"Just Sayin" Eliminated from ISU Daily

[tm3308]

I think it can be easily mistaken to include a t, especially when spoken. I don't see why this is such a big deal. Nowhere in the context was it geared toward Asian students like the Chink in the Armor article.

"I saw a squinty in the building...the invasion has begun."

It'd be one thing if "squinty" was actually the term for ground squirrels (like the chink in the armor line, which is a commonly used phrase). But it's not. This is more like the South Park episode where Randy mistakes "naggers" for...well, you know what...on Wheel of Fortune. I'm not saying it's THAT serious, but it's much more similar to that than the Lin stuff.

[Boxerdaddy]

You mean like the Asian segment of the student population who don't know/understand all of the local colloquialisms? I wouldn't be offended by something like this, but it's not tough to see how/why the Asian students would be.

I don't understand this though...ok...ISD gets a few complaints...you're saying no one there knew about the squirrels and could maybe handle this by maybe explaining what a squinney or in this case squintey was referring to? Just seems like everyone brought out their "Jump to conclusions board"


Letter to the editor: "Squintey" is Iowa slang for chipmunk - Iowa State Daily: Opinion

And this isn't aimed at anyone but they misspelled squinney just as much as squinteye if that's what people thought they were referring to (which i've never heard used anyway). Just seems like a misunderstanding that blew up. The comments were harmless.

[FarmClone]

I saw the original in the paper and my first reaction was that it was referring to asians somehow. Then I thought about it for a while and realized that it wasn't.
I really think the situation is being taken way too far. Was it poorly worded? Yes. The editor should have realized that it wouldn't be a good idea to put that in the paper. However, there was an editorial in the paper today claiming racism and ignorance are thriving at ISU which is a complete joke. It all comes down to people being way too sensitive.

[IowaStateClones]

"I saw a squinty in the building...the invasion has begun."

It'd be one thing if "squinty" was actually the term for ground squirrels (like the chink in the armor line, which is a commonly used phrase). But it's not. This is more like the South Park episode where Randy mistakes "naggers" for...well, you know what...on Wheel of Fortune. I'm not saying it's THAT serious, but it's much more similar to that than the Lin stuff.

squinty - squinny. Have you ever heard of autocorrect? Squinny is the actual word for ground squirrel but autocorrect changes it to squinty. I don't know why you are so "politically correct" but this is 1/20th the story you are making it. Calm down dude.

[tm3308]

squinty - squinny. Have you ever heard of autocorrect? Squinny is the actual word for ground squirrel but autocorrect changes it to squinty. I don't know why you are so "politically correct" but this is 1/20th the story you are making it. Calm down dude.

"Squinty" isn't a word in the English language, so auto-correct wouldn't do that. I don't believe for a second that it was intentional, but it isn't hard to see how some of the student population might have gotten upset about it.

[CyFan61]

"Squinty" isn't a word in the English language, so auto-correct wouldn't do that.

Not in the dictionaries at UI?

[IowaStateClones]

"Squintey" isn't a word in the English language, so auto-correct wouldn't do that. I don't believe for a second that it was intentional, but it isn't hard to see how some of the student population might have gotten upset about it.

If you type squinty into your phone one time, autocorrect will change squinney to that word. That's how those autocorrect algorithms work. I really don't see how that is upsetting, unless you are looking for something to complain about.

See above post as well.

[tm3308]

Not in the dictionaries at UI?

I stand corrected. It shows up as a misspelling on my Chrome spell check.

[digZ]

Letter to the editor: "Squintey" is Iowa slang for chipmunk - Iowa State Daily: Opinion

This guy has it right.

Overzealous is the first thing I could think of when I hear people claiming that racism is alive and well at ISU. Acting like everyday they walk to class there are Ku Klux Klan members hanging outside of their trucks with the rebel flag flying, spitting all over them.

Certainly there are people who go to Iowa State who aren't as acclimated to diverse populations due to the lack of diversity in certain parts of Iowa, but I find for the most part people at Iowa State, and people from Iowa are pretty live-and-let-live about people from other cultures and backgrounds. People need to understand this was a slip, accept the Daily's apology for letting something that could be construed as racist slip, and move on.

