The strange minds that control the creaky Kafkaesque machinery that is the Ncaa recently decided that Indian mascots and nicknames will be banned from post-season uniforms.

The first thought that occurred to me when I read this was: Why only the post-season? The reasoning, supposedly, is that it is the conferences, not the NCAA, that govern teams' regular seasons. Still, the NCAA's move appears to be a half-hearted exercise in political correctness meant to hastily appease oversensitive lobby groups. If they really want to affect change, they should put pressure on the conferences to acquiesce.

Regardless, the new ruling means that as many as 18 schools will have to alter their "hostile" or "abusive" uniforms if they reach the post-season - everyone from the Louisiana-Monroe Indians to the Alcorn State Braves. The big name casualties are the Utah Utes, the Florida State Seminoles and the Illinois Illini.

The NCAA's decision, while well-intentioned, reeks of paper-pushing bureaucracy. They should realize that simply showing the face of a Native American need not be construed as demeaning but showing a red-faced man grinning stupidly a la the Cleveland Indians is.

Similarly, nicknames such as the Chippewas, Illini or Seminoles are no more inherently racist than the Notre Dame Irish or the Alfred Univerity Saxons or my own alma mater's Scots, and are neither "hostile" nor "abusive." Rather, the NCAA should concentrate on the likes of the Carthage College Redmen, whose nickname unabashedly celebrates bigotry and stereotyping based on skin-tone.

Is the Seminoles' mascot (R) as bad as the Cleveland Indians' (L)?

As I see it, universities should be allowed to celebrate local tribes, such as the Illini, Utes and Seminoles. I don't see Notre Dame having to ask the Irish government for permission to use their nickname. In fact, the Seminoles in Florida have given permission to FSU to use their tribe's name (although Oklahoma Seminoles have objected). Also, nicknames like the Warriors and the Savages need not be seen as specific references to Native Americans, although any direct imagery associating Native Americans with the term "savages," for example, should be censured. To some extent the NCAA has realized this, and they are allowing a school such as Hendrix College to retain its nickname, The Warriors, because it is not associated with Indian imagery.

America's sporting culture retains a veneer of insensitivity towards Native Americans - it's not surprising to see feather-headed men shaking spears at halftime shows or nicknames like the Redskins or mascots such as the Cleveland Indians'. The NCAA is doing the right thing in eliminating the iconicographic abuse of Native Americans, but they are failing to distinguish between imagery that is demeaning and imagery that is celebratory.