Dear Ms. Skinner,I am writing in response to Dylan McNiel's article "Do Your Pants Hang Low." As an employee of Henderson State University and a graduate student, I interact with students in a professional setting, as we in the classroom. While I do not like to see sagging pants on campus or any other place, I feel that college students are adults and should be treated as such.To post a sign displaying rules or expectations reminds me of grade school. I cannot understand why signs were used as a means to communicate these expectations to students. I certainly cannot understand why the signs were hung in the student center. Why were these expectations not added to the Code of Conduct? Why were these expectations not disseminated in an email like changes to the Code of Conduct?All of the discussion I have heard about the signs focused on sagging pants. What about the other items addressed on the sign (profanity, excessive loudness, rude behavior)? The use of profanity while talking to a group of friends in the student center would probably elicit a different response than the use of profanity while discussing a grade with a professor. Who decides when loudness is excessive? Who determines what is considered rude behavior? One’s view on rudeness, profanity, and excessive loudness depends on that individual’s perspective.It is the university's stance that the intended purpose was to invoke a "discussion of appropriate behavior." Where and when were such discussions supposed to take place? If and when these discussions happened, how would these discussions be used to solve the problem? After discussion, if the student body as a whole decided that sagging pants were not inappropriate, would the policy still stand?It is my opinion that hanging the signs before talking about the issues was not the right way to address the issues. Even in elementary school, teachers express and explain expectations to their students. Since the signs were hung in the Garrison, are students only expected to abide with those guidelines in the Garrison? What about the classrooms? Would it have been a better idea to address the issues in areas where teaching and learning occur, and to address issues as they arise (with the student who is actually disrupting the learning process)? I just do not believe that signs are the answer to ongoing problems with behavior. I think the university should express student expectations to the student body in a manner other than posting two signs in the student center. I think that issues within the classroom and other professional settings should be handled as the issues arise.It is my hope that the university achieves its, in the words of Chad Fielding, “goal to empower our student to be productive and positive contributors to their workplace and communities”, and that the university would engage its students in serious conversation about the expectations for students. Erica Brown

Coming to Henderson or starting school here, everyone is told of the “Reddie Spirit,” which is “mascot” of Henderson. It is not our motion to “change,” but to add on to this Henderson tradition of the “Reddie Sp...