TGIF News will join UM students on Spring Break next week, March 27-31.

The e-mail newsletter will return Friday, April 7, with your weekly dose of UM news, events and sports.

Happy Spring!

“Ethical Politics: Illusion or Reality” is the next installment of the President’s Lecture Series at UM.

Robert Bellah, Elliott Professor of Sociology Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, will present the lecture at 8 p.m. Monday, April 3, in the University Theatre.

A leading thinker on how religion influences society, Bellah will speak about the dangers lurking in a society that has slipped its ethical moorings.

Presented in conjunction with UM’s College of Arts and Sciences, Bellah’s appearance also is the Henry Bugbee Annual Lecture in Philosophy.

Earlier that day, from 3:10 to 4:30 p.m., Bellah will give a seminar titled “The Evolution of Consciousness and Religion” in Gallagher Business Building Room 123.

Both events are free and open to the public.

Bellah is author or co-author of several books, including “Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life,” which won a Los Angeles Times Book Prize in 1985. In 2000, President Clinton awarded Bellah the National Humanities Medal for his efforts to illuminate the importance of community in American society.

Montana Public Radio will hold its annual on-air fund-raiser from 5 p.m. Saturday, April 1, to midnight Sunday, April 9.

The theme of this year’s pledge event is “Montana Public Radio -- All Together Different.”

The goal for this year’s fund-raising event is $439,000. Listeners are asked to give whatever amount they can afford, great or small. Volunteers will take pledges by phone at (800) 325-1565 or (406) 243-6400, or listeners may contribute online or through the mail.

Each year Montana Public Radio listeners also contribute more than 2,500 special thank-you gifts, called premiums. Donor premiums range from homemade pies, gourmet meals and glider rides to river trips, landscaping rock and llama manure.

To donate a premium or volunteer to answer phones, call (406) 243-4215 or e-mail linda.talbott@umontana.edu.

An expert on American Indian astronomy will present a lecture titled “Blackfeet Skies” Friday, March 31, at UM.

Leo Bird teaches chemistry, biology and astronomy at Browning High School. He will discuss how astronomy is for everyone at 7 p.m. in the North Underground Lecture Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public.

The event will reveal the traditional lore and practical uses of astronomy by Indian elders. Attendees also will learn how Blackfeet constellations represent specific geological features, places and ceremonial seasons, as well as their significance to Native American values.

Bird received a Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award in 2005. His celebrated teaching methods allow his students to learn traditional tribal culture along with science.

The lecture is sponsored by Montana’s National Science Foundation Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, as well as UM’s Native American Center of Excellence.

For more information, call (406) 243-4848.

Join UM in the sixth annual Easter Eggstravaganza at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 15, on the Oval.

The Oval’s four sections will be divided by age groups: 0-3, 4-5, 6-7 and 8-9. One parent is welcome to assist infants and toddlers ages 0-3, but parents are not allowed on the grass in other age categories. Monte and the Easter Bunny will be present to meet kids and pose for photos. The event is free and open to the public.

This year’s Eggstravaganza will consist of more than 16,000 eggs stuffed with prizes and coupons to redeem for bigger prizes. In addition, there will be tens of thousands of pieces of candy.

Top prizes will be given to hunters who find the special gold, silver and maroon eggs. A “grand gold” prize egg, which can be exchanged for a bicycle, will be designated in each age group.

The Eggstravaganza is organized by University Relations. For sponsorship information, call Rita Munzenrider at (406) 243-4824.

Vendors are invited to turn trash into cash at the “World’s Largest Garage Sale” Saturday, April 22.

The event will be held rain or shine from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the lower level of the UM’s covered parking garage, located just off Campus Drive near the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library.

The semi-annual sale attracts almost 100 sellers and thousands of shoppers.

For $20 vendors are assigned two parking spaces, each 9 feet by 18 feet. Additional spaces are available for $10 each. Vendor set-up begins at 7:30 a.m.

The event is a fund-raiser for the UM Advocates, a campus service organization of more than 100 members that provides volunteer labor for many University functions, including Homecoming and new-student orientation.

Registration forms are available at The Source information desk in the University Center.

For more information, call (406) 243-4636.

Most people see their pharmacist much more frequently than their doctor. So what would happen if these front-line health professionals took a more active role in helping people quit smoking?

