My Alma Matter Makes the Headlines

As a graduate of Montana State University ('01), I am used to scouring smaller publications for any kind of news on my alma matter's happenings. I guess that's why it came as quite a shock when I received several calls from friends today telling me they heard about what was going on in Bozeman. The last big news I heard was that the Rockin' R Bar went hip-hop (I still can't believe that).

In the years I lived in Bozeman, no murders were committed, the school had no reports of rape and the most violent incident that the paper reported on was a man's unfortunate encounter with a bear (or maybe that's just how I remember it). Needless to say, I still argue that Bozeman is the greatest place on the planet. The picture top left is of Montana Hall. It's our most famous building, and it makes for a damn nice photo, although now most students experience it as the place you go to pay tuition and to buy transcripts.

Anyway, this marks the second time in a short while that MSU has gone mainstream and I hate it. What I love about MSU is that it's absolutely, positively not mainstream. I still get a kick out of the townie bumper stickers that read: If you love Montana so much, go back to California. I like knowing where the fishing holes are, and I like even more knowing that tourists have to pay for that kind of information.

While I hope the Egyptian students are okay and just having a Holden Caulfield inspired experience in New York, it is my strongest hope that MSU stays out of the MSM for a long, long time.

Unless, that is, it's to celebrate another victory over the Grizzlies this fall.

Go Bobcats!! Better dead than red.

UPDATE: If you're wondering why the Middle Eastern students were invited to MSU you may read an article about it here.