Around the Oval
Her
Kingdom for a Stick
Can
you guess what tool UM forestry and conservation doctoral
student Sue Griffin finds most useful in her award-winning
Olympic marmot research project? A stick. Yes, a stick, broken
from a dead tree branch.
She places sticks in marmot
burrows. When the marmot pops out
of its hole, a DNA sample is left on the stick from the
marmot’s fur. Griffin uses this method—along with
radio telemetry and field observation—to gather data on
marmot movement in Washington state’s Olympic National
Park.
Her project has earned her
one of eight $78,000 annual Canon
Park Science Scholars Program scholarships. Awarded on a com-
petitive basis, the
scholarship provides selected Ph.D.
students the funds to conduct research essential to the
conservation of national parks.
So far, Griffin has seen very
little movement from the
marmots—less than she expected based on previous research.
“We believe this is because the density of marmots is very
low, and so there is little competition for space, food, mates,
or other resources—which would normally cause young marmots
to leave.”
Griffin has discovered
something else she didn’t expect:
a single, voracious predator. “We have seen very high
mortality rates among the marmots, particularly in one area of
the park,” Griffin says. “Based on carcasses
recovered with the radio-telemetry and predation events witnessed
by park visitors, it appears that a single coyote was killing a
lot of marmots and may have driven them to extinction in some
areas. We have reason to believe this coyote is now dead, and it
will be interesting to see if marmot numbers rebound or if other
coyotes move into the area.”
“I think [Sue
Griffin] winning this most prestigious
award should be underscored,” says Scott Mills, associate
professor of forestry and conservation. “She’s very
active in educating people about how science affects everyday
lives. She’s done a wonderful job of educating the public,
as well as gaining scientific knowledge.”
Because understanding
movement patterns is important to
sustaining the existence of a species, Mills hopes that by
studying the marmots, Griffin will find patterns that could be
applied to species activity elsewhere.
The Canon is the latest in a
string of awards Griffin has
racked up in her first two years of research. She was a 2004
recipient of the $10,000 Budweiser Conservation Scholarship and
has won a National Science Foundation fellowship, Environmental
Protection Agency fellowship, and a National Science Foundation
grant. —Paddy MacDonald
Awards
Galore
It’s
that time of year. UM’s University Relations
team is racking up regional and national awards. The department
hit a sort of grand slam with wins in four categories in the
Admissions Marketing competition: gold awards for the Montanan,
the 2004 President’s Report, and Research View and a merit
award for the Montanan’s voluntary subscription ad.
The team returned from the
District VIII Council for the
Advancement and Support of Education conference in Seattle with
seven awards: a silver for the President’s Report, four
silvers in writing for Paddy MacDonald, Cary Shimek, Patia
Stephens, and Joan Melcher; a bronze for Research View, and a
bronze for the cover of Vision magazine. As we went to press,
Montanan staff learned the magazine was a finalist in two
categories for Maggie awards, given out by the Western
Publications Association.
Talk
To Us
The
Montanan staff is always looking for feedback from our
readers. How many of you know about the Montanan Chatroom?
Not nearly enough, it would
seem. It’s a discussion
board connected to our site. You can log directly on to the
Montanan’s Web site, www.themontanan.us, and post comments
to the site or share thoughts with other readers.
Your posts also could be used
as letters to the editor in the
magazine. Even more interesting are the links at the ends of each
story published in the Montanan. After reading a story, either in
print or on the Web, you can use these links to post your
comments about the story.
Hearing your thoughts about
what we’ve done is very
helpful to us in determining what sorts of stories to plan for
future issues.
To further enhance our
connection with readers, we will
conduct a random national telephone survey this spring—to
learn what you like about the magazine, what you could live
without, and what sorts of suggestions you have for improving the
magazine. We’re looking forward to talking with hundreds of
you.
The more we hear from you,
the better we get. So call, write,
and log on. Your opinions count!
The Montanan Chatroom is
closer than you think —
CHAT
NOW!
Smithsonian Honor
UM
geology Professor George Stanley lately found himself among
distinguished company. He was named to a three-year appointment
as a research associate of the Smithsonian Institution’s
National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
The honor is awarded to
“scientists of distinction who
maintain a scholarly affiliation with the Smithsonian and its
research community.”
An invertebrate
paleontologist and inter-nationally recognized
expert on modern and ancient coral reefs, Stanley joined the UM
faculty in 1982. He has discovered dozens of previously unknown
species during the course of his research and has written and
edited six books and published more than 100 scientific
writings.
“I am surprised and
elated at this honor,” Stanley
says, “and I hope to undertake collaborative research with
the Smithsonian during the next three years.”
