[eluser]adityamenon[/eluser]
Actually, I don't absolutely NEED this answer right now, but it would still be nice to know why that was happening.
Why don't I need the answer? I realized that it is moot to call your model a "Frontend_model" if you're going to use ANOTHER model to simply fetch <marquee> data for... the *frontend*, LOL. Basically, one model per controller is enough in this case... but still, curiosity gnaws.