The following is from the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune, 2/9/94.
PC POLICE WIN AGAIN AS LOWELL LOSES CHIEF by Bill Burt
Surprised? No.
UMass-Lowell's decision last week to eliminate the nickname "Chiefs"
was not a surprise. It is part of the new breed of Americans harping
about being politically correct. What a waste of time!
Am I miffed? No.
Disgusted is more like it.
Because the Chief is as much a part of the Merrimack Valley and UMass-
Lowell as the famed river that runs through it.
The school performed a study with alumni and students and a majority
wanted a change, according to Dr Wayne Edwards, UMass-Lowell athletic
director.
It sensed there could be a problem. The "Chief" mascot has sort of
been lassoed, oops, I mean restrained from skating on the ice at hockey
games wearing a headdress and wielding a weapon.
A committee of 15 UMass-Lowell officials, including Dr Edwards, voted
to find a new nickname.
"It's not anything unusual. This has been going on for about 10
years," said Dr Edwards, referring to colleges and high schools removing
their Indian-related nicknames. "We just didn't think it was right to
characterize a group of people...You can't really dress someone up with
a tomahawk."
Why?
From what I understand chiefs, Indians, warriors, sachems, etc.
carried tomahawks or some facsimile thereof.
And cowboys carried guns; dogs carried bones; Minutemen carried rifles;
and knights carried swords.
Maybe high schools and colleges should worry more about students
carrying books.
If the fear of offending Native Americans is so great, how about having
a few of them come to the school and talk to students about what a
"Chief" meant to this region a few hundred years ago?
"We're not the only ones," said Dr Edwards. "Marquette, which has
the Warriors, is changing theirs...We're not the first. I don't suspect
we'll be the last."
He is right. But that does not make it right.
Merrimack College, known as the Warriors, won't fall into this PC trap.
"We heard rumblings a few years ago, but as far as I'm concerned we're
sticking with (Warriors)," said Merrimack athletic director Bob
DeGregorio. "We've been very careful in our logo to depict the Warrior
as he truly appeared. The Warrior was a strong, positive leader."
In fact, the name "Merrimack" came from the Northern Indian tribe
which settled in New England, along *the* river.
"Merrah" means "strong". "Auke" means "a place".
The Massachusetts Indians were another tribe that settled along the
river in this region. Their name for the river was the "Menomack".
"Meno" means "island". "Mack" means "a place".
The nickname fits like a glove.
And remember, parts of UMass-Lowell sit comfortably on the "Strong
Place" River.
What nickname will UMass-Lowell select?
"We'll get recommendations from people," said Dr Edwards. "We will
not pick a name in reference to religious or an ethnic group of people."
Here are a few suggestions:
How about Bulldogs? Too ugly.
Tigers? Forget all animals. They're stupid. They can't reason.
Devils? Nope. Anti-Christian.
Preachers? Sorry. It offends atheists.
Americans? Wouldn't work because of the large number of foreign
students.
Textile Workers? It fits the region, but is probably too boring...and
tacky.
Nicknames are supposed to be fun. They are better if it has to do with
the school or its region.
At my alma mater, Quincy High, it was the Presidents. Two presidents,
John and John Quincy Adams, were born there.
My bet is there are skeletons in both their closets. Maybe they
smoked cigarettes (that offends a lot of people). Maybe they had slaves.
Maybe they were mean to their wives.
People who look for offensive nicknames will always find them.
And maybe those same people have too much free time.
END
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
<<<<< Color Voice of the (12-14-2) Merrimack Warriors WCCM 800 AM >>>>>
|
