Banking on the Bear

First there was bottled water. Then salsa. Now there is Griz Gear, The University of Montana’s new venture into the world of fashion. Featuring T-shirts, sweatshirts and hats festooned with UM’s mascot, Ursus arctos horribilis, the Griz Gear line was developed by UM to expand its existing market of logowear and to do something quite unique--promote the University among visitors to the state. The clothing line debuted in gift shops in Glacier and Yellowstone national parks and is now found in gift shops around the state.

With nearly nine million visitors who spend $368 million a year in the state, UM is hoping to capitalize on the increasingly brisk sales of Grizzly logowear since the UM football team won the 1995 NCAA National Championship. Retail sales of UM logowear totaled $3 million last year, with royalties of 6 percent coming to the University.

But that’s not all. UM also wants to use Griz Gear as a recruiting tool. The specially designed Griz Gear hang tag will list the phone number of Admissions and New Student Services, so that prospective students can easily get enrollment information.

“We want to get our name in as many households around the country as possible,” said University Executive Vice President Bob Frazier, who spearheaded the project.

And it won’t stop there. The Griz food line, Grizzly Edibles, is being overhauled and will soon debut under the Griz Grub label, featuring Montana-made beef jerky, oatmeal, huckleberry honey, chocolate-dipped cinnamon bears, trail mix and other snacks.

Unveiling the West

Edgar Paxson’s painting, “The Buffalo Hunt,”was the highlight of an exhibit, “Masters of the Medium: Great Painters of the American West,” recently displayed at UM’s Museum of Fine Arts.

Greetings from the President

As you open this issue of the Montanan, you will share the curiosity I felt upon reading its evocative title: Body and Soul. Many of us will recall the old song from the 1930s--recorded by Coleman Hawkins, the Benny Goodman trio and Dinah Shore--that moved a generation. However, the words imply much more. This issue seeks to probe the University’s commitment to educating the whole person.

From the Greeks we know that education must engage the person in body and spirit. George Bernard Shaw warned us not to try to separate body and the soul: “They want to persuade us that we can keep our souls if we let them make slaves of our bodies.” The University of Montana takes a holistic approach in its curricular and noncurricular programs in order to assure the comprehensiveness and quality of its education. The term holistic, of course, refers to the effort to educate the whole person in ways truly responsive to the complex issues of our day, assuring that we never forget the human in our increasingly technological society. Along those lines, the University has supported a wide range of buildings, programs and research that address questions and concerns about the body and the spirit as well: a new campus recreation center, a neuroscience research program, a joint institute with St. Patrick Hospital that explores the nexus between medicine and the humanities, and research that explores the mystical experience. The University also boasts a campus environment that celebrates the diversity and richness of spiritual as well as cognitive development. We hope to help people prepare for meaningful and engaged lives. That is our primary mission.

In pursuit of that mission, the University is responsible for educating the next generation of citizens, elevating the level of public discourse, extending the frontiers of knowledge, exemplifying ethical behavior and preserving the culture. This issue offers an intriguing glimpse into the University in action.

George M. Dennison

A Century at the Lake

Jack Standford left, and former station Director Dick Solberg. BELOW: Celebration festivities included bluegrass music and rides on the Jessie B. research vessel.

On Sunday, July 11, students, faculty and the public thronged the Flathead Lake Biological Station to celebrate its hundred-year existence under the towering larch trees at Yellow Bay. Guests explored the station’s history at the station museum; toured the lake on the research boat, the Jessie B; and placed their names in a time capsule that will be buried until the station’s bicentennial. Speakers included President George Dennison; station Director Jack Stanford; Jessie M. Bierman, professor of ecology; and Professor Charles Goldman, a world-renowned limnologist from the University of California, who talked about the station’s past, present and future.

Morton Elrod established the Flathead Lake Biological Station in 1899 on the bank of the Swan River where Bigfork stands today. Elrod taught science in the field each summer, while pioneering scientific research in the area and influencing the establishment of the National Bison Range and Glacier National Park. By 1912 Elrod had moved the biological station to Yellow Bay, onto land granted to UM by the federal government. There the station’s summer program continued until 1922, when the station closed for financial reasons. It wasn’t until 1948, with the help of World War II surplus, that the biological station reopened. In 1977 it becamea year-round research facility that has become internationally recognized for its expertise in limnological study, particularly the limnology of Flathead Lake. Station scientists use their knowledge of the Flathead system to inform the public and regulatory authorities about the ecosystem’s health.

