There is no more fitting a mascot for the University of Massachusetts than the Minuteman, a depiction of colonial soldiers who, on the dawn of the revolution, bravely fought against the British soldiers here in Massachusetts. The Minutemen were among the first to stand up against the British and brought about the start of a series of events that cumulated with the independence of our country and the founding of modern day democracy, one of America’s many gifts to the modern world.

Recently, the UMass athletics department shelled out $10,000 for Phoenix Design to come up with a new mascot. Is this excessive? Ridiculous? Perhaps it would be, were it not for the fact that UMass sells hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of mascot oriented apparel a year. Logically, the athletics department went out to look for something new to reinvigorate sale of UMass merchandize. Many months and thousands of dollars later, Sam the Minuteman (and yes his name is Sam), came back stronger than before.

He is well worth the money that went into his revival. He looks better than ever before, with his big muscles and brash attitude. Unlike the old 1970s Minuteman, who some would say looks like a UMass student on thirsty Thursday, the new Sam the Minuteman looks like he’s ready for some action. Now in fighting position, his face is tense and the adrenaline is rushing up his spine. He is ready to crush the University of Connecticut Huskies, University of New Hampshire Wildcats and all other opposition and restore the fighting spirit into our school.

Furthermore, when UMass put into question Sam’s very existence, the public outcry to keep him alive was so great that it really showed how many of us truly love our mascot. Nevertheless, there are some people out there who are bothered by the male gender, white ethnicity, and the “firearms issue” of the Minuteman. Perhaps these opponents of Sam want us to bury our heritage and history.

Were it not for these white males with guns, perhaps we’d still be under British rule, drinking tea with scones. Would our founding fathers have come up with modern democracy had we not been independent? The Minuteman doesn’t say anything negative about women or other ethnicities, and shouldn’t raise issues of bias, just as Presidents Day doesn’t raise ethnic or gender issues. As for the firearms issues, the Minutemen were only using them for self defense against the British, who we all know fired first.

I don’t think anyone could even argue that the Grey Wolves would be a better mascot. If it wasn’t bad enough they closely resemble UConn’s hideous Huskies, and that Grey Wolves haven’t lived in the area for over a century, the phrase “Grey Wolves” is the name of a violent fascist terrorist organization in Turkey that tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981. Lastly, who wants to be associated with an animal such as a wolf, husky, or wildcat that is known for attacking the weak and helpless?

Sam isn’t perfect though. A few years back, our mascot was stripped of his firearm during games, leaving him defenseless against other more vicious mascots as he continues to cheer us on. Also, his rifle is quite antiquated. I would prefer something a bit more modern, perhaps an M-16. It takes forever to load gunpowder into those things.

Unfortunately, there are those of us who are still giving Sam a hard time. As Residential Assistant Dina Itkin put it, “The new [mascot] is too violent.” But then again there will always be someone to complain about something. Many other fellow students have also stated that they have found the old mascot to be goofy and lovable while the new one is brash and scary, but if we want to be serious about our sports we need to be serious about our mascot.

The new mascot will increase UMass spirit, school loyalty and may even increase overall GPA through increased confidence and moral. A new and improved mascot is even predicted to increase attendance to UMass sports, resulting in much needed revenue for our athletics department.

I predict happiness and caring throughout our campus to soar to levels that could have never been imagined. Can we really put a price on that? The Minuteman is on our state quarter; a 50-grand statue of him stands proudly near our campus pond; and similar themes use the Minuteman to link Massachusetts to its colonial past, such as the name of our football team. I have but one thing left to say: Long live Sam the Minuteman!

Gilad Skolnick is a Collegian Columnist.