Around Town: Disillusioned with college antics
La Cañada seems quieter now that college is back in session.
On the other hand, once school starts, it gets more lively at our office. One colleague is a diehard USC fan, while Len and I are Bruins. I’m actually a double Bruin, B.A. and J.D., which is why we have a silver-framed $10 bill that gets passed back and forth each year, depending on which team wins the USC-UCLA football game in December.
In the past, the competition was more engaging. In good years, competing balloons and lawn chairs would appear in the non-public areas of our office. There were UCLA coffee mugs, USC banners.
Alas, as the years passed, disillusionment began to creep in. First it was the football rankings, which can fluctuate depending on which coach isn’t fired yet.
And then it was what politicians call “optics,” and what regular folks call “right and wrong.”
Case in point: in 1999 most of the UCLA football team was caught using handicapped placards to score better on-campus parking spots. Their punishment? Misdemeanor charges. Not exactly motivation for Bruin fans to buy extra football tickets.
Most recently, the USC groin stomp. USC’s Jabari Ruffin intentionally stomped on Alabama cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick’s groin. His punishment? Ejected, benched for half of the next game, and forced to write an apology.
So many incidents, so little time — the rap star Kettlebell allegations, the drunk coach, the other drunk coach, the NCAA violations. As for the pending sexual assault investigations, let’s not even go there.
But this week, it’s not about football. It’s not about the boys. It’s about the girls.
Incoming UCLA freshmen Winnie Chen, from Walnut; Guistinna Tun and “Alysa” were assigned as roommates by UCLA undergraduate housing. The girls had never met. In a viral event that spanned four social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat), we learned that Alysa had demanded “top bunk of the bunk bed that has a bottom and top bunk” not “the single bunk where it has a desk underneath the top bunk,” “one of the [two] white closets,” and the “desk that’s near to the window.” In the second email, Alysa referred to herself has having “anger issues” and being like “a ticking time bomb.”
At that point, Tun and Chen asked UCLA to switch their roommate. As of last week, UCLA said no.
Chen and Tun continued to post on social media, noting that Alysa did not use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat and was likely unaware of their postings.
By now, Alysa has probably seen all the press coverage. So, we should feel sorry for Alysa. How can she show up at UCLA, given this unwitting publicity?
And what will happen in 15 years when Tun is a physician and Chen seeks employment as a CPA? All of this will turn up on their employment background check.
And, how are the “optics” for UCLA ? Not good.
The moral of the story is (just ask Colin Powell) this: be careful what you put in your email!
This morning, Len asked what I remembered about moving into the dorms. The truth is that I remember very little, except I wasn’t the best roommate. We lived in what was then an all-female dorm. I never studied. My roommate wanted to study. I have no recollection of ever doing laundry, nor where the washing machines were located.
We all did a lot of stupid stuff. We were lucky, very, that Snapchat was just a glimmer in some science fiction writer’s eye.
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ANITA SUSAN BRENNER is a longtime La Cañada Flintridge resident and an attorney with Law Offices of Torres and Brenner in Pasadena. Contact her at anitasusan.brenner@yahoo.com. Follow her on Instagram @realanitabrenner, Facebook and on Twitter @anitabrenner.