Montanakaimin4 19 16pages by Montana Kaimin

APRIL19-25, 2017 | MONTANAKAIMIN.COM | THE LAST BEST COLLEGE NEWS | @montanakaimin | facebook.com/montanakaimin

MONTANA

KAIMIN

Career or coupledom

Working the pole

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s done is Dunn

page 5

page 13

page 15

The right state of mind

UM professor lives with terminal cancer

KIOSK

The Montana Kaimin is seeking ... copy editors reporters photographersWeek of 4/17/17cartoonists - 4/23/17 designers videographers

website developers social media gurus columnists

To apply go to montanakaimin.com The Weekly Crossword ACROSS 1 Home, informally 5 Drink like a dog 10 Barrel 14 Singing voice 15 Totally absurd 16 Frostbite treater 17 It's undeliverable 19 "That's ___" 20 White house? 21 Formidable, as a task 23 Deli bread 24 Word from the Beaver 26 "Peanuts" character 27 You can get on with it 31 Rise 34 Chip in chips 35 Lauper's "She ___" 36 No walk in the park 37 Snub-nosed dog 38 Aspersion 39 Kind of trip 40 Stop suckling 42 Without restraint 44 Group panic 47 Stamp purchase 48 Doze 49 Caught on 52 Finalists, perhaps 55 Package circumference 57 Soft rock? 58 Say "slippery slope", e.g. 60 Place for a roast 61 Pizzeria order 62 March date 63 Benefit 64 Studly sorts 65 Dried up DOWN 1 Rock bottom

by Margie E. Burke

28 34

37 40

27 32

19 21

47 52

2 Melancholy verse 3 Ready to be tossed 4 Brouhaha 5 Fabrication 6 Pollen holder 7 Crown 8 Dead accurate 9 Piece of the pie 10 Bring to the majors 11 Able to be transferred 12 Seat for several 13 Eager 18 Prepare to surf, perhaps 22 Encourage 25 Put away 27 Retirement spot? 28 Overcome with fear 29 Essence 30 Active 31 Start of a break-in

32 Epic 33 Journey or Encore 37 Flavored lozenge 38 Arabian, e.g. 40 Sharpen 41 Narrow margin 42 Big do 43 Chain of hills 45 Recoiled

46 49 50 51 52 53 54 56 59

Bait the hook Sledding spot Sea creature "___ Eyes" (1969 hit) Farm feed Wealthy one Kind of chance Pupil's place Royal flush card

Answers to Last Weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Crossword: A R O M A

S E W E R

P A N T S

H A S H

A L T O

R O A D

V A S T

A U T O

P R I G

I C C H E R O E N L I D C E R C U T R I D A R A

A L B A C O R E

P I N O C H L C E E L A L L A P R

L I A R

S O R T I L E E A S S T E R E A S M S M E O D

O N E

S L A A S N C H U M M E R E I R I D A T E T E R E R A B T U E M

L O T S

O B O E

W E P T

R I C E

A N O N

F O N T

N O O N E

A D D E R

L E E R Y

montanakaimin.com

Cover design by Zoie Koostra/ @zoiekoostra Cover story continues on page 4. The Montana Kaimin is a weekly independent student newspaper at the University of Montana. For comments, corrections or letters to the editor, contact editor@montanakaimin.com or call (406) 243-4310. For advertising opportunities, contact ads@montanakaimin.com or call (406) 243-6541. NEWSROOM STAFF

HELP WANTED The University of Montana spectrUM Discovery Area is currently hiring summer work-study staff for its new location on Toole Avenue. We are seeking energetic educators to engage with the public in handson science activities, and front desk attendants to greet guests and do clerical work. The wage for both positions is $8.15/hour (DOE), and summer work-study is required. Educator applicants may qualify for an Americorps education award. To apply, please send a resume and cover letter (in PDF form) tonicholos. wethington@umontana.edu. For full job descriptions and for more information on our programs, visit our website at spectrum.umt.edu.

Editor-in-Chief Claire Chandler Senior Editors Meg Giddings, Margaret Grayson, Jackson Wagner Culture Editor Kathleen Stone Sports Editor Nick Puckett Multimedia Editor Olivia Vanni Design Editor Kayla Robertson News Reporters Lydia Mercier, Matt Neuman, LJ Dawson, Mollie Lemm, Lucy Tompkins, Cassidy Alexander, Silas Miller, Kasey Bubnash Arts & Culture Reporters Brooke Beighle, Bowen West, Drew Novak, Melissa Loveridge Sports Reporters Zachary Flickinger, Isaiah Dunk, Taylor Featherman, Zac Allen Multimedia Reed Klass, Isabella Grannis, Sydney MacDonald, John Hooks, Quinn Corcoran, Hope Freier, Tate Samata, Skylar Rispens Designers Rene Sanchez, Zoie Koostra, Kelsey Johnson, David Rollins Copy Editors Tate Samata, Abby Lynes, David Brown

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I Buy Imports < Subaru < ToyotaJapanese/German Cars & Trucks. Nice, ugly, running or not 327-0300

Taylor Crews Marketing Director Cree Lehrman Advertising Representatives Zoie Koostra Office Assistants Jesse Kipp, Yvonne Bunch

SUDOKU

Edited by Margie E. Burke

Difficulty: Easy

2 April 19-25, 2017

ON THE COVER

HOW TO SOLVE:

Each row must contain the numbers 1 to 9; each column must contain the numbers 1 to 9; and each set of 3 by 3 boxes must contain the numbers 1 to 9. Answers to Last Weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sudoku:

8 6 5 1 7 9 3 4 2

1 9 3 6 4 2 8 5 7

4 7 2 3 8 5 6 1 9

6 4 9 5 2 7 1 3 8

3 2 7 8 1 4 9 6 5

5 8 1 9 6 3 7 2 4

2 3 8 7 5 1 4 9 6

7 1 4 2 9 6 5 8 3

9 5 6 4 3 8 2 7 1

OPINION KA IMIN COLUM N

Queeries: How do I ask for pronouns? “It is becoming increasingly more difficult to know what pronouns to use when meeting new people. There are some situations that make introductions, like ‘What pronoun do you go by?’ very difficult. I know that more teachers and college professors are now asking that question during first introductions. For regular situations, like meeting someone at work or in a meeting, that is not always appropriate. How does one handle a more delicate situation so as not to offend?” I’m so glad you asked this! Pronouns are a crucial part of understanding the trans community, but there is certainly a lot of confusion surrounding the issue. I’d like to start by explaining why pronouns are important. We are all familiar with the common third-person pronouns “he” and “she,” but the use of the singular “they” as a gender-neutral option is becoming more and more common. Other pronouns, like “ze/hir/hirs” and “ne/ nem/nirs” are less common, but still used. Before we go any further, I’m going to explain the singular “they,” since it seems to be a touchy subject for a lot of people. The most common argument against its use is that it has historically been used as a plural pronoun, and that it is grammatically incorrect to use “they” for a single person.

