April 2006
Area Businessman to Deliver Commencement Address
Thursday, April 27 2006
Businessman and lawyer Peter Tomaryn will deliver the commencement address at the the 109th Commencement of the University of Montana Western Saturday, May 13, 2006 in the Straugh Gymnasium, beginning at 2:00 p.m. 220 degrees will be awarded during the ceremonies.
Tomaryn was born in New York City, New York and raised in California. He received a B.A. in geography and an M.A. in education from Cal-State Northridge and a juries doctorate from Woodland University.
While still in college, Tomaryn organized, marketed and led groups of college students to Russia and other communist countries. The students studied the cultural, social and historical aspects of the region.
Tomaryn began his professional career in South Africa as the administrative assistant to the president of the largest furniture retailer in South Africa. Tomaryn returned to the United States as manager and employee trainer for G.A.B. Business Services.
He was admitted to the California Bar Association in 1978 and began his law career at Morganstern & Mann Law Offices. In 1986, Tomaryn opened his own law firm. He retired from an active role in his firm in 2002.
In 1998, Tomaryn opened the Tweedsmuir Lodge in British Columbia. There he developed an eco-tourism business to view and study the wildlife and geography of British Columbia. He also developed a heli-skiing business operated out of his lodge.
Tomaryn was a law school professor at Woodland University, teaching principles of tort, contract and insurance law.
Tomaryn and his wife Victoria are avid travels and enjoy backpacking, sailing, reading and collecting rare books. They recently purchased a restaurant and ranch in Beaverhead County.
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Bio Mass at Montana Western
Friday, April 21 2006
Montana Western is about to become the newest addition to a growing list of schools being heated with what is known as ”forest biomass fuel.”
“Forest biomass,” sometimes referred to as “slash” is the small diameter trees, shrubs, and debris left over from logging operations and forest fuel reduction projects.
Essentially, it’s the residue or waste from forest management operations that would otherwise be piled and burned. It can also include waste from wood manufacturing.
A groundbreaking celebration for the new biomass system was held at the Montana Western campus in Dillon on Thursday, April 20 at 2 p.m.
A variety of guests, including Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) Director Mary Sexton, and Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Director Richard Opper, and Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest Supervisor Bruce Ramsey will speak about this significant step forward for the “Fuels for Schools” program.
In the last several years the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) and the USDA Forest Service have teamed up with Resource Conservation and Development Councils (RC&Ds) in a program called "Fuels for Schools."
The program is designed to put biomass to good use, mainly as a heat source for numerous public schools, hospitals, and other public buildings throughout the state.
The Montana Western campus will be the latest and largest example of this new alternative energy source, and the first state-owned facility in the program.
A grant from the DNRC, administered by Headwaters RC&D, covered $400,000 of the $1.4 million system. The DEQ State Energy Conservation Bond Program provided just over $1 million in the form of a 15-year low-interest loan, for the remaining costs of converting to biomass. The biomass project also enabled DEQ to conduct several energy-savings upgrades to campus facilities.
Together, these changes will conserve enough natural gas annually to heat 240 average Montana homes.
“One goal of the Fuels for Schools program is to jump-start the development of a dispersed renewable energy market in the state of Montana, to use what is typically a wasted by-product of forest management,” explained Angela Farr, DNRC “Fuels for Schools” Coordinator. “By burning slash in modern, efficient boilers rather than in open piles, we reduce the air quality impact and use heat that would otherwise be wasted. We also shift fossil fuel users to a renewable resource and reduce net greenhouse gas emissions.”
Using biomass is not a new concept in Europe or the eastern U.S., or with the wood products industry. Smurfit-Stone Container in Frenchtown is the biggest biomass energy user in Montana.
More good examples of biomass energy use are the University of Idaho and Chadron State College in Nebraska. All three use biomass as a dependable source of energy and have done so for over a decade.
“As a fuel source, biomass is cheaper than most alternatives for heating and cooling large buildings,” explained DNRC Service Forestry Bureau Chief Rob Ethridge.
”For example, the UM Western campus has a contract with Sun Mountain Lumber in Deer Lodge to provide wood chips at a cost of roughly $3.25 per dekatherm, compared to the $8.68 per dekatherm they pay for natural gas.”
The new biomass boiler is expected to save the school about $118,000 dollars per year in heating fuel, over what natural gas would have cost them at current prices, Farr said. After making their loan payment on the new system, they will be about $20,000 ahead in the first year, she said.
“Montana Western is proud to be a partner in this joint project that will generate substantial energy savings for the state while making practical use of forest residue,” said Susan Briggs, Western’s Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance.
For more information about Montana's Fuels for Schools program, contact Farr at (406) 542-4239 or visit www.fuelsforschools.org.
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Student Assistance Foundation Awards Grant to Montana Western
Friday, April 21 2006
The Student Assistance Foundation (SAF), a non-profit Montana corporation, awarded the University of Montana Western a grant for $28, 587 at a recent awards ceremony.
Since its inception in 1999, SAF has awarded Montana Western over $88,000 in grants from its Acc$$ (pronounced "access") Grant program. Statewide, SAF has awarded over $3.3 million in Acce$$ grants to Montana's colleges and universities.
Montana Western Chancellor Dick Storey accepts the $28,587 check from Kelly Chapman, Executive Vice President of Foundation Activities.
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"Ocean Currents" Opens Thursday, April 20
Monday, April 17 2006
“Ocean Currents” an original production of the University of Montana Western will be presented Thursday, April 20 through Sunday, April 23. The curtain rises nightly at 7:30 p.m. from the Beier Auditorium. Tickets are $7.00 for general public and $5.00 for students of all ages.
