Chewey

A lot about "public morality" is legislated rather than crammed down by runaway bandwagons of PC "moralists." If use of native names is so galling to so many people, why haven't those people contacting their legislators to stop it. Legislators will do anything to stay in office. But there are two problems: 1.) Only a very few people object to the use of indian nicknames; and 2.) race-based limitation on freedom of speech (like PCM indicated) and the use of such terms in the public domain.

So they must have brains somewhere then. Remarkable! They sit on them daily. I agree 100%. It just shows one how myopic and short-sighted Myles and Co are. I guess if you have a bunch of worms that bend to your every wish, you get used to that and learn to not expect opposition.

An intent to placate certain minority political groups with which the Executive Committee agrees irrespective of the majority? At best it's a highly cynical, depraved and twisted abuse of power and position. At worst, it's evil. Certainly, the former attributes are components of the latter aren't they? There is nothing benevolent about the NC00 in this regard or with much of anything else. It needs to be stripped to its core and broken up. Any resulting regional organizations should be comprised of alumni rather than a bunch of administrators or professors who know virtually nothing outside of their ivory towers. Alumni actually have a reality-based grasp on how things work.

One can never predict anything when it comes to a jury. There is a possibility that a jury may see the NC00 in a different way than UND sees it. Juries and judges certainly do get upset if they feel their time is being wasted. There is a possibility that a jury would be sympathetic to the NC00. I am just indicating that UND is better off in ND than somewhere else. After all of the facts are put out there and a jury sees just how arbitrary and capricious and tyrannical the NC00 has been with respect to its own policies, I don't see how a jury could perceive the NC00 as a benevolent player but it could happen. Juries and judges also don't like bullies. People generally don't like players from foreign areas/states trying to ram-rod things in their own areas. I would not be surprised if the NC00 favored moving people into GF. Perhaps this is paranoid but I know it's happened before in ND (See the derailment in Minot involving the CP Rail where CP Rail was paying people at $250.00 per pop at the Town & Country Shopping Center and, allegedly, moving people into Minot in case some cases went to trial there). If it does go to trial, I am sure a lot of money will be spent on analysis teams reviewing prospective jurors.

I really don't know but I think UND, from what I know, has a very strong and compelling case. It's in a ND court which bodes well for UND too. Like others have posted, the NC00 probably thought that UND would cave once real coin was being spent and once the propaganda and "protests" were in full swing irrespective of the fact that the matter was venued in ND. I'm sure the NC00 is somewhat surprised that UND has not caved and I'm sure it is becoming ever more convinced, as it should, that UND won't cave. A bully like the NC00 probably never really considered this scenario. The pathology of Myles and Co. was simply "this is our 'policy,' we're going to enforce it, UND had better step in line, if it does not we have the resources to spend it into submission." It was very arrogant. This is much like an insurance company against a plaintiff. Insurance companies love to go through all of the discovery hoops, independent medical exam hoops, etc. and they love to delay, delay, delay even when a plaintiff has a compelling case (rear-ended by a UPS truck and suffered a broken neck). Some of this is because insurance defense lawyers like to earn money too. Most of it is because insurance companies know that the longer they delay, the more agony and stress a plaintiff will go through and the more inclined a plaintiff will be to "get the matter over with" and the more inclined a plaintiff attorney will be to, after having fronted thousands in costs, accept a mediocre settlement and the more medical expenses a medical insurance provider will be subrogated to out of a final award. As a recovering Republican, I have no problems scumming insurance companies. In the UND case, the NC00 is acting much like this. It's contemptible but at least UND has the resources to fight back. Like one poster said, ND juries are conservative. While I don't practice in ND, I can say that most juries are conservative, especially in rural areas. A Twin Cities jury will grant a totally different award than a Fargo jury. Juries are conservative when it comes to an individual plaintiff. Juries typically are jealous of the plaintiff and have the mindset that "this happened to me and I didn't get nothin" or "the person should just get tough, I don't want my insurance premium going up." UND has the advantage here in that it is not one of these individual plaintiffs. Rather, it's an instituion that has been victimized and slandered. It's an institution that employs many people in GF County. I don't think a jury will be as conservative with it as compared to an individual plaintiff. Scott M and other lawyers on this site and PCM have a lot more knowledge about this than I do and would be in better positions to evaluate these issues. I only do bankruptcy but even I can see the obvious.

