COLUMN: Sammy should remain elected position
As we write this, the administration and the Athletic Department are proposing to take away the student election of Sammy and replace it with their own selection process, such as a tryout.
We should keep Sammy in the hands of students, where it belongs.
While students voting for their mascot is not found at other schools, neither is animals on the Homecoming Court, naked people streaking every 13th or a school-wide Beer- Bike.
We students have the power to preserve this tradition.
Next week, the Student Association will be voting on what to do with Sammy. The reason is that, due to the unique and strange evolution of our university's mascot, Sammy is accountable to no one. We agree that there is a problem with this.
The Athletic Department feels that by handing responsibilty of Sammy over entirely to it, the problem of accountability will be solved.
However, compromising the students' authority is not necessary to solve the problem. Instead, we propose handing responsibility of Sammy over to a branch or committee of the SA led by students or to a faculty advisor.
The Spirit Committee has been suggested as an overseer, and this makes sense because Sammy exists as a lighting rod for student and fan enthusiasm. If accountability is the problem, then this issue should be addressed independent of the selection process.
One can be changed without the other. Who is a better judge of Sammy's responsibility than the students?
Spirit is the overriding quality which marks a good Sammy. The best judges of spirit and enthusiasm are the students themselves, not some committee of self-appointed spirit-bosses who think they know what's best and what Rice is about. The Athletic Department cites the cheerleaders as a group which works well with a tryout system with judges made up of former cheerleaders and advisors.
This is true for the cheerleaders who need to be athletic and strong, but Sammy does not have any special physical requirements.
If you are dissatisfied with Sammy, then you have the power to vote for a person or group that you feel would do a good job.
Being Sammy isn't that difficult, but it takes someone who really wants to put on a smelly, hot suit and jump up and down, shake little kids' hands, sign autographs and taunt Bevo and Reveillie.
Last spring, three groups, with a total of six people, ran for the position. The race was heated, and it was clear that all three groups wanted to represent Rice in a spirited way. The election has the same goal as a tryout.
The only difference is that instead of you making the choice, someone else will be.
The beauty of the current system is that anyone can run, despite physical condition.
One of the incidents that has sparked the current debate about Sammy is a 1989 incident in which Sammy walked onto the field during the Aggie band's halftime show. This angered the Aggie fans so much that they stood and booed for the remainder of the halftime, even while the MOB played. It just so happens that the Sammy was legally blind.
While she committed a blunder, only at Rice would a young lady like this have the opportunity to show her spirit as the school's mascot.
In all likelihood, only with a student vote was she allowed to be Sammy, and apparently the selection was a good one.
According to Athletic Department officials, she did a very good job, outside this one incident. It all boils down to the students and their vote, their voice. Do you want someone else telling you who should be your representative, or do you want to decide?
What does all this mean to you? Well, come Monday, the SA will vote on Sammy's future. They will decide whom Sammy is accountable to, and most importantly, they will decide whether or not students retain the power to choose their own mascot. It has been said that keeping a tradition intact is fine if that tradition is justified.
Surely the adminstration is justified in their concern. But, the tradition is justified in that student choice is exhibited on the field, at Owl Day, wherever.
We urge all concerned students to talk to their college's president, SA senators and representatives. In fact, if you are really concerned, come to the meeting and argue your point. But most importantly, talk to your elected leaders and let them know what you want.
When someone asks you who's in charge here at Rice, you can then say, "Here, sir, the people rule."
James Tolle is a Sid Richardson College junior and Matt Bayazitoglu is a Wiess College junior.
This item appeared in the Opinion section of the December 1, 1995 issue.
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