College Happenings

It is always good to have choices. Even if you don’t choose.

What to do. My hometown newspaper has offered me a dream job. Mon- Fri 8-5 designing. I love design. It is one of my favorite parts of the newspaper business. I would get to do a bit of editing as well.

So what’s the problem? It is in Sheridan, WY. Maybe if I hadn’t grown up there I would be exited to go back. Just the thought of moving back there makes be feel like I can’t breathe.

It would be nice to be close to by family, but that seems like the only bonus.

There is also a fabulous job opportunity in Casper, WY. The Casper Star Tribune is a really great paper. Really great. They have an opening for a copy editor and designer. It has a great benefits package, plus a 401K.

But Casper, WY is like the butt crack of Wyoming. It is windy and dirty and there is a lot of meth-related crime. And the mountains are small and the ski area sucks.

Hopefully a job opportunity will arise here in Western Montana.

It is time to party like a rock star. Today I am off to the sunny beaches of Cancun Mexico! I’ll be drinking irresponsibly, making out with random guys and girls and showing my breasts to the guys from Girls Gone Wild! I can’t wait!

Yeah, not really. Instead I’ll be working some extra hours and trying to finish the incredibly long I Am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe. Hopefully it gets better as it goes on.

The weather is pretty nice. Not nice enough for floating or anything, but nice enough to go for a hike or a walk along the river.

I know I sound lame, no partying for the break. Last year I went back to Wyoming for spring break, and the year before I did party like a rock star.

Sure I only frequented the Missoula and Valley bars, but I had an excellent time. I got super swaysted, yes swaysted, pretty much all week long. Partied with my friends and acted like a jackass. That is what spring break is all about.

Then you have to return to school for six more weeks. Sometimes it can be hard to buckle back down after you have that little taste of freedom.

Happy Birthday Rady!

Dick Cheney’s Suite Demands
Veep’s “rider” requires Sprite, 68 degrees, TVs tuned to Fox News

MARCH 23–After posting the performance contracts of artists like Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, and U2, The Smoking Gun has finally obtained the backstage demands of a real rock star. That’s right, below you’ll find a copy of Vice President Dick Cheney’s standard “tour” rider. The document is provided to hotels where Cheney will be bunking and lists how the Republican pol’s “Downtime Suite” needs to be outfitted. While the vice president’s requests are pretty modest (no extract-the-brown-M&M demands here), Cheney does like his suite at a comfy 68 degrees. And, of course, all the televisions need to be preset to the Fox News Channel (what, you thought he was a Lifetime devotee?). Decaf coffee should be ready upon his arrival along with four cans of caffeine-free Diet Sprite. And when Cheney is traveling with his wife Lynne, the second family’s suite needs an additional two bottles of sparkling water. Mrs. Cheney’s H2O should be either Calistoga or, curiously, Perrier, a favored beverage of French terrorism appeasers. The document, prepared by the vice president’s advance team, was obtained by TSG after it was provided to a hotel employee prior to a Cheney visit. When we asked Cheney spokesperson Jenny Mayfield about the document’s reference to gifts that hotels might leave in the suite for the vice president, she told us she was unable to address that question since she had not seen the “downtime requirements” rider (she asked for a copy, which we declined to provide in advance of its publication here). At our source’s request, we’ve blacked out the handwritten name and Washington, D.C. phone number of a Cheney staffer. As for the notations regarding extra lamps, specific newspapers, and a carafe, it is unclear whether they were added by an advance team staffer or a hotel official.
To read more and see documents click here to go the smoking gun.

This is from the Missoulian

A sea of homemade signs bobbed above the throng of anti-war protesters at the University of Montana on Monday, airing what appeared to be the majority opinion of 300-some students, professors, campus staff and community residents who participated in the noon-hour event on the Oval.

Among the hastily-scrawled, hand-held message boards and one artfully painted banner were these sentiments: “Bring our troops home,� “No more war,� “Peace, back by popular demand,� “Fund education not war,� and “Your country is calling George, time to come home.�

A trio of women calling themselves the “Radical Cheerleaders for Peace� warmed up the crowd and got the rally started by uniting the hundreds of voices in a “No war, Go Peace� chant.

As the sound system got wired up to dance-party music provided by an on-site DJ, an event organizer took in the scene and the ever-growing number of people who gathered together.

Ross Miranti smiled quietly, and said he wasn’t surprised by the robust turnout.

“About three weeks ago, me and my friends realized nothing was going on at the University of Montana to protest the third anniversary of the war in Iraq,� he said. “I knew that there was a lot of people here who have feelings against the war, and we felt that we had to somehow facilitate a platform for people to channel their feelings. This is exactly what we thought would happen.�

A few individual protesters arrived with drums, pounding out a background rhythm while others handed out Xeroxed copies of apocalyptic drawings.

