News
Graduate students discuss gun control issue at panel
Story by Stacy Gray | May 1, 2009
Montana Kaimin
Four UM graduate students armed themselves to debate gun control issues in front of an audience Thursday night. One panelist said after the debate that gun control nearly cost him his life.
“My self-defense firearm was safely locked in the car that my head was bouncing off of,” said Daniel Kostelnik, georaphy graduate student.
Two men jumped Kostelnik as he was leaving a bar in Great Falls 11 years ago. The men were after his wallet, but continued to beat him until a bystander intervened.
Going after the white picket fence part III
Story by Trevon Milliard | May 1, 2009
Mick Murray turns back down Mullan Road, toward Broadway Street. His cell phone rings. He presses a button on the Toyota Prius’ dash and waits for a couple of seconds before answering, “Hello, Green Taxi.”
A man’s voice on the other end asks, “Can you come and pick me up?”
“Yes. Are you at home?” Murray asks, knowing exactly who it is.
“Yes.”
Shrine shenanigans, shocked schmuck, slashing shot
Story by Mark Page | May 1, 2009
April 23, 7:57 p.m.
Public Safety responded to a disturbance at University Villages from a caller who said a “man in the process of becoming a woman” had smashed some of her windows. The suspect, a male dressed in female clothing, had apparently come over and wanted to have drinks. The woman told him to leave. She then left her apartment only to come back to find the man still in the apartment. He had left by the time officers arrived.
April 24, 1:34 a.m.
When a male confronted Aber Hall staff after they caught him intoxicated in the dorm, they called Public Safety for backup. Officers attempted to arrest the guy, but he took off running. That’s when he got the Taser. “People think it might be severe, but when you fight with someone and roll around on the ground, people get hurt,” Public Safety Director Jim Lemcke said. “This takes the fight out of them.” Lemcke said the guy then began banging his head against the Plexiglas divider in the police cruiser, just as the transient who caused a ruckus in the library did on Tuesday. “That’s pretty common, I don’t know why people do that,” Lemcke said.
Roundup of UM’s summer plans
Story by Allison Maier
The campus may not host as many students over the summer, but University of Montana administrators still have plans for the next few months.
Here’s some of what’s in store for UM between now and next fall:
Construction will continue. The new Education Building and the School of Law building are set to be completed by the time students arrive for the fall semester, according to Kevin Krebsbach, assistant director of planning and construction. Workers will continue construction of the Native American Center, which is expected to be completed next January. They will also work on more of the University’s steam tunnels, according to Krebsbach.
MontPIRG and Kaimin fees shot down; RELF passes
Story by Kayla Matzke
Students shot down the optional Montana Public Interest Research Group fee of $5 Thursday night 1,059–968.
Fees for ASUM transportation and the Revolving Energy Loan Fund passed, while the proposed $2 fee increase for the Montana Kaimin failed.
Vice president on the MontPIRG board of directors Mason Giem said the rejection was a shock.
Fennell and May day: Pair wins ASUM top spots
Story by Josh Potter and Allison Maier
Matt Fennell and Emily May could’ve gone to a bar. They could’ve hosted a house party worthy of the Kaimin police blotter. Instead, a few friends sat around the fire pit behind Fennell’s house and watched him and running mate May exchange a long hug after the pair received the news that they would be the next president and vice president of ASUM.
“I feel like I can decompress now, like I don’t have to be so stressed all the time,” May said through a coy grin.
Uncertain funding has many library improvements on hold
Story by Allison Maier | April 30, 2009
The University of Montana’s Mansfield Library is slated to undergo what will amount to a $1.7 million renovation of the main floor, though only about a fourth of that money is available.
The goal of the reconstruction is to organize the library in a way that better reflects the changing way that students and researchers work, which means placing a greater emphasis on technology, according to Bonnie Allen, UM dean of libraries.
Going after the white picket fence
Story by Trevon Milliard | April 30, 2009
Editor’s note: This is the second of a three-part series on Green Taxi that will end on Friday.
As a red Toyota Prius rolls west on Mullan Road, a girl strapped into a rear car seat repeats the same sentence.
“I want to see daddy. I want to see daddy.”
The young mother, squeezed between the rear passenger door and another car seat holding her other daughter, voices an acknowledging, repetitive “OK.”
Retiring biology professor was tough but interactive
Story by Kelsey Bernius | April 30, 2009
Black tape lined the inside of Kathe Westphal’s office door, creating the illusion she might not be in her office.
It’s the only way the UM anatomy and physiology professor can get five minutes to herself, she said.
“When I first started teaching here, students were constantly coming in and out and I couldn’t get any other work done,” Westphal said. “This way, students have to take that extra step of knocking, at which point, I am happy to help them.”
