Appreciating Los Angeles Universities' Beauty

THE SAYING GOES, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” The beauty that encompasses Los Angeles is endless but it is in the eye of the beholder that decides what and where is beautiful in the city. The beauty that I see day in and day out begins when driving onto the Loyola Marymount University campus entering the front gates with the horizons of the city out to my left.

The overlooking view is sometimes distorted by smog and clouded rain, but on the most beautiful days it is lit with a purple-pink sunset or clear skies. I recently discovered an even better view from one of the lecture rooms on the third floor of the library, which further inspired me to reflect on how fortunate I (we) are to attend such an aesthetically pleasing school. Having been an LMU Lion for three years now I mistakenly assumed that this campus had the most beautiful view of the city compared to the other surrounding Los Angeles universities -- UCLA, USC, Pepperdine (just a few of the many) but to our surprise it is not.

In order to appreciate the beauty of one area of Los Angeles or one campus it is important to recognize and be aware of what others may deem as beautiful. For one instance, although USC is located in an area that some visitors and skeptics begrudge as “dangerous” it is important to note what the campus signifies for others. For some, the campus and its surroundings are beautiful because of the history and symbolism it produces, its overall diversity. If we take a look at one perspective view of the city from four of the many major universities it is undeniable that they each symbolize or present a type of beauty that differs from person to person.

Generally speaking, beauty is in the eye of the beholder but the beauty in Los Angeles is in the eye of the appreciator. When we feel the urge to judge a neighborhood, college campus, or building in Los Angeles based on a narrowed perception of outward beauty, remember to at least appreciate it for its history and for what it may mean to someone else.

-- Jayme Dolan

Welcome to Our "Island"

IF YOU'VE LISTENED closely to the stories, Los Angeles -- you might assume -- was constructed with as much brick, mortar and terracotta as it was booster fairy-dust and real estate barons' sheer will. Viewed and hyped both as an "Arcadia" -- a site of natural, perfect beauty and a "Utopia"- a place to create perfection, Los Angeles' core identity often finds itself over-written. It leaves one -- visitor, transplant or native -- begging the question: Did it ever have a chance to really be seen? So many people superimposed their own dreams, assumptions and elaborations, tailoring everything -- even the very natural elements and environment. Architects and contractors certainly left their mark on Los Angeles, but so too did its artists and writers. And because of it Los Angeles, lives vividly in our imaginations.

The challenge for writers attempting to tell Los Angeles' story is to break away from those cliches, myths and those easy similes. What is Los Angeles? This course's goal is to get behind that screen and find out what is happening on the ground: What grows out of a paradise like this, with all of its impasses nd imperfections? How is identity shaped? Language spoken? Ritual practiced? What is at the heart of the matter? We hope to be able to peel away at the layers and get closer to it somehow.

-- L.G

(illustration caption: map of early los angeles
illustration credit: from the site, documents for the study of american history)