STAR/TRIBUNE
President Barack Obama gave Warroad-based Marvin Windows and Doors a shout out during his remarks on the economy in Kansas Tuesday.
According to a White House transcript, he said:
"I think about a company based in Warroad, Minnesota. It’s called Marvin Windows and Doors. During the recession, Marvin’s competitors closed dozens of plants, let hundreds of workers go. But Marvin’s did not lay off a single one of their 4,000 or so employees -- not one. In fact, they’ve only laid off workers once in over a hundred years. Mr. Marvin’s grandfather even kept his eight employees during the Great Depression.
Now, at Marvin’s when times get tough, the workers agree to give up some perks and some pay, and so do the owners. As one owner said, “You can’t grow if you’re cutting your lifeblood -- and that’s the skills and experience your workforce delivers.” (Applause.) For the CEO of Marvin’s, it’s about the community. He said, “These are people we went to school with. We go to church with them. We see them in the same restaurants. Indeed, a lot of us have married local girls and boys. We could be anywhere, but we are in Warroad."
That’s how America was built. That’s why we’re the greatest nation on Earth. That’s what our greatest companies understand. Our success has never just been about survival of the fittest. It’s about building a nation where we’re all better off. We pull together. We pitch in. We do our part. We believe that hard work will pay off, that responsibility will be rewarded, and that our children will inherit a nation where those values live on. "
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Islamists dominate Egypt's elections
STAR/TRIBUNE
CAIRO - Islamist parties captured an overwhelming majority of votes in the first round of Egypt's parliamentary elections, setting up a power struggle with the much weaker liberals behind the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak 10 months ago. A hard-line religious group that wants to impose strict Islamic law made a strong showing with nearly a quarter of the ballots, according to results released Sunday.
The tallies offer only a partial indication of how the new parliament will look. There are still two more rounds of voting in 18 of the country's 27 provinces over the coming month and runoff elections on Monday and Tuesday to determine almost all of the seats allocated for individuals in the first round. But the grip of the Islamists over the next parliament appears set, particularly considering their popularity in provinces voting in the next rounds.
The High Election Commission said the Islamic fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party garnered 36.6 percent of the 9.7 million valid ballots cast for party lists. The Nour Party, a more hard-line Islamist group, captured 24.4 percent.
The strong Islamist showing worries liberal parties, and even some religious parties, who fear the two groups will work to push a religious agenda. It has also left many of the youthful activists behind the uprising that ousted Mubarak in February feeling that their revolution has been hijacked.
The Brotherhood has emerged as the most organized and cohesive political force in these elections. But with no track record of governing, it is not yet clear how they will behave in power. The party has positioned itself as a moderate Islamist party that wants to implement Islamic law without sacrificing personal freedoms, and has said it will not seek an alliance with the more radical Nour party.
The ultraconservative Salafis who dominate the Nour Party are newcomers to the political scene. They had previously frowned upon involvement in politics and shunned elections. They espouse a strict interpretation of Islam similar to that of Saudi Arabia, where the sexes are segregated and women must be veiled and are barred from driving. Its members say laws contradicting religion can't be passed.
Many in Egypt's Coptic Christian population, which makes up 10 percent of the country, fear the Salafis will push for laws that will make them second-class citizens.
CAIRO - Islamist parties captured an overwhelming majority of votes in the first round of Egypt's parliamentary elections, setting up a power struggle with the much weaker liberals behind the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak 10 months ago. A hard-line religious group that wants to impose strict Islamic law made a strong showing with nearly a quarter of the ballots, according to results released Sunday.
The tallies offer only a partial indication of how the new parliament will look. There are still two more rounds of voting in 18 of the country's 27 provinces over the coming month and runoff elections on Monday and Tuesday to determine almost all of the seats allocated for individuals in the first round. But the grip of the Islamists over the next parliament appears set, particularly considering their popularity in provinces voting in the next rounds.
The High Election Commission said the Islamic fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party garnered 36.6 percent of the 9.7 million valid ballots cast for party lists. The Nour Party, a more hard-line Islamist group, captured 24.4 percent.
The strong Islamist showing worries liberal parties, and even some religious parties, who fear the two groups will work to push a religious agenda. It has also left many of the youthful activists behind the uprising that ousted Mubarak in February feeling that their revolution has been hijacked.
