dubs, via UW

In September, Spirit, the old Husky mascot sustained a shoulder injury and retired early rather than watching the UW football team’s painfully losing season. At last, the long search for a new UW mascot and the contest to name it has come to an blessed ending.
The people have spoken and the newly chosen puppy, picked in what we can only assume to be a process like the mysterious used by The Others to choose their leader, has been unfortunately dubbed “Dubs”. Early this week, his own homepage [gohuskies] and had his first face-to-face with the media. There, he romped around on the track, sat prettily for treats, and generally charmed reporters.

There’s a video of the whole adorable affair on the website. Go ahead, watch it and melt. Let’s hope that Spirit has a happy retirement watching the new kid cheer on a team that has a slightly better season. [gohuskies]

Since early 2007, to comply with a federal law requiring timely warning notification of crimes committed on or near campus, the University of Washington police department has been sending periodic e-mails to alert the campus community when wrongdoings are reported. Today brings notice of a bathroom-cruising would-be carnival barker in the undergraduate library:

The UW Police Department is investigating a reported case of indecent liberties that occurred on January 9, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. in a men’s restroom in Odegaard Library. A male victim entered the 3rd floor restroom and noticed the male suspect loitering by the sinks. The suspect started a conversation with the victim describing his own height and weight, and asked the victim how tall he was and how much he weighed. He asked several flirtatious questions while approaching the victim. The victim attempted to leave the area, but the suspect would not move. The suspect again asked the victim how much he weighed, said “let me check,” and grabbed the victim in several places. The victim stated that someone entered the restroom, which allowed him to escape. The victim was not injured in the encounter.

Condolences to the victim of this genuinely creepy encounter, without which we may have never learned the term “indecent liberties”. The rest of us should be vigilant for the suspect — a tall, dark-complected male with a “buzz” cut, strong accent of origin unknown — who was last seen carrying a small toiletry bag and using his apparent difficulty in judging size and mass from sight alone as a pick-up line.

presumably this dog has a real name.

The University of Washington’s football team has yet to win a game this season. Perhaps sensing the shape of things to come, the official Husky mascot (an Alaskan Malamute called Whitepaw’s Arlut Spirit of Gold Dust, a.k.a. “Spirit”) suffered a “shoulder injury” and has avoided leading the team out of the tunnel, wandering the sidelines, feigning interest in the game, and napping under the bench. Maybe his absence is the cause of the team’s ill fortunes or perhaps he simply couldn’t bear bear to spend his sunset years watching a losing team.

Either way, the school was already on the lookout for a replacement to replace Spirit upon his retirement at the end of the season. In parallel with the search to select a new dog, the athletics department has been polling fans to choose its new name. My assumption that the name should reflect the actual dog just shows how little of collegiate mascotry I comprehend.

The field has been narrowed down to three names: Spirit, Sundodger, and Dubs. [gohuskies] Although it’s very “the king is dead, long live the king” / “Snowball Two” I have to say that given the options rechristening this new dog with the old one’s name is the least objectionable.

photo via macarthur foundation

Earlier this month the Stranger crowned their latest crop of local geniuses with $5,000, a cake, and a big party at the Moore. Today, Seattle has another “genius” in our midst thanks to the MacArthur Foundation’s new list of fellows, each of whom receive $500,000, paid quarterly over five years [macfound]. At least a half-million hearty congratulations, then, to University of Washington geomorphologist David Montgomery[#], whose studies of the earth’s surface and environmental change have considered the local, global, and interplanetary level put him in good company with the music critic, saxophonist, fiber artist, urban farmer, fiction writer, epigrapher, and others who won this year’s grants. [#]

In addition to being an inspiring award, it also sounds like the makings of the best cocktail party ever.

Washington Weekend technically kicked off on Thursday, with a faculty/staff BBQ in Red Square, but the University of Washington has a ton of events packed into the next couple of days. Granted, I’m a bit of a nerd (and a recent Midwestern transplant to boot), so things like touring the giant research vessel at the College of Oceanography and Fishery Sciences’ Open House truly appeal to the part of me that always wanted to be a marine biologist but was thwarted by the supreme lack of ocean in central Illinois… I digress.

Additionally, today saw the official dedication of the UW Tower (formerly known as the Safeco Tower, and likely to remain known as that for as long as the Safeco name remains inscribed in the building). Tomorrow’s festivities include open houses galore, a simulated cybersecurity competition at Microsoft, and the Plateau Native Arts Celebration at the Burke Museum, including beadwork and saddle-making demonstrations.

The exhibitions and demonstrations should be enough to keep the whole family occupied for the better part of a day, and is only a few short neighborhoods away from a relaxing evening at the Ballard Jazz Festival. Enjoy your Saturday!

^{Paula Reynolds, president and CEO of Safeco, former owner of the tower, passes a symbolic key to
University of Washington President Mark Emmert.}

photo by Chris Villanueva [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• So you’d like to buy yourself a rock club? Step in where Groupee stepped off. Attractive lease terms, stone masonry. [craigslist via belltowner ]
• From notorious nightclub to notorious megachurch in under a year. Mars Hill takes over Tabella. [p-i]
• Your stockroom of Prince costumes are finally set to pay off. (ed: please please provide ample notice before the city is invaded by an army of Princealikes) [citizenrain]
• There, at last, goes the neighborhood. Abandoned block on Pine Street eaten by bulldozers to make way for apartments. So far, no lingering hipsters found fleeing the wreckage. [slog]
• Well, this is embarrassing. Chicago climber beats Seattleite to the top of Columbia Tower. [p-i]
• Macrina gets in the holiday spirit, puts bunnies on cupcakes. We melt from the adorableness. [belltowner]
• Saved by the Supreme Court: our ridiculous “top two” primary! (ed: I have no idea what this even means) [horsesass]
• Spam pays, until it lands you in jail. [cio]
• Aw, no one loves poor old Mercer Hall. But the UW’s plans to build an urban village west of campus is probably very good for the neighborhood and overcrowded students. [times]
• A clue about the new business going in at the former Wing Dome on Olive and Melrose? What does TT stand for anyway? [helloseattle]