Modern Catholicism will be the topic of the next installment of the President's Lecture Series, scheduled for 8 p.m., Monday, Dec. 6, at UM-Missoula.

John O'Malley will present "The Council of Trent and the Making of Modern Catholicism" in the University Center Ballroom. The lecture will examine the response of the Catholic church to the Protestant Reformation and will show how events in the 16th century affect us today.

O'Malley also will present a seminar titled "Four Cultures of the West" for UM faculty and students at 3:10 p.m. Dec. 6 in Gallagher Building Room 123. The seminar is based on his most recent book, "Four Cultures of the West," which deals with the prophetic, academic, humanistic and artistic traditions in Western civilization.

O'Malley is Distinguished Professor of Church History at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology and one of the country's premier historians of religion.

During the 1800s, the pioneer towns of Bannack and Virginia City were beset by a band of stagecoach robbers and murderers. The early settlers turned to their sheriff, Henry Plummer, to end the violence, but in a stranger-than-Hollywood twist, the sheriff turned out to be the leader of the outlaw gang. The famed Montana Vigilantes were formed to dole out frontier justice to Plummer and his crew.

Those wishing to learn more about this bloody chapter of Montana history should attend "A Decent, Orderly Lynching: The Montana Vigilantes" by Frederick Allen at UM-Missoula.

A former CNN commentator and political editor and columnist with the Atlanta Constitution, Allen will speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 7, in the North Underground Lecture Hall. The lecture is free and open to the public, courtesy of UM's O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West and the Department of History.

Allen will use fresh evidence to re-evaluate the life and times of Plummer. He also argues Montana's vigilante founding fathers were justified at first but quickly succumbed to power and defied federal authority.

Sue Griffin, a UM forestry and conservation doctoral student, was awarded a Canon National Park Science Scholars Program Scholarship for her marmot research in Olympic National Park, Wash.

The scholarship, which is awarded on a competitive basis annually, grants selected Ph.D. students $78,000 in scholarship funds to conduct research essential to the conservation of national parks. The scholarship program is a collaboration among Canon U.S.A. Inc., the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the U.S. National Park Service.

Griffin is one of eight students across the United States to win the award. Her proposed research project focuses on the Marmota olympus, or Olympic marmot, an endemic and possibly declining species found only in the high-elevation meadows of the Olympic Peninsula on the Washington coast.

Griffin also is a 2004 recipient of the $10,000 Budweiser Conservation Scholarship, a National Science Foundation fellowship, an Environmental Protection Agency fellowship and an NSF grant.

The Montana Committee for the Humanities was honored in November with the Helen and Martin Schwartz Prize for Excellence in Public Programming.

Presented by the Federation of State Humanities Councils, the award was given at a luncheon ceremony in Washington, D.C., that included National Endowment for the Humanities Chair Bruce Cole.

Established through a 1982 endowment gift, the Schwartz Prize honors the nation's best public humanities program. MCH won for "A Confluence of Cultures: Native Americans and Expedition of Lewis and Clark," a 2003 UM conference that the committee supported with a $10,500 grant.

The award is MCH's fourth Schwartz Prize. The committee was honored in 1984 for its support of Montana State University's "LOGON '83" conference, in 1994 for its "Montana This Morning" television series and in 1999 for its support of the Bozeman Trail Heritage Conference. In the history of the Schwartz Prize, only one other state humanities council has received the honor four times.

One of UM's most celebrated citizens is celebrating her 93rd birthday this week, and her friends are invited to attend her party.

The Office of Student Affairs will host a reception for Emma Bravo Lommasson from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 9. The party will be held in the newly remodeled Griz Central Conference Room in the Lommasson Center, the student services hub named in her honor.

A UM alumna whose campus presence spans more than 70 years, Lommasson served as a faculty member and in various capacities in the Registrar's Office, helping generations of students navigate through the institution. Bravo, Emma!

UM-Missoula will offer a free presentation about sociology graduate studies on Tuesday, Dec. 7. The event will be held at 3:45 p.m. in Gallagher Business Building Room 382.

The presentation is perfect for anyone interested in pursuing a graduate degree in general sociology, criminology, or rural and environmental change. All college students and members of the community are welcome, and refreshments will be served.

Topics will include the advantages of having a graduate degree, career and research opportunities, application and admission procedures, financial aid and graduate curriculum.

For more information, call the UM Department of Sociology at (406) 243-5281.

A lecture on "Avant Guardians: Ecology and Art at the Cultural Frontier" by Linda Weintraub will take place at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 6, at UM-Missoula.

The discussion and accompanying PowerPoint presentation will take place in Social Science Building Room 356. Weintraub's visit -- paid for by the Jim and Jane Dew Visiting Artist Fund -- is free and open to the public.

Weintraub studies "eco-artists" -- artists who work with recyclable materials and the environment. This craft often involves creating temporary pieces made with materials such as sticks, mud and pop bottles. Because of its outdoor nature, eco art is not sellable.

An artist, art historian, curator, consultant and author, Weintraub served at Oberlin College as a Henry R. Luce Professor of Emerging Arts from 2002 to 2003. She is the author of several books, including "In the Making: Creative Opinions for Contemporary Artists."

The Northwestern State Blue Demons are singing the blues after last Saturday's 56-7 loss to the Montana Grizzly football team at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

UM senior receiver Levander Segars had a career-high two touchdown catches, and sophomore halfback Lex Hilliard rushed for a career-best four scores. Hilliard rushed for a career-high 171 yards on just 14 carries. Senior quarterback Craig Ochs was 19-of-30 for 234 yards and tied his career-high with three touchdown passes.

The Griz racked up 543 total yards against I-AA's top- ranked Demons' defense, while Montana's defense held Northwestern State to 177 total yards.

The seventh-ranked Grizzlies will host the fifth- ranked University of New Hampshire Wildcats in a I- AA quarter-final game Saturday, Dec. 4. Kickoff is at 2:08 p.m. The game will be televised nationwide on ESPN2.

Montana has made 12 consecutive trips to the Division I-AA playoffs and holds the record for consecutive playoff berths.

The Montana Grizzly basketball team defeated the visiting Cal State Northridge Matadors 90-80 Tuesday night, and former Grizzly great and first-year head coach Larry Krystkowiak won his first game as a head coach at his alma mater.

The Grizzlies were paced by junior guard Kevin Criswell, who scored 24 points in a record-setting evening from the free-throw line. Montana made 40 shots from the charity stripe.

Following last night's home game against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds, the Grizzlies will take on the Santa Clara Broncos at 7:05 p.m. Saturday in the Adams Center's Dahlberg Arena.

Senior Hollie Tyler scored 18 points and the Montana Lady Griz closed the game on a 13-0 run to win the title last Saturday at the Four Points LAX Turkey Shootout over host Pepperdine, 61-51.

Tyler was named the tournament's MVP. She was joined on the all-tournament team by senior Juliann Keller, who had nine points, nine rebounds and three steals against the Waves. Montana defeated East Carolina in the opening game of the tourney Friday 71-63.

This week the Lady Griz have just one game -- at home Sunday against Portland. Tip-off is set for 2:05 p.m.