My prior post, about the incorrect usage of “anxious” on the editorial page of the State Journal Monday, has again made my point about the people who fill slots in journalism these days.
They NEVER admit they’re wrong.
I pointed out that “anxious” and “eager” are two distinctly different words, with different meanings, and the man in charge of the editorial page, Scott Milfred, posted a couple comments (which you can read for yourself by clicking on the headline of my prior post) proving (in his estimation, I’m sure) with geometric logic that he is NOT wrong.
I don’t know Scott. Never met him. But I know him by reputation. A couple years back the editorial page he manages was a Pulitzer prize finalist, and praise doesn’t come any higher than that. I like his style. As he points out, he tries to write conversationally. Scott’s writing is not the old-school method favored by other editorialists, like my friend Neil Heinen.
Scott points out that the third reference to “anxious” in both the Merriam-Webster online and hard-copy dictionary lists “anxious” as a synonym for eager.
Point taken. If you go three deep in any reference, you start to encounter “popular usage” references. My counterpoint is, the references are there because so many people misuse the word.
Feeling anxiety about something is not at all like feeling eagerness about something. It’s a pretty different feeling, and a pretty different shade of feeling. Of course, you can have both feelings at once – sort of like before boarding a new thrill ride at a theme park. Eager to have the experience, but anxious about what it’s really going to feel like.
Tenacity and the characteristic of never wanting to admit you’re wrong seem to me to be hallmarks of a good journalist. I know because I’ve worked with plenty of them, and I have no doubt that Scott is an accomplished professional journalist. They love to argue.
I’ve dealt with this attitude in coaching writers for decades. They always think their approach, their methods, their usage is right. And like Scott, they’ll go to great lengths to defend their point of view.
Why would a journalist, whose editorials are read every day by thousands and thousands of people in the state’s second-largest newspaper even bother to argue with me, a one-man band with a computer, an internet connection, and a few hundred readers?
To prove that he’s right, and I’m wrong, ignoring the old adage “The eagle does not hunt flies.”
Neither of us is going to back down, Scott. But it’s been fun going back and forth, and I think my readers got a kick out of your tenacity in defending your view. You’ve illustrated quite nicely the points I’ve made over the past couple years on this blog about the mindset of so many people in the media today.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Wisconsin State Journal Reluctant to Expose Wrongdoing?
Being one of the dwindling number of dinosaurs, I read the print edition of the Wisconsin State Journal essentially every morning. Monday morning, turning to the editorial page, I was disappointed to learn that the State Journal has apparently never embraced its role in exposing corruption in state government.
And there’s so much corruption to expose, these days.
The paper’s editorial yesterday morning was about the importance of whistle-blowers exposing fraud and corruption, and giving kudos to the guv for signing the “Whistleblower Protection Act”, which gives some protection to news sources who tip reporters to dirty dealing.
Like most papers, the State Journal provides “subheads” (newspaper folks probably have a name for these things, and I probably have it wrong) for people who just want a quick take on a story, to decide whether or not they want to read the entire story. The editorial was titled “Whistle-blowers welcome here”, and the sub-head said, in bold black print, “With the governor giving tipsters more protection, the State Journal is as anxious as ever to help citizens expose wrongdoing – wherever it may be found.”
Damn. And I thought the paper relished the role, particularly its victory in exposing all the political crooks in the so-called caucus scandal a few years back. (By the way…wanna bet on whether Scooter actually stands for retrial in Waukesha County?)
By now, some of you may have caught on to my ruse. Whoever wrote the sub-head for the editorial made one of the most common, entry-level writing mistakes, using the word “anxious” as though it meant the same thing as “eager.”
Even though “anxious” is incorrectly substituted for “eager” by casual speakers, Wisconsin’s second-largest daily newspaper shouldn’t make this common mistake. It’s another example of the mediocrity that’s become the hallmark of contemporary news media.
Every so often, when I hit a nerve in skewing the local media, somebody will go through my post and pick it apart, and expose errors I’ve made. Fair enough. I’m a one-man-band with a computer and an internet connection. I don’t have an editor, who theoretically would catch my mistakes.