The Brotherhood has emerged as the most organized and cohesive political force in these elections. But with no track record of governing, it is not yet clear how they will behave in power. The party has positioned itself as a moderate Islamist party that wants to implement Islamic law without sacrificing personal freedoms, and has said it will not seek an alliance with the more radical Nour party.
The ultraconservative Salafis who dominate the Nour Party are newcomers to the political scene. They had previously frowned upon involvement in politics and shunned elections. They espouse a strict interpretation of Islam similar to that of Saudi Arabia, where the sexes are segregated and women must be veiled and are barred from driving. Its members say laws contradicting religion can't be passed.
Many in Egypt's Coptic Christian population, which makes up 10 percent of the country, fear the Salafis will push for laws that will make them second-class citizens.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Governor to appoint task force on bullying
STAR/TRIBUNE
Article by: MARIA ELENA BACA
Gov. Mark Dayton will appoint a task force to tackle the problem of school bullying and search for solutions by looking at what's working and what's not all over the country.
Speaking at the Capitol on Tuesday, Dayton said the panel will comprise 15 members, including people from his administration, legislators and community members with expertise in the area. The governor wants the group to report back to his office, the Legislature and the public by Aug. 1, 2012.
Dayton is the most recent public official to issue a call to action for a problem that affects more than 100,000 students a week in Minnesota, according to a study by the state departments of health and education.
Last week, Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson proposed a bill that would require all school districts in the state to respond to bullying reports within 24 hours. The measure also would require districts to create policies for reporting, documentation, as well as protection for students who are subject to bullying and those who report it. It is modeled after a law that garnered bipartisan support earlier this year in North Dakota. If passed, the law would take effect in 2013.
With the shortest anti-bullying law in the nation at 37 words, Minnesota requires only that school districts have written policies in place prohibiting all forms of intimidation and bullying. The law earned a C-minus grade from the watchdog group BullyPolice USA, the lowest grade of any state that has an anti-bullying law. Three do not.
Article by: MARIA ELENA BACA
Gov. Mark Dayton will appoint a task force to tackle the problem of school bullying and search for solutions by looking at what's working and what's not all over the country.
Speaking at the Capitol on Tuesday, Dayton said the panel will comprise 15 members, including people from his administration, legislators and community members with expertise in the area. The governor wants the group to report back to his office, the Legislature and the public by Aug. 1, 2012.
Dayton is the most recent public official to issue a call to action for a problem that affects more than 100,000 students a week in Minnesota, according to a study by the state departments of health and education.
Last week, Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson proposed a bill that would require all school districts in the state to respond to bullying reports within 24 hours. The measure also would require districts to create policies for reporting, documentation, as well as protection for students who are subject to bullying and those who report it. It is modeled after a law that garnered bipartisan support earlier this year in North Dakota. If passed, the law would take effect in 2013.
With the shortest anti-bullying law in the nation at 37 words, Minnesota requires only that school districts have written policies in place prohibiting all forms of intimidation and bullying. The law earned a C-minus grade from the watchdog group BullyPolice USA, the lowest grade of any state that has an anti-bullying law. Three do not.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Penn State Child Sex Abuse Scandal
State College, Pennsylvania (CNN) --
The mother of one of Jerry Sandusky's alleged victims -- the first to come forward in the case -- said her son is afraid the former Penn State coach might go free. The son, who is identified as Victim 1 in the indictment, watched an NBC interview with Sandusky this week and cried, the mother told CNN on Wednesday.
"I said, 'Well, why did you cry?' And he said, 'Because I'm afraid that he might go free,' " said the woman, whose face and voice were altered to protect her -- and by extension her son's -- identity.
Sandusky told NBC's Bob Costas on Monday that he has been falsely accused, saying that he only "horsed around" with kids in the shower after workouts. Sandusky denied being sexually attracted to boys, and his lawyer, Joe Amendola, told CNN on Monday night that showering with children does not equate automatically to sexual assault. In the NBC interview, Sandusky denied one of the charges in the grand jury report that assistant coach Mike McQueary had walked in on him raping a boy about 10 years of age.
Sandusky was arrested on November 5, after the release of the grand jury report detailing crimes that he allegedly committed between 1994 and 2009. Sandusky is free on $100,000 bail, against the wishes of prosecutors.
