Daily Cal Target Acquired
Every semester, we at CalStuff pick a target for Daily Cal criticism. This year, with the editorial cartoons improving, columnist Barbara Teszler is now CalStuff Public Enemy No. 1. Four weeks in, she hasn’t written a decent column yet. Her articles on too much video game playing, alcohol use, smoking in public places, and overplayed jokes on majors display an already handicapped creative ability that has been stuck in a rut of 90’s social conservatism. Yes, it’s the Friday paper, and no one reads it anyway, but I think we can do better than this. The campaign to fire Barbara Teszler has begun.
Maybe Tom Bates can steal the Friday papers.
Comment by Vermillion — October 2, 2005 @ 6:21 pm
“Maybe Tom Bates can steal the Friday papers.”
lol…………….
“laughT”
Comment by smashT — October 2, 2005 @ 6:40 pm
Awww… I think Ben has a crush on a Daily Cal columnist. (What a clever way of hooking up with her!)
Comment by Johnnie Mo — October 2, 2005 @ 7:15 pm
Jeez, man you coudl ahve at least gone for that sex on tuesday girl. She’s smokin!
Comment by Anonymity — October 2, 2005 @ 7:32 pm
Barbara is great columnist. As cliched as the topics may be, we can definitely all relate to what she writes about. Let’s be honest; reading about vagina augmentations on tuesdays isn’t all that entertaining. Sex jokes are getting old, and Bush-bashing in a Berkeley newspaper is so redundant.
Comment by Anonymous — October 2, 2005 @ 9:27 pm
While it’s true we can relate to what she says, if we’ve been paying attention to our own lives, it becomes just as redundant.
Comment by Beetle — October 2, 2005 @ 11:02 pm
I think the overall quality of this year’s columns have gone way down. I like the Monday guy for trying, though I wish he were a bit smarter. For Fridays, I think Barbara does well for the more laid back day of the week. I can relate to what she writes.
My plea, CalStuff, is to get rid of the Wednesday columnist, Fred Taylor-Hochberg. I’m convinced that if you propose a random Berkeley student to try to write something witty for the Wednesday Daily Cal, 60% of them would be better than Fred’s and the other 40% would be better if it had better grammer. Behead the guy, I say.
Comment by Mike Chong — October 2, 2005 @ 11:41 pm
da columnists have nevar been vewy good. only 1 daT was semi interesting to read was rebecca’s column… da rest are mostly recycled twash like daT sex column.
imo dey need to find intewesting ppl daT can write controversial shit… stuff daT can actually generate debate. wiT daT in mind da daily cal can expect some submissions from myself in da near future. =)
Comment by smashT — October 2, 2005 @ 11:45 pm
I just read the column about how wrong it is when I smoke a delicious cigarette outside, and I have to say I agree with your recommendation that this chick be axed.
Not only is the subject matter tripe, but the writing is atrocious. At one point she uses four sentence fragments in a row. Then comes the left hook of pure idiocy - the “if I had a penny for every time” cliche.
Good job Ben for alerting the internets to the need to can this turkey.
Comment by John — October 3, 2005 @ 1:07 am
“wiT daT in mind da daily cal can expect some submissions from myself in da near future. =)” … yeah right.
Unless the smiley face indicated a joke, I can’t imagine this joker having a larger forum in which to spout off. But hey, it’s the Daily Cal, so who knows what standards hold…
Either way, I’m laughing.
Comment by anon — October 3, 2005 @ 1:48 am
anon-
People would probably get a kick out of the smasht absurdity, no? It would sure as hell be more interesting than the current writers.
Ms. Tezler needs to realize that although she may be a funny person in person, her writing does not convey that. So stop with the attempt at humor and see how a serious column goes over.
Comment by Brand America — October 3, 2005 @ 11:18 am
Job Security
As everyone knows, I have the world’s coolest job… getting paid to blog. About the only thing that might be consistently cooler would be to have a regular newspaper column with the ability to write about just about anything that…
Trackback by The Bay Area Is Talking — October 3, 2005 @ 12:22 pm
The Monday writer, in addition to most columnists this semester, really needs to take a class in basic English.
