Welcome to new subscribers who have joined us since the summer edition of TGIF was delivered in July. Fall semester classes began Monday and campus is busy with students finding their classrooms, buying textbooks and making new friends.

Students will be treated to a free lunch today, Friday, Sept. 2, at the third annual WelcomeFEAST on the UM Oval. Held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., the event will offer information on campus programs, live music, volleyball and prizes. The menu will include hot dogs, veggie dogs, deli salad, ships, apples, carrots, soda and water.

Summer enrollment at UM jumped 41 students from a year ago, with most of that increase coming from out-of-state.

The 2005 student headcount was 3,251, compared to 3,210 last summer -- a 1.2 percent increase. However, there were more part-time students and fewer full-time students this summer, so the number of full-time equivalent students (FTEs) actually declined by 1.4 percent when compared to 2004.

Summer enrollments combined with those during the two academic-year semesters make up the fiscal year total. Based upon current projections, it appears enrollment should rebound in the fall.

Jim Foley, a top aide to U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, has been named the next executive vice president and executive assistant to the president at UM.

Foley has been Montana chief of staff for Baucus since 2000. For three years prior to that he was the UM Foundation's director of corporate and foundation relations. During 1983-1996 he worked for U.S. Rep. Pat Williams as a legal assistant and then staff director.

Foley replaces Bob Frazier, who accepted a position as vice president for external affairs at Western Washington University in Bellingham.

The national traveling exhibition "Ancient Threads, Newly Woven: Recent Art from China's Silk Road" will be at the Montana Museum of Art and Culture from Tuesday, Sept. 6, through Saturday, Oct. 15.

The exhibition highlights more than 60 works by contemporary artists living and working in the Silk Road cities of Xi'an, Lanzhou, Dunhuang, Urumqi and Kashgar. The museum is located in UM's Performing Arts and Radio/Television Building. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 4 to 8:30 p.m.

An opening reception featuring artist Nijat Hushur from China will be held at the museum from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27, UM Professor Ardeshir Kia will speak at the museum on the history of art along the Silk Road.

Join vendors at UM on Saturday, Sept. 10, for "The World's Largest Garage Sale," where all those items you just can't throw in the trash can be turned into cash.

The event will be held -- rain or shine -- from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the lower level of UM's covered parking garage on Campus Drive. For $20 vendors are assigned two parking spaces, each 9 feet by 18 feet. Additional spaces are available for $10 each.

Registration forms are available at The Source information desk in the University Center. For more information, call (406) 243-4636.

UM's Park-N-Ride system and U DASH, the late-night bus, will expand services this year. Beginning the semester, a new lot on East Broadway offers a North Park-N-Ride shuttle service that runs every 15 minutes to Adams Center.

Park-N-Ride South will still offer buses every 10 minutes from the Dornblaser lots. Park-N-Ride is free and open to the public.

U DASH, a late-night bus service for UM students only, will now run six nights a week -- from 7 p.m. to midnight Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and from 7 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

The University’s Web site ushered in the new academic year with a slate of improvements, including streamlined navigation and layout, new graphics and photos and a featured link section.

Educause, an organization for information technology in higher education, recently selected UM as its "Site of the Week." The feature showcases sites that are "well-designed, visually appealing and easy to use."

The UM Web site was developed in partnership with the campus Web Development Committee, Information Technology Office, University Relations and a student development team.

Does your department, office or organization have UM-related events? A new Web page makes it easy to submit events for inclusion in the UM Calendar.

The online form asks for event information such as title, date, time and location, as well as ticket and contact details. Once submitted, events will be reviewed and added to the UM Calendar, which is maintained by University Relations.

The calendar is displayed on the UM home page and Newsroom page, published in University newsletters such as ForUM and Main Hall to Main Street, and distributed to local media via weekly news releases.

The third-ranked Montana Grizzlies open their 2005 football season hosting the Fort Lewis College Skyhawks. Kickoff is set for 1:05 p.m. in Montana’s Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

Also on Saturday, the Grizzlies will host the 10-year reunion of the 1995 championship football team. UM’s first-ever national championship was a hard-fought 22-20 win over the host, Marshall University Thundering Herd. A good portion of that 1995 team, along with head coach Don Read, will be honored Sept. 2 as they become the first team ever to be elected to the Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame.

Read and the 50 to 60 players will be introduced at halftime during the Montana-Fort Lewis game.

The Sports Network's pre-season Division I-AA football poll is out, and two teams are ranked ahead of UM. Neither of them is Eastern Washington.

The Montana Grizzlies are ranked third, garnering 14 first-place votes and 2,215 points. Eastern Washington, picked by both the media and league coaches to win the Big Sky Conference, received 11 first-place votes and 2,053 points.

James Madison, which beat Montana in last year's I-AA championship, is the preseason No. 1 with 49 first-place votes and 2,333 points. Furman is No. 2.

The UM volleyball team defeated Maine in four games on Saturday night in Orono, Maine, to win the Black Bears' tournament championship. After defeating Fairfield and Rhode Island earlier in the tournament, the Grizzlies improved to 3-0 with the victory.

Junior Claudia Houle and sophomore Jessica Petersen were named to the all-tournament team. Houle was named the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week and then named the National Player of the Week by Collegiate Volleyball Update.

Houle, a native of Ste. Anne du Sault, Quebec, was honored after leading the Grizzlies to the title at the University of Maine Invitational. In victories over Fairfield, Rhode Island and Maine, the 5-10 outside hitter averaged 5.17 kills and 5.00 digs per game while hitting .202. Houle also had nine blocks and two service aces.

The Grizzlies are at an Iowa State tournament in Ames, Iowa, this weekend.

The UM women’s soccer team battled New Mexico to a scoreless draw in the regular-season opener for both schools last Friday at UNM Soccer Complex in Albuquerque, N.M.

On Sunday the Grizzlies fell 3-0 to Colorado College at Stewart Field in Colorado Springs, Colo. Montana outshot Colorado College 13-10 in the match, and the Grizzlies recorded 13 fouls to the Tigers’ 12. The loss drops the Grizzlies to 0-1-1 on the season.

Montana returns to action next weekend at the California Invitational with matches against California and St. Mary's. The Griz face the Golden Bears at 5:30 p.m. MTN Friday and the Gaels at 1 p.m. MTN Sunday.