When the North Texan arrived, I devoured it. With all the sad and bad news around, this issue was a beautiful bit of news. I read every word. It was so positive and uplifting, I needed that when I read it. Thank you so much for making my day.

Pat Cheek ('65)
Denton

Good Things on Campus

I always read the North Texan from cover to cover. I can't compliment your team enough on their skill and passion to capture the amazing stories about students, alumni, faculty and staff. It is amazing the contributions the UNT family is making in the fields of research, community service and academics. So many good things are happening on campus -- from the ground-breaking advancements in engineering and physics, to the social work undertaken by PUSH to assist foster care students, and the advocacy of the "People of St. John's Team" to preserve a historic neighborhood.

Commendations to Erin Cristales, Jessica DeLeón and Jill King as well as all your other writers and editors for their outstanding work to develop such rich content. Your design and photography team also contribute so much to make your publication world-class.

Greg Yearsley ('78, '83 M.J.)
Garland

Sum Total

I was very sorry to hear of the passing of Dr. James W. “Bill” Giese. When I finished my bachelor’s degree in three years in the summer of 1977, my goal was to get an M.B.A. through North Texas with the “extra” year. Dr. Giese went out of his way to procure a UNT teaching fellowship and sponsor a TXCPA scholarship. With these funds, I was able to finish my M.B.A. in the fall of 1978. I will always be grateful for his generosity and encouragement. 

A university is a collection of individuals creating a sum total. The UNT total is better for having Dr. Giese be in the collection. 

Brian S. Brennan (’77, ’78 M.B.A.) 
Irving 

Bright Spots

Dr. J.K.G. Silvey wasn't just a 1930s professor. I had him for Zoology 101 as a freshman in 1960. When I told other students who I'd signed up for, they all said "Oh, no, he's so hard! " But he was a great lecturer, and as head of the department, he had his choice of lab assistants, so lab was interesting, too. In the spring I signed up for Botany 101 with Dr. Archibald Roach, also head of the department, also deemed to be hard, also the one with the best lab assistants, and a lecturer who managed to make us laugh often. Two classes with the reputation of being "booooorrrrrring" were bright spots of the year.

Diane Barentine ('63)
Dallas

Lab Work

I attended NTSC from 1955 to 1959. I was a chemistry major and lucky to work in Professor Price Truitt's lab all four years at $200 a month! (What would that be in $$ today? And tuition was $25/semester!!) My task was to clean up glassware used by his grad students in the synthesis of various compounds directed at treating malaria and similar parasite diseases. It just might be worth investigating Truitt's work, perhaps some of the earliest research of significance from North Texas, certainly for malaria.

Don Meyer ('59)
Trumball, Connecticut