Week of June 10

-- Anonymous, June 10, 2001

Answers

http://www.rochesternews.com/0612story2.html

Penfield chooses 'Patriots' nickname By John Kohlstrand Democrat and Chronicle

(Tuesday, June 12, 2001) -- This fall, Penfield High School's sports teams will head into battle just as the town's forefathers did.

As Patriots.

Nearly 46 percent of students chose Patriots as the new nickname for high school sports teams in voting last Friday. District officials said yesterday that Patriots easily won out over Pride, Pumas, Panthers and Red Storm, none of which received more than 17 percent of the vote.

The Board of Education is expected to make the nickname official next Tuesday. In doing so, it may close the emotionally charged process of retiring "Chiefs," in use at the high school since 1953.

Other school systems, including Canandaigua, may follow Penfield's lead. In April, state Education Commissioner Richard Mills recommended that schools end American Indian-oriented nicknames.

Laura Panning, a 2000 graduate, said the new name makes sense because many of Penfield's early settlers supported the independence cause.

Town namesake Daniel Penfield clerked under a Revolutionary Army quartermaster and his father-in-law was an aide to George Washington.

But for others, the old name will die hard. Junior Julie Kaseman said she still will wear her Chiefs sweat shirt: "I think we should have stayed the same."

The issue is even difficult for some within the American Indian community. Leaders in the Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians, for example, have been unable to come to a consensus on the issue.

Yet other Native Americans say that, too often, nicknames lead to offensive caricatures such as the Cleveland Indians' "Chief Wahoo" logo.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2001

School drops Indian mascot, keeps nickname By Associated Press, 6/13/2001 09:11

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/164/region/School_drops_Indian_mascot_ kee:.shtml

CANASTOTA, N.Y. (AP) Canastota High School's athletic teams will remain the Red Raiders, but the school will no longer use the mascot, which is a caricature of an Indian leaning against a block letter C.

The Canastota School Board voted 6-0 Tuesday night to keep the nickname and eliminate the logo. A contest will be held among district students to select a replacement mascot or logo, said Superintendent Harry Kilfoile.

The action follows state Education Commissioner Richard P. Mills' recommendation that schools stop using Native American nicknames and mascots.

Canastota is an Indian name, originally spelled Kniste Stota, meaning a still cluster of pines, said Kilfoile. Canastota is 25 miles east of Syracuse.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001