Is Steve-O In Jail Yet?

That is the obvious question - in fact the one asked by Dr. Rusty when he sent it - that arises from this article in the Fredericksburg (VA) Free Lance-Star on poli-sci department emailers gone bad.

(No, this isn't really Steve's school, so don't get too excited.)

But the article also brings me around to a point that has bothered me for some time. For years and years, Mary Washington College was perfectly happy with its name. Last year, in conjunction with bringing in some grad program or other, the school decided it needed a name upgrade. So did it change to "Mary Washington University" as it logically should have done? Nooooo! It went instead with The University of Mary Washington. (You can go here for a fact sheet full of song and dance about how this was necessary in order to preserve the identity of the liberal arts college in Fredericksburg while incorporating the grad campus in Stafford, yadda, yadda, yadda.)

Grrr, I say. This name just sounds wrong. That formula ought to be reserved for place names, as in the University of Virginia, the University of the South and the University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople. (Don't bother sending comments about the College of William & Mary (aka, among some of us here in Virginny, as "Bill and the Bitch"). That's different. W&M was originally chartered by them.)

Know how I know I'm not completely off base on this one? Because the Butcher's Wife, who usually just rolls her eyes at my rantings, is even more adamant about it than I am.

YIPS from Steve: Heh. My evilness knows no boundaries.

Seriously, though, when all is said and done, I've got $5 that says the sender was a Chomskyite who was trying to "raise consciousness" with the fake but accurate email......