UM Posts Enrollment, FTE Record
 

Enrollment continues to climb at UM, but the big news this semester is that students are taking more credit hours.

While head count increased to 13,309 – 24 more than last spring’s enrollment – the number of full-time equivalents jumped from 11,096 to 11,398.

An analysis is still under way, but it appears the numbers can be attributed in part to online registration and the conversion of Wintersession courses counting toward spring semester, said UM President George Dennison.

UM administrators and student leaders also have urged students to take more credits using the so-called “flat spot” – the fact it costs the same to take 12 credits as it does to take 21.

“It appears that more students than usual took advantage of the flat spot for tuition purposes,” Dennison said. “That helped students a great deal.”

Full News Release 

 New PBS Documentary Premieres Feb. 26
 

In 1895, an explosion caused by a hidden cache of illegally stored explosives destroyed a large section of Butte’s warehouse district and propelled wreckage as far away as Rocker, four miles to the west.

The first of many disasters that would haunt the mining city’s history, the event became known as “The Great Butte Explosion.” A newspaper headline of the day called it an “Awful Calamity!”

A new documentary that examines the incident – “Hidden Fire: The Great Butte Explosion” – will premiere on Montana PBS at 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26.

The documentary was produced by Gus Chambers, director of UM-based KUFM-TV. Chambers used vintage photographs, film, interviews and dramatic recreations to tell the story of the disaster, which decimated the young Butte Fire Department, one of the first professional departments in Montana.

“This incident represents everything about Butte in 1895: generous citizens, dedicated public servants, no-holds-barred commercial exploitation of the landscape and criminal activity that put the entire populace at risk,” Chambers said.

Production of the new documentary was funded in part by UM, the Montana Committee for the Humanities and Friends of Montana PBS.

Montana PBS 

 Experts To Probe North Korean Nuclear Developments
 

Three top U.S. experts on North Korea will speak at The University of Montana Monday, Feb. 26.

The presentation, “Update from the DMZ: Economic Possibility and the North Korean Nuclear Threat,” will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. in the University Center Theater.

The event, which is free and open to the public, is a program of a “Korea Caravan” that will travel to several locations in Montana.

Panelists for the presentation are Thomas Byrne, vice president and senior credit officer of Moody’s Financial Institutions & Sovereign Risk Group; Gordon Flake, executive director of the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation; and Scott Rembrandt, director of Research and Academic Affairs at the Korea Economic Institute.

The event is co-sponsored by the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center, the Korea Economic Institute, the Mansfield Foundation and the World Affairs Council of Montana.

For more information, call Terry Weidner, Mansfield Center director, at 406-243-2281 or e-mail him at terry.weidner@umontana.edu.

 

 Foresters Society Honors UM Dean, Alumni
 

UM College of Forestry and Conservation educators and alumni were honored recently by the Society of American Foresters.

John McMahon, who received a bachelor’s degree in 1960 and a master’s degree in 1964 from UM, was named president of SAF in January.

McMahon had a long career with Weyerhaeuser Co., beginning in 1964 and ending in 2001 when he retired as vice president of timberlands and external and regulatory affairs.

CFC Dean Perry Brown and three UM alumni – Stephen Arno of Florence; Russell Graham of Moscow, Idaho; and UM Research Professor Carl Fiedler – were elected as SAF Fellows. The title honors members who have provided outstanding contributions to the society and to the forestry profession.

College of Forestry and Conservation 

 Career Fair Matches Students With Employers
 

Students will have a chance to meet with recruiters from local, regional, national and international employers at the 18th Annual Big Sky Career Fair at UM.

The fair will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28, in the University Center Ballroom. It is hosted by the University’s Office of Career Services and is free to UM students and alumni.

A series of free workshops to help students prepare for the career fair will be held from 4 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 27, in University Center Rooms 330-333.

The workshop schedule and more information about the career fair are online. Employers can register online or call the career services office at 406-243-6150.

Big Sky Career Fair 

 Islamic Film Back By Popular Demand
 

An event focusing on Muslim life and faith will feature another screening of the National Geographic documentary “Inside Mecca” at UM.

The event, “Hajj: Journey of a Lifetime,” will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25, in the University Center Theater.

Hajj, the tradition of pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, is one of five pillars of Islam and is required of all Muslims who are physically and financially able to make the journey.

“Inside Mecca” follows three pilgrims from Texas, South Africa and Malaysia as they embark on the life-changing experience of Hajj. A panel of Muslims from the UM campus community will lead a discussion after the film.

The event is free and open to the public.

 

 Museum Receives Major Art Donation
 

The Montana Museum of Art & Culture at UM recently acquired an important donation of 161 works of Western art.

