If you haven't registered for Family Weekend, it's not too late; the deadline has been extended until Friday, Oct. 19. Family Weekend is Nov. 2-4.

Many of the weekend's activities are free, unless you want to share a meal and some camaraderie with other families from throughout Montana and the nation. Families can choose between the pre-game tailgate lunch for $7 per person and the pre-game brunch for $12.50 per person. A farewell breakfast is offered Sunday morning for $5 per person. Registration is required.

President George Dennison will give away a $1,000 tuition waiver to one lucky family attending the pre-game brunch.

The weekend's free highlights include a city bus tour, a nature walk, stargazing, a movie and a women's volleyball match against cross-state rival Montana State University.

For more information, call University Relations at 406-243-2522 or e-mail familyweekend@umontana.edu.

The Office for Civic Engagement is sponsoring "Raise Spirits and Help Fright Poverty" on Saturday, Oct. 27. The service project is part of the annual Make a Difference Day at UM.

The event takes place in Missoula from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Poverello Center homeless shelter and soup kitchen and from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Joseph Residence transitional housing facility.

Students can help decorate the homeless shelter and prepare and serve a "Spooky Meal." At the transitional housing facility, they can help resident children make costumes.

For more than eight years, OCE has sponsored projects for Make a Difference Day, the largest national day of service.

Students can sign up to volunteer at OCE, located in Davidson Honors College Room 015, or by calling Lauren Amato at 406-243-5531 or e-mailing lauren.amato@mso.umt.edu.

The ASUM Office of Transportation has joined with GoLoco.org to give UM students an opportunity to share the cost of getting around.

Created by the founders of ZipCar, GoLoco uses the development application feature on Facebook to give users an innovative way to save money and reduce their ecological footprints.

The Facebook application allows users to communicate about destinations and itineraries, and they can split the cost of gas using a convenient PayPal feature. Users also can set privacy levels for trips to locations, allowing all members of the UM network or just friends to view an itinerary.

Information about how students can join is on the Web site.

Calling all Griz fans! Students can show their Grizzly pride and give the gift of life by donating blood on Thursday, Oct. 25, at UM. The Red Cross will hold its annual "Blood Battle" from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. that day in the University Center Ballroom.

The annual event is a challenge between the UM Grizzlies and the Montana State University Bobcats to see which campus can collect the most donated blood for patients in need at local hospitals.

"With just an hour of their time, students can help UM win the challenge," said Julie Brehm of Missoula's Red Cross office. "And more importantly, they can make a lifetime of difference to a person in need."

Students can make appointments online -- enter the sponsor code "gogriz" -- or by calling the UM Advocates office at 406-243-5874 or the Red Cross at 406-543-6695.

"Know Your Rights," a panel set to discuss interpretations of the law pertaining to students' rights on and off campus, will take place at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23, in the University Theatre.

The event will be held in an open forum format. Students are encouraged to bring questions they may have about specific rights or to come to hear others' inquiries about the law.

Panel members include UM Assistant Professor Andrew King Ries (criminal law); local defense attorney Craig Shannon; Josh Van de Wetering, U.S. attorney; and Jim Lemcke, director of UM Public Safety.

Students are invited to "Mix and Mingle" from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, in the Davidson Honors College Lounge.

The evening of fun, hosted by DHC and UM's English Language Institute, provides an opportunity to meet students from all over the world and talk about cultures and experiences.

Associate Provost for International Programs Professor Mehrdad Kia, DHC Dean Jim McKusick, UM English Language Institute students and honors college students will be present at the event.

For more information, call DHC at 406-243-2541.

Two free Career Services workshops will be held this month and in early November. The workshops run from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in Lommasson Center Room 154.

The workshops are:

• Wednesday, Oct. 24: "Portfolios: Your Job Search Toolbox." Effective tools needed to secure future employment.
• Wednesday, Nov. 7: "Applying to Grad School 101." Steps to choosing a school and program, graduate tests and when to take them, how to write an impressive essay, and more.

