Found this on the Facebook a few hours ago. Amir Reda ( plays soccer, probably econish major, nice guy ) talking about Student Section at Seahawk basketball games. Interesting read, my comments below it.
Recently I have been approached by several members of our faculty, most notably Dean Bayless, to try to curve what the student section says at basketball games. Two chants they are concerned about, the "You Suck" chant and, believe it or not the "Safety School" chant. I'm tired of this. This is an e-mail I just sent to our Dean just to make you aware of the current situation.
-Amir
Dean Bayless,
Remembering our conversation last night I decided to look up reasons why the women's shot clock was shorter than the men's. Some of the answers I deemed you might like included: "women can think quicker," and my personal favorite "men are slow pokes." However, I think the official answer comes down to "The women don't have a 10 second backcourt violation like the men do. It kinda still forces the women to get the ball up the court quick because they have 5 less seconds, but they can hold it in the backcourt longer then 10 seconds if they wish." There you have it, I stand corrected, speed of play has nothing to do with it.
On a more serious note, I ran into Shawne McCoy while in the ARC today. He made me aware of a conversation you had with him earlier this morning on the subject of our student section. According to him, he was told to make sure I understood the conversation about cheering and that the message did not go through one ear and out the other. To be more blunt then last night, while I do hear you, I do not understand you. Chanting "You Suck" or even "Safety School" is hardly profanity. That would be certain four letter words that can be heard from the student sections of games that are broadcast on ESPN. Those students get away with capital crimes compared to the nickel and dime stuff we do.
Honestly, if you deemed it absolutely necessary to curve our First Amendment right to speech and really did not want us to support the team the way we do then you know I would be on board 100 percent. That's probably why you came to me rather than anyone else that participates in our goofy way of showing school spirit. However, the problem will be convincing everyone one else involved. While I can tell people not to say this or that, these people are young adults and will make decisions accordingly. Whether this means getting thrown out of a basketball game, or writing an article in the Point News as to why the words Safety and School cannot be said in the same sentence, I don't know.
Concluding, I think you do a wonderful job of being accessible to students, and this relationship between student and faculty is one of the main reasons why I chose this school. Another selling point to me was the school spirit possessed in those that attend our institution. There are potentially two home games left. Don't let something as minor as this be a problem now.
Sincerely,
Amir Reda
So I think it's probably the Dean's position to have to deal with things like this, which is probably annoying. I don't think addressing a single student regarding these sorts of cheers is the right way to do it, because like Amir said he doesn't have any control over the other fans.
That said, 'You suck' and 'Safety School' ( I've yelled this when seeing schools like MIT play Ultimate Frisbee) pale in comparison to stuff like 'Fuck Duke' at UMD games, so I guess I don't really see the issue.
Really though, the Basketball season is almost over, so whatever. Good luck Women's Team!