Interim dean to fill position for arts college
Story by Allison Maier | April 30, 2009
Award-winning opera singer Stephen Kalm will take over as the new dean of the University of Montana’s College of Visual and Performing Arts.
Kalm has served as interim dean of the School of Fine Arts – recently changed to the College of Visual and Performing Arts – since last summer, after former dean Shirley Howell retired after nine years. Kalm has worked as a music professor at UM since 1994 and was chair of the music department from 2002 to 2008.
“I think I bring a passion for the arts and I bring a regular enthusiasm for arts education and professional programs,” he said.
Kalm said his goal is to promote the various programs offered in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, including what he calls “niche” programs like media arts.
State legislature passes three fiscal bills before adjourning
Story by Molly Priddy | April 30, 2009
HELENA – The final gavel fell on a snowy Day 90 as lawmakers, hastening to beat the legislative clock, gave final approval to the state budget, the federal stimulus plan and a bill that seeks to lessen the financial blow for taxpayers after property values are reappraised this year.
Republicans and Democrats fought over ideological differences on funding for children’s health care and K-12 education, but legislative leadership asserted that the level of civility this session allowed for more compromise than the last session.
“We did have a good working relationship between the Senate and the House and between the Republican and Democrat caucuses,” said Senate President Bob Story, R-Park City.
‘Real women’ hit the catwalk
Story by Kayla Matzke | April 30, 2009
Twenty-three young women strutted their stuff on a makeshift catwalk on Wednesday in the University Center Atrium to celebrate real beauty and real women.
“The purpose of this event is to bring awareness to our campus about the many issues that young women face concerning their bodies,” said Josh Peters-McBride, the event’s emcee.
The first “Real Women Fashion Show” drew a crowd and featured models that defied stereotypes.
Before the show started, Peters-McBride listed a few statistics: 34 percent of women had their first negative thoughts about their body before age 11; 47 percent of women say their body image has been affected by photos of models and stars; and 26 percent of women started dieting in high school.
Tina Brown, the program coordinator and creator of the fashion show, said she put out a call for models in March. Local businesses, including Bob Ward & Sons, Macy’s, The Green Light, Betty’s Divine and My Sister’s Closet, donated clothing for the show.
Arabic minor degree receives thumbs-up
Story by Josh Potter | April 30, 2009
ASUM senators passed a resolution officially endorsing an Arabic minor degree supported by student petitions during the last meeting of the semester Wednesday night.
“There is really, really strong demand for this,” ASUM senator Matt Fennell told his fellow senators.
Although the creation of the minor faces roadblocks on its way to becoming an accredited program, business manager Alex Gosline said as long as the students show support, ASUM should follow suit.
“A lot of students want this minor,” Gosline said. “It’s not our place to discuss the pros and cons of finance.”
One potential problem is the fact that there aren’t enough tenured professors at this point to make the minor a legitimate program, Sen. Jon Dempersmier said.
Going after the white picket fence
Story by Trevon Milliard | April 29, 2009
Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series on Green Taxi that will continue Thursday and Friday.
Mick Murray pulls off, but keeps his red Toyota Prius parallel to the street. The car stops gently enough to keep the pack of Orbit gum in the cup holder from rocking forward. He shifts the tiny knob sticking out of the dash into park and doesn’t honk. He waits. For whom? A woman he doesn’t know. He just waits, scanning over the one-story, once-white house. Its latex skin pulls away from the wood panels, frayed and dry. An empty stroller waits for a young girl in the small front yard, but a cat finds it first and slides into the storage area beneath the seat.
ASUM to debate graduate student as requirement for coordinator
Story by Josh Potter | April 29
In one of the last regular meetings of the semester, ASUM will discuss a resolution requiring the ASUM sustainability coordinator to be a graduate student.
The author of the bill ASUM president Trevor Hunter said a graduate student should run the Sustainability Center because the job will be tailored mainly to coincide with other graduate responsibilities.
“The duties, the wage and the design of it would be like what a T.A. would do,” Hunter said.
The problem, Hunter added, is that ASUM’s personnel policy never actually said that the position was a graduate student position, though most senators felt it should be.
“If we want (the Sustainability Center) to pay them like a graduate student and want them to do the work of a graduate student, let’s make them a graduate student,” Hunter said.
Thrift stores: Where everything old is new again
Story by Kimball Bennion | April 29, 2009
Obeying two signs that admonish customers to watch their steps as they come in, Solange Brunet walks through the door of Cottonwood Traders on West Main Street and steps onto the elevated floor of the resale store.
Brunet is looking for a pair of work pants, something that will be able to take a lot of abuse on the knees when she does her work at the nursery.
Owner Lee McAllister knows just where to go.
