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City Club Missoula Presents:
Myths, Reality and the Powerful New Mission for
Missoula’s Two-year College
Monday, Janary 9, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee St.
Myths, Reality and the Powerful New Mission for Missoula’s two-year college is the topic for the City Club Missoula January 9th forum, 11:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park. Speakers are Dr. John E. Cech, deputy commissioner for two-year and community college education for the Montana university system, and Dr. Barry Good, dean of the University of Montana College of Technology. They will discuss why the two-year college is a vital asset for education, community and economic growth and development.
Cech and Good will discuss the results of extensive community listening sessions conducted this fall, report on the December 15-16 two-year education summit and forthcoming recommendations to be presented in January to the Montana Board of Regents. Major funding for construction of a new COT facility, part of the UM’s long-range plan as confirmed by the Board of Regents in 2007, is apt to be a consideration of the next session of the Montana Legislature.
Cech is the project director of Montana’s College Now initiative and chairs the Montana University System Two-Year Education Council. He has served as dean and campus CEO of the Montana State University- Billings College of Technology and dean of Continuing Education and Community Services at Rocky Mountain College.
Good has served as dean of UMCOT for five years. He received his doctorate in botany from Louisiana State University in 1978 and has served a variety of positions at two and four-year colleges and universities in Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Texas and West Virginia.
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City Club Missoula Presents:
MISSOULA COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
21ST CENTURY MODEL OF CHANGE
Monday, December 12, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee St.
If you have wondered how students use technology to create their own music, learn about health science careers and opportunities or take classes for both high school and college credit, come to the City Club Missoula December forum, Monday, Dec. 12, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee.
Around the theme, Student Engagement in the Missoula County Public Schools- 21st Century Model of Change, teachers, students and administrators will demonstrate these and other innovative programs. These experiences allow students to combine the knowledge and skills they learn in traditional classrooms with international opportunities, online and other technology programs, community service, internships and job shadows.
Don’t miss festive holiday music played by four Big Sky High School wind ensemble students beginning at 11:30 a.m.
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City Club Missoula November Forum
Eran Fowler Pehan: The Poverello
One day last January, a record 111 people slept at the Poverello Center, including on the cafeteria floor. The center is designed to hold a maximum of 70 people, and according to Eran Fowler Pehan, the center’s interim director, the situation is “simply unsafe.”
At City Club Missoula’s November forum, Pehan told a group of about 75 participants about plans to replace the current overcrowded, old, and inefficient facility that was never meant to be permanent with a new center. However, relocation of the Poverello Center is difficult for everyone, she said.
Controversy over the center’s location is ongoing, with some Missoulians wanting to move it out of the downtown area into a more residential setting further away from business activities. But it is important for the Poverello Center to be located in a 12-block radius of downtown where clients can access the bus system and hospital services and be near job opportunities, Pehan said.
Pehan said that community members may have stereotyped Poverello clients as being unproductive and dangerous. But a number of clients are employed full time for minimum wage, are veterans, or have disabilities.
"One altering experience can cause a person to be homeless,” she said, adding that some of the clients were fine until they got cancer, lost jobs, or had to move out of their homes because of domestic abuse.
“The Poverello Center can’t continue to exist in its current state,” Pehan said. “To remain effective and sustainable, we need to rebuild.”
For more information on City Club Missoula’s forum, go to:
http://missoulian.com/news/local/daytime-salcido-center-won-t-be-part-of-new-poverello/article_513987ea-0f3e-11e1-90cc-001cc4c002e0.html
- Shannon Furniss
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City Club Missoula Presents:
The Poverello Center at 36:
Emergency Services at a Crossroads
Monday, November 14, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee St.
The Poverello Center, Missoula’s soup kitchen and emergency shelter, was founded by local faith leaders 36 years ago to provide food, shelter and clothing in our community for those in need. Last year, its staff served 126,571 meals and provided 25,106 nights of shelter to 2,664 people. They are military veterans, elderly people, people who just don’t earn enough money to keep themselves afloat.
This year, the Poverello is at a crossroads. Its building on Ryman Street, built as a boarding house in the early 1900s, is no longer suitable and is unsafe. The board and staff’s search for a new home has launched the Poverello into the news after three-plus quiet decades and has sparked renewed interest in our community’s approach to homeless services.
What is the Poverello Center’s role in our community? Who are the clients who need these services? How do they provide a hand up, not a handout? Who volunteers there, and where does the funding come from? Is there a moral imperative to help people in need in our community?
Come hear Poverello Center executive director Eran Fowler Pehan discuss these engaging issues at the upcoming City Club Forum Nov. 14.