Last week, one smiling local TV anchorette cheerily informed me, during a story about “LZ Lambeau”, that “LZ” stood for “landing zone, which is a safe place for soldiers to be.” Wanna ask any soldier who jumped out of a Huey at a landing zone during the Viet Nam War if it was a “safe place”?
Sunday night, a reporter for a TV network informed me that we were coming up on the “ten-year anniversary” of the 9-11 attacks. (Tenth anniversary, in English.)
Another told me oil was washing up on the shores of “four different states” in the south. (My friend GH is rolling his eyes at this one -“different” is superfluous here.)
I know I’m obsessive about this stuff, but common mistakes like these used to be far rarer in professional media.
And there’s so much corruption to expose, these days.
The paper’s editorial yesterday morning was about the importance of whistle-blowers exposing fraud and corruption, and giving kudos to the guv for signing the “Whistleblower Protection Act”, which gives some protection to news sources who tip reporters to dirty dealing.
Like most papers, the State Journal provides “subheads” (newspaper folks probably have a name for these things, and I probably have it wrong) for people who just want a quick take on a story, to decide whether or not they want to read the entire story. The editorial was titled “Whistle-blowers welcome here”, and the sub-head said, in bold black print, “With the governor giving tipsters more protection, the State Journal is as anxious as ever to help citizens expose wrongdoing – wherever it may be found.”
Damn. And I thought the paper relished the role, particularly its victory in exposing all the political crooks in the so-called caucus scandal a few years back. (By the way…wanna bet on whether Scooter actually stands for retrial in Waukesha County?)
By now, some of you may have caught on to my ruse. Whoever wrote the sub-head for the editorial made one of the most common, entry-level writing mistakes, using the word “anxious” as though it meant the same thing as “eager.”
Even though “anxious” is incorrectly substituted for “eager” by casual speakers, Wisconsin’s second-largest daily newspaper shouldn’t make this common mistake. It’s another example of the mediocrity that’s become the hallmark of contemporary news media.
Every so often, when I hit a nerve in skewing the local media, somebody will go through my post and pick it apart, and expose errors I’ve made. Fair enough. I’m a one-man-band with a computer and an internet connection. I don’t have an editor, who theoretically would catch my mistakes.
Last week, one smiling local TV anchorette cheerily informed me, during a story about “LZ Lambeau”, that “LZ” stood for “landing zone, which is a safe place for soldiers to be.” Wanna ask any soldier who jumped out of a Huey at a landing zone during the Viet Nam War if it was a “safe place”?
Sunday night, a reporter for a TV network informed me that we were coming up on the “ten-year anniversary” of the 9-11 attacks. (Tenth anniversary, in English.)
Another told me oil was washing up on the shores of “four different states” in the south. (My friend GH is rolling his eyes at this one -“different” is superfluous here.)
I know I’m obsessive about this stuff, but common mistakes like these used to be far rarer in professional media.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Living In A Bicyclist's Paradise
Presumably, the $147,000 the City of Madison will spend on the latest bike-friendly scheme – “bike boxes” at busy intersections – will just come out of some department’s operating budget. Because if you put this latest scheme up to a vote, I’m convinced it would be soundly rejected.
Briefly, here’s the story: Dave and Kathy and 19 of their friends went to Germany and the Netherlands a few weeks ago on a “fact-finding” mission. The facts they were looking for, apparently, were related to making bicycling a more safe and appealing thing for the folks back here in the People’s Republik of Madison.
I’m not grousing about the junket or its cost, most of which was picked up by sources other than the city and county coffers. And they came back with some good ideas after spending some time in bike-friendly cities on the other side of the big pond – like pointing out that the typical bike sold in the U.S. is anything but “commuter friendly”. 15 speeds and those low-raked handlebars don’t make for an easy jaunt to work. You need old-fashioned stuff like high handlebars and chain guards.
But the bike-box thing? Please.
