Which affair (D. Howard) was made even more complicated since Howard was the first openly gay appointee of the Mayor and the respective pressure group intervened on Howards behalf (he was rehired).

The affair led to some remarkable citations as:

'You hate to think you have to censor your language to meet other people's lack of understanding,'

and to follow up protests:

Student Demands 'Niggardly' be Prohibited at University of Wisconsin (02/03/99) Student Amelia Rideau is upset that her professor used the 'N-ardly' word at least twice: Once on Jan. 25 during a class on 14th-century English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, and once in a subsequent class to explain the word's meaning. Ms. Rideau was outraged, and is demanding the UW implement a speech code which would punish anyone using what she described as 'offensive' language - including the 'N-ardly' word. She urged the university not to require proof of intent before punishing verbal villains such as her professor.

According to the Star Tribune: "Upset about the word' s similarity to a racial slur, Rideau talked to her professor, who then explained the word' s background, she said. On Friday, the professor repeated the word and defined it for the class, Rideau said. Angry he revisited the topic after she asked him not to, Rideau began to cry and stormed from the room. On Monday, she brought three black friends with her to the class for support, she said." (Associated Press, via Star Tribune 02/03/99) [link http://www2.startribune.com/cgi-bin/stOnLine/article?thisStory=70706124 ]

Wolfgang