Before coming to UM, Stanley
worked from 1979 to 1981 as a
paleobiologist at the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural
History. That work was followed by a one-year Fulbright
fellowship to Germany. On sabbatical this year, Stanley will
travel to China, Germany, and Japan to conduct research.
Stanley with part of
UM’s Paleontology Research
Collection, which has more than 100,000 specimens.
Think
Local, Think Fresh
The
next time you sit down to eat at a UM dining venue, think
local, think fresh. In the past two years, University Dining
Services has gone as local as possible with its food budget and
it’s because of the Farm to College program. Before the
program’s inception in May 2003, dining services spent its
$2 million budget in states all over the country. Now Montana and
other Northwest states are getting a much bigger piece of the
pie—$425,000 this year.
The program’s
purpose is twofold: to supply fresher
products that do not have to undergo large amounts of processing
and added preserv- atives and to support Montana producers. The
program now offers food from thirty-five Montana vendors.
Mark LoParco, director of
UDS, says the greatest success of
the program so far is “the relationships and commitments we
have with the vendors.” He says he likes how the program
supports the community, giving it a sustainable revenue.
Mark Wehri, general manager
for Western Montana Growers’
Co-op in Arlee, which supplies various fruits and vegetables to
UM, agrees. He says sales to the Farm to College program account
for ten percent of the co-op’s sales this year and next
year he expects it to be around twenty percent of their
business.
Neil Trunbull, general
manager of Montola Growers, Inc., based
in Culbertson, supplies safflower oil to UM. He says he is very
satisfied with the Farm to College program and encourages more
use of it. It gives more than 250 farmers in Montola Growers
encouragement, he says. Personally, he says he feels pleased that
his kids who are at UM are receiving a better quality of food.
Instead of buying what is cheaper, he says he respects University
Dining Services for buying what is healthier.
The people who created the
Farm to College program wanted to
respond to the growing expectations of customers regarding the
origins of the food they eat. Will Tusick, office manager at
Montana Natural Beef in Ronan and a participant in the program,
thinks its success has to do with people realizing they
“need to take responsibility for where their food is coming
from.” The program also “helps to focus the
state’s attention on the fact that the University is a
business,” LoParco says. He says it helps people make the
connection that the University has to maintain business
relationships just like any other business.
Personally, LoParco says,
what’s been the most rewarding
for him is “getting out to the places where people are
doing this (farming and ranching). It feels good to be helping
people who work hard and have had to diversify their revenue
streams to keep their way of life.” — Brianne
Burrowes
Parting
with Pantzer
It
was the late ’60s, the peak of the Vietnam War, and
universities across the country were swelling with draft dodgers,
protestors, and passion. Students displayed their right to free
speech on a frequent basis—boycotting classes and staging
protests on the Oval. It was a challenge for any university
president.
One—UM’s
Robert T. Pantzer—firmly and
peaceably led his university through the tumultuous years with
dignity. At a time when there was an outbreak of violence on
university campuses, Pantzer sided with students to keep theirs
safe. “I think Pantzer was largely responsible for the fact
that there was no violence here,” says retired UM
journalism Professor Bob McGiffert, who taught for twenty-nine
years.
Pantzer had a trick,
McGiffert says: he made it clear that he
thought students had a right to express their opinions. “He
was particularly understanding of the war protest
position,” he says. UM history Professor Harry Fritz
agrees. The late ’60s to early ’70s were the
toughest
times to be a university president, he says. There was booming
enrollment among students and a sticky war. “He guided the
ship and took students seriously,” Fritz says.
In 1971, when Cambodia was
invaded, student organizers called
a strike. Pantzer took to the Oval to discuss the strike with
students. During his message, he read aloud the telegram he had
sent to President Nixon. The telegram took the position of
many
students at the time and
disparaged the war. He sympathized
with students’ grievances and addressed them, Fritz
says.
“His steady hand
and remarkable courage during some very
trying times kept the University on course and also assured
students of the environment in which to study and learn,”
says UM President George Dennison.
But Pantzer, who died last
fall, is remembered for more than
his peacekeeping ways. He had what Fritz described as a
“normal” academic background. He didn’t
come
out of the cookie-cutter college president mold. He graduated
from UM’s School of Business Administration before serving
several years in the Second World War. In combat he earned a
Purple Heart and Bronze Star. After the war Pantzer returned to
UM to pursue a degree in law. He was a lawyer for half a decade
before again returning to UM, this time to become a professor in
the business school. He was named acting president at the
University before being named the twelfth president of UM,
serving from 1966 to 1974.
