Nicole Seymour Seymour is a fourth-year
American Literature and Culture student. She loves reruns of
"90210" and hates physical exertion. E-mail comments to saintblue@hotmail.com.
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In the last couple weeks of November, UCLA seemed to be overrun
with “Beat ‘SC Week” fervor ““ students
painting their faces, participating in various on-campus
activities, and heading to the Rose Bowl in droves. I personally
have no interest in sports but I have no problem with the basic
fact that many students do.
Sure, it is somewhat disturbing that these students feel it is
more worth their time to get invigorated about a game revolving
around a constructed, imaginary feud with another university than
to, say, volunteer for CALPIRG or another progressive group on
campus. And they apparently think their money is better spent on
tickets to that football game than on being donated to groups like
WYSE that need support for tutoring grade school kids. But
that’s their choice.
Some of the more serious activities that have gone down in light
of the “big game,” however, point to the fact that many
students cannot remember that it is just that ““ a game.
Actions by both USC and UCLA students prove that most simply cannot
accept the responsibility of a college rivalry, and that,
unfortunately, the inherent chauvinism of such a concept can lead
to the glorification of violence, an atmosphere of hostility and
plain old stupidity.
For one example, as part of the Beat ‘SC
“festivities,” students helped destroy a car in
Westwood Plaza with sledgehammers ““ this activity being
quaintly known as the “Car Smash.” While this
enlightened display of brute force (equalled only by football
itself, of course) was obviously meant to be amusing, I’m
inclined to argue that it is also criminally wasteful and
trivializes poverty and need.
Did anyone care to ask if this car was in working condition? If
not, the pictures shown of it in The Bruin indicated it was in good
enough condition to have been sold for parts or scrap ““ and
being a Saab, it could have fetched as high as $1,000, money which
could have gone to the homeless or at least UCLA scholarships. If
it was in working condition, maybe it could have been sold for a
much higher price and even more people or causes could have been
helped.
 Illustration by ZACH LOPEZ/Daily Bruin I also wonder, if
someone had the ability or desire to donate an entire car simply to
have it be destroyed by revenge-happy Bruins, couldn’t they
could have been asked to donate another item instead, perhaps for a
charity raffle? Does UCLA really want a reputation as a school that
thinks it’s all in good fun to accept and then destroy
valuable property for something as trivial as a sports game?
Also troubling is that I suspect the symbolism behind using a
Saab (instead of, say, a Honda or an old Toyota) for the “Car
Smash” is that students at USC are supposedly rich, spoiled
children that we must therefore be superior to, an idea I heard
propagated as early as Freshman Orientation. One could call this
reverse classism, but it is in fact not even true. The average
family income of a UCLA student is comparable to that of a USC
student. USC’s higher cost of attendance is the only reason
we stereotype USC students as being snobby or more economically
advantaged.
And even if this were true, is it a good enough hook upon which
to hang an entire school rivalry? I’ve seen and heard all the
class-related signs and rhetoric from other UCLA students and
especially at football games, where UCLA students wave credit cards
in the air as the Trojans march out. How is this any better than
USC stereotyping us as poor trash? (Surely you’ve seen the
t-shirts that read, “What’s a UCLA grad’s
favorite phrase?” ““ “˜Would you like fries with
that?'”)
Classism, like many other stereotypes and prejudices, works two
ways, and it is no more admirable that we ridicule or bully USC on
their allegedly heightened financial status than if they do the
same to UCLA.
Besides, it’s pretty ridiculous to argue over who’s
“rich” and who’s not, when we are all students at
privileged, prestigious universities, with access to a valuable
education.
Another one of the more disturbing activities that have gone on
during “Beat ‘SC Week” are the actual acts that
have occurred between the schools. For example, thousands of
dollars’ worth of band equipment was stolen from UCLA by USC
students, with only some of it being subsequently returned.
Although USC was the culprit in this case (and in other alleged
acts, such as releasing mice into the CLICC lab), UCLA still had a
role in it.
Both schools contribute to this atmosphere in which revenge is
encouraged ““ “Revenge Is Bruin” was actually the
week’s slogan at UCLA ““ and this concept is hyped to a
frenzy by faculty, staff, administration and school-sanctioned
propaganda. It therefore seems ridiculous that anyone would be
surprised or even indignant that vandalism or theft would be the
outcome of such an atmosphere. This is not to say that individual
students should take no personal responsibility in such acts as the
equipment theft or the car destruction ““ but with a
monolithic, so-called “traditional” concept of rivalry
so securely in place, it’s no wonder they feel inclined to
burglarize, vandalize or destroy property, with or without either
school’s consent.
The most disturbing aspect of the USC-UCLA rivalry and its
attendant activities is its relation to very real violence in the
world of professional and even children’s sports. Surely
everyone has heard stories about fans that have been trampled to
death in crowd stampedes, the riots after the August Lakers game at
the Staples Center (when the Lakers won!), etc. Sports games
constantly elicit bloody and violent fights from fans shooting or
stabbing each other, as in the recent case of an overexcited father
who beat another father to death at a boys’ hockey game.
While, again, people obviously have free will, when team
rivalries are enforced, encouraged and fostered in an already
violent and charged atmosphere, is it any wonder that such deaths,
violence, vandalism and general mob mentalities occur? I would hope
that the majority of college students would want to distance
themselves from school sports rivalries, as harmless as they may
seem at this level, in light of the fact that these same concepts
and ideals have contributed to much worse scenarios in the
“real” world.
Fortunately, it only seems to be football that conjures such
fervent USC/UCLA school spirit and chauvinistic ideas of rivalry,
competition, winning and revenge (and it is not surprising that
these concepts are encouraged, as UCLA football games draw more
money for our school than any other sports event). But the same
kind of excessive attitudes seem to wend themselves through all
types of sports. With yet another sports season, basketball, coming
up at UCLA, I would hope that students keep these facts in mind.
Maybe then these kinds of senseless acts and attitudes can be
avoided.