October 2005
"Dances With Words" Features Montana Writer/Novelist
Monday, October 31 2005
The University of Montana-Western English department is sponsoring a series of readings of area writers and poets during the 2005 Fall Semester titled “Dances With Words.”
The next reading features Montana writer and novelist Kim Zupan, Thursday, Nov. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in The Cup, located on the lower level of the Swysgood Technology Center.
Zupan grew up on the east side of the Rockies near Stockett and Great Falls. He earned degrees in English and Creative Writing from the University of Montana. When not in the classroom, he worked for several ranches in the Judith Basin. In 1984, he received his M.F.A. in Fiction.
He spent a decade as a professional bareback rider with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Zupan has been a guest lecturer for the University of Montana, a substitute teacher in Great Falls and Germany, a fisherman for several summers in Alaska, and an instructor for Hellgate Writers in Missoula.
His stories have appeared in such journals as Epoch, Big Sky Journal and The Montana Writers' Daybook and in various anthologies. Zupan's work is anthologized in Where We Live (Spring Creek Publishing, 1997), Hunting's Best Short Stories (Chicago Review Press, 2000), The New Montana Story (Riverhead Publishing, 2003), and The Best of Montana's Short Fiction (The Lyon's Press, 2004). His story, “Mourning for Ignacio Rosa”, was in a collection of Montana's best short stories. He is the author of two novels, Why Do the Heathen Rage and and A God May Come Tomorrow, which is set around White Sulphur Springs, Montana. Zupan, also wrote the introduction to Joanne Berghold's book Montana Hometown Rodeo.
Zupan lives in Missoula and spends his time as a writer, husband, dad and finish carpenter.
The UM-Western English Department and Student Senate sponsor Dancing With Words. The reading is open to the public and free of charge.
Go To Top
24th Hall of Fame Held
Wednesday, October 19 2005
From left to right; Chris Shoenen, Paul Pownall, Krista Wickens, Bobby Beers and T.J. Nelson
The 24th Annual University of Montana-Western Alumni Association and Booster Club Hall of Fame Banquet was Saturday, October 22 in the Lewis-Clark Room on the UM-Western Campus. Inductees include Bobby Beers and Chris Schoenen in football, Krista Wickens in women's basketball and T.J. Nelson and Paul Pownall in wrestling.
Bobby Beers, a native of Missoula, Montana, is a 1996 graduate of Western Montana College (now the University of Montana-Western. During his Bulldog football career, he was a three time All-Conference selection as a wide receiver, and a two-time selection as kick-return specialist. He was also a first team All-American selection as a wide receiver. At the conclusion of his career, he held nine school records. Beers was part of a Bulldog team that won three straight Frontier Conference titles and the winner of 17 straight conference games. His favorite memory was beating Carroll 76-14 in his senior season. The Bulldogs made their first ever national playoff appearances in 1994 and 1995. He was coached by Mick Dennehy, Mick Delaney, Bob Beers and Mark Mauzee. His teammates included Jason Truman, Keith Handlos, Nick Howlett, Brian Armstrong, Rex Whitworth to mention a few. After graduation, Beers coached and taught at Columbia Falls High School, coached at San Jose State and Montana State-Bozeman. He coached wide receivers and tight ends for the Berlin Thunder of NFL Europe when the Thunder won back to back World Bowl titles. Beers was part of the staff that assembled the Colorado Crush Arena League team. He is currently a scout for the Denver Broncos. Beers and his wife Cindy are the parents of Megan Grace.
Chris Schoenen, a native of Great Falls, Montana, was a member of the Bulldog program from 1989 to 1993. As an offensive lineman, Schoenen was a four-time All-Conference selection, three-time All-District Selection, and two-time NAIA All-America selection. His coaches were Mick Dennehy, Mick Delaney and Bob Beers. His teammates included Brian Poole, Scott Miller, Matt Lubick, Van Puckett, fellow inductee Bobby Beers and Hall of Famers Corey Bolton, Dan Olson, and Manny Garza. His most memorable athletic experience was also beating Carroll College, only it was in 1993. He also remembers all the people he met during his career from the professors to the students. Since his Bulldog days, Schoenen was a graduate assistant for one year at Rocky. He then coached and taught at St. Maries, Idaho. Next was a stop at Greenwich, Connecticut where he coached before moving back to Montana. Schoenen was a track coach for one year at Missoula Big Sky. He then accepted a teaching and coaching position at Ridgecrest, California where he has been for the past five years. Schoenen and his wife Angela are expecting their first child in January. He is the father of Alan, age 10.