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City Club Missoula October Forum
Mark Grimes: Stem Cell Research at The University of Montana
Stem cells hold great promise in the field of human medicine, but further scientific work is in danger from a national climate that favors ideology over science, University of Montana cell biologist Mark Grimes told an audience at the October City Club Missoula Forum.
“Science does not dictate moral and ethical decisions,” Grimes said. “But you have to know about science to makes these decisions for yourself.”
Grimes’ laboratory scientists study the molecular mechanisms that make human cells differentiate. Cells begin as basic units, then grow into their specialties, creating 220 different human cell types. Some become basic parts of the body, and some develop to become harmful, such as the cells that become part of a neuroblastoma, a malignant tumor that develops from nerve tissue and is the biggest killer of small children. The scientists are working to understand the molecular switch that controls the differentiation.
An embryonic stem cell can become any cell, even part of a beating heart. These cells are created two ways: transplanting of a nucleus or by inducing change by changing a handful of genes.
Embryonic stem cells show great promise in the regeneration of skin for burn victims, the regeneration of blood cells from bone marrow, organ replacement and other uses.
Embryonic stem cells are derived from human embryos that are fertilized in a laboratory or clinic and then donated for research. Since the first successful in vitro fertilization in 1978, political arguments have been made against it by people who believe it will lead to human cloning or cross other thresholds that are uncomfortable and raise moral questions.
Science is not in conflict with religion, Grimes said, because science is only concerned with the natural world , not the supernatural.
An informed person should seek many sources of factual information, not opinion, when contemplating a stance on stem-cell research or any other matter of science, Grimes said. Good places to start are the website www.factcheck.org, reputable news stories reported and written by journalists and the reporting of National Public Radio.
“You have to be curious about what’s actually factual,” Grimes said, “and seek it out.”
---- Ginny Merriam
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City Club Missoula Presents:
Stem Cell Research at UM
Potentially Life-Saving Research Remains Under Fire
Monday, October 17, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee St.
Nationwide, scientists are embarking on critical research regarding the use of embryonic stem cells, which some say have the potential to someday, “reboot” adult cells that are damaged and extend the human lifespan by years. The ethical debate regarding stem cell research is not new, but remains heated and controversial. This is true nationwide as it is here in Missoula, where UM scientist, Mark Grimes, is performing research.
As the science surrounding stem cells continues to develop, the ever-present challenge of funding threatens the potential benefits that may be discovered through this maturing science. On October 17th, Dr. Mark Grimes will discuss this and other challenges facing potential world-changing research. Dr. Grimes, framed within the discussion of his own research at UM, will discuss what it may mean to use stem cells as therapy, the hesitance of private funders to invest in such research and the threat that federal dollars may not provide the sustainable funding necessary for this type of research to bear fruit.
At City Club Missoula, Dr. Grimes will facilitate discussion on this topic from a scientific perspective.
Please join us for this engaging City Club Forum to listen and learn. TABLE TALK will be most interesting and informative.
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Wood for Haiti
City Club Missoula
September 12, 2011
With millions of acres of beetle-killed timber, Montana could use the wood to help rebuild Haiti after the earthquake damage, restore the state’s forests, and stimulate the economy by employing thousands of people, according to Gary Funk, UM music professor and president of the board of directors of Wood for Haiti.
At City Club Missoula’s September forum, Professor Funk told the story of his work with community members, non-profits, and government agencies to create Wood for Haiti. Here is his story.
When Professor Funk first heard about the 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti – killing 230,000 people and leaving 1.2 million homeless – he was in the Minneapolis airport. In Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere, people were under the rubble struggling to breath. In the airport, life went on uninterrupted. People were talking on cell phones, doing crossword puzzles, and reading romance novels. Very few people were watching the report of the crisis occurring in Haiti that was on the television.
That was the point where Professor Funk knew he had to take action. He had already planned the spring semester choral concert, but made a decision to change the content and purpose of the concert from a night with Mozart to a Requiem for Haiti. He wanted students and community members to understand the reality of international disasters. Shortly after, he heard a radio interview with a Haitian doctor, Dr. Patrick Jeudy, whose clinic had been destroyed by the earthquake. Professor Funk decided that at the concert he would put a collection bucket at the back of the theater to raise money for Dr. Jeudy’s clinic. He raised $1,400.
Professor Funk then had another fundraiser, “Hope for Haiti,” that raised $10,000 to rebuild Dr. Jeudy’s clinic. Architect, Dennis Lippert and builder, Mikel Greathouse, presented Dr. Jeudy with architectural drawings of a new hospital. The clinic was designed with wood-frame construction because Lippert and Greathouse learned that wood would suffer less damage than concrete in an earthquake.