Here’s the deal: I don’t care. Grammar evolves to fit society’s needs. The singular “they” has made its way into many style manuals recently, and was even named Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society in 2016. So according to grammar experts, it’s now grammatically correct. To clarify, you don’t say “they is” or “they does.” Use the same verb forms you would normally use for “they.” When people use my correct pronouns, it is a confirmation and validation of my gender identity. I can’t speak for all trans people, but I do know that misgendering someone can often worsen gender dysphoria, which is the clinical term for the distress some trans people experience when their body conflicts with their gender identity. It’s not always convenient to ask what someone else’s pronouns are, though, so the question is, how do you do it smoothly? My favorite way, especially when I’m in an environment where asking for pronouns isn’t the norm, is to start with my own: “Hi, I’m Cal. My pronouns are they, them and theirs. What are yours?” This puts me in the hot seat at first, which helps the person I’m talking to feel less like they’re being interrogated and

more like they’re being welcomed into the conversation. I introduce myself with my pronouns when I can, but that isn’t always safe for me and other transgender people. I never know how someone is going to react to my identity. I’d prefer to keep that information private until the other person gets to know me, but that isn’t usually possible unless I’m willing to let them call me the wrong pronoun until I speak up. Transgender people and other members of the queer community face violence from microaggressions to murder on a daily basis, so many trans people are careful about introducing themselves as queer right off the bat. What I’m getting at here is that no trans person should be expected to educate another person on their identity and all that comes along with it. Some of us just don’t feel safe doing that. What makes me feel safer, though, is when cisgender people (people whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth) take the initiative when asking about my pronouns. I don’t expect anyone to get my pronouns right before meeting me. That would be unreasonable. What I do expect is for people to use the pronouns they’re asked to use consistently. If you do hap-

pen to mess up, just correct yourself and move on. No transgender or nonbinary person wants to hear how hard it’s going to be for you to make the switch or a long-winded apology each time you misgender someone. This shifts the attention from the person you’ve just wronged (even unintentionally) to you and forces them to attend to your feelings and assure you that no, it’s OK, yes, I know you didn’t mean it, no, I don’t hate you. Got a queery? Send any questions you have to calreynolds.queeries@gmail.com. Ask me what you’ve been afraid to ask or what you’ve always wanted to know. Your name and any other personal information will not be published.

Cal Reynolds is a Kaimin opinion columnist. Email them at calreynolds. queeries@gmail.com or at @CalReynoldsMT

KA IMIN CO MI C

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April 19-25. 2017 3

NEWS

OPINION KAIM IN CO LUMN

Missing in the media As I was scrolling through my Twitter feed, I came across an image thread which included photos of multiple young black girls and their physical descriptions, with “CRITICAL MISSING” in big white letters across the top. I continued down my feed, and I noticed various people sharing photos of missing black girls with hashtags like “#MissingDCGirls” and “#BringOurGirlsHome.” Curious about the hashtags and numerous missing persons ads appearing on my Twitter feed, I looked up “missing girls in D.C.” Upon further investigation, I learned about the countless number of black girls who have been reported missing not only in D.C. but across the nation. Advocates for these missing girls criticized the lack of media coverage about their disappearances. Many pointed out the disparities between the amount of reporting on black girls and white girls in missing cases. Then a name popped into my head: Natalee Holloway. Over a decade later, I still remember the case of Natalee Holloway, a teenage white woman who disappeared while on a trip overseas. Nearly every news station across the country displayed her face and told her story. She was never found. During my research, I came across the case

of LaToyia Figueroa, an African-American and Hispanic woman who was reported missing about a month after Holloway. Coverage of Figueroa’s case didn’t pick up until police found her dead. Later, controversy surrounding the two cases sparked a national conversation about the media’s inadequate coverage of people of color. I realized that I could not come up with one name of a missing black woman on my own, yet years later, I still remember the name Natalee Holloway. The case of Holloway’s disappearance was the epitome of “missing white woman syndrome.” Sociologists often use this phrase to refer to the heavily disproportionate amount of media representation and resources attributed to missing persons cases involving white, upper middle class women and girls, compared to black women and girls. Girls from racial minority groups are often greatly underrepresented in the media overall, but when the fact that they’re missing is underrepresented, it can be deadly. According to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center, people of color make up over 40 percent of missing people in the U.S., yet I still couldn’t think of a single missing black woman or girl.

Movements like Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and the Black and Missing Foundation have created a platform for cases of missing black and brown people to gain much needed public attention. Missing women of color isn’t just an issue in D.C. There are countless native women who are missing or have been murdered in Montana’s Indian country. Hanna Harris, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, was only 21 years old when she went missing in July of 2013. Family and friends of Harris took matters into their own hands and began searching for the woman after receiving a poor response from the justice system. With the support of Montana’s congressmen, the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center has called for May 5, 2017, Harris’s birthday, to be recognized as a National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls. “We need every person to take a stand and join our effort in calling for justice,” NIWRC Board President Cherrah Giles said in an NIWRC publication. Initially released on HBO in 2015, the short film “Muted” addresses the inadequate handling of missing cases involving black girls by

law enforcement and the press. Brandi Nicole Payne, a writer and star of the film, criticizes law enforcement’s tendency to assume the child is a runaway, troubled and/or involved in criminal activity. In a Blavity article, Payne said, “The main message I want people to take from this is all lives should matter, because they don’t.” One missing girl’s life does not matter more than the other. Every single case is heartbreaking. In a perfect world, the number of missing persons in the U.S. would be zero, but unfortunately, we do not live in a utopian society. The reality is that black and native women and girls are not being offered the same respect as their white counterparts. You can find more information at the Black and Missing Foundation and the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center. If you have any information that could be of value, please contact your local police department. Let’s help bring our girls, all of our girls, home.