The first one went in a week ago today on Williamson Street at Wilson, an isthmus neighborhood where you KNOW the homies loved it. The bike-box is a huge red box on the pavement, with a separate “stop” line for bikes and cars. The bikes are allowed to queue in FRONT of all the motor vehicles, and when the light turns green, the bikes move out ahead of the cars and trucks.
So far, it’s just another one of those things that make Madison one of the most interesting cities in the nation. The topic got a workout on local radio talk shows all week long, with people grousing about how it’s another example of how cars take a back seat to bikes in Madison, blah blah blah.
We know that.
But I didn’t hear anybody discussing the COST of this latest bike-friendly program: EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS per. It’s not just red paint; it’s some sort of thermoplastic material that’s affixed to the pavement with a blowtorch, and it includes reflective glass beads in the mix. EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS????
The company that’s hawking this bike-box scam is a North Carolina outfit called Flint Trading, and they’re being so kind as to charge the city “only” three grand of the 16 grand the first two bike boxes will cost. And the city has plans for 18 more of them, presumably sans the friendly discount. That’s 147 grand.
Isn’t THAT stylish?!
Just another day in bicycle paradise. But you gotta wonder how this special hi-tech red reflective box will stand up to a winter’s worth of salt, sand, and plowing. Perhaps the good folks of the Willy Street neighborhood will just ban salting, sanding, and plowing this winter.
Oh, so what. It’s only money. And it’s for the bicyclists.
Briefly, here’s the story: Dave and Kathy and 19 of their friends went to Germany and the Netherlands a few weeks ago on a “fact-finding” mission. The facts they were looking for, apparently, were related to making bicycling a more safe and appealing thing for the folks back here in the People’s Republik of Madison.
I’m not grousing about the junket or its cost, most of which was picked up by sources other than the city and county coffers. And they came back with some good ideas after spending some time in bike-friendly cities on the other side of the big pond – like pointing out that the typical bike sold in the U.S. is anything but “commuter friendly”. 15 speeds and those low-raked handlebars don’t make for an easy jaunt to work. You need old-fashioned stuff like high handlebars and chain guards.
But the bike-box thing? Please.
The first one went in a week ago today on Williamson Street at Wilson, an isthmus neighborhood where you KNOW the homies loved it. The bike-box is a huge red box on the pavement, with a separate “stop” line for bikes and cars. The bikes are allowed to queue in FRONT of all the motor vehicles, and when the light turns green, the bikes move out ahead of the cars and trucks.
So far, it’s just another one of those things that make Madison one of the most interesting cities in the nation. The topic got a workout on local radio talk shows all week long, with people grousing about how it’s another example of how cars take a back seat to bikes in Madison, blah blah blah.
We know that.
But I didn’t hear anybody discussing the COST of this latest bike-friendly program: EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS per. It’s not just red paint; it’s some sort of thermoplastic material that’s affixed to the pavement with a blowtorch, and it includes reflective glass beads in the mix. EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS????
The company that’s hawking this bike-box scam is a North Carolina outfit called Flint Trading, and they’re being so kind as to charge the city “only” three grand of the 16 grand the first two bike boxes will cost. And the city has plans for 18 more of them, presumably sans the friendly discount. That’s 147 grand.
Isn’t THAT stylish?!
Just another day in bicycle paradise. But you gotta wonder how this special hi-tech red reflective box will stand up to a winter’s worth of salt, sand, and plowing. Perhaps the good folks of the Willy Street neighborhood will just ban salting, sanding, and plowing this winter.
Oh, so what. It’s only money. And it’s for the bicyclists.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Scooter The Gamester
It’s been 2,772 days since Scooter Jensen, former Assembly Speaker, was criminally charged with misconduct in office. I know that because the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign keeps a clock on Scooter on its “Big Money Blog” website. Seven and a half years of delaying and denying.
And Scooter (who hates to be called that) has gamed the system again. His expensive lawyers have convinced our nearly worthless State Supreme Court that he should be re-tried in his home county. That would be Waukesha County. The supremes announced the ruling yesterday morning. And the Waukesha County D-A claims to be too busy to prosecute the case. Nice.