Now all that Dr. Jeudy needed was wood. In a drive to Helena one afternoon, Professor Funk noticed all the acres of beetle-killed timber (which can be used if cut three to four years after death).
“I said to myself: ‘There is enough dead standing timber here to build the entire country of Haiti. If most of this wood is usable for home construction, we could revitalize the wood industry in Montana, put tens of thousands of people back to work, causing an economic ripple effect across the United States and proper management of our forests.’”
This is when Wood for Haiti got its start. Since that time, Professor Funk has been working with community members, non-profits, Sen. Max Baucus, Sen. Jon Tester, and Congressman Denny Rehberg to move forward. Former President Bill Clinton has seen the Wood for Haiti proposal and has encouraged him to continue discussions with his Shelter Policy director in Haiti.
Professor Funk hopes Dr. Jeudy will soon be able to rebuild his clinic and that eventually the 1.2 million homeless people will have homes.
For more information on “Wood for Haiti,” contact Professor Funk at http://woodforhaiti.org/ or 1-406-777-4685.
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City Club Missoula Presents:
Wood for Haiti: How Montana Will Help Rebuild a Nation
Monday, September 12, 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
On January 12, 2010, the nation of Haiti, the poorest country in the hemisphere, was hit by a devastating 7.0 earthquake that killed and injured approximately 230,000 people, leaving an additional 1.2 million homeless. Today, Haiti is only beginning to recover from this unimaginable catastrophe with many people still living in the most meager shelter. The physical destruction of the nation’s communities is compounded by the damage to their social fabric. Soon, however, help may arrive from Montana. Gary Funk, founder of Wood for Haiti, will present a program about an initiative that provides significant assistance to Haiti’s recovery by creating a nexus between Haiti’s needs, the millions of acres of standing dead timber in Montana’s beetle-killed forests and our weakened Western Montana economy. Come hear how the synergy of problem-solving on an international scale will affect Missoula and Western Montana.
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City Club Missoula Presents:
Where's Missoula's Place on the World Stage?
UM Mansfield Students from Southeast Asia
Monday, July 11, 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee St.
Climate change, balancing economic and environmental interests, food security and water resource managements are key environmental concerns throughout the world. How do these issues differ from Southeast Asia to the United States? How do different cultures handle different problems?
At City Club Missoula’s July forum, exchange students from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos and Vietnam will discuss their backgrounds, views, and experiences learned from their exchange program with The University of Montana’s Mansfield Center.
For the second year, the Mansfield Center will host an exchange program of the U.S. Department of State. The Study of the U.S. Institute on Global Environmental Issues brings 20 English-speaking undergraduate student leaders for five weeks to learn about environmental issues. The program is an important two-way exchange: Not only do the students learn about our community, but our community has an invaluable opportunity for exposure to visitors from other countries.
The program provides the students with a wealth of cultural enhancements and service projects to immerse them in U.S. society and culture, including a month in Montana (with visits to Glacier National Park, Helena and the Flathead Reservation), as well as four-day visits to Louisiana and Washington, D.C.
Please join us for this most unique City Club Forum to listen and learn. TABLE TALK will be most interesting and informative.
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Steve Loken at City Club Missoula
June 13, 2011
Long intrigued by Vietnam and its combination of rapid growth and use of appropriate low-tech solutions, a Missoula green builder traveled to Vietnam and Laos to bring back ideas about living more sustainably and lowering consumption levels.
Well known in Missoula for his long-term commitment to reusing building materials, Steve Loken of Loken Builders, told City Club Missoula forum attendees about his experiences touring Vietnam and Laos by bicycle in February.
Montana and Vietnam share some characteristics including similar geography with high mountains and plains, an agriculturally-based economy, and low per capita income compared to surrounding areas, Loken said. One of the big differences is that Montana has around 900,000 people while Vietnam has 90 million in the same area.
 Some of Loken’s observations about Vietnam and Laos include:
- Everything is composted or recycled. Nothing is wasted.
- The culture is based on simplicity and contemplation.
- Consumption of hydrocarbon in Vietnam and Laos is very low because of the use of mopeds, buses, and walking; in the U.S. it is off the charts.
- They use passive wind-powered cooling to move air.
- Their per capita income is $1,000/year; their gas price is $6/gallon; adjusted to our incomes, that be like our gas costing $220/gallon.
 Montanans might learn something from the Vietnamese about sustainable development, Loken said. In Vietnam, rice and bamboo are the key products for exports and have brought about significant economic growth. Both are produced with a low impact on the environment and with continued sustainability in mind. Bamboo and rice production have created employment opportunities in the country’s poverty-stricken rural areas. Loken compared Vietnam’s bamboo crop to Montana’s 45 million acres of small diameter timber.
