maybe they'd be happier facing the pains of starvation and drought? What these people don't realize is tha t the biggest reason zoologists are able to preserve so much animal life is because zoos have allowed scientists to see animals up close. Many animals, including the giant panda, would have become extinct were it not for the ability to study them through zoos and preservations and help them to continue I had to do that day And then breeding. In the wild, pandas I'd start whistling and we'd start aren't hearty breeders and they walking again. can't fend for themselves well. I enjoyed it and I think There's something to be said she did too because she kept for people realizing the need to showing up. preserve nature through being Then the people would able to see it up-close and occasionally pop up with their learning how poachers and poster-board signs telling the whole world that my developers are destroying so walking companion was being many habitats. These people who find mistreated. nothing better to do than In my experience, people complain about what they who seem to think they know think is the proper treatment what's best for animals don't of animals in controlled know anything about animals. environments should stop. They don't hold zoological degrees, nor do they work with Soon they'll want to take animals. away our swim fins and So far, it's always been microscopes and telescopes people who seem to think they too. have some psychic connection They could make a greater with an animal's brain that tells difference by volunteering at them what an animal thinks is a zoo to help care for animals best. and taking the time to leam That could be true for some and study about some species people, 1 guess. "The Simpsons" so they can share accurate had an episode where they knowledge about how animal bought dog toys from a psychic life can be preserved for the dog store salesman. future of humanity. And I've met some people who think their cats and dogs You can reach reporter David speak to them. Fairchild by calling 626-7121 Who do you think won this round of The Ring-Round Five: on zoos and such....? Vote for David or Cynthia online at wsuslgnpost.com submit letters to the editor to: i/iesu/ftJuks |