US, Korean Diplomats Speak at UM Tuesday
 

U.S. Ambassador to Korea Kathleen Stephens and Korea's Ambassador to the U.S. Duk-Soo Han will speak at UM on Tuesday, Sept. 8. In a rare morning time slot, the event will take place from 9 to 10:30 a.m. in James E. Todd Building Rooms 203-204. It is free and open to the public.

At a time when the North Korean nuclear threat lingers and a potential succession crisis adds new uncertainty for both the U.S. and South Korea, the countries' top diplomats will present a wide-ranging public discussion on these and other issues.

For more information, call Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center Director Terry Weidner at 243-2988 or e-mail terry.weidner@umontana.edu.

 

 Law School Named To 'Best Value' List
 

UM's School of Law has landed at No. 6 on a list of best value law schools in the nation.

The list was compiled by The National Jurist, a magazine that reaches an estimated 100,000 law students. It appears in the September 2009 issue in an article titled "Best Bang! for your buck."

The UM law school was lauded for its $10,273 in-state tuition, its bar-passage rate of 95 percent and its 95.7 percent employment rate after graduation.

The National Jurist article 

 UM Extends Registration Payment Deadline
 

UM administrators have extended the late registration payment deadline to Wednesday, Sept. 9. Students can pay registration bills in person until 4:30 p.m. at Griz Central in the Lommasson Center or until midnight online using CyberBear.

Administrators were prompted to extend the deadline after Banner, UM's administrative software that includes CyberBear, offered sporadic service last Thursday and Friday and part of Monday.

"We want to do everything in our power to ensure students have time to properly enroll," UM President George M. Dennison said.

For more information, call UM Business Services at 406-243-6260.

Cyberbear 

 Dining Services Hires New Executive Chef
 

After an extensive national search, UM has hired a new executive chef. Monty Colby will take over the position in early fall semester, University Dining Services Director Mark LoParco announced last week.

Colby comes to UM with a strong background in the hotel and hospitality industry. His most recent position was executive chef at the Marriott Hotel and Convention Center in Visalia, Calif. He has been featured in articles written for Style Magazine, 25 North magazine and Tulare County magazine. He also appeared as the featured chef on the "Central Valley Today Show" in Visalia.

Colby's innovative influence will be felt throughout all UDS restaurants, especially University Catering Services. To learn more about Colby and see some of his original culinary creations, go to the UDS Web site.

University Dining Services 

 National Geographic Features UM Researchers
 

For the second month in a row, National Geographic magazine features UM researchers examining crucial changes in ecosystems from the Arctic to coastal Russia.

The September 2009 issue features the research of Joel Berger, John J. Craighead Chair and professor of wildlife conservation in the Division of Biological Sciences. Berger, a National Geographic grant winner, tracks Alaska's muskox with GPS as fears arise among conservationists that climate change could endanger the 800-pound Ice Age survivors.

The August 2009 feature article "Where the Salmon Rule" focuses on the work of UM Bierman Professor of Ecology Jack Stanford, director of the University's Flathead Lake Biological Station. Stanford and his Russian colleague Kirill Kuzishchin examine the importance of Pacific salmon in the Kol River ecosystem on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

 

 University Hosts Forum on Native Issues
 

UM will host the Calvin B. Stott Forum on Contemporary Native American Issues at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8, in the University Center Ballroom. A reception is scheduled immediately following the forum. The event is free and open to the public.

The forum, titled "Native American Futures: The Path to Self-Sufficiency," will feature speakers Charles Trimble, an Oglala Lakota Indian, and Patty LaPlant, a Blackfeet Indian. Trimble and LaPlant will discuss current issues plaguing Indian Country, including high rates of unemployment, infant mortality and teen suicide, as well as epidemics of diabetes and substance abuse.

Trimble is a well-known journalist and activist who helped found the American Indian Press Association. LaPlant worked in social services program administration for more than 25 years for several organizations on the Blackfeet Reservation, including Blackfeet Community College.

For more information, call Kathryn Shanley, special assistant to the provost for Native American and Indigenous Education, at 406-243-5832 or e-mail kathryn.shanley@umontana.edu; or call Lanell Curry, assistant to the provost, at 406-243-4689 or e-mail lanell.curry@umontana.edu.

 

 Learn about Volunteer Opportunities at Fair
 

UM's Office for Civic Engagement will hold the annual Fall Volunteer Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 8-9, in the University Center Atrium.

Students and community members can learn about the numerous volunteer opportunities available around Missoula from representatives of more than 20 nonprofit organizations at the fair. The event is free and open to the public.

To learn more about participating organizations or how an organization can be represented at the fair, go to the OCE Web site or call Ashley Widtfeldt at 406-243-5531.

Office for Civic Engagement 

 Essay Contest Open to Freshmen
 

Each fall semester, UM sponsors a First-Year Reading Experience essay contest open only to entering UM students. The competition aims to bring students new to the University together to read a selected book and discuss it at events that include campus visits by the author.

The 2009 First-Year Reading Experience book selection is "The Confessions of Max Tivoli" by UM alumnus Andrew Sean Greer.

The novel has garnered international critical acclaim for the beauty of its language, the richness of its historical detail and the heartbreaking nature of its storytelling. It encompasses themes related to aging, the body, memory, identity, love, and the commingling of joy and sorrow in human life.

Greer will be on campus Wednesday, Oct. 21, to speak at a seminar and lecture. The seminar is for first-year students only and will begin at 2:10 p.m. in the University Center Theater. The lecture will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the University Theatre.

Freshmen attending UM for the first time during fall semester 2009 are invited to enter the essay contest. A cash prize of $250 will be awarded to the writer of the best, most compelling essay in each of two categories: the scholarly/analytical essay and the personal essay.

