UM to hold Commencement in stadium May 12

More than 3,700 graduates and degree candidates are invited to participate in UM's 115th Commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 12, in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

The general ceremony for UM's professional schools, the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Technology will begin at 10 a.m. in Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The stadium opens at 8 a.m., and guests should be seated in the westside seating area by 9:30 a.m. No tickets are required.

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UM to give honorary degree to community leader

UM will present an honorary degree to the great-grandson of Oscar Craig, the University's first president, during 2012 Commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 12.

A. Warren Wilcox, a Missoula native and UM graduate who has played an active role in local businesses and community organizations, will receive an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters. UM's School of Business Administration nominated him for the honor.

"The fact that Warren is a native Missoulian, graduated from Missoula County High School, completed his higher education at The University of Montana and built and developed all of his business interests from Missoula makes him a 'local hero,'" wrote business school Dean Larry Gianchetta in his nomination of Wilcox. "The extent to which he has shared his professional success throughout the community of Missoula and with The University of Montana explains the personal qualities that led to his success."

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Awards honor UM sustainability advocates

UM honored members of the campus community who have proven their dedication to help the University become more sustainable during an April 20 ceremony on the Oval.

President Royce Engstrom presented the 2012 Greening UM Awards to Steve Schwarze, Kelly Chadwick, Ken Price and Patrick Rhea. The Associated Students of UM Sustainability Center and the Sustainable Campus Committee selected the winners out of nominees in four categories: faculty, staff, administrator and student.

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Advising center receives national tech award

The Undergraduate Advising Center at UM recently earned an Outstanding Advising Technology Innovation Certificate of Merit from the National Academic Advising Association for creating a series of online tutorial and informational videos to help current and incoming UM students succeed.

UM academic adviser Shannon Janssen developed KPCN: The Peer Connection Network. Under Janssen's supervision, students in the Undergraduate Advising Center's Peer Advising program write, act, direct and produce the videos.

Videos produced by KPCN can be viewed online.

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UM researchers map hottest places on Earth

Identifying the hottest place on Earth has long been a contentious issue, but UM researchers recently analyzed satellite data of land surfaces temperatures to do just that.

For the past century, scientists typically have determined the Earth's hot spots using air temperature readings taken at weather stations. The World Meteorological Organization has more than 11,000 weather stations collecting surface air temperatures, but the stations are not located in the remote areas that are likely to be the hottest places on Earth.

UM researchers David Mildrexler, Maosheng Zhao and Steve Running recently decided to try a different approach to locating the hottest place on Earth: They looked at satellite data.

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Business school to honor distinguished alumni

The UM School of Business Administration will honor three alumni for outstanding career achievements at the 65th Annual Donor Recognition and Scholarship Awards Banquet on Thursday, May 3.

The three alumni, their Montana hometowns and awards are:

• John R. Turmell, Missoula, 2012 Outstanding Distinguished Alumnus Award
• Karen Blasing, Dillon, 2012 Outstanding Alumna Award
• Joseph McCaffery, Butte, 2012 Outstanding Early Career Alumnus Award

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UM lands grant to host smokeless tobacco summit

UM's College of Health Professions and Biomedical Sciences recently secured a grant that will allow the University to host the seventh National Smokeless and Spit Tobacco Summit in 2013.

The National Association of Chronic Disease Directors granted UM $32,250 to launch planning for the national meeting devoted to addressing the health and social issues attributed to smokeless and spit tobacco use. Health professionals from across the U.S. will attend the summit, which is slated for Aug. 6-8, 2013.

Bernadette Bannister, program manager for the college, will secure additional funding and serve as lead organizer of the conference.

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Alum, former professor part of Pulitzer-winning team

A UM graduate and former journalism professor is part of the team at The Seattle Times that won a 2012 Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism.

Jerry Holloron served as desk editor for the Times' "Methadone and the Politics of Pain," a three-part series about Washington state's practice of prescribing the pain drug for people on state-subsidized health care.

Holloron joined the UM School of Journalism faculty in 1974 and quickly became one of its most highly regarded teachers. He received national teaching awards from the American Society of Newspaper Editors and the Poynter Institute. Before he taught at UM, he worked as chief of the Lee Newspapers State Bureau in Helena and as city editor of the Missoulian.

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Pharmacy student wins national competition

Stacey Pascoe, a third-year UM pharmacy student from Butte, recently won first place in the National Patient Counseling Competition of the American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists, held in New Orleans.

Marcie Bough, the association's senior director of government affairs and 2004 alumna of UM's Doctor of Pharmacy program, will honor Pascoe's achievement at a recognition ceremony held at noon Thursday, May 3, in the Skaggs School of Pharmacy Lobby.

Bough will present Pascoe with a $1,000 first-place award and also will present two trophies, one for Pascoe to keep and one to be displayed at the pharmacy school.

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Senior awarded prestigious Hearst Fellowship

UM journalism student and Montana Kaimin editor Jayme Fraser has been selected as one of three Hearst Journalism Fellows, an opportunity that will have her working two nine-month stints at Hearst newspapers beginning in September.

Fraser, a senior from Cody, Wyo., was one of seven finalists brought to Houston recently for interviews and tryouts. The students had to demonstrate their ability to tell stories through writing, photography, video and social media. The other students selected were Andrew Joseph, a Dartmouth College graduate, and Kristen Brown, who will receive a master's degree from Columbia University this spring.

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Bigfork senior named 2012 Kimmitt intern

Travis Vincent, a UM senior from Bigfork, will travel to Washington, D.C., this summer as the recipient of the 2012 J. Stanley Kimmitt Public Service Internship.

