Marriage Equality Is a Montana Value
Photo by Samantha Katz, MSU Exponent
By Brent Zundel
For the MSU Exponent
September 6, 2012
Supporters of marriage equality converged on Bozeman this past June to celebrate the Montana Pride festival. More than any other feeling, a tangible sense of acceptance and support overwhelmed participants as the city came together in a big way.
During the parade, Main Street overflowed with happy, cheering supporters (and a lone megaphone-wielding protester). Young children and senior citizens, straight and homosexual Montanans, war veterans and Christians, nonprofits and Bozeman businesses marched down Main and watched from the sidewalk. Afterward, Diane Sands, the first openly gay member of the Montana Legislature; Jamee Greer, a lobbyist with the Montana Human Rights network; and many others spoke about both their personal and larger struggles. Read More…
Cold as Ice, Hard as Granite: Montana’s Highest Peak
By Brent Zundel
For the MSU Exponent
September 6, 2012
Unsettled rain clouds swirled around the Gallatin Valley and the Absarokas south of Livingston belched smoke into the surrounding air as Chris, Brian and I fled Bozeman last Friday evening. My roommate Chris and I had reunited with Brian, fresh off a summer guiding glaciers in Alaska, to try to conquer Montana’s highest point, Granite Peak, at 12,799 feet.
After Denali in Alaska, Granite is considered by many alpinists to be the hardest of the 50 state highpoints, due to its remote backcountry location, its technical routes and its temperamental weather. Read More…
Great Beer from a Great State
By Brent Zundel
For the MSU Exponent
June 8, 2012
Beer is one of the most culturally important aspects of growing up, perhaps at no time more so than in college. While finding someone to buy a 30-rack seems to be the most pressing need for some freshmen, beer’s importance in Montana transcends those concerns in a number of important ways.
Unlike wine, beer suffers from often unfair stereotypes. While some beer drinkers earn their frat boy reputations, many others simply enjoy partaking in one of mankind’s most ancient rituals. Oftentimes, the ingredients — water, barley, yeast and hops — are cultivated very differently just one valley over, which makes beer from every small brewery unique.
Montana is one of the best places in the world for beer lovers, with a variety as big as our sky. Per capita, Montana has the second most breweries in the nation — ahead of Oregon and just barely behind Vermont. Moreover, Montanans consume the third most beer per person in the country.
“Montana is one of the best places in the world for beer lovers, with a variety as big as our sky.” Read More…
Montana Challenges Citizens United
By Brent Zundel
For the MSU Exponent
June 8, 2012
It’s an exciting time to be a Montanan. Across the country, experts and average citizens alike claim that Montana poses the biggest challenge to the controversial Citizens United Supreme Court decision, a 2010 case widely credited with redefining the conception of corporate personhood and equating money with speech.
In 2011, the Montana Supreme Court heard Western Tradition Partnership, Inc. v. Attorney General of Montana. Western Tradition Partnership, now known as American Tradition Partnership (ATP), is a rabidly anti-environmental conservative think tank based in Washington, D.C.
The group, which has broken numerous state campaign finance laws, challenged Montana’s 1912 Corrupt Practices Act, a law enacted by popular vote that prohibits corporations from making direct contributions to political campaigns.
“The greatest living issue that confronts us today is whether the corporations shall control the people, or the people shall control the corporations.” —1906 Montana newspaper
The Montana Supreme Court ruled 5 – 2 against ATP, upholding a century of reasonable restrictions that ensure the integrity of our state’s elections. Read More…
Montana Beer Fest Comes to Bozeman
Members of the Red Lodge Brewing Company, dressed in kilts for the occasion, show off their wares. Photo by Brent Zundel
By Brent Zundel
For the MSU Exponent
April 19, 2012
Nothing brings together a community like good beer and a good cause. With 38 breweries serving 110 beers and $1,000 donated to charity, last Friday’s Montana Beer Fest had plenty of both ingredients.
The sixth annual event brought primarily Montana breweries to the Gallatin County Fairgrounds, but also included larger craft breweries from across the Pacific Northwest, like Oregon’s Deschutes Brewery and California’s Sierra Nevada. 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…
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 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…
Montana According to Montanans
Illustration by Brent Zundel.
I originally completed this illustration for the MSU Exponent’s impromptu “Hastily Illustrated Edition,” published during fall 2011 dead week.
Author
Mountain Solitaire Author Brent Zundel
MOUNTAIN SOLITAIRE 