In other developments, representatives of Penn State's campus police and State College police said Wednesday they have no record of having received any report from a Penn State assistant football coach about his having witnessed an alleged rape of a boy by Sandusky.
The alleged locker room rape witnessed by McQueary, who was then a graduate assistant, was detailed in a grand jury report released this month. According to the report, McQueary told Joe Paterno, who was then the team's coach; Paterno then alerted his boss, the school's athletic director.
The scandal revolves around Sandusky, charged by Pennsylvania's attorney general with 40 counts in what authorities allege was the sexual abuse of eight boys, and allegations that Penn State officials failed to inform police when the complaints reached them.
The mother of one of Jerry Sandusky's alleged victims -- the first to come forward in the case -- said her son is afraid the former Penn State coach might go free. The son, who is identified as Victim 1 in the indictment, watched an NBC interview with Sandusky this week and cried, the mother told CNN on Wednesday.
"I said, 'Well, why did you cry?' And he said, 'Because I'm afraid that he might go free,' " said the woman, whose face and voice were altered to protect her -- and by extension her son's -- identity.
Sandusky told NBC's Bob Costas on Monday that he has been falsely accused, saying that he only "horsed around" with kids in the shower after workouts. Sandusky denied being sexually attracted to boys, and his lawyer, Joe Amendola, told CNN on Monday night that showering with children does not equate automatically to sexual assault. In the NBC interview, Sandusky denied one of the charges in the grand jury report that assistant coach Mike McQueary had walked in on him raping a boy about 10 years of age.
Sandusky was arrested on November 5, after the release of the grand jury report detailing crimes that he allegedly committed between 1994 and 2009. Sandusky is free on $100,000 bail, against the wishes of prosecutors.
In other developments, representatives of Penn State's campus police and State College police said Wednesday they have no record of having received any report from a Penn State assistant football coach about his having witnessed an alleged rape of a boy by Sandusky.
The alleged locker room rape witnessed by McQueary, who was then a graduate assistant, was detailed in a grand jury report released this month. According to the report, McQueary told Joe Paterno, who was then the team's coach; Paterno then alerted his boss, the school's athletic director.
The scandal revolves around Sandusky, charged by Pennsylvania's attorney general with 40 counts in what authorities allege was the sexual abuse of eight boys, and allegations that Penn State officials failed to inform police when the complaints reached them.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Mississippi voters reject 'life begins at conception' initiative
AL.COM
JACKSON, Mississippi -- Mississippi voters Tuesday defeated a ballot initiative that would've declared life begins at conception, a proposal that supporters sought in the Bible Belt state as a way to prompt a legal challenge to abortion rights nationwide.
The so-called "personhood" initiative was rejected by more than 55 percent of voters, falling far short of the threshold needed for it to be enacted. If it had passed, it was virtually assured of drawing legal challenges because it conflicts with the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a legal right to abortion. Supporters of the initiative wanted to provoke a lawsuit to challenge the landmark ruling.
Opponents said the measure would have made birth control, such as the morning-after pill or the intrauterine device, illegal. More specifically, the ballot measure called for abortion to be prohibited "from the moment of fertilization" — wording that opponents suggested would have deterred physicians from performing in vitro fertilization because they would fear criminal charges if an embryo doesn't survive.
Opponents said initiative supporters were trying to impose their religious beliefs on others by forcing women to carry unwanted pregnancies, including those caused by rape or incest.
Amy Brunson voted against the measure, in part because she has been raped. She also has friends and family that had children through in vitro fertilization and she was worried this would end that process.
Hubert Hoover, a cabinet maker and construction worker, voted for the amendment. "I figure you can't be half for something, so if you're against abortion you should be for this. You've either got to be wholly for something or wholly against it," said Hoover, 71, who lives in a Jackson suburb.
Specifically, the proposed state constitutional amendment defined a person "to include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning, or the functional equivalent thereof."
Mississippi already requires parental or judicial consent for any minor to get an abortion, mandatory in-person counseling and a 24-hour wait before any woman can terminate a pregnancy.
JACKSON, Mississippi -- Mississippi voters Tuesday defeated a ballot initiative that would've declared life begins at conception, a proposal that supporters sought in the Bible Belt state as a way to prompt a legal challenge to abortion rights nationwide.
