Stop squinting, change is happening

This archived article was written by: Josie Sue Slade

Sitting above C Cave is a sign that reads “USUE”. This is the official sign for the school, yet it is barely readable. Not many people know it’s there, and the ones that do have to squint to notice it.
Before the sign was built, the letters “CEU” were there forever. In an attempt to eradicate the (CEU) name from the school, officials replaced the sign with “USUE.” Before the change, the sign was much easier read from anywhere on campus and now it is barely visible. This change has been a long time coming, it just doesn’t seem that it reaped the publicity staff was hoping for.
Why is this sign so small and why isn’t there a bigger one in its place? Greg Dart, vice chancellor over student services, said, “We had a mock up of the sign done and it was exactly what we were looking for.
We couldn’t do it too big because the wind would have caused a problem, but when we got the actual sign up, it became clear that it was too small.”
The problem was obvious from the beginning and Dart is working to create a bigger sign to replace the current one. “We are using the existing frame from the old sign so there are some problems with getting a bigger sign up there. We are working on the engineering in order to make a bigger sign possible, but it is going to take some time.”
The sign features the USU-E logo with an eagle below it. The E is larger than the USU, which has posed problems of its own. In order to make this sign a permanent figure on the mountain, extensive research and problem solving needs to go into it. When the bigger sign is placed on the mountain, there is no doubt that it will be a clear and striking monument for our school.”
The company Dart is working with to make this possible is Neilsen Construction. They are a local company and Dart is pleased with the work they have done so far. He said, “They did a wonderful job on the first sign and I imagine we will be working with them in the future again.”