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Htiill"ecbirtng Saturday, October 19, 1996 - Page 8 Winds of Change: What's in a name? By MIKE PUSKAR many various incarnations of "(he state of StaffWriler mind to excel," the Green Terror. One ex- The origin of a name can often be found ample is a two-in-one embodiment of the Ter- by picking up a names book in the local ror. It was a weird animal who carried around library. For example, "Michael" actually a:lizard-like puppet. Interestingly, out of all began as "Micha-el," a Hebrew name for the mascots to have been created, the identity one of many angels meaning "He who is of the person beneath the costume of this one of God." Yet, when a name is composite was the only identity to be descried- all the and abstract, such as a nickname, there is a others remain enigmatic. lot of red tape through which one must en- The most enduring incarnation thus far that dure. Well, the tape has been cut on the barely exists today is the bobcat character. Its definition of "The Green Terror." image can be found plastered on old shirts, The name first appeared in print in the buttons, and thermoses on the WMC campus. Oct. 15, 1923 edition of WMC Monthly. One of this bobcat's predecessors was of the WMC football coach Ken Shroyer is ac- same genus. The year 1968 gave the college credited with creating the nickname, al- a leopard booster. though William Wilson Wingate, a 1918 The most recent personification is a su- WMC graduate, was believed to have used perhero, The Green Terror, who has made sev- the term first in an article he wrote for The eral appearances in The Phoenix and has Baltimore Sun. It is said that Shroyer saw embellished many athletic congratulatory his players come running down the field in notes. His name will of course change once their olive green uniforms when he coined he realizes that "the Terror" is not his outward that everlasting name. It is, however, just appearance but the power within him. This a name. epiphany, as well as the introduction of a fe- Contrary to popular assumption, the male host of the Terror, will occur in the new Terror is not the school mascot. It is, rather, comic book anthology that will be published a name used to label an abstract force. in the spring of 1997 by WMC's newest stu- According to Director of Alumni Affairs, dent organization, C.A.B.A.L. (Comics-Art- Donna Sellman, ''The Green Terror's not a Based Artist League). the spirit and perserverence WMC in the Blood of thing. It's a state of mind of commitment While WMC continues to remain without to excellence and performance." an actual mascot, The Terror, unlike a mascot, is not just of the Terror remains on the field, in the class- to raise the spirit of athletes. Sellman added room, and in the minds of students-past and Fourth-Generation that it can exist "in any area" ofWMC. present. Graduate The school mascot is actually one of Bv VALERIE MEHL shuttle. She assisted in the program devel- Contributing Wrilerfrom Public information opment and funding of 30 learning centers What would she would change about her throughout the U.S. that provide classroom life if she had the opportunity? "Nothing," instruction and a hands-on simulated space replies Young Alumna Service Award Re- mission for school-age children. cipient Caroline Rodgers Benson without Her reply to the life course question hesitation. Given her extensive and impres- might have been different, she says, had it sive list of accomplishments, her answer is not been for WMC. "I never dreamed that I not surprising. would go to Harvard, study abroad, or start Since graduating from WMC in 1985 my own business," Benson says. When she with degrees in sociology and elementary first came to the Hill, she had planned to be education, she completed graduate studies a teacher, and in fact, did teach middle school at Harvard University and Oxford, England and fourth grade for two years at Indian in conjunction with New York University. Creek School in Crownsville, Md. Most recently, she has started her own con- "WMC gave me a fabulous grounding," sulting firm, Benson Group, Inc., providing she says. "When I applied to Harvard, they program development and fund raising guid- were looking for students who were well- ance to non-profit businesses and organiza- rounded, not only academically but tions. exrracurricularly. WMC gave me that, and Among her clients are the National As- as a result, gave me the opportunities that sociation of Independent Schools, Chesa- have made a difference in my life." peake Bay Foundation, Maryland Special She is not the first member of her family Olympics and the Challenger Center for to feel this way. Benson is the fourth gen- Space Science Education. Benson was part eration of Bensons in her family to attend of a team that helped establish the Challenger WMC. She was most influenced by her Center, a living memorial which was grandmother Caroline Foutz Benson, a mem- founded by the families of the astronauts who ber of the class of 1923. Benson fondly re- lost their lives aboard the ill-fated space Continued on page 9 WMC Was License For Success for Frantum Bv VALERIE MEHL recalls with vivid detail the meeting she and continued allegiance and service to her alma gency of women in the sciences at WMC. In Comriburing Writerfrom Public fnfonnathm her father had with President Holloway. "My mater. fact, there was mostly women in every dis- In 1941, as Katherine Kaiser Frantum father told him that we did not know how we Over the next four years at WMC, she cipline. "It was almost like an all-girls' was completing her senior year at Western would afford the cost," she says. By today's gained a new sense of independence and self school. After 1942 most of the boys had left High School in Baltimore, a classmate told standard, the tuition of $650 would seem like confidence that helped guide her through a for the military to fight in World War II," her of plans to attend Western Maryland an unbelievable bargain, but the average sal- lengthy and respectable career in education. says Franrum. "As I recall, there were only College. It sounded like a good-although ary at that time was just $35 a week. She sat Her impressive scholastic record as a two men in our entire graduating class that unrealistic-idea. in disbelief as President Holloway offered her math and physics major and biology and had started in 1941. The others came from "I knew that I wanted to be a high school a freshman scholarship and made arrange- chemistry minor earned Frantum her first acceleration or transfer, a total of 14 men." teacher, but r didn't know how my family ments for her to work in the dining hall to teaching job right after graduation in 1945- Dean Isanogle was responsible for her would be able to afford to send me to any eam the money to help with the cost. without even being interviewed. That's a tes- quick entry into the work force. "He received college," recalls Frantum. "From that moment on I began to realize tament to the clout a WMC education holds, a call from the head of the Anne Arundel Still, she decided to apply and was ac- how special a place WMC really was," says she boasts. County Board of Education seeking infor- cepted. More than 50 years later, she still Frantum, awarded Alumna of the Year for her At that time there was a strong contin- Continued on p.IXe 10