Never mind that the crimes Scooter was already convicted of happened here in Dane County, under the big top at the head of State Street. Never mind that the circuit court and appeals court both say he should be re-tried here. Talk about “Loophole Louie”! Scooter’s lawyers used a nice big loophole, getting the Supremes to go along with a law passed by his pals in the legislature AFTER he was convicted, giving politicians an advantage no other Wisconsin citizen has.
You and I would be tried in the county where our (alleged) crime was committed. That’s the way the system works. Except for politicians, who wrote a law in 2007 giving themselves “home court advantage”. Never mind that Scooter was convicted before that law was written. His re-trial, which will probably never happen, would be tried in the district where all his cronies live.
He’s gamed the system since the day he was caught in the so-called “caucus scandal” for using state-paid employees to work on political campaigns. This latest disgusting decision by our state’s highest court shows again that if you have enough money, you get a different kind of justice.
When failed and disgraced politician John Edwards talked about “the two Americas” in his failed Presidential campaign several years ago, he was alluding to the economic haves and have-nots in our nation. Scooter’s lawyers have convinced our supremes to demonstrate again to the citizens of Cheesetopia that there are two kinds of justice in our state.
One is the kind available to you and me; the other is the kind available to those who can afford staggering legal bills for seven and a half years.
Again, for about the fifth time, I plead: Will somebody please put Scooter in jail?
This sucks.
And Scooter (who hates to be called that) has gamed the system again. His expensive lawyers have convinced our nearly worthless State Supreme Court that he should be re-tried in his home county. That would be Waukesha County. The supremes announced the ruling yesterday morning. And the Waukesha County D-A claims to be too busy to prosecute the case. Nice.
Never mind that the crimes Scooter was already convicted of happened here in Dane County, under the big top at the head of State Street. Never mind that the circuit court and appeals court both say he should be re-tried here. Talk about “Loophole Louie”! Scooter’s lawyers used a nice big loophole, getting the Supremes to go along with a law passed by his pals in the legislature AFTER he was convicted, giving politicians an advantage no other Wisconsin citizen has.
You and I would be tried in the county where our (alleged) crime was committed. That’s the way the system works. Except for politicians, who wrote a law in 2007 giving themselves “home court advantage”. Never mind that Scooter was convicted before that law was written. His re-trial, which will probably never happen, would be tried in the district where all his cronies live.
He’s gamed the system since the day he was caught in the so-called “caucus scandal” for using state-paid employees to work on political campaigns. This latest disgusting decision by our state’s highest court shows again that if you have enough money, you get a different kind of justice.
When failed and disgraced politician John Edwards talked about “the two Americas” in his failed Presidential campaign several years ago, he was alluding to the economic haves and have-nots in our nation. Scooter’s lawyers have convinced our supremes to demonstrate again to the citizens of Cheesetopia that there are two kinds of justice in our state.
One is the kind available to you and me; the other is the kind available to those who can afford staggering legal bills for seven and a half years.
Again, for about the fifth time, I plead: Will somebody please put Scooter in jail?
This sucks.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
New Rules
One of my favorite parts of the Bill Maher HBO show “Real Time” is just before he gives his concluding monologue, when he lists the “new rules”. Such a scenario played out at the health club Tuesday morning. I had finished my morning workout at Pinnacle Health and Fitness in Fitchburg and was headed out for a day of slaving over a hot computer, when the owner of the club, Mike McMahon, greeted me.
I was wearing one of my many Brewers t-shirts, and he glanced at the logo and said “another tough night”. I shook my head in disgust and said “if they play any worse, I’m going to have to stop wearing this stuff”.
Malingering behind the front desk was Matt Hanson, the fitness director of the club, who helped me develop a program to re-hab my left leg after I had hip replacement surgery back in ’01. “Naw, they just need a new rule….games are over after the sixth inning”.
Stroke of genius!
How many times in the past couple weeks, particularly when playing at home, have the Brewers lost a game because the bullpen couldn’t finish the starter’s work? The night before, on the road, the Brew-Crew’s bullpen imploded and wasted a great start from Yovanni Gallardo, allowing the Reds a five-run rally in the 7th inning. Another game lost by the ‘pen.