The so-called "personhood" initiative was rejected by more than 55 percent of voters, falling far short of the threshold needed for it to be enacted. If it had passed, it was virtually assured of drawing legal challenges because it conflicts with the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a legal right to abortion. Supporters of the initiative wanted to provoke a lawsuit to challenge the landmark ruling.
Opponents said the measure would have made birth control, such as the morning-after pill or the intrauterine device, illegal. More specifically, the ballot measure called for abortion to be prohibited "from the moment of fertilization" — wording that opponents suggested would have deterred physicians from performing in vitro fertilization because they would fear criminal charges if an embryo doesn't survive.
Opponents said initiative supporters were trying to impose their religious beliefs on others by forcing women to carry unwanted pregnancies, including those caused by rape or incest.
Amy Brunson voted against the measure, in part because she has been raped. She also has friends and family that had children through in vitro fertilization and she was worried this would end that process.
Hubert Hoover, a cabinet maker and construction worker, voted for the amendment. "I figure you can't be half for something, so if you're against abortion you should be for this. You've either got to be wholly for something or wholly against it," said Hoover, 71, who lives in a Jackson suburb.
Specifically, the proposed state constitutional amendment defined a person "to include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning, or the functional equivalent thereof."
Mississippi already requires parental or judicial consent for any minor to get an abortion, mandatory in-person counseling and a 24-hour wait before any woman can terminate a pregnancy.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Preaching Virtue of Spanking, Even as Deaths Fuel Debate
PLEASANTVILLE, Tenn. — After services at the Church at Cane Creek on a recent Sunday, a few dozen families held a potluck picnic and giggling children played pin the tail on the donkey. The white-bearded preacher, Michael Pearl, who delivered his sermon in stained work pants, and his wife, Debi, mixed warmly with the families drawn to their evangelical ministry, including some of their own grandchildren.
The pastoral mood in the hills of Tennessee offered a stark contrast to the storm raging around the country over the Pearls’ teachings on child discipline, which advocate systematic use of “the rod” to teach toddlers to submit to authority. The methods, seen as common sense by some grateful parents and as horrific by others, are modeled, Mr. Pearl is fond of saying, on “the same principles the Amish use to train their stubborn mules.”
Debate over the Pearls’ teachings, first seen on Christian Web sites, gained new intensity after the death of a third child, all allegedly at the hands of parents who kept the Pearls’ book, “To Train Up a Child,” in their homes. On Sept. 29, the parents were charged with homicide by abuse.
More than 670,000 copies of the Pearls’ self-published book are in circulation, and it is especially popular among Christian home-schoolers, who praise it in their magazines and on their Web sites. The Pearls provide instructions on using a switch from as early as six months to discourage misbehavior and describe how to make use of implements for hitting on the arms, legs or back, including a quarter-inch flexible plumbing line that, Mr. Pearl notes, “can be rolled up and carried in your pocket.”
The furor in part reflects societal disagreements over corporal punishment, which conservative Christians say is called for in the Bible and which many Americans consider reasonable up to a point, even as many parents and pediatricians reject it. The issue flared recently when a video was posted online of a Texas judge whipping his daughter.
Mr. Pearl, 66, and Mrs. Pearl, 60, say that blaming their book for extreme abuse by a few unstable parents is preposterous and that they explicitly counsel against acting in anger or causing a bruise. They say that their methods, properly used, yield peace and happy teenagers.
In the latest case, Larry and Carri Williams of Sedro-Woolley, Wash., were home-schooling their six children when they adopted a girl and a boy, ages 11 and 7, from Ethiopia in 2008. The two were seen by their new parents as rebellious, according to friends.
Late one night in May this year, the adopted girl, Hana, was found face down, naked and emaciated in the backyard; her death was caused by hypothermia and malnutrition, officials determined. According to the sheriff’s report, the parents had deprived her of food for days at a time and had made her sleep in a cold barn or a closet and shower outside with a hose. And they often whipped her, leaving marks on her legs. The mother had praised the Pearls’ book and given a copy to a friend, the sheriff’s report said. Hana had been beaten the day of her death, the report said, with the 15-inch plastic tube recommended by Mr. Pearl.
Some of the Williamses’ other tactics also seemed to involve Pearl advice taken to extremes; the Pearls say that “a little fasting is good training,” for example, and suggest hosing off a child who has potty-training lapses. The Williamses have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.
