Do you really want to know why the NBA has become a “me, me, me”league?
Look no further than the sports writers. They tout individualheroic effort for the most part. Don’t think for a moment that thosesame players don’t read about themselves in the papers. So on itgoes.
Sports writers never seem to write about why player X got thosepoints because of the team concepts like setting picks or fast breaksteals thanks to player Y. Instead they want to write aboutindividuals who score, score, score. Triple doubles went out withMagic Johnson.
Journalists have more power than anyone realizes. They’re tryingto win the Pulitzer and there’s no easier method than to take thelazy man’s tactic by emphasizing individuals only.
Writing about a team concept takes too much research and won’tsell papers. Sounds cynical and disgusting doesn’t it?
As I get older, my interest in sports is waning because of freeagency, selfish athletes and shitty sports writing.
Bob NikaidoClass of ’73
Christopher’s clarity
Sometimes all that I have to do to get the most revealing lessonsin life is turn to my beautiful Goddess-half. In this, today came amajor milestone.
There, lying on the pillow of my bed, was the article that haspermanently changed the way that I look at my relationship.Christpher Bell’s article (“Figuring out which love you want,” Dec.1, The Daily Aztec) has put into words what so many out there havefallen drearily short of in their pursuit to better understand theirpartners.
It doesn’t matter how deeply involved one may be, every person hastheir own idea of how love should be given and received. Kudos to youfor clarifying a new and improved way of showing my affections.
Matthew O’Neill
Baby-footed freshman
Leslie Hardiman, English junior, you have revealed to me that I amnothing compared to you (“Shut up freshman,” Dec. 6, The DailyAztec).
My baby feet can never fit in your shoes (probably because I’msize 13). I would never be able to match the intelligance you havewith your 3.0 grade point average (probably because mine has neverbeen that low).
You have shown me the true sign of being open minded. I guess thatyou demand (being that I’m a freshman) that I listen to your holywords of enlightment that say minorities need more help than others.
That, like you, they can’t get into a high-standard school. Iguess I better drop out too, because my biology major means nothing,right? I guess I’m going to have to take my “racial, uneducatedbigot” self out of contention because you say so. I know now that Ishould only study the feats and accomplishments of one race ratherthan them all, because that is being educated, isn’t it?
It’s so funny how people make themselves sound better than others,and then say that they need help from those same people.
Thank you Leslie for your advice. I’m sure that every one of us”baby-footed” freshman will heed your words, and all those minoritiesout there will love you putting them down by saying they need helpfrom people like me.
So, have fun the rest of your time here, no matter how many moretimes you change your major, just as long as you’re enjoying it.
Angelo Kolokithasbiology freshman
Kickin’ debate
Don’t listen to Christopher Bell (for a lot of reasons). He’s gotit wrong, again. First, it’s not Admissions and Records that makesadmission policy. Admissions and Records processes your paperwork,helps you register, graduates you and keeps track of the work you didhere.
The president, provost and senate are responsible for policy atSan Diego State University. So don’t kick down Admission and Records’door!
Next, although it is unfortunate that some students areill-prepared for work here, it is wrong to admit students who willnot succeed just so we feel good about the diversity.
Grades and Scholastic Aptitude Test scores are currently the bestpredictor of success in college, so that’s what’s primarily used.Many still don’t succeed, and guess what, they get disqualified withlow grades on their transcripts and in debt because of loans theyreceived to pay our fees.
Is that helping them? Wouldn’t it be better to admit preparedstudents who will eventually graduate from the university?
Students who are not admitted to SDSU as freshmen should attend acommunity college for two years. It’s cheaper, the education is good,it’s a good transition from high school and it makes more sense thankicking down doors.
Michael A. Carrecords officer and judicial coordinatorAdmissions and Records department
Whining and denying
The problem with certain groups of minorities is that they whinetoo much. They say this and that about fairness, bias and prejudice.So, stop the whining.
Stop the excuses and the deflection of responsibility. TheScholastic Aptitude Test is not very hard. You know that. I knowthat.
I’m Asian and came to the United States at the age of 6. Myparents didn’t speak English and we survived by selling tomatoes fromthe corner grocery stand. Typical Asian immigration story. TheAfrican Americans in our neighborhood didn’t make our lives anyeasier. They called us chinks and my Asian friends and I could sit onthe porch and blame the white man (and the black man) until our headsexploded.
Stop blaming the white man! He’s the majority and the institution(for now). Learn his game and beat it. We did. Ask University ofCalifornia, Los Angeles; University of California, San Diego; HarvardUniversity or any other university. Frankly, he’s really not thatbright.
Ask the Jewish community. They beat the Anglo game, and no one’sgoing to tell me that they weren’t given a hard time.
Only then, can you really change the game. As we speak, the AsianAmericans are already changing the game in our favor. That’s life.That’s how things work in a dog-eat-dog world.
Stop whining about the SATs. Damn.
Edwin Yang
Corrections:
In Mike Graffman’s letter to the editor (“Willing to be lazy,”Dec. 6, The Daily Aztec) his educational status was incorrectlylisted as “professor emeritus.” Graffman is actually a graduatestudent and not a professor emeritus.
In Mshinda Nyofu’s article (“Reviving the student activisttradition,” Nov. 24, The Daily Aztec) the line according to MaulanaKarenga’s 1997 book “Black Scholar,” should have read “according toMaulana Karenga’s article ‘Kwame Ture In The Scales of History: ALegacy of Lessons’ that appeared in Black Scholar, Vol. 27, No. 3/4,1997, p. 49.”