“Montana should figure out how to use small diameter materials,” Loken said. “It would provide more affordable housing and benefit the economy.”
Even the blue-stained timber from beetle kill can used, he said, adding that some people use the timber for cabinets and think the wood is beautiful. The Finns have developed technology to work with small diameter timber and take the stained pieces out and put the wood back together again. Montanans need to get the technology and put plants in Dillon, Libby, and other Montana towns, he said.
“The world has gone through its trees,” Loken said. “We need to use small diameter timber – we don’t have a choice.”
Vietnam will face challenges in upcoming years as international investment keeps growing, eventually transitioning to an economy that uses more energy and needs more goods and services.
Vietnam has mixed signals, he said. They want to have a small carbon footprint, but they also want to have cell phones and televisions.
“We need to ask the question: How do we take what they’re doing [low levels of consumption] and bring it up to a level we can live with?”
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City Club Missoula Presents:
Transportation, Natural Resources and Energy:
A Missoula Green Builder Looks at Montana, Vietnam and Laos
Monday, June 13, 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee St.
 Missoula builder Steve Loken recently toured Vietnam by bicycle, talking with the people he met about the mixture of technologies they’re using as they look to the future. He found parallels and contradictions between Montana and the countries of Vietnam and Laos. For instance, what can we learn from the Vietnamese use of bamboo as we investigate the potential for small-diameter trees?
Loken has spoken and taught at conferences world-wide about sustainable community design and green building for 30 years. He leads the Missoula-based Loken Builders and founded the nonprofit Center for Resourceful Building Technologies. He served on the Governor’s Climate Change Advisory Task Force and is perennially looking for new and better ways to reduce Montana’s fuel costs and the state’s carbon footprint.
Reservations for the June 13 City Club Forum can be made by accessing our website for credit card reservations at www.cityclubmissoula.org. Or pay at the door by check. Please call 406-541-2489 by noon, Friday, June 10.
Please indicate if you want lunch ($11 for members, $16 for nonmembers) or the no-lunch option of forum only for $5. Please cancel if necessary by the reservation deadline. Payment is required for late cancellations and unclaimed reservations. We encourage you to find a substitute to claim your reservation.
DEQ Director Discusses Water Issues at May Forum
The May 16th forum was arranged by departing City Club Trustee Lily Clark. Lily will be graduating from Hellgate High School in June and attending Lewis and Clark College in the fall. Lily introduced next year’s Student Trustee, Colby Morris, before introducing Richard Opper, Director of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. His talk centered around the work the DEQ does, particularly with respect to water. His remarks included his perceptions on climate change and its potential impact on the planet and the water resources we all rely on.
In discussing residential development and groundwater quality, Director Opper spoke about the potential danger of having too many homes served by both private wells and individual septic systems sited closely together. Those arrangements are most suitable when development is spread out enough that the danger of contamination to the groundwater from septic systems in the form of bacteria, nutrients (like nitrogen and phosphorus) and pharmaceutical drugs is diminished through dilution. This approach is best for rural areas developed at very low densities.
In cities like Missoula where wastewater is collected and treated, there are still some concerns with respect to surface water discharges, but the system is much better monitored as a result of the DEQ’s regulation and oversight. The technology for detecting contamination to the water supply—say, from pharmaceuticals passed through the treatment plant—is still slightly ahead of treatment solutions, but it is getting better all the time. There are still potential threats to Missoula’s aquifer through chemical or petroleum spills on the ground, so members of the community need to continue to handle these substances
Members of the audience asked questions about our own local Mountain Water Company. Director Opper gave a history of Mountain Water Company and noted that Missoula is the only large city in Montana served by a private water utility. He said the DEQ conducts an annual assessment of the Mountain Water Company’s operation and the conclusions of the most recent report indicated that the Company’s system was very well run with nearly a mile of waterlines replaced in the past year. He noted that Mountain Water Company knows the state and federal regulatory standards for water quality and continually strives to meet or exceed them. Finally, he observed that Missoula’s rates, in light of being served by a private water utility, are in keeping with what users in other Montana communities pay to their publicly-owned systems.
City Club Missoula Presents:
Water: A Local, Regional and National Perspective
Richard Opper, Director of Montana Department of Environmental Quality
Monday, May 16, 2011
11:30-1:00
Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee
 Richard Opper will discuss the Missoula aquifer which supplies drinking water to Missoula residents. He will provide an overview of histric efforts to protect the aquifer and discuss future threats to the city’s ability to continue providing clean drinking water to Missoulians.
He will also talk about water quality issues nationally and the role of regulation and other tools in protecting water quality both locally and nationally.
