Montana Kaimin News

Graduate students discuss gun control issue at panel

Kostelnik usually carried a gun around with him for protection, but left all three of the guns he’d brought to the shooting range that day stowed away in his vehicle in accordance with the Montana law that makes it illegal to bring a gun into a place that serves alcohol.
Kostelnik said most of the time the mere presence of a gun would be enough to prevent a crime like this.
“And if that didn’t stop him, I could’ve shot him,” Kostelnik said, “and left with a black eye, instead of being disabled and missing work for the next four months.”
That experience strengthened Kostelnik’s stance against gun control laws. He bought two more handguns and took the concealed-carry course.
“I realized that I must be ready at any time,” he said.
Kostelnik teamed up with Mike McVicker, a graduate student in Intercultural Youth and Family Development, to defend their Second Amendment right to bear arms in the debate, sponsored by the Multicultural Alliance. About 20 people showed up to watch the four panelists debate.
Mitch Guerette and Aram Rosenberg volunteered to argue in favor of increasing gun control measures.
Guerette and Rosenberg argued that the right to bear arms wasn’t the civil liberty they should be concerned with.
“What about the civil liberty to be able to walk into a mall or a school without having to worry about being gunned down?” Guerette pointed out.
Guerette said measures need to be taken to prevent mass shooting incidents of gun violence in America.
“The United States is the most violent high-income industrialized nation in the world,” Guerette said.
Kaimin editor Bill Oram, who moderated the forum, said two panelists joined the discussion on short notice and offered valuable insights.
“Just because some of our panelists were last-minute doesn’t mean their opinions are any less valid,” Oram said.
Oram called the forum an “outstanding expression of the main themes on both sides of the issue…Hopefully it gave those in attendance some things to think about.”
stacy.gray@umontana.edu

The Dennies

Best Irrelevant Moral Crusade:
A certain law professor wanted to keep a certain college newspaper from getting the Bess Sex ever, but failed to realize that the legal actions needed to end the column would take far longer than simply waiting out the bastards who make the column possible. Don’t worry, we’re graduating. And we’ll take our sex to go. Need some summer Sex? Hit up besssex.blogspot.com.

Best Pointless Request for a Correction:
While getting yelled at for printing a feature photo of an art gallery too close to a similar story about a different art gallery comes close, the Dennie goes to Annette, who left a note asking reporter Amanda Eggert to “Please remember the women when you wright” when Eggert failed to refer to a man-made wave as a person-made wave. We’re all about wymons’s lib (our sports editor is female, for Christ’s sake) but if you want to defend women’s rights, at least learn how to spell it.

Best Kaimin Spelling Error:
Anyone know what a blouder is? We still don’t. But apparently they’re halting construction on campus, and it’s a front-page story. Did you know that as long as the first and last letters of a word are in the correct place, the ltetres can be scrmbelad any which way inside, and your brain still reads the word nomalrly? The error slipped past three copy editors. We’re blaming it on our superior-mental processing skills.

Best Villian (honorable mention Kaimin spelling error):
Cheers to you, Jus Chill’n robber. Way to knock off a smoothie joint. That $450 must have made you feel like a hardened criminal. You’re probably the kind of guy who orders the Starburst smoothie after working on your abs for 45 minutes.

Three-Month Achievement Award:
Griz football players succeeded in keeping their violent ways under the radar for a full three months, a wild success given last year’s troubles with the law. Congrats, guys, we’re rooting for you.

Best Wannabe-Pandemic Scare:
Swine flu. Way to be this administration’s SARS. The World Health Organization has confirmed 257 cases of swine flu worldwide. That seems scary and ominous and like you should buy a silly-looking facemask and hide for a few months, until you realize that 250,000 people die from the plain ol’ flu every year. ‘Pandemic’ means it affects the world and will probably kill us soon. To us, it seems like CNN is having a slow news week.

Best Way to Get Arrested in Missoula:
Hold up a Walgreens. There is even a sign on the door asking customers to please remove all facemasks, so way to break two rules at once. And if stealing prescription pills like it’s your parents’ medicine cabinet is too rough, better make for Dairy Queen. Nothing reads money-maker like a soft-serve ice cream shop. In April. When it still snows, apparently. The knife was a little overkill. Were you seriously worried that the high school girls working the joint would be too much to handle?

Driver of the Year Award:
Hat’s off to you, Park-N-Ride bus driver, for rear-ending a student’s car at noon. Usually we blame our driving mishaps on our drinking, but that early in the day, you don’t have much of an excuse.

And finally,

Best “That’s what she said”:
“I’ve always been someone who is physical, bangs and can get to the hole.”
Sarah Ena, sophomore forward for the Lady Griz, describing how she likes to play a sweaty basketball game.

I’d give out more awards, but I have to pirate all the songs off of the free CDs the Arts section gets, and iTunes runs slowly on these old computers.

Bergquist gets another shot in British Columbia

As the NFL draft came and went last weekend and Thursday (the day rookies report to obligatory rookie mini-camp) approached with no offers on the table, Bergquist felt as if his gamble had closed all doors.
“Hindsight is 20/20, but if I could do it all over again, I would have gone to B.C. a long time ago,” Bergquist said. “I almost had my heart set to go there and give up my dreams in the NFL. But I had to roll the dice and give the NFL a shot.”

But all was not lost. B.C. still had interest in Bergquist, so on Wednesday, the quarterback boarded a plane to Seattle. From there, he drove a rental car to Vancouver before reporting to free agent camp Thursday at 10 a.m. for a workout in front of team personnel and about 50 members of the media.

Lions head coach Wally Buono, whose 227 wins are second all-time in CFL history, said B.C.’s fondness for the former Grizzly was not a factor in rescinding the contract offer.

“It was simply a matter of timing,” Buono said. “He was a guy we had interest in and still have interest in.”

Bergquist’s workout consisted of running a 40, performing a shuttle run, throwing with wide receivers and doing some one-on-one drills. The majority of the Lions players were present to watch or participate.

Thursday was the first experience the quarterback had ever had on a Canadian-size field or with throwing a CFL football, but nonetheless, his 4.75 time in the 40 and his arm strength impressed Buono and his staff.

“Cole is a good athlete,” Buono said. “He can make all the throws. He has some mobility. He has some athleticism that we think could make him successful.”

B.C. has several more free agent camps in coming weeks. They also have three veteran quarterbacks under contract. Last season’s starter, Guy Pierce, returns. So do back-ups Jarius Jackson and Zac Champion. Buono said he anticipates watching at least a dozen quarterbacks work out in coming weeks, but the Lions are always in the market for an upgrade.

“We are hoping the guy we bring in can beat one of the guys out because you are always trying to improve yourself,” Buono said.

Bergquist, who led Montana to a 14-2 record and a runner-up finish in the FCS Championship last December, just may have a leg up on the competition. Buono, who has won four Grey Cup Championships in his illustrious career, is no stranger to Montana quarterbacks.

“(Bergquist) comes from a program we have a high value for,” Buono said. “Montana has always had a very successful college program. Dave Dickenson has played for me for many years whether it be in Calgary or B.C. We like the type of quarterbacks and the type of players in general from Montana.”

Dickenson was on the 1998 Calgary team that won the Grey Cup as well as a member of the 2006 CFL champion Lions.

