1990s

Betsy Cohen ’98 won second prize from the National Education Writers Association in the breaking or hard news category for newspapers under 100,000 circulation for her story “UM Athletics.” Betsy is a reporter at the Missoulian.

Matt Cooper ’92 was a prosecutor and an international and operational law attorney for the U.S. Army stationed for the last year about 50 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq. He prosecuted criminal cases against military members and advised U.S. commanders on international law issues and military operations. He wrote: “The conditions over here are harsh, with high temperatures over 135 degrees, enemy attacks on our compound on a daily basis and few creature comforts. The good news is that my education and training at UM, especially from the School of Journalism, have prepared me well. I use my journalism skills every day. I draft policies for U.S. forces concerning operations, treatment of local civilians, treatment of detainees, and interaction with the media.”
He also added this piece of advice: “If I could impress one thing on your students, it is that you never know where life will take you, but if you are sitting in a UM Journalism class, you will have to the tools to deal with it.” Matt earned a law degree from UM in 1996.

Karuna Eberl '95 completed a documentary film, "The Guerrero Project." She writes: "In 1827 the pirate Spanish slave ship Guerrero hit a reef off of Florida while being chased by a British warship. Forty-one died. For the 540 survivors it was only the beginning of a two-year ordeal, wrought with hijacking, escape attempts, slavery and political limbo...Today a surly band of treasure hunters, government archaeologists and African American scuba divers are each striving to be the first to uncover the wreck site." Eberl was the director-producer and made the film under her Colorado-based film production company, Wandering Dog Films. The company plans to take the documentary on the film festival circuit. To view a trailer, go to www.theguerreroproject.org.

Bill Heisel '94 was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Journalism for "Hospital Report Card" and was winner of the John Aubochon Freedom of Information Award from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors for "Toxic Treats."

Seanna O’Sullivan Hines ’97 has her own photo business in Juneau, where she does commercial work and freelances for news organizations. Her Web site is www.seassaosullivan.com, and she can be reached at seanna@ak.net.

Tara Kuchscherer King is working for a community radio station in Taos, New Mexico as projects director of the station's new production company. She writes: "After years of not seeing each other, Rebecca Huntington '95 and I have hung out a few times in the past year -- she's great, getting married, living in Jackson Hole, skiing a lot and, of course, writing a ton."

Jim Kittle ’94 teaches high school journalism in Idaho Falls, Idaho. He says he’d like to get back to Missoula permanently, but in the meantime makes the trek from Idaho frequently in the fall, as he never misses a Grizzly football game.

Two J-alums won awards from The Society of Environmental Journalists. Sonja Lee ’98 won third prize in the outstanding small-market reporting print category, for her story published in the Great Falls Tribune, “Asbestos Tragedy Escalates.” The judges wrote that her “comprehensive package on asbestos pollution in Montana is a shining example of how dedication and skill can elevate the impact of a small-market publication. Her work was impressive in its scope and brilliantly captured the scientific, cultural and human ramifications of asbestos pollution.” Lisa Kerscher M.A. ’99 won an honorable mention in the Outstanding Online Reporting category for her work on Learners Online NIE. The judges wrote that the “material, developed in conjunction with the Newspapers in Education program, is thought provoking and fact-packed, in contrast to the vapid, tame fare generally supplied to schoolchildren. It also invites exploration of the topics in great depth, in contrast to the typical newspaper Web site’s news and features sections.”

John "Butch" MacDonald '90 lives across the street from fellow J-School alum Dave Kirkpatrick and his wife and daughter in Helena. They spend a lot of time complaining about the neighbors. MacDonald hosts a regular poker game that includes fellow J-School alumni Kirkpatrick, Bob Anez, Kevin McRae and Mike Dennison. When time permits, MacDonald shows up at the Associated Press office in Helena, where he serves as news editor for Montana and Wyoming.

Dan McComb '93 lives in Seattle, where he has been running his web development business, Visual Contact, successfully for about five years. He's also a senior developer with Cypress Consulting, where he specializes in FileMaker and MySQL database design and development. He recently bought a home in Seattle with Lara Feltin, who is a professional photographer. Dan writes: "I haven't touched a camera in years myself, but it's nice to keep it in the family." Dan and Lara were married Jan. 18th.

