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School symbols are meaningless

To the editor,

I read, in the Commemorative Issue of the Wildcat today, that the school's colors were originally sage green and silver. The first issue of the Sage Green and Silver, the newspaper's name before it changed to the Wildcat, gave very good reasons for the choice of the school colors.

My question is this: Who's ridiculously non-creative idea was it to change the school's colors to red and blue? Although red and blue are patriotic, what significance could they possibly have to the University of Arizona, and what would cause somebody to sell tradition and creativity up the river in favor of the vapid zeal of patriotism? Besides WWII, and the sinking of the USS Arizona, I can't think up anything whatsoever that could justify the change.

And even this is a ridiculous reason, I mean it was the USS "Arizona", not the USS "America" Not to sound like that idiot that runs around the mall with the Don't Tread on Me flag, but what was wrong with the old colors? The old colors had significance, and as the Sage Green and Silver points out "the sage bush is distinctly ours and although no one will envy us it's possession, we feel it a friend". And Silver was chosen to signify the mining industry, which made up a significant portion of our economy.

How many lackluster schools across the country have the school colors red and blue? And about that wildcat, now that's really original. Allow me to take you back to the 1997 basketball finals, which pitted the Kentucky Wildcats against the Arizona Wildcats. Why do they bother to have a school mascot at all?

This all makes me believe that the school mascot may have also been changed at some time, from some relevant ubiquitous desert dweller to something that you can only see up on Mt. Graham, and which is indigenous to the entire North American continent.

What's wrong with the pigeon, I think I saw some of those here once too. I'd like to have some school spirit too, but I find it really hard to have any enthusiasm for a totally uninspired school color/mascot scheme. Bring back the Sage Green and Silver!

Ronald Hiznay

MSE Senior, and Russian Dept alumnus