Lost in Berkeley

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Chris Jackson

But why did it have to be Berkeley?

I've heard many tales of Berkeley over the years. I'm sure everyone has. From the protests in the 1960s to the excellent academic standards and long list of Nobel prize-winning alumni, Berkeley seems to have it all. But while I can't obviously comment on the academic part of the school, I figure I can gripe about the rest.

So for everyone, from potential recruits to the current students, here's why UA and Tucson are better than Berkeley:

Hills. Berkeley has lots of hills. Steep hills, ones that only very athletic people can climb. Imagine if Tucson had hills like that. Then you could really bitch about the walk to Harvill. Or get in great shape.

Temperature/climate. It's cold up there. We're all wearing shorts down here in November.

Tuition. Berkeley is expensive. UA is not as expensive.

Food. Okay, they got us beat here, on sheer variety alone. But the students who live on campus have to eat in cafeterias. Whether or not those are better than places like Louie's Lower Level is a matter of personal taste, but I doubt they can beat the chicken basket.

Off-campus living. It's $900 or more for a one bedroom apartment near campus. Nobody around this city can possibly complain about how much rent is after reading that.

Cars. They're worthless in Berkeley, which is an absolute maze of a campus, forcing one to rely on the horror of public transportation. In Tucson, no car equals no life.

Volleyball. Our coach got hurt celebrating a win with his assistant coaches and players. Theirs was forced to quit because the players turned on her. Oh, yeah, and we whupped 'em twice, so ha!

Soccer. Whoops. Shouldn't have include this one.

Cross country. On Saturday the UA women's team won the Western Regional championship, and Skieresz and Abdirahman both won individual titles. They spent the night celebrating the win. As for the Bears' teams, um, well, I can't say just what they did Saturday night, since it would get them in trouble. I was there, though, and it wasn't pretty. It was borderline disgusting.

Football. They're praying to make it to a bowl. We're praying to go to a BCS bowl.

Press box. This means nothing to anyone, but theirs was open during the game, thereby freezing the entire Tucson media contingent. Ours is closed, and they serve us cookies at halftime. See, it pays to be a reporter.

Fans. 36,500 people showed up for the football game. In a stadium which seats 75,000-plus. Imagine if less than half the stadium was full for us during a game as crucial as the UA-Cal game was. Then all us sports guys would really be griping at the fans.

So, in the end, I guess this trip made me appreciate everything about Arizona I had always taken for granted. Nothing like descending to the next concentric circle of hell to remind one's self about how good one has it here.

Now I just have to deal with my cousin, a Berkeley student, and a friend, who's on the Cal women's cross country team, who are probably going to kill me over this.

I'll just get in my car, drive away from them, and go hide in the UA press box with the cookies.

Chris Jackson is a junior majoring in journalism. He can be reached via e-mail at Chris.Jackson@wildcat.arizona.edu.