There was an outside shot for Bergquist to go heads up with an old nemesis, but the timing was a little off. Travis Lulay, a four-year starter at quarterback for Montana State from 2003-2006, was unable to make it to Vancouver on Thursday but will work out for the Lions on Saturday. Lulay was 2-2 against Montana during his Bobcat career, including 1-2 against Bergquist head-to-head.

But Bergquist said that was the farthest thing from his mind regardless of whether Lulay was there or not.

“We are on a different level now,” Bergquist said. “I don’t think it will be a Cat-Griz thing. We are both going to give it our best. My only goal is to make a team.”

The Lions said they would let Bergquist know within the week if they are still interested. The quarterback knows this situation could have been averted had he simply signed the initial offer months ago.

But quarterback is a gambler’s position by nature. Big rewards take big risks, and Bergquist wanted to leave no opportunity unexplored.

“I love having another opportunity to play in B.C.,” Bergquist said. “I love the city of Vancouver, I love the winning tradition they have. If it doesn’t work out, it wasn’t meant to be, but at least I’ll have no regrets.”

colter.nuanez@umontana.edu

Infamous Maggotfest captures Missoula once again

Featuring 36 teams and hanging its hat on being the epitome of a social tournament, Maggotfest will add to its lore this weekend. The field is a myriad of clubs from New Zealand to Canada to California, all of whom converge in Missoula to play their guaranteed three games on the pitch and to take part in the heralded festivities that have come to define the event, which include a spirited costume party Saturday night at the Western Montana Fairgrounds.
“The Fest is the highlight of our year. It’s a big deal for us. We don’t take it lightly by any means,” Kreilick said. “For us, it’s about hosting these clubs the way we would want to be hosted if we went to a big tournament.

“The Fest now sells itself, based on word of mouth and return clubs who want to keep coming back.”

There has never been a champion of the tournament. Indeed, Maggotfest continues rituals that run 30 years deep, with hardware such as “Best Play on the Pitch” handed to the club that puts on the best display of skills in its three matches, and the coveted “Most Honored Side,” presented to the club who represents the culture of the sport with the most sprit on and off the field.

“We always shoot for Most Honored Side because we know that we have girls who just go to college and decide they want to play rugby,” said Mackenzie Flahive-Foro, co-captain of UM’s women’s team the Betterside, who has been in pursuit of the elusive trophy since they won it last in 1997. “So of course we’re not going to have the experience that most of these teams we’re playing have.

“(Maggotfest) definitely promotes the sport,” she added of the tournament. “It’s really not only about the game but the culture of rugby and the camaraderie and tradition.”

But Maggotfest is also evolving with new conventions. For one, Thursday night matches pitting local clubs against opposition from near and far away lands is becoming a tradition in its own right. Thursday night, UM Betterside took on Seattle Budd Bay, the Jesters squared off with Princeton University Athletic Club, the Flies (retired Maggots) met the Seattle Old Boys and the tournament host Maggots met the Wellington Dead Ants of New Zealand.

The tournament experimented with a 48-team format in the early 80s before going back to a 36-team pool play, which includes all Montana Rugby Union clubs and local ruggers. The Maggots and Jesters are coming off of impressive second and fourth place finishes respectively at last weekend’s Montana Rugby Union Cup in Butte. Betterside, who won Maggotfest’s Best Play on the Pitch trophy back in 2005, completed a two-weekend road schedule with a split, losing to the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, and earning a win on the Spokane Women’s Club pitch last weekend. Captain Naomi Mills said she expects her team to see a high caliber of competition this weekend, reminiscent of the competition the team faced in the fall when they ventured to Lethbridge for a pair of games and were dominated by a Canadian national team.

“They just destroyed us. I think it was good for us to see how good they were,” said Mills, who will be making her third appearance in Maggotfest this weekend. “They kept on creating all of these overloads. We learned from getting our ass kicked.”

With a season’s worth of hard lessons and victories on the pitch, Mills said that playing at Maggotfest is always a challenge for her team but also always promises a grand time.
“It’s like a big reunion,” she said. “Every year it gets a lot better because you just get to know more people.”

“We always joke around that it is a holiday and Maggotfest is like Christmas,” echoed Flahive-Foro. “We look forward to it all year long. It’s a great way to end the year.”

Kreilick, who is almost apologetic about missing one Maggotfest because of a trip to Australia in 1991, says that not only does the tournament draw almost 1,000 rugby players, he also anticipates as many as 4,000 people to be at the Saturday night party at the Fairgrounds. Staggering figures for a grass roots tournament that started more than 30 years ago.

“There’s no better manifestation of the sport than Maggotfest,” Kreilick said, “and I mean that.”

roman.stubbs@umontana.edu

Going after the white picket fence part III

When Murray pulls into the driveway, a man in his 50s named Tom Seery immediately walks out the door, his thick black hair slicked back, making silvery streaks of gray strands. He wears khaki shorts and a cashmere sweater over a blue polo.
He directs Murray to the CVS/pharmacy a few blocks away and begins talking about himself, often breaking into bursts of laughter.
“My dad was the baby of seven Irish children,” he says. “One day he asked his mother, my grandmother, ‘How come I didn’t get a middle name?’ You know what she said? ‘We’re Irish Catholic. We ran out.’”
A quick shouting laughter fills the Prius cab. It ends as abruptly as it started.
“Anyway, I’m babbling again,” he says. “Let me tell you a little more about nothing.”
When the car stops at CVS, Seery steps out. A few minutes later he returns with a case of Miller, but has to go back in for his medication. He comes back again and gets in the backseat to return home.
“Oh, I got something for you,” he says and places a metal toy on the center armrest next to Murray. It’s a yellow BMW Z8 convertible the size of a postcard. He laughs even louder than usual.
When Seery’s $11 ride is over, Murray pulls out of the driveway. The yellow toy car sticks out of the cup holder trunk-side up next to a pack of blue Orbit gum.
Murray then remarks that people don’t just call him for rides.
“Taxis are a resource for people who are in need of social contact,” he says.
Many people, like Seery, also need taxis because they can’t drive due to health conditions, usually neurological, Murray said. Oddly enough, Murray is allowed to take people like Seery to pick up medication, but he can’t take them to hospitals for medical treatment. It’s been a surprise to Murray and it’s hurt the business. Green Taxi isn’t allowed to give rides to any medical patients on their way to treatment, according to a rule enforced by Montana’s Public Service Commission, the agency overseeing all of the state’s taxi services. Only Missoula’s Medicab can do that.
“That’s a fair turn of business we’re missing out on,” he said. “It’s what most daytime business is.”
But Green Taxi is allowed to take people going to the hospital due to a gray area in the rule. In adherence to privacy issues, drivers aren’t allowed to ask riders why they’re going to the hospital and whether it’s for treatment. For this reason, if riders mention they are going to the hospital for treatment, Green Taxi must deny the fare and refer them to Medicab. However, if a customer says he wants to go to the hospital and doesn’t say a word more even if it is for treatment, Green can give him a ride.
But a lot of the time riders do mention they’re going for treatment, said Murray’s wife, Jessica Murray.
“Today, I just got a call,” she said. “I had to say no to that. And you’re just turning down money.”
The Murrays are thinking of applying for a license to enable them to transport medical patients. But Mick is weary, knowing the license could easily cost thousands of dollars more than the initial $500 application fee. A simple license application could turn into a year-long legal battle against the existing provider, Medicab.
The Murrays have been there before. Two and a half years ago they applied for a regular taxi license and discovered the taxi industry is widely controlled by the Commission, whose rules make it very difficult for a second cab company to start in any town. In that case, Yellow Cab was here first. According to Commission rulers, competition would hurt Yellow Cab, and hurting Yellow Cab would be bad for Missoula because it needs a cab company for public transportation.
The Murrays got their license despite Yellow Cab’s resistance and the laws stacked up against them. Some argue it was just because they’re a hybrid-vehicle taxi company. Doug Mood, head commissioner at the time, condemned Green Taxi’s approval, saying the three commissioners in favor of Green Taxi acted illegally, based on political beliefs (that they wanted hybrid taxis), not the laws of the Commission. Green Taxi never proved that it wouldn’t take business from the existing cab company, Mood said at the time.
Medicab owner Brian Parked also thinks Green Taxi was awarded its license without meeting Commission standards, he said in a phone interview on Thursday.
If the Murrays do go for a medical-transport license, it could be another uphill legal battle. Medicab might also fight to remain the sole provider in town. And the possible struggle has the potential to drag on for more than a year, just like the last one against Yellow Cab that started in mid-2006 and ended in December of 2007.
Parked declined to say what action he would take since Green Taxi hasn’t applied for the license yet.
“Whatever happens, happens. When it comes down the pike, that’s my business,” he said and declined to talk any further.
When the Murrays received a regular taxi license in December of 2007, their lawyer didn’t put up a fight for medical transportation. At the time, Mick was fine with it, thinking medical transportation only included those in wheelchairs, he said. His lawyer didn’t tell him that exclusion from medical transportation meant Green Taxi couldn’t give rides to any medical patients. If Murray knew that, he might’ve fought for medical transportation, too, he said.
In the beginning, the Murrays didn’t anticipate all this resistance from the Commission, Yellow Cab or a faltering economy. And they foresee even more resistance from Medicab if they do go for a medical transportation license.
Back in 2006, they thought they’d just take a risk and start a new business they believed in. Go after the American dream and build their white picket fence. But ever since they plunged the first board into Missoula’s rocky soil, pebbles and stone of the status quo have ripped at them and kept them from settling in deep enough to stand up straight. No matter how far they go, there’s always another rock mixed into the dirt. They just hope their patience pays off, sinking them into a seam of sand or silt.
trevon.milliard@umontana.edu

