ASUM Leader Speaks At Candlelight Vigil
 

Members of the UM community gathered Tuesday evening on the Oval for a candlelight vigil in support of Virginia Tech after Monday's terrible events. While the bells in Main Hall solemnly rang 32 times for each of the victims, UM students, staff, faculty and administrators quietly stood holding candles.

Associated Students of UM President Andrea Helling gave a short speech, excerpted here:

"Two-thousand miles from where this tragedy struck, we come together tonight in solidarity with students from Virginia Tech," Helling said. "We gather tonight not just in sympathy or remembrance, but also to raise awareness amongst our campus community. We need to ensure that our campus is one of open communications, tolerance and understanding.

"It is unfortunate that it takes an event such as this to remind us that we are in fact members of a community. The people we sit next to in our classes, the people we stand in line with at the cafeteria, the people we study next to in the library -- these are all fellow students, and members of our community. We may very well carry our tenures at this university not knowing most of our fellow students, but we all share in the same trials and tribulations knowing that we're all responsible to one another.

"Now is the time to reach out to those we share this community with, to ensure that all feel welcome and included. This may be an academic entity, but without the community and relationships we build it is nothing more than a grouping of buildings. We need to reach out and make sure that we all feel safe and secure here at The University of Montana.

"Here at the University, we have amazing resources available to all students. We have the benefit of a caring and attentive faculty, staff and administration. We have various counseling services on campus for our students, which are accessible and affordable to all students. But most of all, we have one another, and we share an understanding that our campus and community are united.

"Today, our hearts go out to the victims and their families, as well as the students, faculty and staff of Virginia Tech.

"Today, we are all Hokies."

Members of the UM community are encouraged to join a nationwide "Orange and Maroon Effect" today, April 20, by wearing the Hokie colors orange and maroon in support of Virginia Tech.

ASUM 

 UM Celebrates Earth Week
 

A week of events dedicated to a sustainable campus and planet will culminate with Earth Service Day this Saturday and celebration of the 38th Earth Day on Sunday.

UM President George Dennison announced "UM's Climate Commitment," the University's plan to reduce its production of greenhouse gases, on Monday. Other events during the week included films, presentations and a play.

The annual Clark Fork River Cleanup will take place from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday. Volunteers should meet at 10 a.m. at the Van Buren footbridge to work on the river near campus. To work on other parts of the river, meet at 10 a.m. at Caras Park.

Volunteers can pull weeds and spread native seeds for Mount Sentinel Prairie Restoration from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Meet at the Mount Sentinel trailhead at 10 a.m. or walk up the trail.

Other Saturday service opportunities include Habitat for Humanity can collection, sorting recyclables on campus, bike-building at the Festival of Cycles and farm chores at the PEAS Farm in the Rattlesnake Valley. "Ecopentathletes" who volunteer and ride their bikes from event to event will receive a free T-shirt. For more information on these activities, see the Web site listed below.

An old-fashioned folk dance will be held from 7:30 to 11 p.m. Saturday night in the University Center Ballroom. The dance is sponsored by the Associated Students of UM Student Folklore Society. All dances are taught, and no experience or partner is needed. Cost is $7 general; $5 for students and society members; children under 14 free.

The University will join the community on Sunday for Earth Day festivities in downtown Missoula. These events take place from noon to 7 p.m. in Caras Park.

Earth Week schedule 

 'Walk N Roll' Week Starts Monday
 

UM students, faculty and staff will have a chance to show their commitment to conservation and fitness during "Walk N Roll" Week April 23-27.

Sponsored by the ASUM transportation office, the week is part of Missoula's Bike Walk Bus Week and offers incentives to those coming to campus in any way other than driving alone.

Volunteers will hand out buttons and raffle tickets at all UM entrances and bus stops throughout the week.

A raffle table in the UC will offer education materials, raffle prizes, a "Tell Your Transportation Story" board and a listing of other Bike Walk Bus Week events.

A raffle drawing will be held at noon Friday, April 27, on the Mansfield Mall, located between the UC and the Mansfield Library. A long list of prizes will be awarded, including a cruiser bike, bike trailer, commuter meal plan, cash, gift certificates, helmets, headlights, tickets to events and clothing.

Entertainment will begin at 11 a.m. and will feature the Yidaki Didgeridoo Club, along with special guest artists.

 

 Professor Receives Guggenheim Fellowship
 

Montana author and educator Debra Magpie Earling has been awarded a 2007 Guggenheim Fellowship by the board of trustees of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

Guggenheim Fellows are appointed on the basis of distinguished achievement in the past and exceptional promise for future accomplishment.

Earling, who teaches creative writing and Native American studies at UM, is the author of the novel "Perma Red," which has received critical acclaim and awards since its release in 2002.

She plans to use the fellowship award to write her second novel based on the life story of a medicine-warrior woman.

Among Earling's many publications are stories in "The Last Best Place: A Montana Anthology," "Talking Leaves: Contemporary Native American Short Stories," "Circle of Women: Anthology of Western Women Writers" and "Wild Women: Anthology of Women Writers."

