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Show ews Campus September 14, 1999 The Forum - 3 Lflif tows up University in Boston. Bates helped start a women's soccer team, Staff Writer attended organized campus events and spoke at graduation. A new face is behind the Her love for student activities opening Fall semester. involvement resulted in a change In the Student Life office in course study from organizational and folders communication to a masters in among books, Education. a for boxes not yet open, plans full year of student activities Coming from New England, Bates has some new and exciting begin. ideas for a western Liberal Arts Brittan Bates, just off the College. While the Maypole is still plane for a little over a month celebrated in the East, she hopes a from Rhode Island, is the new similar annual function can be Life at Director of Student found for this campus. Plans are in Westminster. the making for some new sports the to Utah in come Having water for and white challenges and a campus dance skiing past rafting. Bates was familiar with that would be held on the lawn between the new residence halls. the opportunities for diverse New events will be planned with activity in this area and was anxious to explore another part the hope that a few will carry over into the years to come, said Bates. of the country. The Rhode Island School of Bates was attracted to student-centere- d Westminster by the Design where Bates was previously She explains, the Assistant Director of Student campus. " It felt like home not Life assisted students in beginning only because the residence halls and activities and events that they didn't formerly have the resources the library have real furniture, but also because of the genuine or directors to carry out. ASWC friendliness and concern for the Senate member, Amelia Bickmore said , "Brittan has brought a lot of students." Bates became involved in energy to the position and great Student Life by being an active ideas that will bring positive student herself at Northeastern changes to our campus." By Emily Murphy ? Bates hopes, " to work through student organizations that already exist at Westminster, strengthen them, and build from these to give more life to the school." She also said that what will be helpful in improving student life is the administrations concern over the individual. Bates said, "There is a strong student advocate on campus and the best administration I've seen in terms of student concerns." This will insure that there will be events on campus for everyone, and every interest. Bates is excited that, "this year, the Residential Hall Council, The Student Life Office, and ASWC will combine and work closely together." These groups will work to nelp the abundance of student ideas come to life. When asked what she enjoyed most about her job. Bates enthusiastically said, "I like it because I get to do so many different things. There is always try which is something new to " always exciting. Photo by Amy Young Bates, the new Director of Student Life, hopes to work through and strengthen student organizations. . Brittan Mascot Controversy Continued from page 1 According to Phil Alletto, for Student Development and Enrollment Planning, one of the earliest decisions was that the image of the Parson would be dropped. "The general consensus was that it no longer accurately represented the school," said Vice-Preside- nt Alletto. Alletto's office received over 80 suggestions for a mascot. Based upon more research and other issues such as gender, cultural questions, and unnecessarily violent images, these 80 choices were pared down to 24. At that point, these options were presented to students, facility, staff, and the Board to gather their opinions. From the 24, and elite eight were chosen: the owl, the knight, the oquirrh, the wizard, the yhetti, the scot, the highlander, and the griffin. "My favorites were the owl and the yhetti," said Alletto. At this point the school got serious about making a decision. They asked for a poll of 100 students from last year's ASWC President Steve Nelson and Paige was sent to Crosswhite. An faculty and staff asking for their thoughts. A marketing firm, FJC and N was hired to delve even deeper into each choice and present the positives and negatives or each. All the while, the main question of the relevance to Westminster's heritage was the foremost to consider. After the marketing firms' presentation and all the input from all sources were considered, there were two clear choices. "It came down to the 'Highlanders' and the 'Griffins'," said Alletto. "Once you get to that point, it comes down to a personal decision more than anything else," added Alletto. According to Alletto, there were many people on both sides, including a very vocal group of students favormg the 'Highlanders'. But it came down to a number of issues factored against the 'Highlanders'. The marketability of the image was not that big of Vice-Preside- nt ail an issue in the process, although Alletto did point out the higher marketability of the griffin. The association of the term "highlander" with the movie Braveheart and the movies and television series Highlander, actually worked against the symbol. "There is already a strong image associated with that name, one that we felt did not necessarily connect to Westminster or its heritage," pointed out Alletto. Also some gender issues conflicted with the use of "highlander". "Are you going to have a girl highlander or a boy highlander? With a griffin, it's hard to tell," said Alletto. Finally the decision was made, and the Westminster campus is now the home of the Griffins. ASWC President Scott Terry awaits the unveiling of the logo to pass final judgement. "We should wait and see exactly what the Griffin will look like before we cause a campus-wid- e riot," stated President Terry. Kristi Hansen, ASWC remains loyal to the old symbol. "I've been a Parson for four Vice-Preside- nt, years, I'll graduate a Parson," Hansen said. Student reaction is mixed. Some, such as soccer team member Trent Warm, supports the term "Griffin". "I think the term "Highlanders" would have been stupid to use, and I'm Scottish, pointed out Wann. Some students, like ASWC Senator Amelia Bickmore, are not in favor of becoming "Griffins". "I feel that the "Highlanders" are more a part of school tradition than the "Griffins", which really came out of nowhere." Others, like Gabriel Anguiano are fairly indifferent. "If they really wanted to represent the school well, they should have used a dollar sign," said Anguiano. Senator Martinez clung to tradition. "I am indifferent to the Griffin, however, the reasons behind the elimination of the Parson were not good enough to get rid of this image." Despite some negative student reaction, the Westminster Griffin will now represent the school in its endeavors. The process to reach this decision was a long and arduous one that attempted to take into consideration as many opinions as possible. The griffin represents a combination of many things, now it represents a synthesis of Westminster students as well. co 4 CD -- M c o co o r3bco rrs JL CD io nn c CL . CO -- M d -- Q) - d f H ft d a L U rj 53 (D CD drd CO D 1 |