Tuesday afternoon, they allowed the Reds three runs in the 9th to end up losing 5-4. Last night they were tied at 3 after six, and let the Pirates beat them 5-4. Ryan Braun’s boneheaded base-running in the 9th killed any chance for a win.
The answer to the Brewers woes is as simple as Matt’s suggestion. Call the game at the end of the sixth, and you don’t have to worry about the bullpen serving up a bunch of cupcakes to the opposing batters, or boneheaded base-running mistakes.
Some guy who was sitting nearby reading the Wall Street Journal put down the paper and said “softball rules – if you’re up by 10 runs or more in the 5th, the game’s over”. The old “mercy rule”.
Several decades ago, when I played bar-league softball every summer in two leagues up in the Fox Valley, we got “run-ruled” out of more games than I can remember.
I don’t know how many games the Brewers would have won so far this year if the game had been called in the sixth, and quite honestly, I’m afraid to look.
Sounds like a good idea, though, and I believe I’ll take it up with Mr. Magoo (a/k/a Bud Selig).
I was wearing one of my many Brewers t-shirts, and he glanced at the logo and said “another tough night”. I shook my head in disgust and said “if they play any worse, I’m going to have to stop wearing this stuff”.
Malingering behind the front desk was Matt Hanson, the fitness director of the club, who helped me develop a program to re-hab my left leg after I had hip replacement surgery back in ’01. “Naw, they just need a new rule….games are over after the sixth inning”.
Stroke of genius!
How many times in the past couple weeks, particularly when playing at home, have the Brewers lost a game because the bullpen couldn’t finish the starter’s work? The night before, on the road, the Brew-Crew’s bullpen imploded and wasted a great start from Yovanni Gallardo, allowing the Reds a five-run rally in the 7th inning. Another game lost by the ‘pen.
Tuesday afternoon, they allowed the Reds three runs in the 9th to end up losing 5-4. Last night they were tied at 3 after six, and let the Pirates beat them 5-4. Ryan Braun’s boneheaded base-running in the 9th killed any chance for a win.
The answer to the Brewers woes is as simple as Matt’s suggestion. Call the game at the end of the sixth, and you don’t have to worry about the bullpen serving up a bunch of cupcakes to the opposing batters, or boneheaded base-running mistakes.
Some guy who was sitting nearby reading the Wall Street Journal put down the paper and said “softball rules – if you’re up by 10 runs or more in the 5th, the game’s over”. The old “mercy rule”.
Several decades ago, when I played bar-league softball every summer in two leagues up in the Fox Valley, we got “run-ruled” out of more games than I can remember.
I don’t know how many games the Brewers would have won so far this year if the game had been called in the sixth, and quite honestly, I’m afraid to look.
Sounds like a good idea, though, and I believe I’ll take it up with Mr. Magoo (a/k/a Bud Selig).
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Poacher's Paradise
One of the most colorful characters in Madison’s past, Eddie Ben Elsen, announced his run for D-A in the nude, on the stage at the long-gone Dangle Lounge (a downtown strip club / bar), proclaiming that he would enforce “only the good laws”. Ah, the 60's.
Eddie’s spirit is alive and well in our fair city.
In what other city in America would you have a uniformed police officer and a plain-clothes police captain stand across the street and watch, while people who have unlawfully entered a home take it over in the name of “affordable housing”?
The “Operation Welcome Home” people are back this week, and their latest target is an unoccupied duplex on Turbot Drive, just a few blocks off Fish Hatchery Road. They entered the vacant home through what they claim was an “unlocked back door” (yeah, for sure) and took over the home, in a stunt similar to the one Z! and his pals pulled off on Tucson Trail last week.
Having duly notified the local media that they were doing it again, in front of the TV cameras they set up a PA system and proclaimed that the duplex, which was in foreclosure, was “owned” by Freddie Mac (the popular nickname for the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation), and hence is “owned by the people”, and they were taking over the duplex in the name of the people, for affordable housing.
