Bear Briefs

Radio-TV Students Dominate—Students in the UM Radio-Television Department swept the television categories in the recent Region 10 Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards. In all, 19 UM students or student-produced programs were winners. The awards were presented May 7 at the annual SPJ convention in Seattle. Region 10 of SPJ includes schools in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Each year SPJ presents the Mark of Excellence Awards to honor the best in student journalism. The awards offer 45 categories for print, radio, television and online collegiate journalism. National winners will be named at the upcoming 2005 SPJ National Convention in Las Vegas.

Students Score Scholarships—Four UM students earned prestigious Morris K. Udall Scholarships this year — more than any other institution in the country since the scholarship program started in 1996. With four of the 80 Udall Scholarships awarded nationally this year coming to UM, the University broke a tie with Cornell for the No. 1 position. Winning students who will receive $5,000 scholarships are Zachary Benson of Colstrip; Marcia St. Goddard of Browning; John Powell of Muncie, Ind.; and Jeffrey Ross of Rivers, Manitoba. Udalls are merit-based scholarships to college sophomores and juniors who have demonstrated outstanding potential and a commitment to pursuing careers related to the environment, tribal public policy or health care.

Student Earns National Post—Meagan Brock, a UM senior in psychology and communication studies, recently was named one of six national Mortar Board student advisers. Brock grew up in San Gabriel, Calif., and graduated from Temple City High School in Temple City, Calif. She was selected as one of the student advisers by Diane Selby, executive director of the Mortar Board National Office. Because Brock attended the 2004 Mortar Board National Conference, she was eligible to become a student adviser. Her duties will include planning the 2005 meeting, assisting with programs and activities at the conference and serving as a mentor to incoming Mortar Board advisers.

National Geographic Professor—UM photojournalism Professor Teresa Tamura recently was chosen as a 2005 National Geographic magazine faculty fellowship recipient. The only one to receive the award this year, Tamura is the 14th person selected since the fellowship was created. When Tamura leaves for National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C., later this month, she will carry with her questions from her students about the magazine process. She will have the opportunity to learn all facets of magazine production, including conceptualizing and planning a magazine story, photography assignments, photo engineering, editing, layout and art production. A former staff photographer at the Seattle Times, Tamura plans to bring what she learns at National Geographic back to her UM classroom via an electronic presentation.

Timber Training Generosity—Plum Creek Timber Co., the largest owner of private timberland in Montana, has donated $250,000 to UM’s College of Forestry and Conservation. The gift will support the college’s Natural Resources Measurement Camp. The two-week camp is held each summer at the University’s Lubrecht Experimental Forest 30 miles northwest of Missoula. Forestry and conservation students typically attend the camp following their freshman year. About 75 students participate to gain hands-on experience in field observation and measurements that deal with forest stands, soils, water, wildlife, recreation, insects, disease and other natural resource topics. The college will use the Plum Creek gift to acquire state-of-the-art equipment for educational programs at the camp. The donation also will cover transportation costs and support participation by CFC faculty members.

Joe McDonald

Highest UM Award—Joe McDonald, president of Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, received UM’s highest recognition – an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters — during May 14 Commencement ceremonies. The UM alumnus also delivered the send-off address to the graduating class of 2005. A prominent national leader in American Indian education and higher education, McDonald founded Salish Kootenai College on the Flathead Reservation in 1978, and he has served as its president ever since. He also serves as president of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, which helps maintain standards of quality in Indian education and supports the development of tribal colleges, as well as legislation and policymaking to support Indian higher education. In addition, he serves on the boards of the American Council on Education and the American Indian College Fund.

Degree for a Healthier Tomorrow—UM soon will offer a new instructional program leading to a Master in Public Health degree. Once accredited, UM’s MPH program will be the only one of its kind in Montana and the surrounding states. The program will focus on rural and global health issues as it educates and prepares professionals for public health research and practice in Montana, rural America and developing countries around the world. Scheduled to begin in the 2005-06 academic year, the program will embrace the core competencies required for a successful public health program, including courses in epidemiology, biostatistics, social and behavioral sciences, health services administration and environmental health sciences.

Planning for Success—College students with an idea about providing alternative financing to auto dealers won the $5,000 top award during a recent UM business plan competition. The winning team — Nels Pearson, Camila Hoff and Erica Nottingham of Billings — was one of 35 to pitch ideas during the 16th Annual John Ruffatto Business Plan Competition. Organized by the UM School of Business Administration, the competition encourages students to turn their business ideas into successful ventures. Thirty-five teams submitted plans to the competition this year, and 12 were invited to compete in the semifinal round at UM on May 12. The winning team, Great Northern Auto Finance, developed a plan for providing an onsite financing alternative to independent automobile dealers at auctions. The overall goal of the competition is to develop Montana entrepreneurs.

UM Difference Maker—Nancy Borgmann, UM’s director of equal opportunity and affirmative action since 1987, will retire June 30. In May the state’s Interdepartmental Coordinating Committee for Women presented Borgmann with the 2005 Excellence in Leadership Award for her longtime efforts to promote the career advancement of women in the public sector. UM President George Dennison said that Borgmann helped increase the number of women faculty and their distribution over the ranks — with more women rising to professor and associate professor. “Nancy has served the University with distinction, and we will sorely miss her when she leaves,” Dennison said. “To identify someone to carry forward the work that Nancy began, we launched a national search earlier this year.” Her replacement will be Eleanor Law, a California attorney with years of experience in employment law who adjudicates employment discrimination cases and trains consumers on EEO laws and procedure.

Four Emmy Nods—Montana PBS producers and programs recently received four regional Emmy nominations from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences-Northwest Chapter. “Backroads of Montana” received two nominations, and the PBS programs “Voices Carry: Missoula’s International Choral Festival” and “The Chunkers of Pumpkins” each received a nod as well. The regional Emmy winners will be honored June 25 in Seattle.

Student Documentary Honored—The UM radio-television department’s Student Documentary Unit also received a regional Emmy nomination. Judges nominated the 2004 student documentary “Testing Times: Montana’s Struggle to Leave No Child Behind” for the Student Emmy Award. The program tackled the effects on Montana pupils and educators of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The program was produced by Dax VanFossen, who now is an anchor and reporter at KCFW-TV in Kalispell. It was directed by Marina Mackrow, who now works for Fox Sports Northwest in Seattle. A dozen other students also were involved in the production.

Fast Track to Finland—Sociology Assistant Professor Rebecca Richards received a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture and do research at the University of Joensuu in Finland during the 2005-06 academic year. Richards will help develop and teach a course in the sociology of non-wood product harvesting for the forestry school and study wild berry harvesting in Finland. She is one of about 800 faculty members and professionals from the United States who will travel abroad to more than 140 countries for the 2005-06 academic year through the Fulbright Scholar Program.

Center Doles Out Awards—UM’s Center for Leadership Development recently presented Michael Parrish with the Outstanding Student Leader Award and UM’s International Student Association with the Sentinel Service Award. Parrish, who attended high school in Missoula, studies anthropology with a cultural and ethnic diversity emphasis. Parrish is the service-learning coordinator for UM’s Office for Civic Engagement and a team leader for AmeriCorps. UM’s International Student Association received the Sentinel Service Award, which includes a $500 check from the UM President’s Office and UM Foundation Excellence Fund and a plaque. The association promotes diversity in the campus community.