On Thu, 10 Feb 1994, Bri Farenell wrote:
 
> Second off, I think it's pretty lame. A newspaper is in the business of
> REPORTING news. This is an example of them making news. I fail to see any
> editorial justification for this. As politically incorrect as it may be,
> the nickname of the University of North Dakota is indeed the Fighting
> Sioux. Whether the S-T likes it or not, that is the case. They can
> criticize it in their editorials, if they wish. They can urge such
> schools to change their names. But they have an obligation to report
> the facts, in their news stories. To do otherwise is journalistically
> dubious.
 
Well, I have a # of problems with this myself.
 
1.  Newspapers are (or, in many cases, *should be*) doing more than just
reporting the news.
 
2.  I don't see how failing to use a school's nickname is in any way
failing to fulfill a paper's obligation to report the news.  The *news*
is the score, what happened during the game.  Not School A, whose
nickname is XYZ, beat School B, whose nickame is 123.
 
>
> Imagine a newspaper saying they won't cover Notre Dame because it stereotypes
> the Irish or Union because it stereotypes Dutchmen. How about a Catholic
> editor refusing to mention Providence (Friars) or St Lawrence (Saints)
> because maybe it's sacriliegous.
 
You've blown a bad analogy way out of proportion.
 
1.  The papers in question are not threatening not to cover athletics
events at those school, but that they won't use the offensive nicknames.
That's an entirely different thing.  I hardly think ADs across the
country will rise up in revolt because their teams are referred to by
school rather than nickname.
 
2.  Catholic and Protestant schools in this country were founded and
controlled by those groups, and in many cases still are.  Merrimack
College, which is a Catholic institution run by the Augustinians, could
use Augustines or something for a nickname (*not* a really serious
suggestion).  The case here is of institutions appropriating the
intellectual property of ethnic groups who have no other relationship to
the institution except perhaps accidents of geography.
 
David M. Josselyn
[log in to unmask]
 
GO MERRIMACK!  GO ARGUS!  /\
                         /  \
                        /(*) \
                       /      \
                      /________\