Last I heard, a jury trial was demanded. This means that a jury and not the judge would be the arbiters of whether millions in damages would be appropriate. There's a lot more realistic chance of that happening than there would have been had the demand not been interposed. Once a jury gets wind of how abitrary and capricious and punitive and tyrannical the NC00 has been, it may indeed award such damages. The judge's dictates regarding settlement mean nothing in the context of whether a jury would award damages. Rather, it means that the judge does not want one thing on his calendar for 6 months. This will be a complex and protracted trial and the Judge only has so many resources. I'm sure all 4 law clerks would be working on it and I'm sure much of the Court Admin staff would be working on it too. It is not like Federal Court where there are more resources and where the demands on attorneys are a lot more stringent. Much of a Federal Article 3 Judge's job -- research, available case law for both sides, stipulations about factual background and exhibits -- is already done for him/her when a case gets to trial. I think the Judge should keep quiet on the settlement issue. Judges always encourage settlement but they should not go overboard. I once had a criminal defendant in state court get told by a judge that he was a "damn fool" for not accepting the prosecutor's offer. That defendant was found "not guilty" and, of course, the judge was reported to the judicial ethics committee. This judge has clearly indicated his preference that the parties "Settle." That's fine. The parties are aware of it. Now, the judge should shut up, sit back and let the parties hammer it out. If it goes to trial, so be it.

Excellent points. The government does need to do that. I'm for going even further and breaking up the NC00 into regional associations. That would certainly help in terms of competition for broadcast rights to games, etc.

Very well said. It's unfortunate that a lot of the weenies that are the decision-makers are not elected. It's up to the alumni to organize and replace them with responsible, independent-minded people who have spines.

I am disappointed in the U of I too. I can't imagine why, after fighting so hard and long, they went all wobbly. It's really, really sad. If I were a UofI alum, perhaps I'd do the Chief on a public streetwalk right by the basketball/football stadium 1/2 hour before every game. Free Speech/Time, Place and Manner. I don't see how they could prohibit that. Though it can no longer be done in the places owned by the U, even though it is a public entity, it can certainly be done on public street corners, etc. Has anyone thought of doing this? This would be a good poke in the eye to the PCers and the NC00. Still, with respect to UND, I'm afraid that the NC00 and the PC loons will strike again in the future. That seems to be what they did with the Chief and at other institutions. They are like so many cockroaches. The idea is to take what you can get now and come back for the rest later. I think with the UofI it was a matter of attrition rather than anything else. This is why I am opposed to a "settlement." If UND has some goods on the NC00, why not use the goods to expose the NC00 to benefit not only UND but other schools as well? I can't imagine why there would be an incentive to settle if there is a lot of embarassing stuff to be exposed. If this is all true, UND is at an incredibly unique point. Didn't th NC00 try to humiliate or shame UND into getting rid of the name by calling it a "racist" and "hostile and abusive" institution? Didn't the PC loons allied with the NC00 do the same thing? Didn't the NC00 try to scum UND to other schools so that other schools would not play UND? Why should UND now be so magnanimous? While my contibution was considerable to me, I understand that it is probably minute in comparison to the ones who are contributing a lot more to this noble cause. I do not regret my contribution at all but I sure wish UND would not settle and would go for the knock out punch on this bully.

Both very good and astute points.

