UCLA can be a big place, whether you’re a first-year
freshman or a super senior. And Los Angeles is even larger.
So I’m sure there are lots of questions you must have
about the school we call our home and the giant post-modern mess of
a city that surrounds it.
That’s what this column is for.
Every week (unless otherwise noted), this column will take for
its subject matter a question, issue or unsolvable philosophical
paradox of popular culture raised by you. Yes, you. All you have to
do is e-mail me and tell me what you want me to write about, and
I’ll do my best to comply.
Want to know the fastest way to get from Ackerman Union to
Northern Lights? E-mail me, and I’ll print out a campus map,
chart out all the possible routes, time myself walking them and
report back.
Curious as to where you can get the best shot of espresso in
Westwood? (It’s a valid concern, with two Starbucks, two
Coffee Beans and a City Bean open and a Peet’s opening soon.)
E-mail me and I’ll try them all, even if it makes me stay up
all night. That’s how much I like you, and that’s how
devoted I am to answering your questions.
Wondering what happened to Steve McQueen’s best actor
Golden Globe from 1970 for his portrayal of Boon Hogganbeck in
“The Reivers”? E-mail me and I’ll find out. (By
the way, the last time I checked, the statue was on sale on eBay
for $12,000. No bids, though.)
To the best of my knowledge, the Daily Bruin has never done
anything like this before, which is both exciting and problematic.
It’s exciting because, hey, new is usually good. It’s
problematic because nobody really knows how this will work out,
including myself.
That’s good for you, though, because it means I’m
open to suggestions. It may take a few weeks to figure out a form,
style and structure that works for everyone, so be patient for the
moment, and if you have any ideas for features you’d like to
see, e-mail me.
If you want a running item every week of actors to watch, places
to eat or reasons to hate the Yankees, e-mail me and we’ll
see what we can do. And if you don’t like the features,
e-mail me. I can’t guarantee I’ll change them, but the
more people who e-mail me, the more likely it is that it’ll
change. And this isn’t Florida, so every vote does count.
You should be detecting a theme by now: e-mail me. This can be
an incredibly fun space for everyone, but it only works if you give
me work to do. Think of me as your lackey, a slave to your every
desire (keep it clean), a person of the people and for the people,
ready to enact your will on the world and tell you how it went.
But first things first. This column needs a name. I’m not
sure, so I’m taking suggestions. Puns and allusions are
highly encouraged, but if you think you’re so clever by
suggesting “Tracer Bullet,” both a pun and an allusion
(Tracer Bullet was Calvin’s secret spy alter-ego in
“Calvin and Hobbes”), know that I’ve already
thought of that and dismissed it because it doesn’t really
make any sense.
Still, if you really want it, e-mail me telling me why I should
keep it, and I’ll think about it. That’s the whole
idea, anyway.
E-mail Tracer at jtracer@media.ucla.edu. You might see your
name in print next week.