Letter to the Editor
Fan conduct at football game an embarrassment
Life in a developing country is very different from life in Iowa City … most of the time. I was in Guatemala working in the Peace Corps with the Healthy Schools Program up until January of this year. We taught the children about healthy practices, including environmental issues. One of my battles was to teach the children (and often times adults) that they should not throw garbage on the ground. Just as we would finish a communitywide clean up, they would throw the next item on the ground. When I would tell them not to do that, the teachers would assure me that it was not a problem because they would pick it up later. I used to tell them that this was not how it was done in the United States, because there are fines for littering.
After the Iowa/Northen Iowa football game this past weekend, I felt like I needed to go back and apologize for the self-important position that I had taken when I told Guatemalans that we do not have the same problems. What happens to people’s etiquette, manners, and sense of cleanliness after a football game? I was appalled by the loads of litter that were thrown on the ground. Why do people change their attitudes? What is it about a football game that gives fans permission to become pigs? Let us not forget where the trash cans are.
Tia Huggins
UI student
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