[Peace-discuss] Tim Johnson supports the Chief (the hostile or abusive racial, ethnic or national origin mascot or symbol)

[Jan & Durl Kruse]

Update: time, place, and date now set!
Congressional hearing slated for Parkland College: The December 15  
session will discuss House Bill 5289, the *Protection of University  
Governance Act of 2006*. This bill would allow the U of I to sue the  
NCAA and seek damages for loss of revenue if the University was barred  
from hosting a championship game.
(barred from hosting post season competitions because U of I has defied  
the NCAA ruling to get rid of the Chief).
Discussion will take place at 10:30 AM Friday December 15 in Parkland  
College's Wing D Room D244.
Parkland College is located at 2400 W. Bradley Avenue, Champaign.

Johnson wants C-U to host hearings on NCAA bill
By Christine Des Garennes News-Gazette

Thursday November 2, 2006

Congressional hearings about university governance and the NCAA could  
be held in Champaign-Urbana by the end of this year.

Rep. Tim Johnson, R-Urbana, and his staff are working with a  
congressional committee to hold hearings here about a bill that would  
allow the University of Illinois, or any other university, to sue the  
NCAA and seek damages for lost revenue if barred from hosting a  
championship game.

A date and location have not been finalized yet. But Johnson said he  
would like the hearings to be held here before the end of the year.

House Bill 5289, the Protection of University Governance Act of 2006,  
proposes to limit the NCAA's ability to apply sanctions on colleges or  
universities because of a team's name, symbol, emblem or mascot.

Johnson introduced the bill with House Speaker Dennis Hastert,  
R-Yorkville, in May. Since then it was referred to the House Committee  
on Education and the Workforce and the Subcommittee on 21st Century  
Competitiveness.

"The format and location of hearings are entirely at the discretion of  
the committee," Johnson said.

Congressional committees are often held around the country so  
supporters and opponents of the legislation don't have to spend money  
to travel to Washington, D.C., Johnson said.

Johnson, who supports retaining Chief Illiniwek as the UI's symbol,  
said it is important for both sides of the issue to speak at the  
hearings.

"It's not simply a Chief Illiniwek bill. It would affect a number of  
institutions across the country," Johnson said. "It's a matter of  
institutional autonomy."

Last spring the NCAA Executive Committee said the UI could not host  
postseason athletic competitions unless it gets rid of Chief Illiniwek.

The athletic association issued a policy in August 2005 which prohibits  
postseason competition at colleges or universities with "hostile or  
abusive" racial, ethnic or national origin mascots or symbols. The UI  
was one of 18 schools included on the list of institutions with  
"hostile or abusive" mascots or symbols.

"I am a supporter of Chief Illiniwek. But at the same time this is a  
decision left to the (UI) board of trustees," Johnson said.

UI officials are monitoring the legislation but are not making any  
assumptions about what might happen or when it could happen, said UI  
spokesman Tom Hardy.

"The university has not been contacted about a hearing on the  
legislation, so no decision has been made about what, if any,  
involvement the university would have in such a proceeding," Hardy  
said.

In the meantime, the UI Board of Trustees' consensus process continues,  
he said. Trustees have not set a timetable for deciding the fate of  
Chief Illiniwek.
  Find this article at:
   
http://www.news-gazette.com/news/2006/11/02/johnson_wants_c- 
u_to_host_hearings_on_ncaa_bill
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