School matinees, both mornings and afternoons of April 20 & 21, are available for only $1.00 per person with pre-booked groups.
“Ocean Currents” is written and directed by Montana Western students and faculty. The students are drama education students, and members of the drama education program and the Polynesian Club.
Nani Lee and Mala Afoa choreograph the dance numbers. Students under the direction of Larry Brazil and Judy Ulrich, have developed and written the script, designed and built the set and designed and made the colorful costumes.
A group of Montana Western students, as part of their course work, traveled to Hawaii. The students met with Hawaiian cultural historians, professional dancers and chanters. The students collected an abundance of material that has been used in the creation of “Ocean Currents.”
“Ocean Currents” features songs, chants, dances and stories about the legendary trickster god Maui and the goddess Pele.
For additional information, please call 683-7422 or by email at j_ulrich@umwestern.edu.
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"On the Rocks" Features Montana Western Students
Friday, April 14 2006
"On the Rocks" is a guest speaker series sponsored by the Department of Environmental Sciences and Program in Mathematics at Montana Western.
The next program of the 2006 Spring Semester is Monday, April 17 at 4:15 P.M. in Room 311 of Block Hall featuring Montana Western students Seth McLean and Tyler Rennfield. Both students will give presentations dealing with their student internship programs.
McLean’s presentation is untitled. Rennfield’s is titled "Conservation of Native Fish Species in Southwestern Montana."
"On the Rocks" provides a forum for the presentation of topics of interest to the scientific community. Neither Western nor the Department of Environmental Sciences is advocating any particular view or any policy or position.
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Montana Western Faculty and Students Make Presentations at State Conference
Thursday, April 13 2006
Four students and three faculty members from the University of Montana Western made presentations at the yearly meeting of the Montana Academy of Sciences (MAS) in Butte, Mont. on the campus of Montana Tech.
Megan Janke of Avon, Mont, Kyle Lund of Great Falls, Mont.; Seth Roseberry of Cheyenne, Wyo. and Emily Schock of Saint Ignatius presented posters presentations. Janke was awarded a prize of $100 for the best undergraduate presentation poster.
The poster presentations were:
“
A Stochastic Model of Brucellosis (Brucella abortus) Epidemiology in the Greater Yellowstone Area.” Emily Schock
“The Candida Albicans KAR2, SSA1 and SSS1 Genes Function Similarly to the Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Homologues.” By Dr. Michael W. Morrow, Megan Janke and Kyle Lund. Morrow is an assistant professor of biology at Montana Western.
“Modeling Aspen Growth in the Rocky Mountains (Populus
tremuloides).” Seth Roseberry.
Dr. M. Laurie Henneman and Dr Eric Dyreson made a presentation titled “Dynamic Quantitative Food Webs: From Empirical Data to Predictive Modeling.” Dyreson is an associate professor of mathematics at Montana Western. Henneman is an adjunct instructor in the environmental sciences department.
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Student Body Officers Elected
Monday, April 10 2006
The Associated Students of the University of Montana-Western held Student Body elections Wednesday, March 29.
Whitney Wines, a junior from Gooding, Idaho, was elected Student Body President and Crystal Kain, a junior from Charlo Montana, was elected Vice-President.
Wines is a 2003 graduate of Gooding High School and a health and human performance major. She is the daughter of Zane and Tine Wines.
Kain is a 2003 graduate of Charlo High School and a secondary education major. She is the daughter of Sheryl Knudsen-Kain and Ron Kain.
The following students were elected to the post of Student Senator. Seth Brewer, Great Falls, Mont.; Rachel Bulcher, Hansen, ID, Trista Burke, Miles City, Mont.; Jacey Henderson, Gilbert, Ariz.; Stacie Jackson, Wendell, ID, Patti Lesnik, Dillon, Mont.; Kayla Matich. Butte, Mont.; Lisa Minnehan, Anaconda, Mont.; Lily Murphy, Deer Lodge, Mont.; Lily Murphy, Deer Lodge, Mont.; Taylor Narhgang, Buckeye, Ariz.; Linda Pattengale, Livingston, Mont.; Coree Shiner, Leadore, ID, Kara Voeks, Whitehall, Mont.; Heather Wendt, Fort Benton, Mont.; and Stetson Wilson, Pocatello, ID.
left to right: Whitney Wines, Crystal Kain
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Montana Western Professor Completes Trilogy
Monday, April 3 2006
“Path of Blood”. the final book of the Path Trilogy by University of Montana Western associate professor of English Di Francis, will be released in May.
In “Path of Blood,” life in Kodu Riik has become desperate. A madman has taken the throne. Plague and violence ravage the land. Reisil searches desperately for the knowledge that will unlock her magic and save her world. But, she is hunted, and she has more enemies than she knows. Soon she will face her greatest fears and discover the cost of power is far higher than she imagined.
The characters are compelling and the plot breathtakingly tense. The reader won’t be able to put down this powerful, fast-paced conclusion to the Path trilogy.
“Diana Francis is one of Fantasy’s promising new voices,” said David B. Coe, author of the “Winds of Forelands” series.
Francis will be featured at a book signing and reception, Thursday, May 4 from 5-7 p.m. at the Bookstore in downtown Dillon.
Francis, a native of Northern California, began teaching at Montana Western in 1999. She is a 1985 graduate of Oakmont High School of Roseville, California. She received a B.A. in creative writing from Iowa State University in 1992 and her PH.d from Ball State in 1999.
Francis and her husband Tony are the parents of five-year old Quentin and one-year old Sydney.
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