The Donner Party used tea cups and other tableware and ate domestic and wild animals while stranded in the Sierra Nevada during 1846-47, but group members may not have resorted to cannibalism.

Results of recent analyses of bone fragments found at the Donner Family campsite in California’s Tahoe National Forest are inconclusive with regard to cannibalism, according to research presented last week by scientists at the Society for Historical Archaeology’s conference on historical and underwater archaeology. Kelly Dixon, assistant professor of anthropology at UM, is co-leader of a team that has investigated the Donner tragedy during the past three years.

Using historical and archaeological data, the team concluded residents of the camp consumed domestic and wild animals, including the family dog. However, no clear evidence of cannibalism has emerged from the Alder Creek camp site.

The team’s research has drawn international media attention. The History Channel will air a 30-minute segment on the Donner Party and Dixon's work in a new documentary scheduled for this spring. The New Yorker will publish a comprehensive story later this month.

President George W. Bush launched the National Security Language Initiative Jan. 5, and UM President George Dennison was there to hear how the University could be involved.

The U.S. University Presidents Summit focused on the initiative to strengthen national security and prosperity through education, specifically in foreign-language skills. The plan focused on what the U.S. government, along with the private sector and universities, can do to better prepare students for the global economy.

Remarks by President Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings were given during the two-day conference, which was organized by the State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Representatives attended from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Although UM has only about half of the foreign students Dennison would like to see, the University hasn’t dropped off in the level of international students it hosts, as have other learning institutions nationwide since Sept. 11.

The 2006 Charitable Giving Campaign at UM achieved its most successful year yet with donations of more than $100,000.

The campaign was launched Oct. 18, and when the event ended a month later, nearly 1,000 UM staff, faculty members and students had given $105,000.

During the Charitable Giving Campaign, campus volunteers distribute informational packets to UM employees, who then can make donations via checks or payroll deductions. The money goes to help community nonprofit agencies.

Dollars pledged have risen nearly every year since the campaign was founded in 1986. Last year’s campaign total was $88,799.

A new UM survey suggests that eastern Montana has the untapped human capital and political will to create a new “center of economic commerce,” which could be used to spur development and reverse declining population trends in the area.

“A Workforce and Interest Survey to Establish an Economic ‘Hub’ in Eastern Montana” collected 1,122 usable surveys in 11 eastern counties. More than 90 percent of respondents supported the creation of an economic cluster.

The survey was spearheaded by Jon “Tony” Rudbach, UM associate vice president for research and economic development. He argues that 21 depressed eastern Montana counties don’t have sufficient resources and infrastructure to boost economic development on their own.

His solution: Montana should create an “economic hub city” in the east by improving transportation, information and education infrastructure.

After intense review of demographic and survey data, Rudbach has the ideal candidate for the new hub: Glendive, a town of 4,700 people along Interstate 90 near the North Dakota border.

For the first time since the natural resource boom of the 1970s, Montana’s economy has seen growth of 4 percent or more for three consecutive years, said Paul Polzin, director of UM’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research.

The Montana economy grew 4 percent in 2005, 4.7 percent in 2004 and 4.3 percent in 2003.

Montana’s growth can be attributed to the continuing oil boom in eastern Montana and the reopening of mines after all-time-high commodity prices.

Polzin and other economists and experts from BBER, Montana State University and UM’s Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research will examine local, state and national economic trends at the 31st Annual Economic Outlook Seminar series.

The seminar will be held during January, February and March in nine cities across the state.

For more information or to register, call (406) 243-5113 or visit the BBER Web site.

Last Monday’s rally and march marking Martin Luther King Jr. Day were only the kick-off for a series of local activities commemorating the civil rights leader and his legacy.

Upcoming events at UM include:

• Monday, Jan. 30 -- “The Privatization of Freedom in America: What It Means for Individuals and Democracy,” lecture by Orlando Patterson, John Cowles Professor of Sociology at Harvard University, 8 p.m., University Theatre.
• Tuesday, Jan. 31 -- “In the Heat of the Night,” 1967 film starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, 7 p.m., University Center Theater.
• Wednesday, Feb. 1 -- “Where and How ‘Brown v. Board’ Began: Two Reconstructions and Historical Memory,” Vernon Burton, University Distinguished Teacher/Scholar at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 7 p.m., Gallagher Business Building Room 123.

All events are free and open to the public.

Six of the state’s top scientists will speak during the Alumni Association’s upcoming 2006 Community Lecture Series.

This year’s series is titled “Sun to Seeds -- Our World Around Us.” Lectures will be held at 7 p.m. each Tuesday evening from Feb. 14 through March 21 in the third-floor University Center Theater.

Tickets for the entire series cost $15 for UM Alumni Association members, $20 for nonmembers and $10 for students. Tickets include a wine reception following the March 21 presentation.

The lectures are “Can Science Save the Earth?” by Professor Garon Smith on Feb. 14; “Our Changing Physical Environment” by Professor Steve Running on Feb. 21; “The Life and Death of the Sun” by Assistant Professor Dan Reisenfeld on Feb. 28; “Fire and Smoke in the World Around Us” by Professor Ron Wakimoto on March 7; “Water, Water Everywhere: Will There be a Drop to Drink?” by Professor Bill Woessner on March 15; and “The Power and Promise of Local Food” by Associate Professor Neva Hassanein on March 21.

For more information, call the Alumni Association at (406) 243-5211.

The 27th annual Wilderness Issues Lecture Series begins Tuesday, Jan. 31, with “Back to the Future: Eco-cultural Restoration, Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Indigenous Cultural Survival” by Dennis Martinez.

Martinez, of O’odham, Chicano and Anglo heritage, is chair of the Indigenous Peoples’ Restoration Network.

