The highly respected Chronicle of Higher Education wrote in their December 15^th report titled, Chiropractic Accreditor Gets Extra Scrutiny from Federal Panel, “After four hours of public comments and deliberations, the federal panel that advises the education secretary on accreditation issues approved a standard motion recommending to continue a chiropractic-program accreditor’s authority if it can clean up its act within a year.”  There was no other agency mentioned in such a light of the entire days hearing.  Being there, it was plainly obvious that the CCE had finally drawn such unusual attention from the federal government for its tactics and related mountain of violations.

While other groups’ hearings are scheduled for a mere fifteen minutes, the hearing over the status of the CCE was scheduled for an hour and forty-five minutes.  Due to the overwhelming number of violations the NACIQI had found against the CCE and the roughly twenty individuals there to testify to the problems in the CCE, the hearing ran OVER FOUR HOURS.

The profession had a tremendously negative reaction to the proposed Standards the CCE sought to change over the past year.  Thousands of DCs in the field, as well as students in our schools spoke out vehemently against this over-reach by the CCE.

The hearing before the packed room began by the CCE making a statement to explain their record-setting number of violations.  After having over 3,000 complaints on the proposed Standards filed to the CCE by the profession, Dr. Wickes of the CCE stated, “This culminated in the unanimous approval of the new Standards in January 2011.”  The complaints against the changes to the Standards at that time were nearly all those filed in the process currently by the government.  It was obvious that the CCE turned a deaf ear to the will of the profession.

Many groups stepped forward during the hearing to offer testimony of the massive errors within the CCE, most of which were already enumerated by the government investigation of the CCE.  These included the International Chiropractors Association (ICA), the International Federation of Chiropractors and Organizations (IFCO), Foundation for Vertebral Subluxation, Doctors for Excellence in Chiropractic Education (DECE), Movement for Chiropractic Quality and Integrity (MCQI), and others that came of their own accord from across the country to hold the CCE accountable for their monopolistic actions.

Once the individual testimonies began, Dr. Clint Erickson, a recent graduate spoke to the mandate from Secretary of the Dept of Education, Arnie Duncan, when he had previously said of the NACIQI, “This committee will play a vital role in ensuring the highest standards of accountability for accrediting agencies. These agencies have the formidable task of assuring the schools participating in federal student aid programs provide a quality education to their students.”  He asked for Committee to request data to show the legitimacy of the CCE’s policies in education.  “The results reflect the educational dictum of the CCE,” Dr. Erickson said.  He quickly realized the shortcomings of the CCE sanctioned education by stating, “It is my observation that the current direction of Chiropractic education turns out licensed Chiropractors that are ill prepared for the field of Chiropractic.”

There was much concern over several points, one of which is the CCE’s attempted removal of the term “subluxation” this past year.  While it was reinserted with a far lesser degree of emphasis, it is akin to the dental profession’s accrediting body removing the emphasis upon the term “teeth”.  What might motivate an accrediting body to make such a flagrant anti-Chiropractic move?  Supreme Courts have ruled that to have a separate health care profession you must legally show a separate theory of “cause and cure” from all other professions.  If we remove the vertebral subluxation, we lose a legal right to exist.  To lessen its emphasis is a greased pole toward elimination.  The “Bible of law”, Black’s Law Dictionary, is used to determine legal definition at a Federal level.  In his testimony, Dr. John Bomhoff suggested the NACIQI consult it for reference in this matter.  It defines Chiropractic this way:

“—a method of detecting and correcting by manual or mechanical means structural imbalance, distortion or subluxations in the human body to remove nerve interferences, where such is the result of or related to distortion, misalignment or subluxations in the vertebral column;—the specific science that removes pressure on nerves by the adjustment of spinal vertebrae.”

Diminishing, in any way, the importance of the vertebral subluxation is to condemn the profession to its end.  Dr. Campanale of IFCO testified, “The argument of the CCE will likely be that they included the term subluxation within the meta-competencies. Please note that the term subluxation was noted ONCE within these meta-competencies and essentially is buried within an unrelated paragraph.”   

One of the NACIQI Committee members, Anne Neal, JD, asked a pointed question, “Is there some reason that the CCE can’t accommodate the vertebral subluxation folks, so that consumers have a choice?”

Dr. William O’Connell of the ACA answered her in this way:
“I think, Ms. Neal, what you’ve heard today is that it is doing that.”  He continued, “If you look at the folks that sit on the Council of the CCE and represent the spectrum you are referring to—there is simply NO (his emphasis) lop-sided nature to that see-saw that is all over here on the so-called liberal (scope) side.  At least I don’t see it that way.  I could not identify that group for you.  There is no listing of the ship to one side in the CCE.”  He also said, “It is the unanimous opinion of the leaders of the ACA that they have high regard for the CCE processes.”  Unfortunately for the credibility of this statement, several articles by the former president of the ACA are in direct opposition to this ACA testimony.

When asked why the CCE felt is necessary to change the language surrounding the vertebral subluxation, Dr. Wickes of the CCE said, “This particular phrase that was in there was not one upon which we were doing a site evaluation and making accreditation decisions on.  So, it wasn’t serving and evaluative service for the agency (CCE).”  How telling it is that the CCE does not evaluate the teaching of being able to locate and correct a vertebral subluxation, even though it is required to care for ANY patient of Medicare age each and every visit.  So, if a school has the mission of teaching the detection and correction of the vertebral subluxation, the CCE has nothing to offer them on that mission.  Not only that problem, but graduates of some schools can learn nothing of the vertebral subluxation at all, rendering them legally incapable of offering care to patients of Medicare age.

There were some that testified on behalf of the CCE, such as Kathleen Linaker of D’Youville College.  She extolled the virtues of the CCE and was coincidentally named to the CCE by “election” a mere eight days later.  Interestingly, her school in New York and their special treatment by the CCE was noted by the Dept of Education Committee.  One member, Cameron C. Staples, JD, was strikingly disturbed to find a sense of favoritism and willful ignorance on the part of the CCE in protecting students, “A site visit is supposed to be made within six months (of a new school, such as D’Youville) and the institution opened a branch in 2009 and the site visit did not take place until 2011.”  It certainly would be no surprise that a school that was allowed to run for years before the CCE performed their government assigned role and now had a staff member praise the CCE in their testimony.  We are to believe her testimony to protect the CCE had no influence on the process of her appointment onto the CCE itself a week later.

The CCE has a documented history of wrongfully abusing some Chiropractic schools while, in the case of D’Youville, putting students at risk by not adhering to the requirements in the CCE’s own Standards.  Referring to the case where a Federal judge ruled against the CCE, Dr. Mattie Leto testified, “That decision prompted a federal judge to refer to the cartel like actions of the CCE as “an aggressive group of leaders of the eight liberal chiropractic schools, who had only one-third of the chiropractic students, had undertaken a series of corporate manipulations in order to reduce the representation and dominance of the eight conservative chiropractic schools (of which Life University was one), who had approximately two-thirds of all chiropractic students; that these corporate manipulations, which may very well have violated CCEʼs corporate charter, were calculated to give dominance to the liberal minority group over the conservative majority group.”

It was also brought up, by those testifying for the CCE, that it was necessary in the process of allowing students to obtain Title 4 Student Loans to attend school.  NACIQI did not buy into this argument and said to David O’Brien of the Association of Chiropractic Colleges, “It appears to me that this is not a Title 4 issue at all.”  To which, O’Brien agreed.  This shattered the “fear tactic” of losing loans for students that had been promoted through some of the pro-CCE testimony.

One of the points often raised by those that sought to protect the status quos of the CCE was that the CCE is necessary for licensing.  In fact, the ACA claimed, “You’ve got 43 of the licensing bodies of states and territories that do require CCE accreditation.”  The ACA continued, “The fact of the matter is, if CCE went away, just for the sake of this discussion, and you didn’t have that, then you’ve got the situation where you’ve got a situation where 30-some odd states where DC’s simply would not be able to be licensed at all.”  This is an interesting point, considering that a member of the Minnesota Bd of Chiropractic Examiners was asked recently what needed to be done to remove this CCE-protective language from the Minnesota regulations.  When Dr. Fidler was asked in an online forum if he would seek an Attorney General’s Opinion from the Minnesota official, he claimed it was not his job.  If not the gate-keeping state body that determines the qualifications for licensure in Minnesota, then whose job is it?  If a member of the board of any state refuses to even consider helping fix an obvious potential problem, they should leave their position or be removed by the profession.  Incidentally, this past week, this Minnesota Bd official, Howard Fidler, that shirked any responsibility in changing the CCE-protective language, was named to the “Academy of Site Team Visitors” of our schools programs for the CCE on January 5th.  It seems obvious by actions such as this and the one of Dr. Linaker above, that there may very well be a transparency problem in the CCE and being a “loyal protector” has its privileges when it comes to filling seats on the CCE.

This subject of the power of the appointed Site Teams was noted by the Dept of Education during the hearing.  Site team visitation teams and that process was used to manipulate schools using draconian tactics holding further accreditation of a school hostage in order to enforce liberal scope views, no matter the stated mission of conservative scope schools.  This meant that even though the CCE Standards may seemingly allow a school to choose not to encroach into medicine, the Site Team could use their judgment to force compliance to what they preferred over the school’s stated mission.  A student may therefore choose to go to a school that focuses upon the detection and correction of the vertebral subluxation, but that school may not be able to fulfill the wishes of the student.  You would agree that it seems hardly fair to deprive a student of their chosen direction in their OWN education, if it is within the written Standards of the CCE.  The Hearing Committee questioned whether that could be done properly under the current CCE.

A student from Life West, Sarah Mongold, came from across the country to have her voice heard on behalf of students in Chiropractic.  Her testimony caused many on the Education Committee to feverishly make notes of how the CCE “controls” the election process under a veil of questionable tactics:
“The nominations are then forwarded to the nominating committee, which is where the potential problem arises.  The chair of the nominating committee is appointed by the current council, and the remaining members are appointed by the current council chair.  Consequently, only the interests of the current council – and not those of the profession at large – are represented in the nominating committee.  Once the committee has been formed, there is no regulation of what the committee must do with the received nominations – which could potentially allow them to ignore nominations that have been received or create their own nominations altogether.  Then, as there are insufficient guidelines regarding the structure of the ballot, the committee has the power to create a “head to head” format where one candidate is pit against another.  This limits the free will of the voters as the election is no longer decided by who has the most votes. As a result, the council is potentially able to manipulate the election process and perpetuate its own agenda – without regard to the will of the profession as a whole, and without regard to the goal of graduating excellent CHIROPRACTORS who will be successful in practice.  This is a clear conflict of interest, and therefore prohibited by the secretary’s criteria.  Urgent attention is required in this matter so that I, and my fellow students, may become a part of a profession with an accreditation agency that is beyond reproach in terms of its policies and procedures, and is fair and inclusive of all.”

On the other side of that testimony was the Vice President of Academic Affairs from the Western States school in Oregon, Gary Shultz.  “My experience with the CCE Standards revision process was that is was THE (his emphasis) most transparent process—the most inclusive process and the most outreaching process, that I have had the privilege and opportunity to participate in,” he professed.  This is in stark contrast to the fact that many thousands of revision forms were sent in by both the students and the field alike, and summarily dismissed, according to former Life West president Dr. Gerry Clum in his newsletter.  He wrote at the time of the revision process that the number and severity of complaints from the field and students had little discussion at all in the CCE meeting.  Then again, Gary Shultz began his testimony stating that he has previously served on the CCE in “various roles.”  This may be why he was so adamant of the infallibility of the CCE in his view.

It was heartening to hear a student offer a non-emotional honest appraisal of what she had discovered in her research.  This point was later raised again by the Committee in their comment session at the end of the hearing in the NACIQI berating of the CCE.