These people can’t write. What an embarrassment.
Comment by Bhanu Singh — October 3, 2005 @ 1:22 pm
“People would probably get a kick out of the smasht absurdity, no? It would sure as hell be more interesting than the current writers.”
quoted for twuth
“bigger forum incoming for me to smashT ppl on”
Comment by smashT — October 3, 2005 @ 2:49 pm
So why don’t you do more original reports here. Calstuff mostly links to articles written in other locations.
Comment by @ — October 3, 2005 @ 3:13 pm
It’s agreed that this columnist and the Daily Cal in general suck. However, Calstuff crew, it’s disturbing, even if it is tongue-in-cheek, to read something like “…columnist Barbara Teszler is now CalStuff Public Enemy No. 1.” Since when have the posters on Calstuff (and I may just be unaware to past valification so give examples to correct) initiated campaigns of this nature?
Comment by anon — October 3, 2005 @ 3:37 pm
it’s all in good fun.
Comment by Anonymous — October 3, 2005 @ 4:35 pm
Actually the shame should be felt by the editors who allow this kind of crap to make it to press.
Comment by odd beer — October 3, 2005 @ 4:52 pm
Uh, this is just plain stupid to pointlessly pick on some poor columnist.
Even if you were going to, why single out someone who honestly writes about all the stupid shit that is actually relevant to our lives instead of the pompous asses who shovel out pseudo-intellectual drivel?
And as for being conservative, when did classifying drunks into amusingly true categories, not wanting someone to blow their cigarette smoke in your face, and asking boys to occasionally put down their controllers and have a conversation become “90’s social conservatism”?
Comment by Nat — October 3, 2005 @ 6:19 pm
It’s all in good fun, BUT there are more people coming up to me on Sproul saying how right I was.
Honestly, she’s just not a good columnist. I’d rather read someone else. I’m voicing my opinion.
Comment by Ben N. — October 3, 2005 @ 6:23 pm
i meant that calstuff targeting the daily cal’s columnists is all in good fun. fire away.
Comment by Anonymous — October 3, 2005 @ 6:33 pm
“the pompous asses who shovel out pseudo-intellectual drivel”
SO TRUE! Over the years I’ve had to raise my eyebrows at the columnists who seem to be implying that I should really be learning something about the world from their columns…nothing like learning about the world from some sheltered suburban prick who is just regurgitating something he heard in his IR class (that a thousand other people are taking) and trying to pass if off as original thought.
Comment by qcm — October 3, 2005 @ 7:07 pm
I think by amusingly true categories (r.e. drunks) you mean ridiculously trite categories. That was one of the stupidest columns I’ve ever read.
Comment by down with B.T. — October 3, 2005 @ 7:21 pm
Why do you guys single out a person like this? If you don’t like the Daily Cal columnists why don’t you sign up and do a better job yourself. Oh yeah, that’s right, you would rather post pictures of sidewalk-chalk penises on some lame website. Go figure.
Comment by the man — October 3, 2005 @ 8:07 pm
Hold on, wait a second, stop the presses… People act weird when they’re drunk???!???!?!
You’ve got to be shitting me…
Comment by John — October 3, 2005 @ 9:02 pm
Aww, wow, you guys are just precious! Victimizing a total stranger in your cute little “blog” on the “interweb,” it’s absolutely adorable! You’re such big boys now! Using your own laughable grasp of language to insult some one else’s, the way you try to say “irony” but it comes out “iwony!” Goodness, I could just squeeze you ’till your little buttons fall off. Now, run along and play. I’m sure you can find lots of ways to medicate your sad little life with counterfeit feelings of superiority. But be sure to stay from that big, scary Eshleman Hall or you might end up… with a job at the Daily Cal! Oh no, boys and girls! Then you’d actually have to do something that wasn’t petty and self-important, and you wouldn’t be able to hide behind the smug veneer that internet anonymity affords you. Ooooo, spooky.
Play nice kids.