A Big Thank-You

We were extremely pleased with the response to our appeal titled “A Burning Issue.” Not only have we received nearly $2,000 in voluntary subscriptions, we also have received letters from readers from California to Georgia. Thanks to each and every one of you who paid for a voluntary subscription. Your donations will help us cover rising postal and printing costs so that we can continue to keep you in touch with the events, the people and the research at The University of Montana.

Excuse Us - & Have Some Lemonade

Apparently we rushed to the presses a little too soon last issue. We got many nice letters about Meg McNamer’s piece on Jeannette Rankin noting several errors in the piece. Our apologies. Jeannette Rankin was not elected to the Senate in 1936; she was re-elected to the House in 1940 and served until 1943. It was in the House that she cast the lone vote against World War II. Also, the Rankin ranch was not in the Bitterroot Valley; it was up Grant Creek.

However, in the spirit of making lemonade with life’s lemons, we thought we’d pass on just a few of the stories about Jeannette that came our way. David Line recalls his mother, a religious pacifist, and Jeannette Rankin, a political pacifist, having a number of spirited tête-à-têtes in his family home in Missoula.

Joann McCall says Jeannette Rankin’s vote against World War II was one of her strongest memories of the war. “I can still hear the voting on the radio and how furious everyone was at her,” she writes. “I hope it comes full circle and the one person who votes for war...will have everyone furious at him/her.”

Former Montana Constitutional Convention Delegate Bob Campbell ’63, J.D. ’67, said that when Rankin visited the 1972 Constitutional Convention as a guest speaker, he asked her what she would have done differently. “I wouldn’t have been so lady-like,” she replied. She also told Bob that, at the age of 92, she was considering running for Congress again. When Bob asked her why, she said, “It does a person good to run for Congress every thirty years or so. And besides, they might want to start another war, and I’d vote against that, too.”

Move Over, Amazon.com

The word “textbook” can strike fear into the heart of any college student. Fortunately, one aspect of textbooks just got a little less frightening: shopping for them. Students can now buy textbooks online at the University bookstore’s Web site, http://www.umt.edu/bookstore. The addition of textbooks is one of many improvements planned for the Web site. Other merchandise--such as general books, school supplies, logowear and computers--also will be available online. In addition, Web surfers will be able to send electronic greetings featuring Montana images or hunt for UM Bear Facts.

“It will be a fully interactive e-commerce Web site,” said Bryan Thornton, bookstore manager. “We’ve been selling on the ‘Net for a while, but we’ll have a more complete line. By the end of the year, we’ll have all our inventory available online.”

UM Documentaries Win Big

John Twigs

Two documentaries--one by a staff member and another by students--won top honors this summer. Along with kudos from the Communicator Awards, Telly Awards, the Parents’ Choice Foundation and Videographer Awards, John Twiggs of KUFM-TV has won a Rocky Mountain Emmy Award for his work on the “How the West is Fun” series. The regional award was in the Individual Achievement category for editing a program, documentary or magazine. Twiggs was the only winner from Montana this year. Each June the Arizona Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences honors television excellence with the Rocky Mountain Emmy Awards. The Arizona NATAS comprises Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Montana, as well as parts of California, Wyoming and Texas.

“How the West is Fun: Artists of the West,” a program that stars seventh-graders from Missoula’s Washington Middle School, premiered on Montana PBS in April. Other programs in the “How the West is Fun” series include “The Gold Rush,” “Explorers of the West” and “Native American Culture.”

A student documentary on Montana mining issues--which received a Non-Commercial Program of the Year Award from the Montana Broadcasters Association--has won a national Mark of Excellence Award from the Society of Professional Journalist. “Into the Earth: Hard Rocks, Hard Choices” earned the award in the Television In-Depth Reporting category of SPJ’s annual contest, which recognizes outstanding college journalism. “Into the Earth” was created by the 1998 Student Documentary Unit in UM’s Department of Radio/Television. The honor is the fourth national Mark of Excellence Award won by the department.

UM Axis for Regional Research

Scientists, researchers, educators and federal personnel will put their heads together in a new program designed to improve knowledge of resource management issues in the Rocky Mountains. As host of a Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, UM will be the axis for a regional effort by institutions of higher education and federal agencies to share research information and technical assistance. The Rocky Mountain CESU will cover a territory that stretches from Canada to Mexico, while three other pilot CESUs encompass the Colorado Plateau, the Southern Appalachian Mountains and the North Atlantic Coast.