The Skagit County prosecutor said that he was not charging the Pearls and that the case for homicide did not depend on the Williamses’ readings or religion.
But Dr. Frances Chalmers, a pediatrician who examined Hana’s death for the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, said of the Pearl methods: “My fear is that this book, while perhaps well intended, could easily be misinterpreted and could lead to what I consider significant abuse.”
Some conservative Christian parents reject the Pearls’ teachings and have started a petition drive asking sellers like Amazon not to stock their books. Crystal Lutton, who runs Grace-Based Discipline, one of several Christian blogs that oppose corporal punishment, said the danger with the Pearls’ methods is that “if you don’t get results, the only thing to do is to punish harder and harder.”
Parents at Mr. Pearl’s church said they largely followed the couple’s approach and were puzzled by the controversy. The Pearls’ children, too, say the attacks on their parents are misguided. “I had a wonderful childhood,” said their daughter Shoshanna Easling, 28, who is training her two children the same way. “My parents never spoke to me in anger, and I can only remember being spanked a couple of times.”
Mr. Pearl said that Shoshanna was spanked probably 50 times as a toddler but that it soon became unnecessary.
The pastoral mood in the hills of Tennessee offered a stark contrast to the storm raging around the country over the Pearls’ teachings on child discipline, which advocate systematic use of “the rod” to teach toddlers to submit to authority. The methods, seen as common sense by some grateful parents and as horrific by others, are modeled, Mr. Pearl is fond of saying, on “the same principles the Amish use to train their stubborn mules.”
Debate over the Pearls’ teachings, first seen on Christian Web sites, gained new intensity after the death of a third child, all allegedly at the hands of parents who kept the Pearls’ book, “To Train Up a Child,” in their homes. On Sept. 29, the parents were charged with homicide by abuse.
More than 670,000 copies of the Pearls’ self-published book are in circulation, and it is especially popular among Christian home-schoolers, who praise it in their magazines and on their Web sites. The Pearls provide instructions on using a switch from as early as six months to discourage misbehavior and describe how to make use of implements for hitting on the arms, legs or back, including a quarter-inch flexible plumbing line that, Mr. Pearl notes, “can be rolled up and carried in your pocket.”
The furor in part reflects societal disagreements over corporal punishment, which conservative Christians say is called for in the Bible and which many Americans consider reasonable up to a point, even as many parents and pediatricians reject it. The issue flared recently when a video was posted online of a Texas judge whipping his daughter.
Mr. Pearl, 66, and Mrs. Pearl, 60, say that blaming their book for extreme abuse by a few unstable parents is preposterous and that they explicitly counsel against acting in anger or causing a bruise. They say that their methods, properly used, yield peace and happy teenagers.
In the latest case, Larry and Carri Williams of Sedro-Woolley, Wash., were home-schooling their six children when they adopted a girl and a boy, ages 11 and 7, from Ethiopia in 2008. The two were seen by their new parents as rebellious, according to friends.
Late one night in May this year, the adopted girl, Hana, was found face down, naked and emaciated in the backyard; her death was caused by hypothermia and malnutrition, officials determined. According to the sheriff’s report, the parents had deprived her of food for days at a time and had made her sleep in a cold barn or a closet and shower outside with a hose. And they often whipped her, leaving marks on her legs. The mother had praised the Pearls’ book and given a copy to a friend, the sheriff’s report said. Hana had been beaten the day of her death, the report said, with the 15-inch plastic tube recommended by Mr. Pearl.
Some of the Williamses’ other tactics also seemed to involve Pearl advice taken to extremes; the Pearls say that “a little fasting is good training,” for example, and suggest hosing off a child who has potty-training lapses. The Williamses have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.
The Skagit County prosecutor said that he was not charging the Pearls and that the case for homicide did not depend on the Williamses’ readings or religion.
But Dr. Frances Chalmers, a pediatrician who examined Hana’s death for the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, said of the Pearl methods: “My fear is that this book, while perhaps well intended, could easily be misinterpreted and could lead to what I consider significant abuse.”
Some conservative Christian parents reject the Pearls’ teachings and have started a petition drive asking sellers like Amazon not to stock their books. Crystal Lutton, who runs Grace-Based Discipline, one of several Christian blogs that oppose corporal punishment, said the danger with the Pearls’ methods is that “if you don’t get results, the only thing to do is to punish harder and harder.”