The need of having the CCE for state licensure was repeated by others including the FCLB’s Lawrence O’Connell.  He claimed that the CCE is important to, “show that graduates have graduated from an accredited program in all 54 jurisdictions.”  “To change that statute will take anywhere from one to four years,” the FCLB official stated.  Factually the CCE is not necessary in 54 jurisdictions either.  In truth, even if every state required the CCE accreditation, which they certainly do not, it would legally equate to a graduate bringing a live unicorn to the state Chiropractic Board as an offering in order to gain a license.  If the CCE were de-listed, as nearly occurred, the various state Attorney Generals would offer an opinion and would negate the rule as being unenforceable.  How can they ask for the something that is impossible as a requirement?  It is unlikely that those that made the claim that the heavens would fall without the CCE in place, did not know that such restrictive rules would be deemed illegal in courts.  Yet, that same argument was being used the day after the hearing by ACA press releases all over the profession in an attempt which seemed only to do damage control and frighten the field and students into supporting the CCE over their best interests.

Dr. Bomhoff, as the last to testify, brought much into focus of what had been said throughout the day by saying, “You have heard speakers here today (on the CCE’s behalf), say that everything is ok—that there are no problems with the CCE.  Yet, the 41 violations listed and cited against them (by the Dept of Education), 4,000 letters in opposition from practitioners in the field regarding the changes they are putting forth.”

After the testimony and further questions from the NACIQI of the CCE breaking rules, the Committee struggled over language to use to vehemently rebuke the CCE at a higher level.  They sought to find a way to set the CCE far beyond the other groups that had come before the Hearing Committee and were asked to come back in 12 months.  Finding they could not do more than either renew them or not renew them, they chose the shortest possible term for renewal and gave them a stern lecture as the CCE had been caused more violations than any agency that had come before this NACIQI Committee in its history, according to one Committee member.

Each and every person and organization testifying on behalf of the profession to the inadequacies of the CCE gave an articulate and well thought out testimony.  Each was allowed only three minutes, often followed by questions from the NACIQI Committee.  The careful planning on their behalf of those that testified against the CCE was apparent.  Often the NACIQI members could be seen making quick notes of what some had to say of the CCE’s indiscretions.

A turning point in the hearing occurred when Dr. Judy Nutz-Campanale of the IFCO laid out a clear concise point that the CCE had violated the Dept of Education’s Standards section 602.13B.  This rule requires the CCE to have the support of the profession and students.  Since the complaints against the CCE overshadowed a sliver of written compliments 3,909 to 30; a factor of 130 to 1, the NACIQI Committee realized what the IFCO representative was saying had great weight.  The CCE was told to come back showing the support of the schools, the field and the students they were supposed to be protecting.  The schools are afraid to oppose the CCE as the last to do so, lost their accreditation.  The schools will feel no choice but to back the CCE.  The field can be cherry-picked in a carefully designed survey to show a number support them.  It is the students that are the wild card.  Media, such as Facebook, has brought the students to be able to find truth in a matter such as this.  Sites there like the “CCE URGENT Massive Complaint Campaign”, have given students the opportunity to interact with the field one on one.  Links to audios of this Dept of Ed hearing can be found there as well.

This is the issue which students face right now.  The best way for the CCE to show student support is by frightening them into buying the story that it will be impossible to get licensed when they graduate to get students to sign loyalty oaths.  The longer they wait to get those oaths, the better chance the students will find out the truth and NOT support them.  It is quite likely students will be assaulted with a barrage of misinformation this month to prevent true investigation by the students.  On behalf of the field, we hope you will read this article and also listen to the CCE hearing audio recordings that will be accessible online at this point and make an EDUCATED decision, not one of fear.  To believe the field will not aid students in obtaining licenses in those states where the CCE was required, is not reality based.  We will collectively fight for you in each and every such state and see that you are given the same right to be licensed as was secured by the field a generation ago.  We are with you!  Get educated and don’t be used as pawns.

On Saturday, July 16, 2011, after years of diligently working out and months of restrictive dieting, fourth quarter Joe Mushanlansky did what few people have the drive or guts to do; he stepped onto the stage at the Georgia World Congress Center and dominated the competition at the NPC Georgia State Bodybuilding, Bikini & Figure Championships, taking away three first places out of the four categories. Joe’s first place finishes happened in the following divisions: Junior Middle Weight, Junior Overall, and Open Middle Weight. The win in the Open Middle Weight division not only qualified him for Nationals, but he was also awarded a pretty sweet battle axe!

So how did a skinny freshman swimmer end up in the intense world of bodybuilding? You could say it was love at first sight. The moment Joe walked into a weight room to start lifting to improve his swimming, he was hooked. Joe simply loved the gym. Then to further fuel his drive, his sister was dating a bodybuilder and Joe went to watch his first show. It was at that moment he knew that someday, he too had to be on that stage. At that time he didn’t know what it took to make it to that point. In April 2007, he set his sights on doing his first show the following year.

Back then, with the help of his sister’s boyfriend, Joe started on a strict diet and intense work-outs. He competed in his very first show on September 6, 2008. Joe had no idea just how restrictive the diet was, so after avoiding many sweet, delicious food temptations starting at 14 weeks out prior to the show, Joe competed in the Tri-State Championships in Eerie, Indiana. His first time on stage was a mixture of euphoria and nervousness. He was happy to be done dieting, knowing he could now eat whatever he wanted, but he was also being very critical of himself and his presence on stage, always wondering if he had done enough. By the last class his nerves had subsided and he was able to put on a huge smile for the judges. To his delight and amazement, he won the biggest class of the night!

Since bodybuilding does not happen overnight, Joe took three years before competing again. He felt he was too skinny his first show and wished to improve upon his earlier success. He, along with the judges, were thrilled with the results. With the help and critical eye from friend and coach, Dan Newmire, a Master’s program student and bodybuilding expert, Joe went from initially 154 pounds on stage, to 168.5 pounds on stage, with fuller, more dense and symmetrical muscles.

If you have class with Joe, or see him in the halls at school, he seems happier, more talkative and more fun. Why? He is now free to eat whatever he wishes! To make his dream of success in bodybuilding happen, he was on a restrictive diet for five months prior to the show. He ate the same thing, at the same time every day. The diet consisted of lean protein, such as turkey, chicken, or tuna and low glycemic carbs, such as oatmeal, apples and brown rice. Zero sugar and dairy, except for egg whites, is allowed. A bodybuilder has to eat about every 2.5 hours, must resist cravings, and is left feeling hungry most of the time.

Another key component to Joe’s success was his willpower to be at the gym twice a day. At 530 am, before class, he would be doing 50 minutes of cardio, briskly walking on an incline, rocking out to “Rise Today” by Alter Bridge. After class the workout consisted of high intensity weight lifting with his workout partner and fellow classmate, Jericho Matthews. As the show drew closer, his diet got stricter, so the intensity of the workout decreased, since the caloric intake had dropped.

Along with the set regime of diet and exercise, Joe took a regiment of supplements such as creatine, casein powder, whey protein powder, l-glutamine, multi-vitamins and fish oils. The supplements helped to keep his insulin levels stable, which aids in lipolysis. Clearly a ton of dedication and discipline goes into making it in the bodybuilding world. The sport is not for the faint at heart.

Chiropractic helped give Joe the winning edge. The day before the show and following the morning weigh-ins he was adjusted. After weighing-in, he was having trouble posing, even the relaxed poses. After an adjustment he felt fantastic. Posing is stressful to a competitor, and often times painful, but thanks to chiropractic, Joe was able to pose dis-ease free, and it showed on his face! While other competitors were trying to hide their agony, Joe was happily smiling away! Even professionals will have chiropractors backstage to help improve their posing. As Joe works towards paving his way to pro level, do I smell a chiropractic sponsorship for Joe in the future? Joe will continue to use his chosen sport of bodybuilding to spread the gift of chiropractic.

Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon. Directed by Matthew Vaughn

As far as superhero films go, the “X-Men” series has always been among the better ones, despite the fact that the last two films in the series, 2006’s “X-Men: The Last Stand” and 2009’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” were among the worst superhero films ever made, with cheesy characters and horrible plots. “X-Men: First Class” is essentially the “Batman Begins” to this movie franchise, and surprisingly enough, it’s not only the best of the “X-Men” movies, but one of the best superhero films, period.

Other great Marvel superheroes like Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the recently released Thor have succeeded because the characters were translated directly from the comic books to the screen with respect, instead of just taking what was needed and making an embarrassing mess (read: “X-Men Origins”, the second Fantastic Four movie, and “Spider-Man 3” as examples.) Spider-Man was just a nerdy kid who suddenly became a superhero, and the first two films showed perfectly how he dealt with it. Iron Man did not treat itself as a mere superhero film, portraying villains who actually existed in real life such as terrorists and greedy corporate executives, as well as casting the perfect actor to play Iron Man.
But X-Men is the first superhero film that could actually work even if there were no superheroes in it. Even “The Dark Knight,” considered to be the best superhero film because of Heath Ledger’s amazing performance as the Joker, would not work without Batman. But if you had no mutants in this film, it would still work perfectly without the X-Men.
The story revolves around two mutants, or people who gain superpowers as soon as they reach puberty, named Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr. The movie briefly shows their childhoods, with Xavier neglected and alone inside his parents’ giant mansion, and Lehnsherr as a prisoner inside a Nazi concentration camp. Xavier meets another mutant named Raven, who can shapeshift to look like other people. Lehnsherr discovers his control of metal while his parents are being dragged off by Nazi guards and he pulls a barbed wire door apart in a desperate effort to get to them. Things get even worse for Erik as a Nazi doctor named Sebastian Shaw, another mutant, sees this and kills Erik’s mother while trying to get him to use his power again.
The rest of the film revolves around Erik and Xavier twenty years later, along with several other mutants, trying to stop Shaw from starting a nuclear war, which ends up being the real-life Cuban Missile Crisis.

The film is extremely creative with its story by using real life history to create the plot. Though X-Men Origins tried this to an extent, this film does a much better job by actually trying to preserve some realism in the process.
The best actors in the film are James McAvoy (Wanted) who plays Xavier, Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone) who plays Raven, Michael Fassbender plays Erik, and the best one by far, Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw. Shaw is, by far, the best supervillain since the Joker. He is actually both scary and funny at the same time. He casually offers Erik a chocolate bar before killing his mother in the beginning, using his mutant power (absorbing and releasing energy) to place an energy ball down the throat of another mutant, causing him to explode from the inside (just as an example.) Every time Shaw appeared, the movie got better.
This film is not perfect. It has several flaws which don’t detract too much but are still noticeable. The biggest flaw is that according to the comic books (and I only learned this after seeing the movie,) most of the characters in this film were not alive in the 1960s, which is when the bulk of the film takes place. A slightly more interesting fact is that one of the characters changed in gender and race, and is involved in the worst part of the movie (this character literally has flaming spit balls as a power).
Other than that, the flaws are tiny. Some hammy acting, a couple of stupid plot points, stuff so tiny it doesn’t really do anything to the film.
Another cool fact about this movie: it was directed by Matthew Vaughn, who also directed the extremely funny superhero film “Kick-Ass.”
In conclusion, this is currently the best superhero film of the year, and you’ll have to wait till the Captain America movie comes out to see if it is the best superhero film of the year. See this film!
Rating: A-

On Monday July 18, some amazing women and one amazing young man assembled for the second tryout in 2011 for competitive cheerleading at Life. The fresh faces of hopeful cheerleaders bore smiles as they learned a dance, two cheers, and how to throw each other up into the air safely.  As the evening progressed, Captain Travis France discussed fundraising options, uniform ideas, and cheerleading camp with the squad.