Meshayla Cox is a Kaimin opinion columnist. Email her at meshayla.cox@umontana.edu

FEATU RE P HOTOS

Photos by Hope Freier / @freier_hope_ Cooper Schmecker, 5, takes a break from hopping around Rollin Field after the Easter egg hunt, April 15. 4 April 19-25. 2017

montanakaimin.com

Liam Johnson, 3, meets Sparky from the Missoula Fire Department after the Easter egg hunt at Rollin Field, April 15.

NEWS

Career or coupledom: How serious relationships create uncertainty for graduating seniors

Kelsey Johnson / @kelscjohnson By Kasey Bubnash kasey.bubnash@umontana.edu

University of Montana students Lizzi Mays and Hunter McClure have been dating since they were seniors at Capital High School in Helena. They weren’t really “high school sweethearts” per se, but because of a shared love for dogs and “The Office,” the relationship stuck, and they’ve been together ever since. “It was four years on March 2,” McClure said, smiling. But McClure’s imminent graduation this spring and Mays’ upcoming semester of student teaching in Missoula next fall has forced the couple to answer a looming question many college couples struggle with in the final weeks of undergrad: Do we choose career goals or each other? Couples counselor Dr. Michael Settevendemie said graduation is a major transitional phase in life, and people tend to hang on to each other during times of uncertain-

ty, whether the relationship is working or not. Ninety percent of marriages in America take place within six months of one of four major life events, Settevendemie said. These include the death of a loved one, divorce, discharge from the armed services and graduation. “That really says something about fear,” Settevendemie said. “People want stability when they’re scared.” Settevendemie said it’s important for couples to make honest evaluations of their relationships before trying long distance, moving away together or breaking it off. It can be difficult for young people to have the really difficult, long-term conversations, but discussing future commitments is vital, he said. “Can I see myself growing older with this person?” Settevendemie suggested asking. “Do they want to grow old in the same way? Do you want to be a dad? Do you want to be a mom? Do you want to

make those sacrifices? There is a lot of stuff there that really truly has to be decided for it to work.” For couples who may have decided to give long distance a shot, Settevendemie said appropriate communication is vital — meaning no texting. While texting provides an easy, quick way to get in touch, Settevendemie said it completely lacks a person’s affect, the emotion and expression displayed through gestures and tone of voice while speaking. Settevendemie said because of this, a person reading a text projects his own affect on the message, creating a strange parallel in which a person will eventually respond to his own insecurities with the relationship. “There is no situation a text can’t make worse,” Settevendemie said. McClure, 22, said his face-to-face conversations with Mays about their future plans started earlier this year as far-sighted ideas but have become increasingly serious as his graduation looms closer. McClure will be

graduating with a degree in management information systems this May, along with thousands of dollars in student loans. Getting out of debt is his highest priority, McClure said. Landing a good job, whether it is near Mays or not, is what the couple has decided is most important right now. McClure said though he has applied for jobs in Helena and Billings in an effort to be closer to Mays, there are also jobs available in California, where his family lives. “Graduating will be fine, but if I wasn’t dating Lizzi, I wouldn’t feel sad leaving Missoula,” McClure said. “But I’m graduating now, and I feel sad because I’m leaving her. And that sucks.” Mays, also 22, said whatever happens, they’ve decided to try long distance — something they’ve only done in monthlong spurts over summer breaks. This phase, Mays said, is expected to last until she finishes school or McClure has paid off his student loans. Still, Mays said none of their plans are definite. Her uncertainties of the coming, bittersweet events shown through her sadeyed smiles and reiterations that they’d “figure it out” are seemingly small self-reminders in her belief that if she and McClure really want to make it work, they’ll find a way. “We don’t know, and it’s a little bit terrifying,” Mays said with a nervous laugh. “We’ll figure it out, though, because I think we kind of like each other.” Physics and human biology major Maggie Boyd said she and her boyfriend have been lucky — she was accepted to graduate school in Chicago, and he doesn’t need grad school, giving him the freedom to join her in the city. Most of her friends, Boyd said, have had to apply to the same schools as their partners or schools in close proximity and simply hope for the best. Boyd, 23, said graduation is a chaotic time for everyone, and relationships have the tendency to add another level of fear when contemplating the future. But Boyd said it’s also nice to have the support system of another person in times of uncertainty. “I think it’s important not to sacrifice your personal goals too much,” Boyd said. “But if you’re with someone you love, it seems silly to break it off just because you don’t know how it’s going to work.”• montanakaimin.com

April 19-25. 2017 5

NEWS

Multiple Pulitzer Prize winners connected to UM By Melissa Loveridge melissa.loveridge@umontana.edu

Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold won a Pulitzer prize last Monday for his work covering Trump’s presidential run. Less than a month before, Fahrenthold visited the University of Montana to deliver an in-depth talk on the unique reporting methods that won him the Pulitzer. Although he is the most recent, Fahrenthold isn’t the only Pulitzer Prize-winner who’s been involved with UM. Each semester, UM’s School of Journalism selects a professional journalist to teach a class and advise its student newspaper, the Montana Kaimin. This position is named the Pollner Professorship and its recipients are often influential journalists. Multiple Pollner professors have won Pulitzer prizes. Tamara Jones, who served as the fall 2013 Pollner professor, was a reporter on the Washington Post staff that covered the Virginia Tech shooting in 2008. Jones’ coverage of the shooting was part of a series of pieces in a Washington Post package that won the Pulitzer for breaking news coverage. Jones said she wrote a breaking feature about the father of one of the shooting victims, a young man named

Mike Pohle. “This lightbulb came on, and I realized that there was the story I wanted to tell. It wasn't about loss; it was about love,” she said. “It was one of my last pieces for the Post.” Jones was a finalist for another Pulitzer for her and reporter Anne Hull’s coverage of wounded soldiers coming home from Iraq and the hospital some were staying in, the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Their coverage included searingly intimate profiles of soldiers wounded in Iraq. “We got unprecedented permission from Walter Reed to basically immerse there,” Jones said. She and Hull stayed at Walter Reed for six weeks in the orthopedic wing, where many of the veterans were staying. “We just hung out on that floor, and we got to know patients, doctors, therapists and did a two-part series about that ward.” Jones spent a fall semester in Missoula and said she looks back on her time as a UM Pollner professor as “one of the highlights of [my] career.” “It was so much fun to be downtown and to realize that it’s still a very locally-owned downtown … It was just really really cool to be there,” she said. Her parents and grandparents had grown up in Missoula, she said, and she had visited Montana several times but never for long. “I felt this really strong connection, and I wanted