Krista Wickens, a native of Winifred, Montana, is a 1995 graduate of Western Montana with a B.S. in Communications. During her Lady Bulldog career, she was a three-time first team All-Conference selection and two-time All-District selection. Other individual honors include numerous Player of the Week selections, and selection to several All-Tournament teams. Wickens was named the Lady Bulldogs 'Most Valuable Player” in her senior season. She led the Lady Bulldogs in scoring for three seasons and is third on the All-Time scoring list with 1407 career points. Her career best was 33 points against Montana Tech in 1994. Wickens also excelled in the classroom where she earned Academic All-Conference honors three times and Academic All-American honors twice. Her most memorable moments at Western were her first semester, her last semester and everything in between. Her coaches at Western were Gary Cooper and Karyn Pilskalns. Her teammates include Tracy Harris, Charlie Kress, Amy Oltrogge, Tanya Osterman, Stacey Shockley to mention a few. Upon graduation from Western, Wickens worked in the marketing department of the Big Sky Conference. She then moved to ICON Health and Fitness Inc. where she was the Packaged Goods product line manager. There, she developed her own patent-pending product the StayBallÍ. Krista is recently married to Chris James.
T.J. Nelson, a native of Whitehall, Montana, was Western's head wrestling coach from 1987 to 1996. During that time, he coached Western to five top five finishes including a national championship in 1995. Nelson's program produced 45 All-Americans, nine individual national champions and three Academic All-Americans. In 1988,Nelson was named “Rookie Coach of the Year” by Wrestling News. He was also selected NAIA “Coach of the Year”, Frontier Conference “Coach of the Year”, and District 12 “Coach of the Year.” Nelson was selected to coach at the NCAA All-Star Wrestling Tournament. His most memorable moments at Western include winning the NAIA National Title, hosting two NAIA national tournaments and wrestling the NCAA Champion University of Iowa team. Since leaving Western, Nelson joined the Great Harvest Franchising as Director of New Store Operations. Nelson and his wife Bernadette are the parents of Taylor age 10, Bridger, age 7 and Serena, age 5.
Paul Pownall, a native of Wyoming, graduated from Western in 1996 with a bachelor's in secondary education. During his Bulldog wrestling career, he qualified for the NAIA National Tournament in each of his four seasons. At the national tournament, wrestling in the 126 lb class, he finished sixth in 1993 and second in both 1994 and 1995. He was also a three-time NAIA Academic All-American. That was a rare feat in NAIA wrestling and his achievement was spotlighted in the NAIA magazine. He graduated from Western with a 3.78 GPA. His coaches were fellow inductee T.J. Nelson along with Jim Guillio, and Travis Krawl. His teammates include Hall of Famers Mick Cheff, T.R. Williams, Shawn Fossen, along with Ernie Molina, Phil McCluskey, and Kevin Knight to mention a few. His most memorable moment was being part of the national championship team. After graduating from Western, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served as an Army Ranger from 1996 to 2001. After his honorable discharge, he moved to Gillette, Wyoming where he works as a patrol deputy for the Campbell County Sheriff's Department. Pownall is currently working on a Masters Degree in Public Administration through the University of Wyoming. He and his wife Sonja are parents of sons August and Solomon and daughters Raianna and Lela.
Go To Top
3rd Annual Ten-Minute Play Festival
Friday, October 14 2005
The University of Montana-Western's Play Production Class will present their Third Annual Ten-Minute Play Contest, Sunday, Oct. 16, Monday, Oct. 17, Tuesday, Oct. 18 and Wednesday, Oct. 19.
The curtain rises each night at 7:33 p.m. in the Small Auditorium.
Each night will feature different plays with the audience determining the winner each night with audience favorites presented on Wednesday night. Monday and Tuesday night will feature plays with a “mature” theme. The play with the most votes will be awarded the best play of the event.
Each student in the class selected a play, recruited the actors, designed the set and costumes, and directed the play. Class instructor is Larry Brazill.
This year's festival features seventeen plays with 45 actors.
Cost of admission is $5.00 and that is good for admission on all five nights.
Go To Top
Native American Print Exhibit at UM-Western Art Gallery and Museum
Sunday, October 9 2005
"Native Perspectives on the Trail: a Contemporary American Indian Art Portfolio" is the new exhibit of prints at The University of Montana - Western Art Gallery/Museum. "The Trail" in the title refers to the historic journey of Lewis & Clark and the current interest in following their trail across the country, including Montana.
This exhibit continues until December 21. A public reception will be held Thursday, October 13, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. The UMW campus and Dillon community are invited to this free event and refreshments will be served. The reception is scheduled to coincide with the Southwest Montana Arts Council Showcase Series performance that evening by the Repertory Dance Theatre from Salt Lake City, Utah (7:30 p.m. in the Beier Auditorium).
This exhibit began as a special project of the Missoula Art Museum and Native American artist and teacher Corwin Clairmont. The project's goal was to provide additional perspectives about the Lewis & Clark bicentennial. Fifteen artists from seven different tribes were invited to create a new print communicating their ideas and feelings toward the Lewis & Clark journey and its historical legacy.