Big ups and Backhands

A semi-local Big Up to Tim Blixseth, the former Yellowstone Club CEO now charged with looting the posh ski resort of tens of millions of Swiss-bank lent dollars as his business tubbed, leaving its extremely wealthy members high and dry. There can’t be that many people on this planet who can claim to have screwed over Bill Gates — aside from everyone who beat him up for being a nerd in middle school, that is.

Backhands to MontPIRG for their relentless campaigning for their fee increase in the elections yesterday. Three phone calls, one sticker offer and a scrawny guy standing next to the Grizzly Statue telling us the bear wants us to vote? Listen guys, we want money too, but if that bear could talk, we think he’d be growling at you fools to shut up already.

Zooming back out a bit, Big Ups to pigs for putting humans back in their place with this whole swine flu thing. It sort of backfired for the porkers, what with Egypt beginning a no doubt well-thought-out mass slaughter of every pig in the country Thursday. But it was a bold move, nonetheless.

That said, a related Backhand to Mexico for further torpedoing its appeal as a travel destination with the outbreak. Bad water, drug wars and now a worldwide disease pandemic? Can you guys down there please keep it down? P.S. Salsa music sucks. Not sure if that was you guys, but yeah. Hate it.

Preemptive Big Ups to this weekend for promising to be a whole lot of drunken fun between Maggotfest, Brewfest and the annual Lochsa Rendezvous over in Idaho. Stay safe, everyone. Don’t do anything we wouldn’t do — or anything we are doing that looks particularly dangerous, for that matter.

Back on the national scale, Backhands to Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter for his recent announcement that he’s switching from the Republican to the Democratic Party in Washington this week. What kind of example is that to be setting? The U.S. hasn’t been doing that well recently, either. Should we all grab hockey sticks and move to Canada?

A final Big Ups to now incoming ASUM president Matt Fennell for somwhow managing to get himself elected to office a year after getting arrested in one for throwing a hissy fit on president Dennison’s floor. Here’s hoping barefoot hippy-politics bode well for students next year… but we’re out of here, so who cares.

Well that’s all, folks. Great to have you with us this semester, and best of luck finishing off your school year strong. We’re pulling for you. By the way, we personally swine flued every issue of this week’s paper. Merry Christmas.

Shrine shenanigans, shocked schmuck, slashing shot

April 24, 5:41 p.m.
A woman called about a slashed tire that she had gotten in the parking lot near Jesse Hall two weeks ago. It had seemed like a normal act of vandalism, but when she took it to the tire shop they found a .22 caliber bullet inside.
April 24, 9:45 p.m.
A spat between a 12-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl ended in assault charges being filed after the older girl allegedly
repeatedly punched the younger one at the Shrine Circus. The two girls apparently had a history of problems.

April 25, 10:34 a.m.
A female transient who has been around campus all winter long was found sleeping in the basement of the Gallagher Business Building. Though it is a public building, the transient was asked to leave, which she did.

April 26, 4:30 p.m.
A report came in of a female “talking to a water bottle and jumping in front of traffic.” The woman had approached the caller and said “that their baby was missing its face.” This woman matched the description of the transient who had been sleeping in the Gallagher Business Building the day before. “This woman has some issues she needs help with,” Lemcke said. “But so far (she) is not a danger.”

April 26, 10:03 p.m.
When four males exited a brand-new Acura GL and headed to the bike racks, picking up a bike, a passerby thought it suspicious enough to report to Public Safety. Lemcke said it is good that people are now reporting this sort of thing because officers were able to identify the four, and the caller may have prevented a theft.

April 27, 8:34 p.m.
A male described as a transient tried to pick up somebody’s backpack and walk off with it, but gave it back when confronted and walked into the library. The description of the man fits that of the man who was arrested hours later in the library and caused a huge stir fighting Public Safety and Missoula Police Officers.

April 28, 2:45 p.m.
A woman called to report that the previous night at her house just off campus she had been changing for bed when she heard a click that sounded like that of a camera. She then looked out the window and saw somebody’s hands. She ran outside and saw a dark car speed away. Lemcke warned that if folks live on the first floor, they should make sure to close their curtains.

Citations: Drew Woolsey, 20, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstruction of justice, MIP

Bess Sex: Cheese or oral sex?

With the exception of my boyfriend and a few friends – and by few I mean I can count them on my hand – everyone I ask this question to says they would keep cheese. Have I seriously underestimated the deliciousness of cheese and the necessity of it to our existence as humans, or is there something bigger going on here, culturally?

Here’s a little background: Cheese has been a part of human society for about 8,000 years. I’m guessing that oral sex goes back farther than that, but there is no archaeological start date for when people started going down on each other.

Obviously, cheese is a big part of human food culture. It exists in cultures around the world in many different forms, but so does oral sex, in slightly fewer forms.

One of the big things that shocks me when I ask people this question is that they don’t even seem to have to think about it. They just answer. Cheese. Like giving up oral sex wouldn’t affect their day-to-day life in any way, but giving up cheese might just kill them.

Even Googlefight.com showed that cheese absolutely demolished oral sex (see graphic). This means more people have Web sites about cheese than they do about oral sex. That seems so unlikely, since sex is really what the Internet is all about. But the numbers don’t lie.