to know this place that they came from,” she said. Jones’ Pollner class was called “Training the Professional Observer.” “The class was to … coach students in how to observe and learn how to sit still inside their stories and let the stories tell them what they’re about … to write about what you do see and hear but also what’s not there and what that tells you,” she said. Next fall’s Pollner professor also just won a shared Pulitzer for her contribution to the coverage of the Panama Papers leaks. Cheryl Carpenter is the D.C. bureau chief for McClatchy, a company that owns 30 newspapers across the country. She was an editor of the 45-story package that won the Pulitzer. “The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists approached McClatchy and said, ‘We’ve got this extraordinary database [of offshore accounts]’,” she said. “Offshores are often used to hide money … We were the only U.S.-based newspaper company invited in.” Carpenter said the ICIJ and the reporters at McClatchy “really did the hardest work.” “We just took months and months to search that database, and it’s really some difficult work, understanding what we were looking at … These writers … were just dedicated, determined and careful. I think that was just so great, every day, to

be in their midst,” Carpenter said. Carpenter’s Pollner class will focus on the ethics of leaked documents, drawing from her experience with McClatchy and the Panama Papers. “There’s something to talk about with students in the sense of responsibility you take on when you get a leaked document,” she said. “When you think about all of the leaks that have upset Donald Trump, there are responsibilities on the other end with the journalists.” She said she is looking forward to spending time in Missoula, working with journalism students and advising the Kaimin. “I love to hike, and when I went to Montana … It is extraordinary. I mean, what a place,” she said. “I thought, ‘I would be very very lucky to get this professorship,’ so I feel so blessed.” Fahrenthold, Carpenter and Jones aren’t the only Pulitzer prize-winning journalists with a connection to the University. Eli Saslow was a Pollner professor in 2010 and won a Pulitzer in 2014 for his coverage of food stamps and poverty with the Washington Post. Fall 2014 Pollner professor Bill Glaberson won a Pulitzer in 2002 for a New York Times article about the aftermath of 9/11. And Hank Stuever, a Pollner in the fall of 2012, was a finalist in 1993 and in 1996 for feature writing he did at the Albuquerque Tribune. •

We aren’t alone: Other states face higher ed funding cuts Reporting by Margaret Grayson / Graphic by Kayla Robertson The Montana legislature is planning to slash higher education funding by $11 million this year, but the state is far from alone in its attempts to fill budget deficits. While states all have different higher ed funding models and different legislative session schedules, there are several where universities are on the chopping block. Here’s a look at a few other states where funding is in question and how universities are dealing with it.

North Dakota

Sources: The Dakota Student, The Prairie Business Journal, Associated Press, NDSU Spectrum, The Columbia Missourian, The Texas Tribune, Iowa City Press-Citizen, West Virginia MetroNews, The Daily Athenaeum Online

Expected cuts: $18 million before next year to Iowa’s three public universities, along with a $2.75 million mid-year budget cut this spring

Expected cuts: Up to 80 percent system-wide The University of North Dakota is expecting a 12 percent budget cut. The university’s president has advocated for tuition increases. An online petition to oust the president has garnered over 500 signatures.

University of Iowa’s president has suggested tuition increases of up to 6.6 percent per year for the next five years. All three Iowa universities already saw a 5 percent tuition and fee increase in 2016-17.

North Dakota State University is facing a 10-12 percent cut. The university has eliminated its Student Affairs department and slashed administrative funding to athletics by 40 percent.

West Virginia

Missouri Expected cuts: Around 9 percent to the University of Missouri system, up to $57 million At the University of Missouri, the president has said that non-tenured faculty may be eliminated from departments that aren’t making the grade. Hardest hit is the School of Medicine, which will lose about $3 million by next fall.

6 April 19-25, 2017

montanakaimin.com

Iowa

Expected cuts: 15 percent, about $50 million

Texas Expected cuts: Between 6 and 10 percent to each university The Texas State Senate has several bills in the works to take away universities’ ability to raise their tuition, potentially taking away their ability to make up for loss of funding. Last year, Texas spent $1 billion on special higher ed projects. This year’s budget allotted nothing for such projects.

West Virginia University has faced a reduction of $30 million in state funding over the past several years, according to its president. Tuition at WVU has increased by $4,200 since 2002. West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice proposed a budget with no cuts to higher education and has said he will veto any proposed cuts.

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P April 12-18, 2017

UM communications professor Steve Schwarze guides debate in his “Persuasive Speaking and Criticism” class April 13.

The right state of mind UM professor lives with terminal cancer Story by Lucy Tompkins Photos by Sydney MacDonald

8 April 19-25, 2017

montanakaimin.com

Every day before he went to work, Caryn Schwarze gave her husband a painful shot in his stomach. The blood thinners she injected helped the clot that had formed in his leg — a side effect of chemotherapy. To calm his nerves after the shot, Steve went to the piano in their dining room and played songs from memory. Before the shots, Caryn never knew how well her husband could play, and she was stunned to discover he could read music. Once she saw the effect it had on him, she bought a gift she knew he’d love: a book of sheet music with Taylor Swift’s top hits. On the bad days, “Wildest Dreams” echoed through their house. Caryn saw it as his therapy at a time when all odds seemed stacked against him. With his diagnosis, only about 10 percent of people survive past five years. About half die within two. She found comfort where most would lose hope. “Unless it’s zero, I’m OK,” she said. “Because I do believe that if it happens for some people, why not for Steve?” One year ago, Steve Schwarze, a 46-year-old University of Montana communications professor, was diagnosed with stage four cancer — the final stage. It was midsemester and, despite the

diagnosis and intense chemotherapy treatments he endured every other week, Steve continued to teach. Since then, his life has been clouded by uncertainty as he tries to heal and avoid being defined by the dismal numbers that forecast his future.

...