Opper is the director of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. He also serves as the current president of the Environmental Council of the States, an association of the Department of Environmental Quality Directors from around the country; this role gives him a unique perspective of national water-related issues. Please join us for an interesting discussion about this important natural resource.
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City Club Missoula Presents:
Congressman Denny Rehberg
Face to Face: Delivering the Promise of
Transparency and Accountability
Thursday, April 28, 2011
11:30-1:00
Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee
City Club Missoula's special forum features Montana’s Congressman Denny Rehberg. The forum will include brief remarks from Congressman Rehberg about the work Congress is involved in and will be followed by questions from guests.
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City Club Missoula Presents:
Dr. Tod Maddux, M.D.
International Heart Institute of Montana
Monday, April 11, 2011
Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee
 Heart attack is still the leading cause of death in the United States despite the fact that in-hospital death rates have declined from 50% to 5% since the1960s. Dr. Tod Maddux, from the International Heart Institute at St. Patrick Hospital, will review significant advances over the last 20 years in understanding and treating cardiovascular disease. He will also address specific issues pertaining to heart disease in women, which has been recently recognized as specific problem in health care delivery. Most importantly, he will tell us what we need to do to combat cardiovascular disease in our families and communities, how to recognize the symptoms of heart attack, and what to do should you experience a heart attack or observe somebody else in the throes of a heart attack.
Dr. Maddux also will briefly describe the International Heart Institute and its annual Symposium.
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City Club Missoula Presents:
The Best Place Project: It's a New Day
for Economic Development in Missoula
with Mayor John Engen and St. Patrick Hospital CEO Jeff Fee
Monday, March 14, 2011
Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee
 Just more than a year ago, Missoula Mayor John Engen announced the launch of the Best Place Project economic development initiative. It’s a public-private partnership born of Mayor Engen’s notion that different times require different approaches and that Missoula can do a better job. The time is right for a robust, new, concerted approach that shows that Missoula is the best place in the Western United States to do business.
The founding board members have formed the Missoula Economic Partnership to execute the goals of the project. The partners have raised $2.3 million toward the goal of $3.2 million and have shaped a business plan. The plan calls for creation of 2,500 jobs paying an average annual wage of $37,000 during the next five years. It also includes work on business retention, business reinvestment and developing and redeveloping infrastructure.
 Mayor Engen and founding member and co-chairman Jeff Fee will discuss the project at City Club Missoula’s March forum. They’ll be joined by campaign facilitator James Grunke of National Community Development Services. Other founding members and co-chairs are Stacey Mueller, publisher of the Missoulian; Scott Burke, president and CEO of First Security Bank; and Dirk Visser, CEO of Allegiance Benefit Plan Management. Fee is also president of the Missoula Economic Partnership board.
To learn more about the Best Place Project and the Missoula Economic Partnership, please visit www.bestplaceproject.com.
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City Club Missoula Presents:
Joe Fanguy, UM Director of Technology Transfer
Monday February 14, 2011
Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee
 One of the core missions of The University of Montana is conducting research that benefits people all over the world. How does that affect the people of Missoula? Joe Fanguy, Director of Technology Transfer in the Office of Research and Development, explains it all in City Club Missoula’s February forum.
Fanguy will discuss a range of research at UM, from how researchers are breaking new ground in treatment of knee injuries and strokes, to helping to improve water quality in rivers and lakes. UM’s faculty and students conduct research that not only solves problems facing humanity but also provides the knowledge and techniques that create new jobs and add millions of dollars each year to the Missoula economy. Research at UM is creating some of the jobs our kids and grandkids will fill.
Fanguy has worked as the director of UM’s Office of Technology Transfer in the Office of Research & Development since 2009. He earned a doctorate in biophysical chemistry at Mississippi State University. UM is a research institution with strengths in life science, environmental studies, forestry and the physical sciences. Its pharmacy school consistently ranks in the top 10 for National Institutes of Health funding among U.S. pharmacy programs.
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City Club Missoula Presents:
The Ewam Garden of 1,000 Buddhas
Dr. Georgia Milan
Monday, January 10th, 2011
Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee
Dr. Georgia Milan, coordinator of the Dalai Lama's visit to the Ewam Garden, will give a presentation to City Club Missoula about the Garden and the visit by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Dr. Milan will share with the community the scope of this amazing project.
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Royce Engstrom at City Club Missoula
Dec. 13, 2010
Royce Engstrom has been The University of Montana’s 17th president for only two months, but he’s already found that many Montanans see the university as the heart of Montana and feel personal connections with it, he told the audience at City Club Missoula’s December forum.