Kevin McRae '88 works for the Montana Department of Administration as a labor relations specialist. Beth McLaughlin '90 works for the Supreme Court administrator's office as the court services director. Kevin had a banner year because he saw a Red Sox-Yankees game in Fenway Park and the Sox won the series. Kevin and Beth have two daughters -- Clara and Eliza. Beth writes: "Our youngest is a month younger than John and Lisa Firehammer's daughter and three months older than Dave Kirkpatrick's daughter. All three of the babies (and Clara and Max Firehammer) are adorable and brilliant as you would expect."

Kathleen McLaughlin is rooted in Shanghai, where she covers southern China, Hong Kong and Taiwan's economics, trade, environment, banking and loads of other things. She's also the Shanghai stringer for the San Francisco Chronicle and the Christian Science Monitor. She writes that she's busy beyond belief and gets to do a little bit of everything. McLaughlin was planning to ring in the New Year in 2004 in Laos with the other members of what she calls the "J-School in Asia club," Karen Coates and Jerry Redfern.

Thomas Nybo ’95 spoke to senior seminar classes last fall about his experiences as an embedded correspondent in Iraq. Tom was working for CNN and was assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade. He now writes and reports stories for UNICEF.

Linn Parish '95 works as a reporter at the Journal of Business in Spokane, where he has been for about seven years. Parish's wife, Molly (Warfield) Parish '96, is an attorney and works for the Washington state attorney general's office, representing the labor and industries division. They have a daughter Elizabeth Claire, whom they call Ellie.

Shelli Sniffen Johnson ’91 and her husband, Jerry, live in Lander, Wyo., and are completing their 10th year publishing the Yellowstone Journal. Shelli says that “things are going gangbusters, primarily due to the Internet and the fact we have YellowstonePark.com. I reserved the domain in late 1995 when the Internet was just beginning to come on strong.” Their site recently won the 9th annual Webby Award, given by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences. It competed in the tourism category against sites from New Zealand, Italy, Puerto Rico and the state of Maine. Johnson and her husband also publish a magazine called “99 Things to Do in Yellowstone County.” During recent years, they’ve evolved into a trip planning and tourism promotion company. Shelli and Jerry also compete in trail-running events. “I attempted the Lake Tahoe 50-miler a year ago, but dropped out at 42.5 miles after hallucinating from heat-related ailments,” Shelli wrote. A year ago they ran the Run to the Sun, up Haleakala Volcano in Maui, some 36.5 miles and 10,000 feet of gain. They also did a 33.5-mile run in the Big Horns. “Since becoming parents, we have called these athletic endeavors part of our ‘We can still do these things’ campaign, she said. Shelli and Jerry have two sons, Wolf, and Hayden.

Patricia Snyder '95 continues to work as a general assignment reporter for the Grants Pass Daily Courier. She is script supervisor for a film she helped to rewrite that is in production in Southern Oregon.

Elizabeth “Libi” Sundermann ’94 is working on a dissertation in modern European history at the University of California, Davis. It is a cultural interpretation of British/English primary school materials and education policies related to constructions of race, citizenship, and nationalism in the post-war period. After graduation from the J-School, Sundermann worked at the Missoulian, first as a copy desk intern and then as a copy desk and design editor. In ’96 she returned to UM to earn a B.A. in history, then moved to Kumamoto, Japan, in ’98 with her husband, where she spent a year teaching English at Aso High School. She has a daughter, Hayes Sundermann Kohler, who turns 2 in July.


André Verlöy ‘95 spent three years as an assignment editor at a television
station in Seattle before he enrolled in graduate school at American University in Washington, D.C. Since 2000 he has worked as an investigative reporter at The Center for Public Integrity, a non-partisan, non-profit organization where he has been mostly working on long-term international projects. A native of Norway, he has worked on several award-winning Center projects ranging from private military companies and
international arms traffickers to the privatization of water. He was part of a team of reporters that received the George Polk Award for online reporting in March 2004 for its reports on the reconstruction of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Ibon Villelabeitia ’93 is working for Reuters and has been based in Amman, Jordan, since November, where he is studying intensive Arabic. He was based in Colombia for four years, but spent much of last year in Haiti and Iraq reporting stories. He says his family is living in a house with lemon trees and bougainvilleas and he is learning how to play the oud (a peach-sized guitar), and spending weekends diving in the Red Sea.

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