The works came to the museum through the generosity of the Bill and Polly Nordeen family.

The acquisition, known as the Bill and Polly Nordeen Collection, contains works by some of the most well-known pioneers of Western art, including Karl Bodmer, Edward Borein, George Catlin, Ace Powell, Edgar Paxson, Frederic Remington and C.M. Russell.

Western bronzes, Pre-Columbian ceramics and Mexican and American Indian masks and baskets are included in the collection.

The Nordeen family also has loaned the museum a watercolor and a drawing by Norman Rockwell, one of America’s most popular illustrators, well-known for his cover images for the Saturday Evening Post and his sentimental paintings of American life.

The museum’s Permanent Collection – Montana’s largest fine art collection – now includes more than 10,000 objects.

Montana Museum of Art & Culture 

 Environmental Justice Topic Of Lecture
 

Robert Bullard, a leading expert on environmental justice, will give the next installment of the President’s Lecture Series at UM.

Bullard will present “Environmental Justice for All” at 8 p.m. Monday, March 5, in the University Theatre.

Earlier that day from 3:10 to 4:30 p.m., he will give a seminar in Gallagher Business Building Room 123.

Both events are free and open to the public. Bullard’s evening presentation is the Brennan Guth Memorial Lecture in conjunction with UM’s Environmental Studies Program.

Bullard is Ware Distinguished Professor of Sociology and director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University. He will discuss his latest research findings about how the high social cost of environmental pollution falls most heavily on poor people and racial minorities.

His award-winning book, “Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality,” is a standard text in the environmental justice field.

President’s Lecture Series 

 UM Prof Helps Write Major Environmental Racism Report
 

A landmark 1987 report revealed how U.S. citizens who are minorities or poor are much more likely to have hazardous-waste facilities in their neighborhoods.

Now Robin Saha, an environmental studies assistant professor at UM, has helped with a new update of the report titled “Toxic Waste and Race at Twenty, 1987-2007: Grassroots Struggles to Dismantle Environmental Racism in the United States.”

Saha, who has been a scholar in the environmental justice field for the last decade, wrote a key chapter in the update titled “A Current Appraisal of Toxic Waste and Race in the United States.” The principal author and investigator of the report is Robert Bullard, director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark University in Atlanta.

So how have we done in the 20 years since the public and policymakers became aware of this issue? Saha says not well.

“It looks like the situation may be worse,” he said. “We haven’t seen any positive progress. Racial and ethnic minorities are still concentrated near hazardous-waste sites. We find that race continues to be a predictor of these hazardous-waste locations – an even better predictor than socioeconomic factors such as income and education.”

Full News Release 

 Grizzlies Busted in Bracket Buster
 

Freshman guard Cameron Rundles tied a career-high with 20 points as the Grizzlies fell to Pacific, 78-77, Saturday afternoon in Missoula.

Rundles tallied 20 points with three rebounds and a team-high five assists. Junior forward Andrew Strait had 15 points with a team-high eight rebounds and three blocks. The non-conference loss dropped the Grizzlies overall record to 14-13 and they remain 8-5 in Big Sky Conference play.

Montana returned to action last night against Northern Arizona at Dahlberg Arena. The Grizzlies play at home against Northern Colorado Saturday and on the road Monday at Idaho State.

Montana Grizzlies 

 Lady Griz Solidify Conference Lead
 

The Lady Griz solidified their first-place lead in the Big Sky Conference with a 76-61 victory over second-place Weber State Feb. 15 at Dahlberg Arena.

UM had four players finish in double figures against WSU, led by sophomore Sonya Rogers' 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Sophomore Mandy Morales scored 15 points and added eight rebounds and six assists, while juniors Johanna Closson and Dana Conway both finished with 12 points.

Morales had 18 points and 11 assists Feb. 18 at Dahlberg Arena to lead Montana to a 90-72 victory over Idaho State. Morales had her hand in every aspect of the game. In addition to her 18 points and 11 assists, she added six rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots. Rogers also finished with 18 points, going 7-for-10 from the field.

Morales made league history Monday when she was named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week for the sixth time this season. Morales, who shared this week's honors with Northern Arizona senior Alyssa Wahl, was recognized for her play as Montana swept Weber State and Idaho State. Her record surpasses the old record set by Montana's Shannon Cate, a current Lady Griz assistant coach (now Shannon Schweyen).

Cate won five POWs in 1990-91 as a junior. Morales is averaging 20.3 points, 7.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game.

Montana played at Northern Arizona last night and will play its final regular-season road game Saturday at Northern Colorado. The Lady Griz will be at home March 1 to face Sacramento State in Dahlberg Arena.

Montana Grizzlies