That’s the question posed by Larry Dent, an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at UM. Dent and his research team of Kari Harris and Curtis Noonan received a two-year, $70,000 grant from the national Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation to study the issue.

Dent is conducting his study at the Missoula Veterans Affairs clinic, where he practices clinical pharmacy and oversees UM pharmacy interns. Smokers referred to him by clinic physicians are randomly divided into two groups: one that receives pharmacist-delivered programs and one that does not.

Dent said about 50 patients have participated in the study since it started last fall. His goal is to have at least 100 patients involved before starting to evaluate whether the pharmacist-delivered programs are more effective.

Gerontology, the study of aging and the aged, is a rapidly growing field with many exciting career opportunities. Those interested in learning more can attend a free presentation titled “Careers in Aging” on Wednesday, April 5, at UM.

Sponsored by UM’s Institute for Gerontology Education, the event will be held at 4:10 p.m. in Skaggs Building Room 114. Everyone is welcome, and refreshments will be served.

An informative video will be shown, and gerontology professionals will describe what they do and answer questions. Gerontology classes available at UM also will be discussed.

The Department of Drama/Dance will present its annual “Spring Dance Showcase” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, March 21-25, in the Open Space located in the Performing Arts and Radio/Television Center at UM.

A matinee performance is set for 2 p.m. Saturday, March 25.

The student-run concert offers two separate programs that alternate performances each evening. The concert represents the latest work from students in UM’s dance program, ranging in style from modern dance to dance theater, as well as ballet, jazz and tap. Audience discretion is advised since program one contains brief, partial nudity.

The concert features 16 original pieces and showcases the work of 12 student choreographers. Also included in the performances are two faculty pieces, a student/faculty collaboration and a guest artist piece by Seattle’s KT Niehoff. Collectively the programs feature more than 40 dancers.

Tickets are $7 for general admission and $5 for students. They can be purchased by calling the box office at (406) 243-4581.

“The Making of the Puzzle Club,” a documentary about a brain injury support group playwriting project, will be shown on Montana PBS in April.

The documentary airs at 5 p.m. Saturday, April 1; 8:30 a.m. Sunday, April 2; and 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 4.

The award-winning play “The Puzzle Club” was written by UM Associate Professor Jillian Campana, who survived a brain injury. The production premiered at UM in October 2004.

Campana based the play on the stories of 13 people in western Montana who deal with brain injury and participate in a weekly support group called the Puzzle Club. She recorded numerous individual and group interviews with club members and used their words to craft the text of the play.

The documentary, produced by Broken Pines Productions, was co-directed by Campana and UM media arts Associate Professor Richard Hughes.

The UM College of Technology will bring a little Italy to Missoula with its annual Capstone Dinner Saturday, April 22.

This year’s dinner, prepared by graduates of COT’s culinary arts program, will be a Southern Italian feast, featuring authentic dishes such as antipasti, lobster cappuccino, osso bucco with cippolini onion sauce, tiramisu-filled cannoli atop marsala, and panna cotta with spiced pear coulis, as well as appropriate wines.

A silent auction and entertainment also will be provided during the evening. The event, a fund-raiser for the college’s Culinary Student Education Fund, begins at 5 p.m. in the foyer at COT, located at 909 South Ave.

Tickets for the dinner are $75 and will be available until 3 p.m., Friday, April 21. For tickets or more information, call the College of Technology at (406) 243-7870 or e-mail thomas.campbell@umontana.edu.

The Boston College Eagles dominated 12th-seeded Montana 69-56 Saturday in the second round of the NCAA College Basketball Tournament.

Boston College, which needed two overtimes to get past Pacific in their first-round game, came loaded for bear. The Grizzlies were coming off their first NCAA Tournament win since 1975, but were out-shot and out-rebounded 44-29. Montana was clearly the crowd favorite, but hopes of an upset unraveled as the Eagles went on an 8-0 run at the end of the first half.

Montana's Kevin Criswell had three points, 13 below his average, and BC held Andrew Strait to 11 points -- five below his average. Jordan Hasquet led Montana with 13 points and Matt Martin scored 11 points.

The Grizzlies ended their season with a 24-7 record.