Summarizing exercise

List

・ Incivility at college sporting events was getting serious problem in many universities.
・ It is more delicate task today because students believe they have free-speech rights.
・ The law allows colleges to prohibit indecent language at athletics events without stomping on the First Amendment.
・ Efforts to clean up speech must include students themselves.
・ After the Duke game, Maryland State admitted that the university has latitude to prohibit offensive language at sports events.
・ Though enforcing a speech restriction may be impractical, the university can refer to the nuances of the law to inform discussions of sportsmanship among students, who believe the First Amendment protects them against any restraint of expression.
・ The important thing is to get students to think about the rights of people in the audience.
・ One complication is that administrators welcome the noise at the same time.
・ Some colleges recommend that coaches talk to students before problems arise, because they tend to listen to appeals from coaches and players.
・ Yelling fans believe they are helping the team win.
・ Though Duke students try to clean up their language, it does not work well because politeness is relative.
・ Other colleges cite communication between students and administrators as a key to improving fan behavior.
・ Administrators are working with student leaders to develop a game plan for better sportsmanship.
・ There are indications that wit may replace invective in the stands.


Summary

According to Eric Hoover, how to deal with incivility of students at college sporting events is a serious and difficult problem for most universities in today’s society in which free-speech rights are emphasized. The important thing to improve audiences’ manner is not just prohibiting indecent language but getting students to think about the rights of people in the audience.