On August 12, the cheerleaders will venture to Myrtle Beach, SC for the National Cheerleading Association’s local cheer camp. This camp will prepare the cheerleaders for the great endeavor of their upcoming cheerleading competitions.  The team will compete in the National Cheersport Competition in Atlanta in February, the Atlanta Grand Championship, the Big City Jam Mega Jam Fest Atlanta in November, the Music Jam Nashville in February, and the College Nationals Competition NCA located in Daytona Beach, Florida in April.

The squad has been enthusiastically raising money through bake sales, anonymous donors, and other various fundraisers including cheer camps and a deal on facebook which gives a $50 gift card to a large selection of restaurants with a $20 donation to the cheer team.  These funds will go directly towards uniforms, camp, and various other necessary items for the cheerleaders.

The cheerleaders come from various backgrounds.  Some have never cheered before attending Life University, and some were collegiate cheerleaders before.  Many who joined the squad did so to learn a fun new way to work out and push their bodies past what they previously thought possible.

Ultimately, the cheerleaders function for several reasons.  The squad performs essential functions of cheering at basketball games.  There are those who hope to expand the cheering events to the rugby games as well.  Additionally, the competitions serve to help recruit new students to Life and to educate other athletes about chiropractic.  With several of our cheerleaders pursuing DC degrees currently or in the near future, they are able to “talk the ‘TIC” with a large group of athletes who would most definitely benefit from chiropractic care. Any time an athletic team from Life pursues competition outside the school, they open the door for such conversations, and allow students who tend to be undergraduates to see that they can pursue the sport they love after their bachelor’s degree if they choose to pursue one of the graduate level degrees offered here.

While the Life University cheerleading squad might not consist of life-long cheerleaders, they do encompass that which cheerleaders are—athletes who work very hard to produce an amazing result.  They bring an atmosphere to sporting events, and provide much-needed optimism around campus.  The jovial nature of the sport requires that athletes overcome what emotional issues they might endure to bring out the positive instead.  This is a lesson that would benefit all of us to learn.

Pull-outs:  The jovial nature of the sport requires that the athletes overcome what emotional issues they might endure and bring out the positive instead.

competitions serve to help recruit new students to Life and to educate other athletes about chiropractic.

The team will compete in the National Cheersport Competition in Atlanta in February, the Atlanta Grand Championship, the Big City Jam Mega Jam Fest Atlanta in November, the Music Jam Nashville in February, and the College Nationals Competition NCA located in Daytona Beach, Florida in April.

This year, LIFE Rugby Club hosted the 2^nd annual high school rugby training camp.  During the first rugby training camp in 2010, Life quickly found there was higher interest in the camp than originally expected as the camp filled up quickly and a waiting list developed. For 2011, the Rugby staff created two camps-a three day skills camp and a four day high school camp to follow.  They also created more openings for attendees, and still filled up both camps with thirty-five players attending the skills camp and fifty-five attending the high school camp. Elite Schools Rugby.com (www.eliteschoolsrugby.com) states, “Life University Atlanta boasts arguably the most professional and elite rugby program witnessed in the US and is one that would certainly rival any club or university worldwide.” Because of this players came from all over the country to attend the camps, traveling from as far as California and Montana. Charlotte had the largest number of players in attendance. According to LU rugby coach and director Dan Payne, “Rugby is gaining a lot of momentum up there and it’s becoming one of our strongest recruiting grounds.”  Payne told  RugbyStrong, “We’re happy to provide an environment we’re confident will help both the development of those players that attend, and the growth of rugby in our country.” As this event grows in popularity, it’s another way LIFE Rugby continues to step ahead of the crowd to be a force to be reckoned with in the rugby world.

On Saturday, June 11 the Running Eagles basketball team took a day trip to Marietta High School where the Kiwanis Club held their annual Soap Box Derby. The team spent the day cheering on the 37 participants, ranging in age from 10-17 years old. Dr. McAuluy, Executive Vice President of LIFE commented to the Marietta Journal, “Life partners with Marietta High School on a number of projects throughout the year and the invaluable work of our student-athletes this weekend is just one way we give back to our community. The players thoroughly enjoyed the day’s events, despite the heat. When given the opportunity to go home after they were finished volunteering, the team chose to stick around until all the races were completed and for the rest of the days activities.”

Barrington Ferguson, LU Guard, was recruited from Marietta High School and commented that, “We had a great time helping the kids and I hope to be back there again next year.”

To further the team’s service to the community and those around them, the players were on hand to help new students move into the Village Retreat on campus. New students enjoyed the extra help and one student responded that she can’t wait to go to the basketball games. This was a great opportunity for them to gain some new fans in the new students, meet those who will be living on campus with them and make a presence on campus.

More events will be taking place in the future. The Athletics Department is currently working on finishing up details for a school wide event that will be hosted by the Athletics Department and players. Stay tuned to Vital Source for more information in the coming weeks!

When the Running Eagles take the court for the home opener, one face may look familiar to those administration and faculty who have been around for awhile. That player is Trestin White from Cottondale High School in Cottondale Florida. White is a 2^nd generation LIFE Running Eagle. His dad, Bruce White, played for LIFE in 91-92 and 92-93, the first 2 years of the basketball program.

According to the Jackson County Floridian newspaper, White joins the team as a 6 foot forward. He averaged nine points, six rebounds and three assists for his high school team. He also helped to lead them to a playoff appearance and victory.

White told the Floridian, “Obviously, it means something to go to the school that my dad did, but (Life) is a really great program. I think the coaching staff is great, I like the area, and it’s just a great opportunity for me.”

According to Coach Barrett, “Trestin plays a very hard and athletic game just like his father.” He continues with, “We’re very excited to have Trestin and he’ll be a good fit for the team.” Continue watching our Facebook page for more information on the newest members to the LIFE Running Eagles basketball team as they approach their opening of the 2011-2012 season.

Vivian and Rose lost no time talking late into the night. Earlier that day Vivian had picked her up from the airport, leaving Aidan to adjust and exercise her father at home. Rose loved New York. It was a place that absorbed all her energies, as she was never before able to be still. However, tonight she was peacefully enjoying the stillness around her, and shortly her small snores gave way into the night. In the corner of their room, a small red lamplight illuminated a crimson glow on the surrounding walls. For a while, Vivian stared into it, letting its rays penetrate the emptiness she usually felt at night. It echoed her sadness, so much that she had to curl her body to her knees, clutching her chest to stop it resonating. Since Paul died, her heart had never ached so badly, and as the night filled Vivian with drowsiness, she fell asleep barley able to breathe.

It was still night when Vivian awoke in a restless sweat. Throwing off the blankets, Vivian quietly left Rose for some fresh air. The sky was turning grey with the oncoming morning. Walking with no direction or purpose, Vivian allowed the breeze to cool and calm her body. Looking ahead into the path she was walking, she saw a patch of dandelions at the base of a tree. Automatically a memory flashed before her. It was when her stepmother had taken her, Rose, and Paul to a conference held in Chicago. She recalled it was in a well lit ballroom, and while soft music filled in the background, she remembered the dance floor remained unoccupied.  She had been searching the place for a sign of Rose or her brother, someone that would at least talk to her. The bodies around her seemed to close in, and as Vivian began to panic, a hand grabbed hers. Looking to its owner, Vivian saw Paul standing next to her. He had a wild dandelion that he placed behind her ear.

“May I have this dance, Madam Andrews?” he circled his arm repeatedly in an extravagant bow, and Vivian gladly took his extended hand. Picking her up as he did when they were kids, Paul placed her feet on top of his, and began to waltz onto the dance floor. Vivian held close to her brother, clinging onto the happiness that filled her.

“This was a lot easier when you were little,” Paul said jokingly into her ear. She stepped off his feet as they slowed down, and it was like there was no one else in the room. Paul too looked intently to his sister. They had been talking of small things–how they already missed the country, and how Chicago seemed so busy. Yet as they slowed down, urgency coated Pauls tone, as he continued. “Viv, remember that summer I went looking for colleges?”

“Yes,” she responded. “You were gone for so long. Even dad left for a while to help you with the search.” She almost began to laugh, but Paul’s hard face stopped her. Her hands began to throb he was holding them so tight. His face softened as she looked at him in alarm.

“Nevermind,” Paul muttered as he released her hands. Kissing her cheek, he took her hand and twirled her in a spin. The lights of the room and people’s faces blurred as Vivian turned. She hardly understood what her brother seemed to be communicating to her, and before she could ask questions, their stepmother walked over to introduce them.

Vivian looked around and realized that her feet had taken her to a patch of woods she had never been to before. The memory was so real that Vivian had walked farther than intended. It was still early morning, and she was surrounded by trees. The dew that blanketed the grass felt slimy under her bare feet, and the wind drew her back into a feeling of reality. Vivian looked down at her hands, the only part of her body not cold by the morning’s chill. They were clammy and hot, as if Paul had been still holding them, squeezing them, dragging her to this spot.

“Paul?” She knew it was pointless to call for him, knowing he couldn’t be there. Yet it didn’t seem so crazy to say his name, as she felt an overwhelming sense of his presence. As Vivian stumbled forward amongst the trees, she noticed heads of red roses scattered along her path, decaying to a muddied brown. She was now practically running up a hill, and upon reaching a clearing she turned to navigate where she was. Beyond the small woods were her neighbor’s lawns, and for a freezing second Vivian realized she had gone to the hill where she was not allowed to as a child. She turned to look at the clearing for the first time, where sat the small cottage home she had seen so many times in her dreams. Her hands burned warm again as if Paul were guiding her forward still.

“I’m frightened,” Vivian whispered. There were no lights on in the cottage, no presence of life anywhere. Even the insects noticed, and did not dare to break the silence. Slowly Vivian began to step forward. The yard in front of the small house was made up of tall grass and a random assortment of wild flowers. A rose garden skirted a side of the home, and while Vivian tried to take the scene in, a sense of forbidden adventure filled her. Determined to look through the window and go straight back home, Vivian stepped on a garden of rocks and peered into what she assumed was the living room. A light illuminated nothing frightening, but a cozy sitting room. Draped over the chairs and sofas were ornately stitched blankets, and in the middle of the floor was a large canvas lying on top of strewn newspapers. The painting was splattered with colors and had what seemed like a face half done in the center of it. The eyes were dark, from what Vivian could make out, and the eyebrows thick. She continued looking at these eyes, their resemblance nothing more than a coincidence. Tearing her eyes away, Vivian gave the front door a small knock. Twisting the knob, it was locked. Looking into the window on the other side of the door, Vivian noticed a kitchen. About to turn back home, a picture on the fridge made her stop. It was Paul. His senior picture.

Overcome with the desire to know, Vivian convinced herself Paul wanted her here. Wanted her to know something. She ran around the corner of the house, passing the rose bushes, fear no longer in her thoughts. The backyard was identical to the front, and as Vivian approached the back door, she stopped. What was it Paul hadn’t told her? About this house? Its connection to the summer he was gone? Filled with impatience Vivian swung open the door. She starred about the cottage, but it was empty and quiet. The wood creaked under her weight as she walked to the fridge. Looking at Paul when he was younger made Vivian feel as though he never would sink into depression, would never try to hurt himself. Tears fell down her face as she turned away, looking for anything to search. She opened cabinets, drawers, and found nothing but cookbooks and calendars. The closet had nothing but coats and boots. Passing the painting to reach the corner desk of the living room, she paused to look at the eyes on the canvas. Before she knew it she was tearing through the drawers, looking for anything. At the bottom of the last drawer, there was a newspaper article, one Vivian would have otherwise passed over, that had caught her attention. At the top there was a picture of a major accident. Directly underneath were snapshots of three people. It was Paul’s face that made Vivian pick up the clipping. The article titled:  “Edgewood Road Collision. Two dead.” Scanning the article Vivian’s heart stopped. Paul’s name was typed amongst the text. At that moment, the clock began to chime. Looking at the time she realized it wouldn’t be long until Rose or her father noticed her gone. Stuffing the newspaper into her pocket, she jumped over the painting and shut the door behind her.