Now, I might not eat cheese anymore, but I have eaten cheese, and I don’t see where you can compare the pleasure you get from a good cheese to the pleasure you get between your legs from a good partner.

I can accept that people love cheese, but it says something pretty sad about our society if people would rather give up oral sex than cheese. Yeah, cheese is easier to get and you have a pretty good idea every time you go into it what you’re going to get, but despite the scarcity and variety of quality, isn’t one good blow job worth giving up cheese forever? Apparently not, says one of my coworkers.

“Now, if blow jobs were on the shelf next to cheese, that would be a whole other story,” replied my colleague, also author of Big Ups and Backhands.

I mean, maybe if you spent less time shopping for all this cheese, you might stand a chance of meeting someone who would love to go south O’ your border now that Mexico is infested with swine flu.

There can be a lot of sexual benefits to giving up cheese (and other dairy products). I think you’d be surprised how the flavor of bodily fluids can change when you alter your diet in small ways. You can even add things to your diet to give yourself or your partner a sweeter taste. Try mixing a smoothie with pineapple, orange, mango and coconut milk. Now that’s lip-smacking good.

Luckily, most of us will never be faced with the realistic possibility that we’ll have to give up one of these things, but I just wish people would consider the consequences more before they answer so quickly.

Roundup of UM’s summer plans

The reconstruction of the The Bookstore in the UC, which began earlier this spring, will likely be completed sometime in July, according to assistant manager Jackie Leininger. When the $200,000 renovation is finished, the Grizzly gear and arts supplies currently located on the second floor will be moved down to the first and textbooks will be moved upstairs.

The Mansfield Library will also see some adjustments. Though a $1.7 million renovation of the main floor is planned, only about a fourth of that money is available now, so library administrators will start making changes slowly. This summer, they will likely begin adding new furniture and rearranging spaces, according to Bonnie Allen, dean of libraries.

The search for a new registrar will begin. Former registrar Dave Micus, who had held the position since 2006, left in March to take a job at the new King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia. Ed Johnson, a former Montana Tech registrar, is working as interim registrar until a replacement is chosen.

The Provost’s Office, which handles such hiring decisions, has been preoccupied with filling two vacant dean positions — for the School of Law and the College of Visual and Performing Arts — and has not turned its attention toward finding a replacement registrar yet, according to Provost Royce Engstrom. Stephen Kalm, interim dean for the School of Fine Arts, was announced the new dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts on Wednesday. A School of Law dean has not been announced.

Though the registrar search will begin this summer, a selection won’t be made until the fall so that there’s time to hold on-campus interviews with the candidates for the job and get feedback from students and faculty, according to Engstrom.

“Realistically, we’re shooting for something like October at this point,” he said.

The University will also move forward with implementation of its Partnering for Student Success plan, which includes a range of initiatives aimed at increasing student retention and graduation rates. This summer, the administration will focus mainly on measures outlined in the plan aimed at improving student support systems, such as tutoring and advising, according to Engstrom.

Some of the changes associated with implementing the plan include establishing what will be called the Office for Student Success, which will oversee all tutoring and advising programs on campus. UM’s Undergraduate Advising Center has already felt some of those changes, with cuts to the number of peer advisers who will be advising new students at orientation sessions this summer, according to Carol Bates, peer advising coordinator.

With fewer peer advisers to help the advising center faculty, many of the students will be advised in groups instead of individually, according to Bates. She said that though she is skeptical of group advising, there is some information that can be easily conveyed to multiple students at once. However, she said, the concern is that it will be harder to meet students’ particular needs in that kind of setting. For that reason, students will be able to request an individual advising session.

The summer orientation sessions for new students will be held June 10-12 and 24-26, July 8-10 and August 26-28.

allison.maier@umontana.edu

MontPIRG and Kaimin fees shot down; RELF passes

“We were surprised. We did not see any vocal opposition,” Giem said. “Yet, it was a close race.”

And Giem said the result shows the group has a chance in the future. Overall it was a good night, he said.

The optional $4 fee the Revolving Energy Loan Fund passed 1,574–493

UM Climate Action Now member Sonny Kless said the fund wouldn’t have passed without support from ASUM.

“This was the result of a lot of people,” Kless said. “When students are presented an opportunity that makes sense to them, I think they are going to make the right choice.”

Trevor Hunter, outgoing ASUM president, said the RELF referendum was a great victory for students.

“It’s a wonderful fee and a wonderful program,” Hunter said. “It gives students a chance to have a hands-on experience with these types of projects.”

The ASUM Transportation fee increase of $3.50 to the current $23.50 passed 1,330–726.

Hunter said the fee will double bus service on the College of Technology route and eventually it will lead to the purchase of a new bus.

Hunter said he was not surprised that the MontPIRG fee didn’t pass since it didn’t pass in the senate, either.

“The students on this campus had similar concerns,” he said.

Giem said MontPIRG will push forward with the fee.

“We will continue to fight the good fight,” he said. “This is a small road bump. The movement will not die.”

The proposed increased Kaimin fee from $4 to $6 was voted down 1,083–975.

The ASUM Constitutional referenda passed 1,397–360.

Hunter said the referenda would clarify wording within the constitution.

Since the students approved the fees, they will go on to the Board of Regents for certification of approval.

kayla.matzke@umontana.edu

Fennell and May day: Pair wins ASUM top spots

The soft-spoken future vice president left the loud celebration to Fennell who let out a yelp and pumped his fist in a fashion that was appropriate for his punk-rock drummer persona.

The pair pulled 985 votes, the largest number of votes by an ASUM executive team in at least two years, Fennell said. Their opponents Daniel Zolnikov and Tara Haupt received 859 votes.

“We stirred some shit up,” Fennell said, smiling confidently. “We’re going to bring the noise.”

May agreed, saying she was proud of the popularity of the campaign.

“People really wanted us to win real bad,” she said.

Fennell is a senior majoring in art and social work. May is a sophomore majoring in political science and environmental studies.

“I think our greatest success was telling students what ASUM already offered them and then building upon that,” Fennell said.

Zolnikov and Haupt received the news among friends at The Depot at 9:45 p.m. after an hour of monitoring their phones. The call eventually came to Zolnikov and the table grew quiet as he politely took the news, then stepped outside the restaurant for a moment, followed by Haupt.

ASUM senate candidates Marissa Brewer and Andrew Dusek, who were sitting with Zolnikov and Haupt, had already received calls telling them they’d won enough votes when they learned that Fennell and May had been elected.

“It’s kind of like a bittersweet feeling,” Brewer said.

Dusek, a senator this year, agreed.

“It’s always hard when a friend gets bad news, but it’s also great to be going back,” he said.

When Haupt came back into the restaurant, she was greeted by sympathetic looks from her friends.

“No one died, you guys,” she said.

She called Fennell to congratulate him for winning the election.

“I think Matt and Emily can do great things in office, and I wish them luck,” she said.

Zolnikov said this was the first election he’s lost, but managed to find a way to put a positive spin on the situation.

“I’m kind of excited to be able to join the fencing club,” he said.

Jake Armstrong received the news that he’d been elected ASUM business manager while at his job at the Holiday Inn.

“I just let out such a whoop that I had to step outside,” he said.

Armstrong won with 922 votes. His opponent Mike Campbell received 619. Armstrong said he will work closely with student groups and try to be open and accessible, using channels of communication such as Twitter. He promised that he won’t let down those who voted for him.

“I am beyond stoked,” he said.

Fennell described the feeling of winning as a mix between excitement and pure calm.

