TGIF Joins Students On Summer Break
 

This is the last regular issue of TGIF News for the academic year. TGIF will publish one summer edition in July, then resume regular publication on Aug. 24.

Fall semester classes begin Monday, Aug. 27.

UM Events Calendar 

 Commencement Takes Place Saturday
 

UM will hold its 110th Commencement exercises this Saturday, May 12.

About 1,600 graduates are expected to attend general ceremonies, which will be held in the Adams Center. Montana financial pioneer Ian B. Davidson, a UM alumnus, is this year's Commencement speaker.

The ceremony for the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Technology begins at 9:30 a.m.

The ceremony for UM's professional schools and colleges -- business administration, education, forestry and conservation, fine arts, journalism, pharmacy, social work, and physical therapy and rehabilitative science -- begins at 2 p.m.

After each ceremony, students from various schools and departments will disperse to other campus locations for individual awarding of diplomas.

All degree candidates participating in the morning ceremony must line up at 8:30 a.m. on the Oval for a procession to the Adams Center. Those participating in the afternoon ceremony should line up at 1 p.m. on the Oval. In case of rain, candidates should meet at the Adams Center auxiliary gymnasiums.

Details are online.

UM Commencement 

 J-School Hires First Female Dean
 

For the first time in its history, UM has hired a woman to lead its venerable, award-winning School of Journalism.

UM journalism school alumna Peggy Kuhr of the University of Kansas in Lawrence was selected from among four candidates interviewed for the job. She is currently Knight Chair on the Press, Leadership and Community for the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

"She has the experience and competencies we need at this stage in the development of the school and the University," UM President George Dennison said.

Journalism Professor Carol Van Valkenburg has served as interim dean of the J-School during previous searches.

UM's journalism school was started in Army surplus tents in 1914, but Kuhr will find herself in much nicer digs when she arrives to replace retiring Dean Jerry Brown in August. UM dedicates the J-School's 57,000-square-foot new home, Don Anderson Hall, at 2 p.m. today.

Kuhr has worked at the University of Kansas since 2002. Before that she held four editing positions -- including managing editor for content -- at the Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Wash., from 1986 to 2002.

Kuhr earned undergraduate degrees in journalism and French from UM in 1973. She went on to study Lettres Modernes at the Universite de Rouen in France and do postgraduate studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

School of Journalism 

 UM's Bio Station Lands Major Grant
 

The Flathead Lake Biological Station has been awarded a three-year $4.6 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to continue studying pristine salmon and trout watersheds along the Pacific Rim.

The grant will support the Salmonid Rivers Observatory Network, a long-term project initiated in 2003 to study the biological diversity and productivity of 15 to 20 pristine salmon-river ecosystems. Targeted rivers are in British Columbia, Alaska and Kamchatka in the Russian Far East.

The goal of the project is to complete a massive, in-depth, comprehensive study of these rivers by examining their geology, chemistry, vegetation, aquatic organisms, stream flow and more. The Flathead Lake Biological Station and its partners want to gain a better understanding of the complex web of water and life that make up healthy river systems.

UM's field station has become a major worldwide research entity, with six resident faculty and about 30 staff members and graduate students using an extramural research budget of approximately $3.5 million annually.

Flathead Lake Biological Station 

 High School Students Research Air Pollution
 

Students who have conducted research in their own homes and backyards will present their findings Thursday, May 17, during the third annual Air Toxics Under the Big Sky Symposium at UM.

About 120 high school students from Western Montana and college students from the Nez Perce Reservation in Idaho will attend the event, which runs from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the North Underground Lecture Hall.

Participating students worked alongside UM scientists to examine important components of air pollution. They measured levels of volatile organic compounds inside and outside their homes to provide a better picture of how they vary seasonally and geographically and to evaluate their potential human health effects.

The Air Toxics Under the Big Sky Program is designed to bring student-based scientific inquiry into the classroom, give students real-world experience on problems relevant to their communities and encourage young people to seek further education and careers in environmental and biomedical sciences.

The symposium was organized by UM's Department of Chemistry and the Center for Environmental Health Sciences.

 

 UM Educators Recognized For Excellence
 

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

Anthropology Assistant Professor Kelly Dixon and political science Associate Professor Karen Adams will be presented Helen and Winston Cox Educational Excellence awards at their department's graduation ceremonies Saturday.

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 and an unrestricted cash award.

