Deja Vu

The Associated Press, the New York Times, and other national publications recently rep orted that the faculty senate of Roger Williams College, located in Bristol, Rhode Island, asked the college's president to remove a weather vane depicting a Wampa

noag Indian sachem from the top of an 18thcentury barn located on campus. Proponents of the weather vane claim it is a "dignified rendition" of Metacomet, the man who led New England tribes against Northe astern colonists in the late 17th century. Those who want the weather vane

removed argue that the silhouette reduces the • Indian to the level of the whale, chicken, and horse subjects that were also popular with weather vane makers.

The college administration had planned a college-wide discussion on the appropriateness of displaying the Indian weather vane, but the decision to remove the weather vane was made by thieves before the debate opened. According to college spokesperson Nondas Voll, the theft wasn't a prank but a professional heist. She speculates that all the publicity made thieves aware that the weather vane was an antique worth $150,000.