Fighting Sioux nickname referral within 1,000 names of goal
February 3, 2012 at 6:21 am in Grand Forks Herald
The campaign to restore the University of North Dakota’s Fighting Sioux nickname is within 1,000 signatures of the 13,500 needed to force a statewide vote on the issue, Minot attorney Reed Soderstrom said today. Continue Reading
Even though this is pretty much what we expected (the repeal of the repeal would get enough votes to get on the ballot but it would be thrown out when the state sues over the unconstitutionality of the law), I have to admit I am disappointed.
I have predicted all along that this measure would get enough signatures to force a vote, but that the Constitutional Amendment would not. That said, when early reports showed they (the SL crowd) had not gathered as many signatures as I had expected, as quickly as I expected, I had allowed myself to hope this whole sordid saga could be put to bed early.
Alas, it is not to be. Congratulations to the SL guys, but in the end it does not change anything. With out a Constitutional Amendment, the name and logo are a thing of the past.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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“With out a Constitutional Amendment, the name and logo are a thing of the past.”
Even with an amendment the NCAA’s stance will very unlikely change. The only foreseeable way for UND to end up on top is for SL to win their lawsuit (which probably won’t even be heard until 2013 at the earliest).
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It is guaranteed the NCAA won’t change. The only way the SBHE will reverse itself will be by force. The repeal of the repeal won’t cut it for reasons discussed before.
If the SL crowd get their amendment we will be the FS once again, & a second rate team in a first rate house
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Grand Forks is not “scared” or “pressured by UND Administration.” They are just better informed of the real risk & potential consequences of keeping the name.
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His saying “scared” is exactly why he, and his petitions, receives no respect from me and hopefully as many people as possible who know what is right for the UND and are honest about supporting the UND.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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I wish the University of North Dakota well in the years ahead under a new nickname and logo.
Playing Division I sports is quite an accomplishment and UND deserves to play in The Big Sky Conference.
The people of North Dakota should be proud of UND for its academics and athletics and for graduating its students in helping shape America in the 21st century.
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Since this began, I thought this was a futile effort and complete waste of resources, especially when I’ve read so many anti-nickname comments here. But some people who get around ND way more than I do think that this referral will pass in June. I suppose it’s the law and we have to respect that. I’m going to especially miss the U of M hockey series (even though it won’t be conference games). At least as bad will be the loss of the Big Sky opportunity. A handful of people claim that the potential damage is being exaggerated. That’s odd, because, honestly, there’s no motivation to do that. UND hockey remain whole. That’s really all that matters to Soderstom and the remaining nickname supporters.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Most of the signatures will be thrown out because they were gained illegally, petitions were left unattended and people were told to just sign them with no witnesses. There are witnesses to these shenanigans and they will testify to the AG about what they saw. They don’t have enough signatures valid or invalid, it’s all a big bluff.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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GATHERING SIGNATURES
AMOUNT REQUIRED: Petition signature requirements are based on the percentage of the resident population of the state of North Dakota at the last federal decennial census. According to 2010 census figures, the population of North Dakota was 672,591.
Therefore, the percentages and signature requirements are as follows:
Referral Petition 2% of 672,591 13,452
Statutory Initiative 2% of 672,591 13,452
Constitutional Initiative 4% of 672,591 26,904
Past petition sponsors have gathered several hundred to several thousand additional signatures beyond the required amounts to ensure that the signature requirement will be met after invalid and/or duplicate signatures are rejected during the review process.
WHO CAN CIRCULATE AND SIGN PETITIONS: Petition circulators and signers must be qualified voters of the area affected by the petition. Petition circulators may begin gathering signatures after the petition has been approved by the Secretary of State. Petition circulators must be qualified North Dakota voters and must sign an affidavit attached at the end of the petition (see pages 14, 19 and 22 for examples of Circulator Affidavits) affirming those persons who signed the petition did so in the presence of the circulator and to the best of the circulator’s knowledge, each person who signed the petition is a qualified North Dakota voter.
Although petition circulators may be accompanied by others who may not be qualified voters of the state of North Dakota, petitions must remain in the physical possession of circulators who are qualified North Dakota voters.
Caution: Sponsoring committee members may not notarize a circulator’s affidavit. Doing so will disqualify all the signatures on that single petition copy.
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Since there are videos on YouTube of unattended petitions and the AG has already come out publicly warning people that there might be problems (I believe the term is foreshadowing – why else would he have even said anything) you could be correct.
Unfortunately all it means is this local distraction will continue to drag on and on and on …
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I remember reading the Secretary of State came out with a warning of possible unattended petitions, not the Attorney General.
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I think you are correct. My bad. Thank you for catching my mistake.
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I have to admit the new women’s hockey sweaters with the interlocking ND logo are less than impressive.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Agreed, but what can they do? Until this is over and we get around to choosing a new name and logo, we will be the North Dakota generics. Maybe we should have a plain black and white jersey like the old generic items in the grocery store.
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This will NEVER be over, fn.
Too bad..
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LAMEoOOOo
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Even given the generic, they could have made it it look like something better than a bullseye.
