November 8, 2007
No sympathy for cyclists
I have a hard time being sympathetic to the cyclists in Missoula. I am sorry that Ms. Wickham was hit by a car and I hope she wasn’t hurt, but I and many others use the sidewalks in front of the Adams Center and many of those times we have come close to being run down by cyclists barreling both ways on the sidewalk. They seem to think that the sidewalk is for their use only. Remind me, what does SIDEWALK mean? Ride on the concrete or walk on the concrete? The dictionary describes it as: sidewalk \ n: a paved walk on the side of a road or street. I just think they should call the kettle black and think about all other areas on campus that cyclists have taken over the sidewalks. I’m not saying they should stop riding, but if they want the same privileges as cars, then stay on the roads. If they want to ride on campus, then have a little consideration for pedestrians. A little fair warning would be nice, especially for pedestrians with cyclists coming from behind. A warning of: to your left (right), behind you, anything would help. Speak up, don’t sneak up!
November 8, 2007
Stop forcing UM employees to moonlight
Last week the Kaimin printed an article discussing the wages of UM officials. The next day, a photograph of a custodian with the girl she baby-sits appeared. These two features highlight a dichotomy that exists at the University. While Dennison was given a $40,000 bonus, our custodians are forced to moonlight to compensate for insufficient wages. The only way Dennison’s raise will alleviate the stress on other employees is through the trickle-down effect. And we all know how well that works. It works about as well as sarcasm does on paper.
November 8, 2007
Don't miss the point
This “Know Your Rights” event has gotten much attention in commentaries in the last few weeks. I read both Dan Stusek’s and Karl Koenig’s letter to the editor on the event. I must say, Karl Koenig missed the point of Dan Stusek’s letter.
November 8, 2007
Tech guys: don't be lazy
I am all for UM doing away with paper schedules, as long as they can get their act together on Cyberbear. Take advantage of all the possibilities online registration can provide. Other institutions make online class scheduling a breeze.
The University of Wyoming’s “WyoWeb” registration system, for example:
November 7, 2007
What about everyone else's salary?
I couldn’t help but laugh out loud when I first read the Kaimin headline that read “UM officials’ salaries below average.” It was obviously written to rationalize the pay raises of our officials.
Well, all I can say is, “Ain’t that rich!!” The proper headline should have read “UM Employees salaries below average” and readers could have discovered the plight of all UM employees – that below average salaries are not an exclusive club of the officials. The article should have addressed how the employee wages have not kept up with the cost of living for several years. It might have gone further by mentioning that UM staff pay is substantially lower than MSU or even Flathead Valley Community College, for similar positions. These other institutions all answer to the same Board of Regents, yet the officials at MSU and Flathead Valley have demonstrated the value they place on their staff by going to bat for them in good faith.
November 6, 2007
Cyclists should be alert
Thanks, Kaimin staff, for allowing Danielle Wickman to point out the dangers of biking at the intersection of S 5th E and Maurice. It is unfortunate that Danielle was involved in a crash and suffered injury. She is clearly disappointed with the police investigation and the current laws in place that don’t help her as she hoped. Her criticism picks on the wrong guy.
November 6, 2007
'Know your rights' deserves respect
Last week’s “Know your Rights” panel discussion was interesting and fun. Big respect to ASUM, the ACLU and Citizens for Responsible Crime Policy. Positive public involvement is an important part of local and national policy development. I was curious to see negative comments about this event. Dan Stusek’s letter was interesting because essentially he questioned claims made by local drug policy reform activists.
November 6, 2007
ASUM still in charge of its own staff
The Kaimin, in its Nov. 1 article about the ASUM agreement with Student Affairs characterized it as “ced(ing) power over the...(ASUM) staff to the department of Student Affairs.” Not true. ASUM still retains primary responsibility for all decisions regarding its staff. This agreement merely adds another layer of oversight and responsibility, especially for “adverse employment actions”(discipline and firings).
