SOME THINGS at this university become more ridiculous as the years go by. The continually increasing amount of red construction walls decorating Grounds for instance, or even the cutting back of parking spaces at the AFC just to put in another basketball court. But this year, the Third-Year Council, representing the Class of 2004, has put the icing on the cake with the creation of Earl and Pearl, the squirrels chosen to represent our class.
Problems with Earl and Pearl begin with the simplest details -- their looks. Many people cannot even recognize that the characters are squirrels from the cartoon drawings found on most Class of 2004 paraphernalia this year. A lot of times people can't distinguish the images as squirrels; instead identifying them as cats or various other animals. If we can't even recognize what our mascots are, we certainly cannot be expected to unite over them in a new form of class pride. My advice to the Council: Lose Earl and Pearl and stick to more important issues at the University.
In deciphering the mystery of the atrocity of Earl and Pearl, I went straight to the source, Class of 2004 President Howard Yuan. According to Yuan, the idea came about as a spin off of the Class of 2002 mascot of a fish, which they used as an advertising tool for various class events. Clever idea, but fish also are a lot easier to draw and decipher than these cat-like squirrels now facing the Class of 2004.
The birth of Earl and Pearl took place at the end of last school year, at the final meeting of the Council executives. The creator came up with a witty analogy in order to justify Earl and Pearl: "What would the Lawn be without the squirrels, and what would U.Va. be without the Class of 2004?"
Yes, but at the same time, squirrels are pesky, potentially dangerous, and the Lawn would be better off without their presence. In linking the Class of 2004 with squirrels the same could be said of us.
The whole mascot as a representative of Third-Year Council idea might not be so bad if it had been better executed. The cartoons should have been more expertly drawn so as to erase any and all confusion as to their species. Also, the names need to be a little less cheesy. The names Earl and Pearl were chosen because they rhyme with squirrel. How cute. Too cute.
First of all, we are being forced to have squirrels representing our class, and then they throw those horrendous names at us and expect us to take it all sitting down. No way, get rid of Earl and Pearl and give us a representative we can be proud of. Or better yet, don't worry about making up mascots, just deal with real University issues.
Our Council should not be wasting money on printing thousands of plastic cups and magnets with the faces of Earl and Pearl. Time and money should be spent attaining more important goals that the entire class can be enthused about. People cannot recognize the need for ugly squirrel cartoons with bad names. They do see the need for cleaning staff in residence halls, or for free printing in ITC labs.
More specifically, Council should focus its efforts more on issues specific to third years, such as declaring a major, the Ring Ceremony and most of all class unity. If Earl and Pearl were created as a last resort attempt at class unity, it's not working. Make the Class of 2004 excited about who we are, not embarrassed about being represented by silly squirrels.
Kudos to the Council for their efforts. They did have an effective idea in mind. "They're not really class mascots so much as a council mascot to better advertise our events throughout the year," Yuan said. "The goal was for them to see the squirrels and automatically think 'Third-Year Council.'" But I would rather see the words "Third-Year Council" than have to face Earl and Pearl all year long.
Unfortunately, Yuan hopes that Earl and Pearl will survive the ridicule and continue on as mascots through our fourth year. Let's hope they don't. If we must keep Earl and Pearl, at least ease the confusion of their species. Make the squirrels look better and give them less cheesy names, please.
(Alex Roosenburg's column appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily.
She can be reached at
aroosenburg@cavalierdaily.com.)
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