Bear Briefs

Longfish Exhibit—The Montana Museum of Art & Culture has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts’ Access Program to support a traveling exhibition of the works of Native American artist George Longfish. The exhibition, “George Longfish — A Retrospective,” honors the artist’s leading role in contemporary American Indian art. Throughout his career Longfish, who is Seneca and Tuscarora, has been influential as an artist, educator and curator. He is internationally known for his vivid paintings exploring issues of Native identity and has won awards for his sculptures. The first stop of the national tour will be MMAC’s Meloy and Paxson galleries, located in UM’s Performing Arts and Radio/Television Center, March 9- April 20. Longfish will serve as artist-in-residence in Missoula April 3-6.

Montana Grants—The Matthew Hansen Endowment at UM grants awards for historical research, creative writing and wilderness studies projects that explore Montana’s land and people. Awards usually range from $400 to $1,000. The deadline to submit funding proposals for this year is March 1. Awards will be announced in April. The endowment was established in 1984 as a memorial to Matthew Hansen and his ideals. Successful proposals fund projects that encourage mindful stewardship of the land and contribute to the preservation of Montana’s heritage. For more information, call 406-243-5361 or visit the Wilderness Institute in University Hall 303.

Faculty Productivity—UM’s College of Forestry and Conservation was ranked third among graduate forestry programs, according to a new ranking system that measures faculty productivity. The Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index, an objective assessment backed by State University of New York at Stony Brook and produced by Academic Analytics, measured productivity based on publications, citations and grants on a per capita basis. UM’s forestry college placed behind only Yale University, the country’s oldest forestry program, and the University of Washington. Assessment results were released in the Jan. 12 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Economy Booming—Montana’s economic boom is spreading to all major sectors of the economic base, including manufacturing, nonresident travel, agriculture, mining and the federal government, according to UM economist Paul Polzin. In addition, buoyant conditions in construction and real estate may add a short-term boost in certain parts of the state, said Polzin, director of UM’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research. “Montana continues to buck national trends when it comes to construction, real estate and house prices,” he said. “Despite more than two years of rising interest rates, the state’s construction industry remains at record levels. Flathead and Gallatin counties are especially benefiting from vibrant construction activity and expanding real estate employment.”

Peace Corps—New figures show UM is sixth in the nation among schools its size for producing Peace Corps volunteers. UM jumped up three places on the 2007 list, which ranks medium-sized colleges and universities with enrollments between 5,001 and 15,000. UM now has 42 alumni serving as Peace Corps volunteers. Last year it had 39. According to the Peace Corps press office, 692 UM alumni have joined the corps over the years, making Montana the No. 52 all-time producer of volunteers. This year’s ranking placed UM ahead of Boston College, the University of Notre Dame and Brown, Harvard, Northwestern and Yale universities. Montana State University-Bozeman landed at No. 19 on the list with 26 volunteers.

Master Plan—A series of committee meetings on the development of a master plan for UM’s South Campus is under way at the Lewis and Clark Community Center. Upcoming meetings are scheduled for the following Mondays: March 5 and 19; April 2, 16 and 30; May 14 and 28; and June 11 and 25. All meetings are open to the public. The meetings will explore options for UM’s land along Higgins Street and South Avenue. The South Campus Master Plan Committee is made up of UM administrators, students, city officials and representatives from neighborhood councils adjacent to South Campus. For more information, call 406-243-4662 or visit http://www.umt.edu/southcampus.

Humanities Award—William Marcus, director of the UM Broadcast Media Center, will receive a Governor’s Humanities Award at a March 1 ceremony in Helena. The awards are given by the Montana Committee for the Humanities to honor service to and enhancement of public appreciation for the humanities. Marcus oversees Montana Public Radio and KUFM. Marcus also has been the host of the TV show “Backroads of Montana” since its 1991 premier. “The great thing about the Broadcast Media Center is all the talented people who work for it,” he said on receiving the award. Marcus’ career began in radio as a production assistant for Montana Public Radio. He was executive producer of a TV documentary about an eastern Montana pioneer, “Evelyn Cameron: Pictures from a Worthy Life,” that won a CINE Golden Eagle award last year.

Public Health—The School of Public and Community Health Sciences now is the official name for the University’s programs in public health, which are housed in UM’s College of Health Professions and Biomedical Sciences. A 42-credit master’s program in public health—the only one of its kind in Montana—is offered through the school. The master’s program focuses on the intersection of rural and global health issues to prepare professionals for public health research and practice in Montana, rural America and developing countries around the world. The school also offers a 12-credit certificate in public health. Distance-learning technology used by the school will allow practitioners throughout Montana to develop new competencies that address growing health problems facing the state, the nation and the world.

Covering the Legislature—UM students are taking to the airwaves once again to cover the Montana Legislature. A group of UM students covered the last session of the Legislature in 2005, and their newscasts received such positive feedback that UM’s Department of Radio-Television decided to send students to Helena once again. This year two seniors in broadcast journalism, both native Montanans, are covering the session. Cortney Fawthrop from Townsend and Autumn Reagor from Great Falls are in charge of interviewing, editing and producing the daily radio series. The broadcasts are sent to more than 50 radio stations statewide.