Squatting in a home you broke into is, apparently, “affordable housing”.
The police told the assembled media they can’t do anything until the “owner of the home” makes a complaint. As of this morning, there’s a “no trespassing” sign tacked onto the front door.
Breaking and entering is apparently a “bad law”, not to be enforced in Madison if it pertains to people operating on behalf of “affordable housing”.
One speaker said something like “don’t ask about payment, because we’ve already paid for this home through federal bailouts and by the sweat off our backs from the years of underpaid labor this country was built on”. That’s not an exact quote, but I think it captures the spirit of what I heard.
A man claiming to be a realtor called into Mitch Henck’s talk show yesterday morning and said he and other realtors were getting e-mails from lenders saying they’d rather have the people who defaulted on their mortgage remain living in the home, rather than being evicted, even after sheriff’s sale, so the property didn’t become the latest target for the poachers and squatters.
I asked a realtor friend if she’d gotten such an e-mail, and she said she hadn’t.
The realtor representing the vacant duplex on Turbot Drive says she has an offer on the place.
Should be interesting to see how this one plays out. Maybe the addition of the “no trespassing” sign will discourage the squatters. Last week, the squatters were removed from the Tucson Trail home after the dispossessed owner made a formal complaint to police.
And, I think I’ll develop a list of “bad laws” to discuss with Scott Gregory, our Township Police Chief. I’m sure he’ll be delighted to find out which laws I’d rather not have him enforce.
Eddie’s spirit is alive and well in our fair city.
In what other city in America would you have a uniformed police officer and a plain-clothes police captain stand across the street and watch, while people who have unlawfully entered a home take it over in the name of “affordable housing”?
The “Operation Welcome Home” people are back this week, and their latest target is an unoccupied duplex on Turbot Drive, just a few blocks off Fish Hatchery Road. They entered the vacant home through what they claim was an “unlocked back door” (yeah, for sure) and took over the home, in a stunt similar to the one Z! and his pals pulled off on Tucson Trail last week.
Having duly notified the local media that they were doing it again, in front of the TV cameras they set up a PA system and proclaimed that the duplex, which was in foreclosure, was “owned” by Freddie Mac (the popular nickname for the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation), and hence is “owned by the people”, and they were taking over the duplex in the name of the people, for affordable housing.
Squatting in a home you broke into is, apparently, “affordable housing”.
The police told the assembled media they can’t do anything until the “owner of the home” makes a complaint. As of this morning, there’s a “no trespassing” sign tacked onto the front door.
Breaking and entering is apparently a “bad law”, not to be enforced in Madison if it pertains to people operating on behalf of “affordable housing”.
One speaker said something like “don’t ask about payment, because we’ve already paid for this home through federal bailouts and by the sweat off our backs from the years of underpaid labor this country was built on”. That’s not an exact quote, but I think it captures the spirit of what I heard.
A man claiming to be a realtor called into Mitch Henck’s talk show yesterday morning and said he and other realtors were getting e-mails from lenders saying they’d rather have the people who defaulted on their mortgage remain living in the home, rather than being evicted, even after sheriff’s sale, so the property didn’t become the latest target for the poachers and squatters.
I asked a realtor friend if she’d gotten such an e-mail, and she said she hadn’t.
The realtor representing the vacant duplex on Turbot Drive says she has an offer on the place.
Should be interesting to see how this one plays out. Maybe the addition of the “no trespassing” sign will discourage the squatters. Last week, the squatters were removed from the Tucson Trail home after the dispossessed owner made a formal complaint to police.
And, I think I’ll develop a list of “bad laws” to discuss with Scott Gregory, our Township Police Chief. I’m sure he’ll be delighted to find out which laws I’d rather not have him enforce.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
The Hairy-Legged Chief
They are the Indians, and unabashedly so. The small farming community of Mishicot says it’s not going to drop the “Indians” nickname for its high school, and have told the state Department of Public Instruction they will keep the logo of an Indian chief in full headdress.
