Bear Briefs

Enrollment Springs Ahead—More students are taking more credits at UM this spring than the same semester a year ago, according to recent enrollment figures. Total head count this semester is 13,356 — an increase of 47 from spring semester 2007. In addition, enrolled students have registered for credits that amount to 11,515 full-time equivalents, an increase of 117 over a year ago. An FTE represents 15 undergraduate or 12 graduate semester credits. “These numbers indicate that students continue to find the University attractive and responsive to their needs,” said President George Dennison. He also suggested the relatively robust numbers reflect recent institutional efforts to enhance student success, thanks to the work of the faculty and staff. The biggest jump in enrollment came at the UM College of Technology, which posted an increase of 93 additional students this spring for a total of 1,517.

Adding Awards—A new UM commercial featuring anthropologist Kelly Dixon recently won Best of Show in the electronic media category at the 2007 Montana ADDY Awards Competition in Great Falls. Chisel Industries, which worked with UM students, faculty and staff to produce UM’s two-year television campaign, won six ADDY awards for the campaign at the Feb. 9 awards ceremony. Chisel won two Gold ADDYs for the UM anthropology commercial: one in the cinematography category and one in the regional/national single spot category. The ad features Dixon, a UM assistant professor of anthropology known for her archeological work on the Donner Party campsite in California and at the Coloma ghost town east of Missoula. Chisel won an additional Gold ADDY award for the UM television campaign’s music. Also, a 60-second UM men’s basketball commercial won a Silver ADDY for cinematography and a Bronze ADDY in the regional/national spot category.

Top Student Teacher—Eric Abbott, a soon-to-be UM education graduate, was selected as the first-ever recipient of the Marlene Bachmann Student Teaching Award. Abbott, who student taught at Big Sky High School in the classroom of Lorilee Evans-Lynn, was selected over all his classmates in the School of Education’s 2008 graduating class and will receive a plaque and gift basket. The Field Experience Committee, composed of five faculty members and one student, selected Abbott for the award, which was created in honor of Bachmann and her outstanding service to the Office of Student Teaching and Field Experiences at UM.

Educator Honored—Mike Cutler, superintendent of Philipsburg’s K-12 schools, received the Educational Leadership Excellence Award, from the UM School of Education on Feb. 23. The award, given in recognition of Cutler’s outstanding contributions to public education through vision and action on behalf of Montana schools, honored him for his successful leadership of the Philipsburg School District. Cutler has many accomplishments within the school system. The Quaglia Institute for Student Aspirations now uses the Philipsburg School District as a model for schools across the world, and Stanford University uses the school district as a demonstration site. Cutler also helped raise $25,000 for new lights for the school’s football stadium.

Debate Devotees—The UM Forensics Team landed several top debate awards in Boulder, Colo., during the Western States Communication Association/Western Forensics Association Tournament on Feb. 15-17. UM competed against teams from across the Western United States Students. Mary Connole and Shivon White, both from Seattle, were semifinalists in parliamentary debate. They tackled American Indian land rights in their semifinal round against the University of Wyoming. Sarah Clawson of Seattle and Svein Newman of Billings reached the tournament quarterfinals. Individual debate speaking awards recognized outstanding debaters, and Connole won first place overall. Newman garnered second place, Tate Hoskins of Bozeman took fourth and White took seventh. In impromptu, White also earned second place.

Education Partners—Two Missoula community members and four schools received 2008 Partnership Awards from the School of Education on Feb. 23. The winners were Linnea Wang, a licensed professional clinical counselor in Missoula, and Maureen Thomas, chair of the Department of Health Enhancement at Missoula’s Big Sky High School. Wang, who works at Missoula’s Early Head Start, was rewarded for her commitment in preparing future counselor educators. Thomas was recognized for providing internship training for health and human performance majors. Both are UM graduates. The schools honored were Frenchtown Elementary School, grades kindergarten through third; Frenchtown Elementary School, grades four through six; Missoula’s Hellgate Elementary School, grades kindergarten through second; and Missoula’s Hellgate Elementary School, grades three through five.

Lifelong Learning—Community members 55 and older can explore topics from writing, theater and drawing to history, politics and psychology at spring courses offered by the Montana Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. The courses, taught by UM and community educators, will take place Thursdays and Fridays, April 3-May 9, at UM and Mondays and Tuesdays, March 31-April 28, at the Daly Mansion in Hamilton. An annual MOLLI membership fee of $20 is required to enroll. Registration is $50 per course. More information and a registration form are online at http://www.umt.edu/ce/plus55. Call 406-243-2905 for more information.