Before she moved far from the door, a snapping of a branch sounded to her left. Vivian immediately dropped to the ground as if a bullet sounded. Terrified, she looked over her shoulder. A woman stood there, her long brown hair in knots around her face. She starred at Vivian. Not looking into the woman’s face, Vivian’s eyes were drawn to the lifeless bird the woman held close to her heart. With disturbing ease and gentleness, the woman continued to stroke its grey feathers.

To Be Continued…

On June 7, the Life University Diversity Committee hosted a Gay Pride Celebration on campus.  This celebration had a DJ, free ice cream, and two pride flags approximately the size of a standard piece of paper.  There were t-shirts from gay pride parades from the area that have happened in past years.  As I ate the free ice cream, (the best flavor,) with my very close friend who happens to be gay, we pondered what we saw.  The event we were attending was neither gay, nor proud, nor a celebration.  We discussed.

I have heard that a group called “Queers and Allies” tried to become a Life University club at one time, but was unsuccessful for reasons to which I am not privy.  Had such a club been in existence during the planning of this event, I would hope the diversity committee would have used their input.  However, since this club was not in commission at the time, the diversity committee had to seek help from an outside Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) group.  While this was an excellent idea, they made contact too late for much assistance.  Large advocacy groups such as the local group need a lot of advanced warning to help plan such events.

The DJ of the event did not play any of the standard gay-tunes.  There was no Bette, no Barbra, no Cher,  Madonna,  Britney, and no Gaga!  There was no traditional playing of “It’s Raining Men,” and there were no typical lesbian songs.  Ultimately, the music wasn’t terrible, but did not make the event seem like much of a celebration.

As volunteers and members of the Diversity Committee passed out tickets for free ice cream, many students were baffled.  Some were rather hesitant to participate in the celebration, as if eating ice cream would magically transform them into Richard Simmons.  As someone who has eaten that ice cream, I can assure all of my readers that no unique transformations happened to me, with the possible exception of my thighs widening.

Publicity for the event consisted of fliers and email notifications.  While this is the typical form of communication on campus, dreadfully few students actually read their emails.  While the irresponsibility of students who do not check their emails is not the fault of the Diversity Committee, it is sad that many of the LGBT students at Life were not aware of the event.

Ultimately, the celebration could have been better.  However, the effort was made, and that alone speaks volumes.

LGBT students are on our campus, there is no denying that fact.  There are probably many who wish to come out about their sexuality but do not feel comfortable due to how very opinionated our student body can be.  I propose that the Diversity Committee take the opportunity of “National Coming Out Day” to develop a well-planned celebration.

As a student body, we need to nurture each other and not tear each other down.  While we may only mean to help, we tend to hurt each other with our words daily.  Sometimes, the nicest thing we can say is nothing.

This October 11, I would love to see a true celebration of Gay Pride.  Not because of any moral questions, but because our fellow students need to know they can be honest with themselves and with us.  Life University has always been a safe place for everyone, and we need to ensure that everyone feels safe here, including our LGBT classmates, faculty, and staff.

Pizza is the bane of many who have tried to make the switch to healthy eating, but it does not have to be. In fact, my wife and I make scrumptious pizza weekly and we are able to do it guilt-free in about 30 minutes. How is this possible? Let’s jump into the recipe:

The Crust:

Buy Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Pizza Crust at Harry’s or Publix and follow the instructions on the package exactly. It will require 2 eggs, 2 tbsp olive oil, and one package of pizza crust mix. Bake once for 10 minutes before topping. I recommend oiling the pan with grapeseed oil, which will not go rancid when cooked.

The Toppings:

Here is where you get to be creative, I’ll list some of our go-to toppings, but pick what you like, pile it on, and make it fantastic!

Spinach

Mushrooms

Olives (black, green or both)

Onion

Red Pepper

Minced Garlic

Tomatoes

Sun-dried tomatoes

Avocado

Black Beans

Fresh Basil

Cheese – This is the ringer. The trick is to use Mozzarella Almond Cheese! This can also be found at Harry’s and Publix. Absolutely dairy-free! For those who are more adventurous in the area of cheese, we often throw in some goat cheese or feta.

Sauce – Look for an organic, natural pizza sauce in your local grocery. The key ingredients to watch out for are wheat flour and sugar of any kind. Beyond that, go with whichever brand you like best for taste.

Following the instructions on the package, you will bake the crust alone, then top the pizza, then bake again for about 10 minutes – all at 425 F.

The nutrient content of this pizza will vary widely depending upon the toppings you choose. The list I’ve included here has a great variety of antioxidants (red pepper, onion, garlic, tomatoes, basil), vitamins and minerals (spinach, basil, tomatoes), healthy fats (olives, avocado, almonds), fiber and protein (black beans, almonds and pizza crust). This much is certain: this is one indulgence you will not feel guilty about!

Recipe makes two pizzas.

Eggs can be a nutritious part of your diet, full of high-quality protein, iron, vitamins and minerals. They also contain carotenoids, which help reduce macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in adults.  They also contain choline, which helps improve memory. However, not all eggs are created equal.

The Cornucopia Institute supports local, organic foods by using research to educate farmers and consumers. Their website contains a rating system for most egg brands from one to five, five being the highest quality. Egg companies receiving a rating of five come from small farms with lots of pasture for chickens to roam and most eggs are sold locally. Vital Farms is an example of a company with a rating of five and can be found at Harry’s for $5.99 a dozen. Organic Valley has a rating of three because their chickens have outdoor space and are able to roam. Organic Valley are available at Whole Foods for $4.99 a dozen. The Country Hen, also available at Whole Foods, only made a rating of two because of their lack of openness about how their chickens are cared for and how their eggs are produced.

Eggs that received a rating of one are produced under large industrial operations and chickens don’t receive outdoor access. Every producer listed in this category refused to participate in the research done at The Cornucopia Institute, disturbing consumers and only validating their unethical procedures. The brands falling in this category include Eggland’s Best, Land O’Lakes, Egg Innovations, Horizon Organic, 365 Organic (Whole Foods Brand), Great Value (Wal-Mart Brand) and Trader Joe’s Brand.

It is estimated that 90-99% of store-bought eggs come from hens that have living space the size of a sheet of paper. This results in filthy conditions increasing the stress levels of the hens. Chickens are meant to peck in the ground and cages eliminate this natural behavior. This causes them to become violent and peck each other to death, so the industry decided to ‘debeak’ them. Their toes and claws are also cut off so they don’t get tangled in the wire cages. In Great Britain a process called ‘forced molting’ has been banned for almost three decades, but is still allowed in the US. Forced molting is when hens are starved for up to two weeks and denied water for up to three days, causing the hens feathers to fall out and they begin new laying cycles. This increases the amount of eggs produced. This cruel and unnatural process weakens the hen’s immune systems, which makes them more susceptible to salmonella bacteria that can be passed onto humans.

What does free-range mean anyway? As long as hens have an open door to the outside, regardless of whether they ever see the outside, defines free-range. How about cage-free? Just because the chickens may not be in a cage, does not mean they aren’t cramped in a barn with thousands, sometimes millions, of other chickens with no sunlight and no place to roam.

Are organic pasture-raised eggs really healthier and more nutritious? Mother Earth News tested eggs from pasture raised hens to find that the eggs contained two times more omega-3’s, three times more vitamin E, seven times more beta-carotene, 2/3 more vitamin A, 1/4 less saturated fat and 1/3 less cholesterol.

Conventional eggs come from hens fed genetically modified grains and soy and synthetic vitamins. Although hormones are not given to poultry, they are pumped full of antibiotics.

Many egg companies wash their eggs in mineral oil, a derivative of petroleum. They may also be washed in lye or chlorine. Eggshells have a semi-permeable membrane so chemicals are able to seep through. This procedure is done to prepare eggs for long distance transportation or storage and is another reason buying local is better.

So what is a consumer to do? Organic is important because the hens weren’t given antibiotics or fed genetically modified products. However, not all organic brands are created equal. Consumers may be paying $3.99 for 365 Organic Whole Foods brand, when they could go to Wal-Mart and pay half the price for about the same quality. Organic, pasture-raised is best, because it ensures the hens have open space to forage and are not fed grains. Try and buy from a local farmer to cut out long-distance transportation. Visit www.eatwild.com to find a farm in Georgia that offers eggs from pasture-raised hens. If you have a yard you can always raise your own chickens.

Visit www.cornucopia.org to rate your favorite brand of eggs.

Local three is named for its owners, three local guys coming together to create southern cuisine. Chef Todd Mussman and Business man Ryan Turner also own Muss and Turner’s Deli in Vinings. The two paired up with Chef Chris Hall, who has worked at The Sundial Restaurant and Canoe, to create Local Three Kitchen & Bar.

Local Three is focused on using local ingredients and the menu is seasonal. The lunch menu includes soups, salads, sandwiches and some small main courses. Sandwiches range from $10-15. Lunch main courses range from $11-14. Local Three is famous for their pork; the “East Bound & Down” is a roasted pork sandwich with peach BBQ sauce and pickled jalapeno slaw. “The Vinnie Barberino” is made with spicy Italian sausage, peppers, onions, and beer mustard. Local Three’s take on the Big Mac, “The McDowell” is made with two Angus beef patties, special sauce, lettuce and cheese. Mussman is from Boston and Turner is from Maine, so Joe’s Maine Lobsta’ Roll was inspired from their New England hometowns. If chicken is more your speed, try the grilled chicken sandwich with cheddar, horseradish slaw, and charred tomato BBQ sauce.

Truffled Parmesan popcorn, duck fat fried okra, pimento cheese with flatbread, and oyster shooters are a few appetizers offered during dinner. There are about a half dozen pork dishes offered since that is Local Three’s specialty like Spicy Andouille and summer sausage. For $16 try the cheese tasting with a variety of cheeses from Georgia, New Hampshire and California. Main courses range from $10-26 and include hanger steak, duck meatloaf, spicy shrimp spaghetti, Georgia mountain trout, venison, and salmon.

The drink menu is the size of a typical lab manual at Life University and offers more than fourty bourbons, a hundred beers and more than a hundred different wines.

A southern brunch is also available with grits, French toast, buttermilk biscuits, and of course, sausage and bacon.

Desserts range from $5-6 and include an eclectic selection of things like milk and cookies, warm apple pie and a daily selection of ice cream. Keep in mind the menu changes seasonally, including the dessert menu, so not all of these options may be available.

Local Three is located at 3290 Northside Parkway in Atlanta. Parking is available in the garage and is free after validation of a parking ticket. Take any elevator to the lobby then Local Three is located at the end of the hallway behind the large black door. Dress is business casual and outdoor seating is available. For more information visit www.localthree.com or call 404-968-2700.

It may come as a shock to you that many of the personal care products we use to get clean are actually filled with toxins ruining our health. Just look at the back of nearly any shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, or cosmetic bottle – do you know what ANY of that stuff is?

While doing a comprehensive analysis of the thousands of possible ingredients in these products is well beyond my scope of knowledge, there are a few particularly nasty critters I want to draw your attention to.

PARABENS

Parabens is a preservative agent found in nearly 90% of personal care products and cosmetics. It has been found to cause skin reactions including rashes, eczema, and dermatitis. It is also found in many anti-aging lotions, though some studies have shown that it actually speeds up aging when exposed to UV light. Parabens can also mimic estrogen in the body, causing negative side-effects on sexual organs and perhaps contributing to breast cancer. Many labels of natural products will now proudly claim “Parabens-free.” This is one ingredient you do not want in or on your body at all.

PROPYLENE GLYCOL and POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL

These organic alcohols are found in many products and are used to stabilize fragrance formulas. However, these exact same compounds are also used in industrial cleaners, anti-freeze, oven-cleaner, and hydraulic fluid – partly, because of their ability to break down cellular tissue. When reacting with your skin, these ingredients are potentially cancer-causing and have been shown to be related to kidney problems, dermatitis, liver problems and weakened immunity.

SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE and SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE

These ingredients are foaming agents found in many soaps, shampoos, toothpastes, and many industrial cleaners like car wash soap. They are particularly dangerous because of their ability to denature proteins, which can have disastrous effects on cells. SLS has been linked to eye malformation in children and has been shown to produce eye damage, depression, and labored breathing in some animal studies. These compounds can also mimic estrogen, causing sexual organ side-effects such as infertility and possibly contributing to cancer. When deposited in the brain, heart, and liver tissue, these compounds become a source of the known carcinogen, nitrosamine.

FRAGRANCE

Anything listed as a “fragrance” on a personal care product is exceptionally murky to judge. This is because the FDA does not require companies to publish the ingredients that make up their fragrances. There’s no telling what sort of chemicals are included in them. It is better to go with products that tell where their fragrances come from (i.e. plants).

The next time you go to replenish your stores of hygienic delights, watch out for these ingredients and opt for something more natural. A good rule of thumb is “the fewer ingredients, the better.” A few brands out there that do a particularly good job are Jason’s, Tom’s, and Nature’s Gate – to name just a few. I personally recommend starting fresh. Go through your products and junk the ones that have these ingredients. Making this change in your lifestyle will drastically reduce your daily toxic load.

Earlier this year I began volunteering for Atlanta Pet Rescue and Adoption (APRA), an amazing organization that adamantly finds homes for stray cats and dogs. It is a small shelter with a large heart. Each time I walk into its friendly doors, I am greeted with all the animals crowding around the gate that separates us. I have always been a pet lover, and I know there are many like me out there. During my hours of volunteering I have bathed and walked the animals, helped clean pens, laundered the cozy blankets and fostered many dogs.  I am overwhelmed with the beauty of the endeavor. These helpless and abandoned animals have sought sanctuary at this shelter and with the hard work of many and the selfless dreams of others, these animals will have an easier life in the future.

I spoke with Judy Price, who began the shelter in late 2000. “The goal and philosophy of Atlanta Pet Rescue & Adoption is to treat the animals and potential adopters with respect and compassion. We prepare each animal for adoption as if it were our own pet.”

Located on the corner of Howell Mill and Fourteenth Street, this shelter prepares each animal individually for their next home. “Dogs have been trained or introduced to training in basic obedience and house training, and are clean, presentable and sent home wearing a collar and leash.”

While animals bunched together can lead to aggression and fighting, APRA is determined to make their experience here less stressful. They enforce quiet times for the animals to play and eat in peace. The shelter, though, is a bit small to give this accommodation to all the animals. “We really need more space so we can provide more quiet places for people and our pets,” Judy stated, when asked how she sees the shelter progressing. “We hope to incorporate a low-cost spay/neuter clinic into our new larger facility so we will have an in-house veterinarian to serve our pets.”  One of the most important aspects the shelter survives off of are the donations and volunteers. “If you have the time or money to help, please, please do. You will be rewarded many times over.”

Do we honestly understand the sad situation at hand? There is an overpopulation issue that leads to thousands of pets being euthanized every month in metro Atlanta. Why? Due to the inability of people to house their pets for various reasons, ranging from the economy to divorce. “Shelter animals represent those who first had owners who were not committed to the responsibilities of pet ownership or who did not consider the appropriateness of the pet to their living circumstances,” says Judy.

Not only do no-kill rescue shelters such as APRA comfort animals who have been abused, abandoned, and even about to be euthanized, it creates an amazing opportunity for people to extend a helping and reap the rewards of doing so. Please visit www.atlantapetrescue.org to view the wonderful animals who need homes, and to gain all the information needed to become a volunteer or to donate. They have saved thirteen thousand, nine hundred and forty pets since the shelter began. Let us all join in on the cause.

The following is my own experience of living my life from a place of gratitude by placing a focus of intention on the things I am grateful for in my life.  This process was 100 days long and I want to personally thank Michael Hollerbach for giving me the idea, and it just happened to be right around the New Year.  A resolution in my life? Or, how about a revolution?
As most of you know, our society puts an emphasis on individualism, happiness through success, and the goal of achievement.  Ever heard the quote, “If you can dream it, you can achieve it.”?  These sound bites are great, but what is the essence of that statement?  Maybe the question is, “what is the state of the human being when they say things as the above quote”?  Just a couple of questions, think about them for a bit before you come to a conclusion.
I consider myself an over comer, and when obstacles of life are in the way, I overcome because that is me, and I am grateful for the things in my life I have accomplished up to this point in my life.  I am all for the success and being an achiever, but I also felt unfulfilled with achievement in my life.  As students, we only advance forward when we are achieving, but I want to challenge everyone to ask themselves this question today, “Where are you achieving from”?  In other words, what is your state of being, as you achieve throughout your life.  Are you fulfilled?  I started to peel back two layers of myself throughout the last 100 days, and believe that as we go through life, we either peel layers back off to discover our real selves, or we build a “wall” around us in order to protect ourselves from things in life that might threaten us.  I also concluded that I had built up a “wall” around me to hide from myself.
There are two points I would like to make with these above questions and statements.  The place you come from, OR, your state of being right here in this moment is the only power we have in life.  The most power we have at any given time is decision.  Should I annotate my notes after class? Should I work out right now? Should I talk to her/him? Is this a stupid question? What books do I need? What notes should I study? What is the best exercise routine? Yadda yadda yadda…and when we make these decisions, ultimately they build up to what is or is not the desired result.  That is the power of NOW, and we can make the decision to either live in the past or live in the NOW.  Famous author and speaker, Tony Robbins says, most people strive to complete the “art of achievement,” which often allows success in one’s life.  For example, having an idea, and manifesting something out of nothing.  This is one layer of knowing yourself and your capabilities, and also being open enough to put your ideas out there to an often skeptical and judgmental world. If you are attending Life University right now, you have probably experienced some level of achievement in your life.  So we are here, NOW, but here is the second “art” that I have been pursuing the last 100 days of my life.  Robbins calls this “the art of fulfillment,” and this lets’ people peel the deep layer back and connect with the most important person in their life, their true self.  It’s cliché I know, but loving oneself, and coming from that space is essential in order to be fulfilled in life.  If you disagree with me, and you have explored this aspect of yourself, please come tell me about your discovery.  AS I said, this has been a personal experience, and I was overcome by feeling to share it with as many people as I could.  I DO see the world through “rose-colored glasses,” and I look at life with a positive eye.  To some, that could be annoying, but I am a student chiropractor and my intention to be a chiropractor is to tell people why I know what I know, tell them about chiropractic, and if it reaches one person and that reaches one other person, and that reaches a person, etc…you get my drift?  You never know what you give to someone today will change millions of lives tomorrow.  I challenge you to master the “art of fulfillment,” and achieve and give of yourself abundantly from a place of gratitude.  So what’s your latitude? Make it gratitude!

This past June, a group of 49 chiropractors and chiropractic students from different countries and ideologies traveled to the Caribbean island of Hispanola, which is home to the nations of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, with a common purpose: To serve and change people’s lives through chiropractic. As part of this mission trip, I experienced the need and interest for chiropractic from the people from the Haitian towns of Ouanaminthe and Puerto Plata. Most of the individuals we served had never heard of chiropractic. Some where eager to learn about it, others called it a “chiropractic massage,” and others were drawn in by pure curiosity. Whatever the reason, our group of chiropractors and students served and educated people of all ages from six months to 94 years old about the mind-body connection and the body’s innate intelligence.  Our group of seven doctors and students served in Haiti for two days. Later in the week, our group of 49 volunteers was divided into 12 groups of four people per establishment to serve for three days. We went to churches, orphanages, parks, hospitals, and schools to serve all who were willing to receive the gift of chiropractic. Everywhere we went, people welcomed us with open arms and treated us as family. We were invited into their homes, to dance or play baseball with them. People were excited to show us the full experience of true Haitian and Dominican culture.
We were able to let innate flow through their subluxation-free bodies, but the Haitian and Dominican communities are living subluxated lives. There was intervention everywhere you went. Once we crossed the border into Haiti, the tension could be felt in the environment. There were policemen with rifles protecting the border, the blazing sun was shining, a mixture of smells filled the air, and everyone was trying to get our attention with loud Creole words and pulling on our clothes. Everyone was safe but they were as curious about us as we were about them. The roads were made of red dirt, people were living side by side with trash, and conditions were unsanitary to mention some of the things we saw. Women could be seen washing their clothes in the river while the men tried to find work as motorcycle- taxi drivers. In the midst of the sensory stimulation overload, we met with a man called Pastor Joseph who lead us to his church, a hospital, and an orphanage where people were waiting for us. You could see an instant positive reaction from everyone being adjusted. The children from the orphanage sang for us and the people from the church prayed for us. Socioeconomic situations and language barrier aside, people seemed to grasp the concept of what chiropractic and innate intelligence do. “The power that made the body heals the body” came naturally to them. Most importantly, they understood something that needs no words: CARE.
Once in the Dominican Republic town of La Romana, we visited very impoverished sectors of both rural and urban areas. There, in the Spanish speaking part of the island, the service experience was very positive as well. Seeing people’s reactions after their first adjustment was priceless. The variety of people’s responses to chiropractic was as diverse as the techniques the doctors were using to adjust. People jumped, smiled, offered us food, introduced us to their families, and laughed once they were subluxation-free. Some people wanted to share their discovery of chiropractic by bringing their entire communities to be adjusted, while others hugged us with the greatest gratitude one can demonstrate. There were children who came up to us to show us their report cards asking if they had the potential to become future chiropractors. Some children even imitated our actions as if they were adjusting each other. We eagerly reassured them they could help us improve people’s lives through chiropractic in the future and encouraged them to get their communities involved in the process. The support and appreciation of the people in La Romana allowed us to plant the seed of knowledge and consciousness about the human body in communities where education is as scarce as clean water.
Watching this group of such outstanding chiropractors and students has inspired me in ways I didn’t expect. I’ve shared the healing experience with hundreds of people and made friendships for a lifetime in the process. I am so grateful. The participants from the mission trip served people by correcting their subluxations, opening their hearts, and letting innate “do the talking.” They also showed the people of La Romana that someone cares and that despite the chaos and poverty that surrounds them, they have not been forgotten. As chiropractic students we sometimes get too focused on what WE need to achieve, how many more adjustments WE need to pass clinic, and how much paperwork WE need to do for our patients. This trip helped me to put things into perspective and re-focus on our patients. Through the adjustment we can help heal THEM, unleash THEIR full potential, and make a positive change in THEIR lives. By reconnecting with the science, art, and philosophy that is chiropractic, we are becoming the future leaders our communities need. It is impossible to measure the extent to which chiropractic has impacted the lives of people we served. I just know how it has impacted me as a human being and future chiropractor.

Circle K International (CKI) is a collegiate organization and sponsored program of Kiwanis International, a global volunteer organization. CKI offers students the opportunity to serve others, build relationships and become better leaders. A strong focus of the club is on helping children of all ages around the world. CKI has more than 12,500 members on more than 550 campuses around the world. Life University students can learn about ways to volunteer in the local community by getting involved with the new CKI club on campus.

Club President, Josh Pirini, describes the club’s purpose:  “Kiwanis International allows you the opportunity to be a leader with other professionals and to provide serviceable acts in order to better serve the community that you may choose to practice in one day. During your tenure at Life University, CKI is a great way to serve yourself in spirit rather than the material values of life.”