Comment by Mom — October 3, 2005 @ 9:37 pm
“Then you’d actually have to do something that wasn’t petty and self-important, and you wouldn’t be able to hide behind the smug veneer that internet anonymity affords you.”
cuz calling urself “mom” is not hiding behind a veneer of anonimity… in fact ur whole post is “smug”. now stfu and go bake some more cookies.
“mom wannabe smashT”
ps r u a milf?
Comment by smashT — October 3, 2005 @ 9:43 pm
I happen to be an omnisexual, and while I admit the articles aren’t completely brilliant and original, that’s hardly a reason to single her out as an enemy. Most other writers aren’t doing any better anyway.
Comment by Concerned Citizen — October 3, 2005 @ 10:16 pm
I thought her column was very interesting to read. It had to do with an issue everybody can relate to.
Comment by Yuriy Pasko — October 3, 2005 @ 11:16 pm
Is that you, Alex?
By the way, I agree that Fred is by far an inferior columnist. While the niche Barbara fills is boring and done to death, she at least fills it decently. Fred is supposed to be the funny columnist.
Comment by Beetle — October 3, 2005 @ 11:24 pm
Barbara’s column is damn interesting.
If you don’t agree with me, I will fight you.
Comment by Mark Wu — October 3, 2005 @ 11:33 pm
If you’re trying contribute something to the world with this blog, please don’t stoop to personal attacks. I suggest a campaign to purge the world of vacuous, utterly useless blogs whose failed attempt at being an alternate news source is a skidmark on the underpants of the Internet. (I, for one am not aiming to contribute anything so I can include all the personal attacks I want, whores)
Comment by bort — October 3, 2005 @ 11:50 pm
Ah, lay off Barbara. So what if she writes about trite categories, she’s a decent columnist. In my years here, I’ve found that most columnists are either decent or crappy (the only one I would say was GOOD is Rebecca Brown from last year). The Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday columns aren’t brilliant, but at least they all have some redeeming features. Wednesday’s column, that seems to be an attempt at humor, is just rather stupid. If you’re going to go after someone, go after Fred.
Comment by Anonymous — October 3, 2005 @ 11:55 pm
The Friday columnist may not be the best that I have read but she brings up good points about the social aspects of Cal. People can be rude around campus, we all have had an experience like the one she described. People drink A LOT and her column brought up points that seemed trite, but I thought were necessary. I think a lot of people don’t realize the freak show they become when they drink. Furthermore, I think that her point on excessive video game playing was so true and someone needed to bring this up! I am glad she is addressing these aspects of our lives. I read her columns because I know they won’t be full of BS, but things that people can actually relate to.
When I read columns, I don’t want to read what I have already learned from CNN. I want to read about stuff that is relevant to Cal.
She might not be a Pulitzer Prize worthy writer but kudos for her engaging columns.
Comment by Liz — October 4, 2005 @ 12:28 am
Most columnists fall into the reasonably good category, i.e. they serve as a distraction from the professor lecturing right? I also have to agree with Rebecca’s columns last year were the best during my years here, and Barbara is no less worse than the other current columnists - though, it seems, no less better: she’s solidly in the middle of the pack in my book. Does that require a witch hunt like you’re putting on? I don’t think so. There’s crappier blogs and crappier bloggers who could use some burning-in-effigy.. hint hint.
Comment by Andrew — October 4, 2005 @ 1:33 am
dont be mean to barbara you bitches!
Comment by jessica — October 4, 2005 @ 8:50 am
For me, this isn’t about content: it’s about writing proficiency and style. And in those categories, this semester’s columnists really suck. You’d think that on a campus of over 23,000 undergrads, you’d be able to find a few decent writers to contribute to the school paper….
Comment by Bhanu Singh — October 4, 2005 @ 9:35 am
In all honesty, is hard to take someone who is named “narrow dick” very seriously.
