Fans strongly attached to Ute moniker

One thing is clear after last week's commentary about the University of Utah's "Ute" nickname:

After all these years, people still really care.

I know, e-mail responses aren't necessarily representative of society at large. Many are written by the same people who call in to talk radio.

But I was surprised by the volume of e-mail on this much-discussed subject and the passion they reflected.

Mess with Utes at your peril.

To recap, I suggested it's time to lose the nickname if the Ute Tribe can't get along with the university — as recent comments by some people affiliated with the tribe have indicated. I also suggested there should be no special treatment for the Ute Tribe in the form of scholarships. If that's a condition for use of the nickname, drop the nickname.

• "Benson, you're wrong. The only thing left in this state to remind us of the Ute tribe is the 'Utes' nickname."

• "You are beating a dead horse. If you change the nickname that kills lots of tradition. Why you have to bring up the issue again is ridiculous."

• "I say as long as the Ute tribe endorses the name, it stays. ... I hope that your column is just as indifferent when PETA comes a knocking for the Cougars and all teams with animal reference to change their name because it promotes animal abuse."

• "Don't be so foolish as to compare the Stanford Indians and the St. John's Redmen with the Utes. They are derogatory names while the Utes is a tribe."

• "Hello Mr. Benson I cannot disagree with your editorial any stronger. America believes in free speech. I'm certain everything is offensive to someone. What percentage of people have to be offended before we give up our rights to free expression? When self proclaimed spokesmen representing a very small percentage of persons are offended by something, we start censoring the freedom of speech in the USA?"

• "Why are you stirring that pot again? This has been decided. Is this all you can find to write about?"

• "The politically correct efforts by the NCAA and the ACLU to force schools to renounce their Indian-related nicknames are simply a new kind of cultural imperialism of the Blue States against the Red. Rather than uniting Native Americans with admiring Americans of more recent immigrant status, those efforts seek to balkanize America into politically manipulatable and mutually competitive racial groups."