December 2004

Bear Briefs
Graduating Athletes—Student-athletes attending UM are interested in more than sports. In fact, recent NCAA figures show UM leads its Big Sky Conference rivals and the national average in student-athlete graduation rates. According to the 2004 NCAA Division I Graduation-Rates Report, UM graduates 70 percent of its student-athletes. The average student-athlete graduate rate for all Division I schools is 62 percent. Other Big Sky Conference Schools don’t fare as well. Montana State University-Bozeman graduates 52 percent of its student-athletes, Northern Arizona 55 percent, Weber State 53 percent, Eastern Washington 43 percent, Sacramento State 41 percent and Portland State 36 percent. The 2004 report examines student-athletes who received athletics aid from their university for any period of time during their entering year. The report is based on student-athletes who entered their institutions in the 1997 academic year. Full report information is online at http://www.ncaa.org/grad_rates/2004/d1/.

One Ring to Rule Them All—The Alumni Association has announced that UM now offers official rings for its alumni and enrolled students who have completed at least 60 credit hours. The new ring designs were unveiled Nov. 16 in the University Center atrium. A committee of students, alumni and staff designed the official UM ring. Featuring Main Hall, the ring displays University icons and symbols. Johnston said a ring presentation ceremony will take place before next spring’s Commencement ceremonies. All ring recipients and their parents will be invited to take part in this new UM tradition. For more information, visit http://www.balfourcollege.com or call (866) 225-3687.

Athletes Honored—Two UM student athletes were recognized with the Montana Athletes in Service Award during the Grizzly/Bobcat football game Nov. 20 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The awards are given by Montana Campus Compact and recognize UM and Montana State University athletes for their dedication and time spent on civic engagement through community service. The two UM winners are Shane MacIntyre, a senior football player from Helena, and Vasi Jankovich, a junior in track from Mercer Island, Wash. MacIntyre is a biology major whose community service includes Missoula Youth Homes, Youth Griz for a Day and nonprofit fund raising. Jankovich, who majors in history, has donated her time to the Poverello Center, orthodox church and Big Brothers Big Sisters. Two student athletes from Montana State University received the award as well. This is the fourth year students were honored at the annual grudge match. The award presentation also commemorated the anniversary of the 2000 signing of the Presidents’ Declaration on the Civic Responsibility of Higher Education.

National Recognition for Humanities—The UM-campus-based Montana Committee for the Humanities was honored 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 Nov. 13 luncheon ceremony in Washington, D.C. The Schwartz Prize honors the nation’s best public humanities program. MCH won for “A Confluence of Cultures: Native Americans and the Expedition of Lewis and Clark,” which the committee supported in 2003 with a $10,500 grant. The “Confluence of Cultures” took place May 28-30, 2003, at UM-Missoula. It was the brainchild of two American Indians — UM law Professor Raymond Cross and Blackfeet cultural leader and educator Darrell Robes Kipp, a longtime MCH associate and grantee. More than 600 registered attendees and hundreds of incidental audience members — primarily American Indians — attended the event. The award is MCH’s fourth Schwartz Prize. In the history of the Schwartz Prize, only one other state humanities council has received the honor four times.

Rewarding Research—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, 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 Olympic marmot, a 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.

UM Law Team Fares Well—The UM law school’s American Bar Association negotiation competition team advanced to the final round of the Region 10 competition held Nov. 13 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The UM team of Katie Olson and Doug Schultz, both second-year students, competed against others from 20 law schools throughout the Northwest and Canada. Although they did not win first place, Olson and Schultz were still awarded the opportunity to compete in the national finals.

Art Auction a Success—More than $70,000 of artwork was sold at the Best of the West Art Auction Saturday, Oct. 30, held by UM’s Montana Museum of Art and Culture. The event, which took place in the University Center Ballroom at UM-Missoula, was attended by more than 140 guests. Twenty-three volunteers helped with the dinner and auction. Revenue raised from the event goes toward Art Matters, the museum’s new educational outreach program; conservation and preservation efforts for works in the permanent collection; and new signs for the Performing Arts and Radio/Television Center. Nearly 70 percent of the artwork on display was sold.

Campus Hosts Photography Exhibit—A collection of photographs by late Montana artist Lee Nye are on display at UM’s Montana Museum of Art and Culture. The exhibit will run in the Meloy and Paxson galleries until Jan. 31, 2005. The exhibit includes four of Nye’s black-and-white photographic series: “The White Series,” “The Black Series,” “The Graphite Series” and “The Transpositionals.” These series are representative of Nye’s major work, although he was best known for his portraits of “regulars” at Eddie’s Club. Nye was born in Hysham in 1926. He moved to California in 1950 and studied photography at the Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara. He later returned to Montana, earning a bachelor of fine arts degree from UM in 1976 and teaching photography at the University from 1969 to 1981.

New Look Newsletter—UM’s Main Hall to Main St. newsletter has been around for 10 years. If you get this publication, you are likely a teacher, legislator, parent, reporter or prominent friend of the University. Well, after 10 years we’ve decided to give Main Hall to Main St. a face-lift, so get ready for a fresh look in the January 2005 issue as this newsletter enters its second decade.

For information, contact:
Rita.Munzenrider@mso.umt.edu
University Relations
(406) 243-2522

© 2003 The University of Montana
Web design by Cary Shimek
and Patia Stephens