Another A
In keeping tradition with Utah State University’s alma mater, President of Associated Students of Utah State University, Steve Palmer, is soliciting student feedback as to whether or not students would like to see the “A” on the mountainside once again.
“Across the Quad at even tide, as shadows softly fall. The tower of Old Main appears, and peace rests overall. The lighted “A” upon the hill stands out against the blue. Oh alma mater, USU, my heart sings out to you.”
After quoting the first verse of USU’s alma mater, Palmer said he finds it unfortunate that USU is no longer keeping Aggie tradition by lighting the “A” on the hill, as the song depicts.
To remedy this, Palmer appointed Kevin Nelson, a member of his staff, to work on “looking first at finding out if it’s what students want.” Palmer said he intends to “make sure we gain every possible opinion before proceeding.”
Palmer is confident, however, that students will be in favorable compliance with the idea of putting an “A” on the mountain.
“It was one of my more popular platform issues,” Palmer said, reminiscing on election times.
Palmer said out of the hundreds of doors he had knocked on throughout those weeks, and the vast amount of people he had spoken with, only three students were opposed to the idea of putting the “A” back on the mountain.
Palmer’s idea is not to paint a white “A” on the mountain, but rather to install lights which would not be visible in the day time and would be lighted on “special occasions only,” he said. These special occasions might include events such as Homecoming, athletic victories and student and faculty recognition.
The endeavor would be no cost to students except through donations, Palmer said. A prominent member of the community has volunteered to cover some of the funding for the project and any additional cost would be generated through fundraisers and donations.
“It’s price effective yet restores all traditions and keeps the alma mater true,” Palmer said.
Palmer’s first objective is to see if this is what students really want. If students would like to see the “A” on the mountain, then feasibility studies and cost effectiveness issues will be looked into in greater depth. Palmer’s committee would then go to the community for feedback.
“Without community support, I think this is probably a useless effort,” Palmer said.
If community opinion is favorable, then the endeavor will proceed to the administration of USU.
“Once we have all our ducks in a row we’ll go to President Hall,” Palmer said.
Camille Hickman, a senior majoring in International studies, embraces the idea.
“It shows school spirit,” she said.
Hickman liked the idea of having lights instead of a painted “A” because “everybody’s happy. You get the “A” on the mountain, but at the same time you don’t ruin the aesthetic beauty,” she said.
Others argue that the lighted A would effect the aesthetic value of the land.
“I’m not very much in favor of it,” said Fee Busby, dean of the college of Natural Resources. “It really detracts from the beauty of the landscape. I certainly would not like to see it lit up every night. The ‘A’ on Old Main does all the good possible.”
“We already have an “A” on Old Main,” said Preston Frischknecht, natural resource senator of ASUSU. “It’s redundant to have something on the mountain as well.”
Frischknecht said that since the time when the A on the mountainside was a part of Aggie traditions, the natural resource management has evolved to include visual resource, or rather, “the quality of what you see.” Frischknecht sees this being a big issue with the community “especially as we regard the area around us as well managed,” he said. Lights would be “more preferable than a painted A for sure, but from a resource perspective, times have changed. We’re not looking for a giant insignia on a mountain.” Frischknecht said they are focusing instead on the overall visual quality of people’s surroundings.
Director of Media Relations and Marketing John DeVilbiss disagreed.
“I think it would be great to see an A on the mountainside,” DeVilbiss said. This would help commemorate important events and bring a long-founded tradition back to USU.
DeVilbiss said he thinks the community will probably be very supportive of putting lights in the shape of an A on the mountain. “It’s a great alternative to what we have already [the painted A]. It speaks very well of USU’s environmental sensitivity. I think it will be well received,” DeVilbiss said.
Palmer intimated that student feedback on this issue would be very much desired. Those wishing to comment can e-mail the head of the “A” committee, Kevin Nelson, who was unavailable for comment, at ktnelson@cc.usu.edu, or Steve Palmer at palmer@cc.usu.edu.