Montana's strong economic performance in 2004 is likely to be followed by another year of robust growth in 2005, according to Paul Polzin, director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at UM.

Preliminary data show 3.8 percent growth in 2004, and the forecast for 2005 -- which Polzin calls conservative -- is 2.6 percent. Polzin said the 2004 growth was spurred by construction and strong commodity prices -- especially for farm and petroleum products.

Higher oil prices have brought prosperity to parts of Montana that haven't had favorable economic trends for decades, Polzin said. Preliminary data show nearly 700 new oil and gas jobs between the first half of 2004, compared to the corresponding period in 2003. Most of these new jobs were in Richland County and neighboring areas.

Rapid economic growth in China and other developing nations has swelled the demand for oil and strained worldwide refining capacity, he said. In contrast, previous oil price spikes were associated with OPEC shutting off the supply of oil.

Read the complete report on the BBER Web site.

Library personnel at UM recently discovered a unique treasure while moving the collections of the K. Ross Toole Archives to new quarters. They came across a ledger book containing beautiful American Indian artwork estimated to be more than 100 years old.

Bound between an aging clothbound cover and created by an anonymous artist, the 18 color pencil sketches allow a rare glimpse into the life and culture of the Plains Indians.

Archives technician Teresa Hamann came across the ledger drawings when relocating valuable holdings to the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library's new Archives and Special Collections complex.

University Archivist Donna McCrea said Missoula resident Genevieve Prochnow donated the ledger to UM in 1962. She had inherited the ledger from her father, John S. Parke, who had acquired it while serving as an officer in the U.S. Army in South Dakota. During winter 1890-91, Parke was assistant adjutant general at Rosebud Agency, home to the Lakota Sioux.

McCrea said ledger art of this form generally dates from the 1860s to the 1890s, a time when Plains Indians were being relocated to government reservations. Native artists, sometimes paid for their work, would do artistic renderings in ledgers much as they had done on hides and other materials before paper was available.

A picture may speak a thousand words, but when we in the West see the image of a veiled woman, we often hear only one: oppression. But the veil has as many different meanings -- to the women who wear it and to the cultures using it -- as a picture has words.

"Islam, Women, the Veil and the West," set for April 28-30 at UM, will offer more than 40 presenters on the veil's meaning, context and religious significance - - or lack of it. Presenters from all over the world will explore the Q'uran -- the Islamic holy book -- and the ahadith -- collected sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. They will consider veiling in countries from Morocco to Turkey to West Africa to Indonesia and will look outside the Islamic faith to consider veiling in Jewish and early Christian cultures, as well.

The conference will feature lectures, workshops, films, literary readings and art exhibits, all free and open to the public. A complete schedule and summaries of all presentations are available online.

A scholar and analyst who specializes in Western water law and natural resource policies will present a seminar Friday, April 22, at UM.

Sarah Van deWetering will speak about "Legal Issues in Consensus Building" from 9 a.m. to noon in Room 19 of the law school's Castles Center. The event is free and open to the public. Her presentation will review the legal context for using collaboration building to prevent and resolve natural resource disputes.

DeWetering is one of three Visiting Fellows this semester at UM's Public Policy Research Institute, which works to promote sustainable communities and landscapes. She is the author of numerous articles and books, including "Across the Great Divide: Explorations in Collaborative Conservation and the American West."

An upcoming conference at UM aims to create new opportunities for academic and business collaboration between the Treasure State and the Emerald Isle.

The Montana-Ireland Conference will be held Monday and Tuesday, April 25-26. It will offer roundtable discussions from 3 to 5 p.m. both days in the Turner Hall Dell Brown Room. A keynote address will be held at 7 p.m. each day in the University Center Theater. All events are free and open to the public.

Last year UM officials paid a visit to Ireland's University College, Cork, to discuss forming an exchange program with that institution. Cork was chosen because the majority of the Irish who came to Montana to mine copper came from Cork. Also, UCC has an international reputation for scholastic achievement and creative innovation in business and commercial enterprise.

A delegation from Cork will formalize a staff and student exchange program with UM while participating in the two-day conference.

Are you looking for a job in education? UM will host the most extensive career fair west of the Mississippi River May 1-2 in the Adams Center.

The 20th annual Multi-State Educators' Career Fair allows job seekers to meet and interview with school district administrators for more than 1,500 job openings in Montana, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Washington, Wyoming and beyond. Candidates can interview for positions in the classroom, special education, counseling and administration.

Last year's fair drew more than 150 school districts from 17 states, and organizers anticipate an even bigger event this year.

UM will host the World's Largest Garage Sale from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 30, on the lower level of the parking garage on Campus Drive next to the Mansfield Library.

The sale, a benefit for the UM Advocates, will be held rain or shine.

Vendor set-up begins at 7:30 a.m. Nine-by-18-foot vendor spaces are available for $20 each. Additional spaces can be purchased for $10 each. Anything of value can be sold at the sale -- from furniture to kitchenware and clothes.

Sales held previously have drawn nearly 100 sellers and thousands of shoppers. Registration forms are available at the The Source information desk in the University Center.

Volunteers from the Missoula and University communities are invited to participate in the 2005 National Youth Service Day Saturday, April 16.

This year's event kicks off at 9:30 a.m. in Bonner Park. The day begins with a breakfast before volunteers spread out around Missoula to engage in different activities.

This year volunteers can participate in a Food Walk-a-Thon, where volunteers go house-to-house to ask for canned food donations to benefit the Missoula Food Bank. Other activities include Youth-Read-To-Youth at the Missoula Public Library, mural painting, letter writing to overseas troops, recycling and a clean-up of the Clark Fork River.