Steve grew up in the small town of Glencoe, Minnesota, where his parents owned a farm. To help pay for living expenses at Drake University, he spent his summers working at Glencoe’s local Green Giant plant, spraying pesticides from a helicopter on fields of vegetables below. The first in his family to attend college, he went on to earn a doctorate in communication studies at the University of Iowa. In 2000, Steve moved to Missoula and began teaching at UM. Steve is slender and fit, with a crooked smile and rectangular glasses that sit above a sharp nose. Despite his diagnosis, he keeps a witty sense of humor — his Facebook profile picture is him wearing a T-shirt with the words “STILL KICKIN” across the front in bold. Caryn and Steve met in Missoula and married in 2004. They have two children who couldn’t be more different — an 11-year-old named Charlie

Steve Schwarze, his wife Caryn and their two children, Molly, 4, and Charlie, 11, pose for a family portrait.

and a 4-year-old named Molly. Charlie is introspective, smart and sensitive, while Molly is wild and energetic. They call her a force of nature. Caryn studied political science in college, but when she and Steve had kids, she decided to stay home and raise them. She’s the caretaker of the family, she said, and even with a sick husband and two young children, she exudes energy. She smiles broadly while she tells stories — even about the hard topics. After her husband’s diagnosis, something shifted in Caryn. She remembers talking with her girlfriends in college about when they’d feel like grown-ups. When they got married? When they had kids? “‘No’ was my answer for getting married, ‘no’ was my answer for having kids, but ‘yes’ was my answer for having a husband with cancer.”

...

Steve first went to the hospital in February 2016, after suffering through weeks of unrelenting stomach pain. Caryn assumed it was appendicitis or food intolerance, but when his doctor began running tests, the results were concerning. After doctors discovered a tumor on his colon, Steve underwent a PET scan to find out if the cancer had spread. He drank a special radioactive dye that flocks to parts of the body with rapid cell reproduction and entered the scanner. His organs lit up. Though it began in his colon, the cancer had spread to his liver and, most troubling, to nearby lymph nodes. His doctor didn’t sugar coat what that meant. For his brutal honesty, Steve calls his oncologist the “Grim Realist.” “You have a terminal disease, and it’s inoperable,” he said. Caryn felt like she had been punched in the

gut. She began asking questions, unable to rationalize how she could be living in a universe in which her husband had cancer. At first, Steve was stoic. At the end of the appointment, Caryn went to pull the car around for Steve, who had to be pushed out in a wheelchair due to minor sedation from a procedure. She walked out the front doors and, disoriented by construction happening around St. Patrick Hospital, had to ask a woman for help finding the parking garage. When she opened her mouth to speak, she lost her composure. She sobbed while the woman waited. “That’s the day that the world kind of stopped turning,” Caryn said.

...

After the initial shock of the diagnosis, Caryn and Steve thought about their kids. At the time, Molly hadn’t yet entered kindergarten, and Charlie was in fourth grade. The couple wondered how to tell their kids and how much to tell them. Steve did the math: with a median survival rate of two years — meaning half of the patients with his diagnosis die within that time — he wouldn’t see either of his kids graduate from high school. “That was the big realization that made me sort of lose it,” he said. The hospital gave them pamphlets with advice for how to tell their kids about cancer, and Steve researched more online before sitting down with then-10-year-old Charlie. Caryn’s favorite book, “The Martian,” is about an astronaut who uses his scientific knowledge to survive on Mars after his team accidentally abandons him. She had read some excerpts of the book to Charlie and used it as an example for how

they’d proceed — they planned to “science the shit out of it,” she told him. They explained that dad had cancer and that he would be getting chemo regularly. Other details — like the terminal diagnosis — were withheld. “Like, what do you do when the chemo stops working?” Caryn said. “We didn’t share that with him.” After the conversation, which only took about three minutes, Charlie seemed calm. “Can I go do my homework now?” he asked. Steve started chemotherapy mere days after the diagnosis. He had a port implanted in the right side of his chest — a quarter-sized plastic disc that sits directly under the skin through which his chemo medicine is administered. Every two weeks for four months, he went to the hospital for an infusion of three different drugs. The whole process took about six hours. Doctors took his vitals, drew blood, inquired about his symptoms, waited for new test results and then gave him the chemo infusion. For 46 hours afterward, he carried a small pump around in a fanny pack, which slowly dripped medication into his blood. The drugs left him depleted. He slept for entire days afterward and, because he was diagnosed midsemester, canceled some class periods to recover. His students noticed his absences and how tired he sometimes seemed when he did show up. Steve’s normal teaching style is unusually energetic. In the first week of class, he memorizes every student’s name using note cards and animated pointing and guessing. Within days, he knows the names of over 50 students. Accustomed to this kind of enthusiasm, his students could tell something was off when Steve came to class after

treatment. “He just looked like he had his ghost pulled out of him,” said Sean Quartz, a communications major who took Steve’s “Communication, Consumption and Climate Change” course. After a few weeks, Steve decided to tell his students about his diagnosis. It was harder than he expected. He didn’t want them to feel like they had to tiptoe around him once they knew the truth. He waited until the end of class and then laid it out. “I’ve been diagnosed with an illness,” he told them. “It’s cancer, and it’s pretty late in the finding of it.” Some students were notably shell-shocked. Many cried. One walked to the front of class and hugged him. “They were pretty great about it,” Steve said. “I wasn’t surprised.” Kenzie Lombardi, a communications major taking Steve’s class when he announced his diagnosis, said she couldn’t imagine the department without him and selfishly wanted him to keep teaching. She felt like she had so much left to learn from him, she said. After he shared his diagnosis, Steve told his students he planned to keep teaching, and he explained why. “He talked about how if he only had numbered days, if his life expectancy really was as short as the doctors were saying it was, that he wanted to be teaching, and he wanted to be doing what he loved,” Lombardi said. “He wanted to be talking to us about things that he found so important.” Steve studies rhetoric and communication about environmental issues. In this particular class, he discusses how discourse around climate change affects people’s response to the crisis. It calls for a balance between hope and honesty. He tells difficult truths without losing his students’ optimism for change. Over the years, Steve has become an expert at managing this balance. His illness calls for a similar mindset. Steve’s class continued as usual, with teaching assistants filling in when the chemo wore him out too much to teach. He sometimes appeared with a fanny pack with his chemo drip, and he sat down more often than before. But he never lost his desire to teach, and his honesty with his students made them appreciate him even more. “He’s continuing to live life,” Lombardi said. “Which I think takes a lot of courage.”

...

