How to change the -> when a category has sub categories?

[whitesosa]

On the site I am working on there is -> after a category if that category has sub categories... How do I change this to something more visually attractive or remove it? Thank you

 

Also is there a way to add custom HTML links to the menu?

[germ]

The code responsible is the middle line below found in /catalog/includes/boxes/categories.php

 

    if (tep_has_category_subcategories($counter)) {
     $categories_string .= '->';
   }