Being a Guardian editor for the last year has, at times, felt more like a decade. I often wonder where the time has gone — my answer lies in a little paper that comes out twice a week. A paper that entertains, draws yawns, entices smiles, causes nasty letters to the editors, enrages a few and goes somewhat unnoticed.
Guardian
It is more than an all-consuming job, which at times makes me want to climb into a van and take up residence south of the border. Once there, I imagine I would grow a beard and survive on fish and Coronas. Instead, I stayed, coordinating another issue while keeping one eye on the copy, and the other on the calendar while staying updated on the Baja weather report.
Too often we get the impression that the paper is the sum of the parts that created it and not the finished product that you may or may not read.
The paper does not belong to the editors, writers or anybody else on staff. It is yours. You are entitled to be an informed member of the UCSD community. Just don’t go looking for that statement to be written down somewhere, because it isn’t. Sometimes, after long hours slaving away, we don’t remember that, but if we ever forget, we need you to remind us.
I hope we kept you informed and interested.
If your diversity rally went unnoticed by the news section, it was not because myself or anyone here was busy trying to get Ward Connerly to raise money for Gary Bauer’s 2002 run for the presidency.
If your Students for Free Trade and Gun Rights luncheon went uncovered, it was not because I was out cultivating a communal garden for organic vegetables to serve to immigrants crossing the border in the desert.
Sometimes things slip through the cracks because of limited resources and the little-known fact that we are not professionals. And then sometimes your events are just plain boring and not newsworthy.
Regardless, this is still your newspaper and, ultimately, we need you to keep us honest. Everybody here is approachable and needs feedback; our office (second floor of the Student Center, above the co-op) is usually open. So drop by, be willing to talk and don’t light that Malatkov cocktail. If it turns out you were ignored, let me know and I will reluctantly give you a light. But in the meantime, keep next year’s staff informed and honest. You are our best eyes and ears to the outside world.
By now you have likely realized the “”Senior Send-offs”” may seem a bit egocentric, especially coming from people you don’t know, much less care about. Which is why I’m not going to waste any more of this newsprint talking about the paper or myself, since you have no reason to care about my favorite memories of the last four years. It’s your paper, not mine. Instead, I’m writing about something that needs to be told but rarely is, and that is that you are pretty damn lucky.
We all hear the cries of, “”This place sucks. It’s boring no parties, no community, high rent, expensive parking, suspect administration and student government, overcrowding, student apathy, and that big damn hill in the middle of campus.””
But, contrary to popular belief, this school does not suck; you are fortunate to be going to the University of California at San Diego. Although the academics are good, that’s not why you’re lucky. You don’t need me hailing UCSD’s academics.
San Diego is a great place to live after high school and before the real world. The place has got it all, from world-class surf to a scenic back country. From the mundane concrete jungle of the Golden Triangle to the dynamic beach communities.
If one were confined to campus — except for jaunts to UTC or Tijuana’s night clubs — one could come to the conclusion that life at UCSD sucks, which it may. But life in San Diego doesn’t need to, which is exactly why you are fortunate to have been or will continue to be in San Diego.
I first realized this as a freshman when I was visiting some family friends who were staying on the top floor of the Mission Bay Hilton. From there, on that warm, sunny, clear day I could see from Mount Soledad to downtown, with the beach and bay full of people out and about.
While the experience was not an epiphany and I definitely did not scream, “”Eureka! Lord Triton, I have found the meaning of life!”” I did realize there was a lot more important, interesting and worthwhile stuff to life at UCSD than just UCSD.
This may sound more like a “”welcome to four years in San Diego”” piece — that may be because in every ending there is a new beginning. So if you are going to spend this summer researching how to transfer to UC Berkeley or UCLA — like many of you are — remember: It’s not UCSD that sucks, but maybe your approach to it that does.
This school may have sucked, but your life doesn’t have to. Take advantage of this place and this time of your life while you still can, because it will be over far too soon.