The official kick-off of the CESU Network took place June 22, in Washington, D.C., with a founding ceremony hosted by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt.

“Basically, this means that we have established a virtual network of over 300 scientists and educators who are doing work in human, aquatic and terrestrial ecosystem research,” said Perry Brown, dean of UM’s School of Forestry. “We’ll be able to tap into the best scientists in this region to participate on projects.”

UM was selected because of its extensive commitment to natural resource education and research. UM’s connections with the University of Idaho, Montana State University, Salish Kootenai College, Utah State University and Washington State University also were key components of the proposal. Participating schools will be joined by federal agencies that include the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the Department of Energy, the National Park Service, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Working the Digital Economy

Hundreds of business leaders, small business owners and politicians, including Montana’s Conrad Burns and Max Baucus, packed into UM’s Gallagher Building for an intensive four-day seminar titled “E-Business: Opportunities, Challenges and Winning Strategies” that was designed to provide participants with the skills to succeed in an increasingly digital economy.

Sponsored by the UM-based Montana World Trade Center and UM’s School of Business Administration, the course offered practical advice from experts about the challenges and opportunities of the electronic marketplace, including information on the unique characteristics of the Web and marketing through online communities. Some of the keynote speakers included John Connors, vice president of Microsoft’s World Enterprise Group; Greg Simon, CEO of Simon Strategies and Vice President Al Gore’s former domestic policy chief; and Hap Klopp, president of HK Consulting and former CEO of The North Face.

The U.S. Department of Commerce recently released a report indicating that business-to-business e-commerce will reach $7 billion by next year and that 56 percent of U.S. businesses will sell their products via the Internet. The same report indicated that by 2006 roughly half of the private work force will be employed by businesses that produce information technology or heavily use associated equipment.

“We are at a critical juncture,” said Arnie Sherman, director of the Montana World Trade Center. “Montanans must embrace e-commerce now or risk being left behind in the new digital economy.”

UM Foundation Trustee Dies

Bruce Cook, vice chairman of the UM Foundation board and one of UM’s Rhodes Scholars, died on August 6, 1999. Orginally from Walkerville, Montana, Cook graduated from UM in 1957. He had a distinguished thirty-five-year career with Exxon Corporation, including fifteen years when he was based in Europe, before he retired in 1997 as vice president/controller. During his eight-year tenure on the UM Foundation Board, he served as treasurer and vice chairman and was active on the finance and audit committee. M

Distinguished Alumni Awards

A power company executive, an epidemiologist, a hotelier, an aviator, a television producer, a pharmaceutical company executive, a pharmacy professor, a lawyer and a bank president will be honored as outstanding alumni during the 1999 Homecoming festivities.

John J. “Jack” Burke ‘50, J.D. ’52, a native and resident of Butte, has worked for the Montana Power Company as vice president, executive vice president, and director and vice chairman of the board of directors.

Todd A. Damrow, M.S. ’79 and Ph.D. ’83 of Helena, works for the state of Montana as an epidemiologist on health concerns like E. coli, Lyme disease and hantavirus.

John M. Dixon ’59 built a successful career in hotel management, which included opening the presitigious J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington, D.C. He now teaches at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Linda McDonald DuMoulin, M.F.A. ’69, became the Army’s first female test pilot in 1975; in 1982 she became the first woman to command an aviation company in any of the military services. She now teaches at Medicine Creek Tribal in Tacoma, Washington.

Don Kinney ’64 is an executive producer for Denver’s public TV station, KRMA, where he is known for his Emmy-Award-winning weekly news review program, “The State of Colorado.”

Jerry Norskog ’73 of Bigfork was president of an international joint venture, Xian-Janssen Pharmaceutical in China. He also is co-founder of the annual Mansfield Pacific Retreat. He now lives in Bigfork.

Albert L. Picchioni ’43, an internationally recognized authority in toxicology and pharmacology, is now professor emeritus at the University of Arizona’s College of Pharmacy in Tucson.

Garvin F. Shallenberger ’42 of Laguna Beach was a senior partner with Rutan & Tucker, the largest law firm in Orange County, California. He also has served on the UM Foundation Board of Trustees since 1984.

Nels E. Turnquist ’47 of Whitefish and Tucson, Arizona, built a successful career as a bank administrator, retiring from the presidency of First Bank of South Dakota in 1985. He served on the UM Foundation Board of Trustees during 1978-1990.