Last quarter, the Life University CKI club helped pick up flags around the Marietta area after Memorial Day. The first weekend of summer quarter, students helped pick up trash around campus including the student parking lot, the gym parking lot and the area around the tree house. One of the five students who volunteered for the campus cleanup, Ryan Messina, explained what the experience meant to him: “The cleanup made me feel part of something bigger than just being a student; I felt part of the community. They say man is measured by his actions and I believe that the cleanup measured us all larger than Life.”

In the future, the club has plans to volunteer at a soup kitchen – date soon to be announced. The club meets Tuesdays at 11 in CUS room 206. For more information about Circle K visit www.circlek.org.  For more information on the club contact llupo@student.life.edu or jpirini@student.life.edu. You can also visit the club on Facebook, by searching Life University Circle K International.

Over the break, I had the opportunity to go on a road trip with my dad, driving from the panhandle of Florida all the way up to Manitoba, (that’s the Canadian province just above North Dakota, for those of you not so well-versed in geography.) All that time behind the wheel, miles rolling on through so many states got me thinking. Somewhere in the middle of Iowa, just after sundown, some farm boys started setting off fireworks—no doubt testing their artillery for the Fourth—when an idea came to me. As Americans, we live in an amazing country, unlike any other. In effect, it’s 50 distinct yet extremely neighborly republics—the United States. As citizens, we have unbridled access to any and all of them. You won’t be denied entry to Georgia if you’re from California, and while Ohio and Michigan may never settle their differences, there certainly isn’t an embargo between the two. Although we have the opportunity to go anywhere and do anything, not many do. Seemingly lacking in culture and international awareness, all too often, we get the reputation of being That Guy—the Ugly American.
Take a look at Europe, an entire continent that is a little more than one-third the size of the United States, a tiny mishmash of differently-tongued countries. Although at the federal level, we have no official language, our de facto language is English, and not many people pursue learning a second language beyond the two or so years required in high school. Even fewer Americans have been to all 50 states (let alone outlying districts or territories,) as many fail to venture beyond the states adjacent to their own. This isn’t all that surprising, actually; the United States ranks as the third- or fourth-largest nation, (China seems to present dubious information.)
Barring the latest natural disaster or regional political instability happening overseas broadcast ad nauseam on the major news outlets, the majority of us lead fairly isolationist existences. We have our daily and weekly routines, leading us from home to work, all pretty much on a beaten path on one side of our cities and towns. We’re caught up in our own lives most of the time, particularly here on Chiropractic Island.

I didn’t realize the extent of how much of a rock I seem to live under until we were planning the route to Manitoba and my dad had to explain that it would get “tricky” due to various detours, road closures, and construction subsequent to the flooding of the Missouri River. As I rarely read or watch the news, I was completely clueless that any of this had happened. Many people operate in this same mindset, only taking notice of what they feel affects them directly, not realizing that we are all interconnected. There is so much more beyond what lies just outside our own front doors; all we have to do is take the first step by being willing to notice and be proactive.
You don’t have to become an international media correspondent to care. Simply get involved.

There are over fifty student organizations here on campus, and every one of them can help you expand your awareness and Weltanschauung, (a German word meaning “world outlook”.) Support your state and national chiropractic organizations. Go on a mission trip. Find out about our international clinics or how you can practice abroad. You have to think big if you want to affect change. If you want to impact your community, aim for the whole city. From there, the only limits are those you impose on yourself—to change the city, aim for the state; the state, aim for the country; the country, aim for the continent; the continent, aim for world. You don’t have to be a world chiropractic domination mastermind like Liam Schübel, owning and operating 16 clinics throughout Central and South America (and always expanding,) but it still starts with you. Take that first step, and like Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

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Over the last few quarters, changes have been made in the Center for Health and Optimum Performance (CHOP) that have left a bitter taste in the mouths of many of the interns completing their Level II Clinic. The frustrations began with the implementation of specific physical times that are for the most part completely incongruent with the schedules of interns, as well as their patients.

With new patient physicals and re-physicals only being allowed at the times of 8:00 AM, 10:30 AM, 3:00 PM and 4:30 PM, a large number of problems have been created with interns trying to start new patients while still attending their classes and working around their patient’s work schedule. Frank Ambrosio, a 12^th quarter intern, expressed his frustration that he had patients lined up and ready to come in, but couldn’t get them scheduled for a physical until fourth or fifth week. The afternoon slots have become such hot commodities that scheduling for physicals must be done several weeks out in order to find an open slot. Joe, one of the CHOP staff members, quipped that interns have begun to resort to “selling their afternoon physical times.” While he made the comment jokingly, it appears the joke may not be far from the truth.

More recently, the clinic administrators failed to announce that the clinic would be closing early on Tuesday July 19^th for the 8^th Quarter Clinic Gateway ceremony. This omission, while seemingly harmless, resulted in many interns unknowingly scheduling their patients for appointments after 6 PM that evening, only to discover the clinic was in fact going to close early. The clinic attempted to remedy in the situation by allowing those who had already scheduled patients to still see them after 6 PM. However, Scott Robinson, a 12^th quarter intern, left clinic at 4:45 PM very frustrated. He had scheduled his regular patient at 6:30 PM for that day the week before. However, when he went to double check with scheduling, the appointment was nowhere to be found, and he was told that he would not be able to see his patient. Robinson, a student who commutes at least an hour each day from North Georgia and places high value on the times he is on campus later in the day to see his patients, was not the only student to discover that an appointment they were 100% sure had been scheduled the week before was no longer listed on the books.

While the clinic administrators continue to make changes in hopes of streamlining the outpatient clinic system more and more each quarter, it is still not uncommon to hear interns referring to CHOP as a “time-sucking black hole” that’s difficult to incorporate into the still busy class schedules of 10^th, 11^th and 12^th quarter. This feeling has not been helped of late by the added bonus of having the computers the interns use freeze up on them while they are trying to print or type reports. The question remains whether the clinic administrators can develop a system that satisfies the interns, faculty doctors and their patients without leaving anyone frustrated.

Fourth quarter student Jason Ellis and third quarter student Juan Fernandez will be leaving Marietta and heading to Kosovo for twelve months of active duty. The two are both 1^st Lieutenants of the Georgia National Guard 3^rd Squadron 108^th Calvary R&S (reconnaissance and surveillance.) Their Squadron will be part of a peacekeeping mission in aiding the Eastern European country.

Juan and Jay have been best friends since the day they met in eighth grade at G.A.R. Memorial High School in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pennsylvania. Their friendship goes way beyond most friendships. Juan having moved from Puerto Rico to America barely knew any English and fortunately for them, due to the fact that they were seated next to each other in alphabetical order, Jason looked out for him. Their friendship grew as they went through high school. Following graduation in 2001 they both enlisted in the Pennsylvania National Guard doing their boot camp at Fort Sill Oklahoma. While at boot camp Juan’s father passed away unexpectedly, shortly after that his mother moved to Houston, Texas. Jason’s parents became Juan’s legal guardians.
Such tragedy brought to both young men a tighter bond; they were closer than most biological brothers. Jason and his family took Juan in as a member of the Ellis family. Fernandez was humbled and honored, and from that point until today Jay and Juan both feel like true brothers.

After military training they both enrolled at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. As roommates they took all the same classes together, majoring in Exercise Science. While there they were members of the Reserve Officers Training Corps, graduating in 2007 as commissioned 2^nd Lieutenants.

This is not the first time the two have been called to active duty. In the fall of 2003 they were a part of the Iraqi Freedom II mission. They were flown to Kuwait, then onto Qatar where Juan spent six months protecting Central Command as a Military Police officer on the base. Meanwhile, Jason was put on a personal security detail to protect high-ranking officers. They also spent time as convoy security at the Kuwait-Iraqi border before returning to Bloomsburg University to finish their degrees.

In January of 2009 they had a second call of duty. This time Uncle Sam sent them to a more volatile area: Camp Taji, ten kilometers north of Baghdad. During their stay they were responsible for protecting the base from attacks. They returned to their civilian lives shortly, got into Life and studied for six quarters till duty called for a third time.

When they received the orders this third time, the reactions were not the same as before. Jason was upset, at first, because he did not want to leave his wife Devon or school. Juan persuaded Jason to look at the positives: it will be a relatively safe deployment due to the fact that it is a peace keeping mission and the Kosovo military is in charge; after that, the NATO forces give support. The U.S. military is the third line of defense. Juan comforted his friend by saying, “Look Jimbo it’s a cake deployment. We’ll come back with some money in our bank accounts, we’ll get promoted to captains and nobody is going to die. And they can’t touch us for another three to five years so we will be able to graduate from Life.”

The comfort and support that they give to each other transcends all aspects of their lives. One example is the fact that Jason is taking a modified load of credit hours here at Life so his buddy can catch up with him. Juan fell behind Jason when he took time off to go to Ranger School, a childhood dream fulfilled.

Jason’s cousin, a chiropractor in New York State, guided the two to Life University.

The chiropractor asked Juan some questions about the body’s ability to heal itself. Upon answering, the doctor told Juan he had all of the philosophies of a chiropractor. Following that meeting, Juan knew his next mission. He came to Marietta to survey the campus in 2009 right after Camp Taji. After visiting the school he knew this was the site for them. Juan recruited his longtime buddy to study Chiropractic. In January of 2010 the two men came to Life University together in a rented truck pulling Jason’s Jeep.

The two soldiers leave for training on August 31^st, and will be in Kosovo by October.  Jason will be leaving his wife and his dog Bailey for the 13 months. Juan will be leaving behind his 5^th Quarter girlfriend Whitney Wills and their dog Foster. In the meantime, Whitney and Devon, will support each other just like Juan and Jason do, by living together and being there for each other on their wait for their dedicated men’s return. Jason and Juan are looking forward to coming back and changing attire from combat boots to Vibrams and the twice-a-week scrubs for wet lab. The two men ask that Life students stay in touch through Facebook. If you would like to show your support you can “friend them” at Juan Fernandez and/or Jason Ellis.

In the field of dietetics, a bachelor’s degree in a qualifying field, an America Dietetics Association-approved internship, and the Registered Dietitian’s national exam are all that are required to obtain the coveted “RD.” However, many RD’s find themselves wanting to pursue a Master’s degree in order to have a competitive edge in the workforce. In addition, many institutions with Master’s degrees in the field count the experience from the internship towards credit for the Master’s.

With this information taken into consideration, Life University decided to begin the process of developing a Master’s degree in Clinical Nutrition. ”By exposing students to best practices in teaching, and evidence-based research in clinical nutrition, each student will gain the proficiencies necessary to achieve optimum personal performance,” director and chair of the department of nutrition Jaleh Dehpahlavan says. “The program will also create opportunities for dietetic students to obtain an advanced degree after completing the requirements for the Dietetic Internship Program, expand the Department of Nutrition and Life University program offerings and will provide another opportunity for the Department of Nutrition to expand its Dietetic Internship Program slots to 30 from 16.” With this expansion, Life will have the largest accredited program in the entire state of Georgia.

“Since this program must be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education, which is a peer reviewed process, it will enhance the integrity and quality of the university program offering as well.” Ms. Dehpahlavan continues.

The degree will be in Clinical Nutrition, equipping the dietitians who earn this degree to assess and assist patients with a wide array of issues. As our nation grows more and more obese, dietitians are a critical part of helping Americans understand what foods are best for them, and educating patients on the correct way to prepare foods so they are enjoyable and healthy. “Not only will it prepare graduates with the critical scientific and thinking skills needed for transformational leadership in an increasingly diverse, global, and dynamic world, it will also provide them with the values needed for career success and life fulfillment based on a vitalistic philosophy,” Ms. Dehpahlavan says.

Ultimately, this degree will enable Life University to become a leader in the world of dietetics education and will give students who are studying dietetics here an option to stay at Life for the duration of their education, provided the students meet the requirements that will be set. Truly, the future for the nutrition department at Life is bright and only growing brighter as the department grows!

