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JUST A THOUGHT COLUMN: Name game

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By NATE BLOOMQUIST

As I walked through the entrance to the college after a long walk through the parking lots, I read the sign above the door that states, "Welcome to IVCC." I then realized what the official name of the school I was attending was.

Over the years, IVCC has unofficially acquired several euphemisms. When high school students tell others where they are going to school after they graduate, they are quickly greeted with the response, "Oh you’re going to Harvard on the hill." This is unfortunate.

William Shakespeare said, "A rose by any other name wouldn’t smell as sweet." I’m not going to accuse IVCC of having an odor, but I think the practice of calling IVCC names should end.

I’m sure the administration of the University of Illinois at Oglesby would frown upon such name calling. In its 75th year of existence, Illinois Valley University shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Although it was once located on the campus of La Salle-Peru Township High School, L-P’s South Campus is inappropriate for describing these halls of knowledge.

People use euphemisms to make something sound more important than it really is. Why does IVCC need to sound more important? The first two years of college are quite important as they are.

A friend of mine said the school should be called, ‘IVCC, there’s nothing wrong with that school." Simply because every time he told someone he was going to attend the Purple Palace of Knowledge, that was the response he received.

Of course there’s nothing wrong with attending U of I…V. I laugh at other students who drop out of their four-year college only to return to Oglesby Institute of Technology (OIT). Those students could have gone to Oglesby A & M and spent less money on the same education. Oh well, their loss.

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