The Reporter

'wmimnmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm "w ii wwiiiwm ummwwmmniummmmmmmwmmwmmmmmmmmmmmwmmmmmmmmm REPORTER Stetson University's Student Voice | blog.stetson.edu/reporter | DeLand, FL | Tuesday, March 29,2011 What happened to Stover Theatre? NEWS | PAGE 3 Hannah takes us out for Greek food ENTERTAINMENT | PAGE 4 Get ready for LGBT Week 2011 The "frat potato," legend or just a myth? MION | PAGE 7 -^:W?q0% University to Bring Back Football in Fall 2013 BY FLIP BARTH PHOTOS COURTESY OF STETSON UNIVERSITY Contest to determine new mascot coming soon As many students already know, Stetson University is finally bringing back its historic football team after being absent for 57 years. The decision was all but finalized after the DeLand city commission voted to support another proposed partnership between the university and the city on March 14. Stetson University president Wendy Libby announced in a press conference that Stetson University football will be Melching Field at Conrad Park for baseball." Stetson Athletics' website also explains that the university has been working for over a year and half to see if a football team would be financially feasible and assures, "that the estimated revenues were financially conservative and that the expenses fully stated the cost of the programs." The proposed football team will be U...the improvements to Spec Martin Stadium will enable us to begin Stetson Univeristy football in the fall of 2013" - President Wendy Libby For the past few months there have been rumors about a new mascot competition, but we have yet to see any information regarding this new mascot. According to Joel E. Jones, Director of Creative Services, a mascot competition will be coming soon, "to define what the Hatter is." We will be keeping the Stetson University Hatters to stick with tradition, but, "the hat needs a personality to go along with it," said Jones. There is no exact timeline of the history of our Hatter mascot, but with the help of Gail Grieb, Stetson's Archives Specialist, some dates have been found. The actual use of a mascot didn't come about BY MADISON SATTLER Lewis B. Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" character, the Mad Hatter. The first form of the Hatter mascot, the Mad Hatter, was originally drawn by a yearbook staff student in the late '50s and was officially adopted by the student body in 1966.The mascot looked very similar to a famous character in "Alice in Wonderland." He wore a large hat, a goofy smile on his face and carried a football in one hand and a basketball in the other. Years later, the football in his hand was replaced by a book. In 1959, Deland builder Charles Cape- hart created a small statue of the Mad Hatter. The statue sat on the Hat Rack played at the Spec Martin Stadium in Earl Brown Park in DeLand. At the conference, Libby stated that the administration is, "delighted to envision a new Earl Brown Park here in the city, but most especially the improvements to Spec Martin Stadium which will enable us to begin Stetson University football in the fall of 2013." Although the majority of the student body is aware that the football program is coming back, there are still some lingering questions—the biggest of which seems to be the issue of money and how the school is planning to finance the team. According to the athletics website, "the city [will] finance capital improvement needs for the stadium in return for an annual rental fee from Stetson and an agreement to share revenue from sponsorships and advertising, as well as a commission on concessions and parking. Stetson has a similar agreement with the city for use of a non-athletic scholarship football program. Therefore, any player recruited for the football team will not be given athletic scholarships, but is still eligible to receive academic scholarships like the rest of the student body. In the press conference, Jeff Altier, director of athletics, gave a timeline of important dates up to the official start of the football team in the fall of 2013. The first of which, Altier stated, "is to have [a head coach] in place by May of this year." Altier continued to say that Stetson will have a designated recruiting year for the fall of 2011 and an official practice year beginning in the fall of 2012. By then, "we hope to have half of the members of our team on the field and practicing in new facilities on campus," stated Altier. The only hurdle left is to be accepted into the Pioneer Football League and begin competition in 2013. 1921 Basketball team poses in uniform, featuring the top hat logo 1980 A student strikes a pose on the steps of the Ball Du-Pont Library 1995 After a 5 year absence, a new, modernized Hatter debuts until the '50s, but "the hat symbol goes way back," said Grieb. In 1921, the Hatter symbol was used on the front of the men's basketball uniform as a "top hat." The familiar name "Mad Hatter" wasn't originally created for the mascot, but for the 1934-5 Stetson Dance Band. The dance band wanted a name that would distinguish them from the other organizations on campus and the Hatters just wouldn't cut it. Richard Faulkner, the band's trumpet and bass player at the time, came up with the idea of using patio for many years until 1967 when it was vandalized, leaving the Hatter without a nose or a hat, according to an article in the May 5,1967, issue of The Reporter. Anyone over the age of 18 interested in entering the mascot contest will be able to submit their mascot ideas online. Once all entries are submitted, Stetson students and the Stetson community will vote on their favorites. The final four entries will go to committee for committee vote. PHOTOS COURTESY OF STETSON UNIVERSITY Stetson students, professors touched by Japanese response during earthquake Thirteen MBA students and two Stetson faculty members studying abroad in Japan are home safe following the earthquake and tsunami disaster. On March 11 the students were in a meeting with an executive at Disney Tokyo when the earthquake hit Japan around 2:46pm. One student, Rebecca Sluss, describes the incident: "The chandeliers in the store started to swing back and forth and at first we thought it was a show or a ride! It wasn't until the locals all started to head toward an open space to sit down that it hit us that we were in an earthquake." No students or faculty members were injured in the quake, but they spent a long time traveling to try and make it home. "We had little sleep and a 14.5 hour bus ride to the airport (usually about 1.5 hour bus ride) then also slept at the airport that night. It didn't keep our spirits down though. At times it was very difficult to communicate with our loved ones due to only some of the students having working phones in Japan. The Internet was also spotty. We were all so relieved when we had flights home and landed in the states," said Sluss. Touched by the people they met and the locals that helped them to stay calm and safe throughout the disaster, the students got together and decided to host a fundraiser during Homecoming weekend. "All of the people were so polite, helpful, and calm during the quake (and aftershocks) that we felt we want to help in some way toward the relief effort. There are all the locals who had nowhere to go since Japan is their home and we want to help the relief effort," BY JENNIFER SEATER-WRIGHT said Sluss. The group held a silent auction and a bake sale. All donations will benefit the victims of the earthquake. "Some of the people we met at that airport [in Tokyo] had lost everything," said student Beth Glodek. "With what we went through and how touched we were by the way the Japanese people helped us, now we just have that connection to them. And we want to try to make a difference." iiumi «nmm« it 11 limiiiiiiiiii iiiutiiiiiiimnMriiriimiMffliiTTnirii