Nomenclatura, Universities, and Adults

To piggyback on Ralph Luker’s Cliopatria post today on the absurdities at the University of Georgia, I’d like to throw a Buckeye State element into the ring. Though maybe not on the UGA level of silliness, there has been an ongoing controversy over use of the word"Ohio" between Ohio State and Ohio University. Apparently, OSU copyrighted (or tried to, anyway) the name"Ohio," and obviously OU, which has simply"Ohio" on most of its apparel and literature, took umbrage with this. (It may have been the other way around, actually, with OU copyrighting"Ohio" and OSU taking exception, worried that the band would be prohibited from doing the “script ‘Ohio’” at football games. Whatever, The point is the same.) Then, as if this little pissing contest weren't juvenile enough (albeit juvenalia with potentially serious consequences, as in the Georgia debacle), while OSU continued to pride itself as"THE Ohio State University," t-shirts and such at OU began appearing saying"THE Ohio University," Or"Ohio, THE State University." Good times. And now that I think about it, this is clearly more silly than the Georgia shenanigans.