Earling is a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation. She received a bachelor's degree in English at the University of Washington in Seattle and studied as a Ford Pre-doctoral Fellow at Cornell University in New York, where she received a master's degree in fine arts in 1992.

Creative Writing Program 

 Hoyt Named Indian College Student Of The Year
 

Tyler Hoyt, a second-year psychology student at UM, has been named the Montana Indian College Student of the Year.

This is the second consecutive year that a student nominated by UM's American Indian Student Services office has won the award. Joe Caye, a member of the Kootenai tribe and third-year computer science major, won last year.

The annual MIEA Indian College Student of the Year award recognizes individuals who -- through work, involvement, leadership and personal commitment -- make a positive difference and exemplify the importance of education in the lives of Montana's Indian people.

Hoyt, a Blackfeet tribal member, serves as a role model by maintaining a high grade-point average while volunteering his time regularly to various individuals and groups on campus, according to AISS Director Patrick Weasel Head.

A graduate of Browning High School, Hoyt also has been a recipient of the AISS Honor's Award and the Diversity Council Student Achievement Award.

American Indian Student Services 

 UM Poet Wins Regional Award
 

UM senior Claire Barwise has won the 2007 Western Regional Honors Council Award for Poetry.

Barwise, a Davidson Honors College senior from Bloomington, Ind., majors in English literature and creative writing at UM. She earned the award for her poem "Praying Mantis on State Road 37."

The poem will be published in the 2007 issue of Scribendi, a nonprofit annual print publication produced at the University of New Mexico since 1987.

Barwise came to UM in 2003 after attending Occidental College in Los Angeles. She spent a fall 2005 exchange semester at University College Cork in Ireland. After graduation in May, she plans to pursue a master's degree in creative writing.

She is the daughter of Jon and Mary Ellen Barwise of Bloomington.

Works of two other Davidson Honors College students, an essay by junior Katie Baumler of Helena and a short story by senior Eliza Goode of Missoula, also were selected for publication in Scribendi this year.

Davidson Honors College 

 Food Court Employee Awarded Scholarship
 

Most students at UM probably know Kara Docherty, even if they don't realize it.

Docherty, who has worked in the UC Food Court since spring 2004 in an administrative capacity, is the recipient of the 2007 Sam Brooks Student Scholarship awarded by the National Association of College & University Food Services. The $500 scholarship is the highest regional award bestowed upon a food service student employee.

This prestigious award recognizes only one outstanding student employee from the Continental Region, which includes 60 colleges and universities in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and three Canadian provinces.

A native of Huson, Docherty also excels in her academic career. As a psychology major, with a minor in sociology, she is deeply engaged in completing her senior project, investigating the most prominent risk factors related to homelessness.

 

 Student Leaders To Receive Awards
 

UM will present two of its top student awards during a Tuesday, April 24, recognition ceremony.

The Outstanding Student Leader for spring semester and the Sentinel Service annual award winner will be announced during the 6:30 to 8 p.m. ceremony in the UC North Ballroom. The awards are sponsored by UM's Center for Leadership Development.

The Outstanding Student Leader award is presented each semester to one student demonstrating exceptional leadership. The award considers service, leadership, diversity and impact. The recipient receives an in-state tuition waiver for the following semester.

The Sentinel Service award is an annual award given during the spring semester that recognizes an outstanding student group for its commitment to service in the UM and Missoula communities. The winning group receives a $500 cash stipend.

ASUM senators, UC board members, Office for Civic Engagement student volunteers and students in the Ursa Major Leadership Program also will be recognized at the ceremony.

Center for Leadership Development 

 Foundation Funds Native American Fellowships
 

The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation has established a new $10,000 fellowship at each of Montana's two universities to promote achievement by American Indian graduate students.

A foundation official said he hopes the Dennis R. Washington Native American Graduate Fellowship for students at both UM and Montana State University will help students meet the needs of Montana's native communities.

Native American leaders on both campuses said the fellowships will provide opportunity for American Indian students to develop leadership abilities to their full potential.

Patrick Weasel Head, director of American Indian Student Services at UM and a member of the Blackfeet and Gros Ventre tribes, said there are many challenges in recruiting, retaining and graduating American Indian students. The fellowship, he said, will help encourage Indian students to pursue their dreams.

"Increasingly, American Indian students are considering graduate school, as they see a graduate degree as the key to meaningful leadership opportunities," Weasel Head said. "But the financial obstacles they encounter are often insurmountable. The Washington fellowship will make it possible for more American Indian students to pursue their studies at the graduate level."

UM Graduate School 

 Bruya Exhibition Opens At UM Museum
 

The Montana Museum of Art & Culture at UM will exhibit the works of Professor Marilyn Bruya April 26 through June 30.

"Marilyn Bruya: A Retrospective," will celebrate Bruya's works from the past 40 years in the museum's Meloy and Paxson galleries. She is retiring from UM after 25 years of teaching art.

An artist's reception and retirement party will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 26, in the museum lobby, located in UM's Performing Arts and Radio/Television Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Bruya has taught painting and drawing to more than 4,000 students during the course of her career.

The exhibition highlights