STEM Majors Need Increased Flexibility for International Success
By Brent Zundel
For the MSU Exponent
March 22, 2012
It’s a rare engineering or science student who has never suddenly wondered, perhaps as he or she frantically crams for an exam in the suffocating late-night hours, “When will I ever use this?”
Many students slogging through the death march of calculus and basic science courses fail to see how their degrees will actually help others, and some switch majors or drop out altogether.
The week before spring break, three other students and I gave a presentation to the Engineering Advisory Council on international opportunities available to engineering students at MSU. While waiting to speak, employees from companies as diverse as Boeing and American Express discussed how important international experiences and cultural sensitivities are. Read More…
Madison River Deserves Thoughtful Management
Floaters stand on the banks of the Madison on a summer day. Photo by Brent Zundel
By Brent Zundel
For the MSU Exponent
March 8, 2012
A few years ago, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) prioritized each river in Montana and named the Madison River as the single most important.
International fly fishermen and local guides alike revere the Madison for its unparalleled blue-ribbon fishing, while everyone from local families to MSU students spends time floating the river on lazy summer days. In spite of all this use, the river also boasts an exceptionally intact ecosystem.
Currently, a number of concerns about the river have surfaced, including littering, congestion both on the river and at the limited number of access points, trespassing on private property and conflict between users.
Rumors that floating could be completely eliminated have been circulated by various groups, including the Moose 95.1 radio station’s website. While concerns about the management of the river are legitimate, fears that floating will be banned in its entirety are overblown. Read More…
New Microbrewery Opens in Belgrade
Pint glasses and growlers wait to be filled above the taps at Outlaw Brewing in Belgrade, Mont. Photo by Brent Zundel
By Brent Zundel
For the MSU Exponent
March 1, 2012
Take the Belgrade Interstate exit and the last right before the train tracks to sample a pint of the newest beer in Montana. On Jan. 16, Outlaw Brewing’s taps started flowing.
Located inside the Bar 3 Bar-B-Q restaurant, the brewpub is in an industrial section of town with blaring train whistles adding to the beer drinking experience. New tables and a barbecue joint atmosphere contrast the inside of the building sharply with the exterior. Read More…
MSU to Launch ‘Conservative Arts’ Program
By Brent Zundel
For the MSU Exponent
March 1, 2012
Note: This column originally appeared as part of the Exponent’s Sugarbeet page, a satirical biweekly feature that attempts to stimulate discussion of critical community issues.
In response to the wide diversity of potentially conflicting opinions presented in liberal arts institutes across the country, MSU announced plans this Monday to launch a “Conservative Arts” program. MSU professor and newly appointed program director Johan Oldmeier promised this new initiative will “make America great again,” presumably referring to the Golden Age of conservatism in a distant, romanticized past, when the Cuyahoga River caught fire due to a lack of pollutant regulation and people still died of things like polio.
“While liberal arts programs encourage introspective self-searching — like smoking weed,” Oldmeier explained, “this conservative arts program will focus on strict discipline and controlled learning environments, using the judicious application of medication and military force to obtain both.”
“Yes, that means Ritalin and corporal punishment,” he clarified. Read More…
Contrasting Bozeman’s Faith Communities
Journey, Bozeman’s “mega-church,” seen after service in February 2012. Photo by Brent Zundel
By Brent Zundel
For the MSU Exponent
March 1, 2012
Few organizations have as profound of an impact on a community as its churches, and Bozeman’s wide variety of churches approach fulfilling their congregations’ needs in very different ways. For the past three weeks, I spent each Sunday at a different church, observing the place of each in the community. I approached each as an average newcomer would, simply attending and observing. Read More…
Honors Program to Launch “Star Child Sequestration Program”
The Star Child Sequestration Program. Illustration by Brent Zundel
By Brent Zundel
For the MSU Exponent
February 16, 2012
Note: This column originally appeared as part of the Exponent’s Sugarbeet page, a satirical biweekly feature that attempts to stimulate discussion of critical community issues.
In what many professors are calling a “brave and necessary” move, MSU’s University Honors Program has launched the “Star Child Sequestration Program.” The new initiative, comprised of three phases, will allow administrators to sequester gifted “Star Children” after identifying their unique abilities, said Honors Director Mary Leah.