Fritz says he believes
another reason Pantzer had such an
effective presidency was because of the people who served under
him. Namely, Fritz says, Richard Landini, who served as UM
Academic Vice President under Pantzer. He stayed one year after
Pantzer left and then took a job as President of Indiana State
University. Landini and Pantzer died within one week of each
other last October. — Brianne Burrowes
Way
out There
One
UM scientist is way out there. In space, that is. Dan
Reisenfeld, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy, is
helping NASA design a research satellite to map the region in
space called the termination shock. It’s about 100 times
farther from the Sun than Earth—where the solar wind slows
down and merges with interstellar space.
“There is a
boundary between our neighborhood and the
rest of the universe, and we want to understand that
boundary,” Reisenfeld says. “It’s where
the
influence of the Sun ends and the true void of space
begins.”
NASA recently approved
funding for the Interstellar Boundary
Explorer (IBEX), with a price tag of about $134 million; the
satellite is scheduled to launch in 2008.
Reisenfeld was part of a
four-member team at Los Alamos
National Laboratory in New Mexico and Southwest Research
Institute in Texas that designed a prototype for one of two
instruments that will fly aboard IBEX. The new team will design
IBEX-Hi, an instrument that uses a large-aperture camera to
detect high-energy particles coming from the edge of the solar
system.
Reisenfeld is developing a
lab at UM to assist with design of
the IBEX-Hi instrument. “Hopefully, I will be able to
involve our undergraduate students and do some of the foil
research here,” he says. “I think we can
investigate
certain aspects of the design in great detail here, and the
engineering will happen at Los Alamos.”
Contemporary
Reflections
This
painting by Jim Denomie titled Manifold Destiny is part
of a show that will have an April 26-June 26 run at UM’s
Montana Museum of Art and Culture and then travel nationally
through November 2007 to a number of signature events planned
along the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial trail.
Contemporary Native American
Art—Reflections After Lewis
& Clark presents the views of Native American artists on the
expedition. The exhibition includes artworks by nationally and
internationally recognized artists, including Jane Ash Poitras
(Collections: Brooklyn Museum, National Gallery, Ottawa), Joane
Cardinal Schubert (Canadian Museum of Civilization, National
Gallery of Canada), Corwin Clairmont (Collections: Montana Museum
of Art and Culture, Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis), and Jaune
Quick-to-See Smith (Collections: Museum of Modern Art, New
York).
Atta
Bear!
That
intrepid bear did it again. UM’s mascot, Monte, was
named the Capital One Mascot of the Year in January. Monte also
won the title in 2003.
Last summer the bear was one
of twelve critters from I-A and
I-AA football programs around the country named to the Capital
One All-American Team. Contestants submitted a video of their
antics, and a panel of judges ranked the videos on fan
interaction, sportsmanship, and community service. The
judges’ vote counted for 50 percent in the final rankings
and 50 percent came from online voting.
After a slow start, the UM
bear surged in the polls, placing
third in the online portion of the contest. “During the
final weeks, Monte clawed ahead from eleventh to third place in
the popular online voting,” says Pam Girardo at Capital
One. “That, combined with the judges’ ranking,
propelled Monte to the highest perch in the mascot world. Atta
bear!”
Monte’s video
highlights came from the 2003-04 athletic
season. The man who wore the suit during that time was Barry
Anderson, the UM graduate from Terry who has gone pro as Benny,
the mascot for the Chicago Bulls.
Anderson reports that he
watched all the Griz football games
on the Internet last fall and that he’s pleased with what
his successors have done with Monte.
“I
wouldn’t want to follow those guys,” he
says. “They’ve done some incredibly good
work.”
Anderson says one of the best
parts of winning the mascot
championship this time around was beating James Madison
University’s Duke Dog, who finished first in online voting.
“It was nice to take down Duke Dog,” he says.
“At least we beat them in something.” [In case you
don’t live on this planet, JMU beat UM in the I-AA
champion- ship game this year. See story on page 12.]
Stage
Notes
Mark
your calendar for UM drama/dance events, whether you live
in Missoula or not. The Montana Rep Theatre is currently touring
its 2005 production, Steel Magnolias, and may be coming to a
stage near you. Check out www.montanarep.org for the itinerary or
call (406) 243-6809 for information.
Evita, a production of the UM
drama/dance department, opens
April 5 in the Montana Theatre and runs through the 9th and again
April 12-16. For tickets and information, go to
www.umtheatredance.org or call (406) 243-4581.
Other productions this spring
include: Hal Holbrook in Mark
Twain Tonight, April 20; Trumpet Spectacular featuring Doc
Severinsen and Allen Vizzutti with the Missoula Symphony
Orchestra, April 24; the Buddy DeFranco Jazz Festival, April
29-30; Grease, May 1; and the Spring Dance Concert, May 4-7.
The box office number for the
Masquer and Montana Theatres is
(406) 243-4581.
