some people in north dakota want to change the state's name to just be 'dakota'. "people have such an instant thing about how north dakota is cold and snowy and flat," said former gov. ed schafer. could be because they're mostly right. (the average annual temperature was the second coldest last year, second only to maine by a tenth of a degree, and the elevation ranges from 800 to 3000 feet above mean sea level across the whole state. but it isn't an extraordinarily snowy state -- the average maximum snow depth is only about a foot.)

if the goal is to attract business, i would think coming up with compelling economic data about why north dakota is a better place to do business would be a better thing to spend time on than changing the name of the state.