Before her dad’s diagnosis, Molly, 3 years old at the time, became fascinated with the workings of the human body. She especially loved a YouTube tutorial that follows a pizza slice through the digestion process. Though she first reacted to her dad’s illness by withdrawing from him, his treatments became a way for them to connect. Molly likes to touch her dad’s chest port, where he receives chemo transfusions, while sitting on his lap. Her curiosity led her parents montanakaimin.com

April 19-25. 2017 9

Steve Schwarze admires his wife, Caryn, while she talks about raising their two children, Molly and Charlie.

to buy her a clear plastic human anatomy toy with exposed organs for “surgery.” She can locate the liver and calls the intestines “the squiggly.” It made talking about cancer easier. Caryn put it in a way her daughter could better understand. “Daddy’s sick,” she told Molly. “He’s got some bad cells in his squiggly.” After his diagnosis, Steve joined Facebook groups for people with cancer and started reading every medical journal he could find that offered clues to his future. The forums offered him a place to open up about his diagnosis to people who understood. “There’s this weird, unusual bond that I’ve experienced and that I see among cancer patients, regardless of what they have or what stage they’re at,” Steve said. He found an empathetic community online and reconnected with former students across the country who have cancer diagnoses of their own. The uncertainty of his diagnosis has been the most difficult part, Steve said. “Hearing that you’ve got a terminal disease is hard because now, rather than having this open-ended future that you don’t really think about a whole lot, it feels like the clock is ticking.” As Steve received more chemo treatments, side effects began to appear. It was hard to sleep. His hands got tingly, and his feet, which he relied on 10 April 19-25. 2017

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for mountain biking, running, and walking Molly to school each morning, felt as if they had been stripped of their soft padding as a result of nerve damage from the chemo. He felt like he was walking directly on his bones. But the chemo was working. After five treatments, Steve had another CT scan. His tumors had shrunk considerably. His cancer, though widespread, was chemoresponsive. The tumor on his colon was hardly detectable, and his lymph nodes returned to their normal size. His diagnosis changed from inoperable to operable. Suddenly, there was hope. Steve’s doctor suggested he go to Seattle for liver surgery, to remove any remaining cancer. While stage four means there’s a high chance the cancer will return, as it has seeped into blood vessels throughout the body and could hibernate undetected for months, the chemo nearly eradicated Steve’s tumors. He and his family traveled to Seattle last June, where doctors removed 30 percent of his liver. In a biopsy of the removed tissue, they found that less than 1 percent of cancer cells remained. When Steve went to have his staples removed, the doctors let Molly pull some out.

...

After recovering for six weeks at Caryn’s par-

ents’ house in Bellevue, Washington, Steve and his family returned to Missoula in August. Steve underwent four more rounds of chemo, just in case. With every round, his side effects worsened. The nerve damage in his hands and feet, called peripheral neuropathy, became more painful. For some people, that nerve damage never heals. Steve stopped walking Molly to school in the mornings and got a ride to campus with Caryn. His surgery and subsequent recovery time interfered with preparation for fall classes, so Steve decided not to teach for the semester. Instead, he took on more advising and administrative responsibilities. Steve’s doctor hoped the additional four rounds of chemo would destroy the less than 1 percent of cancer cells that remained in his body. Now, he goes to the hospital once every three weeks for maintenance chemo and takes a pill twice daily for two weeks, with one week off. For all but the peripheral neuropathy in his hands and feet, he is symptom free. His recovery, doctors told him, is somewhat miraculous. But for the next four years, the odds that the cancer will return — mutated and less chemoresponsive — are extremely high. In Caryn’s research, she found only about 1 to 3 percent of patients with Steve’s diagnosis have the kind of response he’s had. Because of this, there’s

little research about what his future might hold. “If things were going poorly, we would know exactly what the next step was,” Steve’s oncologist told them. “But things are going well, so it’s murky.” Caryn plans their lives as far as the next CT scan — three months at a time. “So I can plan February to May,” Caryn said. “And I know what my life will look like, and we can plan trips and activities. So I don’t have a life past May 1. And then, when we get the clean scan beginning of May, I will know what my life is until August.” Steve’s fear that the cancer may return keeps him from feeling comfortable. Caryn said she keeps looking over her shoulder as he does better. But this anxiety doesn’t keep them from living their lives. A few months into his chemo treatments, Steve pitched a new book idea. Living with cancer has inspired him to study the ways in which environmentalism and health intertwine. He doesn’t know how much time he has left, and whether it’s two years or 20, Steve wants to spend his time doing things that matter. This summer, despite the painful nerve damage in his feet, he plans to join his buddies for their annual backpacking trip in the mountains. When the future is uncertain, simply making plans is an act of hope.•

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April 19-25. 2017 11

ARTS+CULTURE

There’s no wrong way to be a woman: UM student photographs feminine diversity

Photo by Kira Vercruyssen / @_kirajoy_ Natalia Boise's photography is on display in Betty's Divine, a local boutique located on the "Hip Strip" in downtown Missoula on April 7. The exhibit showcases unique female figures and is available for viewing until the end of the month. By Drew Novak drew.novak@umontana.edu

Creativity struck Natalia Boise, a senior studying anthropology and German at the University of Montana, after she misplaced the razor she used for shaving body hair. “I could have bought a new razor, but I got inspired by my friends who didn’t shave and were just so comfortable with it,” Boise said. “That’s when I sort of realized that a lot of the norms of femininity that we experience in our society are external.” The 21-year-old took that realization and ran with it. She photographed a series of portraits titled “Badass Beauties: The Culture of Rebellious Femininity,” which became her thesis for the University’s Davidson Honors College. The models’ ages range from 18 to 60. They are clothed, nude, clean-shaven or natural. One plays guitar, another wears ballet slippers, while a third hoists a mountain bike on her shoulders. Boise wanted to capture each subject in a way that highlights and celebrates womanhood in every form. “It started with the idea of doing an armpit hair exhibit, and it just sort of turned into displaying all the diverse ways a woman can be feminine,” she said. “Creating a notion of the feminine that is more inclusive and more diverse, to include all kinds of feminine identity.” The collection debuted at Betty’s Divine boutique April 8 as part of Missoula’s monthly First Friday event. Attendees were also invited to share 12 April 19-25. 2017

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their experiences with the community via an open mic. Boise’s photos pay special attention to the concept of physical feminine beauty, noting that women often deal with expectations that can prove harmful and unrealistic. “When a woman hits puberty, she grows pubic hair. All women have it. Trans women have armpit hair. Everyone has armpit hair,” she said. “But men have now started wearing tank tops, and they don’t shave their arms. They wear shorts, and they don’t shave their legs. So [shaving] is obviously a female-oriented standard that is not expected of men.” Many of the portrait subjects attended the exhibition, sharing poetry or performing music for the First Friday crowd. They believe Boise’s work is beneficial for the audience and themselves. “I think that seeing each of the photographs will help others to recognize their own unique strengths that may not conform to established standards present in magazines and other types of media,” said Sonia McLain, a 21-year-old German and English as a second language student. “The photo we chose of me is one where I'm not wearing any makeup, and my biggest physical insecurities are exposed,” Kenzie Lombardi, 22, said. She studies political science and communications at UM. “To be able to look at that photo and still feel beautiful and even more, to feel brave is just really important.” The exhibit comes at a particularly turbulent time, as controversy over the rights of individuals