“It’s like me watching my dog chase a squirrel,” he said. “It’s just Zen is what it is.”

Fennell looks like he could certainly hold his own in a mosh-pit or bang the drums to oblivion, but Thursday night was about celebrating his sense of relief with a bottle of wine to share among friends, with just one shot of Maker’s Mark for the winning team.

May admitted that they were willing to celebrate Thursday night before the work starts next year.

“I think any administration is going to hit roadblocks and have to go in prepared for them,” May said. “I think we’ve been realistic. It’s going to be a long haul, but we’re ready.”

Fennell said he agreed because the two prepared during the campaign to make sure their year goes as smoothly as possible.

“I’ve seen two administrations go through hard times, and they have done an amazing job,” Fennell said. “I think me and Emily have strength and ingenuity to push ASUM to new heights.”

Dusek, who received the most votes for ASUM senator with 667, said it’s hard to predict the issues that will face the senate next year, but that Fennell and May will probably take more of an “activist stance” and introduce some progressive issues.

“It’s always really dictated by the executives,” he said.

The major challenge Fennell said he and May have been preparing for is the constant demand for them to do the best job possible and to deal with pressure from students.

“The idea of student outreach, the principles we chose to act upon, are going to be ongoing,” Fennell said, but added after a shot of Maker’s Mark that, “we’re fearless.”

joshua.potter@umontana.edu
allison.maier@umontana.edu

Uncertain funding has many library improvements on hold

For the past month, the library has displayed a floor plan and three-dimensional model illustrating what will be done with the main floor of the library, which is technically the third floor since two floors are underground. Allen plans to make some of the changes this summer, though she doesn’t know when the renovation will be complete, mainly because the university still needs more than a million dollars to make it happen.

In order to get that money, the library is relying in private donors rather than student fees or university sources of income. However, the dismal state of the economy means that donations aren’t exactly flowing in. For that reason, the library is focused on sending out promotional material to find some financial support.

The main floor reconstruction is only the beginning of what Allen hopes will eventually be a renovation of every floor of the library, a task with a timeline she can’t yet determine.

“I want the library to be a comfortable and useful place for students. And it is, but we can do a lot more,” Allen said.

The role of libraries has changed in recent years as more people use the Internet as their primary tool for gathering information.

Now, libraries are used less for storing paper and more for offering a variety of technological resources, according to Allen. The proposed changes aim to modernize the Mansfield Library, which was built in 1973 when libraries were still used in traditional ways.

Some of the proposed changes for the library include furniture designed to give students enough room to work together on a single computer and areas that would allow students to present their work using technology such as flat screen monitors, Allen said. While some areas would be designed to allow large groups of students to work together, individual study areas would also be available.

Allen said the Mansfield Library is almost “tomblike,” it’s so quiet.

“I know students are trying to escape dorms and noisy homes. So we will offer that (quiet), but I don’t think today’s libraries need to be silent,” she said.

The proposed plan would bring tutoring services located in other areas of the library to the main floor so they would be more easily accessible. Library faculty would have offices in the same area. The back wall of the library would be knocked out in order to make more room available.

About 15,000 people visit the library each week, according to counts taken by the electronic gates at the entrance of the library. Allen said that while the majority of those people are students, many are visitors who tend to spend a lot more time on library computers. For that reason, Allen said, 10 computers would be set aside for visitor use while the rest would be reserved for students.

In addition, the plan calls for more electrical outlets for students using computers and better lighting, including large windows rather than small slits in the walls. The new floor plan also includes room for a coffee bar.

New furniture is another component of the plan. Allen said learning what students like is a process of trial and error. One new desk has already been placed on the main floor to see how students respond.

“Most students don’t know what they’d like to see, but they like it when they have it,” Allen said.

The library has received some feedback about their plan from students and faculty who have filled out voluntary surveys located on the main floor of the library. Allen said the response has been mostly positive.

ASUM senator Whitney Sjostrom, who sits on the Faculty Library Committee, said the reconstruction is a good long-term project for the library.
“I think it’s a really awesome idea,” she said. “I think it will make the library more friendly for students.”

allison.maier@umontana.edu

Editorial: Issuing a challenge: consider a different ‘cool’

After four years of being here and bicycling around campus five days a week, I’ve come to understand why. It’s not that the definition of cool changes so much as the people defining it. In high school, everyone is together, taking the same classes: jocks, the popular crowd, art geeks, the outcasts and the majority that just float around. To be cool, you have to fit the one mold of the melting pot you’re forced to stand in. You don’t give a crap about school, you’re athletic, you drink on the weekends and you wear Abercrombie and Fitch.

But in college, art geeks don’t have to go to gym with jocks or go to the gym at all. And music kids aren’t forced to go to classes with the “cool” kids. Everyone is separate. The art kids have their own building where they see only art kids. Those that were the art geeks in high school now feel cool and can be true to themselves because everyone around them cares about the same stuff they do, whether it be Frisbee or whatever. Their cool is now always cool.

This seems like a good thing, to feel comfortable, not an outcast because you don’t fit a shallow mold. But it can be just as bad.

The U.S. is known as a melting pot, where various cultures and people of varied backgrounds all live together. But do we? Every city still has its little Italy or its Chinatown, where those of the same background flock together, fearful of entering the melting pot.

It’s the same on campus. Everyone keeps to their groups where they feel safe. Most foreign students who study here still congregate only with those from their own country, speaking together in their native language. We’re all living in the same country, but we’re not living together. It’s the same on campus. We’re all attending the same school, going to the same campus every day, but we only talk to and are friends with those in our major. By the time we’re seniors, we only go to one building. We’re together, but completely separate.

It’s unhealthy to never challenge yourself, to never walk out of your comfort zone into the overall group. Even when we leave college, most graduates will go off to a job, and it will be the same all over again. Instead of cloistering with students in the School of Fine Arts, you’ll do it by making friends only with coworkers with the exact same interests as you, who agree with you and who don’t challenge you to try new things and grow.

Public high school is the closest thing the U.S. has to a melting pot. There we are forced to intermingle, to coexist. When people have the choice, they’ll huddle in small groups.

Trevon Milliard, news editor
trevon.milliard@umontana.edu

Droppin' the 'Baum: on the end of ink

With those fantastic failures in mind, I’ve opted to tell stories. Sometimes, they read like diary entries, and you probably only got deeply involved with them if you were, well, me. Seriously, some of that stuff I couldn’t even get my mom to read.

Which is why I owe a huge thanks to editors for printing “The ‘Baum” against their better judgment – not to mention any poor copy editor who, by the nature of their job, was obligated to read my columns all the way to the end.

Because of them, I’ve had a lot of fun this year. What was written in a dim basement apartment got hooked up to the megaphone that is a free (complimentary – believe me, you pay for it) campus paper. Some days, I felt like I was howling at the ocean on a still, black night and getting nothing in return. Other days, the e-mails came rushing in like a tide, foaming and churning with all your salty anger. If you sent me e-mail like that, thank you. In my narcissism, it felt wonderful to know I had touched a nerve. But your letters were not in vain. With the exception of two utterly confused ramblings, your e-mails at least made me think. A few of you even made me re-evaluate my position entirely.

The letter to President George Dennison spoofing Obama’s tax plan is still, and may always be, my favorite column. Dennison hasn’t written back on whether he’ll redistribute our grade point averages, but as I get worse and worse as a student, I’m starting to think it’s a good idea. In the absence of administrative feedback, I received a tsunami of angry letters, calling me a fascist and a couple o’ hearty ayes to boot. (Sorry for talking like a pirate there and for all the sea references. I just switched the language of my Facebook page to “pirate.”)