Parents at Mr. Pearl’s church said they largely followed the couple’s approach and were puzzled by the controversy. The Pearls’ children, too, say the attacks on their parents are misguided. “I had a wonderful childhood,” said their daughter Shoshanna Easling, 28, who is training her two children the same way. “My parents never spoke to me in anger, and I can only remember being spanked a couple of times.”
Mr. Pearl said that Shoshanna was spanked probably 50 times as a toddler but that it soon became unnecessary.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Tribe sues NCAA to let UND use name
UPI.COM
GRAND FORKS, N.D., Nov. 1 (UPI) -- The Spirit Lake tribe Tuesday sued the NCAA for blocking its attempt to let the University of North Dakota use the sports nickname Fighting Sioux.
Tribal attorney Reed Soderstrom said the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court challenges the NCAA's policy banning the use of Native American names and imagery by collegiate athletic teams.
He said the suit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association was brought on behalf of more than 1,004 members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe "in direct response to their attempt to take away and prevent the North Dakota Sioux Indians from giving their name forever to the University of North Dakota" despite a tribal vote in 2009 and a "sacred and religious spiritual ceremony" by tribal leaders in 1969 that granted "perpetual use" of the name to the school.
"However, the NCAA has unilaterally decided that the name 'Fighting Sioux' is derogatory to the very people who feel honored by the name -- the North Dakota Sioux tribes," Soderstrom said in a statement posted on the tribe's Web site. "The NCAA has declared, without input from the Dakota Sioux, that UND will be prevented from hosting any post-season sporting events; and is encouraging other universities to boycott UND if the university does not remove the name 'Fighting Sioux' and the accompanying logo honoring the traditions and customs of the proud Dakota Sioux people. These actions are a violation of the religious and first amendment rights of the Dakota Sioux tribes, and show the NCAA believes it knows the interests of the North Dakota Sioux community better than Sioux people themselves."
Soderstrom noted while the NCAA considers "Fighting Sioux" derogatory, it allows the University of Illinois to use "Fighting Illini" and Florida State University to use the name "Seminoles" with an Indian mascot.
"Inexplicably, the NCAA fails to accept the tribal vote and the sacred religious ceremony as endorsements of the name 'Fighting Sioux' by the North Dakota Sioux Nation," he said. "The NCAA's actions violate Native American civil rights, equal protection rights, and religious rights."
GRAND FORKS, N.D., Nov. 1 (UPI) -- The Spirit Lake tribe Tuesday sued the NCAA for blocking its attempt to let the University of North Dakota use the sports nickname Fighting Sioux.
Tribal attorney Reed Soderstrom said the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court challenges the NCAA's policy banning the use of Native American names and imagery by collegiate athletic teams.
He said the suit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association was brought on behalf of more than 1,004 members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe "in direct response to their attempt to take away and prevent the North Dakota Sioux Indians from giving their name forever to the University of North Dakota" despite a tribal vote in 2009 and a "sacred and religious spiritual ceremony" by tribal leaders in 1969 that granted "perpetual use" of the name to the school.
"However, the NCAA has unilaterally decided that the name 'Fighting Sioux' is derogatory to the very people who feel honored by the name -- the North Dakota Sioux tribes," Soderstrom said in a statement posted on the tribe's Web site. "The NCAA has declared, without input from the Dakota Sioux, that UND will be prevented from hosting any post-season sporting events; and is encouraging other universities to boycott UND if the university does not remove the name 'Fighting Sioux' and the accompanying logo honoring the traditions and customs of the proud Dakota Sioux people. These actions are a violation of the religious and first amendment rights of the Dakota Sioux tribes, and show the NCAA believes it knows the interests of the North Dakota Sioux community better than Sioux people themselves."
Soderstrom noted while the NCAA considers "Fighting Sioux" derogatory, it allows the University of Illinois to use "Fighting Illini" and Florida State University to use the name "Seminoles" with an Indian mascot.
"Inexplicably, the NCAA fails to accept the tribal vote and the sacred religious ceremony as endorsements of the name 'Fighting Sioux' by the North Dakota Sioux Nation," he said. "The NCAA's actions violate Native American civil rights, equal protection rights, and religious rights."
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