Montana Kaimin, April 20-26, 2016 Students of the University of Montana, Missoula
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University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Associated Students of the University of Montana Montana Kaimin, 1898-present (ASUM) 4-20-2016 Montana Kaimin, April 20-26, 2016 Students of the University of Montana, Missoula Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy . Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/studentnewspaper Recommended Citation Students of the University of Montana, Missoula, "Montana Kaimin, April 20-26, 2016" (2016). Montana Kaimin, 1898-present. 6919. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/studentnewspaper/6919 This Newspaper is brought to you for free and open access by the Associated Students of the University of Montana (ASUM) at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Montana Kaimin, 1898-present by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. N I M I A K A AN MONT Exposing Pain Making invisible CAN I ANALYZE YOUR DATA? illnesses seen SEE PAGE 9 PAGE 7 WAKA FLOCKA FLAME PAGE 13 FIFA FIENDS PAGE 16 APRIL 20 - 26, 2016 / MONTANAKAIMIN.COM / THE LAST BEST COLLEGE NEWS @montanakaimin @montanakaimin facebook.com/montanakaimin 2 ARPIL 20 - 26, 2016 / MONTANA KAIMIN / MONTANAKAIMIN.COM Cover art by Ashley Rickerman / photo by Sydney MacDonald Ashley Rickerman depicts the struggles of being alone with her illnesses through her con- OPINION ceptual image of UM student Dej Wilkinson. Wilkinson suffers from OCD and bullimia. EDITORIAL TRANNY 911 A TERRIBLY ACCURATE I’m taking tranny back YEAR IN REVIEW Editorial Staff editor@montanakaimin Michael Siebert [email protected] Fall semester started off well enough with an eleventh-hour victory for the Grizzly football team over a much-better North Dakota State, due less in part to new head coach Bob Stitt’s in- novative offense and more the carcinogenic wild land fire haze coating the lungs of every Bison The best thing about being a most- now, with varying degrees of direct- defensive lineman. ly-out trans person is reading the fas- ness. Feminist writer and queer activ- Lost in smoke as they were, the Montana Board of Regents were unable to see any glaring- cinating things strangers say to you ist Alison Bechdel illustrated a comic on social media. Whenever my profile strip for almost 25 years titled “Dykes ly obvious reason not to unanimously reject an ASUM ballot initiative overwhelmingly passed picture in some way features me look- to Watch Out For.” Gays have reclaimed by students that would divest the UM Foundation from fossil fuel commitments. In the face of ing girly, I can almost guarantee that the word “homo” for both political writ- plummeting oil prices, the advancing Clean Power Act, and promising human extinction, the leaving a sassy comment on a video of ing and common vernacular. Even the Regents remained steadfast that divestment is fiscally irresponsible for the University, and es- a Buzzfeed cooking abomination will word “queer” has a storied history as a pecially the oil industry. result in comments asking if I stole my slur-turned-name for an academic field Properly radicalized by the revelation that campus democracy is a sham, Reinvest Montana sister’s lipstick. of study. has since pledged direct action to achieve their aims, which has so far constituted only a mock There’s a brazenness social media As a tool, slur reclamation can be a wedding, despite the Kaimin’s suggestion to storm the Bastille or return the British to the sea. brings out in bigots, one that encourag- powerful way to subvert bigotry. In my Not content to let the Regents have all the fun, Main Hall doubled down on its too-cute es them to use whatever insults they can personal experience, the pain of being growth-through-austerity plan by laying off dozens of critical academic support staff to make think of without fear of repercussion. mocked for something as innate as my up for a $12 million budget shortfall. That deficit happened when the University accidentally There are the harsh ones — “faggot,” gender identity became a lot less harsh attracted a greater percentage of incoming Montanan students than more lucrative non-resi- “homo” — and the less creative “fairy” when I began using it as my word. The or “gay boy.” prejudiced can call me a tranny if they dents, which is the point of a state university. I, and other trans people, have a want, but I get paid (poorly) to call my- Although the nation’s foremost investigative non-fiction writer published a book during col- unique relationship with a particular self that — no new ground is being bro- lege application