PUNXATAWNEY PHIL:  A NATIONAL TREASURE
OR JUST ANOTHER RODENT?

	Punxatawney Phil may be unfairly stealing the limelight from
local ground hogs, according to surveys conducted by University of
Virginia students.

	In an attempt to determine if people regard Punxatawney Phil
as the official national ground hog, 320 students and non-students
were asked to identify the rodent.  Sixty-two percent of those
surveyed identified him.

	Survey participants were also asked: "What if Punxatawney
Phil sees his shadow, but our local ground hogs do not.  If you
wanted to know when spring would be coming . . ., which ground hog
ought you to rely upon?" Forty-nine percent of the respondents, aged
18-21 years old, said they would choose Phil as being more
authoritative than a local ground hog.  Thirty-four percent of the
134 respondents over age 21 picked Punxatawney Phil as being more
accurate than a local ground hog.

	Survey participants were asked to describe what happens on
Ground Hog Day; they were also asked if they had lived for three or
more years in a region that has colder winters than Virginia has.
Fifty-two percent of the student respondents who had lived in colder
climates accurately recounted the Ground Hog myth, compared to only
35 percent who had never lived in a colder place. 

	"Knowledge of Ground Hog Day was significantly correlated
with 'northern exposure,'" said Thomas M. Guterbock, a sociology
professor who led the undergraduate sociology course. The survey was
conducted with a diverse sample of people around Ground Hog Day,
1995.

	Americans may attach symbolic importance to Punxatawney Phil
for two major reasons, speculated Guterbock, who teaches survey
methods and community sociology at U.Va. "As the Blizzard of '96
reminded us, winter weather has major consequences for our everyday
lives.  We also remain incapable of making reliable predictions of
the turning of the seasons.  Recognizing Ground Hog Day helps us
deal with the awkwardness of these circumstances," he said.

	However, the media attention that has made Feb. 2 a national
event has robbed communities of the opportunity to establish their
own traditions, Guterbock believes.  

	"I suppose some will think this rise in 'Punxatawney
Philistinism' is a trivial trend, but what does it say about the
moral authority of our communities if a local ground hog cannot ease
our seasonal anxieties?" asked Guterbock, who may actually be
serious about this point.  "Will America simply hibernate while the
media proceeds to homogenize one of the few remaining communal
symbols?" he inquired.
	Noting that other areas are starting to publicize local
ground hogs, Guterbock suggests that communities observe local
ground hogs.  "Since the sun shines only in parts of the nation on
any given Feb. 2, the weather-predicting story is inherently local,"
he observed. 

	 Pointing out that the story needs a good visual angle to
become a media hit, Guterbock encourages people to "Grab a wood
chuck, deck yourselves in colorful local garb and make sure the TV
cameras are rolling when you jerk that animal into daylight."

	REPORTERS: Guterbock is author of an opinion piece on "The
Embattled Ground Hog" that is scheduled to be published this week in
a regional newspaper.  For a copy of that, contact U.Va. News
Services at (804) 924-7116.

	Guterbock can be reached at (804) 924-6516, office, or (804)
973-2411, home.

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January 30, 1996