[The Montana Professor 19.2, Spring 2009 <http://mtprof.msun.edu>]
Linda Gillison
Classics
UM-Missoula
We open this spring's issue with what we hope will be the inaugural entry in a continuing series. Hans Zuuring (Emeritus, Forest Biometry, UM-Missoula), writes about the contributions which Geographic Information System (GIS) has made to work in land and resource management. According to Professor Zuuring, this technology has revolutionized the ways in which resource managers carry out their work by allowing digital maps to answer so many questions about the relationships between place and things in such a flexible way. We would very much like, in issues to come, to highlight articles from colleagues in other fields about books or discoveries or technologies which have changed the way their disciplines do business. If you would like to share with our readers some earth- (or field-) shaking development in your discipline, just contact the editorial board to initiate discussions.
Also in the "change" vein, Elizabeth Harper Garlish (Library, MT Tech-UM) delineates one of the ways in which libraries and librarians have changed in order to serve their publics better. The trusted reference librarian and the sometimes limited local reference collection have been enriched by a system of Virtual Reference, which no longer involves dusty tomes and short library hours but 24/7 service via chatroom, IM, or e-mail. As Professor Garlish points out, this resource is particularly valuable here in Montana, where libraries can be few and far between and collections not always as full as one would like. Just know that, when you access http://askmontana.org at 2:00 a.m., the librarian who responds electronically to your query will be in an appropriate (academic or public) network library somewhere in the country where the sun is still shining. Amazing!
John Cech and Bruce Wendt (College of Technology-MSU and Billings West High School, respectively) have collaborated on a most informative article about an issue which is facing us in Montana: options for dual credit, dual enrollment, and the like which intend to improve the high school experience for many seniors and facilitate their progress through post-secondary education. Since the situation in Montana now involves certification for any post-secondary faculty member who teaches a dual-credit class, we are also featuring an experience piece by editorial colleague Steve Lockwood (English, MSU-Northern), who is applying for the new "Class 8 K-12" credential. Professor Lockwood promises to keep the readership updated as his application for certification progresses.
Our colleague Henry Gonshak (MT Tech-UM) is spending the academic year in Poland supported by a Fulbright Faculty Exchange grant. He is teaching English at the University of Wroclaw and learning just the myriad kinds of things which a Fulbright Exchange professor is intended to learn. In this issue, we print an excerpt from his blog about history, culture, politics, education, and people.
For the Editor, grammar is, well, a hobby. Thus, you'll read some considerations of this moody verb—or verbal mood—in the Hobby Corner. If you have even more interesting hobbies than the subjunctive, do submit them to the editorial board, which is really hoping for something far more lively the next time!
In this issue, we also present two poems by John Bardsley (Mathematics, UM-Missoula), a Butte native who earned his B.S. from MT Tech-UM).
The sole review in the issue is by the Editor and focuses on Anthony Kronman's recent book, Education's End. Why Our Colleges and Universities Have Given Up on the Meaning of Life. In the historical context of higher education in the United States, Kronman explores what he sees as an unfortunate and costly failure of this community to address the "big" problems with our students: "What is life for?" "What, in the end, should I care about?" The book is guaranteed to get the juices flowing.
[The Montana Professor 19.2, Spring 2009 <http://mtprof.msun.edu>]