season that detailed the campus community’s failure to prosecute rapists, the slur: “tranny.” It’s a complicated word ken. significant resultant fall in enrollment was not expected. This academic year’s most high profile and one that many people still don’t re- I would never, however, tell some- sexual assault happened in broad daylight on the M Trail in view of all of campus, an incident alize is an immensely offensive thing to one that they are wrong for being hurt University officials did not deem dangerous enough to alert students through emergency chan- call someone. It is also profoundly un- by the word. I’ve cried plenty of times nels. creative — “We’re mocking you by add- over hurtful things people have said The UM Athletic Department thankfully avoided the sexual assault spotlight, instead pre- ing a suffix to a prefix.” to me, and the damage done by those ferring to accidentally overreport the number of athletes with good grades to the NCAA after The name of this column for a long words has informed my entire life’s ex- building a new athlete tutoring center, and gloss over the mass desertion of women’s volleyball time was “Transed Out,” but I wanted perience. When I’m told that the name players over the winter break. Three Griz players did manage to make the news for drunkenly to title it “Tranny 911” since Day One. of my column is offensive to cisgender breaking into a home one night, the best detail being the arrest and attempt to prosecute the I didn’t because I felt that it was too people, I couldn’t care less. But, when a harsh. trans person tells me that it’s hurtful, I designated driver sent to get them home safely. At least, at the time it was. As I spent will always see that as a valid response. Attempts by administrators to keep the identities of employees laid off by budget cuts a more time getting called all manner of Language is complex, especially secret were thwarted when an errant Kaimin reporter read the Wikipedia article on the Freedom horrible things, though, I eventually words designed to hurt. I’ve chosen to of Information Act and alerted a flabbergasted editor, who immediately loaded the printer. came to the conclusion that it was justi- take a word people use to belittle me and Students and University employees were angered by the revelation that their favorite poor- fied. I saw it, and still do, as something make it mine. That’s my own personal ly-paid colleagues were being laid off, and took to the Oval in protest several times, each march of a “fuck you” to the people who treat choice. It’s also entirely valid if that’s showing a poorer understanding of how both budget cuts and successful protests work. my identity as invalid. offensive to other trans people. But as Ground was ironically broken on the new and grossly architected Grizzly Champions Center Slur reclamation has a complicated this column draws to a close for the se- after the football team failed to defeat NDSU in the playoffs. Unfortunately for the Griz, their history. Members of disenfranchised mester, I don’t have any qualms about rematch with the Bison was played within Earth’s atmosphere, and not the post-apocalyptic groups have been “taking back” the keeping the name. If anyone’s gonna say wasteland where they had prevailed. words used to hurt them for some time tranny, I’d much rather it be me.▪ One Grizzly football player who did see success this year was former quarterback Jordan Johnson, who settled with UM out of court for $245,000 after alleging they ran a biased investi- gation into a sexual assault he was later acquitted of. Corrections: A previous version of the Kaimin’s coverage on the future of UM pro- Completely coincidentally with the year’s events, four of the senior-most administrators ductions, which ran on April 13, 2016, said ASUM saved $19,000 by not funding UMP. within Engstrom’s cabinet retired. University commissars assure us this was not a purge, and The actual amount is $90,000. In the article, Brad Murphy, director of the Adams Cen- ter, said the Adams Center and UMP produced eight shows from 2009-2012. Jaycie that replacement administrators will no longer be judged solely based on their adherence to the Johns, director of UMP, said during this time 18 shows were produced. teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. OPINION NEWS ARTS SPORTS KIOSK APRIL 20 - 26, 2016 / MONTANA KAIMIN / MONTANAKAIMIN.COM 3 NEWS Union protests low wages, corporation tax avoidance Abby Lynes [email protected] About 25 voices rang out loud and clear across Higgins Street Bridge on Thursday night at 5:30 p.m. during rush hour. “What do we want? Fifteen! When do we want it? Now!” protesters chanted.