UM gets to share a piece of the Nobel Peace Prize that was awarded to Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

That's because UM ecologist and forestry Professor Steve Running, one of the nation's foremost experts on climate change, was a lead author of the 2007 United Nations IPCC report, which presents strong evidence that humanity is artificially warming our world.

"This is such an unimaginable honor, and I'm just stunned," Running said. "Nobody on the IPCC committee expected the award because a Nobel Peace Prize has never gone to a committee before."

Running was nominated by the U.S. government in May 2004 to be a lead author of the chapter on North American impacts in the current IPCC report.

UM President George Dennison said Running's share of the honor further demonstrates the quality of work done by faculty on the Missoula campus.

"We have world-class faculty at The University of Montana conducting monumental research," Dennison said. "We couldn't be more excited for Professor Running or proud of his significant accomplishments."

It's time for students to plan for spring semester 2008 at UM. Advising begins on Monday, Oct. 22.

College of Technology registration begins Wednesday, Oct. 24, according to an alphabetical schedule. Registration for all other students begins Monday, Oct. 29, according to an alphabetical schedule.

The alphabetical schedules and other important details about UM spring 2008 registration will be available on the Cyberbear Web site.

"Day of Dialogue: Building Communities of Difference" will be held on campus Thursday, Nov. 8. The campuswide symposium symbolizes UM's commitment to diversity and aims to help achieve true communities of difference on campus and in Missoula.

Opening remarks will be held from 9:30 to 10 a.m. in the University Center Atrium, followed by several free educational sessions to choose from beginning at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Two speakers will be featured:

• 1 p.m., University Center Theater: UM law school graduate Denise Juneau, Montana Office of Public Instruction administrator. "Diversity in Our Own Backyard."
• 4 p.m., University Theatre: Frances Kendall, nationally known consultant who has focused for more than 30 years on organizational change and communication, specializing in issues of diversity and social justice.

From 6 to 7 p.m. an evening reception will be held in the University Center Atrium. At 7 p.m., Step Afrika, the first professional company in the world dedicated to the tradition of stepping, will perform in the University Center Ballroom.

A detailed description of sessions and a schedule of events are online.

The Writing Center at UM offers free services to help students improve their writing skills as they pursue their academic and professional goals. One-on-one tutoring is available through the center, as well as free, downloadable handouts on writing issues frequently addressed.

Tutors at the center have diverse academic backgrounds and teach students how to engage in critical thinking throughout the writing process; read critically as preparation for writing; plan, develop and direct a paper for a specific audience; revise and edit papers and reports; and assess writing from the reader's perspective.

Tutoring sessions are held at the center, located in Liberal Arts Building Room 144, and at the Mansfield Library. Students can make appointments online.

The goal of the recycling program at UM is to reduce the solid waste stream by 25 percent -- and students can help.

UM recycles paper, magazines and catalogs, newspapers, cardboard, aluminum cans, tin cans, plastics (#1 and #2), phonebooks, bound books and spiral binders.

Recycling locations are available throughout campus, and a schedule and further information about how to recycle is on the Facilities Services Web site.

UM sophomores and juniors are eligible to apply for Udall scholarships worth $5,000. The UM deadline is Friday, Nov. 30. Udall Scholars are selected on the basis of commitment to careers in the environment, health care or tribal public policy, leadership potential and academic achievement.

Students must be nominated for Udall scholarships by their undergraduate institutions. For information about how to apply for these and other scholarships, call Laure Pengelly Drake, director of external scholarships and advising, at 406-243-6140 or e-mail laure.pengellydrake@umontana.edu.

Students can learn how an interdisciplinary gerontology minor may be applied to almost any major and enhance career prospects at an information session on Thursday, Oct. 25.

The one-hour session will be held from noon to 1 p.m. in Skaggs Building Room 025.

For more information, call Barbara Morgan at 406-243-2453 or e-mail barbara.morgan@umontana.edu.

Thank you for reading Transcripts and for being part of the UM community.

Go Griz!