So, any speculation as to what the terms could be? PCM? ScottM? Goon? anyone else? I imagine they all would be tight-lipped about it but there should be someone "in the know" or pretty familiar with the process that could at least speculate as to what any terms would be? I can't see the NCAA accepting anything less than a full change of the name. Perhaps a "phased-out" change where the name would be used for a number of years and then dropped? I can't imagine the alumni association would be favorable to this unless they've gone all wobbly. Perhaps the U keeps the name and mandates "sensitivity" courses for all incoming freshmen on NA stuff? On a different note, I'm sure glad that Stenehjem got elected rather than that weenie who was scumming him about a week ago. In Mankato, there are some professors and a few students who make the rounds when the Sioux come to town. I'd sure hate to see people of their ilk rewarded for incessant whining.

So any speculation as to what the terms of any "settlement" might be? What kind of things do you think they are bantering around? With the abyss between the two sides concerning the nickname, I can't imagine any settlement possible. Am I wrong?

Don't you feel sorry for the 90% of NA's who favor/don't mind the use of imagery in sports, according to the only survey taken, whose rights/opinions the NC00 and whining PC bed-wetters have ignored? Same old tired trip-trap.

I don't understand the fascination with Bismarck. In that I am from Minot, I guess I have a natural bias against Bismarck. It has some stores, it has a junior college and the U of Mary, it has the Missouri River and the landscape is fairly nice. But other parts of ND are nicer. Minot, Williston and Dickinson are more nice topographically. For outdoorsmen, those cities have better (or closer) good fishing/hunting areas. Minot has the state fair, the Air Force base, Amtrak (all of which Bismarck begrudges) and many other amenities. Williston and Dickinson have their own positives too. Bismarck is nothing more than Fargo moved 189 miles to the west. Bismarck, especially since it claimed the #2 population spot after the 1997 GF flood, has that sickening "metro" complex just like Fargo. Really. It's just po-dunk Bismarck. It's just po-dunk Fargo, Minot, Williston, etc. I really don't get where all of that pretension comes from.

Fargo really wants to be part of Minnesota and the city does have an inferiority complex. My grandparents lived on the North side for 30 years and I spent plenty of time there. Fargo and, to a lesser extent, Bismarck fancy themselves as real "metro" areas. At least Fargo wants to be considered with the Minneapolis/St. Paul's of the world simply because the whole area is more than 100,000 people. Fargo is a good city and I have a lot of good memories there but much of the population does have a complex. It is flat and dreary in the winter. At least in the West -- Minot, Williston, Dickinson -- there are rolling hills and buttes and bluffs that give the area a western look and feel. The west is, by far, the more attractive and scenic part of the state. Even though they are on the same side of the state, the people in GF are a lot more down to earth than the people in Fargo, in my experience. By the way, the proper term for the Forum is "the Fraud." For what it's worth "the Heckle" isn't much better. They're both fish wraps with no objectivity at all. The editorial staffs of both papers may as well be the PC Politburo.

I think you could get away with it if you used the term "troopers." Garrison uses this name and I think their uniforms are blue and something.

This is a great example of just how narcissistic, hypocritical and infantile these types are. The real "racist" was the guy who complained to the restaurant owner. I doubt if the guy ever had eaten there to begin with. What a bunch of clowns. This is simply further evidence of why these people need to be opposed and countered at every turn.

What is the makeup of the so-called selection committee? Are a lot of them or all of them PC rods? Any information on these people? It would be just fine if, like someone else indicated, they got Archie Fool Bear on.

I wonder if he was/is appalled at the skin heads on campus and about the nightly ruckus on campus regarding the alcohol consumption, arrests, etc. Curiously, Nick Colman does not bring those up. Yep, Saigo sure is a leader. He concocts racism over a nickname where no racism exists and then can't or won't do anything to confront the problems at that school.

I do exclusively bankruptcy. I don't have a clue about IP stuff. Where's ScottM when you need him?

Hopefully, they have the balls to do something about it. The NC00 at work is a marvel to behold.

It looks like the rubes are at it again. Of the 20 schools or so on the NC00 hit list, UND is the only one who is remaining non-compliant and it stands alone in that non-compliance. UND has the backbone to fight an inequitable and nonsensical "policy" and the GF Fishwrap reporters try to convey that it is the outcast? I'm sure that the vast majority of the GF residents don't buy this sewage.

Gonad.