I chose not to give. Not because of matching donation concerns (though I whinged extensively below), and not because I wasn't given the stupid envelope in multiple classes (although they didn't seem to manage to hit as many of my classes this semester), but because the Eager Volunteers manning the browbeating/solicitation table in the SWKT didn't have the good sense not to play their guitar all during my class last Thursday. Obviously my boycott will cause a major restructuring of the Obnoxious Student Volunteer Campaign, once the administration catches wind of it [either that, or it's a good thing I'm blogging pseudonymously].
As long as I'm going off on counterproductive things the BYU does, it seems worth noting that mailing me the donation envelope once I've ever made a donation seems horribly silly. It sends the message 'we want your money to spend on these mass mailings,' along with 'we're not only wasting postage, but we'll waste time in most of your classes as well giving you still more redundant envelopes,' not to mention 'we've never heard of email.' The library also doesn't seem to have heard of email, given the number of useless due date reminders I get (sometimes after I've returned the books).
Inspiration just struck. My contribution to this year's Choose to Give campaign is the following suggestion to all departments of the university: "You require every student to have an email address on file. Heck, you give every student his own email address. Stop mailing anything to students that can be communicated via email/internet (this includes student health plan updates, tuition statements, registration dates, library reminders, club announcements, and, of course, solicitations)." That should save quickly save them more money than I would have been able to donate. And without even using 'matching donations.'
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