Mishicot is a pretty little town, just north of Two Rivers and just west of Lake Michigan in Manitowoc County. The town has the standard white churches and rising steeples; a tidy main street; a covered bridge; and one of the largest golf resorts in the state, Fox Hills – 45 holes in total, including a championship-caliber 18-hole course.
There are about a dozen school districts in the state that have some sort of Indian nickname or logo who have not bowed to pressure from the politicians in Madison to abandon the name or logo. A few weeks ago, the guv signed a law making the state Superintendent of Public Instruction the ultimate arbiter of Indian nicknames and mascots, with power to ban Indian nicknames and logos.
Colleen Timm has been the principal and administrator of the Mishicot School District for the past six years, and says she has yet to hear a single complaint about their nickname or logo. Perhaps it’s because the district has written permission from the Hannahville Potawatomi to use the Indian nickname and logo.
Indian roots go deep in the small village of about 15 hundred people. A fellow by the name of Daniel Smith ran a sawmill there in the 1840’s, and as more folks began to settle in the area and hotels sprang up to serve people going to the trading post there, Smith named the settlement “Mishicot”, after his friend, Abraham Mishicot, leader of the local Potawatomi tribe.
I guess Smith figured “Mishicot” was a better name for his settlement than “Smithville”.
As is usually the case, there’s difference of opinion about what the Indian word “Mishicot” translates to. Some scholars say it means “turtle”; some say it means “covered with clouds”; but it seems the most reliable translation of the Chief’s name is “hairy legs”, according to Mishicot’s official website.
The high school athletic teams wear bright orange with the words “Mishicot Indians” on their uniforms, and their logo is a very stylized and updated facial rendering of a modern Indian in full headdress. The school newspaper is the “Indian Headline”.
There’s nothing derogatory or demeaning about any of it. It’s a reflection of the town’s heritage and a tribute to the person the town was named for. More importantly, the keepers of that heritage, the local Indians, agree – and have made their feelings known, in writing, to the school district.
Let’s see if the political and administrative forces in Madison have enough sense to keep their hands off this one.
Mishicot is a pretty little town, just north of Two Rivers and just west of Lake Michigan in Manitowoc County. The town has the standard white churches and rising steeples; a tidy main street; a covered bridge; and one of the largest golf resorts in the state, Fox Hills – 45 holes in total, including a championship-caliber 18-hole course.
There are about a dozen school districts in the state that have some sort of Indian nickname or logo who have not bowed to pressure from the politicians in Madison to abandon the name or logo. A few weeks ago, the guv signed a law making the state Superintendent of Public Instruction the ultimate arbiter of Indian nicknames and mascots, with power to ban Indian nicknames and logos.
Colleen Timm has been the principal and administrator of the Mishicot School District for the past six years, and says she has yet to hear a single complaint about their nickname or logo. Perhaps it’s because the district has written permission from the Hannahville Potawatomi to use the Indian nickname and logo.
Indian roots go deep in the small village of about 15 hundred people. A fellow by the name of Daniel Smith ran a sawmill there in the 1840’s, and as more folks began to settle in the area and hotels sprang up to serve people going to the trading post there, Smith named the settlement “Mishicot”, after his friend, Abraham Mishicot, leader of the local Potawatomi tribe.
I guess Smith figured “Mishicot” was a better name for his settlement than “Smithville”.
As is usually the case, there’s difference of opinion about what the Indian word “Mishicot” translates to. Some scholars say it means “turtle”; some say it means “covered with clouds”; but it seems the most reliable translation of the Chief’s name is “hairy legs”, according to Mishicot’s official website.
The high school athletic teams wear bright orange with the words “Mishicot Indians” on their uniforms, and their logo is a very stylized and updated facial rendering of a modern Indian in full headdress. The school newspaper is the “Indian Headline”.
There’s nothing derogatory or demeaning about any of it. It’s a reflection of the town’s heritage and a tribute to the person the town was named for. More importantly, the keepers of that heritage, the local Indians, agree – and have made their feelings known, in writing, to the school district.
Let’s see if the political and administrative forces in Madison have enough sense to keep their hands off this one.
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