Bear Briefs

More Credits Advised—UM officials have stepped up efforts to inform students about the ‘flat spot,’ the line drawn at 12 credits, after which additional credits up to 18 don’t cost any extra tuition. What are the benefits of taking more than 12 credits each semester? According to a study, a resident undergraduate at UM who arrived in fall 2001 and took 15 credits each fall and spring semester could graduate in four years with an estimated cost of $52,444. This includes tuition, living expenses and more. However, the same student entering school at the same time, but lightening the load to 12 credits, would graduate in five years, with an estimated cost of $66,170. That’s a 26 percent difference — $13,725 more — besides the additional year in school.

Available Endowment—UM’s Wilderness Institute is now accepting proposals for the 2006 Matthew Hansen Endowment. The endowment grants awards for historical research, creative writing and wilderness studies projects that explore Montana’s land and people. The endowment committee recommends projects that can be completed in one year. Funding is competitive, and awards range from $400 to $1,000. Proposals must be postmarked by March 1. For more information, call the Wilderness Institute at (406) 243-5361, e-mail wi@forestry.umt.edu or go online to http://www.forestry.umt.edu/wi.

Women’s Studies—The UM Department of Women’s Studies is launching its Summer Institute in 2006. The institute offers eight women’s and gender studies courses designed to appeal to UM students and community members and to fit into busy schedules. Students can earn credits to be applied toward undergraduate degrees at UM. Courses cover a wide variety of topics, including the effects of globalization on women and children, the psychology of family violence and literary liaisons in 19th-century French literature. For more information or to register, call (406) 243-2584 or e-mail wsprog@mail1.umt.edu.

A Growing Montana—For the first time since the natural resource boom of the 1970s, Montana’s economy has seen growth of 4 percent or more for three consecutive years, said Paul Polzin, director of UM’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research. The Montana economy grew 4 percent in 2005, 4.7 percent in 2004 and 4.3 percent in 2003. Montana’s growth can be attributed to the continuing oil boom in eastern Montana and the reopening of mines after all-time high commodity prices.

Reaching the Rural—Students in the wildest corners of western Montana may soon receive cutting-edge environmental health science education thanks to a new $1.25 million federal grant awarded to UM. The five-year Science Education Partnership Award was presented by the National Institutes of Health to increase public understanding of science and encourage student interest in research careers. The grant went to UM’s Center for Environmental Health Sciences, which studies human disease and how environmental contaminates adversely affect people. The center will use the award to promote environmental health education among the state’s rural youth. UM has partnered with Salish Kootenai College in Pablo to ensure the curriculum developed is culturally appropriate for American Indian students, as well as broader audiences. SKC also has been subcontracted to create a mobile science lab that can visit schools in western Montana’s smaller communities.

Investigative Journalism—Two UM students have won national awards for in-depth writing in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program, moving the UM Journalism School to third place in the nation among accredited journalism schools participating in the competition. Chelsea DeWeese of Gardiner won fifth place and a $600 scholarship for her in-depth investigation of the finances of the St. Labre Indian School on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation. Dylan Tucker of Missoula won 20th place for his story from the Fort Peck Reservation about whether the Indian preference in hiring is leaving some tribal members unemployed. The Hearst Awards, often called the “College Pulitzers,” receive entries from the more than 100 accredited journalism schools in the country.

Summer of Learning—More than 750 courses will be offered during UM’s 2006 summer semester, ranging from Web design to the history of the Lewis and Clark Trail. Many study-abroad programs are included in the summer course offerings as well. Summer sessions can help students graduate earlier and incur less debt. Most summer session courses provide three credits in five weeks. Because the fee schedule is the same as the fall or spring semesters, there are no additional fees. Summer also offers the opportunity to finish general education requirements, park on campus without a struggle and attend a four-day week of classes — so there’s always a three-day weekend. For more information, visit http://www.umt.edu/ce/summer/.

Museum Money—UM’s Montana Museum of Art and Culture has received two grants to preserve, restore and repair many of the more than 9,000 works in its Permanent Collection. A $200,000 award was granted through the Chutney Foundation. The museum also received $20,000 from Grizzly Riders International, a philanthropic organization that uses national and international contacts to support UM. The funds will be used to clean and restore more than 140 of the museum’s most important and highly valued artworks and preserve works in the Permanent Collection such as a Spanish altar panel by the Master of St. Gregory, circa 1490. The grants also will support costs associated with archival materials, display systems and shipping, as well as ongoing efforts to fully catalogue the sizeable collection.

We Like it Here—In the Missoulian’s recent Reader’s Choice Awards, readers voted UM the best place to work in the community. Runners-up were the Missoulian and the Good Food Store.

Encouraging Entrepreneurship—Two students from South Dakota have been selected to receive a new UM scholarship that provides annual awards to American Indian students who plan to pursue careers in small business. The Helen and Dan Kidder Scholarship was established by the Kidders’ daughter, Danielle Ross Aman, and her husband, Tom, of Aberdeen, S.D., to honor her parents. The Kidders are longtime Missoula residents. Inaugural recipients of the scholarship are Gloria Eastman of Rapid City, S.D., and Kristen Campbell of Watertown, S.D. The Helen and Dan Kidder Scholarship was established by their daughter and son-in-law to honor the longtime Missoula residents. Helen worked at UM’s Registrar’s Office and Dan started and operated Missoula Motor Parts.