The Kaimin Cast

Incentivized retirement bittersweet for some UM professors | The Second Look

Maria Bustos retired last semester along with 15 other professors in the University of Montana's College of Humanities and Sciences. After a more than 30-year career, she decided to step down from her tenured position in the Spanish department and enjoy time with her loved ones — that, and the University offered her an early retirement package.

The cuts came as part of UM's plan to slim down the College of Humanities and Sciences following enrollment drops over the last decade. But Bustos and other professors who took early retirement are concerned about the health of the programs they're leaving behind.

The Second Look is brought to you by Kaimin audio reporter Elinor Smith.

Questions? Comments? Email us at editor@montanakaimin.com

A podcast from the Montana Kaimin, University of Montana's independent, student-run newspaper.

TRAILER: Introducing ’The Second Look’

From the minds behind the Kaimin Cast comes an all-new segment: The Second Look.

Sometimes, after the mics are muted and the interview's over, you still have questions. The Kaimin Cast offers rich storytelling and in-depth reporting from the journalists of the Montana Kaimin, University of Montana's independent, student-run newspaper. But this semester, the story doesn't end on Thursday.

The Second Look, reported and hosted by UM journalism junior Elinor Smith, offers listeners the chance to hear the Kaimin Cast "story of the week" from a new perspective. A few days after the Kaimin Cast airs, this new segment will take a true "second look" at the story.

Whose voices haven't been heard? Which stories are still untold? How are people responding to the issues raised?

Check your Kaimin Cast feed for new episodes of The Second Look on Monday mornings.


Questions? Comments? Email us at editor@montanakaimin.com

 

A podcast from the Montana Kaimin, University of Montana's independent, student-run newspaper.

Down $10 million and 15 professors, UM Humanities fights to survive

The University of Montana has long had a reputation as Montana's premier liberal arts school with a College of Humanities and Sciences that educates 42% of the university students. However, that same Humanities Department has endured 68% of UM's budget cuts since 2015, with 15 professors in the school accepting an early retirement package last semester.

The hits to the humanities have left some degree programs with just one or two professors bearing heavier workloads and students who will be the last to graduate from UM with certain majors.

Kaimin Features Editor Mariah Thomas joins Kaimin Cast host Austin Amestoy to break down the state of the Humanities and Sciences at UM and how faculty and students are adapting.

Questions? Comments? Email us at editor@montanakaimin.com

 

A podcast from the Montana Kaimin, University of Montana's independent, student-run newspaper.

The Kaimin Cast: What‘s bringing bears into Missoula?

Black bears are familiar residents of Montana's wilderness, and at the University of Montana — a campus nestled at the base of several mountains — they've garnered a reputation for surprising unsuspecting students.

But bears also bumbled through the streets and backyards of Missoula at higher rates than usual this fall, leading to increased headaches for Fish, Wildlife and Parks and questions about what's driving the uptick.

On this episode of the Kaimin Cast, arts and culture reporter Haley Yarborough digs in to the reasons behind the ursine influx and whether climate change may keep the bears barging into city limits.

 

A podcast from the Montana Kaimin, University of Montana's independent, student-run newspaper.

 

This episode is a special remix of our original episode, "Bearpocalypse Now," made for the NPR College Podcast Challenge.

Produced and edited by Austin Amestoy. Reporting by Haley Yarborough.

New Year‘s Weed: What to know before rec. marijuana hits the market

It's finally here. After Montanans voted to legalize recreational marijuana in the 2020 election, and the Montana Legislature hammered out a plan to regulate weed earlier this year, existing medical marijuana dispensaries are set to begin selling the drug for recreational use on New Year's Day. The new law will have big implications for anyone over the age of 21. Possession penalties may change for students. Tax dollars will roll into Missoula and the state's coffers.

But Montanans who've grown and sold their own products illegally for years still have some waiting to do before the law catches up with them.

News reporter Emily Tschetter joins Kaimin Cast host Austin Amestoy to break down what's changing for weed in the new year, what's staying the same, and what students need to know.

 

Produced and edited by Austin Amestoy. Reporting by Emily Tschetter.