At 1 p.m. volunteers return to Bonner Park, where a pizza party will take place.

National Youth Service Day is organized locally by the UM Office for Civic Engagement and sponsored by AmeriCorps and Missoula-area nonprofits.

For more information or to volunteer, call the Office for Civic Engagement at (406) 243-5531.

The sixth annual Buddy DeFranco Jazz Festival will put a little spring in the steps of campus denizens Friday and Saturday, April 29-30.

Festival highlights include two evening concerts featuring DeFranco, described as the greatest bebop clarinetist in jazz history, and his celebrity guests. The concerts will be held both nights at 7:30 p.m. in the University Theatre. Tickets can be purchased in advance at GrizTix.com or by calling (888) 666-8263.

Guest artists are Paquito D'Rivera, John Fedchock, Johnny Frigo and Rickey Woodard. Fedchock and Woodard will perform Friday, and D'Rivera and Frigo will appear Saturday.

Besides the evening concerts, school jazz bands from throughout the western United States will perform both days in the University Theatre from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The festival has been held at UM since 1981 but changed its name when Buddy DeFranco joined the effort in 2000. DeFranco has won 20 Downbeat Magazine awards, nine Metronome Magazine awards and 16 Playboy Magazine awards as the No. 1 jazz clarinetist in the world.

The music of twin sisters Tegan and Sara has been described as "post-punk grrrl rock not bound by conventional musical cliches." On Friday, April 29, this unique duo will perform at UM's third annual Spring Thaw, a fund-raiser for UM's Entertainment Management Program.

The indie rock concert kicks off at 8 p.m. in the University Center Ballroom. Local musician Purrbot will open. Tickets cost $15 and are available at the UC Box Office, Ear Candy, InHouseTickets.com and Rockin Rudy's.

Tegan and Sara are currently on a sold-out tour opening for the Killers. These Canadians write their own music and co-produced their last album, "So Jealous." Critics agree they are on the verge of breaking out, and their UM show might be one of the last chances to see them in such an intimate venue.

"Loose Minds in a Box," a nationwide multimedia event, will take place at 7 p.m. tonight and Saturday, April 15-16, and 4 p.m. Sunday, April 17, at UM.

The production comprises six performances occurring simultaneously across the country and presented via digital streaming technology. The performances incorporate theater, text, music, performance art, virtual reality and motion capture.

The event takes place in Social Science Room 127. Tickets are $5/general and $3/students and are available at the door or in advance at Presentation Technology Services, Social Science Building Room 123.

"Loose Minds in a Box" is presented locally by PTS and the Department of Music.

The Missoula International Friendship Program is seeking volunteer families, couples and individuals to befriend about 70 incoming foreign students attending UM this fall.

This "friendship match" offers community members and foreign students the opportunity to learn about each others' cultures while sharing leisure and family activities. Matches require a minimal commitment from volunteers and students of at least one interaction per month during the student's first year of attendance at UM.

Students come from all over the world, including Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. For more information and an application, call UM Foreign Student and Scholar Services, (406) 243-2226.

Ron Rapoport, a sports columnist with the Chicago Sun-Times and regular commentator on NPR's Weekend Edition, will read from his forthcoming biography of golfer Bobby Jones Wednesday, April 20, at UM. The reading begins at 7:30 p.m. in the UC Theater and is free and open to the public.

"The Immortal Bobby: Bobby Jones and the Golden Age of Golf" tells the story of the only man to have won golf's Grand Slam -- all four major tournaments in a season. Rapoport reveals the struggle Jones faced in 1930 as he won the Grand Slam when the pressure of competition grew so intense he could take no pleasure in winning.

Rapoport has written two other books, including a biography about Marion Jones and has edited an anthology of sports reporting by women. His visit is sponsored by the UM Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and the School of Journalism.

The 1995 Montana Grizzlies football team and four former athletes -- Cindy Pitzinger, Derrick Pope, Hal Sherbeck and Karl Stein -- have been chosen for induction into the Grizzly Athletic Hall of Fame.

Montana's first NCAA national championship team will gather at a reunion dinner Sept. 2 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Missoula. They also will be recognized Sept. 3 during halftime of Montana's 2005 season opener against Fort Lewis College in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

A banquet honoring the four individual inductees will be held Oct. 21 at the Holiday Inn Parkside. They will be introduced Oct. 22 at the Montana vs. Cal Poly football game at UM.

Times and ticket information will be announced at a later date.

The UM men's tennis team snapped a five-match losing streak with a 4-2 win over Idaho Sunday at the Appleton Tennis Center in Boise, Idaho.

Winning four of six singles contests in the match, Montana avenged an earlier loss to the Vandals and improved to 5-9 on the season.

Freshman Colin Mascall improved his season record to 8-6 at the No. 1 singles position. Junior Varun Giri broke his own streak with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Idaho's Hector Mucharrez at the No. 2 position. Sophomore Stuart Wing captured a win at No. 3 singles, and freshman Hugh Daniels earned his first collegiate dual match singles victory with a 6-4, 6-4 win.

Montana returns to action April 15-17 with road matches against Nevada, Pacific and Sacramento State.

The women's tennis team won the doubles point but dropped four of six singles contests in a 4-3 loss to Montana State last Saturday in Bozeman.

The loss drops Montana to 4-10 overall, 1-1 in Big Sky Conference action.

Senior Lindsey Torgerson and freshman Mari Castello won singles contests for the Griz. Torgerson was a 6-2, 6-3 victor over MSU's Vera Vasileva, while Castello improved her season mark to 9-4 with a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 win over Bobcat Remy Clark.

Montana is back in action April 15-17 with road contests at San Jose State, Sacramento State and Nevada.