February 14, 2008
Missoula's Ron Paul supporters misinformed
“Opinion polls show only about 5 percent of blacks have sensible political opinions.”
“Jury verdicts, basketball games, and even music are enough to set off black rage, it seems.”
“[M]aybe a name change for New York City is in order. Welfaria? Zooville? Rapetown? Dirtburg? Lazyopolis?”
If you are like the above, there is more where that came from. Much more, in the pages of the “Ron Paul Freedom Report,” the “Ron Paul Political Report,” and the “Ron Paul Survival Report.” These were newsletters produced and distributed from 1978 on, by none other than current presidential candidate…Ron Paul (See The New Republic of Jan. 30, 2008 for more details).
February 14, 2008
Kaimin wrong to underestimate Ron Paul
As organizer of the Missoula for Ron Paul Meet-Up Group and a graduate student at UM, I appreciate your apology last week for your failure to cover the Ron Paul campaign and his popularity here in Montana. You are only student reporters, after all. But I must say: I am confused as to why your editor felt the need to be an apologist for a bunch of corporate-controlled media outlets.
February 13, 2008
Hiring process result fair; bigotry claims unfounded
I feel compelled to respond to Mark Page’s article on the proposed partnership accommodation of professor Scott Lucas, which occurred during intersession in January of this year. The claim that attitudes of bigotry pervaded this hiring process is unfounded, and the result reached in this case was on balance a fair one. Partnership accommodations are considered when a job is offered a candidate who desires her or his partner to also join the faculty without a full search process. Accommodations are themselves controversial academic acts since they truncate and often avoid the full airing of regular faculty hiring.
February 12, 2008
Article was wrong about e-mail conversations
Mark Page’s story on Feb. 8 fundamentally misconstrues the email communication between me, Ruth Vanita and Diane Sands. Since his story repeats assertions of bigotry (or “bigoted, anti-Muslim attitudes”) and identifies me, and those I emailed to announce Dr. Lucas’ talks, factual correction is in order.
February 12, 2008
Colleges can take action to help stop climate change
Emma Schmautz, in her opinion piece in the Montana Kaimin, “Education, not climate, should be priority” uses a paraphrased quote from me to assert that addressing climate change at the University of Montana is not important She chose to take the quote entirely out of context, and seriously misrepresents my views on the issues as well as many public statements that I have made regarding the role of colleges in climate change.
February 7, 2008
Schmautz wrong on University’s greenhouse gas emissions
Dear Editor,
As a former intern under the ASUM Sustainability Office, I am disturbed by the misunderstanding shown in Emma Schmautz’s editorial in Wednesday’s Kaimin. Her article was riddled with errors and fallacies about the environment, the economy, and what UM is doing to reduce our climate impact.
February 7, 2008
Using Student Fees to reduce UM's impact on the environment
Kaimin News Editor Emma Schmautz recently editorialized that investing student fees in our environment made education less affordable. I would argue that we must sustain our environment to keep education affordable & meaningful. As energy & other resources become more costly, then everything students must buy will become more costly – food, shelter, transportation and tuition. Investing in renewable energy will make all these more affordable as the price of nonrenewable energy rises.
February 6, 2008
Kaimin excluded Ron Paul from caucus coverage
As a precinct committeewoman casting my vote in the Feb. 5 Republican caucus, I was shocked to see that the Montana Kaimin has followed in the footsteps of Fox News and ignored my candidate of choice, Dr. Ron Paul, in its Super-Duper Presidential Predictions leaving us a limited number of presidential hopefuls to choose from. This is particularly puzzling as Congressman Paul is gaining momentum and popularity by the day, receiving over $20 million in campaign donations last quarter not from corporate financing but ordinary citizens and grassroots movements, the average donation being $50 to $100. The Ron Paul campaign also proudly holds the record for the most funds raised in one day having acquired more than $6 million on the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party.
February 6, 2008
ASUM Transportation thanks bus system supporters
The ASUM Transportation board would like to take this opportunity to thank all that have been helpful in the process of upgrading the student-owned and -operated bus system into a full resource for the University – the following agencies and people have worked hard to fund new buses (they are really coming in April!) and to make the system an incredibly popular service.
February 6, 2008
The reality of carbon credits
Foremost, I would like to thank ASUM for considering climate change issues by engaging in dialogue to find solutions and for being receptive to our student group’s request. When following up on the events of Wednesday’s ASUM Senate meeting in the Kaimin, our student group noticed an important correction worthy of mention. The article states that the $228 fee was for carbon credits to offset only K.C. Golden’s flight. This is misleading, making most think that carbon offsets are more expensive than they really are. Actually, the $228 will go toward offsetting the travel emissions of the entire lecture series, which will include six speakers traveling to Missoula from out of town. There are many carbon calculators with wide-ranging cost estimates. For the 7,300 miles that will be traveled for this lecture series, estimates range from $36 to $228.
February 6, 2008
Kaimin unfair in criticism of Professor Paul Haber
On Jan. 31 a news article written by Alex Tenenbaum entitled “Texts Written by Professors Could Intimidate Students” ran on the front page of the Montana Kaimin. In the piece it detailed the controversy of professors teaching their own books in their classes. The article made example of a specific book and specific professor, Paul Haber and “Power from Experience”. I also read this book last semester in one of Dr. Haber’s courses and thought it critical to present another perspective that will help “nurture diversity and debate” for the benefit of your readers.
February 5, 2008
Avalanche knowledge understated
Mike Gerrity’s article on avalanches could have been more thoroughly researched. The UM student’s account of being in an avalanche was interesting and it was unfortunate that two people were caught in the slide. It reinforced the often repeated backcountry mantra of “one at a time.” Never expose more than one person when crossing or riding steep slopes. It’s great to have first-hand accounts of avalanche accidents, not to point fingers, but to learn from mistakes.
January 31, 2008
Volunteers encouraged
The Office for Civic Engagement is once again hosting its biannual Volunteer Fair on Tuesday, February 12th and Wednesday, February 13th from 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. in the UC Atrium. It’s a mutually beneficial event, with students given the opportunity to learn about interesting civic work they may become involved in and agencies having the chance to recruit new student volunteers! There will be over 20 local nonprofits on hand for students to visit with to learn about the services these organizations provide to the community.
November 14, 2007
University over-intellectualizes literature
The basic objective behind the makeup of words and the composition thereof is to strike a chord of emotion typically located in the chest, where the heart pumps. This is literature. At times, people find themselves drawn to such a thing. They find it intriguing. They find it to be an integral part of existence, a basis upon which human society tends to progress. They feel things like vehement passion, outrage and sadness, tranquility and peace. It makes them feel less like a mechanized robot. This is literature.
November 14, 2007
The red pill with Ron Paul
The election season is upon us. Many of you will be voting next year for the first time. Between now and then, you will have to make a choice, not so much between Hillary and Obama, or Giuliani and Romney, or even between Republicans and Democrats, but between taking the blue pill and taking the red pill. Remember the movie “The Matrix”?
November 9, 2007
An invitation to the perpetrators
My friend’s 7-year-old daughter danced proudly in her University of Montana Homecoming parade float, honoring her relatives and her culture and getting the attention that the Kyi-yo Tiny Tot Princess, the best dancer, deserves. Kyi-Yo is the Native American Student Association that organizes the yearly pow-wow celebration on campus.
Unfortunately, as a Native American, she wasn’t getting the respect a young girl deserves. Instead she had her voice taken away by a student group, a couple floats away, dressed in Indian costumes and ridiculing Native Americans through whooping and hollering. This group also refused to leave the parade when asked.
