Alumni Events September 16-24 Alumni Campus Abroad - Stirling, Scotland 26 Tailgate* Weber State, Ogden, Utah October 2-3 Homecoming 10 Tailgate* Cal State Northridge, Northridge, Calif. 24 Tailgate* Eastern Washington University, Albi Stadium, Spokane, Wash. November 14 Tailgate* Cal State Sacramento, Sacramento, Calif. 15 Alumni Gathering, Atlanta. Ga. 21 Griz-Cat game, Missoula 21 Griz-Cat satellite parties - see our ad for locations or access http://www.umt.edu/alumni * Tailgates begin two hours before kickoff time. For more information on these events, call the UM Alumni Office at 1-800-862-5862.

UM and Yates-Chemically Bonded
by Joyce H. Brusin

Leland M. Yates ’38, M.A.’40, had a surprise waiting for him when he took time away from his sixtieth class reunion festivities this spring to attend the dedication of UM’s new chemical storage building. During his thirty-one years as as a chemistry professor at UM, Leland’s duties included looking after the vast store of chemicals needed by the department. The storage was never what Leland and his colleagues would have wished. His wife, Leola Cote Yates, remembers Leland using pulleys to hoist chemicals up to attics. Twenty years after his retirement, Leland witnessed the construction of a 3300-foot, single-story building for the safe and accessible storage of chemicals. Leland and Leola stood side by side on May 15 as chemistry department chair George Woodbury surprised him with the dedication of the Leland M. Yates Chemistry Stores Building.

When his faculty colleagues petitioned the Board of Regents to name one of UM’s newest buildings for Leland, they noted his devoted service to students, his interest in developing a better chemistry curriculum and his long career teaching at a variety of levels.

Leland and Leola Yates at the dedication of the newly erected Chemistry Stores Building.

One of Leland’s former students, Jean’ne M. Shreeve ’53-vice president for research and graduate studies at the University of Idaho, a former member of the board of the American Chemical Society and past president of the UM Alumni Association-remembers how Leland helped his students acquire the lab techniques necessary for accurate and precise results. “There were a whole bunch of us who wouldn’t have made it through a degree in chemistry if it hadn’t been for Lee,” she says. In a letter to support the naming of the new chemistry facility in his honor, she wrote: “He was as cheerful and helpful to the most obtuse freshman chemistry student as he was to the most distinguished person on campus. He is a very bright, yet unassuming and humble, human being whose loyalty and service to his alma mater have been outstanding. And, he has the most wonderful giggle!”

Now a professor emeritus, Leland volunteers his time with Missoula’s Meals on Wheels program and bowls weekly in the UM league. All four of the Yates children graduated from UM: Lee and Patricia in ’64, Daniel in ’72 and Janice in ’89. Perhaps some of the twelve grandchildren and fifteen great-grandchildren will do the same!


On the Trail of Montana Eddy
by Joyce H. Brusin

Paddy MacDonald issued a challenge in the spring 1997 Montanan to the real Montana Eddy, author of historic UM classroom graffiti, to reveal his or her identity in a Class Note. Montana Eddy has chosen to peek around the corner at us, but continues to keep hidden. In a March 1998 letter-postmarked Missoula-Montana Eddy wrote to Alumni Association Director Bill Johnston. He merely hinted at his identity and then issued a list of demands!

“Hello U of M!” Eddy writes, “I hear that there are a couple of questions surrounding the who, what, and the five Ys of Montana Eddy. Well, there is a Montana Eddy, and that person did graduate from UM, not so long ago in terms of memories, but maybe long ago in years. Montana Eddy was not just a typical student but a very diverse and inquisitive individual as witnessed by the number of buildings that bear the signature.”

Eddy goes on to speculate about the campus graffiti- make that “signature”-for which he is famous, then he gets sentimental again. “The years spent at UM, moving through the academic maze and new-found interests, continue to be an asset to draw upon in life,” he writes.

Eddy follows those compliments with various demands. Montana Eddy knows what they are. We haven’t responded to him earlier because he gave no return address, and his letter arrived just after the deadline for the spring Montanan. So, Montana Eddy, if you’re reading this, let Bill hear from you again. So he can be certain of your identity, repeat your demands.


A Letter from Our New President
A Butte native, Mike O’Neill is a 1975 graduate of Butte Central High School and a 1980 graduate of UM’s School of Business Administration. He was a delegate to the Alumni Association’s House of Delegates; president and director of the Butte/Silver Bow chapter of the Grizzly Athletic Association; state representative on the Grizzly Athletic Association’s board of directors; and co-founder of Butte’s annual Griz/Cat golf tournament. Mike has been employed by Montana Power Company for more than seventeen years and is currently director of asset management for Continental Energy Services, a Montana Power Company affiliate. Mike writes:

Mike O’Neill ’80

I am truly honored and privileged to serve as president of The University of Montana Alumni Association during its ninety-seventh year. I appreciate the fine work that has been accomplished by my predecessors and will do my very best to continue the high standards that the association has established in serving the needs of the University, its alumni, students and friends.

Each year in the fall issue of the Montanan, the incoming President of UMAA is given the opportunity to share a message with alumni. Over the past several years these messages have been very informative, even inspirational, in nature. I would like to deviate slightly from this practice. Being from Butte, I am allowed-if not expected-to do the unexpected.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the highly dedicated and professional UMAA staff. If not for their efforts, UM would be a little less special for all of us. I believe that most alumni are aware of the involvement of UMAA staff in major campus events, such as Homecoming, Commencement and Charter Day. I would venture a bet (See, I told you I was from Butte!) that most of us do not realize the extent of their efforts, however, or recognize the magnitude of their contributions in less visible areas. I’m thinking of data-base management, satellite TV parties, alumni gatherings around the country, work with the UM Foundation and athletics, as well as special projects with various UM schools and organizations. While one would expect that a paid staff would perform its work in a professional and competent manner, our UMAA staff has a love for the University and its alumni that goes far beyond what could be expected of anyone.

In today’s hectic world it is easy to forget to say “thank you” to those who make subtle, yet profound, differences in our lives. Bill Johnston and his staff, both present and past, have made a difference in my life. I am taking this opportunity to say thank you to them on behalf of the many thousands of UM alumni in whose lives they have also made a difference. I encourage those alumni to express their appreciation to Bill and his staff at the earliest opportunity.

Left to right on the front porch of the Maple Street Inn: John Lynch, Barbara Tascher Lynch ’57, Jim Uglum ’55, and Marlene Gaugler Uglum x’56.

Reunion Over Breakfast
The following was submitted by Barbara Tascher Lynch ’57

My husband, John, and I took a trip this spring to visit our daughter, who is a school teacher in Carrollton, Georgia, near Atlanta. She made reservations for us at the Maple Street Inn-a bed and breakfast a few blocks from where she lives. The inn, built in 1910, is a lovely old home on the historic register. We discovered, much to our amazement, that its owners are Jim and Marlene Uglum, who also hail from Montana and were at UM the same time I was! We had a wonderful visit with them, especially when Jim brought out the old yearbooks! We knew lots of people in common, although we hadn’t known one another.