“It’s been a real delight to go out and talk about The University of Montana around the state and around the country,” he said.
The University of Montana is key to the competitiveness and development of our state and the country, Engstrom said. That’s not just economically, but also in the social and cultural senses. It means that the stewards of the university have a responsibility to safeguard it as a place of opportunity, a place where there is free exchange of ideas and a place of vitality.
With that in mind, UM’s 10-year program features a series of strategies for training tomorrow’s leaders.
Student success and the rate of graduation must increase. More than half of UM students don’t complete their degrees. The United States ranks 12th in the world in the percentage of young people we educate. UM’s strategies include intensifying efforts at advising and tutoring.
Two-year education is more important than ever, and Engstrom plans to continue increasing the effectiveness and responsiveness of the two-year component. Today, 80 former employees of the Smurfit-Stone mill, which closed a year ago, are students at UM’s College of Technology. But they study in a building designed for 700 that now educates a student body of 2,400 students. A new building is a must.
Undergraduate education for the 21st century is a continual goal. UM is good at advising and at helping students choose majors. But there’s more. When students are still at the freshman level, they need to hear and discuss the big issues: How will we continue to feed the world’s population? How will we meet the challenges of conflict and peace? How we will address and shepherd our environment?
Students also need an off-campus, beyond-the-classroom opportunity, Engstrom said. “Capstone” experiences can involve internships and travel and learning first-hand from experts.
Graduate programs will receive close attention. Do we have the programs needed for today? Engstrom asked. Are we working in the growth areas of the graduate world?
Research and creative scholarship generate the products and services of tomorrow. Last year, UM generated $68 million in research expenditures. UM’s programs include some of national distinction, such as wildlife biology and creative writing.
Engstrom will turn his energies to building one of the most effective learning environments in the country, he said. That means attracting the best faculty and staff; nurturing the underlying infrastructure, from buildings to Internet connectivity; and maintaining the exciting climate on campus.
In the upcoming session, the Montana Legislature will hear three key messages from UM, Engstrom said. Keep the base level of funding healthy. Maintain the ability to compete for the best people. Help us fund a new College of Technology.
“It’s a pretty exciting time at The University of Montana,” Engstrom said. “I couldn’t be prouder of having this job.”
City Club Missoula Presents:
President Royce Engstrom
The University of Montana: Responsibilities and Opportunities
Monday December 13th, 2010 - 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 Pattee St.
 The University of Montana’s 17th President, Dr. Royce C. Engstrom, assumed his duties on October 15, 2010, after serving as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs for three years. He came to Missoula in 2007 from the University of South Dakota, where he served as Professor and Chair of Chemistry, Vice President for Research and Dean of the Graduate School, and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. As a faculty member, he taught Analytical Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, and General Chemistry, and conducted an active research program in electrochemistry and analytical chemistry.
Throughout his career, President Engstrom has been an enthusiastic participant in undergraduate research, first as a student, then as a mentor, and finally as an administrator working to develop undergraduate research programs. He is a Past-President of the Council on Undergraduate Research and has been active in the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, a federal program designed to help states build their research infrastructure and competitiveness. He served as Chair of the National EPSCoR Coalition and the National EPSCoR Foundation. President Engstrom is interested in science policy, higher education public policy, program development, and in building relationships between the various stakeholders in higher education.
Born in Michigan, President Engstrom grew up in Nebraska and received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His wife, Mary, is also an educator and has worked at both the K-12 level and the university level. They have two grown children, Tyler and Carey. In his spare time, Engstrom enjoys building traditional wooden boats and canoeing.
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City Club Missoula Presents:
Preview of the 2011 Legislative Update
Monday, November 8, 2010 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee St.
City Club Missoula presents a preview of the upcoming 2011 Montana legislative session. With the completion of the 2010 elections, Montana citizens will turn their attention to the issues and challenges facing our state. What will be on the legislative agenda in Helena in 2011? How will the make up of the Legislature predict how its business will get done? What issues should Montanans pay particular attention to? Joining City Club Missoula will be two veteran legislators from Western Montana who will share, among other observations, their assessments of the 2010 election, the likely leadership of the Senate and House, the condition of state finances, and the most important issues facing the Legislature.
 Jim Shockley (R) is a current Montana state senator elected in 2004 representing the 45th District in Ravalli County. He previously served three terms in the Montana House of Representatives from District 89, which is in Ravalli County. He serves as chair of both the Ethics and the State Administration Committees and as vice chair of the Judiciary Committee. He is also a member of the Fish and Game Committee. He and his wife, Marilee, live in Victor, Montana.
