Photo by LEO THERRIEN The dead Great Horned Owl was brought to the security office after it was discovered by Officers Tom Hoster and Darron Muncy.

Virginia Wesleyan campus security has had two reports of malicious animal shootings in the past three weeks. It is not yet known if the two shootings are related, but they both occurred on campus and were executed with a 4.5-mm pellet gun. Authorities have been unable to find the shooter, but it is believed that the criminal is a resident of the Wesleyan community. "Did I expect it? No," said Leo Therrien, director of campus security. "I don't feel that killing innocent animals proves anything." The first shooting occurred on Feb. 28 at 1:45 a.m.

According to Lt. Manny White, a student called the gate after witnessing a couple of other students shooting at a raccoon from their car. After receiving a description of the vehicle from the witness, security watched the vehicle as it came out of the Village III area. White then called senior Leah Starkey, who was the VA on duty that night, to report the incident. White, along with patrolling officer Moses Alston, stopped the car to find four students in the vehicle. There were three males and one female in the vehicle. Two of the students involved were visiting guests from the Eastern Shore. A pellet gun was produced by the driver of the vehicle, who was identified as a Wesleyan student. White and Alston then found a raccoon that had been shot twice lying dead in the street by the dumpster in the K lot of Village III. "I couldn't understand why a person would do that," said White. "I wasn't angry, but I was concerned."

According to White, another dead raccoon had been picked up by maintenance a couple days prior to this specific incident. The third shooting occurred on March 1 at 8:45 a.m., and it involved the killing of a Great Horned Owl, a federally protected bird. Shooting an endangered species is a felony. Officers Tom Hoster and Darron Muncy found the dead owl while patrolling the lake area. They took pictures and filed a report for campus security records. Once the report had been filed, the investigation was turned over to the Virginia Game Warden for the Virginia Wildlife Commission.

Two logos are being considered by the office of college communications.

New logos, school themes aim to appeal to a wider range of prospective applicants

By LAURA COX

It's time for a facelift, Wesleyan. The proposition of a new logo and theme line for the school, a project that has been in the works for the past year, has been presented to the Wesleyan community. Gail Kent, director of college communications, has been working with consultant David Martin of Brandsync and focus groups to shape a logo that would represent the school's principal identity.

Students at Wesleyan received e-mail notification of the change as well as a survey concerning the possible logos and school theme from Kent. The e-mail explained that "these two items will become important vehicles for us in communicating a unified and meaningful message to our key audiences, including current and future students, alumni, donors, faculty, staff and the community at large."

Through these surveys, the student body, alumni, faculty, and staff members were able to vote and give their opinions of the two logos being considered for the new logo and new theme line. The first logo featured the VW logo with a flame, while the second contained only the flame. The two theme lines available for consideration were: "Bring a spark. Light a fire" and "Warm place. Bright future."

By HEATHER SKROBACKI

It only happens every five years, and the departments of Recreation and Leisure and Education are aiming to continue their accreditation status. The Recreation and Leisure department hopes to continue its national accreditation while Education expects to renew its state accreditation. "Within our profession, it's a real standard of excellence that real academic programs strive to achieve," said Doug Kennedy, professor and coordinator of recreation and leisure studies. The sentiment is echoed within the education department.

"It's very important to keep an approved status," said Karen Bosch, professor and coordinator of the education department. "I am so hopeful. We've been working on this for a couple of years now preparing the documents." In preparation for such a review, departments create a self-study according to the standards that need to be met. Some of the things that the council looks at are organization and operation standards for faculty, students and instructional resources as well as professional competencies like field experience.

The Virginia State Department of Education will visit Wesleyan's Education Department March 28 through March 31 to interview faculty, students, graduates and even principals of local schools. The review team expects the department to work closely with local schools to ensure that their graduates have the skills needed in the classroom. The review team also wants to know how the education department fits into a liberal arts college.

After the review is complete, the VDOE state review team will report their findings, make their recommendations and state the weaknesses they observed. Within 30 days the review the team will develop a report of findings for Wesleyan, stating either an approval, approval with stipulations or denial.