Seeds of Peace, an Idaho-based group that supports social and environmental justice events, arrived with a food cart, providing protesters with free helpings of steamed rice and cooked vegetables.

“Food represents community, and helps people be out here when it’s cold,â€? Emily Rose explained as she helped dish up the meals. “It helps make sure people hang around and support this kind of event.â€?

Some students, like Becky Vandercar, skipped class to attend the protest. Others, like Ken King, attended the event for an English 101 class assignment, and a small minority, like Will Selph, came to counter-protest.

Aligning himself with a small pack of students who carried College Republicans Support Our Troops banners and “We Support Our Troops and the War� signs, Selph said it was important for a different perspective to be represented.

“It’s important to show and send the message that there are conservative voices on this campus and that we don’t want to be left out of this circle,â€? he said.

While few like-minded brethren showed up to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Selph and his handful of friends, others did share their beliefs in a more anonymous fashion.

Messages written in blue chalk on the Oval sidewalk and other campus walkways read: “Soldiers give you the right to protest,� “Thank Soldiers 4 Peace,� and other similar statements.

Phil Reed, a UM student and Army veteran, took his turn at the microphone to share with the crowd his revelation: There are other options for solving world challenges than through violence.

Borrowing themes from conservative Republicans, UM professor Phil Fandozzi called for the conservation of the U.S. Constitution, the preservation of America’s moral traditions, the protection of privacy from intrusions by “Big Brother Bush and his ‘dis-patriot act,’ and the preservation of America’s tradition of academic and scientific freedom from political manipulation and religious fundamentalism.â€?

“Terrorism wins when fear replaces vigilance,â€? Fandozzi said. “Worry not to ‘cut and run’ from Iraq; but to ‘cut and run’ from the values and traditions that make this country great.â€?

Katie Kane, an English professor, used her invitation to speak to invoke the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. and his speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.�

Her impassioned delivery received an equally impassioned response from the audience.

“The war in Iraq is wrong, it betrays the promise of America when it tortures innocent and guilty alike, when it turns our citizen-soldiers into torturers,� Kane said. “The war in Iraq is wrong, it betrays the notion of America when it means that there is no money or will to help the homeless people of New Orleans, Louisiana and Mississippi.

“The war in Iraq is wrong, it overturns the promise of America when it wiretaps Americans and plays fast and loose with our civil rights.�

It is wrong, she said, when “it pollutes and corrupts the dream of America, when it kills some 37,000 Iraqi citizens, when it burns and breaks and wounds the bodies of children, when it takes the lives of over 2,400 American women and men, and wounds and maims thousands more.�

Event organizer Reed Perry wrapped up the event with a moment of silence followed by a loudly amplified recording of the song “Why Can’t We Be Friendsâ€? by the 1970s band War.

“Thanks for doing the right thing and showing up,� he said.

There’s more protesting to come, he said, every day this week at noon on the Oval.

Saw this on Yahoo news.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two men, both veteran law enforcement officers, suffered fatal heart attacks while running in Sunday’s Los Angeles Marathon, marking the first deaths in the event since 1990, organizers said on Monday.

Los Angeles police detective Raul Reyna, 53, and retired Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy James Leone, 60, are believed to be the second and third contestants in the 21-year history of the L.A. Marathon to die during the 26.2-mile (40-km) race.

Marathon officials said the only other runner known to have died in the race was 59-year-old William McKinney, who suffered a heart attack 21 miles into the competition in 1990.

Reyna collapsed 3 miles into the race. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Leone was stricken less than 3 miles from the finish line and died at a local hospital, officials said.

A third man had a heart attack about seven blocks into the race but survived.

Sunday’s race was won by Benson Cherono of Kenya, who crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 8 minutes and 40 seconds to set a new course record. Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia was the women’s winner with a time of 2 hours, 25 minutes, 10 seconds — a course record for female runners.

She also won a $100,000 bonus as the first runner to cross the finish in a separate competition within the marathon, the Banco Popular Challenge, in which the women were given a 16-minute, 46-second head start.

Friday the people on campus were very up beat. Perhaps it was due to the ample parking created by the number of people who went to Butte or Utah. Perhaps everyone already had a good green bear buzz. I was personally up beat because the crocuses on campus have all pushed trhough the dit and begun showing themselves. I love signs of spring.

The Griz did well this weekend. Thursday they beat Nevada and went to the second round of the NCAA Championships. They lost the second game, but Griz fans are still pumped.

My St. Patricks Day was uneventful. My favorite Bar Hunny’s closed for good. That was a bummer but I hear the last night was rockin! I worked in the evening rather than go out.

