The CSUMB community ponders the most important moniker on campus.

The whiskered one is about to get a name. A process that began by taking suggestions from students has now moved to a final vote to determine the name of the cute and cuddly sea otter dancing on the sideline and gracing all the CSU Monterey Bay logos. Five final options remain, with the pivotal decision resting upon the faculty and the young students of the university.

Otter Choice ‘06 first got its motor running last June, when a parent of an incoming student asked school President Dianne Harrison what the name of the otter was during orientation. Extensive research conducted by student affairs revealed three things: At the moment of the school’s inception, three animals were discussed as possible mascots: the orca, the starfish, and the sea otter; after an opinion poll was completed by local media, the otter won out; and the otter was actually never named.

Over the years, the mascot knew three different incarnations—the student inside wore three different otter costumes at community events like parades, charity outings, and CSUMB sports events. But that molting otter never knew its own name.

And now the moment of truth is upon the campus. The finalists for the otter’s name, drawn from student suggestions, are Ollie, Oscar, Otis, Ozzie, and Monty (an adorable take on Monterey). Students can place their vote at createsurvey.com/c/41022-ec9sjz/ (though there are no obstacles in place to prevent outsiders from voting). The site helps to put to rest any weary voter-fraud notions that a voter may have, as it protects against repeat voters. Once the vote is cast, the site does not allow for the same computer to vote again.

Even with five possibilities to choose from and the repeat voting prevention system in place, there is a lack of enthusiasm to overcome.   

“Ollie? That’s pretty weak. Who wants a mascot with a unisexual name?” CSUMB Senior Mike Morey asks. “Those names are pretty pathetic—is that the best we could do? We should put a ribbon in the otter’s hair while we’re at it.”

According to athletic department staff member Julia Hubbard, who was put in charge of Otter Choice ‘06, the students had a fair opportunity to voice their opinion in the decision process.

“The students sent me their suggestions for the name prior to the final five,” Hubbard explains. “We received 237 e-mails suggesting names and after that we tallied up which names appeared the most. Surprisingly, not one suggestion was an inappropriate name.”

Hubbard says that in the preliminary stages of the suggestion process the race was close, which made election casualties out of many strong suggested names. Among some of the more interesting suggestions that failed to make the finals were “Bubba,” “Cool Blue,” “Clam Cracker” and “Otter Pop.”

Fuzzy names like Ollie and Ozzie are certainly less aggressive sounding than other University mascots such as University of Texas’ mascot “Bevo the Longhorn” or Ohio State’s “Brutus the Buckeye,” which leads students like Morey feeling more disappointed with the candidates.

“I just want a name with more bravado, something that sounds intimidating to other schools.” Later Morey laughed at his own suggestions. “How about a name like Battle Scar or Blood Hound?”

According to Hubbard, the ballot will not be revised in order to facilitate a special “write-in” section, a place that a name like “Battle Scar” would be written in.

Despite some apathy over the candidates, there are others who are excited to finally give the character a name to go by.

“It’s a fun thing to do, I guess,” junior transfer Rachel Rivera says. “I’ve never really thought about naming a drawing or a mascot.” When asked about her feelings regarding the choices, Rivera is diplomatic. “It could be worse, we could be trying to put a name on a banana slug.”

Skepticism aside, the election itself is believed to be a tight one, and the results of which will not be known to administrators until after the voting deadline of Friday, Oct. 13. After the votes are counted, the final choice will be taken to school President Harrison for the final approval. There is no word as of yet if she would have approved “Battle Scar.”

VOTERS CAN VISIT createsurvey.com/c/41022-ec9sjz/ by Friday, Oct. 13, to register their favorite name.