UM is joining the rest of the United States to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina in a number of ways, including its Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief ribbon.

A volunteer-staffed table in the University Center is offering the ribbons in exchange for donations to the Red Cross. The ribbons are striped with the colors of Mardi Gras -- purple, gold and green.

Red Cross donations also are being accepted in Culligan water jugs at various locations in the UC, including The Source, Shipping Express, the Food Court, Jus Chill’n and the Bookstore at UM. All donations will be sent to the American Red Cross.

In a memo to campus Wednesday, President George Dennison outlined other ways UM is helping, including free long-distance telephone service for students from the affected areas and transfer assistance for displaced students and faculty members who wish to come to UM.

At last Saturday’s football game, generous Grizzly fans donated more than $7,500 to the Red Cross at collection points in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

More information on ways to help is available on UM’s Web site.

The first installment of the 2005-06 President’s Lecture Series at UM will feature a journalist, writer and historian who specializes in a range of security and international affairs issues.

Anatol Lieven is a senior research fellow on U.S. foreign policy at the New America Foundation in Washington, D.C. He will present “City on a Hill and Embattled Fortress: An Anatomy of American Nationalism” at 8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 12, in the University Theatre.

The event is free and open to the public. It’s also UM’s annual Ezio Cappadocia Memorial Lecture on Politics and History.

During his talk Lieven will examine the complex mixture that is American nationalism today, and how it led the United States into the Iraq War.

Denise Dowling, an assistant professor in the radio-television department at UM, has been named the most promising new journalism professor in the country by a national education group.

Dowling was honored by the Mass Communication and Society Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. The division sponsors a contest each year to honor excellence in teaching by faculty members who have taught for fewer than five years. Applications are judged by journalism professors around the country.

AEJMC presented the award to Dowling during the organization’s national convention in San Antonio in August.

UM geology Professor George Stanley is part of an international team that recently discovered sea anemone fossils that are more than half a billion years old.

The fossils were found in a 525-million-year-old deposit, the Chengjiang Biota, located in China's eastern Yunnan province. Stanley assisted the Key Laboratory of Paleobiology at the University of Yunnan on the dig.

Results from the find will be published in Lethaia, an international science journal based in Norway.

Two graduate students at UM recently earned recognition for their hard work.

Florence Gardipee, a doctoral student in UM's Division of Biological Sciences, has been awarded the first Boyd Evison Graduate Fellowship. Gardipee is using the fellowship for research on American bison in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.

Samantha Grant, a master’s student in the School of Education, has won the University's Diversity Advisory Council Student Achievement Award two consecutive years. Grant is one of only two students to win the achievement award twice.

Through a new multicultural education project, students at Missoula’s Lewis and Clark Elementary School will learn more about nearby American Indian tribes.

The project was made possible by a $7,000 Community Action Grant awarded to the American Association of University Women Missoula Branch from the national AAUW Foundation and by a $3,000 grant from the Montana Committee for the Humanities.

During workshops, American Indian educators, UM faculty members and Lewis and Clark teachers will design and develop materials and processes -- such as field trips and experiential learning -- to incorporate into kindergarten through fifth-grade curricula.

A NASA review panel has announced it will extend the mission of the space agency's Terra environmental satellite for three years. That's good news for UM's Numerical Terradynamic Simulation Group, which crafted software for Terra and its sister satellite, Aqua.

NTSG, led by UM Professor Steven Running, created software for Terra that measures global vegetation, cloud characteristics, ocean temperature and more. Running said the latest funding will extend the mission through 2009.

A contemporary musical extravaganza, innovative dance programs and a wide array of dramas and comedies are planned for the Department of Drama/Dance’s 2005-06 season at UM.

The season kicks off tonight with a performance of “It Just Catches,” a one-hour theatrical event based on the writings of Ernest Hemingway. It is written by Carol Hemingway and performed by the Montana Repertory Theatre.

The season, which runs through May, also includes productions of “Bat Boy: The Musical,” “Proof,” “Peter Pan or The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up,” and many more.

Evening performances begin at 7:30 p.m.; matinees, when offered, are at 2 p.m. Details are listed on the UM Calendar.

Individual and season tickets are available. For information, call the drama/dance department at (406) 243-4481.

The Montana Grizzlies dominated in Saturday’s football season opener, trampling the Division II Fort Lewis Skyhawks 55-0 in Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

Griz junior running back Lex Hilliard scored three touchdowns and rushed for a team-high 108 yards on 14 carries to lead Montana. UM's offense was evenly distributed with 206 total rushing yards and 220 yards passing. The Grizzly defense held the Skyhawks to 125 total yards and stopped the Fort Lewis offense 13 out of 17 times on third down conversions.

Junior quarterback Jason Washington completed 10 of 17 passes for 179 yards and a touchdown. Senior wide receiver Jon Talmage added four receptions for 107 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore linebacker Tyler Joyce had a game-high nine tackles.

This week the third-ranked Division I-AA Grizzlies continue non-league play against the Division I-A University of Oregon Ducks. The Griz-Ducks matchup is slated for 1 p.m. MTN Saturday, Sept. 10, at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore.

For a first in Grizzly volleyball history, UM junior Claudia Houle was named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week for the second consecutive week.

A Ste. Anne du Sault, Quebec, native, Houle shared this week's award with Felice Yocopis of Idaho State. Houle was honored after leading the Grizzlies to a third-place finish at last weekend's Iowa State Cyclone Classic.

At the classic, held in Ames, Iowa, Houle averaged 5.20 kills and 4.40 digs per game as the Grizzlies split their four matches. She was named to the all- tournament team for the second consecutive tournament.

The UM volleyball team will play at home for the first time in 2005 when they host the Montana Invitational this weekend. UM (5-2) will host Gonzaga (5-2), UC-Davis (2-3) and New Mexico (2-2) in three sessions that begin Friday and continue all day Saturday.

Montana Soccer lost 3-1 to California Friday night at Edwards Stadium in Berkeley, Calif. The Grizzlies fall to 0-3-1.

Cal outshot Montana 15-7 and had 16 fouls to the Grizzlies' eight. UM had a 4-1 advantage over the Golden Bears in corner kicks.

Sunday afternoon, Montana lost 2-0 to St. Mary's in the final match of the California Invitational. St. Mary's outshot Montana 13-10 and held a 5-3 corner kick advantage. Both teams finished with nine fouls in the match.

UM returns home to host the Montana Nike Cup this weekend, with Air Force, Boise State and Utah State making up the four-team field. The Grizzlies battle the Broncos at 5 p.m. tonight in UM's regular season home opener, then attack the Aggies at 2 p.m. Sunday.