I'd love to see these people go to schools in other places in the country, say, the deep south and see how they are treated. Talk about an overreaction by the students and professors who wrote that letter to the editor.

[digZ]

Also:

Des Moines Dictionary: Squinty | Around Des Moines

[tm3308]

If you type squinty into your phone one time, autocorrect will change squinney to that word. That's how those autocorrect algorithms work. I really don't see how that is upsetting, unless you are looking for something to complain about.

See above post as well.

Like I said, I highly doubt it was intentional. But to someone not from here, who doesn't understand the colloquialism, they can't make the connection that we can. I don't necessarily agree with everything Jake said in his piece, but he's definitely not wrong about the stereotyping. That's pretty rampant on most college campuses.

Again, I'm not offended by this. But as a journalist, it's part of my job to understand how what I write might be offensive to someone else.

P.S.- I just talked to Jake, and the current plan is to eliminate the segment permanently. I think that's probably too drastic, but that's the plan right now.

[ISUagger]

It never crossed my mind that they didn't mean rodents. Most of the articles are not worth reading, and now I have no ambition to pick up the daily. Oh well, the just saying aren't that interesting anyways.

[digZ]

It never crossed my mind that they didn't mean rodents. Most of the articles are ripped from the AP, and now I have no ambition to pick up the daily. Oh well, the just saying aren't that interesting anyways.

FIFY.

[JKyleU]

This all happened while there was a debate in letters to the editor section that featured some, if not racist, then offensive opinions about Asians. That debate itself started with a letter that pointed out some definitely racist memes on that facebook page. And being a student at Iowa State, I can tell you that there are a lot of people that are just casually offensive towards Asians. Not saying there is rampant racism, we're a tolerant community; it's just that there's a problem that goes beyond the "oh, they're just being funny" excuse.

So, in an environment with that debate happening in the paper, it's easy to understand why the Daily experienced such a volatile response. Having grown up in Iowa, I know the term squinny as referring to a ground squirrel. But I would wager that most people here do not, and that the first thing they would assume "squintey" to be is a slur towards Asians. Think if you had never heard the term squinny before.

The Daily is doing what it needs to do, at least for now. Actually, they're going beyond that and trying to start a positive debate about the issue of racism. Maybe a bit of an overreaction on the Just Sayin's, but it says a lot that they're willing to do that - they know that a lot of students like that section.

[digZ]

This all happened while there was a debate in letters to the editor section that featured some, if not racist, then offensive opinions about Asians. That debate itself started with a letter that pointed out some definitely racist memes on that facebook page. And being a student at Iowa State, I can tell you that there are a lot of people that are just casually offensive towards Asians. Not saying there is rampant racism, we're a tolerant community; it's just that there's a problem that goes beyond the "oh, they're just being funny" excuse.

So, in an environment with that debate happening in the paper, it's easy to understand why the Daily experienced such a volatile response. Having grown up in Iowa, I know the term squinny as referring to a ground squirrel. But I would wager that most people here do not, and that the first thing they would assume "squintey" to be is a slur towards Asians. Think if you had never heard the term squinny before.

The Daily is doing what it needs to do, at least for now. Actually, they're going beyond that and trying to start a positive debate about the issue of racism. Maybe a bit of an overreaction on the Just Sayin's, but it says a lot that they're willing to do that - they know that a lot of students like that section.

People will view things in any way they want to. Instead of blaming the daily for remarks that could MAYBE, POSSIBLY, be seen as racist, why not blame people who immediately see anything that could possibly be spun as racist, and immediately turning it into a race issue. If people continue to see things that aren't intended to be racist, as racist, we'll continue to have these racial divides instead of coming together as one human species just trying to laugh about stupid squirrels.

As you've mentioned ISU isn't perfect, I think it stems from a lot of Iowans not being exposed to a lot of diversity before coming here, but it certainly isn't a throwback to the 1960's as some of these overly whiny people are trying to make it out to be.

If the daily ever manages to print anything about crackers in a food setting, I'll make sure to state my displeasure in being so openly racist to Caucasians.