To the editor:

As an ardent fan of Kansas University athletics and a season ticket holder for both football and basketball, I always enjoy reading Mayer Bill’s columns in the World-Journal.

However, as an egghead at Kansas University, I must admit I was disappointed in the column of Oct. 2 (“Just plain ‘KU’ good enough). In this column, Mr. Bill implied that KU may consider no longer referring to itself as “Kansas University” and “begin billing itself as ‘The University of Kansas.'” In fact, it is and always has been the University of Kansas to everyone except the World-Journal. The name is in line with that of nearly every flagship state university in the country, including (moving from left to right) the Universities of California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, etc. There is only a small handful of exceptions, and I believe only one (Indiana University) has officially adopted the World-Journal’s naming convention.

If the World-Journal wishes to continue in its practice of calling it Kansas University, that is its journalistic right. That does not make it correct, however, and the university shouldn’t feel any need to justify a “change” to what is already its name recognized by the state and nearly everyone in it. One final observation: Please look once more at the university seal. In fact, it does not say Kansiensis Universitatis, but rather “that other damned thing,” Universitatis Kansiensis.

Greg Simpson,

Lawrence