The first phase is “Identification,” in which honors students self-identify using a number of criteria. These include an inflated sense of self-worth, the ability to relate literally every abstract concept to Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” and thinking it’s appropriate to discuss the philosophical implications of Harry Potter, Star Wars or Lord of the Rings at 11 on Friday nights. Severe difficulties interacting with any member of campus who is unaffiliated with the Honors Program count as additional discretionary points. Read More…
SUB Pub Should Move Forward: Let’s Build Community Over Montana Brews
MSU students Bronwyn Rolph and Chris Zimny enjoy locally brewed beers at the Bozeman Brewing Company taproom, while bartender Mitzi Kuall pours a pint. Photo by Brent Zundel
By Brent Zundel
For the MSU Exponent
February 9, 2012
The SUB Pub
Pint-based community-building could become a reality on MSU’s campus. Although the idea is in its infancy, a number of dedicated students have begun pushing to install a SUB Pub in the student union building.
While the concept has been discussed in the past, last fall’s student needs survey produced the “SUB Pub” proposal as one of students’ chief concerns, prompting student government to form an unofficial exploratory committee.
This column proposes an effective model for a tavern based on the success of local microbrewery tasting rooms, like the Bozone’s. As I conceptualize it, the SUB Pub would parallel the brewpubs that dot Montana. It would serve, in short, as a focal point of the SUB, a place where students and staff could meet for almost any reason. Read More…
Montana Hall Overthrown in ‘January Revolution’
By Brent Zundel
For the MSU Exponent
February 2, 2012
Note: This column originally appeared as part of the Exponent’s Sugarbeet page, a satirical biweekly feature that attempts to stimulate discussion of critical community issues.
After completing ECNS 101: The Economic Way of Thinking, a group of young, impressionable — and rabidly free-market — students from MSU have taken over Montana Hall, where the university is run by a panel of buttons and levers.
In response to the recent protracted recession, they are demanding that the university implement an austerity plan. Their proposal includes firing public sector employees—including all professors who don’t directly create jobs for their students—deregulating tuition and just generally getting the state and the university “out of the average student’s life.”
These laissez faire capitalists have held the university hostage since last Tuesday. Read More…
MSU Senior up in Arms over ‘Immature’ Freshman Class
By Brent Zundel
For the MSU Exponent
January 19, 2012
Note: This column originally appeared as part of the Exponent’s Sugarbeet page, a satirical biweekly feature that attempts to stimulate discussion of critical community issues.
MSU senior Brent Zundel is up in arms over the dumbest freshman class ever. Photo by Chris Zimny
MSU senior Brent Zundel is up in arms over what he calls an “exceptionally immature” freshman class this semester. “It’s especially annoying, because they’ve already had a whole semester to get their shit together,” he bemoaned.
According to the few friends Zundel’s constant belly-aching has not alienated, at least three “effing Justin Bieber-lookalikes” [freshmen] have asked him for directions to obvious places like the SUB or Wilson Hall’s well-laid-out classrooms in the past week.
“I don’t even know why anyone would approach him,” said long-time roommate Chris Zimny. “He just looks angry as he scowls his way from class to class. I swear one night, I heard him crack open a beer and unzip his pants outside my bedroom door.” Read More…
Montana Supreme Court Rebukes Corruption Under the Big Sky
By Brent Zundel
For the MSU Exponent
January 19, 2012
On Friday, Dec. 30, 2011, the Montana Supreme Court issued a ruling upholding the state’s ability to regulate how corporations can raise money and preventing them from directly spending it to influence elections. The opinion also contained stunning rebukes of the U.S. Supreme Court’s infamous 2010 Citizens United decision.
The Citizens case overthrew a century of precedent by justifying corporate personhood and unlimited corporate spending as “speech.”
The conservative, radically anti-environmental political group Western Tradition Partnership, which has since changed its name to American Tradition Partnership, sued the State of Montana, relying on the Citizens ruling.
A Helena district judge ruled Montana’s ban unconstitutional, but the Montana Supreme Court overturned that decision, reinstating the century-old Corrupt Practices Act. This 1912 law prevents corporations from directly spending money to influence state elections and also sets aggressive disclosure requirements. Read More…
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Mountain Solitaire Author Brent Zundel
MOUNTAIN SOLITAIRE 