Grizzly Smarts

Recently, a regional newspaper published a full page of letters of appreciation that acknowledged the style, class and grace of "Griz" players, staff and fans. Most impressively, six of the letters came from fans of our November 24th playoff opponents, the victorious Wolford Terriers of South Carolina. The letters were so heartfelt that I actually read each one twice.

They were especially meaningful in the wake of the disappointment we all confronted with the arrests of three Griz players in the week before the Montana State game. Young men, with nothing but opportunity before them, seemingly (let's remember they are not yet adjudged guilty) betraying the trust and friendship their community, friends and teammates had bestowed upon them.

As sad as that situation was for all involved, it was particularly disappointing to read the hateful and uninformed criticism of the University's leadership that spouted forth from some supposed fans in response to it. It is almost as if there are a few ghosts in the closet waiting for the first opportunity to toot their own horn and make an unfortunate circumstance even worse.

I will not reinforce falsehoods by restating them, but I do want to set the record straight. In life, just like in college, there exists a struggle for balance, and I would argue that under the leadership of University President George Dennison and his team we have clearly struck a proper balance between a focus on athletics and one on academics. The evidence is clear. Montana's athletic graduation rate for students entering college with the 2000-01 class was 67% as compared to an average for the other Big Sky Conference teams of 49% and the national Division I student-athlete average rate of 63%. Also, the cumulative grade point average for our 300 or so student-athletes is 3.1.

Though the athletic achievements of The Griz are well celebrated, let me just recite a few of the reasons they are so respected on the playing field. In football, we have achieved 10 consecutive Big Sky Championships and 15 straight playoff appearances. Our women's basketball program is the envy of the conference and our men's program has put our team in the NCAA final 64 round in 2 of the past 3 years. Everywhere you look, golf, volleyball, track & field, tennis, soccer, you name it, the Grizzly athletic program is respected both on and off the court, field or course.

The anecdotal evidence is pretty good too. Last year, my wife, Janet and I, along with other Griz fans, were privileged to tour the Adams Center with Athletic Director Jim O'Day. First, I was struck by how much things had changed there since my days long ago of attending the most awesome annual social event of the era, the Foresters' Ball. During the tour, we must have encountered about 30 to 40 student-athletes from the full spectrum of Grizzly athletics. They were clear eyed young men and women, who offered a firm handshake, ready smiles and absolutely oozed pride in both their athletic and academic achievements. Jim exchanged pleasantries with each of them in a style that seemed to combine friendship with parenting. It was obvious that he not only knew them, but he also knew their parents, their academic majors and how well they were doing in their classes too. We met several coaches as well, including Bobby Hauck. They, too, were proud of their "kids" from an academic as well as athletic standpoint. And though President Dennison was not on this particular tour, all who have spent anytime talking to him will tell you of his unwavering commitment to both academic and athletic excellence-and in that order. That is evident by UM Athletics' recent receipt of the 2007 Sterling Savings Bank President's Cup for being the most well-rounded athletic department in the Big Sky Conference. The award, the University's first ever, has its criteria based three-fifths on academic accomplishments and two-fifths on athletic achievement. Prior to 2007, the best finish by UM was 4th.

So, for all our Grizzly athletes, coaches, professors and staff, thank you for your dedication, hard work and excellence. It is fun to be on your side. Thank you for being the sort of bright beacon of excellence and goodsportsmanship that encourages letters of appreciation from opponents and their fans. Thank you, too, for realizing that though college athletics is but a fleeting phase of life, it instills elements of discipline, pride and teamwork that will serve you well in whatever work environment you choose for your life ahead.

Champions on the playing field and champions on the graduation stage-now that is something worth cheering for. "First Down - Montana!" Go Griz!

Don Loranger

Bigfork, MT

Loranger is a 1966 graduate of the University of Montana and currently resides in Bigfork.

As a former member and past president of the Flathead County Planning Board and a Professional Engineer, I have participated and been involved with the Stream Setback proposal being pushed by Flathead County. I am the Vice President of the Montana Environmental Consultants Association, a group of approximately 15 members consisting of Professional Engineers and Professional Environmental Consultants. I am a long time member of the Association of Conservation Engineers and a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Montana Society of Engineers and I hold Professional Engineering licenses in Montana, Washington and California.

At the October 18, 2007 Planning Board meeting on the Stream Setbacks, I testified that the flawed proposal being propagated by Flathead County is not based on science. The proposal consists of a one-size-fits-all proposal. The proposal has the exact same setback proposed for streams regardless of the specific characteristics of the stream, drainage area, riparian area and geological characteristics of the stream and area near the stream. It is apparent that the numbers proposed were pulled out of the air or copied from some other jurisdiction than Flathead County. I testified that the proposal must include site-specific data for every reach of every stream, river, creek and drainage area in Flathead County. Without that site-specific scientific data, these arbitrary setbacks should not be adopted, nor can they be legally defended.

Pulling arbitrary numbers out of the air or copying setbacks from other counties or states is not scientific and will not be accepted by the scientific community of the public. I would suggest that Flathead County scrap this effort to convince the public to accept this flawed proposal.

This flawed Stream setback fiasco is being pushed by nonprofit activist groups and government bureaucrats. Government Biologists that support this proposal are claiming that the setbacks need to be based on biology. They claim that they have biological studies that justify these arbitrary one-size-fits-all stream setback numbers. I wonder if their biological analysis is as good it was in the late 1970's during the Kokanee Salmon-micy shrimp fiasco that destroyed the salmon fishery in Flathead County.

I did not attend the Nov. 1, Planning Board workshop where two government biologists testified. I did talk to several people who did attend that workshop and their opinion was that the government biologist's testimony was disappointing and amateurish and had little if any real science behind it.

Many believe that Flathead County does not have the statutory authority to adopt such a flawed proposal and they may be right. But if Flathead County adopts a proposal that is not legally or scientifically defensible, there will be much trouble ahead for all of us.

Sincerely,

Jeff H. Larsen

Lakeside, MT