A student committee at Telstar High School is looking into the possibility of replacing Yosemite Sam as the school’s mascot.

The teams are nicknamed the Rebels. Yosemite Sam is a Looney Tunes character who appears in a logo on the wall in the school office with the “T” standing for “Telstar.” He is also painted on the wall outside the gymnasium.

Yosemite Sam has been used since Telstar opened in 1968.

THS Principal Dan Hart said there are concerns about copyright issues in connection with the character. He also said some students feel he is outdated.

“The Telstar School Spirit and Action Committee has had preliminary discussions, since last spring, of either retiring Yosemite Sam and replacing him with a ‘modern version’ of a Rebel or looking into a new mascot,” Hart said last week.

The committee is planning a student/staff survey at both the high and middle schools on a possible change, including an invitation to provide entries of a modern version of a Rebel and/or a new mascot, in the near future, Hart said.

An earlier issue regarding a Telstar symbol – a Confederate flag that hung in the gym – arose in the 1990s when the school got complaints that it was offensive. The flag was eventually taken down.

In that same era Yosemite Sam’s image was altered, eliminating guns he held in each hand and replacing them with flags. Former Principal Ted Davis said this week the change was made because Warner Bros. planned to revoke permission to use the character. Davis said the school had been paying a fee to the company each year to use Sam.

Davis said there has also been discussion off and on over the years about replacing the Rebel nickname as well.

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