Included in the exhibit are Neil Parsons, Dwight Billedeux, and Jeneese Hilton of the Blackfeet nation, Damian Charette of the Crow nation, Jason Clark of the Algonquin tribe, Joe Feddersen and Lillian Pett of the upper Columbia tribes, Melissa bob of the coastal Salish tribe, Neal Ambrose-Smith, Jaune Quick-to-See-Smith, and Corwin Clairmont of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes, and Ramon Murillo of the Shoshone-Bannack tribe. In addition to the prints, Debra Magpie Earling's "The Lost Journals of Sacajewea" accompanies the exhibit - a fictional twist on the journals kept by Lewis & Clark.
"Each artist brings a unique contribution to our understanding of the historical impact of the Lewis & Clark expedition," says Art Gallery Director Randy Horst. "Some of these image are funny, some are sad, and some are both, but they all speak to the cultural juxtaposition that defines the American West ever since Lewis & Clark traveled through the West and our own Beaverhead valley."
Many images make use of traditional Native American symbols and designs, and many include image fragments from contemporary popular culture. This is a challenging and insightful exhibit by a group of artists already highly accomplished in their own right, and some even internationally recognized.
The Art Gallery/Museum can be found at the south end of the first floor of Main Hall on the Western campus. Scheduled gallery hours are Tuesday through Fridays from 12 noon until 4:30 p.m. To arrange for special times or visits call the director at 683-7232.
Go To Top
Colorado Novelist Featured at "Dances With Words"
Wednesday, October 5 2005
The University of Montana-Western English department is sponsoring a series of readings of area writers and poets during the 2005 Fall Semester titled “Dances With Words.”
The next reading features Colorado novelist Pam Houston, Tuesday, Oct. 11, at 7:30 p.m. in The Great Room of the Swysgood Technology Center.
Pam Houston is the author of two collections of short stories, "Cowboys Are My Weakness" and "Waltzing the Cat." Her stories have been selected for the Best American Short Stories, the O. Henry Awards, the Pushcart Prize, and the Best American Short Stories of the Century.
Her first novel, "Sight Hound," published by W.W. Norton in January 2005, was assigned to all UM-Western students enrolled in English 102, Foundations of Language, during the 2005/2006 academic year. In addition to the reading, Ms. Houston will meet with two English classes to discuss the novel and fiction writing.
Houston divides her time between her ranch outside Creede, Colorado, and the University of California-Davis, where she is Director of the Creative Writing Program.
The UM-Western English Department and Student Senate sponsor Dancing With Words. The reading is open to the public and free of charge.
Go To Top
Equine Assisted Psychotherapy Workshop Set For UM-Western
Wednesday, October 5 2005
The University of Montana-Western School of Outreach offers a wide variety of classes and workshops during the 2005 Fall Semester.
UM-Western will host an Equine Assisted Psychotherapy workshop October 20-23. Leslie Mathews of the Yellowstone Boys and Girls Ranch of Billings is the featured speaker.
This particular form of therapy has gained national recognition as a way to help struggling children, teens and adults identify and process their feelings while participating in this experiential form of therapy.
While working with horses, students learn to develop trust, patience and self-confidence. In this workshop, educators will learn how to incorporate this unique form of therapy into their current activities with students with emotional and behavioral difficulties.
For more information on this exciting event, contact UM-Western's School of Outreach at 406-683-7537.
Go To Top
Fall Well Check Set for UM-Western
Wednesday, October 5 2005
The Wellness Office of the University of Montana-Western is sponsoring their Fall Well-Check, Tuesday, October 11, for UM-Western Employees, family and retirees. Call 683-7441 to make an appointment. Free Blood Pressure checks available.
A Wellness Check for Dillon community members is Wednesday, Wednesday, October 12 and on Thursday, October 13. No appointments taken. Free blood pressure checks will also be available.
The Well-Check is scheduled for 7:00 am to 10:30 am each day in the Lewis and Clark Room in Mathews Hall on the UM-Western Campus.
Screens include cholesterol (HDL & LDL), triglycerides, iron, glucose, potassium, and calcium. Thyroid, PSA, CBC and cardio CRP tests will also be available. A twelve-hour fast before the screen is required and participants are asked to drink plenty of water.
Montana University System members receive one free screen every two years (there is a $25.00 charge for additional screens) and one free PSA test every year. Blood screen tests for UM-Western students are $25.00.
For Community members, cost is $35.00 for blood chemistry/TSH screen, $16.00 for CBC, and $24.00 for PSA (males). Cost of a Colon-Care Kit for $5. Cardio-CRP is $36.00. Hemoglobin A-Diabetic Screening is $30.00.
For more information please call the UM-Western Wellness Office at 683-7441.
Go To Top