My friend Ashley went to Butte to celebrate St. Patricks Day and an even bigger event, her birthday. She is going to give me a full report.

Yeah for our First Amendment!

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - An Alaska high school violated a student’s
free
speech rights by suspending him after he unfurled a banner reading
“Bong
Hits 4 Jesus” across the street from the school, a federal court ruled
on
Friday.

Joseph Frederick, a student at Juneau-Douglas High School in Alaska,
displayed the banner — which refers to smoking marijuana — in January
2002
to try to get on television as the Olympic torch relay was passing the
school.

Principal Deborah Morse seized the banner and suspended the 18-year-old
for
10 days, saying he had undermined the school’s educational mission and
anti-drug stance.

Friday’s ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San
Francisco
overturned a decision by a federal court in Alaska that backed
Frederick’s
suspension and said his rights were not violated.

The appeals court said the banner was protected speech because it did
not
disrupt school activity and was displayed off school grounds during a
non-curricular activity.

“Public schools are instrumentalities of government, and government is
not
entitled to suppress speech that undermines whatever missions it
defines for
itself,” Judge Andrew Kleinfeld wrote in the court’s opinion.

The court also cleared the way for Frederick to seek damages, saying
Morse
was aware of relevant case law and should have known her actions
violated
his rights.

My friend Kristin sent me a link to this quiz. It is a good one.

Take it and let me know how you did.

I scored a seven.

Click here to take quiz.

or here www.mikescomputerinfo.com/inteltest.htm

Don’t forget to come back and tell me how you did!

Look at this. Just as I was whining about how crappy the Bitterroot Libraries are.

This is from the Missoulian.

HELENA - The Bitterroot Public Library in Hamilton is one of two in the state that will receive $15,000 over each of the next two years from the Montana State Library Association to assist with hiring a professional librarian. The other recipient is Helena Public Schools.

Recipient libraries must match the stipend with their own funds and make every effort to continue the positions beyond the two-year grant period.

The Hamilton library plans to use the money to add a children’s-youth services librarian while Helena will use the funds to hire a full-time librarian at Jim Darcy Elementary School.

“Adding a children’s librarian will greatly increase our ability to address the needs of our growing community,�? said Gloria Langstaff, director of the Bitterroot Public Library. “An additional staff person will help us to provide more children’s and youth programming, outreach to local organizations and participation in family community events.�?

The $60,000 in stipend money is part of a $206,167 “Recruiting and Educating Librarians for the 21st Century�? award from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services. The three-year grant is funding a statewide promotion-recruitment campaign designed to attract Montana residents to the library profession, with an emphasis on recruiting more Native American librarians.

The State Library has also received an additional grant from IMLS in the amount of $460,189 which also is to be used to recruit future librarians and provide additional staffing in Montana libraries.

I am very happy to see the Hamilton library getting some much deserved money.

I was checking my bloglines today. Checking out the Daily Kos, Romenesko, the lovely ladies at Girlspoke and of course one of my favortite gals, ThisFish.

Thisfish is a great writer, plus I love her cat’s name, Sir Hal. She had a good post and it made me think.

This is what she wrote.

“I’m a bad friend.� I said, after realizing I knew almost nothing that had happened over the last several months.

“No. You’re not.�

I shook my head and thought back to the time Justine stood up on the other side of the cubicle wall and accused me of being a ‘flat leaver.’

“I am not!�

The fact was, it was first time I’d ever heard the phrase and I had no idea what it meant. So in my ignorance and secret desire to be European, I assumed it had something to do with apartments. And who the hell was she to judge me and… my apartment?

Turns out, it meant that I was the kind of person who left my friends the moment I found something better.

“I am not!�

Justine then presented some hard evidence. She named names. Or a name, rather. I countered that I was just bad at multitasking, that I am easily distracted by shiny things, and that the friend in question was dangerously stupid and had to be unfriended for everyone’s health and safety. She reluctantly agreed. Fine, you are not a flat leaver.

(Good thing she didn’t bring up God. ‘Cause when I left the Almighty for a life of sin, well, I was guilty of flat-leaving for sure.)

Why did this make me think? Cause I have been a leaver, not a flat leaver. But I had a friend once. I still love her deep, deep, down, but we just couldn’t be friends anymore. She was messed up or had issues or something. Too much anger maybe. Sometimes we have to be leavers. We have to do what is best for our own lives, sometimes that means kicking the toxic person out of our lives.

I still think about this person. Certain times of the year, when I hear different songs on the radio. I miss her, but we could probably never be friends like we were. Too much has changed, probably in both our lives.

On a totally different note. Cowpunk, what is with you? Where have you been? I miss your random sometimes annoying comments. Did I hurt your feelings? A real cowboy could take it.