Seventy-five men and three women who were convicted of felonies for criticizing the American government nearly a century ago received pardons this week at a ceremony in the state Capitol in Helena.

Some 50 of those Montanans' descendants were on hand for the ceremony, as were UM faculty members and students who initiated the Montana Sedition Project.

The effort began with UM Journalism Professor Clem Work, author of the 2005 book "Darkest Before Dawn," whose research blossomed into a "pardon project" undertaken by UM journalism and law students.

Their work paid off Wednesday, when Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer pardoned those who were convicted in 1918 and 1919 under the state's tough wartime anti-speech law.

About 40 of those people, many of them German-American immigrants, collectively served 65 years at the state prison in Deer Lodge. Several of their grandchildren spoke at the ceremony of the shameful family secret passed down through the generations. They also expressed gratitude for the vindication provided by the pardons.

The Montana Sedition Project has captured national media attention, including articles this week in the New York Times and Washington Post.

More information, including photographs and stories of those once punished for exercising their First Amendment rights, are on the Montana Sedition Project Web site.

Open forums are scheduled for area residents and the campus community to meet the candidates for dean of UM’s College of Technology.

The forums will be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the commons area of the Administration Building at the COT campus, 909 South Ave. W.

Following is the list of candidates with scheduled forum dates:

• Monday, May 8: Cheri Jimeno, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs and professor of business at Montana State University-Northern, Havre.
• Tuesday, May 9: Randy Smith, dean of Burlington Campus, Gateway Technical College in Kenosha, Wis.
• Thursday, May 11: Shelton Houston, professor in the School of Computing at the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Miss.

A fourth candidate, Thomas Baldwin, dean of the College of Technology and director of the Kansas Technology Center at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kan., visited UM Monday.

A variety of short courses covering timely social and ethical issues in business, medicine, education and the environment will be offered this summer by UM’s Center for Ethics.

All classes are open to students and the public. The courses are less expensive than classes offered during the academic year and may be taken for Montana Office of Public Instruction renewal credits.

Course titles include: Life and Death, Love and War: Ethics of Contemporary Controversies; Theory and Skills of Ethics Teaching; Ethics, Education and the Evolution Debate; Foundations for Ethical Business Practice; Environmental Justice in Montana’s Indian Country; Foundations of Environmental Thought; and How We Experience Nature: Environmental Aesthetics.

Class descriptions and a schedule are online.

The 2006 Greek Awards Banquet honored 10 UM students as well as six different sororities and fraternities.

Individual winners of this year’s awards are Colin Boyle, Paige Browning, Jennifer Hepner, Andrew Bissell, Britta Jones, Katie Kain, José Diaz, Amy Pagano, Kevin Molm and Sarah Lind.

Seven chapter awards were given as well: Kappa Sigma, Scholastic and Academic Programming Award; Kappa Alpha Theta, New Member Programming Award; Alpha Phi, Philanthropy and Service Award; Sigma Phi Epsilon, Public Relations Award; Kappa Kappa Gamma, Risk Management and House Operations Award; and Delta Gamma, Alumni Relations and Chapter Development Award and Chapter of the Year.

More than 130 people attended the banquet, which was held last month in the North University Center Ballroom.

The UM College of Arts and Sciences has recognized two faculty members for their teaching excellence and exceptional work with UM students.

Winston and Helen Cox Educational Excellence awards went to Bryan Cochran, assistant professor of psychology, and Adam Nyman, assistant professor of mathematical sciences.

The awards, given annually since 1996, go to faculty members who have not received tenure at UM. Award winners receive at least $500 to purchase books of their choice for UM’s Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, plus an unrestricted cash award.

While service, research and publications are important in determining who receives the awards, the primary focus is the faculty member’s excellent teaching and time dedicated to mentoring and advising students.

Area students who have conducted research in their own homes and backyards will present their findings Wednesday, May 17, during the Air Toxics Under the Big Sky Symposium at UM.

About 80 high school students will attend the event, which runs from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the North Underground Lecture Hall.

In addition, a town hall meeting for the general public will be held at 7 p.m. that evening in the North Underground Lecture Hall. Joellen Lewtas, a professor of environmental and occupational health sciences at the University of Washington, will present the keynote address titled “Air Pollution and Combustion: Human Exposure and Health Risks From Air Toxics” at 9:30 a.m.

This second-annual symposium allows for students to work alongside UM scientists to examine important components of air pollution.

The symposium is organized by UM’s Department of Chemistry and the Center for Environmental Health Sciences, as well as Western Montana science teachers and students.

Human rights activists Serena Becker, Rochelle Gause and Johan Genberg will be at UM on Saturday, May 13, to present “Beyond Borders: Solidarity in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”

The presentation begins at 6 p.m. in UM’s North Underground Lecture Hall.

Following the presentation at 8 p.m., Michael Franti’s new Middle East music video, “I Know I’m Not Alone,” will be shown. Franti is a musician and human rights worker who explores the human cost of war.

The events are free and open to the public.

Students who recently completed the UM College of Technology Practical Nursing Program will be honored at a pinning ceremony Friday, May 12.

The ceremony begins at 1 p.m. at the Nordic Pines Lodge, located at 5795 Highway 93 South.

The students are the first to complete COT’s new curriculum and the first to be housed at the college’s new facility at the Stranahan Building.

The UM women's golf team has been selected to participate in the 2006 NCAA West Regional.

The regional will be hosted by the University of Washington May 11-13 at Washington National Golf Club in Auburn.

It will be the first NCAA regional for the Grizzlies, who won last month’s Big Sky Conference title. The NCAA golf championships comprise three regional sites, each of which will host 21 teams.

The top eight teams from each regional advance to the NCAA championships, which take place May 23-26 in Columbus, Ohio.

The UM men’s tennis team lost 4-0 to Montana State in the title match April 29 at the Big Sky Men’s Tennis Championship in Pocatello, Idaho.

The Bobcats captured their third-straight championship, advancing to the NCAA Tennis Championships with a 15-11 overall record. The Grizzlies, playing in their first title match since 1971, end the season at 11-11 overall.

The UM women's tennis team lost 4-0 to No. 1 seed Sacramento State Friday morning in the semifinals of the Big Sky Women's Tennis Championship, also in Pocatello. The women end their season at 10-12 overall.

The UM men's track and field team defeated Montana State University 97-94 Saturday afternoon at the annual UM-MSU Dual, 97-94, while the Bobcat women beat the Grizzlies 102-101.

The victory marks the fourth time in five years that UM has come away with the men's dual title, while MSU has now won 10 straight in the women's dual.

Despite the loss, the Montana women had a solid day, with one NCAA Midwest Regional qualifier and five new Big Sky Conference qualifiers. The UM men also added five new qualifiers.

Freshman Abbey Effertz became the Grizzlies' fourth NCAA regional qualifier when she won the shot put with a distance of 47-7.75. The mark was a season best by more than four feet and won the event by nearly two feet.

Montana wraps up its regular season this week at home with the Tom Gage Classic -- a last-chance meet for athletes to qualify for the Big Sky Conference championships, which will be held May 10-13 at Eastern Washington.

The Tom Gage Classic starts today with the field events at noon and running events at 4 p.m., both at Dornblaser Field.