I guess I just don’t understand what it is about half-naked menwith flaming spears that gets Aztec football fans so excited.
Whateverit is, the university found in Ambassador Montezuma II the perfectdecoy from the real issues facing this campus.
The fact that Monty is now an ambassador, or that he has a badfashion sense, shouldn’t distract us from the real issues on thiscampus. Monty could wear a skirt and a tube top and rush Alpha Phi –we, the students of San Diego State University, are still gettingscrewed by the university in terms of academics.
Granted, the way the university has handled the mascot controversyis embarrassing — but more embarrassing are the university’sacademic priorities. You don’t have to be Alan Greenspan tounderstand that SDSU’s fiscal policy has nothing to do with highereducation.
When students and faculty ask administrators why there are notenough professors, not enough classes, administrators say they haveno money. Yet the university spent $12,500 on a costume everybodythinks is ugly. It begs the question: Where else is the universityblowing our money?
Last semester, I had to ask myself: If we’re short on funds, whydid the university mandate that all students replace their offensiveAztec Cards with the more politically correct SDSU Cards and thenoffer to foot the bill? Was that worth the money?
Why is it that our university is expanding faster than thepost-World War II Soviet Union? (Do you think anyone noticed theconstruction?) Yet our academic budget is shrinking?
The university is screwing us, but the student body should beconsidered partly responsible. We’re silent when we’re gettingscrewed — but when they turn our mascot into a joke, all of a suddenwe’ve got school spirit.
Where are all of these rabid Monty fans during football season?Last time I looked at the stands during an Aztec game, they wereempty.
And where are the vocal SDSU alumni when the students of today arestruggling? Class sizes are rising and the amount of courses offeredis dwindling. Sometimes I wonder if I’m actually here to learn or ifthe entire student body is seen as a way to gather funds so theuniversity can build more glass domes to put in its brochures.
Our alumni care more about Monty Montezuma than the actualinstitution from which they graduated. They should understand thatthe quality of the education we receive reflects on them. Right now,it’s difficult to receive any education at SDSU — unless you want tolearn how to survive in an experiment in social Darwinism.
Here, it’s the survival of whoever is able to sneak his or her wayinto classes. At the top of the SDSU food chain are students who knowhow to steal an add code or lie about the number of units they have.The survivors are the girls who know when to show some skin and flirttheir way into classes.
Attending SDSU is an area of study in itself — how to find waysaround bureaucracy. I think we could all do fine in Russia — wherethe people who succeed are able to cheat the system. Plus, we’re allused to waiting in lines for things.
Did anybody notice, in the bookstore, there is one long line tobuy a parking permit and an even longer line just to pick it up? Andthe lines are right next to each other.
Did anybody notice, while we are being ripped off, that PresidentStephen Weber won’t let us into his bookstore until we take ourbackpacks off, for fear that we might rip him off?
It’s so demeaning when someone robs you and then treats you like acommon criminal. I can’t believe people even have to ask whyretention is such a problem on this campus.
Believe it or not, people aren’t dropping out because they’reupset about Monty. They’re dropping out because SDSU can be absolutehell.
But, if the Monty Montezuma issue drags on, we’ll never have toworry about the real issues. We can spend all eight years of ourcollege education longing for the naked guy with the spear to run outonto our football field.
And our alumni can cancel their donation checks because their almamater has “gone to sh**.” And they’re right. It has gone to sh**. Butit has nothing to do with Monty and withholding donations will onlymake it worse.
–Reed Albergotti is a journalism senior and the opinion editorfor The Daily Aztec.
–This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of TheDaily Aztec. Send e-mail to letters@thedailyaztec.com.Anonymous letters will not be printed — include your full name,major and year in school.