I did it. I found the perfect mascot. Recently, a lot of local, regional, and even national media outlets have been running stories about the removal of Prospector Pete as Long Beach State’s mascot. Not because they care about Prospector Pete, have anything original to say, or have a strong stance or solution, but because at its core, the Prospector Pete removal is about political correctness. Here’s the thing: it doesn’t matter what side you’re on. Stories about “political c

In 1949, California was celebrating the 100th anniversary of the gold rush, and in Long Beach things were moving fast for the new State College. Legislators needed someone who could “prospect” potential locations and “mine” the country for new faculty; and they needed that person to move quickly. After all, the state government was pushing for the college to go from nothing to functioning in just over six months. P. Victor Peterson was recruited to be the president of the n