HEY, I KNOW, LET’S DRAG THIS THING OUT: The North Dakota Board of Higher Education made another brilliant, gutsy decision Thursday regarding the University of North Dakota nickname. The board voted 5-3 to keep the Sioux nickname in tact until a legal appeal to keep the nickname runs its course. As I’ve said for, oh, about five years now – the longer this thing is dragged out, the more it hurts the university and detracts from other, more important issues. The smart move for the board would be to begin retiring the nickname to get the issue behind us once and for all. But that would take some guts from board members who don’t want to take any heat for retiring the nickname. And when it comes to getting rid of the Fighting Sioux moniker, guts are in short supply in places of power.
IS NOTHING SACRED?: The answer to that question is a definitive “no.” In the span of three days this week, a group of drunk youngsters blew up a fish house on a southern Minnesota lake … and the manager of a New Jersey bowling alley was charged with hiring arsonists to torch a rival alley. Ruining fish houses and bowling alleys? What’s next – plowing up golf courses? Puncturing kegs? Smashing 50-inch flat screen TVs? Some things in this world should be off-limits from being vandalized or destroyed. Fish houses and bowling alleys would be somewhere near the top of that list. Seriously, this is un-American stuff.
THE GUY SHOULD BE DEEMED A STATE TREASURE: I had longtime Twin Cities sports columnist and radio talk-show host Patrick Reusse on the program yesterday to talk about the Vikings-Saints game. He is a true Minnesota gem. Terrific writer. Top-notch story teller. Gravelly voice that is distinctive to radio (or anywhere else). He wrote a column several years ago telling about some of his travails in New Orleans, back in Pat’s drinking days (he’s a recovering alcoholic). I asked Pat to share one of those stories yesterday on-air and he chose the one I was hoping for: After a night of drinking and (presumed) debauchery with some sports writing buddies, Pat got back to his hotel and weaved his way to the front desk to ask for a wake-up call. He told the woman at the counter, “Ma’am, I’d like to request a wake-up call for 7:30 a.m.” To which she replied, “Sir, I regret to inform you it’s already 7:45.” Hilarious. Pat has since dried out, which is a benefit for all of us who enjoy his work.
IT’S THE COST OF DOING BUSINESS: North Dakota’s college presidents are getting grilled this week about their use of tuition waivers, the practice of giving free tuition to graduate students and out-of-state and foreign students. In 2008-09, the state’s 11 public colleges and universities granted $27.3 million in tuition discounts or waivers to 9,400 students. NDSU is under scrutiny because it is facing a $2.5 million budget deficit. Dickinson State, as another example, granted waivers equal to 21.1 percent of its total tuition income. NDSU president Richard Hanson defended the practice, arguing that the waivers are a crucial recruiting tool to attract talent for its research and technological development. I agree. No offense to my North Dakota friends, but unless college presidents are able to use waivers at their discretion, the state’s schools are going to be at a disadvantage when it comes to attracting out of state and foreign students. Fargo and Dickinson are not destinations that come to mind for students from, say, India. The waivers allow North Dakota’s colleges to have a level playing field when it comes to competing against other states. To have the institutions’ ability to offer waivers at their discretion would be an unnecessary handcuff at best, and horribly provincial at worst.
Mike McFeely (mike@kfgo.com) can be heard from 2-5 p.m. Central Monday through Friday on "The Mike McFeely Show" on KFGO-AM 790. The show goes statewide in North Dakota at 3 p.m. on KFYR 550 in Bismarck and KCJB in Minot. Mike McFeely's blog can be read by clicking here. You can follow Mike on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mikemcfeely