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As much as I really do not like the fact that we are using Notre Dame’s logo (who can really tell the difference anyway? Unless you are detail obsessed, anyway), I kind of actually like them……odd but I really kind of enjoy the women’s jersey and hope the men come out with something similar. Of course this is all speculation if neither of these measures go through. But I kind of like circular logos. The Minnesota Wild red home…..St. Louis Blues third…..Winnipeg Jets new logo…..women’s jersey. Just a few examples of logos I enjoy, and all are circular. For what they had to work with, I suspected worse and was semi-pleasently surprised. As a student still attending sporting events on the rare occasion wearing the gear semi-regularly, I actually could live with and be OK with that. Too bad they haven’t posted the away color jerseys. Anybody know where to find a picture of those? I am curious if they use the same logo but on green or black, or what they are using.
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Seeing the sanctions only seem to affect playoff games, I’d say the answer is no.
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Of course not. UND is complying with the agreement. Almosterect, haven’t you been reading the paper?
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Alvin: Don’t talk to Always. We all got together last week and decided not to respond to whatever he posts. That way we are hoping the conversation will stay focused on the issues and not be derailed by nonsense.
As for the question: it does not matter if sanctions are in effect. Not hosting playoff games was never an issue. Not recruiting decent players was, and if next years crop is any indication, we might be in for a dry spell.
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You’re not gonna start cryin’ are you?
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Isn’t it interesting that these “sanctions” that were supposed to be the end of athletics at UND, are so meaningless, that no one can tell if they are in effect or not?
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The sanctions affected playoff venues and uniforms…no playoffs yet, no sanction effects.
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Let me put it another way….
Does the NCAA now deem that UND is now in compliance of the agreement?
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Lacking an official statement from the NCAA, who knows? UND has gotten rid of the logo on uniforms and the nickname, so technically I’d say yes.
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Gene DuBois:
OK…however, is this not correct?
The agreement was that UND would chose a new nickname and logo…the legislature has made that against the law.
So…it would appear…that UND is either breaking the law…or violating the agreement.
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Your question asks about UND, not the legislature. At this time UND has made a bona fide attempt to eliminate the nickname and logo. How the NCAA looks at this is still unknown.
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My point is…UND cannot “legally” comply with the agreement, because of the law created by the ND legislature.
Correct?
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“Technically” yes. Chalk another one up to that dumas** Carlson.
My question is – what are the penalties for not following a law that tries to remove the (ND) constitutional right of having the SBoHE/University be in control of the name?
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yawn & sigh…
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Hey, what are you going to do? North Dakota is such a non-entity Rand-McNalley once omitted the map from its atlas. Doesn’t matter the rest of the country laughs out loud about a nickname as a priority, it gives NoDakers something to talk about besides the weather.
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Amen Gene. As for consequences of breaking the law? No one knows until it goes to court.
I would love to see UND adopt a new moniker just so we could see who would try to sue – there are no criminal penalties – so we could force the courts to rule on the constitutionality of both laws. It would be fun.
Since even the other side thinks the repealed law & this follow on law preventing UND from choosing a new nickname are unconstitutional, my guess is if UND announced tomorrow we are going back to the Flickertails, Always’ crowd would make a lot of noise, but I am not sure who would try to overturn it in the courts.
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Wow. That last sentence is the best example of a run on sentence I have ever seen.
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Did you take English Comp at UND?
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Of course. Learning to write that badly takes practice.
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“Has anybody seen my old friend John, can you tell me where he’s gone?”………………………….
As I said many years ago, using “North Dakota” as the university sports name and logo violates the NCAA rules against the use of Native American logo’s and mascots…… It is not fine print for all you legal beagles, it is what it is, a direct reference and name of an Native American society.
GO SIOUX
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As I’ve said before:
“Fighting Sioux” “Seminole” “Chippewa” = school nickname = under NCAA jurisdiction
“North Dakota” “Minnesota” “Indiana” = STATE name = not under NCAA jurisdiction
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However…if the UND uses the name “North Dakota” as an athletic team name or logo, does that not place it under the “jurisdiction” of the NCAA?
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I do believe you actually put effort into ways of looking stupid. I mean seriously.. Inquiring minds really want to know if it was the LSD you took in the 60′s or the Meth your smoking now..
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unfortunately…for you
You make looking stupid appear effortless.
To make it simple, for you, it is possible for the name North Dakota to perform two different tasks at the same time. Representing the name of a State…and representing the name of an athletic team.
It is a matter of “context.”
I realize that you PC storm troopers have trouble with this concept. I suggest you try for an original thought…it can be very liberating
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Remember when everybody thought that knocking down Smiley would bring in an era of sadness for Grand Forks? Petitions, donation promises, etc. were the talk of the day. Smiley’s gone, yet Grand Forks still stands, and nobody event cares to mention Smiley anymore.
Trust me when I say it will be the same thing with the nickname. A mascot, be it a water tower or a logo, does not make the city or university.
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It’s indicative of how moribund Grand Forks is that people would actually protest the destruction of an obsolete water tower. Its connection to the nickname, though, is clear: change. The people of North Dakota find change to be repugnant. They live a myth whereby the past was some Halcyon era. Wouldn’t be surprised if those in the west would like to shut down all the oil production, at the cost of the huge revenues, in order to return to their small town life, where McDonalds flippers were making $6 instead of $15 an hour. They want to live in the 19th century, not the 21st.
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I guess Floridians are moribund too considering they kept the name Seminoles & still sell hats/jerseys with a cartoon native.
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