Bear Briefs

Be Collegiate—Since 1992 UM license plates sales and renewals have raised more than $1.5 million to help students pay for increasingly expensive college educations. Fifty-five students received License Plate scholarships in 2005. Purchasing and renewing UM license plates for your vehicles each year is a convenient way to contribute to higher education and to show support for UM everywhere you go. Three full-color UM plates are available at state Motor Vehicle Division offices for any vehicle registered in Montana. UM’s Main Hall Clock Tower and the Montana Griz logo designs sell for an initial fee of $35 followed by a yearly renewal fee of $30. This year, a new UM sports plate has been added to support student-athletes through UM’s Grizzly Scholarship Association. The new design features a bear paw and “GRIZ” in white behind the license number. The new “GRIZ” plates sell for an initial fee of $45 with an annual renewal fee of $30. To view all three UM license plate designs or get more information, visit http://www.doj.state.mt.us/driving/platedesign/collegiate.asp.

Old Butte—UM Professor Janet Finn recently co-edited a book that takes readers on a journey through the stories of three generations of women who lived and worked in Butte. The idea for the book was hatched three years ago by Finn and co-editor Ellen Crain, director of the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives, who both felt there were many untold stories of dynamic 20th century Butte women. “Motherlode: Legacies of Women’s Lives and Labors in Butte, Montana,” tells of women who were pioneers in their fields and leaders in social and political organizations, as well as the unsung heroines who made a difference in their families and neighborhoods. “Motherlode is a collaboration of 20 writers who bring a chorus of women’s voices to life on the page. To purchase the book, call Clark City Press at (800) 835-0814 or e-mail info@clarkcitypress.com.

Getting Wild—An eight-week spring semester course at UM offers hands-on instruction working with packing equipment, horses and mules. Smoke Elser of Wilderness Consulting Group will teach the course, which will be held at his barn located not far from the University in the Missoula Rattlesnake area. Classes will be held once a week for three hours and run from the end of January through the second week of March. No prior experience is necessary, and the course fee is $150. For more information or to register for the course, call Elser at (406) 549-2820 or e-mail him at telser2820@aol.com.

Master Yodeler—Wylie Gustafson has performed in venues from the Lincoln Center to the Grand Ole Opry, gained rave reviews from Billboard Magazine and recorded with Merle Haggard, but it’s more likely you heard him somewhere else. Think of commercials for Yahoo!, and the mile-wide yodel belting the company’s name. Gustafson and his group, the Wild West, are bringing that distinctive voice and their music, which aims to put the emphasis on “Western” in “Country & Western” to UM at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, in the University Theatre. Tickets are $15 in advance and $17 at the door for adults and free for children 12 and under. To purchase tickets visit http://www.griztix.com or call 1-888-MONTANA.

Holiday Hours—UM offices will be closed Monday, Dec. 26, and Monday, Jan. 2, for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

Literary Largesse—Two UM faculty members have been selected for National Endowment for the Arts 2006 Literature Fellowships. Recipients are Michael Downs, visiting assistant professor in UM’s School of Journalism, and Associate Professor Debra Earling, who teaches in the University’s departments of English and Native American Studies. More than 900 applied for the 50 fellowships that were awarded to writers across the country. The fellowships recognize writers of prose, encouraging the production of new work by affording the writers the time and means to write. Each Literature Fellow receives $20,000.