2008 Woodie Awards
'Ghost squirrel' haunts campus
Growing group promotes existence of legendary rodent
Nyette Word
Staff Writer
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The significance of the albino squirrel on NT's campus has been taken to another level.
It lives behind Willis Library, and only one of its kind has been confirmed on campus.
It is not known whether it is male of female, and there is no name for it yet, but there are a few nicknames among the student body -- including Precious, Blanca, Thelonius and Enya.
It may seem like a joke to other students, but members of the organization are taking the lives of all squirrels seriously.
"A lot of people can't believe we have one," said Denton junior T.J. Zambrano, president of Albino Squirrel Preservation Society.
"It's almost like a joke, but we have pictures to support his existence on campus. We can't capture him and put him in a cage to make sure that he's OK. He makes our campus different. Supposedly if you see him he's good luck before a test because he's so rare."
The organization started in the April 2001 at UT-Austin and made its way to NT in the fall of 2002.
It may be a new organization, but there are currently 81 members at NT with chapters at four other universities.
The students who are a part of this organization care very much about the well-being of the squirrel.
On the society's Web site, members wrote special messages about how they feel about the squirrel.
The organization's goal is to raise awareness about the albino squirrel and all the other squirrels on campuses.
This is so squirrels will have a safe environment and be protected.
The organization's staff adviser emeritus, John Carroll, who joined the organization as its 16th member, first saw albino squirrels in Ripley, Tenn., at a local Sonic and since then he has been in love with them.
"I was invited to be a part of the organization by one of my resident assistants, T.J.," Carroll said.
"I have been waiting for something like this. Something that wants to have goals to preserve the special things of society.
They are really special and it's exciting to see T.J. take such an interest in this. I couldn't be happier to support and help him."
Students, faculty or staff members interested in joining the organization can write to northtexasalbino@yahoo.com for an application and can purchase a T-shirt for $ 8.
For more information, visit the Web site http://orgs.unt.edu/asps.
nlw0001@unt.edu
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
anonymous877
anonymous877
posted 11/22/02 @ 2:05 PM CST
Good grief. I guess the members of the feral cat society don't really get along with the albino squirrel preservationists. Or do the cat people chase the squirrel people?
It's empty causes like this that waste time and give people a false sense of purpose. (Continued…)
anonymous877
anonymous877
posted 11/22/02 @ 7:04 PM CST
well im not a member of the society or even knew it existed, but why the heck not. the squirrel is cool! i've seen it once!! people have the right to congregate, so if they want to congregate and talk about some elusive white squirrel, more power to them! =)
exiom
Teresa Brunner
posted 8/14/07 @ 9:36 AM CST
Here at one of our museum locations, we just discovered a squirrel here in Greeley Colorado with a white tail. The rest of the squirrel looks like a common grey tree squirrel (though I'm no expert). (Continued…)
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