November 6, 2007
Students rally around Obama
As the 2008 election season heats up, students, like other voters across the country, are carefully weighing their presidential options. Much like the rest of America, we are concerned about the issues that dominate the national debate, including the war in Iraq and the debate surrounding healthcare. We are looking for a candidate who speaks to our particular concerns, who can talk with equal passion and insight about war and healthcare as they can about student loans and genocide. Most importantly, students are looking for a candidate who can talk about the future as well as he can about current issues facing us.
November 6, 2007
U.S. should end occupation of Iraq
It seems that we are stuck between a rock and a hard place. We know that the pretext for the preemptive (or dare we say “preventative") invasion of Iraq was false. Many citizens in this country believe, now that we’ve made a mess of Iraq and destroyed its infrastructure, that we must continue the occupation in order to “clean up the mess that we made.” This well-meaning argument underscores the responsibility that the U.S. government and the American people (rightfully) feel toward Iraq.
November 2, 2007
Scalping should be our right
America, a capitalistic society, is run by business. We tend to like the ones that offer desirable products at prices we can afford from a friendly salesperson. Your friendly local ticket “scalper” can offer this.
On October 16th, the Kaimin ran a story profiling the “scalping” business run by one student. Shortly thereafter, the popular message board for Grizzly athletics, Egriz.com, was rampant with stern words of criticism for the student. One poster wrote “Whatever happened to the integrity in this country?” and seemed to be in the majority on how unacceptable ticket reselling is from a moral standpoint. Another eGrizzer noted that they found the activity shameful because it prevented “people from going to an event at a reasonable cost.”
November 2, 2007
Young non-voters are killing democracy
The American Revolution was a hard fight for independence. People in the new America wanted to be free. They wanted democracy. But, what is democracy? Isn’t it when people are the main policymakers? How do these people participate in politics? They simply vote. Indeed, it is simple now, but there were times when this right was a luxury for many individuals. I remember history textbooks that talk a lot about people fighting for the right to vote. Women and African Americans didn’t have suffrage for many years. Thus, I am deeply surprised that today, after so many people dedicated their lives to gaining the ability to vote, young Americans don’t seem to appreciate that and therefore, are taking the voting rights for granted.
November 1, 2007
UM Productions falsely under fire
In response to last Thursday’s Kaimin article regarding the recent administrative scrutiny imposed on UM Productions, I must express disappointment and even minor disbelief. It is disheartening to think that an extremely successful student run (and student funded) organization that has been in operation for over three decades can come under fire and face the threat of losing its autonomy and very reason for being because of one email from a big-wig tour manager. I’ve heard that the content of the Elton John tour manager’s email was misinterpreted in the first place, but even if the report of this complaint were legitimate, why on Earth would we as a University alter policy and strip managerial authority from one of the most successful student run organizations on campus over a single email?
November 1, 2007
ASUM should not keep students in the dark
I would like to start by commending Sean Breslin and Kelsey Bernius who worked to publish the story that ran last Thursday in the Kaimin about UM Productions, and the meeting between ASUM and UM administration. I am proud to be at a school that has a paper with the guts to do its duty and bring issues like this to the public eye.
I think it is extremely important for a newspaper to keeps its readers informed about the issues that concern them, and I believe that the fate of UM Productions does affect students. Despite the fact that UM administration and ASUM had vague reasons for not wanting students to know that a meeting was taking place, I admire Mr. Breslin’s decision to run the article anyway.
November 1, 2007
Improper punctuation a harbinger of misinformation
Semicolons are used correctly when they separate two complete but related main clauses; or, the punctuation can be employed to distinguish between dependent clauses in a series. The semicolon in Mr. Dan Stusek’s letter is an example of the incorrect usage. Danny Boy’s ignorance of the rules of grammar parallels quite effectively his misunderstanding of the motivations behind responsible drug policy.
November 1, 2007
ASUM progressing on many issues
I am writing in response to the numerous articles and opinion pieces that were published in the Thursday, October 25th edition. As a student-at-large and someone who spends a fair amount of time in the ASUM office conversing with senators about important issues facing campus and reading the Kaimin, I feel that ASUM is being unfairly bullied by our campus media. For a moment, I would like to focus on some of the good work that ASUM is currently doing:
