01/23/2012
Utah school deems cougar mascot offensive
Students in Draper, Utah, voted for the town’s new high school mascot to be the Cougar. But, the school board overruled the vote saying that team symbol is offensive to women. Cougar also is a slang term for women who date younger men. The school board picked Charger – a war horse – as the school's mascot even though it was the last of five choices in voting by students.
■Class discussion: Find newspaper reports about other controversies over team mascot names. Why were they controversial? Do you think some mascots are offensive? Why or why not? In Draper, the school board said it knew all along it would make the final decision. Should they have even held a student vote?