But this is only the end of the print edition. You can keep up with the ‘Baum weekly from now on at (shameless self-promotion) droppinthebaum.blogspot.com.

So this is where the Kaimin and I part ways, and I bend over to blow four months’ rent on a single month-long online course: Ethics in Health Professions (which will be so useful to a journalism major). Here’s to the class of (summer) 2009.

alexander.tenenbaum@umontana.edu

Opinion: March Madness can’t hold a candle to 40 Games in 40 Nights

Some will argue propensity for upsets is the main allure of the NCAA games. But upsets go by the wayside after the first or second round. Since 2001, only two teams (No. 5 Michigan State in 2005 and No. 11 George Mason in 2006) have made it to the Final Four without being a top-three seed.

When all is said and done, sports fans like to have a hard copy bracket they can wave in their fellow sports fans’ faces, proving that they “know” more about college basketball.

And the chance to take your friends’ and co-workers’ money is all gravy.

Sure, every year, a Cleveland State beats a Wake Forest. But is that the result of a well-executed game plan or simply luck? March Madness lovers may argue that upsets simply don’t happen in the NBA playoffs due to the seven-game series format.

But, if an underdog beats a top seed in the NBA playoffs in a best-of-seven, isn’t that truly an upset? Luck and cold shooting are diminished, if not eliminated, during a seven-game series, whereas upsets are not.

A 16-team playoff with four rounds means the eventual NBA champion can potentially play in 28 games, the equivalent of more than a quarter of an NBA regular season. This may seem to make the regular season irrelevant. But this format has many benefits.

First, a seven-game series makes for good drama. Storylines between teams build, intensity builds, game planning evolves and individual battles become highly competitive.

Before this year’s playoffs began, no one was looking to the first-round matchup between the Chicago Bulls and the Boston Celtics as the first matchup to watch. But Tuesday night, the Celtics survived the third overtime game of the series to go up 3-2 as the series headed back to Chicago.

No one expected overtime drama. No one expected such a heated battle. No one expected the birth of a rivalry that fans could love for years to come, as both the Bulls’ Derrick Rose and the Celtics’ Rajon Rondo have had coming-out parties.

Aside from building suspense and individual battles within the war, how can anyone complain about more basketball? The NBA markets the playoffs as “40 games in 40 nights.”

Anyone who considers themselves a true basketball fan cannot find anything wrong with watching the greatest athletes in the world compete at the highest level of competition for six straight weeks.

Even if the NBA Finals almost never feature surprise teams, they almost never disappoint. Only twice in the past decade and only seven times in the 63-year history of the Finals has there been a sweep.

On the contrary, seven of the last 10 NCAA Finals have been affairs decided by double digits. North Carolina defeated Michigan State 89-72 earlier this month in the most anticlimactic championship ever played, regardless of sport.

Not only does drama within a series exist, drama surrounding potential matchups builds as well. NBA fans from coast to coast hoped for a Boston Celtics-Los Angeles Lakers final in 2008. When the two storied franchises squared off, it was the official rejuvenation of the NBA, a league that has been searching for a solid identity since the retirement of Michael Jordan.

With a young, hungry, LeBron-led Cleveland Cavaliers team waiting to overthrow the defending champion Celtics in the East, the league is again relevant in the conversation of the dominant sport in the U.S., alongside the NFL.

When it comes down to it –gambling, brackets and upsets aside – only one question needs to be considered when determining the greater of the two men’s basketball tournaments.

Which would you rather watch? The ineloquence of Tyler Hansbrough leading the preseason favorite to an excruciatingly boring victory over a no-name Spartans squad?

Or Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers trying to cement the Black Mamba’s place in history against a man who may just be the heir apparent to his Airness in King James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in a seven-game series?

Two words. Kobe-LeBron.

colter.nuanez@umontana.edu

UM professor holds court on the benefits of squash

“It’s a little bit of a desert here for squash,” Greene said. “When I got here, there were no squash courts, I think, in all of Montana. I led a group that retrofitted a racquetball court, in a place that is now a business, into kind of a squash court.”

Greene said the court they constructed had the correct markings of a squash court, but the dimensions were the same as a racquetball court. “The courts were about 10 feet too long,” Greene said. “It was good conditioning but poor squash.”

Since his playing days on the makeshift court, Greene has seen the construction of a squash court in the Rec Center on campus.

The number of players in Missoula remained low for a while. Although Greene then had a court to play on, he spent time in the court hitting alone.

“I would just do a lot of solo drills,” Greene said. “It’s a great workout either way.”

Greene said that squash has slowly grown on campus, and he now has a solid contingent of people whom he plays with. The growing popularity of the game is, in part, due to Greene’s efforts of introducing the game to different people.

Senior Hugh Daniels, who was once a member of UM’s tennis team, was taking a biology class from Greene last year when Greene led Daniels to the game.

“In class, he would always drop random squash references,” Daniels said. “One day after class, I asked him if he ever had time to teach me how to play. He introduced me to the game, and we started playing quite a bit. I love it because I get about twice the exercise in about half the time I would with tennis.”

Teaching squash is an aspect of the game that you would expect a professor such as Greene, who obtained his doctorate degree from Princeton, to excel at.

“I like to get out there with anybody, whatever the skill level. I’ll go out there with a beginner just to show them the basics.”

Another benefit of introducing new people to the game for Greene is watching his new players catch squash fever. Greene said once players try it the first time, they get hooked for the most part, even the dreaded racquetball players, as Greene calls them.

“I like to convert people from their evil ways of racquetball until they see the true righteous path that is squash,” Greene joked.

Squash, in Greene’s mind, is superior to racquetball because of the “athletic chess” that is involved in the game.

“You can hit the ball 100 miles an hour like you do in racquetball,” Greene said. “But, because the ball is dead (a squash ball doesn’t bounce nearly as much as a racquetball), it just dies coming off the wall. The game is really about moving the other person out of position, not hitting kill shots. You maneuver your opponent out of position over seven or eight shots in order to finally win the point. You’re always thinking ahead a few shots.”

The “athletic chess” that Greene refers to is also seen in his game. In matches, Greene will volley with opponents, patiently awaiting an errant hit from his rival. He then swiftly takes advantage of the mistake with either a deadly drop shot or a cross-court rocket.

“He is a shrewd tactician on the court,” said Jack Branston, a 24-year-old graduate of the University of Tennessee, who recently moved to Montana. Branston, who has been playing squash for several years, said that Greene was the first person he heard of when he asked about squash in Montana.

“I found him through a couple of handballers,” Branson said. “I was hitting on the court by myself, and they basically pointed me towards Erick.”

Through Greene, Branston said he has found many other people to hit with.

“He is great for networking here,” he said. “He put me in touch with several other players, even a couple in Great Falls and Kalispell.”

For Greene, the slowly-growing Montana squash base, which he calls “a small hardcore group,” is something that he enjoys and hopes to build on for the future.

“I’ve been playing three to four times a week for 20 years now,” Greene said. “But I just love it, and it’s a great way to stay active. I’m always trying to encourage younger people to come out and play.”

Greene loves the game, and every new person that he introduces to squash in turn is another person that Greene has the opportunity to share the court with.