Photo by Natalia Boise "The combination of body hair and makeup speaks to the fact that masculinity and femininity don't just exist separately," Francesca Snow said (pictured above).

to use bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity continues. “As a transgender woman, I felt both validated and empowered by Natalia's inclusion of my photograph in her exhibit,” model Virginia Nichols said. The 31-year-old is an active member of the local branch of the Industrial Workers of the World. “Too often trans people are set aside in the world of feminism,” Nichols said. “I attended the viewing and was truly inspired by these photographs, which told the story of what women truly are, instead of the patriarchal vision handed down to us.” Boise considers the exhibit a success, mentioning that a few women even approached her during the show asking to be involved in future

projects. “It turned out way better than I expected,” she said. “I never in my life thought that I would have a gallery opening dedicated to just my artwork or, God forbid, my photography because I wasn’t a photographer before I started this show.” “Badass Beauties” will remain on display at Betty’s Divine until the end of April. There are plans for future exhibits this summer in Livingston, where Boise hopes that her work will continue to provide an opportunity for discussion on ever-progressing social issues. “You don’t belong to the politicians,” she said. “You don’t belong to societal norms. You just belong to you, and that can be however you want it.” •

ARTS+CULTURE

Hope Freier / @freier_hope_ Instructor Britta Remes (left) spots Lynsey Hagan while she performs a brand new move on the pole April 6.

How ‘working the pole’ builds confidence By Brooke Beighle brooke.beighle@umconnect.umt.edu

Britta Remes, a MASC studio aerial pole dance and fitness class instructor, is fit. Not the kind of fit that results from running marathons or swimming laps, but the kind that comes from hoisting her body to the top of a chrome pole while seamlessly performing acrobatic moves to the newest Rihanna club remix. Remes’ early love for gymnastics eventually led her to experiment with aerial silks, where she fell in love with defying gravity on a daily basis. After finding her “circus family” at Missoula’s MASC Studio, Remes fell in love with another art

form — pole dancing. “I really encourage my students to make it their own and move in the way that feels good for their body,” said Remes. “It does take a lot of strength and everybody develops that strength in very different ways. This is really a body exploration tool.” The MASC Studio is welcoming and brightly-lit with a high, vaulted ceiling holding an industrial-sized ceiling fan. Six stationary poles stand firmly in the ground as purple stage lights shine down upon a gigantic black curtain separating the large studio into two separate spaces for ongoing classes. Missoula women perform yoga poses to warm up for their daily dose of pole fitness, some with tat-

toos adorning their strong bodies. While many may be hesitant to explore the boundaries of fitness in a pole dancing class, taking one look at the transformative power of this kind of movement might be enough to convince even the most conservative athletes to give it a try. “The most successful people [in the class] are yogis, gymnasts, dancers, or even people who are really into meditation, those who understand how to live in their body and how to harness that and use it when trying something new,” said Remes. An aerial pole dance and fitness class offers strength and fitness, but even more important, it offers a level of body awareness that comes with trusting yourself

enough to adhere to challenging positions on a pole. “It’s definitely built some body confidence,” said Deidre Ingraham, a pole fitness student and devotee of two years. “I trust myself hanging from my thighs, squeezing a pole upside-down. You’d think it would be really scary but then it’s like, ‘Oh, I got this,’” she said. Like most workouts, this fitness craze is not without its challenges, mostly gravity and pain. “We’re using the friction from our skin and the strength from our bodies to literally defy gravity. Experimenting with physics in a new way is the biggest challenge,” Remes said. • montanakaimin.com

April 19-25. 2017 13

ARTS+CULTURE

Review: Pale People's second album ‘Portraits’ By Bowen West bowen.west@umontana.edu

Overcoming the sophomore slump is a challenge comparable to David versus Goliath. Last year, Missoula band Pale People released their first album “Bright Ideas,” one with grand concepts limited by its small production. For all intents and purposes, it was an enjoyable album, but now the band has to face their greatest obstacle yet — building on that success.

Pale People has a sound unlike any other local band. You can’t go into their music expecting an upbeat feel good tune. Their songs are often melancholic, focusing on the outcasts of society, which is why the concept for their new album “Portraits” works so well. Each of the 10 songs on “Portraits” tells the story of a different individual. The cast of characters ranges from a girl in a child beauty pageant to a racist preacher who has to face his misdeeds. The lyrics are deeply personal, never condemning or laughing at the subject of the song but trying to understand them. My personal favorite was “Carol,” a slow and vulnerable look at an elderly woman with dementia, excellently sung by lyricist, pianist and singer Mack Gilcrest. Gilcrest is accompanied with bassist and guitarist Kurt Skrivseth and Brian Tremper on drums. Since “Bright Ideas,” the trio has developed their relationship and it shows in the music. They have created a much tighter sound, which is a delight to listen to. “Portraits” isn’t perfect. It can be draining listening to these character-driven pieces backto-back, so they work best with breathing room so you can get familiar with the outsiders that

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Photo by Gracie Ryan Mack Gilcrest, Brian Tremper and Kurt Skrivseth make up the prog-punk trio, Pale People.

Pale People are singing about. To no fault of the album, the band sounds best during live shows. On stage, they strike a balance between bombastic and intimate. Pale People’s theatrical presence on stage has to be experienced to really appreciate them.

