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Mich. balks at issuing PINUS license plate
DETROIT, (UPI) -- Michigan officials have rejected a request for a license plate honoring the state tree by reading PINUS as possibly "offensive to good taste," observers said.
Michigan resident Marvin Roberson, 48, a forest ecologist, applied for the plate to honor the white pine, Latin name pinus strobus, the Detroit Free Press reported Saturday.
Officials of the state's license plate review panel said the request violated a ban on "letter combinations which might carry a connotation offensive to good taste and decency," the newspaper said.
PINUS (pronounced "pie-nus") could lead to confusion because of the general public's lack of proficiency in Latin, state spokeswoman Kelly Chesney said.
Roberson says he's dumbfounded.
"The white pine is my favorite tree. I like the entire pine genus," he said.
Besides, as a state symbol, Roberson said, pinus strobus appears in dozens of places on the state's own Web site and is even engraved on a plaque on the Capitol lawn.
Chesney has suggested an alternative. WHTPINE is available, she said.
DETROIT, (UPI) -- Michigan officials have rejected a request for a license plate honoring the state tree by reading PINUS as possibly "offensive to good taste," observers said.
Michigan resident Marvin Roberson, 48, a forest ecologist, applied for the plate to honor the white pine, Latin name pinus strobus, the Detroit Free Press reported Saturday.
Officials of the state's license plate review panel said the request violated a ban on "letter combinations which might carry a connotation offensive to good taste and decency," the newspaper said.
PINUS (pronounced "pie-nus") could lead to confusion because of the general public's lack of proficiency in Latin, state spokeswoman Kelly Chesney said.
Roberson says he's dumbfounded.
"The white pine is my favorite tree. I like the entire pine genus," he said.
Besides, as a state symbol, Roberson said, pinus strobus appears in dozens of places on the state's own Web site and is even engraved on a plaque on the Capitol lawn.
Chesney has suggested an alternative. WHTPINE is available, she said.
