Prospector Pete

Among the things that are important to an 81-year-old alumnus are the continued viability of Medicare, the availability of my favorite snacks at Trader Joe’s and the nickname and mascot of my college alma mater.

Some 60 years ago I attended Long Beach State College. I was a political science major, a member of a fraternity and always found a parking space near the buildings that housed my classes.

Some years ago, I was confronted by the name change of Long Beach State College to Long Beach State University. For some people, this was a significant event, to me, not so much. As years passed, Long Beach State University became California State University at Long Beach. Although this was not a major burden, it was a needless interruption in my lifestyle. I was still getting used to LBSU and now I had to shift gears to Cal State Long Beach and CSULB.

All of these changes were incidental to my daily life, but a boon for stationary printers and emblem clothing manufacturers. Still, to me, the changes were inconvenient but livable.

Now, for some allegedly politically proper but stupid reasons, the nickname and mascot for the Forty-Niners are to be changed to something politically correct, socially hygienic and purposeless such as the Sharks. Silly, Silly, Silly.

I can only hope that in the near future, someone will figure out that the “49”ers” was really a great name and Prospector Pete, a great mascot and return us to the good old Forty-Niner Days.

David Allen Flax