 Dave Wanzenried (D) is a current Montana state senator elected in 2006 representing the 49th District in Missoula. He previously served two terms in the Montana House of Representatives from District 92, which includes parts of Missoula and Mineral County (1990-92 and 2000-2004). He serves as vice chair of the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee and serves on the Senate Committee on Committees, Judiciary, and Finance Committees. He lives in Missoula, Montana.
City Club Missoula Presents:
Bear-Human Conflict
Monday, October 11, 2010 11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee St.
 Jerod Merkle, a graduate student at the University of Montana will describe what he and other scientists have learned about human-bear interactions and conflicts, Monday, Oct. 11, at City Club Missoula's Public Forum, from 11:30 a.m. -1: 00 p.m., Holiday Inn Parkside.
Merkle will discuss the project in which GPS collars were placed on black bears, some who forage in the Rattlesnake, Grant and Marshall creek areas. The radio collars relay data every three hours. In addition the investigators visited more than 150 feeding sites within the yards of Missoula residents including orchards, garbage sites and bird feeders which are significant food sources for these bears. Merkle will explain what has been learned so far about the bears' movement, feeding and other behaviors.
Following Merkle's presentation, attendees will discuss his points and have the opportunity to ask questions of the speaker.
City Club Missoula invites all area residences to attend this forum. All forums are open to the public and you do not need to be a member although reservations are required.
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City Club Missoula Presents:
Congresswoman Pat Schroeder
Friday, September 10th, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee St.
City Club Missoula will kick off its 2010-2011 series of luncheon forums with a talk by and discussion with former Colorado Congresswoman Pat Schroeder, Friday, Sept. 10, between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Parkside. Schroeder served 24 years in Congress, winning her first election in 1972, when she was just 32.
Although Schroeder ran as an anti-Vietnam War candidate, she earned a seat on the all-male Armed Services Committee and remained on that panel throughout her Congressional career. She was a major advocate for arms control yet worked to improve benefits, health care and living conditions for military personnel, crafting the 1985 Military Family Act and eventually chairing the Subcommittee on Military Installations.
The area in which Schroeder specialized, however, was women’s rights and reforms affecting the family. In many respects, she made these issues, shared by many middle-class Americans, the blueprint for her work: women’s health care, child rearing, expansion of Social Security benefits, and gender equity in the workplace. She was a vocal pro-choice advocate and a supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment. In 1977, she helped pass the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which mandated that employers could not dismiss women employees simply because they were pregnant or deny them disability and maternity benefits. Schroeder scored her biggest legislative successes with the passage of the Family and Medical Leave Act and the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act.
Schroeder decided to not seek another term in 1996. Following a brief teaching stint at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Schroeder was appointed president and CEO of the Association of American Publishers in June 1997.
City Club Missoula invites all area residences to attend this forum although reservations are required. CCM believes this is an unusual opportunity for citizens to hear about the career of a forceful Congressperson but to also share questions and ideas about the issues that face the country today.
*Please note that the Friday, Sept. 10, date is a change from the regular CCM Monday time. Forums will resume in October on the regular schedule of the second Monday of each month.
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City Club Missoula Presents:
AmeriCorps VISTA in Missoula
Who are they? What do they do? How does their work impact the Missoula community?
Monday, June 14, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee St.
AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) are full-time members serving nonprofit, faith-based, community organizations and public agencies to create and expand programs that bring low-income individuals and communities out of poverty. AmeriCorps VISTA members leverage human, financial, and material resources to increase the capacity of thousands of low-income areas across the country to address challenges and improve their lives and communities. After their terms of service, each VISTA member leaves behind lasting solutions to some of the toughest problems facing our communities.
The following local VISTA members will briefly present the projects they have been working on and will describe the challenges and successes they’ve encountered along the way:
Bethann Merkle, graduate of the University of Montana, will talk about her work for MUD (Missoula Urban Demonstration Project) and illustrate what an effective VISTA can accomplish in just one year.
Emilie Kohler, graduate of Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, will talk about her work at WEN (Watershed Education Network).
 Erin McPeck, graduate of the Eastman School of Music, will present her work on capacity building through grants writing, needs assessments and organizational components for the ZACC (Zootown Arts Community Center).
Hermina Harold, graduate of the University of Montana, will talk about her work with the NMCDC (North Missoula Community Development Center).
Jessica Stamler, graduate of Northwestern University, will speak about the literacy program she developed for pre-school children at the CDC (Child Development Center).
Levi McGarry, graduate of the University of Idaho, will talk about his work with the American Red Cross.
Niraja Golightly, graduate of the University of Montana, will present her work on a service-learning course she developed which spawned research on the Poverello’s homeless support facilities.
Following presentations and table talk, the speakers will be available to answer questions about their work and the impacts on the Missoula community.