Budding Research—A new nationwide initiative enables volunteers to track climate change by observing the timing of flowers and foliage. Project BudBurst, operated by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research and a team of partners that includes UM, allows students, gardeners and other citizen scientists in every state to enter their observations into an online database at http://www.budburst.org, giving researchers a detailed picture of our warming climate. The project, which started Feb. 18, will operate year-round so that early- and late-blooming species in different parts of the country can be monitored throughout their life cycles. Project BudBurst builds on a pilot program carried out last spring, when several thousand participants recorded the timing of the leafing and flowering of hundreds of plant species in 26 states. UM researchers Carol Brewer and Paul Alaback are collaborating on the project.

Writer Wins—UM junior Bill Oram recently was awarded one of eight $3,000 sports writing scholarships from the Freedom Forum-NCAA Sports Journalism Scholarship Program. To win, Oram wrote an essay and submitted samples of his work and a transcript. An ad will run in the program at the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament featuring Oram and the seven other scholarship winners. Oram is a print journalism major at UM and works as a sports reporter at the Montana Kaimin student newspaper. This summer he will intern at the Austin American-Statesman as a sports reporter. Oram is from Hebo, Ore.

Fiddling Fun—Eileen Ivers & Immigrant Soul — an ensemble of African and Latin percussion and bass players, Irish instrumentalists and American soulful vocalists — will perform at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 6, at UM’s University Theatre. Tickets are available at all GrizTix locations and cost $15 for students and $22 for the general public. Prices do not include ticketing fees. Call 888-MONTANA or visit http://www.griztix.com to purchase tickets. Ivers, an Irish-American fiddler who has been dubbed “the Jimi Hendrix of the violin” by The New York Times, has performed for presidents and royalty worldwide.

Rembrandt On View—Thirty-five rare prints and 40 original maps printed from wood and steel engravings will be on view at the Montana Museum of Art & Culture at UM through April 29. “Sordid and Sacred: The Beggars in Rembrandt’s Etchings” will be in the museum’s Meloy Gallery. The 35 prints in “Sordid and Sacred,” executed by Rembrandt between 1629 and 1654, are from the John Villarino Collection. They focus with profound empathy on the poor and underprivileged of Rembrandt’s time. “Miracles and Myths: Mapping the World from 1572 to 1921,” a survey of maps from the collection of Missoulian Bill Caras, will be in the museum’s Paxson Gallery. the museum is located in the Performing Arts and Radio/TV Center. Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and 4 to 8:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Admission is free, and parking is available near the northwest corner of the PAR/TV Center.

Art Excellence—UM galleries are displaying works by 17 artists in the 2008 Bachelor of Fine Arts Senior Thesis Exhibition. The exhibitions are free and open to the public. The works will be displayed at the Gallery of Visual Arts through April 2, and at the UC Art Gallery until March 21. Media on display include painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, printmaking and ceramics. The Gallery of Visual Arts, located on the first floor of UM’s Social Science Building, is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The gallery will be closed March 24-28 for Spring Break. The UC Art Gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Become A GrizzlyMan—The premiere UM GrizzlyMan Adventure Race will send racers on an unknown course up Pattee Canyon with a map and compass beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 19. The GrizzlyMan is the only race of its kind in the Northwest. Racers must find their way to specific checkpoints throughout the 23-mile race by foot or bike on maintained trails and open terrain. Participants must register before Friday, April 11, at Missoula REI, located on Reserve Street, or online at http://www.active.com. The $40 entry fee includes a shirt, products from race sponsors and food following the race. Registration is limited to 300 participants. All those who are 16-55 years old are eligible to enter.

Wish You Were Here—Pink Floyd fans, get ready to experience sounds and sights of the legendary rock band at UM. Tickets are on sale for the Missoula debut of “The Pink Floyd Experience,” which begins at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 19, in the University Theatre. The event costs $35 for the general public and $25 for UM students with a valid Griz Card. Tickets are available at all GrizTix outlets, by calling 888-MONTANA or online at http://www.griztix.com. The epic concert is complete with 200,000 watts of light, full quadraphonic sound and six brilliant musicians, who will perform Pink Floyd’s greatest hits.