Essay guidelines and more details are on the First-Year Reading Experience Web site.

First-Year Reading Experience 

 Tickets Available for Performing Arts Series
 

UM Productions will present four family-friendly shows during its upcoming 2009-10 Performing Arts Series.

The series features performances by the Lowe Family, the Mud Bay Jugglers, Bearfoot and "Rave On! The Buddy Holly Experience." All shows begin at 7:30 p.m. in the University Theatre, with doors opening at 6:30 p.m.

Series ticket packages, which cost $97, are on sale at the Adams Center Box Office, by phone at 406-243-4051 or online at GrizTix. Tickets for individual performances will go on sale Sept. 18.

More information about the Performing Arts Series is on the UM Productions Web site.

UM Productions 

 Register for Lifelong Learning Courses
 

Community members 50 and older can explore topics from history, writing and literature to opera, cinema and art in fall courses offered by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

The courses, taught by dynamic UM and community educators, will take place during October and November. Registration is now open for all fall courses. An annual institute membership fee of $20 is required to enroll. Registration for each course costs $60 plus fees, when applicable.

Two special courses will be offered this fall:

• The Power of Pictures: Pulitzer Prize Photographs. In conjunction with the exhibition "Capture the Moment: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs" at the Montana Museum of Art & Culture through Oct. 23.
• Discoveries and Discoveries: Learning More about the Drugs You Take. In conjunction with a President's Lecture Series event Oct. 19 at UM -- "The Truth about the Drug Companies" by Marcia Angell, former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine and senior lecturer at the Department of Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

For a complete fall course listing and information about instructors, go to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute's Web site, call 243-2905 or e-mail dannette.fadness@umontana.edu.

Osher Lifelong Learning Institute 

 New Students Invited to Volunteer Event
 

Students attending UM for the first time this fall can get a taste of community service at the First-Year Leadership & Volunteer Experience on Monday, Sept. 7, in Missoula. The event will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the University's Labor Day holiday from classes.

Freshmen and students new to UM can volunteer at one of three service sites: the Poverello Center, Missoula Urban Demonstration Project or Garden City Harvest's Orchard Gardens. The service-learning and volunteer event is sponsored by UM Student Involvement and Leadership Development and the University's Office for Civic Engagement.

Volunteers will meet at The Source in the University Center and then go to one of the sites to serve and learn how the nonprofits help foster Missoula's community atmosphere. Lunch and transportation will be provided. The event is free, but registration is required. Students can register at The Source in the UC or by e-mailing ashley.widtfeldt@mso.umt.edu.

After their time at the sites, participants will meet to reflect on how service is a form of leadership and discuss the importance of UM students being leaders in their community by volunteering.

For more information, call Debbie Saylor at 406-529-5851 or e-mail CLD.student1@mso.umt.edu.

 

 Montana, Kentucky Share $6 Million Grant
 

The National Science Foundation has awarded Montana and Kentucky a $6 million grant to install and monitor water-quality sensors in freshwater lakes and streams in both states.

The project ― developed and funded through NSF's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, or EPSCoR ― will manage new and historical data at two of the country's most successful biological field stations, UM's Flathead Lake Biological Station in northwestern Montana and Hancock Biological Station on Kentucky Lake in western Kentucky.

Richard Hauer, limnology professor at UM, and Barbara Kucera, deputy director of the Center for Computational Sciences at the University of Kentucky, will head up the project, which will include faculty, staff and researchers from UM, Montana State University, the University of Kentucky, theUniversity of Louisville, Murray State University and Eastern Kentucky University.

The water-quality sensors at Flathead and Kentucky lakes will provide researchers with key data on climate factors such as temperature, precipitation and snow dynamics, and on the impact of human land use and environmental changes on freshwater lakes and streams.

Read the Full News Release 

 Griz Soccer Drops Two in Iowa
 

The UM soccer team suffered a difficult 2-0 loss at the University of Iowa on Aug. 28. Montana opened play by gaining the first corner kick of the match, but the strong Iowa team controlled the ball in the Grizzlies' end for the majority of the first half, outshooting Montana 10-1.

Iowa opened scoring in the 23rd minute of play by shooting a goal from 6 yards out. The Hawkeyes scored the final goal of the game in the 81st minute of play.

Montana dropped the second match of its trip to Iowa with a 2-0 loss at Iowa State on Aug. 30 in Ames, Iowa. The loss dropped the Grizzlies, who are still searching for their first goal of the season, to 0-3-0.

Montana will be on the road again this weekend when the team travels to Boise, Idaho, for two games. The Grizzlies will play the Boise State Broncos on Friday and the University of Idaho Vandals on Sunday.

Montana Grizzlies 

 Montana Spikers Second in Hokie Tourney
 

The UM volleyball team lost its 2009 season opener to Virginia Tech on Aug. 28 in four sets at the Hokie Invitational in Blacksburg, Va.

Montana rallied from a one-set deficit to defeat Liberty in four sets on Aug. 29. On Saturday evening UM dropped a five-set decision to University of North Carolina-Greensboro in their third and final match of the Hokie Invitational.

Montana, UNC-Greensboro and Liberty all finished the tournament with 1-2 records. The tiebreaker of total sets won gave the Grizzlies a second-place tournament finish. Virginia Tech finished 3-0.

The Grizzlies traveled to California earlier this week for a series of matches. Montana faced Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, and will play University of California-Irvine and Northeastern on Friday in Irvine, Calif. On Saturday, the UM spikers will play Indiana State in Long Beach, Calif.

Montana Grizzlies