Comment by Anonymous — October 4, 2005 @ 12:29 pm
I like all the columnists this semester. There was one semester I was here (back when I was an undergrad) when some guy filled up a column once with random words as some sort of poem — presumably because he had nothing to write about. Now that was bad. All these columnists these semester, I want to read. I agree with whoever said Fred is a little annoying because of the trying-to-be-funny angle, and I agree with whoever said Barbara touches on issues that actually come up campus daily life. People do play video games too much, and it does get annoying when you’re reading and someone starts blathering away right next to you. And certainly the glorification of alcohol is a problem.
Comment by Jim Fung — October 4, 2005 @ 4:36 pm
Maxwell Yim? If you’re down to comparing to him, the game’s already over.
Comment by Beetle — October 4, 2005 @ 5:25 pm
Oh yeah. Yin was my favorite. He made an artform of incoherency.
Comment by Donald — October 4, 2005 @ 7:23 pm
I can’t believe you have made Barbara out to be “enemy no. 1.” This campaign is so completely ridiculous. I have not enjoyed very many of the past columnists but Barbara’s articles contain good humor and make for an interesting read at the end of the week. And I really don’t see how her 4 articles display “90’s social conservatism.” That is all.
Comment by ang — October 4, 2005 @ 9:11 pm
I don’t see why people should criticize the Friday columnist or any other columnist at all. They work hard and they actually have the guts to write for a newspaper that is read by thousands of people every day. This fact alone would scare many writers away. I think we should commend all the columnists for working hard and having the courage to write in the daily cal. If someone thinks they can write about subject matters that are more interesting in a manner that is better written, then they should try writing for the Daily Cal instead of attacking someone in an unprofessional manner.
Comment by Julie L. — October 4, 2005 @ 10:08 pm
So now the subset of people allowed to criticize this girl has been narrowed down to:
-people who are literate (the one who isn’t, you know who you are)
-people who have the guts to write something and publish it
-people who hate the DC columnists, so they shut up and go become one themselves
-Friday DC columnists, a/k/a “Who?”
So yeah, that’s me. And let me say, this chick writes columns that are absolutely pointless. The ink that’s used to print them could have been put to a higher intellectual purpose if you huffed it then drank it.
Comment by Matt Loker — October 4, 2005 @ 11:30 pm
“people who are literate (the one who isn’t, you know who you are)”
your request to be added to my fanlist has been approved. decoder ring is in da mail.
“smashT”
Comment by smashT — October 4, 2005 @ 11:32 pm
No I don’t think so Beetle, the person I’m thinking of was like Ryan something. I don’t remember what year it was. Not Ryan Tate though, Ryan Tate was extremely controversial …
Comment by Jim Fung — October 5, 2005 @ 12:40 am
I don’t read the Daily Cal on Fridays, but Freddie makes my Wednesdays happier.
Comment by Marc — October 30, 2005 @ 3:48 pm
she doesnt write for the daily cal anymore. I wonder why.
Comment by Anonymous — November 23, 2005 @ 8:11 pm
Anyone can’t write for the Daily Cal. They have to have some kind of connection even if their writing is bad. Case in point, the Daily Cal columnists. They write about NOTHING important to the greater society, or any society period.
ESPECIALLY sex on tuesday
Comment by DTI — November 23, 2005 @ 9:54 pm
haha, yeah, cause sex is TOTALLY unimportant to “greater” society. DTI, you know thats not true. you are just bitter cause you don’t get any.
Comment by mano — November 24, 2005 @ 8:53 am
Really, mano? I don’t get any. I just think it’s dumb to talk about in a newspaper. Heck, I’d actually rather hear your rants in the Daily Cal than sex on tuesday.
Comment by DTI — November 24, 2005 @ 12:25 pm
Hmmm….mano’s rants vs Sex on Tuesday…
S on T wins by a pubic hair.
Comment by Bhanu Singh — November 24, 2005 @ 3:15 pm
Mano should write for the sex on Tuesday column that would be hilarious
Comment by RepBast1984 — November 24, 2005 @ 9:43 pm
Considering how the word “wiener” is a staple in Mano’s vocab, I think he’d fit right in as a S on T columnist.
Comment by Bhanu Singh — November 24, 2005 @ 11:35 pm