“The Government Publishing Office [is] officially changing the designation from ‘Indianian’ to ‘Hoosier’ in all federal documents….
“Indiana’s U.S. senators pushed for the change, saying in a letter to the office’s style board chairman that those living in the state ‘have always called ourselves Hoosiers.’ The senators argued that while ‘Indianian’ might follow the style for describing state residents — such as Floridian or Californian — ‘Indiana residents do not use this word. In fact, we find it a little jarring to be referred to in this way’….
“The government style book keeps variations on the state names for all other U.S. residents. No ‘Tar Heels’ for North Carolina or ‘Sooners’ for Oklahoma. ‘Hawaii residents’ is the only other break from standard form.”
— From “Federal government: Indiana residents officially ‘Hoosiers’” by Tom Davies of the Associated Press (Jan. 12)
Of course, Indiana lacks North Carolina’s ferocious intrastate competition among colleges, which would make the Government Publishing Office instantly regret designating all residents as Tar Heels.