The Drinking Fountain at the University of California, San Diego

On February 15th, 2014, I took a trip to the drinking fountain at the University of California, San Diego that was assigned by Professor B for my second writing assignment. The drinking fountain is made out of granite that has been polished. It is situated on a cement pathway across from Yogurt World and the iconic Triton statue, which is next to the Price Center. The drinking fountain is in front of the Student Services Center building and next to the fountain, close to several outdoor seats and tables. The cement pathway is in between grasslands and several trees. On the same walkway, I see a large American Flag on a flag tower. I would later go on to discovery the rich history surrounding the monument on the walkway behind the flag tower. The area where the drinking fountain is situated was formerly a United States Marine Corps military base from 1917 until 1964. The area was used for marksmanship training for Marine recruits. During the military base’s early years, this area of the drinking fountain were used as rifle ranges and had no official name for the military base. Throughout World War II and the Korean War, more and more Marine recruits completed the marksmanship training at this base. The military base was officially named as Camp Calvin B. Matthews after famous Marine marksman Calvin B. Matthews in 1942. After WWII, local residents of the city of La Jolla became increasingly concerned over the existence of a military base in their community. In 1959, a bill was passed in Congress to transfer the military base to the University of California. On October 6th, 1964, Camp Calvin B. Matthews was deeded to UCSD, in same year, the first undergraduate college, Revelle, took in the first undergraduate class. Through careful o...

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...irected, I take a drink from the drinking fountain while some others who were also observing the site hesitated or even refused to drink from it. I could taste the metallic tinge of the fountain water, but the heat of the sun made it nonetheless a refreshing drink. This can be connected to taste because I found the drinking fountain to be remarkable based on my cultural background and identities, which is my culturally specific taste. Others who visited the fountain that do not share this “experiences relating to one’s class, cultural background, education, and other aspects of identity.” (Cartwright 56) might find it hard to appreciate the drinking fountain in the manner I did. Nonetheless, viewers do have the right to experience, interpret, and use this cultural representation differently by being situated in a set of actual and relational social practices.