BARBWIRE by ANDREW BARBANO

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I've neglected the U too long. The U. The University of Nevada-Reno.

That's not a typo, dammit. For almost 20 years, the ivy-tangled ivory tower has insisted that its proper name is "University of Nevada". PERIOD.

"University of Nevada-Reno" was once acceptable to distinguish the older northern school from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas when Jerry Tarkanian's Gomorrah South pro basketball team became a national powerhouse.

Predictably, purists insisted that UNLV was just that and the only University of Nevada sat by the waters of the Mucky Truckee.

But the damned liberal media kept using "University of Nevada-Reno," presenting as evidence the lettering on the foot bridge over N. Virginia Street and other little nuisances like stationery.

So the U changed the hyphen to a comma, spawning a true tempest in a teapot.

The joke's on us. We've come full circle.

A recent letter from a Reno Gazette-Journal reader (C. Pisiewski of Sparks, Sept. 22) complained that San Francisco 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick should publicly term his alma mater as "Nevada Reno" instead of just "Nevada." At least RGJ editors didn't stick in the comma.

Indeed, folks most everywhere still think of Reno as a suburb of Sin City.

John Ascuaga has never been forgiven for running ads in the Bay Area telling potential visitors that his Nugget Hotel-Casino could be found in "East Reno."

If you get the impression that I think UN,R a pretty petty place, you're perceptive.

Of course it does a lot of good work and has a lot of good people, but its pretensions are boringly banal and sometimes excruciatingly expensive.

Over the past week, I've been publishing at NevadaLabor.com the latest in a longrunning series of construction-related fiascoes. (After more than 20 years, I still won't sit in the upper east grandstands at Mackay Stadium.)

It's becoming increasingly clear that the late President Milton Glick brought a brief, shining moment of sterling integrity, a little giant in a long line of pygmies which has now regressed toward its picayune past.

Back in the mid-1980s, football coach Chris Ault permanently siphoned off a substantial portion of student health services money for the benefit of the jockocracy. Angry students picketed.

Then came the Barbwire/Tribune University Scandals of 1996-97.

The new administration of President Marc Johnson has just announced intentions to burden students with the costs of new debt for things sweaty.

Throw in a few no-bid construction contracts, mix in an unqualified bureaucracy that can't tell a straight story to a fawning press and it's beginning to look like 1996 all over again.

Stay tuned, trusting taxpayers.

ADIOS, WING KING. The bombastic Willie Davison died on Sept. 15 at age 64.

A memorial was held in Sparks last Saturday.

A principal founder of Hot August Nights in 1986, he over-reached in 1987 and his greatest achievement was taken from him.

Without over-reachers, big things don't get off the ground.

My first regular column for this newspaper was "The Chilling of Hot August Nights" on 12 August 1988. It chronicled the stormy birth, near-death and resurrection of what is now a mega-event. I printed an update on July 11, 2010.

Of course, Willie bounced back and became the chicken wing king.

I'm glad that I saw him a couple of times before he left for the permanent prom night in the sky.

Rock 'n' roll forever, big boy. You done good.

Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno.

WEB EXTRAS...

HONOR YOUR DON. Keep sending comments supporting legendary Nevada photographer Don Dondero (1920-2003) for the Nevada Press Association Hall of Fame.

His life's work appeared worldwide, including the Tribune and most probably every one in Nevada.

Enlist in the campaign to install Big Don.

Please send me your memories and endorsements via e-mail or to P.O. Box 10034, Reno NV 89510.

The Barbwire got the late Reno Gazette-Journal columnist Guy Richardson elected last year.

Let's go for a repeat.

BARBWIRE.TV. Support the return of community TV to these parts.

If last year's elections didn't convince you of the need, the 2013 legislature certainly should have.

Join up. You may donate at ReSurge.TV or contact me.

This is important.

Thank you.

Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)

____________

Andrew Barbano is a 45-year Nevadan, chair of the Nevada César Chávez Committee, producer of Nevada's annual César Chávez Day celebration, first vice-president and political action chair of the Reno-Sparks NAACP, labor/consumer/civil rights advocate, member of Communications Workers of America Local 9413/AFL-CIO and editor of NevadaLabor.com and JoeNeal.org. As always, his opinions are strictly his own. Check local listings for other Nevada cable systems. E-mail barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us. Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Daily Sparks Tribune since 1988.

Smoking Guns... Nevada K-12 rankings: See how your school did We Don't Need No Education The continuing Barbwire series ...and more ammo... The Post-Dated Recession: Pay me now or pay me later Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 9-6-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune The Post-dated Recession By Joshua H. Silavent / Daily Sparks Tribune / 5-3-2011 Union decline and rising inequality in two charts by Colin Gordon Economic Policy Institute / 6-5-2012 Used in journalist Mark Robison's extensive Hard Labor: Nevada unions tout role in helping workers, firms, economy (Sunday 2 Sept. 2012 Reno Gazette-Journal, page one, Reno Rebirth section of the print edition). Union men Jim Burrell, Paul McKenzie and Guy Louis Rocha did the movement proud. Not included in the RGJ online edition. WOMEN AND UNIONS — ORPHAN MAJORITIES The Barbwire Labor Day column Reno Gazette-Journal / 9-3-2012 Nevada Press Assn. Better Newspaper Contest HAT TRICK: Barbwire takes first place three years in a row. The winning entries Suing for Schools: The 20-year shuck Expanded from the 2-21-2010 Daily Sparks Tribune Click here to view the show on your desktop RED flags flying low over Sparks Expanded from the 1-10-2010 Daily Sparks Tribune The wrath of self-righteous racism Expanded from the 11-8-2009 Daily Sparks Tribune Government contacts Nev. congressional delegation Nevada Legislature State of Nevada Secretary of State Carson City Clark County City of Las Vegas Douglas County Reno City Council Sparks City Council Washoe County Commission Washoe Registrar of Voters The campaign against forcibly-paid newspaper obituaries And they wonder why the newspaper business is dying?   The Dean's List    The Dean of Reno Bloggers could very well be Andrew Barbano, self-described "fighter of public demons," who started putting his "Barbwire" columns online in 1996 and now runs 10 sites. RENO NEWS & REVIEW, 11-9-2006 The 2009 first-place Nevada Press Association award winners Tony the Tiger & the flaky NFL Barbwire / 11-30-2008 Deregulation is never having to say you're sorry Barbwire / 8-3-2008 Nevada: A good place to visit, but do you want to live here? Barbwire / 6-15-2008 The 2008 first-place Nevada Press Association award winners The price of a piece / 6-17-2007 Boxing Pandora /9-23-2007 The Lady in the Red Dress 10-28-2007 1997 Pulitzer Prize entries ...and more ammo yet The life and times of Travus T. Hipp The best who ever was

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Copyright © 1982-2013 Andrew Barbano

Andrew Barbano is a 45-year Nevadan, editor of NevadaLabor.com and JoeNeal.org; and former chair of the City of Reno's Citizens Cable Compliance Committee, He is producer of Nevada's annual César Chávez Day celebration and serves as first vice-president, political action chair and webmaster of the Reno-Sparks NAACP. As always, his opinions are strictly his own. E-mail barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us.

Barbwire by Barbano moved to Nevada's Daily Sparks Tribune on Aug. 12, 1988, and has originated in them parts ever since.
Whom to blame: How a hall-of-famer's hunch birthed the Barbwire in August of 1987
Tempus fugit.

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