Brett,



I totally sympathize with your perspective. Terms like "West 90" drive me
as batty.



However, in the case of the Fill (aka UBNA) the original name referenced the
location, i.e., the Montlake Fill was adjacent to the Montlake Cut, and it
was a brief description of how the place was created. The problem with
Union Bay Natural Area is that it sounds ridiculously formal and less
specific. Union Bay covers a lot of territory.



If the powers that be had named it the Montlake Fill Natural Area (if you
take a little artistic license and call a dump a "Natural" Area), I think
newbies would be less confused and oldies wouldn't have to change. I would
banish the Dime Lot name, however. Even when I was visiting the Fill on a
regular basis, I wasn't sure where the Dime Lot was.



I am reminded of the continuing efforts by the administration here at
Washington State University to banish the nickname "Wazzu." Uh huh. Good
luck with that.



Kelly Cassidy

Pullman (former Seattlite)



_____

From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Brett Wolfe
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2007 6:39 PM
To: Tweeters
Subject: [Tweeters] OT - Why do birders insist on using outdated info?



Hiya tweets,



This question is not meant to upset folks, but to try to understand why so
many people insist on using outdated information.



The Union Bay Natural Area (aka UBNA) has zero signs which mention that it
used to be called the Montlake Fill. I know it is a nice short name, but it
isn't right, not anymore. I find it amazing that if one was to ask anyone at
the University of Washington, which is the entity that manages the UBNA, I
doubt any of them would even know the term Montlake Fill, much less use it
in everyday language. The folks at the Center for Urban Horticulture were,
in their words, "appalled" that anyone still called it 'the Fill'.



To take it a step further, for those that insist on calling the UBNA by the
old name, why do you still say Dime Lot for the E-5 parking lot? Anyone who
hasn't lived in Seattle for 20 years has no idea what the heck the "Dime
lot" is unless it is explained that it is an old, dilapidated name for the
E-5 lot.



It actually bothered me that when I reported the Lapland Longspur there a
few weeks back, I had at least 3 different people ask me where the UBNA was
located. In every case, they were some old-time Seattleite who still called
it the Fill. Everyone else knew what I was talking about, but it bothered me
that so many people had never updated and upgraded to a name that was more
appropos of what the place is now - a naturalized area that just happens to
sit on top of an old landfill. Can't we celebrate it as a natural area
instead of as an old dump?



Alright, I'm going to end my rant, but this is soimething that has bothered
me for a while. There might be a couple of folks who spend as much time at
the Union Bay Natural Area as I do, but they are few and far between. I for
one would just like to see my favorite place in Seattle accorded the respect
that it has earned as the top birding place in Seattle. Is that too much to
ask?



Brett A. Wolfe

Seattle, WA

m_lincolnii at yahoo.com

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