Vincent, who will graduate in December with degrees in Russian and economics, will serve as a summer intern for U.S. Sen. Jon Tester. At the same time, he will be enrolled in The Washington Center internship program. The Kimmitt internship includes a $1,500 stipend.

"I am excited to work on Capitol Hill, where every day promises something new," Vincent said. "The internship is a tremendous learning opportunity, and working with Senator Tester will be a valuable asset in achieving my goal of beginning a career in public service."

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'Walk N Roll' to campus for chance to win prizes

UM invites students, faculty, staff and the public to head to campus using any mode of transportation other than driving a car alone Monday through Friday, April 30-May 4.

As part of Missoula's Bike Walk Bus Week, the Associated Students of UM is sponsoring "Walk N Roll" week. Volunteers will hand out raffle tickets for prizes to all participants at the entrances to campus. Raffle tickets also will be available at the University Center. Participants can pick up one raffle ticket per day.

Raffle prizes include a commuter bike, cruiser bike, long board, gift certificates, headlights and locks, among other donated items.

The prize drawing will take place at noon Friday, May 4, on the Mansfield Mall. Those in attendance will have the chance to win smaller giveaways. Local band The Trees will provide live entertainment.

'Pet Wars' concludes successful MTPR fundraiser

Riding the wave of pledges for cats, dogs, chickens, horses, sheep and other pets in the "Pet Wars" finale April 22, Montana Public Radio raised $567,762 during its spring on-air fund drive, about 95 percent of the $600,000 goal.

"We know that there is a lot of support for our service," said Linda Talbott, MTPR development director. "We are very thankful, very humbled."

Supporters made more than 5,272 pledges during the week, which featured on-air celebrations for every $1,000 raised, and unique thank-you gifts offered by listeners and businesses. Premium gifts included weekend cabin getaways, home-cooked dinners and treats, sailboat rides and live goats. 

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School of Art displays senior BFA exhibition

The UM School of Art's 2012 BFA Senior Thesis Exhibition will be on display in the Gallery of Visual Arts and the University Center Gallery through May 11.

Both galleries will host Commencement receptions from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday, May 11. All events are free and open to the public.

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Food Zoo presents 'Beatlemania' as final omelet bar

University Dining Services at UM will present its grand finale omelet bar for the 2012 academic year from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 2, in the Lommasson Center Food Zoo.

The event's theme will be "Beatlemania." The Food Zoo will be transformed into a walk-through collage using visual themes from four of the Beatles' hugely successful albums from the 1960s: "Yellow Submarine," "Magical Mystery Tour," "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and the "White Album."

UDS Director Mark LoParco, along with three UDS assistants, will suit up as the Fab Four to perform during the afternoon's karaoke entertainment. They also will hand out 60 iTunes gift cards at random throughout the event.

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Funds available for faculty, staff short-term travel

UM's Office of International Programs will accept faculty and staff applications for short-term travel grants through Monday, May 7. Applications should be for professional international travel between the end of spring semester and December.

The call for applications goes out once a semester and involves a modest pool of funds available to supplement faculty travel to conferences, workshops or other professional visits abroad. A faculty and staff committee reviews and ranks the applications as part of the competitive process.

More details are available on the International Programs website. Faculty should email questions to peter.baker@mso.umt.edu, and staff should send questions to marjac@mso.umt.edu.

Submit best student papers for Portz competition

UM's Davidson Honors College is seeking nominations for the 2012 Portz Scholars competition, which recognizes the best-written, best-argued papers by the nation's college students.

Nominated papers must have been written during the 2011-12 academic year by a DHC student, and the competition accepts papers of any length, genre and discipline, including creative works. New ideas and approaches are welcome.

Faculty must submit nominations to Laure Pengelly Drake, director of external scholarships and advising, by 10 a.m. Thursday, May 17. The nomination package must include a nomination letter, one copy of the student's paper and a one-page abstract. A UM committee will review the nominations and select one to forward on to the national competition at the end of May.

More information is available online.

Register for research communication workshop

The National Science Foundation and Montana EPSCoR will sponsor a workshop Wednesday, May 16, for scientists and researchers interested in enhancing their communication skills with the public.

The workshop, "Science: Becoming the Messenger," will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the University Center at UM. Some participants will be selected for additional workshops on May 17. There is no registration fee, but registration is required by Friday, May 4, and is available online.

The workshop is open to principal investigators, early career researchers and engineers, graduate students and postdoctoral students from institutions and universities in Montana who want to learn to communicate effectively to a broad audience. Emmy Award-winning television producer Joe Schreiber, former PBS executive Dan Agan and best-selling science author Chris Mooney will lead the workshop.

Public information officers communicating on behalf of institutions and universities also are invited and will participate in all aspects of the workshop alongside the researchers. They will attend a special breakout session designed to collaborate with NSF Public Affairs.

For a specially selected group of researchers, there will be a second day of training on May 17. During this workshop, participants will refine their message further and train to talk to their colleagues, public audiences and the media. Participants should indicate on the registration form if they wish to be considered for second-day events.

For more information call Martha Peters at 406-994-7658 or email mpeters@montana.edu.

President Engstrom's office hours

President Engstrom welcomes members of the campus community to meet with him to discuss issues and topics of their choice. Call 406-243-2311 or email prestalk@umontana.edu to make an appointment.

President Engstrom's scheduled office hours for spring semester are:

• Wednesday, May 30: 2-4 p.m.