What is it going to take to put UCSD solidly on the map?

I walked into a poster store at the mall the other day, and I noticed a collection of pieces under a section titled “”Collegiate Posters.”” I flipped through the few in this area, and I saw the icons of well-known universities such as the University of Southern California, UC Berkeley and Notre Dame. I wondered when, if ever, there would be things to represent UCSD in stores other than the bookstore in the Price Center.

There is an obvious difference between schools such as UC Berkeley and UCSD; they compete in Division I.

UCSD, the only university in Division II not to hand out athletic scholarships, is able to take pride in its impressive raw athletic talent after taking third place in the 2002 Sears Directors’ Cup.

UCSD could have won the Directors’ Cup, but it still wouldn’t attract the attention of more than a handful of people. There needs to be something that grabs people’s attention, but there won’t be such a focal point until UCSD starts granting scholarships to student athletes.

The Tritons recently made the jump from Division III to Division II, and UCSD convincingly proved itself to be the third-best school in the nation at the more competitive level. Shouldn’t that be some incentive to the athletics department to think about giving athletic scholarships?

Such a move would soon allow UCSD to draw attention from across the country, and scholarships could help the Tritons compete with nationally known universities.

For now, UCSD will have to force itself to be content with what it has. The Tritons will have to force themselves to be satisfied and excited about a Spirit Night against our not-much-of-a-rival UC Davis.

It seems like a world of difference would come about if UCSD athletes could earn scholarships.

The Tritons might continue to rack up Sears Directors’ Cup points and improve their impressive Division II records, while UCSD is left off the map.