“It’s just such a great game,” Greene said. “And if there are any people out there, students or faculty, new or old to the game, I would love to know.”

tyson.alger@umontana.edu

Going after the white picket fence

Mick Murray pulls the car into the Missoula County Detention Center parking lot. He pushes the golf ball-sized shifting knob into park and walks to the back of the car. While Murray pulls a stroller from the Prius’s rear hatch, the woman takes her girls out of the car and unbuckles the car seats she brought with her. She places her youngest girl in the stroller on the sidewalk. The older girl then walks to her mother’s side on the sun-bleached concrete, and both face the building. As Murray drives off, the mother grabs a car seat in one hand and the stroller’s handle in the other. The other empty car seat sits on the pavement, waiting for the third hand that she doesn’t have.

“If people are calling a cab, things aren’t going well for them,” said Murray, cab driver and owner of Green Taxi, a Missoula County taxi service that uses hybrid cars. “You see people at their weakest and their worst. Not just intoxicated, but in some sort of crisis. Last year, I took a woman to the hospital who thought she was having a heart attack. It was super scary.”

Taxis are an expensive way to get around town. Riders shell out $5 just to get in the Green Taxi and $2.50 per mile after that. After 25 miles, it drops to $1.50 per mile. It’s a luxury, admits Murray, but he’s learned that most riders simply have no other options. And it’s true now more than ever. People have been watching their wallets very closely these last eight months.

“People aren’t going to dinner, having a few bottles of wine and calling me,” Murray said. “The type of use has changed. People call only when absolutely necessary, whether they’re drunk or stranded.”

Economic conditions have made it hard for Murray and his wife to build a business based on their dream for a hybrid-vehicle taxi service. But the hurting economy is only the latest roadblock for this year-old company that spent the previous two and a half years and thousands of dollars convincing the state it deserved a license. The Murrays had to persuade the Montana Public Service Commission that a new taxi company wouldn’t hurt the existing one, Yellow Cab. The hurdle was created to ensure that a town has a healthy public transportation system and not two struggling cab companies. Robert Gray, Yellow Cab’s owner at the time, thought the competition from Green Taxi would initiate his downfall and fought Green Taxi the entire way.

The chances for Green Taxi didn’t look good, but the Murrays got their license in December 2007 on the evidence that Yellow Cab’s service, according to a dozen testimonies, wasn’t meeting Missoula’s needs. The Murrays insisted that competition would give Missoula two consumer-conscientious cab companies instead of one taking its customers for granted.

Since hitting the road with one Prius in late February 2008, the Murrays had a spurt of success in May and June, but little else has given them great confidence, according to Jessica Murray, bookkeeper for the business.

“When I did the books those months and looked at what we were taking in, we were making more than ever before,” she said. “It wasn’t thousands of dollars more, but we could pay the bills.”

For extra money, Jessica also works in Missoula as an adjunct professor of social work and sociology at Walla Walla University’s branch graduate school. But she spends most of her time at home with her two children, she said.

Since August, Green Taxi’s numbers have waned due to the recession and fewer tourists. Winter was especially tough because people just stayed at home, Mick said.

He admits a ride in his cab “is by no means cheap.” To attract repeat customers, he looked into offering frequent-riders cards and senior discounts, but the Public Service Commission denied his request, saying it’s discrimination, Murray said.

As of now, Green Taxi is breaking even, but it’s a struggle.

“For a new business in a deep recession, we’re doing good,” Murray said.

The extra money the company pulled in last summer has become critical in the current slump, Jessica said.

Yellow Cab also started feeling the pinch, but not until a few weeks ago, said co-owner Victor Hill. This past year was marked with great success for the company despite the new kid in town encroaching on their territory.

A green chalkboard hanging in the office marks the “New High Day” for Yellow Cab. Scribbled on the board is “12/31/2008. 687 passengers. 442 calls. $4,298.50.” The cab company broke its high mark on six different days last year. Kristine Baker, office manager, has worked 18 years for Yellow Cab and said she’s never seen anything like it.

The record breakers were due to improvements made over the last year, Hill said. Yellow Cab spent $36,000 overhauling its eight taxis. About $10,000 more was spent to equip each taxi with a GPS unit and upgrade dispatch with a state-of-the-art computer system.

In the office, Baker stands on a raised platform behind a tall desk. Three computer screens and two keyboards cover the desktop. The right and left screens are regular size, but the middle one is a long rectangle about 3 feet high and 1 foot wide. A map of Missoula on the right screen is marked by moving dots, each one depicting the live-time position of all eight taxis.

The new system has allowed Baker to handle 30 calls at a time if needed and cut the average response time in half (from 27 minutes to 15 minutes) since it’s easy to see which cab can get to the passenger the quickest. Yellow Cab has been planning for the computer upgrade since 1998, but only recently did the price come down enough to make it affordable for the small cab company, Hill said. They’re in a similar situation with hybrid cars. Yellow Cab just has to wait for hybrid car prices to come down and the technology to improve. But they haven’t yet, he said.

The biggest change in Yellow Cab this past year has been driver courtesy, Hill said. This was an overriding issue during Green Taxi’s licensing struggle, since many customers and former drivers testified to the Commission that Yellow Cab drivers were rude, late to pickups and unreasonable. In the last year, Yellow Cab has made its drivers take sensitivity training and defensive driving courses, Hill said.

Jessica claims that Yellow Cab has stepped up its service because another player has stepped onto the stage, and it now has to compete for attention. The Murrays argued this would happen when fighting for their license two years ago, trying to prove another cab company would benefit Missoula. During the hearings, Yellow Cab took the opposite stance, saying a small town such as Missoula couldn’t feed two cab companies. Hill still takes that stance.

Missoula doesn’t have two cab companies fighting for customers, he said. Yellow Cab still controls 99 percent of Missoula’s taxi service. That’s not competition. Green Taxi runs one cab to Yellow Cab’s eight. And that will increase to 10 by next year.

“(Mick) could disappear tomorrow and no one would notice,” Hill said. “If we disappeared, he couldn’t do anything to keep up with the demand.”

And if Green Taxi was bigger, Missoula would have two dying cab companies, Hill said.

But Jessica Murray still argues that competition from Green Taxi is a benefit to Missoula and even to Yellow Cab.

“(Yellow Cab’s) quality of service has gone up because of Green Taxi,” she said. “We need to step up cab service in general. By creating competition, we’re going to do that.”

trevon.milliard@umontana.edu

Retiring biology professor was tough but interactive

The black tape will come down this May, when the professor of what some call “the most challenging course a UM undergraduate can take” retires to spend more time with her family.

“It was a decision that took a lot of time, and I need a schedule with more latitude and flexibility,” she said.

Westphal’s presence will be sorely missed, said the associate dean of the division of biological sciences, Charlie Janson.

“These are difficult shoes to fill,” he said. “Every student who commits themselves to the course looks back on it as one of the defining courses of their career at UM.”

Janson said he is actively engaged in a search for Westphal’s replacement. A temporary instructor will teach the course in the fall, during which the division can conduct a national search for a permanent hire.

The anatomy and physiology course, BIOL 313, is an in-depth study of bodily systems, including skeletal, muscular and skin systems. The course is intended to prepare students for a career in the health care professions.

The class is widely referred to as one of the most intense and challenging courses at UM.

“You have to be able to think on your feet. Not all answers come from a page of a textbook.” Westphal said. “Learning is not just about memorization and your grade. You really have to start learning at a higher level. And with that, we become uncomfortable, and this is when you really start learning.”

