Burning out my fuse out here, alone
UCRlove, or: How I learned to stop worrying and love
Caitlin Smith
Issue date: 6/2/09 Section: Opinion
To me, walking across the UCR stage in less than two weeks is going to be a mere formality.
My graduation really happened about a month ago when individuals stole our newspapers and were caught on film. We had reports that people knew who was responsible but would not come forward, and no one in the administration would loudly denounce it for what it was: an appallingly cheap form of censorship. And oddly, it's been the most inspirational experience I could ask for in a college tenure.
Being at UCR, where students have an unfortunate lack of pride in their school, I've learned to draw inspiration from unusual sources. Most recently, that ability to find inspiration saved me during a grueling all-nighter. Recalling something I read in a book, I Youtubed a musical performance that I had seen parodied on Family Guy but never mustered the nerve to view in its original form. William Shatner's creative abortion of Elton John's "Rocket Man" in 1978 features Captain Kirk, a decade older, tuxed-up and smoking his way through a free-verse rendition. I began typing with abandon, positive that if Shatner could wing it, so could I (and I got an A).
That book that clued me in to what I was missing was the Encyclopedia Shatnerica, a $1.99 clearance gem that indexed in detail the highs and lows of the man's storied career. After nearly laughing myself into a hemorrhage reading some of the entries, it was sobering to realize that William Shatner had built a fairly lucrative career on camp. If Shatner could become a cultural icon seducing alien bimbos, maybe laughing at him is the wrong approach; he must be doing something right.
Comparing UCR to William Shatner may seem peculiar, but I can think of no better analogy in terms of things that are maligned at length and creatively, yet continue to thrive. UCR has weathered a bad reputation for smog, lazy students, and academic underdevelopment. Despite its reputation, for 50 years, the school has grown and continued to add programs, majors and schools. It has capitalized on its diversity, gaining national recognition for the school's demographic make-up. Yet there are people who accuse UCR of being a dumpster school.
My graduation really happened about a month ago when individuals stole our newspapers and were caught on film. We had reports that people knew who was responsible but would not come forward, and no one in the administration would loudly denounce it for what it was: an appallingly cheap form of censorship. And oddly, it's been the most inspirational experience I could ask for in a college tenure.
Being at UCR, where students have an unfortunate lack of pride in their school, I've learned to draw inspiration from unusual sources. Most recently, that ability to find inspiration saved me during a grueling all-nighter. Recalling something I read in a book, I Youtubed a musical performance that I had seen parodied on Family Guy but never mustered the nerve to view in its original form. William Shatner's creative abortion of Elton John's "Rocket Man" in 1978 features Captain Kirk, a decade older, tuxed-up and smoking his way through a free-verse rendition. I began typing with abandon, positive that if Shatner could wing it, so could I (and I got an A).
That book that clued me in to what I was missing was the Encyclopedia Shatnerica, a $1.99 clearance gem that indexed in detail the highs and lows of the man's storied career. After nearly laughing myself into a hemorrhage reading some of the entries, it was sobering to realize that William Shatner had built a fairly lucrative career on camp. If Shatner could become a cultural icon seducing alien bimbos, maybe laughing at him is the wrong approach; he must be doing something right.
Comparing UCR to William Shatner may seem peculiar, but I can think of no better analogy in terms of things that are maligned at length and creatively, yet continue to thrive. UCR has weathered a bad reputation for smog, lazy students, and academic underdevelopment. Despite its reputation, for 50 years, the school has grown and continued to add programs, majors and schools. It has capitalized on its diversity, gaining national recognition for the school's demographic make-up. Yet there are people who accuse UCR of being a dumpster school.
Be the first to comment on this story