Short Takes & Updates
FOR HIRE — ONE WHITE,
MALE MASCOT:
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. Joining the ranks of other politically incorrect school mascots is "Blaze." This whitebread, mustached warrior who cheered on the U. of Alabama, Birmingham, last semester, has entered the unemployment line.
The school ditched the somewhat goofy-looking Blaze this fall because of complaints that he did not represent a diverse student population.
"Some people were complaining that he was too white or too male and was not representative of anybody else," says Sports Information Director Grant Shingleton. "There were also complaints that he was too aggressive and mean-looking and frightening to children... He didn't look like Attila the Hun or anything. But apparently they just didn't feel it was right for the school."
The school spent more than two years and $20,000 to develop Blaze and has not yet begun researching another mascot. (Last year's mascot, a yellow chicken named "Beauregard," was nixed because he was not masculine enough.)
EVERY SHOE MUST GO:
WASHINGTON, D.C. George Washington U.'s bookstore would really like students to buy its custom-made university tennis shoes. All 2,200 pairs of them.
It seems the school bookstore has an excess of the beige and blue sneakers after ordering a whopping 3,700 pairs for this past summer's freshman orientation.
"I think they're fine for publicity purposes, but it would be a lot cheaper just to stamp 'freshman' on my forehead," says freshman Bernadette Pitts.
DAZED AND CONFUSED:
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. As if finding their way around wasn't hard enough, freshmen at the U. of North Carolina were doubly confused this fall by phony campus maps posted by pranksters on the first day of class.
Displayed in prominent locations, the maps resembled official university maps exactly except the labels of each building had been switched.
Of course, no freshmen admitted to being duped.
"I didn't get lost," says one astute fshr. "I used an official campus-issue map."
Hey dude, we know where you can get some cool shoes.
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National service plan gets off the ground
Bill Clinton the candidate promised to reinvent government. Clinton the president took what he called the first step in September by signing the National and Community Service Trust Act.
Dubbed Americorps, the $1.5 billion program is slated to begin next fall with 20,000 members during its first year. Overall, the three-year program will give about 100,000 students the chance to finance their education through service work.
Nearly 1,500 high school and college students got that chance last summer by volunteering for the Summer of Service, a pilot program held in 16 cities, from Los Angeles to Boston. Students helped tens of thousands of inner-city kids through tutoring, health education, mentor programs, conflict-resolution workshops, and immunization and disease prevention services.
Nearly 1,500 students participated in the Summer of Service program.
"This national attention is letting people know the importance of volunteering," says Sean Madison, a graduate student at Boston U. who volunteered at the College Park, Ga., Summer of Service program. "It is more or less reminding people of an obligation to their community."
According to Bill Spadea, the national chairman of the College Republicans, the problem is that Americorps will help less than 1 percent of students while creating an enormous bureaucracy. "I see it as just another political maneuver to expand government," he says.
In exchange for a year of community service, the newly created Americorps will offer students $4,725 in tuition assistance for college or vocational training. The program also will provide $7,400 each year for living expenses during service, as well as health care and any necessary child care services. Students are limited to two years of service.
Participants rejected higher-paying jobs for minimum wage, early morning physical training and the troubles and turmoil of America's inner cities. When the summer ended, they also received $1,000 to be used for college.
But Secretary of Education Richard Riley says, "The program is not going to be the answer for a lot of students, but it will be a partial answer. It means a difference. It offers an option that students do not have."
Unlike existing financial aid options, selection for the program will not be need-based. Corps members will be chosen from a variety of lifestyles, experience and financial backgrounds. Participants must be U.S. citizens, at least 17 years old and have a high school diploma or GED.
The National Service Office plans a massive recruiting campaign by mid-winter. Anyone interested in getting a head start should send a post card with their name and address to: The National Service Office, 752 St.NW Washington, D.C. 20010. Tracie Liguid, The Breeze James Madison U., and Matt Hennie, The Paladin, Furman U.
Give me a home where students roam
Loud music blaring all night. A bathroom that you have to share with two dozen strangers. The rank odor of burnt microwave popcorn. After four years, most college students have had enough of dorm life.
But Harold Brumbaugh, better known to Juniata College in Pennsylvania as "H.B."has called a dormitory home for 61 of his 82 years.
Brumbaugh moved out of his dorm room this fall into a nearby retirement community, having earned a place as one of the longest dorm-dwellers of the 20th century.
While few students remain in a dorm through a single presidential term, Brumbaugh has witnessed 17 presidential elections, six papal coronations and four U.S. wars from his college digs.
Brumbaugh first came to Juniata as a freshman in 1929, graduated in 1933 and moved away to become a high
Juniata's "H.B." raps with students on campus.
school teacher/administrator. Less than three years later, he came back to work in alumni relations and has been at Juniata ever since.
In the 1930s, Juniata offered free room and board to unmarried employees, explains Brumbaugh. "I was spoiled and didn't want to move," he says.
And Brumbaugh didn't stay in your average dorm room. For 32 years he stayed in a suite equipped for entertaining alumni, and in 1968, Juniata built a soundproof two-bedroom apartment for him in a new residence hall.
Brumbaugh says that he will still work every day at Juniata as curator of the college museum, a post he's held since his retirement in 1976.
For dorm residents like junior Holly Alexander, memories of Brumbaugh remain: "I'll always remember the sight of him in the hall lounge riding his exercise bike, watching the morning news every day when I woke up." Rob Carson, The Juniatian, Juniata College
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U.Magazine
NOVEMBER 1993