Nuisance blogs the detailed, graphic, NC-17 basis for the superiority of the banana slug as a school mascot, and the careful bloc voting that went into its inevitible electoral triumph.
But I was there at the beginning (or, as my sons point out, when tools were made of flint). And the reason for choosing the Slug as a mascot seemed obvious to us then.
Santa Cruz would never be able to have a football team. C’mon…try and imagine the cheers…
Date: 06/28/2002 00:00:00 AM
I’ve actually strolled pretty extensively through the aforementioned woods. I saw lizards from time to time; I don’t know what species but they looked pretty ordinary. I don’t recall ever seeing a salamander. If they’re there, they aren’t common.
Date: 06/27/2002 00:00:00 AM
Years back, when I was in college (shortly after the Earth cooled) UC Irvine had the Anteaters, and they used the old Johnny Hart (B.C.) cartoon as their mascot. Don’t know if they still have it or not (what with PETA liable to protest and all).My school, USCD, had the Triton. There was some debate what a Triton actually was, whether the second string sea god or the mollusc was intended. Some students, assisted by an alumni group, wanted to replace it with the koala, since San Diego had lots of eucalyptus trees and the zoo was at the time the only location outside Oz where the little marsupials lived.A radical coaition of, uh… well, radical students fiercely opposed the switch on the grounds that it was a subtle indoctrination attempt on the part of, er, whomever was responsible for indoctrinating students. Because the koala was passive and inoffensive, you see, making it the school mascot would condition students to be passive and inoffensive.I am not making this up, by the way. I learned early on that it was a waste of time to satirize radical college students because however stupid you tried to make them sound, they would have gotten there before you.
Date: 06/27/2002 00:00:00 AM
Banana slugs? Humph. Being an old Santa Cruzan myself (SCHS 1957), I have to object to the lack of imagination and diligent study shown by UCSC students in selecting that mascot. Obviously those feeble city slickers just grabbed the first woods critter they could catch up with. But with a little more sensitivity, they might have scored a much cooler beast for a totem: Mr. ambistomidae dicamptodon ensatus, a bigger-than-usual salamander who has a voice to bark with and teeth to bite with. Right there in the same woods! But no, those pansies were probably all wore out with their recreational exertions and pheromones, and had just enough consciousness to note a passing banana slug. However, said slugs do make great missiles for disciplining erring and disrespectful younger brothers and sisters.