The Grand Forks Herald made mention of this L.A. Times article in today's paper and it's worth a look... My personal opinion of the article was that the L.A. Times oped comes off as being condescending, elitist and down right rude.
L.A. Times ---- Unlike 19th century U.S. officials, the North Dakota Board of Higher Education knows how to honor an agreement. It decided to retire the Fighting Sioux mascot. But then the North Dakota Legislature upset that amicable resolution by passing a law mandating that the university keep the old mascot. As a result, the university's athletics program faces various NCAA sanctions and might be excluded from the Big Sky Conference, which it had planned to join.ND State Representative Mike Schatz (R-New England) was on with Rob Port on KNOX on Friday 8-26-11 and Rob and Mike Schatz spoke on the Fighting Sioux issue... [Click to listen]
This is a 21st century conflict, so of course there also are lawsuits. Some members of the Spirit Lake tribe sued to keep the mascot, but their case was thrown out of court. A group of Native American students at the university sued to get rid of the name and accompanying logo of a young Sioux man. Written into the new state law is a provision that calls for suing the NCAA if it imposes any penalties.
Many of the legislators are alumni who understandably cling to this symbol of their college years, but reason should come before sentiment, and the law should be repealed. Lawmakers should have gotten more out of their college experience than the "fighting" part.