Pale People took what made “Bright Ideas” such an interesting album and cranked the dial up to 11. They are still discovering what works, what doesn’t and how they can experiment with their sound. They defeated the sophomore slump — now it’s on to junior year. •

SPORTS

What’s done is Dunn: The rise and fall of the Griz guard Dunn came to Montana in 2013 as one of the last recruits of former Griz coach Wayne Tinkle. He played in all 30 games his freshman year, starting 16 of them. Former Griz forward Eric Hutchison, who was a senior when Dunn arrived, remembered the young guard as a team player. “He was selfless as a player. Always passed before he shot,” Hutchison said. Tinkle left for the head coach position at Oregon State before Dunn’s sophomore year, making Dunn an important transitional piece for Tinkle’s replacement, Travis DeCuire. Dunn saw his playing time skyrocket, starting all 33 games and averaging the second-most minutes played (31.7 per game) on the team. Dunn received honorable mention for the Big Sky All-Conference team that season, and the Griz made a surprising run that ended with them as regular season co-champions with Eastern Washington. The Griz hosted the conference tournament and fell to Eastern Washington in the championship game, missing a bid into the NCAA tournament. It was one of Dunn’s favorite moments as a Grizzly. “Even though we lost to Eastern, it was an incredible time. So much love from the fans and community,” Dunn said. But then he missed the entire non-conference schedule of his junior season with a wrist injury. When Dunn came back, it was clear he was not a primary focus on the team. New arrivals, like junior college transfer Walter Wright and freshmen Michael Oguine and Bobby Moorehead, cut into Dunn’s minutes. He started just two games that season and averaged 17.1 minutes per game. For the second year in a row, the Griz

almost won the Big Sky title, but Dunn played more of a cameo than a leading part this time. “The quicker I accepted it, the easier it was for me to play my game the way I wanted to play,” Dunn said. “I’m not too big on personal stats or anything, as long as we can win the game and win a championship. That’s all that mattered to me.” By Dunn’s senior year, Oregon transfer Ahmaad Rorie became eligible to play, adding to the surplus of Montana guards. Dunn averaged just 13.1 minutes per game his final season, 2016-17, and started just once. His last appearance in maroon and silver came at Montana State, two weeks before the conference tournament. Barely one minute after checking into the game, Dunn landed hard on his right knee trying to block a fast-break layup. The senior limped off the floor, and the Griz couldn’t extend the season long enough for him to return. But his efforts were never lost on his teammates, even those that eventually replaced him, like Oguine. “He’s special because he epitomizes what it means to be a selfless teammate, whether it’s putting his body on the line or making sure the other guys are developing right. He’s basically an extension of the coach,” Oguine said. Oguine’s words bode well for Dunn, who envisions himself as a coach in the future. And though Dunn said his playing days are likely over, he has few complaints. “Down this road, I met some great people, some great fans. That’s all I can ask for at this point, everything else is done with.” •

Photo Lacey Young / @laceyyoung87 Mario Dunn rises for a lay-up against Northern Arizona on March 14, 2015. By Isaiah Dunk isaiah.dunk@umontana.edu

Every athlete eventually faces the reality that their playing days will end, but Mario Dunn admitted he never thought about it. He just wanted to win all the time. “The only thing I had on my mind was getting a championship, no matter what. Senior year, that was the only way I wanted to end it, but it came out a little differently,” Dunn said. Not only did he finish empty-handed, the former Grizzly guard wasn’t even able play out the end of his college career. Hampered by a knee injury from a few

weeks prior, Dunn had to watch from the sidelines as his team’s season ended early with a first round loss to Idaho in the conference tournament. It looked like the native of Oakland, California, was on track to be a focal point of Montana basketball after his freshman year. By his senior season, he appeared to be on the back burner. But Dunn’s career, to him, wasn’t defined by how it ended. “I think I had a really good four years. I just enjoyed it. I enjoyed everything about it, my whole process of becoming a basketball player and a better person out here,” he said.

Graphic Kelsey Johnson / @kelscjohnson montanakaimin.com

April 19-25. 2017 15

SPORTS

Men’s relay team seeks same success in spring By Zac Allen Zachary3.allen@umontana.edu

The Montana 1600-meter indoor track relay team earned UM its first conference championship this winter. That was indoor, and now the outdoor team looks to build off of their earlier success. “For outdoor, there’s bigger fish to fry,” Callum MacNab said, the first leg on the outdoor relay team. The bigger fish to fry are the West Preliminary Championships, which are held in Austin, Texas following the conference championships. The indoor season only offers an NCAA championship meet. To qualify for the meet, the team will have to be one of the top 24 relay teams in the West region. “Outdoor season is what it’s all about,” Sterling Reneau said, the relay squad’s third leg. “Just coming from indoor and transitioning to outdoor, that intensity is already raised training-wise and being mentally prepared to attack it once you get out on the big track.” Following their championship run in the winter, this spring the team hopes to be competing in Austin come May, making more history along the way. That includes potentially breaking the school record of 3:11.13 set in 2015. Dylan Reynolds, the

team’s second leg, said he believes this team can beat it. “Our goals for outdoor are much higher than indoor. We got that monkey off our back by finally winning one for the first time and now it’s to get to that regional qualifying time.” Reynolds said. The team will look slightly different than it did in the winter. All members ran on the indoor teams except Domonique Bobo, who will replace Jordan Wallin as the anchor of the team. “They did it without me even being there,” Bobo said. “Just seeing how they took over from start to finish is crazy. Just adding me back into the mix can make us really deadly and hopefully we’ll be in regionals, easy.” The team all had positive things to say about Bobo’s addition — as expected. He and Reneau were both members of the 2015 school record team. “Bobo is a big vocal leader on our team and it’s definitely good having him back,” Reneau said. “Jordan obviously did his part this indoor season and is a great runner. I just think Bobo has a little bit more experience on that 4-by-400.” As one of the only events in track where teams compete, the 1600 offers a unique blend of excitement to conclude each meet where individuals are not in complete control of the outcome.

Bella Grannis / @isabellagrannis Dominique Bobo, top left, Dylan Reynolds, top right, Callum MacNab, bottom left, and Sterling Reneau, bottom right, make up the 4x400 relay team that took first at the Al Manuel Northwest Dual track meet.

“It may be the most exciting event, arguably.” MacNab said. “It’s great to be able to run for your teammates for a change, not only the teammates you’re running with, but the ones who are lining the track.” Reneau said those teammates, and the whole group of sprinters, is the closest they’ve ever been in his three years as a grizzly.

“We’re all pushing for the same thing. So we really have that confidence in each other to know that no matter who’s running we’re going to have good people out there representing what we do,” Reneau said. The group will take to the track again in the Cat-Griz duel Saturday at Dornblaser. “You couldn’t ask for a better group to work with,” Bobo said •

F E ATURE P HOTOS

Photos by Syndey MacDonald / @sydneysmacdo Bodybuilding competitors hold a uniform pose while the judges A competitor of the NPC Big Sky Bodybuilding Championships does arm reps with an elastic band before the male portion of the competition begins. make their final decisions April 15. 16 April 19-25. 2017

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