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

Dixon's scholarship ranges from the archaeology of frontier saloons to forensic investigations of the Donner Party site in California's Sierra Nevada.

Adams weaves together international history and current events to prepare students for careers in public policy and international affairs.

 

 Nursing Students To Be Honored At Ceremony
 

The UM College of Technology will hold a pinning ceremony May 18 for students in this year's graduating class of practical and registered nurses.

The event has been a tradition to honor students who have completed all the requirements to become professional nurses since 1852 -- the era of Florence Nightingale, founder of the profession.

The ceremony will recognize eight graduating registered nurses and 16 practical nursing graduates.

College of Technology 

 COT Offers International Cuisine Workshops
 

Learn to create the culinary delights of Mediterranean and Asian cuisine this summer at the UM College of Technology.

Tom Campbell, COT Culinary Program director and 2007 Chef of the Year, will lead two intensive summer workshops, which take place once a week for seven weeks.

Asian Cuisine classes are scheduled from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursdays beginning May 31 and ending July 12.

Mediterranean Cuisine classes will take place from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fridays from June 1 to July 13.

The cost for each workshop is $295 for noncredit and $430 for two undergraduate credits. Those interested in learning about both Asian and Mediterranean cuisines can take advantage of a special price to attend the two summer workshops: $500 noncredit or $770 for four credits.

To register or for more information, call Mary Opitz at 406-243-7812, e-mail her at mctoutreach@mso.umt.edu or visit the Web site.

College of Technology 

 Student Documentary Premieres Tonight
 

UM broadcasting students will present a TV documentary highlighting the lives of six unique Montana teenagers as they move toward adulthood.

"Beyond the Myths: Growing up in Montana" will premiere at 7:30 p.m. tonight in the University Center Theater. The event is free and open to the public. Student filmmakers will be on hand afterward to answer questions from the public or the media.

The documentary also will air on Montana PBS at 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 22.

It was produced entirely by the Student Documentary Unit of the Department of Radio-Television. Students traveled to Cut Bank, Miles City, Boulder, Corvallis and Arlee to follow and document their subjects' compelling stories.

Department of Radio-Television 

 Bill Harley To Tape Concerts In Missoula
 

Grammy-winning singer and storyteller Bill Harley will make his first live recordings for a television and radio program during two concerts June 2-3 at UM.

The Saturday and Sunday concerts will begin at 3 p.m. in the University Theatre.

With the footage and audio from the concerts, Montana PBS and Montana Public Radio will produce and broadcast one-hour shows in Montana titled "Bill Harley, Recorded Live in Missoula." They will make the shows available to public stations nationwide in 2008.

Harley is a nationally recognized family entertainer known for delighting children and adults alike with his growing-up stories and songs, as well as his observations about being a parent and about elements of today's world.

MTPR listeners find Harley's tales irresistible and know many of them and their accompanying tunes by heart. His most requested stories describe school bus adventures, lunchroom ladies, backpacks, bottle-cap collections, moon pies and a TV being thrown out the window.

Tickets are $15 for adults 18 and over and $10 for children and are available online, at GrizTix outlets or by calling 1-888-MONTANA or 406-243-4051.

GrizTix 

 Griz At Big Sky Track Meet In Pocatello
 

UM junior Ashley Taylor and freshmen Chris Hellekson and Chris Hicks qualified May 4 in Bozeman for the 2007 Big Sky Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which are under way in Pocatello, Idaho.

Competing at the Montana State Tom Gage Classic, Taylor qualified for her fifth Big Sky championships by finishing fourth in the pole vault with a height of 11-6.25, meeting the qualifying height of 11-3.

Hellekson, who already qualified in the shot put, became Montana's first qualifier in the discus, winning with a throw of 156-7. The qualifying standard is 154-5.

Hicks, who already qualified in the decathlon, became the Grizzlies' third qualifier in the triple jump when he won the event with a jump of 45-7.75. The qualifying standard is 44-8.25.

Four athletes who previously qualified put up season-best marks at Montana State: senior Levi Zell in the men's pole vault with a season-best height of 15-7; junior Cody Henning in the 400 meters with a career-best time of 48.79; sophomore Anya Wechsler in the pole vault with a, third-place, career-best height of 12-0; and Hellekson finishing fifth in the shot put with a mark of 50-10.25.

Multi-events at the Big Sky outdoor championships took place Wednesday and Thursday. Track and field events continue today and tomorrow.

Montana Grizzlies