A Washington Post editor will address issues affecting news coverage when she delivers the T. Anthony Pollner Lecture Monday, Oct. 18, at UM-Missoula.

Nancy Szokan, the School of Journalism's T. Anthony Pollner Distinguished Professor, will speak at 7 p.m. in the University Center Theater. Her lecture is titled "What Are We Doing Here?: Professional Journalism in a World Where Network News is Imploding, Newspapers Are Dying, Comedians Rule Election Coverage and Armchair Bloggers Break Big Stories."

Szokan is the fourth Pollner professor at UM. The professorship and lecture is named in honor of T. Anthony Pollner, a 1999 journalism school graduate who died in 2001.

A homegrown business tycoon and the founders of an apparel empire were honored last week by UM-Missoula.

Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg, founders of Liz Claiborne Inc., and Dennis Washington, founder of Washington Companies, were presented with the first-ever Lewis and Clark Pioneer in Industry Awards during a formal awards banquet.

These new awards are given annually to world-class entrepreneurs who started with modest resources and won national and international recognition as leaders in their industry.

Offered by UM, the UM School of Business Administration and the Montana Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs, the awards honor extraordinary individuals whose professional achievements represent revolutionary, pioneering impacts in their fields of endeavor.

The School of Law, with assistance from the Office of International Programs, has been awarded a $243,000 Freedom Support Educational Partnerships Program grant from the U.S. Department of State.

The grant provides for exchanges between the UM law school and Osh State University law faculty in Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic located near Afghanistan.

Osh State faculty members visiting the Montana law school will learn methods of integrating theory and practice in the classroom and UM's approach to clinical education. Montana law faculty members will visit Kyrgyzstan next spring to conduct workshops on theory and practice, and both faculty groups will teach seminars during their respective visits.

Virginia Valian, a leading expert on gender equity, will visit UM-Missoula Friday, Nov. 19, to raise awareness about gender bias, particularly in the sciences.

Valian will give a presentation at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 19, in Urey Lecture Hall.

Valian is a professor of psychology and linguistics at Hunter College and the graduate center of the City University of New York. She is author of the book, "Why So Slow? The Advancement of Women," in which she addresses women's role in the workplace and asks why so few women are at the top of their professions.

Elite shutterbugs from a six-state region will descend on Missoula Oct. 22-24 for the Society for Photographic Education's Northwest Regional Conference. Hosted by the UM schools of journalism and fine arts, the event will include lectures, exhibits and portfolio reviews.

The conference includes two free public lectures: The first, by Ralph Gibson, a fine arts photographer with more than 25 years of experience with international exhibitions, begins at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 22, in the North Underground Lecture Hall. The second is by Peter Goin, a professor of art, photography and video at the University of Nevada, Reno. He will present "In Search of Stories -- Fearing Landscapes" at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 23, in Fine Arts Building Room 302.

The full SPE conference is free for UM students, $75 for the general public and $25 for non-UM students. Members of the public can attend individual conference events for $5.

UM graduate student Thomas Parkhill was chosen by Cosmopolitan magazine as one of the "50 Hottest Bachelors in the U.S."

Parkhill can be seen in the November issue on newsstands now. The 24-year-old from Columbia Falls was chosen to represent the state of Montana. He was one of only 10 bachelors who received a full-page photo in the magazine spread.

Parkill was nominated by friend and fellow UM student Andrea Bethel. He traveled to New York earlier this month and was one of the Cosmo men featured on the Today show on Oct. 5.

The Montana Transport Dance Company will perform two new pieces by Nicole Bradley Browning Oct. 27-30 on the UM-Missoula campus.

The performance will take place at 7:30 p.m. nightly in the Montana Theatre in the Performing Arts and Radio/Television Center. Tickets are $15 per person for the general public and $10 for students and seniors.

One piece, titled "Together Tide, Wading Away," features five dancers moving to the sound of Bach's "Cello Suites." The other, "I Like to Eat Pork Rinds," features two dancers and was co-choreographed with Mo-Trans dancer Kristi Topham Petti.

For reservations or more information call the Performing Arts and Radio/Television Center Box Office at (406) 243-4581.

The new Griz Greetings postcard gallery allows anyone to send a free "virtual postcard" to anyone with an e-mail account.

More than 100 photographs of campus, Missoula, wildlife and other Montana scenes are available on the UM Web site. Just choose an image, fill in your name and e-mail address and those of your intended recipient, then write a brief message and hit "Send."

It's that simple!

Write a letter to your favorite author, and you might win an expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., for yourself, your parents and your teacher.

The trip to the nation's capital is the grand prize in Letters About Literature, a writing contest for readers in grades four through 12. The contest is sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress in partnership with Target Stores and the Montana Center for the Book, a program of the Montana Committee for the Humanities.

To enter, a young reader writes a personal letter to a favorite author explaining how his or her book changed the reader's view of the world or themselves.

With 30 seconds left in the game, Montana held on to a 24-22 lead against Idaho State when senior defensive tackle Jonny Varona reached up and blocked a field goal attempt by the Bengals.

The block and UM's subsequent victory prevented the Bengals from getting their first-ever win at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. Junior receiver Jon Talmage had a big afternoon for the Griz with seven catches for 138 yards. Senior Jefferson Heidelberger added six receptions for 86 yards.

This Saturday, the Grizzlies travel to Cheney, Wash., for a conference showdown with Eastern Washington University.

The Montana Soccer team battled to a scoreless tie with the Eastern Washington Eagles last Friday at South Campus Field in Missoula. Even after two 10-minute overtime periods, neither team could produce a score. The Griz were led by keeper Jamie Rizzuto, who recorded a game-high eight saves in the match.

Montana returns to action today, Oct. 15, with a 4 p.m. home contest against Weber State University.

Montana State swept to a 3-0 victory over Montana in a Big Sky Conference volleyball match last Friday at the West Auxiliary Gym, 30-25, 30-28, 30-20. Montana Volleyball fell to 3-12 overall, 0-5 in league play.

UM will wrap up the first half of their Big Sky Conference schedule this weekend when the team plays at Portland State and Eastern Washington. Montana will face the Vikings tonight at 7 p.m. in Portland, Ore., and the Eagles at 7 p.m. Saturday in Cheney, Wash.