If you want to be inspired about our future, come hear these amazing young people!!!!
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City Club Missoula Presents:
“DUI Treatment Court: Is it Possible in Missoula?”
With Judge Karen Orzech
Monday, May 10, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee St.
Montanans clearly enjoy their alcoholic beverages: Historically, our consumption of alcohol per person has been 15 to 20 percent higher than the national average. But alcohol abuse brings consequences that are not enjoyable, costing the Montana economy more than a half billion dollars each year in medical costs, lost wages and productivity. And driving under the influence of alcohol causes needless crashes and deaths.
Missoula County Justice of the Peace Karen Orzech and a 10-member team from the Missoula justice system have been receiving formal training in establishing a DUI Court for Missoula. The national training in Athens, Georgia, is based on best practices developed during the past 20 years in courts throughout the nation. The idea is a problem-solving court that makes a second DUI the last DUI.
“We want to stop people from coming back for their third and fourth DUIs,” Orzech says. “We want to treat the problem.”
Judge Orzech has served as Missoula County Justice of the Peace since 1999. She believes in a restorative justice system based on respect and accountability. Come hear her talk on this important topic.
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The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center &
City Club Missoula Welcome Senator Jon Tester
Special Date, TUESDAY APRIL 6, 2010
11:30a.m. to 1:00p.m.
Holiday Inn Parkside
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City Club Missoula Presents:
“Not as Advertised” - Are You Media Literate? What are the Effects of Modern Media on Missoula’s Youth Today?
Monday, March 8, 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee St.
"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn." ALVIN TOFFLER
City Club Missoula brings a presentation on media literacy. What are the effects of the messages that we, along with our children and grandchildren receive on a daily basis from modern media? Are we all learning attitudes and behaviors while viewing hours and hours of media that are not positive? Our presenter, Layci Nelson, will explore the principals of Media Literacy. She will explain how to deconstruct the messages we receive on a daily basis and will provide tips and tools to support efforts to raising healthy and resilient children, and young adults.
Layci Nelson, Missoula Forum for Children & Youth Coordinator, with over 10 years of experience working with youth in the inner city of Tacoma, WA
Go to our BLOG, start a conversation at http://cityclubforum.blogspot.com/
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College!Montana
A Talk with Sheila Stearns, Montana’s Commissioner of Higher Education
Monday, Feb. 8, 2010 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park, 200 S. Pattee St.
Montana’s higher education system is ready to meet the challenges of the next five years and beyond. Commissioner of Higher Education Sheila Stearns will talk about the why, how and who of some interesting directions in Montana. She’ll touch on topics ranging from the rising dual enrollment for high school students to the creation of a virtual community college.
 Stearns is a native Montanan who has served in a variety of senior administrative positions in higher education, including vice president of the University of Montana, chancellor of UM-Western, president of Wayne State College in Nebraska and, since 2003, commissioner of higher education in Montana. Her degrees are in English, history, and educational history and leadership. She has been committed to access to college for low-income students and interested in the connection between higher education and economic and workforce development.
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January Forum: What Cap & Trade Means to Missoula and the World
Monday, January 11, 2010
Are you embarrassed when you hear "cap and trade" come up in conversation? Do you always feel left out when conversations turn to the subject of cap and trade? Do your eyes gloss over whenever a news program mentions "cap and trade" Can you name the three things everyone should know about cap and trade?
If you think that climate change is caused by greenhouse gas emissions, or if you just think the world should be conservative and err on the side of caution, what is the best way to decrease our discharge of carbon into the atmosphere? Many economists favor a Cap and Trade system in which release of carbon would be capped and the rights to emit carbon would be bought and sold in a market similar to a stock exchange.
 Whatever the mechanism, raising the cost of dumping greenhouse gases will raise the cost of doing business. Who will pay those costs? What environmental impact will there be? How will Montana be affected?
Keegan Eisenstadt, CEO of Clear Sky Climate Solutions, will discuss what the issue means to all of us. Mr. Eisenstadt is just back from the Copenhagen Climate conference, and will share his experience with us.
 James D. Jensen, will also be joining the discussion. Mr. Jensen has been the Executive Director of the Montana Environmental Information Center (MEIC) since 1985. He attended Westminster College in Salt Lake City and holds a B.A. in Political Science from the Univ. of Montana (1980). Mr. Jensen served in the Montana House of Representatives from Billings where he was a member of the Natural Resources, Fish and Game, and Judiciary committees. Prior to taking his present position he was a lobbyist for various interests including the elderly, child care providers, and magistrates. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for Environmental Politics, the Western Mining Activist Network, and Montanans for Common Sense Mining Laws.
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