Montana
Teacher of 2004
Many
people know him as Abraham Lincoln. Indeed, when he
dresses the part, he’s history come to life. But Harry
Fritz is much more than a symbol of the past. He’s the 2004
Montana Professor of the Year, named by two national
organizations that promote teaching excellence: The Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for
Advancement and Support of Education.
A sort of institution
himself, Fritz has taught history at UM
for nearly four decades and was nominated for the honor by UM
President George Dennison. He is the fifth consecutive UM
professor to win the award. Fritz has won every UM teaching
excellence award given by administration and students—some
of them twice.
Tall, lean, and Lincolnesque,
the professor takes his
impression of the U.S. president on the road each year, visiting
schools, libraries, and historical societies across Montana.
An internationally recognized
expert on the Corps of
Discovery, Fritz’s book, The Lewis and Clark Expedition,
was published earlier this year by Greenwood Press.
Sporting
News
Several
former Griz have distinguished themselves on the field
and court lately.
Scott McGowan became the
first Montanan to break the
four-minute mile in January. A former All-American for the Griz
track team, McGowan clocked in at 3 minutes, 58.91 seconds during
the Reebok Indoor Games in Boston. The Poplar native finished
seventh in a race loaded with elite runners.
Robin Selvig, UM’s
Lady Griz basketball coach of
twenty-seven years, continues to distinguish himself. Street &
Smith’s magazine, the bible of college hoops, recently
named UM seventh on its list of all-time best women’s
basketball programs. UM and Selvig earned the ranking by winning
twenty or more games in twenty-four of the last twenty-six
seasons. Montana’s sixteen regular-season conference
championships and fifteen conference tournament titles rank
second in the nation, trailing only Old Dominion. In addition,
Selvig’s 614-179 record ranks him sixth among active head
coaches for winning percentage and tenth in victories.
Trey Young, a standout safety
for the Griz football team from
1999 to 2002, has landed a two-year contract with the Calgary
Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. He will report for
training camp in May; the CFL season kicks off in June.
Young was MVP of the Big Sky
Conference and Griz Defensive
Player of the Year in 2002. He also was an essential component of
the 2001 national championship team.
The
President’s Corner
Several
recent studies conclude that intercollegiate athletics
detract from rather than add to the sponsoring
institutions’ efforts to fulfill their missions in
education. According to these studies, the athletics
programs—at all divisional levels—involve
relatively
small numbers of the enrolled students, focus more on
entertainment than education, impose great pressures on the
coaches and athletes to win rather than compete fairly, and drain
resources from other academic uses.
Moreover, the analytical
studies find very little correlation
between successful—meaning winning—athletics
programs
and private giving to the sponsoring colleges and universities.
Among the so-called “elite” conferences, the
“arms race” for enhanced facilities and amenities
has
resulted in escalating costs with no end in sight. In response,
NCAA President Miles Brand has called for discussions to end the
cost spiral and restore academic legitimacy and rationality to
athletics.
One article in this issue of
the Montanan focuses on the
success of the Grizzly football team and the experience of one
member of our alumni who traveled to Chattanooga to watch the
championship game. Those who attended the playoff games in
Missoula that led to the grand finale had the chance to observe
the great outpouring of support for the Griz. During my years as
President of the University, I have appreciated the strong and
solid support provided by alumni and friends of the University
for the Griz athletics programs. Moreover, I believe we can
demonstrate that we have not succumbed to the “arms
race” syndrome, but have maintained a reasonable
institutional posture concerning athletics.
We seek to make certain that
the support for the athletics
programs remains consonant with support for all programs at the
University. As one benchmark, we peg the athletics budget at
roughly five percent of the total institutional budget, thereby
allowing athletics to grow as the University grows. The second
benchmark focuses on assuring that no more than five percent of
the general funds in the education and general budget—the
portion of the total University budget devoted to the instruction
and student service programs—goes to athletics. These
benchmarks have served us well, as demonstrated by the remarkable
success of the programs. They also have enabled us to benefit
from the willingness of Griz fans and supporters to contribute
generously to the support of athletics and academics. I believe
strongly that we have done well and will continue to benefit if
we adhere to this principled approach.
George Dennison
’62, M.A. ’63
President
Dennison
named to National board
UM
President George Dennison received some exciting news in
late December. He learned he’d been nominated by President
George W. Bush for a four-year position on the National Security
Education Board.
The board was established in
1991 by former President Bill
Clinton to educate U.S. citizens about foreign cultures,
strengthen U.S. economic competition, and enhance international
security. Dennison is well qualified for the position. Aside from
numerous years in higher education, he has maintained a strong
interest in public diplomacy and international education and has
spent a considerable amount of time in other countries forging
student exchange opportunities.
The appointment must be
confirmed by the U.S. Senate and
Dennison says he believes its members will act soon on the
matter.
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