Author: jkfnotjfk

Tuesday February 1, 2011 for Montana Kaimin

Student voting rights might be threatened by attitudes in the state legislature as characterized by House testimony Friday.

Debating the legitimacy of mail-in ballots, some legislators suggested college students might attempt to forge ballots in addition to being unmotivated and uneducated.

“I was definitely offended by some of the rhetoric in that debate,” said Rep. Michele Reinhart, D-Missoula.

Discussion of HB 130 diverged from the topic of mail-in ballots to student voters when Rep. Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, suggested the removal of a clause that mandated voting outreach to students and other traditionally disenfranchised citizens.

“Concerned individuals don’t need to be coddled and babysat to make sure they get it right,” he said.

Ken Peterson, R-Billings, agreed and further suggested it would be reckless to encourage more university students to vote.

“I went to college myself and I know that sometimes you are not very motivated to do the right thing,” Peterson said. “You are thinking about totally other things, so I don’t think we should set up a special class to try to drag them to the polls.”

Continue reading “Uneducated and unmotivated: Legislators attack integrity of student voters”

September 24, 2010 for the Montana Kaimin

CANDIDATE NO.12 flattened his tie as he leaned forward. He rested his forearms on his legs and twisted his gold wedding band.

Board of Regents Chairman Clayton Christian, too, leaned forward, speaking into the microphone as he told the gathered university officials that Candidate No. 12 had agreed to the contract terms of becoming the University of Montana’s 17th president.

“We can actually give him a name today,” Christian said.

Royce Engstrom grinned, sat up in the plastic conference room chair and waited for the vote.

“All those in favor?” Christian asked.

“Aye!” responded the circle of Regents.

It’s 11:28 on Thursday morning and the search for UM’s next president is over.

The man who will take over for a president sometimes called King George said he wants to focus on shared governance that strengthens every campus of UM affiliation. He plans to use first names and frankly answer every question. His lifelong curiosity and desire to learn drove him to new friendships, skills and ambitions. He rose to UM’s presidency on the supportive shoulders of the students, colleagues and family he helped along the way. He likes people and adventure.  This is the job, the university, for him.

Read the full profile here.

August 6, 2010 for the Missoulian

Luz Aldaco and Eduardo Ramirez dug narrow trenches in a Missoula lawn Friday morning, their spades clanging as they hit buried stones in the path of a new irrigation line.

The duo of migrant workers from south-central Mexico are back in Missoula this summer to work at Ibey Sprinkler, Landscape and Nursery after becoming regulars on the company’s peak-season crew in recent years.

They are among 574 temporary foreign laborers working for non-agricultural Montana businesses during the 2009-10 fiscal year, a number that decreased by two-thirds after five years of growth.

In fact, fiscal year 2008-09 saw an all-time high of 1,707 non-agricultural foreign laborers on the job in Montana. The shift was revealed in U.S. Department of Labor statistics on H2B visas, released by the Office of Foreign Labor Certification each July.

Economists at the University of Montana and Center for the Rocky Mountain West provided the explanation.

“With unemployment levels and wages rising in our state and region more recently, these employers have been more able to find workers locally,” regional economist Larry Swanson said.

Read the full story here.

August 5, 2010 for the Missoulian

Even a swarm of mosquitoes couldn’t dampen the excitement of young children eager for a chance to hold a black-capped chickadee one morning earlier this week at Grant-Kohrs National Historic Site.

The crowd from Montana Tech’s Kids’ College listened politely and fidgeted just a little while Sharon Fuller from the University of Montana’s Avian Science Center delicately pulled a chickadee from a small blue sack.

“Why is the bird in a bag?” Peyton Cox asked.

Each bird is placed in a cloth bag so it isn’t scared by the sights and sounds between the mist net where it was caught and the station where it will be banded with a unique identification number, explained Kristina Smucker, who created the center’s Bird’s-Eye View Education Program.

Fuller then measured wing length and gently blew on the bird’s belly, lifting its feathers so she could identify gender. She explained the purpose of a female’s brood patch between the small puffs of air.

“She puts that on top of the eggs to keep them warm,” said Fuller, extending her hand so the children could see the bald spot on the bird’s belly.

“Birds actually use their bare skin to warm the eggs, not feathers,” Smucker said. “You can quiz your parents tonight and ask, ‘How do birds keep their eggs warm?’ ”

Chatter grew as the kids hatched plans to do just that.

Meanwhile, Fuller carefully bent a small silver band around the bird’s leg with special pliers. “No other bird in the whole wide world” has the same number, she said, so scientists can track its global travels.

The educational program’s purpose, however, extends beyond the value of migration and nesting data. This is a hands-on opportunity for the public – and particularly kids – to see scientists in action researching the effects of past mining on riparian wildlife, including riverside songbirds.

Read the full story here.

June 12, 2010 in the Missoulian

Two years ago, Robert J. Wilkes of Missoula was a single father who had just won custody of his 3-month-old son, Gabriel.

Today he stands convicted, despite his denials, of knowingly killing his own child.

“The extent of the damage and the custody of the child – there was no other possibility,” juror Allan Oines said after the trial.

Wilkes cried at trial when authorities played a 9-1-1 recording of the desperate call to report Gabriel’s grievous injuries. An earlier Missoulian report quoted his insistent denials.

“It makes me angry that my son is dead,” he testified. “It makes me angry that I’m the one accused of his death. I don’t know who did it. But I had no reason to get mad at my son. He was 3 months old.”

Multiple doctors pointed to bleeding in the brain and eyes visible by medical imaging. Their diagnosis: abusive head trauma, more commonly known as shaken baby syndrome. This conclusion and his own testimony led authorities to charge Wilkes – and not another suspect – as the child’s killer.

Wilkes’ story of what happened Oct. 4, 2008, never changed.

Read the full story here.