As National Boards are quickly sneaking up on us, it only takes one look to realize that scores have plummeted over the past year. According to LIFE’s website, the most recent National Board scores for Part One were a mere 57.4% compared to the national average of 74.8%. This number has decreased from 63.2% just six months earlier and from 82.1% just in September of 2009. These numbers are concerning to not only the students facing boards in a few weeks, but to the faculty and administration as well. Many students have felt we are ‘reliving the past’ and that we are on the fast track to another collision with the CCE.

According to Dr. McAulay, Executive Vice President, over the past two years, our first time test takers pass rates have put us in a tie for fifth place among the other chiropractic schools. He states that in the past 18 months we have been as high as third, but the ultimate goal is to be first. So what do these numbers mean? When you look at the 57.4% passing rate we currently have, it means that of the 136 students who took the test, 57.4% passed all six sections and don’t have to retake any of them. While we, as students, feel relieved to see we only have to retake one or two sections, we are hurting the overall pass rate of the school as a whole. When it comes to Parts two, three and four LIFE is sitting in a good position, surpassing the averages in both Part two and Part four. We are not out of the woods and a lot of

Dr. Numeroff and Dr. King both stated that after the initial downfall 18 months ago the school began to look at what was causing the changes and what needed to be done to correct it. A group of professors began assessing the patterns and the process of our education. They began reviewing syllabi from the professors and seeing how they lined up with the NBCE tests. Dr. Amos, has been gathering questions from professors to update and expand the National Boards Prep section of the schools website. (Didn’t know we had that? If you are registered for the National Boards Prep Assembly, go to Blackboard and to the Board Assembly section. Under Documents you will find practice tests that target some of the most difficult board questions, memory joggers, review information and items contributed from each of the professors. There is also a link to Study Stack, an online flash card program that has a chiropractic section already created.)

Dr. Numeroff also stated that one of the big things the faculty is looking at is what a Part One successful student looks like. By doing this, they are hoping to be able to create a standard to strive for and to strengthen any weaknesses in the curriculum. New teachers have been hired in the Basic Sciences Department, but it will take time for them to perfect their curriculum and to see those changes in the board scores.

While the school is working to revamp the curriculum and fight back against the dropping scores, Dr. King and Dr. Numeroff both gave several tips to help students do the best they can to pass boards. They said studying needs to start in first quarter. Dr. King stated that students need to begin putting together a binder and organizing their class notes. She states that she often tells students to keep their notes at the end of the quarter. If you’ve already thrown them away, go back to the professors and get their notes and put them in your binder for boards. Dr. Numeroff added that when you take a test, even if you get a 98%, go and look at the test. See what you missed and have the professor explain the concept to you if you don’t understand it. That topic could end up being heavily tested on boards and you will not want to miss those questions. Some of the biggest tips they gave included:

• Look at the National Boards Breakdown both on Blackboard and on NBCE.org.  Find your strengths and weaknesses and how they will weigh on the test. Study accordingly.
• Time management is crucial. It’s difficult to study for boards at the same time you are taking classes. Don’t wait until the last minute. Just because Microbiology may be mostly memorization, don’t put it off until the very end thinking you’ll remember it all. It’s one of the highest failed sections of our scores at the moment and it’s mostly because students push it off to the end.
• Rotate your study time. Don’t spend hours on one subject, but instead spend 20-30 minutes on it, then move on. Once you have a subject learned, move on and don’t come back to it.
• Know your study style and use it!  If you are a group studier, plan your group early. If you are visual, use one of the online flashcard sites.
• Keep a positive attitude!  When taking the test and you come to a question you don’t know, acknowledge it, remember that you are smart and have made it this far, and move on.
• Take boards as soon as you are eligible. The longer you wait, the more you will have to relearn.

Some other tips include that you don’t need to spend $500 on board review. Our professors have given us the information we need. They are the ones who write for National Boards and they are the ones who know what is on the exam. Use the tools they give you and study hard! If you do go to a review, remember it is a REVIEW! You will still need to put in outside study time.

Don’t try to give up caffeine if you are addicted to it. Don’t start or stop any habits or make major changes while preparing for boards. LIFE is responsible for making sure that students are prepared and pass boards, but only can assure your success! Be prepared and ROCK BOARDS this quarter!!! You are ready!

Let us know how you did. Follow us on Facebook and follow the conversation!

It was approximately one year ago that Drs. Sid & Nell Williams returned home to LIFE’s campus to be honored, including having their feet and hands preserved in concrete for display on a campus “Path of Heroes.” Their return, among hundreds of chiropractors, guests, and students was both a healing experience and the unveiling of a legend unknown to some students. On Thursday, July 21, both Sid and Nell came back to LIFE, this time, their legacy was to be immortalized by a series of dedications and unveilings.

With approximately 400 doctors and a multitude of students in attendance, Dr. Riekeman introduced Drs. Sid and Nell at Lyceum Park to a welcoming applause and chants of “Sid, Sid, Sid.” The ceremonies proceeded with a walk to Celebration Plaza, where two monuments were to be unveiled next to D.D. Palmer’s, one honoring D.D.’s son B.J., and the other for Sid. After exposing Sid’s monument, the crowd was riding an emotional ridge. When Dr. Riekeman read the tribute’s inscription, he and the crowd choked up and many tears were shed. The ceremony then moved to the entrance of the Nell Williams Library, where reconstruction has been ongoing since the end of the spring quarter. The library was rededicated as the Drs. Sid E. & Nell K. Williams Library & History Center, which contains Williams’ family memorabilia and LIFE history not before seen. The ceremonies were concluded at a luncheon to dedicate the Dr. Sid E. Williams Center for Chiropractic Research. Then as a surprise to all, Dr. Riekeman presented Sid with a set of keys to his permanent office on campus, which eventually will be reconstructed with the administrative offices. LIFE has opened its doors and hearts to Sid being home on campus.

LIFE’s dedications to Sid and Nell were moving experiences to all those who attended that day. In honoring the legendary couple who helped create a school and defend the chiropractic profession, both the LIFE and chiropractic communities shared the glory. For Sid, the pride he has for his followers, his institution and the profession must be insurmountable. There will come a day when new students will not have the opportunity to be in Sid’s presence, to discover him. According to Miguel Hastings, “It is the students, after all, that Sid adores most.”

Dr. Sid may not be the president of LIFE, but this campus still reflects his accomplishments, passion, and commitment. The university was Sid’s outlet for his lasting purpose of protecting and growing the chiropractic profession. Each student, employee, and member of the community has been impacted by his creation. He plays a part in the destinies and influence of the LIFE community as he helped make them possible. There is euphoria about his presence that makes the campus feel more alive. Will LIFE be able to capture this, so that the Williams legacy is felt on campus forever? By the reactions of visitors and the Williams’ themselves on July 21^st, it was a huge step in that direction and Life University made it right.

During the weekend of April 15th, LifeSource 2011 sponsored the Octagon event on Life’s campus. Attended by DC’s, CA’s, spouses, biochemists, functional neurologists and, unfortunately, very few students, the Octagon brought together experts in their field to pose their own definitions of subluxation and how to measure success in treatment of that subluxation.

Dr. Riekeman started the conference Thursday afternoon, after the Lyceum Park opening on campus by discussing the term subluxation, focusing specifically on nerve interference, including mechanical dysfunction, environmental toxins and thoughts & stressors. Dr. Riekeman also drew our attention to the fact that the Octagon is a dynamic, ongoing forum for thought and discussion to benefit understanding of chiropractic both externally and internally of our profession.

Dr. Triano discussed that while Vitalism asks ‘why,’ Reductionism asks ‘how;’ how the Vital Force is equal to the human soul. He stated that the goal of any DC should be to intervene both productively and predictably with the subluxation. He also pointed out that while the flutter of a butterfly wing can indeed cause a hurricane half a world away, we do not yet know which flutter set off the storm.

Drs. Haavik-Taylor and Goertz discussed research and statistics around subluxation and chiropractic and results experienced by patients and how that translated into statistical data. Dr. Goertz talked about what matters most to patients and the difference between somatic dysfunction and subluxation while Dr. Koch mentioned how ‘intelligence exists without scientific hypothesis,’ however the nervous system ‘is scientifically appraisable.’

Dr. Lipton spoke to the attendees about how the more energetically connected we are, the more we care… and that entanglement is equal to a change in the recipient. He also stated, “In order to be the master of your science, you have to DO your science.”

An attendee brought about an interesting question as to are we ‘mechanistic back crackers or are we Wholism, Holistic. The answer was that yes, we are more than just biomechanics. We need to bring the theory of subluxation into the classroom. We need a mutual starting point for the discussion.

A lot of chiropractors in practice focus on pain and whiplash, being a focus of many, received some attention at Octagon. Dr Damadian discussed Chiari Syndrome and Cerebellar Tonsillar Ectopia as well as the amazing results experienced by patients once they had their atlas adjusted. Patients experienced a reduction in headaches from occlusion of CSF movement and arterial flow to the brain, nausea and vomiting, pain and numbness and black outs among others. Dr. Damadian, inventor of the MR Scanner, (more commonly known as MRI,) demonstrated how results are different in MR pictures depending on whether the patient is recumbent or sitting/standing; the more evident injuries were visible in a standing/sitting scan.

Dr. Carrick spoke about the relationship between science and philosophy and how once you answer a philosophical question it becomes science; the theory of Science = True & False while Philosophy = Sense & Nonsense and about errant a priori concepts upon which conceptual questions can be developed.

We discussed politics and its relation to improving or impinging patient care and comparative effectiveness and that the ‘absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence’.

Another point mentioned by staff at the Octagon was how few students were repeat visitors every day – only three signed in and out on the registration sheet. Fellow students remarked Saturday evening at a gathering I attended how they didn’t know it was happening. As students of chiropractic it is our duty to learn, be focused and pay attention. Ignorance is no longer a viable excuse for missing data and details. The Octagon was published on the front page of the Vital Source newspaper, on all of the televisions in the cafe as well as communicated several times by student email. And while I know there were a lot of events during the same weekend, DE, a BGI (biogeometric integration) seminar, a Pierce Results seminar, the Gonstead Extravaganza and a few others, many of us were still on campus.

And while attendance of the conference excused us from class, I know whole-heartedly we are still responsible for the material, but to some that acted as an excuse for not attending any of the forum. To that I say, what about Thursday night and Saturday? Or when classes ended for the day Friday. The more we attend, understand and breathe in about philosophy, the physical attributes in technique as well as the biggest concept, subluxation, the better DC’s we will be when in practice with our own patient base, or the better our research will be, should we follow that tract.

The Octagon is an ongoing event we were fortunate to host this time on our campus. Hopefully it will be back on our campus for the next session

Factoids: Did you know…

• 45-50% of people experience whiplash symptoms 17 years after of the injury

• A ten mile car cash is equal to catching a 200lb bag of cement dropped from a second story bldg.

• 4-30% of neck injuries are missed by other practitioners, which leads to permanent ‘neurologic sequela’.

Faculty for the Contemporary Scientific Paradigm that is Octagon:

Dr. Bruce Lipton, PhD, Conference Chair.

Dr. Gerry Clum, DC, Conference Host

Dr. Fred Carrick, DC PhD

Dr. Ray Damadian, MD

Dr. Joe Dispenza, DC

Dr. Christine Goertz, DC PhD

Dr. Heidi Haavik-Taylor, DC PhD

Dr. David Koch, DC

Dr. Scott Rosa, DC

Dr. Peggy Samples, PhD

Dr. Rob Scott, DC PhD

Dr. Jay Triano, DC PhD

On January 11, 2010 Socrates Café officially opened for business. For those who have been around for a while and remember the old café with its greasy food, and its dingy, outdated interior, the new café came as a very welcomed campus addition. It gave students a well-lit, updated atmosphere with better food options and much more space. A year later, the café is thriving. Quite often throughout the day it is hard to find a spot to sit as the entire café is full. The patio has become a place where drum circles entertain on sunny days. The evenings are a perfect place to study, with the sounds of the water and the glow of the firepit light the night.

