Rally the hoosiers into action

Hoosier Friend?

It’s amazing how much flak you can get for putting two words in the wrong order.

In the e-Alert “Down on the Farm” (1/20/04) I referred to a study conducted by the University of Indiana.

That was all it took to rally the Hoosiers into action.

In separate e-mails, Randy, Helen, Joseph and others straightened me out in no uncertain terms: There is no such institution of higher education known as the University of Indiana. The correct name is “Indiana University.” And of course, anyone who’s ever filled out a March Madness basketball grid (and I’ve filled out a few) should know this. It’s IU! Big 10 basketball!

Here’s where I was went wrong: I found some of my information for that e-Alert in a BBC report, which referred to IU as the University of Indiana. And while the BBC may be one of the most reliable news sources on earth, what can they know about Hoosiers and March Madness?

But even though there’s no such place as UI, it appears that it’s a thriving institution in cyberspace. If you Google “University of Indiana” you come up with more than 42,000 links. Some of those Google links are actually supported by Indiana University, so that when people search for it incorrectly, they’ll still end up at IU. So obviously, neither I nor the BBC is the first to mistakenly switch UI for IU.

In any case, here’s my advice: Unless you wish to incur the wrath of the Hoosiers, get the name right. It’s “Indiana” followed by “University.”

To Your Good Health,
Jenny Thompson

Health Sciences Institute