A Bruin reflects on basketball, buildings, beats and brotherly love

Sunday, June 9, 1996

UCLA may be great, but there’s room for some improvement

Well, once again I bid my fellow Bruins farewell. Summer awaits,
and finals are pressing. As I ride off into the sunset with the
title of Mr. Black UCLA and the knowledge that my school won a
national championship in basketball, I am proud to say that being a
Bruin is one of the best feelings there is. Berkeley is wack, with
naked guys and too much weed. USC is a joke, with one of the worst
basketball teams I’ve seen in a while. And plus, I used to live
near South Central L.A. Why would I go to school there? Stanford is
where a lot of us didn’t get in, and it’s not as sunny as L.A.
anyway.

Thus, UCLA rises above the top. We have a new Kerckhoff Coffee
House, beautiful women, Diddy Riese cookies, cheap movies in
Ackerman, a new ugly Ackerman being built … Oops! I promised
myself I wouldn’t be negative. But there are a few things I hope
UCLA improves upon while I’m taking my year off. Hopefully I’ll be
in graduate school here. Once again, hopefully. So here goes.

First, can we have more hip hop and funk at the noontime
concerts in Westwood Plaza? Every time I looked around, somebody
was hollering lyrics no one could understand, backed by a super
loud guitar, bass and drums. C’mon now, enough of the Pearl Jam
clones.

Second, can I see the UCLA basketball team live up to its
potential? I don’t care what anybody says. The fact that we lost to
Princeton in the first round was based on a less than desirable
coaching job. Yes, you can coach players to hold onto the ball.
Yes, you can coach rebounding. Yes, you can coach how to run a
decent play or two. Anything less than the Elite Eight next year,
and I sense trouble.

Third, can someone tell me why that new mascot is so ugly? He
looks constipated. Whoever designed that heinous thing didn’t get
any student input. Either the bear should be fierce, or he
shouldn’t. If they couldn’t make up their mind, they should’ve left
him like he was.

Since I don’t want to say fourth, fifth, and so on, I’ll just
continue this wish list however I want. I hope that the
anti-affirmative action tide turns. We need more white, Persian,
Indian and Asian students to help in the campaign for affirmative
action. As long as the leaders and regents feel that white folks
don’t care nothing about it, they won’t change. This is an issue
that will determine the future of thousands of California
minorities. Don’t sleep on this; it’s serious business.

Well, moving along. In the future, I hope that UCLA learns to
adhere to its construction deadlines. The only place in our school
not marred by construction seems to be North Campus toward the
Sculpture Garden. Might I add that the Sculpture Garden is where I
spent some beautiful times with … umm … next subject!

Since I write for the Daily Bruin, I’m going to ask that the
Daily Bruin do a better job of catering to a diverse campus
community, especially in the area of Arts and Entertainment. Many
of us Bruins listen to jazz and R & B, two genres of music
almost never discussed in A&E.

And on that note, I’m going to encourage minority students to
become a part of the newsmagazine system. Write for a campus
publication such as Nommo, La Gente or Pacific Ties. Publications
Director Arvli Ward is doing a great job back there in Kerckhoff,
and these publications are for the students, by the students, about
the students’ needs and wants. Give it some thought.

Furthermore, I’d like to see more spirituality among my brothers
and sisters on campus. As a Christian, I’m partial to the Bible.
There’s a wonderful Bible study that will be meeting on Tuesdays
next fall called Success 101, led by a guy named Joshua. Everyone
says he looks like me. I don’t see it. However, for many of you
Bruins who are away from home and don’t get to church much, don’t
make distance an excuse. Remember, our greatest struggles were won
when we were spiritually strongest. You can’t separate Martin
Luther King Jr. from the church. You can’t separate the Civil
Rights Movement from the church. The point is, we need to get back
to the church.

Also, I must give a special shout out to Mandla Kayise, who is
in charge of the Academic Supports Program. I must personally thank
Mandla because he made my transition to college a seamless one. He
cares about us African-American students, and he will do anything
to ensure we are successful. The whole Academic Supports Program
(ASP) team works untiringly to provide the brothers and sisters
with an atmosphere of motivation and support that is priceless. So
to all the fellas and the women, be a big brother or big sister to
someone else. Check with ASP for details.

I hope you readers don’t mind me plugging these organizations.
This is for no personal gain on my part. These are the
organizations that have made my college experience more than just a
four year period of rote memorization. So, part of my wish list is
for my fellow students to reap the benefits I reaped from
organizations that encourage cultural awareness and an awakening of
consciousness.

To UCLA, I guess I say farewell. It’s so hard to let go. This
university has been my life for the past four years, and it hurts
to say goodbye. I’m going to miss all my friends that are finishing
up next year. It’s been fun, but life goes on. A new chapter starts
on June 16, the day after my graduation. I don’t know what the
future holds, but I know who holds the future. With God as my
guide, I step onto another level in life. The Bible says that a
righteous man’s footsteps are ordered by the Lord. And right about
now, I need my footsteps ordered. I need comfort, guidance and a
helping hand, because I’m a little scared.

In the real world, things aren’t always a five minute walk away.
Student Health becomes the doctor’s office, Cooperage and Treehouse
become restaurants, Murphy becomes the many lines at the DWP, the
DMV, the unemployment office, and all those other bureaucracies. My
classes will instead be a 9 to 5. But along with my fear comes
anticipation. I can’t wait to see what lies ahead.

In closing, I love all my fellow Bruins. Keep the faith. Stay
strong. Love conquers all, for nothing can stand where love
abounds. It drives away fear, anger, turmoil, depression and the
other demons that we face daily. If you learn nothing else, learn
to love. Lastly, don’t stay here for longer than five years unless
you have to. Eventually, this place will make you sick! Peace.

Aaron Howard is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in
anthropology. He has been a columnist since spring 1995.