 

Questions? Comments? Email us at editor@montanakaimin.com

 

A podcast from the Montana Kaimin, University of Montana's independent, student-run newspaper.

Up with Montana: Voices from a campus revived

When UM switched to remote classes in March 2020, campus life ground to a halt. Theater productions days away from opening were delayed indefinitely. Classrooms emptied and went silent. Even the Oval quieted as students quarantined amid swirling questions about a new virus that had just arrived in the United States.

The COVID-19 pandemic altered life at UM for most of the last year and a half. This fall, though, campus largely came back to life with the return of football, music, protests, in-person learning and more.

This week, the Kaimin asked UM staff and students to share their stories from a return to an in person campus. 

 

Special thanks to our listeners for submitting their voices for this podcast.

Questions? Comments? Email us at editor@montanakaimin.com

 

A podcast from the Montana Kaimin, University of Montana's independent, student-run newspaper.

‘Feast or Famine:‘ The rockin‘ rise of a young Missoula band

A bassist with Brazilian-food cravings. A dinosaur-obsessed vocalist. An Alaskan ex-pianist. These are some of the eclectic members of self-described "evil psychedelic jazz rock" band Cosmic Sans. The five-member group is made up of current and former UM students and just released its self-titled debut album in October. 

Though it started out opening for other well-known Missoula bands like Fertile Crescent and the Skurfs, Cosmic Sans is beginning to forge its own path, drawing on its UM connections and riding the wave of local music's resurgence in the wake of the COVID 19 pandemic.

This week, Kaimin arts reporter Josh Moyar joins Kaimin Cast host Austin Amestoy to share the unwritten story of Cosmic Sans.

 

Questions? Comments? Email us at editor@montanakaimin.com

 

Music contributed by Cosmic Sans.

 

A podcast from the Montana Kaimin, University of Montana's independent, student-run newspaper.

The Griz Hockey hiatus is over

Seven years ago, Griz Hockey played its last game on the Glacier Ice Rink at the Missoula fairgrounds. The student-run program had slowly crumbled under a lack of leadership, financing and marketing, and a difficult workload for student athletes. 

But thanks to a ravenous fanbase, eager players and a new general manager with great ambitions, Griz Hockey is back on the rink this fall, better attended and more thunderous than ever. 

Kaimin sports reporter Holly Malkowski joins Kaimin Cast host Austin Amestoy and brings us the story of Griz Hockey's miraculous resurrection and the man who made it happen. 

 

Questions? Comments? Email us at editor@montanakaimin.com

 

A podcast from the Montana Kaimin, University of Montana's independent, student-run newspaper.

Title IX questions linger amid UM law school fallout

In late September, the Daily Montanan reported that a cohort of students in UM's Alexander Blewitt III School of Law said the school's deans had discouraged them from reporting sexual misconduct to the Title IX office on campus. Following the report and backlash from students who walked out of the school in protest, Associate Dean Sally Weaver and Dean Paul Kirgis resigned from their positions.

But the resignations raise questions about the present and future of Title IX investigations at the University and whether or not a resignation spells the end of an investigation. 

This week, Kaimin news reporter Emily Tschetter joins Kaimin Cast host Austin Amestoy to catch us up on the turmoil within the law school and where the story might go from here.

 

Questions? Comments? Email us at editor@montanakaimin.com

 

A podcast from the Montana Kaimin, University of Montana's independent, student-run newspaper.

The Haunting of Jeannette Rankin Hall

Some phenomena defy scientific explanation, and that is where we must diverge into the spiritual. For decades, rumors have swirled that UM is home to a number of unspeakable specters that haunt its oldest buildings. 

As the spookiest night of the year approaches, the Kaimin called up its most seasoned ghostbuster, Editor-in-Chief Addie Slanger, for one more night of phantom examination in UM's own Jeannette Rankin Hall. But this time, she enlisted help from a true paranormal investigator, Jenn Keintz. 

Addie sat down with "Kreepy" Cast host Austin Amestoy to chronicle the haunting of Jeannette Rankin Hall.

 

Questions? Comments? Reach us at editor@montanakaimin.com

 

A podcast from the Montana Kaimin, University of Montana's independent, student-run newspaper.