The series, “Native Peoples and Conservation,” is free and open to the public. All lectures will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Gallagher Business Building Room 106.

Sponsored by UM’s College of Forestry and Conservation, the series brings a dynamic group of speakers from around the country to provide thought-provoking discussion about conservation issues among Native peoples.

More than 750 courses will be offered during UM’s 2006 summer semester, ranging from Web design to geology to the history of the Lewis and Clark Trail.

Many study-abroad programs are included in the summer course offerings as well.

Summer sessions can help students graduate earlier and incur less debt. Most summer session courses provide three credits in five weeks. Because the fee schedule is the same as the fall or spring semesters, there are no additional fees.

Summer also offers the opportunity to finish up general education requirements, park on campus without a struggle and attend a four-day week of classes -- so there’s always a three-day weekend.

“Frances Senska: A Life in Art” is on display at the Meloy and Paxson galleries of the Montana Museum of Art and Culture through Saturday, Feb. 25.

The traveling retrospective exhibition offers a glimpse of one of the most influential Montana artists in contemporary ceramics. It presents watercolors, prints and ceramic pieces the 94-year-old Senska has created over the course of her life.

Senska taught art at Montana State University-Bozeman from 1946 to 1973. Among her best-known students were Rudy Autio and Peter Voulkos. It was at Senska’s suggestion that Voulkos and Autio met with Archie Bray, and that team began construction of what later came to be the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Helena.

Josh DeWeese, a well-known ceramic artist and resident director of the Bray Foundation, will give a gallery talk at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9. On Thursday, Feb. 23, another talk will be given by Brandon Reintjes, curator of the Holter Museum of Art in Helena. Both take place in the Meloy Gallery.

A First Friday reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Feb. 3 at the museum.

All events are free and open to the public.

Legendary guitarist Leo Kottke will bring his music to UM on Wednesday, Feb. 15.

“An Evening with Leo Kottke” begins at 8 p.m. in the University Theatre, located in UM’s Fine Arts Building.

Kottke’s ability to embrace folk idioms and pop melodies as readily as he assimilates jazz and classical influences makes him unique among guitar virtuosi. Classic Kottke albums, such as “Chewing Pine,” “Time Step,” “Peculiaroso,” and “One Guitar, No Vocals,” have consistently won over new fans while continuing to surprise and delight longtime aficionados.

His newest album is “Try and Stop Me.”

Tickets are $21 in advance, $23 at the door. They are available at all GrizTix outlets, online or by calling (406) 243-4051 or toll free (888) 666-8262.

UM’s athletic department recently announced that its 295 student-athletes had a cumulative grade-point average of 3.00.

Nine of UM’s 12 teams had a fall semester GPA greater than 3.00, to help raise the department’s cumulative GPA to the 3.00 level.

The women’s golf team had the highest fall GPA with a 3.46. Nineteen student-athletes had a 4.0 GPA for the fall semester. Six of those came from the women’s track and field program, while football had four and women’s golf had three.

The Lady Griz opened league play last Friday night with the team's ninth straight win -- a 79-54 victory at Montana State.

Freshman Mandy Morales had her first career double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds. The Lady Griz defense held the Bobcats to 27.9 percent shooting, cruising to an easy victory and a 12-2 record.

UM plays its 2006 Big Sky Conference home openers this week, facing Northern Arizona and Sacramento State. The Lady Griz met the Lumberjacks Thursday night and take on the Hornets at 7 p.m. Saturday in Dahlberg Arena.

Junior Matt Dlouhy scored a game-high 19 points and four other players scored in double figures Saturday, lifting the UM men's basketball team to an 80-64 victory over rival Montana State in Bozeman.

The win improved the Grizzlies to 3-0 in conference play, 13-2 overall on the season. With victories over notable teams such as Stanford and Loyola Marymount, the Grizzlies are ranked 10th in the most recent Mid-Major Top 25 poll. Montana also is the highest-ranked Big Sky Conference team in the latest Ratings Percentage Index, coming in at 99th. Sacramento State has the next highest RPI at 132nd.

After meeting the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks Thursday night, Montana will tip off against the Sacramento State Hornets at 8:05 p.m. Saturday in the Hornets Nest.

The Montana Grizzlies will open their 2006 football season at Big 10 powerhouse University of Iowa Saturday, Sept. 2, UM Athletic Director Jim O’Day announced Wednesday.

This is a change from the original schedule released by UM Athletics in November. To make way for the Iowa game, the Grizzlies’ Sept. 16 home contest against Division II Central Washington has been canceled.

O’Day did not release details of the contract with Iowa, but said it was an offer he couldn’t refuse. He added that the sum would allow the department to resolve its deficit two years early. Head football coach Bobby Hauck supported the decision to play Iowa.

Last year, Iowa finished the season with a 7-5 record that included a 31-24 loss to the Florida Gators in the Outback Bowl.

The Montana-Iowa game will be played on Labor Day weekend in the newly renovated, 70,000-capacity Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City. Game time and television coverage will be announced at a later date.

The addition of three well-regarded Division I-A transfers may make the Montana Grizzlies -- 8-4 last season -- the team to beat in the Big Sky Conference.

Washington State quarterback Josh Swogger, Washington receiver Craig Chambers and Louisville running back Reggie Bradshaw will don Grizzly maroon when spring drills begin in March.

At 6 feet 5 inches tall and 250 pounds, Swogger was a starter for WSU until an injury sidelined him. Now healed, he’s looking for some playing time after his starting spot at WSU was taken.

Bradshaw, a 213-pound running back out of Vancouver, British Columbia, was regarded as the fastest player on Louisville's roster, and Chambers, a solid receiver, hopes to see more playing time after a controversy-filled season at Washington.