Shannon Dininny, Benjamin Shors, and Ericka Schenck Smith spent hours looking over court records from the lawsuits against the owner of the mine,W.R. Grace and Co., and many hours talking to people from Libby who had filed suit and were exposed to the asbestos from the mine. Charlotte Rushton contributed photographs to the story.

"It was probably one of the biggest news stories in the last 10 years," said Shors. "I learned so much going through the court documents and researching this project. It was a great experience."

Dininny covered the medical and regulatory aspects of the story. She said she was surprised to learn that most of the officials she talked to at the state and federal level were not knowledgeable about what had happened in Libby.

The Daily InterLake published a story on the lawsuits a week before the students' articles were published in the Missoulian. Shors said he and the other students were pretty depressed for a few days that their stories hadn't been printed first. But as Dininny noted, their own articles were more in depth and much better researched because they talked to Libby residents and did not rely just on court records. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer also wrote about the situation.

"On the whole they did a great job," said Swibold. "I am really proud of the whole team."

Freedom Forum grant for visiting professor renewed

The grant from the Freedom Forum, which sponsored McAuliffe's position at the school during the past year, has been renewed through December 2000. The school is searching for funds to retain McAuliffe after the grant expires next year.

"I hope to be here to stay," McAuliffe said. After 16 years with the Washington Post, McAuliffe has resigned from his editing position and is looking forward to teaching at the School of Journalism and working on a project designed to get more Native American students interested in journalism.

McAuliffe is an enrolled member of the Osage Tribe in Oklahoma. In addition to teaching classes and helping with recruitment at UM, he will be working with tribal high schools and colleges in Montana to create an internet publication. McAuliffe said he wants to "hook kids by getting them into print early," in the hopes that they will eventually go into journalism.

UM photojournalism students place in Hearst competition

Photojournalism student Samuel Dean won sixth place and received a $500 award. James Shipley, another photojournalism student, took 14th place in the competition. The school placed fourth in the intercollegiate competition based on accumulated points.

The annual photojournalism competition is held in more than 100 member schools of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication with accredited undergraduate journalism programs.

School completes accreditation self-study

The Self-Study report, weighing more than 70 pounds, is the culmination of the efforts of Dean Jerry Brown, self-study coordinator Carol Van Valkenburg and all of the other journalism professors. The report is a comprehensive review and critique of all aspects of the journalism school, and is a required aspect of the accreditation review, which takes place every six years

The ACEJMC board will review the report and then forward it to the team members who will be visiting the school in mid-February. The report covers all aspects of the journalism program, which the visiting team will be reviewing, including curriculum, instruction, faculty, internships and diversity.