Griffin is the Word




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  • 2013-02-27 15:29:38
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The most probable candidate for the senior gift of 2013 is a griffin statue. The idea is being developed by the Senior Gift Committee, chaired by fourth-year student Ivan Bardarov. For a senior gift to be acceptable, it has to fulfill several requirements. Most importantly the gift should require no major maintenance, it should be in budget, and it should be for all students to enjoy. The griffin is a creature that holds elements of both a lion and an eagle. These animals are part of the coats of arms of the U.S. and Bulgaria, thus symbolizing the symbiosis of these two countries represented by AUBG. “This idea has been around for years, and the Committee decided to see what will happen with it,” Bardarov said. “The griffin is the official mascot of AUBG. Few people know it, because it is not present as a symbol … all official university sports teams are called “the griffins,” a few years ago there was also a volleyball team called like that … There is only two visual representations of it – the AUBG Griffins logo and another one, on a staff, with which the student marshal, Lydia Krise, leads the procession of graduating students. We want to do something different from these two representations which is going to be visible.” [caption id="attachment_12403" align="alignright" width="189" caption="Griffin representation by AUBG's football club "AUBG Griffins.""][/caption] The Senior Gift Committee has asked Prof. Mirchev, a full-time sculpture lecturer at the National Academy of Art, to prepare a model of the statue.  Bardarov said the Committee initially planned on hiring students to fulfill the project, so that they could work for free, but use the statue for their portfolios in exchange for the work. However, the members of the Committee decided that if a statue was going to be made, it should be made by a professional. “A mascot is a symbol mostly of sport activities,” Bardarov said. “This year we have a new sports building, and we think this gift is a logical continuation of that. We believe the new square is going to be a good place for the statue. Of course, we cannot decide that, but we believe this would be a good spot. This idea would be a part of a larger talk with the administration, architects, etc. We cannot and we are not going to decide the final look and place of the statue on our own.” There are no set measurements for the statue yet, as it is only a working idea. However, the Committee is aiming at a height of around 2.5 meters. The material used is going to be stone, because it is easy to maintain. The projected price at this point is $3,000. Money for the senior gift is collected at the end of the spring semester. There is a senior meeting at which students state the amount of money, if any, they would like to contribute. Because in the last two years the senior gifts cost around $3,000, the Senior Gift Committee decided to aim for the same amount of money. If they do not manage to collect all the money needed to pay the sculptor, Bardarov said the Committee will look for sponsors, which is a standard practice for events and activities connected to graduation. The statue would be ready in April, that is, if the students approve of the prototype. The Committee has not paid the architect anything yet, so, in case the model of the statue does not appeal to the students, other ideas will be discussed. Bardarov said that the top three suggestions voted for the senior gift were the griffin statue, no gift, and another sign for the Skaptopara Residence Halls (last year’s senior gift was the “Skaptopara I” sign). However, the members of the Committee decided the idea with the sign belongs to the class of 2012, and they wanted to do something original. Besides, AUBG plans on selling the names of the residence halls to donors, so the Committee was not sure what would happen to their sign, if they bought one. [caption id="attachment_12404" align="alignleft" width="106" caption="Last year's senior gift."][/caption] There were a bunch of other suggestions for a senior gift, such as a sauna, an aquarium, and a fountain. However, all of those require maintenance and are not practical gifts. According to Bardarov, a viable back-up plan, in case the current project fails, is to give another gazebo to the university. However, there are problems with where to position it and it has been done before, so for the time being the idea of a griffin statue remains a priority. “The statue can be there for 50-100 years, and it needs no maintenance…we might make it movable, so that if AUBG decides to make a new one, they can move it,” Bardarov said.