Students, senators discuss new mascot

Sen. Josh Mayer started the Senate hosted open forum Thursday, Nov. 3 with his request for $4,300 for a new mascot from the same company in Omaha that made the Lil’ Red suit for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Mayer has contacted athletic director Joel Smith who is looking for funds within the athletic department to help cover the cost.
One student found issue with the proposed design of the new mascot.
“I don’t feel like it’s unique to our campus,” Stephanie Alfred, junior of Mitchell, said. “I feel like it’s a copy of Lil’ Red. We’re not UNL, is the thing. We’re CSC. We need something unique to us.”
Another student felt that it is more appropriate for the athletic department to cover the cost, rather than using Senate funds, because he felt a new mascot is primarily benefitting that department.
One question posed was whether the current Elmo will be replaced with the new one, or working as a team. Mayer said that he has been in contact with the current person acting as Elmo and they are supportive of the new costume. Mayer said he didn’t know exactly how it was going to work, but he is fine with having one or two mascots at a time.
“It can be two people, or it can be just him, or it can be a mixture of the two,” Mayer said. “But you know I’m not going to step on his toes.”
Another inquiry was about the durability of the inflatable suit, if it could withstand poor weather and rough contact from children. One attendee said that Lil’ Red withstands all kinds of weather so that should not be a problem. Mayer said that Lil’ Red has a chaperone that keeps children from harming the suit, which could be a solution.
There was discussion that students’ school spirit, and possibly even student retention, could be boosted from the upgraded mascot. Along with that, having a mandatory student seating section at games was suggested.
“Kids love those inflatable mascots, because you’re able to do so much more with them,” Todd Roenfeldt, senior of Cozad, said.
“I think that’s something we could really focus on, is getting a student section, and if we do invest in this, have that mascot work to hype up the crowd a lot more,” Senate President Katrina Hurley said.
Secondly, Hurley brought up the “Student Health 101” monthly email that Senate is currently investing in.
“I’m ready to axe that, I’m tired of it,” Alfred said.
Mayer said that he does not like receiving the emails, but still thought it is a good way to reach a lot of students and provide information for those students who may be seeking it.
One student proposed that Senate host a monthly program to support mental and physical health, which would cost less than continuing the emails. Others didn’t think students would feel comfortable going to a face-to-face program and would rather read about it on their own.
Sen. Carly Slaght suggested that Senate should stick with the emails for now, so they could take more time to think of a better alternative.
“We definitely should renew it for this semester,” Slaght said. “We can’t just take this avenue away from the students, because we don’t have a better option right now.”
One student was concerned that renewing “Student Health 101” would only put off the issue for yet another year, and would not be resolved before the current senators graduate in May.
“You’ve already had a whole year to look into something else, so my concern if you vote on it again and you say that you’re going to look into it next year, is that it won’t get done again,” Jordyn Hulinsky, senior of St. Paul, said.
Sen. Johnathan Sayaloune brought up posting “Student Health 101” on CSC online so it would still be available for students, yet wouldn’t clutter their email inbox.
Next, Hurley announced a new Christmas tree auction idea for a Senate charity fundraiser. Senate would buy 3-foot artificial trees and clubs would decorate them to be auctioned off to the community. All proceeds would go to local children.
Mayer liked the idea but was concerned that there was not sufficient time to plan and get everything done. Hurley assured him there was already a timeline in place.
“My concern is going to be advertising to the community, getting the community involved, that’s going to be bigger issues than getting the trees decorated,” Student Trustee Coy Clark said.
Hurley said there will be posters put up all around town and campus, radio advertising, and an all-campus email will be sent out.
The next discussion point was Senate incentives. Partial tuition waivers was one possible incentive brought up.
One student asked if Senate had asked administration if that was even a possibility. Hurley said she had not, because she wanted the backing of Senate and the students first.
“I think it’s a bad idea, waivers or scholarships,” Roenfeldt said. “I think it sets a horrible precedent to have a singular group of students voting to give themselves a benefit.”
Cody Cooper, senior of Gothenburg, brought up that if the student already had a full-tuition scholarship, then the Senate waiver incentive would be voided. Roenfeldt said that actually the waiver would go through first and then the student would be refunded whatever was left over of their scholarship.
“You’re essentially voting to give yourselves cash,” Roenfeldt said.
Hurley said that our sister schools, Wayne and Peru State College, give their senators incentives.
“There’s enough state colleges that do it for their senators that it’s like laying a foundation to say ‘Hey other colleges do it, we may want to look into it,’” Hurley said.
Hulinsky added that just because other schools have Senate incentives, doesn’t mean CSC has to follow them. She also raised the concern that if Senate gives themselves scholarships, other clubs will feel entitled to do the same, and it will diminish the Senate budget.
“The Senate budget is student fees. Why should I have to pay student fees so that another student on campus can directly benefit from that in cash?” Roenfeldt asked.
Cooper brought up that other clubs put in a lot of hours working to impact campus and they fundraise to pay for their own personal expenditures.
“If a club wants to do something they have to go out and work for it,” Cooper said. “We don’t just get those types of fees to spend on ourselves handed to us.”
Hurley said that the original purpose for bringing up incentives was to give senators something small to reward them for all their hours of work and to try to make senatorial elections more competitive.
The forum ended with student attendees sticking with a negative stance on waivers or using student activity fees at all to fund Senate incentives.