This idea rang clear and true for former student Jeremy Dunphy, who now works as Westphal’s teaching assistant and lab instructor.

“I wanted to cry a couple times in the middle of exams because I felt like I was seeing stuff I had never come across before,” Dunphy said.

Several students drop out of the two-semester lab and lecture course, Dunphy said, adding that during the second semester, he felt like the class shrank by almost half.

Dunphy said he appreciated Westphal’s teaching style – it forced him to understand all the material presented because she never went over what may or may not be on tests.

“Her teaching style is so interactive, animated and full of analogies,” Dunphy said.

Westphal said it’s hard for her to sign student drop slips when she knows that, for some, the class caused a large amount of stress and discomfort.
“Who likes to cause that?” Westphal said. “But that’s really part of the learning experience.”

Westphal said she doesn’t see her departure from UM as a retirement because she still plans to work in some way in the future.

Originally from Bozeman, with a bachelor’s degree from Montana State University and a doctorate degree from the University of Kentucky, she previously worked worldwide for the U.S. Army as a physical therapist. Her work experience led her to military hospitals in Denver, Colo.; Tacoma, Wash.; San Antonio, Texas; Massachusetts and Germany.

Westphal said she always planned to come back to Montana and eventually retire.

“I think a lot of people from Montana have that dream,” Westphal said. “I don’t know exactly what will come next for me workwise. For now, I’m going to be able to see more of my family.”

kelsey.bernius@umontana.edu

Interim dean to fill position for arts college

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.

This spring will be the last time students’ diplomas will say they have graduated from the School of Fine Arts.

Starting next fall, the programs will fall under the College of Visual and Performing Arts, which will contain four different schools: the School of Art, School of Theatre and Dance, School of Music and School of Media Arts.

The change in titles was approved last March by the Montana Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s university systems.

Kalm said the change reflects the fact that the College of Visual and Performing Arts is capable of giving out both undergraduate and graduate degrees in an array of disciplines.

Kalm said the name change sheds light on the fact that UM plays an important role in the arts.

“I’m tremendously excited to take this position, and I’m looking forward to working with my colleagues to expand our influence on the role of arts in the state and throughout the nation,” he said.

Kalm was selected from among three other candidates, one of whom withdrew after he was offered another job. A search committee selected the candidates and gathered feedback on each from students, faculty and community members before Provost Royce Engstrom made the final selection.

allison.maier@umontana.edu

State legislature passes three fiscal bills before adjourning

Both parties said they stuck to their priorities throughout the session, with Republicans touting lower state spending and Democrats praising the state funding of children’s health insurance and education.

“I think overall we have done the people’s business,” said Sen. Carol Williams, D-Missoula.

The approved House Bill 2, the state budget, will fully fund the Healthy Montana Kids Plan, a voter-approved expansion of children’s health insurance funded by the state. The budget will also give K-12 education a 3 percent increase in funding next year with help from federal dollars.

Democrats demanded the full expansion for children’s health care and more school funding for most of the session, but Republicans asserted that the state did not have enough money to pay for a new program and still maintain state agencies.

In an effort to reduce state spending, Senate Republicans cut 2 percent from all state agency budgets, a move that left a bad taste in some Democratic mouths.
“This specifically targets jobs in state agencies,” said Sen. Christine Kaufmann, D-Helena.

The Senate voted 27-23 to approve the latest version of the budget, but several senators expressed reservations about overspending.

“I’m flabbergasted that this is what we call an austere budget,” said Sen. Joe Balyeat, R-Bozeman, after describing more than $10 billion of state spending.

Sen. Jim Shockley, R-Victor, said revenues would probably not bounce back as quickly as the budget suggests, and Montana will be in a hole.

“This (budget) is a compromise, but it won’t work,” Shockley said.

The Senate budgeting chairman, Sen. Keith Bales, R-Otter, stood up for the budget he and his committee crafted, but also expressed doubts about avoiding a special session.

“I don’t know that we could’ve crafted a budget in these uncertain times that everybody could’ve gotten what they wanted,” Bales said.

Many Senate Democrats voted against the budget because it rerouted funding that was earmarked by voters for the Healthy Montana Kids Plan into the general fund.

They also disagreed with removing an amendment that would allow the Children’s Health Insurance Program to pay for contraceptives.

“In 2009, to be standing here trying to beg and plead about having contraception being taken care of so children will have healthy opportunities ahead of them instead of unplanned pregnancy is just beyond my recognition of where we are as a people,” said Senate Minority leader Carol Williams, D-Missoula.

Sen. John Brueggeman also favored CHIP-funded contraceptives as a means of avoiding future abortions.

“I wish that everyone was living biblically moral lives; I wish that was the case, but it is not,” Brueggeman said. He told Republicans that more abortions would happen because women could not access birth control.

“We all have to be clear with that,” Brueggeman said. “We all have to sleep with that.”

The House voted to pass the budget with a 56-44 vote and little discussion. Rep. Jon Sesso, D-Butte, said he worked with Republicans to craft an austere and prudent budget that also pays for children’s health care and education.

“I’m proud of the package that we present to you today,” Sesso said. “It’s a budget we can say without a doubt is fiscally responsible.”

But the House would not stay quiet for long. The bill that seeks to lessen the sting of higher property taxes after reappraisal, House Bill 658, was debated hotly after several Democrats split with their leadership to denounce the bill.

Rep. Mike Jopek, D-Whitefish, said the bill does not provide enough money for mitigation and homeowners could be faced with a 15 percent tax increase with little help for elderly or low-income residents. Rep. Dick Barrett, D-Missoula, agreeing with Jopek, said the bill forces the poor to pay more of their wages toward property taxes than the wealthy.

But House Speaker Bob Bergren, D-Havre, said the bill needed to pass before the end of the day or a special session would be necessary.

“Right now, this is the best we can hammer out,” Bergren said. He added that if there were problems with mitigation, the next session could adjust rates.

The bill passed with a 57-43 vote.

The 2007 session was plagued with bipartisan acrimony over a $1 billion surplus, which led to the Legislature’s failure to complete its one constitutional duty – constructing a state budget for the next two years – in regular session. Lawmakers said they entered into the 2009 session with that lesson learned.

Leadership from both parties said they were proud of the civility and openness between them in both houses.

Before any of the work can officially be counted as completed, the bills have to be signed into law by Gov. Brian Schweitzer. The governor said he has yet to look over the details in the budget and stimulus bills, but hopes there will not have to be a special session to deal with discrepancies.

“I’m pleased with the work of the Legislature; this wasn’t an easy session for anyone,” Schweitzer said. “Let us hope that there isn’t something that we left behind.”

But Schweitzer said he was not pleased with the work done on property tax reappraisal mitigation because it gave too many breaks to subdivision owners and businesses.

The governor also said universities should be able to mitigate tuition increases despite drastic cuts made to their budgets in HB2.

“I would encourage the Board of Regents to cap tuition for another two years,” Schweitzer said.

Since fewer than 100 legislators voted in favor of the budget, Schweitzer retains the power to veto individual aspects of the bill. The governor would not say if this was a choreographed effort by Democrats, but did say there is always communication between his staff and Democratic legislators.

Bergren said there was talk about ensuring Schweitzer’s line-item veto power, but nothing official.

“There were some discussions in the hall, but there was no coordinated effort,” Bergren said.

Barring special session, the next Legislature will meet in 2011.

molly.priddy@umontana.edu