If voters have their way, a new knight mascot could be in place at California State University, Stanislaus, before commencement on May 29.

Results from an opinion poll conducted last week on the Turlock campus indicate there are two front-runners, neither of which is the current mascot, the Warrior Hawk.

The top vote-getter was a knight, followed by a hawk wearing a knight's helmet, said student body president Cesar Rumayor. Each of these is accompanied by a separate helmet logo.

Rumayor was pleased with voter turnout. He said 894, or about 10 percent, of students cast an advisory vote for their favorite mascot.

Past elections, including one five years ago, have suffered from low turnouts. In spring 1999, students voted 422-198 in favor of a knight mascot, but the vote was controversial because students said they didn't have enough options. That summer, a committee of eight picked the Warrior Hawk.

This year, there's been a push to settle the matter once and for all. Last week's vote was open also to staff, faculty, alumni and friends. In all, 1,007 people voted, including 78 staff members, 18 alumni, 13 faculty members and four community members, Rumayor said.

"It's a great turnout," he said.

A task force with representation from students, staff, faculty, administration and alumni asked people to submit mascot designs that symbolize a warrior. Submissions were required to invoke the Warrior spirit, not include a weapon, not be recognizable as male or female, and not be attributable to a particular culture.

The task force received 19 submissions. The committee narrowed the list to five, each with a logo and mascot.

Voters were given three index cards, one with a red sticker, one with a gold sticker and a third with green. Red represented a voter's first choice; gold, second choice; and green stood for "no way." Red stickers were assigned two points; gold one point; and green, minus a point.

The knight, designed by a staff member, received 797 points. The hawk and helmet, a student design, got 710 points. The Warrior Hawk got 562 points, followed by the duck with negative 195 points and a storm with negative 227 points.

In his fifth year at the college, Rumayor said he's happy to see progress being made.

"I just want to see a mascot," he said. "I really don't care what it is. If people could take pride in a banana slug, I could take pride in anything. … Let's decide, but let's do it the democratic way."

Bill Ruud, vice president of development and university relations, said task force members will talk to the original artists and consult with professional designers to come up with a mascot that is both representative of the university and marketable. He said it could be the knight, or the hawk with helmet, or some combination of the two.

"Can you put it on a T-shirt?" he said. "Does it represent the university?"

The task force is charged with making a recommendation to President Marvalene Hughes, who will make the final decision.