Section
Pepperdine Links
Online Publications
There are many things that divide us as a people.
With all the life-changing, precedent-establishing decisions circulating in the United States, we want to encourage peace and unity among the rivalries that exist in our community, Pepperdine University. To help reach our goal of treating everyone equally and loving one another unconditionally, the Graphic thought it important to point out some of the conflict areas.
First, sports medicine versus physical education. Sure, an alarming amount of athletes are P.E. majors, but that’s not necessarily because sports are all their good at. It may be that they’ve grown up with sports, surrounded by coaches and teammates, and at the end of the day, they really want to be role models and coaches to a group of young kids.
Sure those sports med students do some of the same stuff in addition to the challenging science classes, the possibility of medical school and running around the track with a thermometer inserted into their rectums, but it’s really all about passion. Which side of the bench do you want to sit on? With the Gatorade and first-aid kit as a trainer, or in the middle of the huddle calling plays? Do you want to change people’s lives in a hospital, or on the basketball court? Depends on who you ask.
Second, the obvious beef between the communication and business floors of the CCB. We’ve all heard the jokes: Can’t pass math? Switch your major to comm. Want job security? Be a journalist. And as long as business people keep screwing up, there will be plenty of material on which to report. Can’t shut up? Head downstairs. Lacking personality? Get upstairs. Business people with their stuffy suits, and comm. kids with their loud mouths.
Now, we know the suits may be money-grubbing, and we know the TV wing holds a lot of aspiring Jillian Barberies, but ya’ll do share a building after all.
Next, science majors versus the world — well, at least everyone striving for a bachelor’s degree in any subject offered at Pepperdine. Yeah, we get it. You’re smart. You take a lot of classes and even labs for no extra credit. You wear white coats and goggles and play with weird stuff in tubes or dishes. The tests are really tough, and sometimes the highest grade is a C, but you have to have As to get into Duke Medical School. But understand, we are all shooting for the stars here, and frankly, we don’t like chemistry, or we’re scared of blood, or we don’t find the thought of cutting into people’s bodies every day appealing. Or, maybe we tried, but it was just too hard, so we became comm. majors.
The truth is, it’s kind of scary thinking that the riptide member with the painted chest or the guy who throws the biggest kegger of the year may be performing brain surgery on us one day. But we are stoked for you, and I’m sure will be happy to call you our primary-care physician when the time comes. Just put your noses down and lower yourselves enough to invite us to your “Bill Nuy, the Science Guy” parties. We can chill, it’s not too weird.
Lastly, and perhaps fitting with Gonzaga at home tonight: Head Coach Paul Westphal against all Pepperdine men’s basketball everywhere.
So, we aren’t doin’ so hot. So, we thought this was our year but it appears it’s not. Is it all Westphal’s fault? Is he just a washed-up has-been with an inability to lead or connect with our extremely talented group of athletes? Or are we so devastated by the state of our athletics program that we are looking for a scapegoat to take the heat? A group questioning the coaching tactics of Westphal even joined together through an online forum and scheduled a meeting with him last night to yield complaints.
Maybe we should give the guy the benefit of the doubt, support our guys tonight and hope for a miracle.
We are all different. We have different desires, different goals — but one thing brings us together: most of us want to be good at what we do, no matter what it is. We are here, at Pepperdine, to succeed. Let’s band together, the orch dorks and the science nerds, the annoying telecom girl, the slacker athlete, the creepy theater guy and the stuck-up suit. We are Pepperdine, hear us roar — all of us.
Submitted 2-10-2005
MALIBU, CA
