Bear Briefs
Stellar Scholar-It's no secret that punter Dallas Neil is a dangerous
weapon on the football field. Now it's no secret that the Grizzly football standout from
Great Falls is an outstanding student as well. Burger King Corp. recently heralded Neil's
accomplishments as a Division I-AA College Football Scholar Athlete by donating $10,000 to
UM's general scholarship fund in his name. The award recognizes Neil's athletic and
academic achievements and his commitment to mentoring the community's youth. Neil is a
first-year graduate student in business administration who carries a 3.86 grade-point
average and starts as punter/tight end for the Grizzlies. Off the field and outside the
classroom, Neil is a big brother through Missoula Big Brothers Big Sisters, a member of
the Grizzlies' "Random Acts of Kindness" community service program and a
volunteer at the Poverello Center, where he cooks and serves meals to the homeless. He is
the son of Dr. David and Shelley Neil. Homecoming 2000-Mark your
calendars. Next year's UM Homecoming festivities have been rescheduled to Oct. 6-7. They
originally were scheduled for Oct. 20-21. Let friends and family know that they may need
to change those hotel reservations.
Discovery Online-Most everything you've ever wanted to know about
Lewis and Clark is just a mouse click away. Former music Professor Joe Mussulman has taken
on a new persona - history buff and Web site chronicler of the famous 1804-1806
transcontinental expedition of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Mussulman leads a team
designing the "Discovering Lewis and Clark" Web site, considered by historians
to be one of the best Internet source of information about the historic duo. A work in
progress, the site is located at http://www.lewis-clark.org/.
The Lewis and Clark expedition also will get some attention from NASA's Earth Observing
System Education Project at UM. The project has just joined a national effort to produce a
DVD-ROM computer disk titled "The Rediscovery of the Lewis and Clark Trail,"
which should be ready for students and educators in time for the bicentennial of the
historic trek.
Making Headlines-KUFM news director Sally Mauk recently brought back
four Joe Durso Awards for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism from meetings of the Montana
Associated Press Broadcasters Association. She won first place in the radio enterprise
category for a piece titled "Assisted Suicide," first place in the radio audio
category for "Indian Parade" and first place in the radio news-writing category
for "Farm Policy." She also captured an honorable mention in the best radio
newscast category, along with KUFM colleagues Edward O'Brien, James Smiley and Brandi
Lynne Laubach.
Award-winning Awareness-UM's Multicultural Alliance, an organization
that promotes diversity and increased cultural awareness, has received an Innovative
Program Award from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. The award
recognizes the alliance for its efforts to foster the personal growth of students and
enhance campus life through such things as lectures, films, town hall meetings and its
acclaimed Prejudice Reduction Workshops.
Gallery Premieres-An exhibit of drawings and painted constructions by
art Associate Professor Mary Ann Bonjorni opened the new Paxson Corridor Gallery in the
Performing Arts and Radio/Television Center this month. Bonjorni's work, which taps into
the abstract and representational genres, shows through Dec. 31. The exhibit, like all
other UM gallery shows, is free and open to the public.
Holiday Break-UM students will head home for the holidays as soon as
they finish finals the week of Dec. 13-17. Intersession 2000 classes run Jan. 3-21, while
spring semester classes start Monday, Jan. 24.
Jazzin'-Jazz legend Buddy DeFranco will lend his prestigious name and
considerable talent to UM's jazz festival next spring. A world-class clarinetist and
part-time Whitefish resident, DeFranco will play during the April 21-22 performances. The
festival will become an annual event.
Hallelujah For Habitat-Start the holiday season off with the fourth
annual performance of the Christmas portion of Handel's "Messiah." Visiting
Assistant Professor Nancy Cooper brings the event to Missoula Sunday, Nov. 28, at 7:30
p.m. at the University Theatre. Singers collect pledges in order to participate in the
chorus. All proceeds benefit the local Habitat for Humanity chapter.
More Research-Sen. Max Baucus has announced that UM may get $1 million
in federal money to create a Center for Environmental Health Sciences to be housed in the
pharmacy school's new addition. The U.S. Senate has approved a bill that includes the
funding. The House and President Clinton likely will approve it before the end of the
year. If approved at federal, state and campus levels, the center would bring specialists
to UM to study how environment affects asthma, cancer, pulmonary diseases, autoimmune
disorders and neurological disorders. Discussions about creating the center have been
ongoing for the past year.
Gardens Revisited-The much-acclaimed documentary on Butte's historic
Columbia Gardens will be broadcast again on KUFM-TV at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 1. The
program premiered in October, recreating the history and myth of the beloved amusement
park built by Copper King and former U.S. Sen. William Clark. The park operated from 1899
to 1973. The one-hour program was produced by Ray Ekness of UM's Broadcast Media Center
and KUFM-TV, the campus-based Montana PBS station. Ekness teaches in the radio-TV
department. Jay Kohn of KTVQ-2 in Billings narrates "Remembering the Columbia
Gardens."
In Touch-Stay current on campus news by visiting the University's Web
page at http://www.umt.edu. The page
lists a schedule of events and features a fresh article and photo each day. You can also
subscribe to TGIF, UM's online newsletter, from the home page.
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