The 28,000 square feet of open space with indoor and outdoor seating, now employs 12 staff members plus some temporary help for the bigger events or for when people are on vacation. Run by Bon Appetit, whose company logo is “Food Services for a Sustainable Future,” the café boasts quality foods created from scratch as much as possible. According to their website, “Bon Appetite Management Company has become a model for what is possible in sustainable food service.” They were the first food service company to address the issues related to where and how the food is grown. In January, Bon Appetit reached its goal of contracting 1,000 ‘farm to fork’ farmers, a company initiative to buy locally.

Another aspect of Bon Appetit, Socrates Café and Life Univeristy is their commitment to recycling. Ron Williams, Assistant to the Executive Chef, is an avid recycler. He states that he first began recycling in 1994 in the workplace and it quickly became something he loves. Not only does he oversee the recycling done by the café, he also is actively involved in the recycling around campus. According to Williams, the school boasts a Somat machine in the café that recycles most of the material thrown into the garbage cans. (www.somatcompany.com) He states that the machine is able to mulch the plates, boxes, papers and leftover food into a useable mulch that is used throughout campus in the plants and trees. The garbage in the cans is sorted through and separated out daily, pushed down a conveyor type belt and into the machine where it is rotated at a high heat overnight. The heat dries out the materials and breaks them down into a sandy type composition that is put into the plants around campus. The Somat machine is able to decrease the waste produced by 50%, saving not only money, (up to $800 a month from the recycling companies alone,) but also to help do Life’s share in conserving energy and the environment. The machine is NOT currently able to process the cups and silverware used on campus, as it tends to jam the machine so to best recycle these items, put them in the blue recycling bins located near the garbage cans. There are also 35 new containers around campus for recycling of aluminum and plastic.

One issue that students have had with Socrates is that it closes down to convert the menu from breakfast to lunch. According to Williams, this time is necessary due to the very limited space within the café. He states, “Every corner of the restaurant is breakfast and lunch. Every corner is turned out and turned over.” All of the oatmeal containers are switched out for soups. The fruit bar is completely turned over to salads. The danish and muffins need to be fully switched to deli and grill items. Every square inch needs to be replaced. Bon Appetit determined that the best way to handle the transition is for a shut down during a not busy time, to help avoid risk and accidents and to make the transition as smooth as possible. During that time, Plato to Go is open for drinks, coffee and quick pick up foods. The prices in Plato have come down, with the grab & go sandwiches now being $.60 cheaper than before.

The café is currently open from 6:30am-9:30AM and 10:30AM-3:00PM Monday – Friday, with the seating area open until Midnight as well as noon-midnight on the weekend.  Plato to Go is open 9:00 AM-1PM and 3-6PM Monday-Friday.

For more information on Bon Appetit and their commitment to sustainability, visit www.bamco.com  Have a comment about this article? Come visit us on Facebook!

When we’re in school, it’s easy to get bogged down in the everyday routine of tests and studying for class. Graduation and the real world can seem so far, and any dreams we have outside of being students exist in the future as a “someday” ideal that we can’t have right now due to our circumstances of still being in school. I’ve learned something pretty cool during my time at LIFE: your circumstances don’t matter. We don’t have to wait until we graduate to be the person we’ve always dreamed of being.

Last August, I created a vision for myself that was far bigger than just graduating from school and opening my practice. I saw myself as an international leader in chiropractic, working to transform the profession in its second century. I never envisioned taking on this role I saw for myself until after I had graduated and maybe even been in practice for ten years. I was blinded by the hoops still left to jump through in school and still being tied to government funded living expense checks.

About three months ago, something in my thinking shifted. I’ve suddenly found myself in the role I only dared to dream of back in August. The reason? I got bold, started speaking and writing my ideas beyond the realm of just our LIFE campus. The result, I realized while I was at New Beginnings earlier this month, was that other leaders in our profession actually knew who I was. It was while I was at New Beginnings I realized I have actually made an impression on those out to save chiropractic and save the world, and become the leader I dreamed of becoming.

My goal here is not to brag or make myself look cool, it’s to leave you all with this message and hopefully with the inspiration to really take on your life and be who you are. So many of us live life without fully expressing ourselves because we get bogged down in everything surrounding us and allow that to define us. You are not your finances, your divorced parents, your final exam schedule etc. Who you are is who you choose to be in the face of all the obstacles and life imperfections we each face on a daily basis.

If you have not done so, take a moment to consider your life and your actions. Who are you? How do you act and behave? In each moment, who do you choose to be? Who would you like to be? The theory of the power of positive thinking runs rampant within the chiropractic profession and on this campus. While I fully believe in maintaining positive thoughts and attitudes in order to get what you want, I also believe it requires action. I became a leader because I stopped acting like a scared student, swallowed by the pressure of school and exams and with nothing to offer the world. I started taking actions consistent with a leader. I met people. I shared my ideas and writing with people. I was bold and courageous.

So I ask you, who do you want to be? What’s holding you back? Don’t wait for tomorrow to get here. The future is right now. You are capable of being whoever you wish to be in this moment. Dream big. Reach for the stars. The only thing in your way is you deciding who you want to be.

The Direct Deposit Enrollment form is available in the Student Accounts Office or print the form out at http://www.life.edu/sites/default/files/Direct%20Deposit%20Form.pdf. Please return completed form with a voided check to the Student Accounts Office. Direct Deposit refunds will be processed on Tuesday and Thursday of each week. All direct deposits are guaranteed to arrive in your bank account within 48 hours after the refund has been processed in your student account. Your financial institution must be a U.S. bank and funds will be deposited only to your checking account.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact us at 770-426-2626.

The year is 2011 and modern science is beginning to validate what Chiropractic has preached for over one hundred years. With thousands of practicing Chiropractors, Chiropractic students, and Chiropractic patients, one would expect to hear more of an outcry about the fact that Chiropractic was correct; yet there is still deafening silence.  Medical Schools for decades have indoctrinated both Medical Doctors and society on what is called the Central Dogma. The Central Dogma states that our genetic makeup determines everything from our physical characteristics to our behavior, and most importantly our health. There is only one problem with the Central Dogma – it is not true.  And modern science has continued to validate this fact for the past decade.

The Human Genome Project began in the early 1990s and was initially focused on cataloging all the genes of the human body. The expected result was to correlate genetic variations with specific diseases in order to develop “gene therapy” which was supposed to be the future of medicine. Billions of dollars were funneled into this project and the public was told this would single-handedly end heart disease, cancer, diabetes, autoimmune disease and hope seemed infinite. Scientists expected to find at least 120,000 genes with the assumption that there must be one gene for each individual protein in our body, in which we have at least 100,000 known proteins. On top of that, scientists assumed around 20,000 regulatory genes whose function was to “orchestrate” the complex protein assembly. When the Human Genome project was over, everyone was astonished by the fact that only 23,688 genes are responsible for the ever complex human body. Research has now shifted into the study of epigenetics which focuses on how genes are expressed in our body and the causative factors of this expression.

In November of 2010, The New England Journal of Medicine sadly reported on how little correlation exists between obesity, diabetes and our genes. It is now shown that most of our genes are secondary to the environment of our cells. Not only do our cell membranes act as a semi-permeable lipid bilayer covering which regulates what goes in and out of our cells, but the cell membranes are also able to read the environment of the extracellular matrix and send signals to our cell nucleus in order for the cell to adapt and survive.  Similar to how the nervous system takes in sensory information and relays an appropriate motor output, it seems our cells may act in a similar manner. Studies now show that our thoughts, stresses, social connections, diet, exercise, exposure to microbes and environmental toxins all have major effects on how our genome is expressed. This expression of genetics, based on our environment, is now said to be causing between 70 to 90 percent of all disease.

The human body hosts 100 trillion microorganisms. The DNA of the bugs living within each human body outnumbers that of human DNA by one hundred times. The molecules produced by the DNA of these microorganisms have a significant impact on our health.  It is the job of the chiropractor to maximize our patients’ biology in order for their immune system to work optimally. Chiropractic spinal and myofascial adjustments not only improve the nervous system, but also the vascular and lymphatic system.  With the additional focus on clinical nutrition, social behaviors, as well as any other stressor that a patient might present with, chiropractors have the ability to drastically improve the immune system’s ability to fight off pathogens. In order for the chiropractic profession to truly be considered primary physicians, we must continue to stay educated on modern, unbiased science. With this understanding, the Chiropractic profession can now scientifically and intelligently argue why everyone should be under our care.

The Life University World Congress of Chiropractic Students represented well at the 32nd annual congress. The WCCS congress was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

April 2^nd-9^th. There were six Life students representing our school this year, more than any other year. The delegation was led by its president, Sean Drake; also attending the congress were DC students Ryan Barnett, Tania Demiray, and Ron Sweeney, as well as undergrads Jessica Quintero and myself.

The WCCS is an organization of students that represent thirty two chiropractic schools from around the world. Their purpose is to advance and unite the global chiropractic profession through inspiration, integrity, and leadership. According to the website at www.wccsworldwide.org, the objectives of the corporation are “to promote the exchange of new ideas from a student perspective, to unify the chiropractic profession from within, and to unify the health care community in the interest of contributing to world health.” Each year, students get together for a week to discuss issues in chiropractic education, as well as in the profession worldwide. At this year’s congress, 160 students represented twenty-four schools from five continents.

While in active session, the WCCS congress utilizes the formal Robert’s Rules to discuss a wide variety of topics that the delegations propose. Each delegation was allowed to submit three proposals at this year’s congress. The proposal topics range from issues at particular schools, to how to further improve the WCCS, to building a foundation for the future of the profession.

For the first time ever in the history of the WCCS, this year’s congress was held in conjunction with the World Federation of Chiropractors bi-annual conference. This was an excellent opportunity for students to mingle with chiropractors from around the world, listen to the leaders of the profession, and get a different perspective on chiropractic at the international level. There was also a wide variety of chiropractic seminars that students could attend.

The WCCS had very good speakers each day that had spoken to the congress. One of the most emotional moments was when a Korean chiropractor spoke about the struggles he faces practicing in his country. Only six months earlier he had been put in jail for practicing chiropractic.  The Minister of Public Health and Sports for the island nation of Aruba is a chiropractor and he spoke about his plans for making chiropractors the point of entry into the health care system in his country. The universal health care in Aruba is being looked at as a model for larger countries in Europe. Life University graduate, Dr. Liam Schubel, had a high energy passionate talk on the endless opportunities in the profession and the need to take chiropractic to every person in the world.

One of the things that makes the WCCS such a special organization is that students are able to make and develop friendships with other chiropractic students from around the world. There is much bonding while discussing the similarities and differences in the educational processes at different schools, but some of the best connections are made after congress when people let down their hair and take to the city on adventures, like everyone piling into buses to visit one of the new seven wonders of the world, Cristo Redentor—or as we know it in English—the Christ the Redeemer statue.  And aside from the organized side trips, there are the informal, intimate encounters between newly-made lifelong friends over a good meal and a night of dancing and enjoying the local nightlife.  Many times, friendships at the WCCS easily turn into working relationships following graduation.

At this year’s congress, the delegations voted on where to hold the 2013 congress. The Durban University of Technology won the bid to host the congress in Durban on the eastern coast of South Africa. Next year’s congress will be held in August at Murdoch University in Perth, Australia. Past congresses have been held in Dallas, Texas; Auckland, New Zealand; Mexico City, Mexico; Toronto, Ontario; and many other cities.

The Life University chapter of the WCCS would like to thank all of those Life students who came out to support the organization at the mansion parties. We would also like to thank the Office of the President, Student Services, and the student council for their generous support.

If you have any questions or interest in being a part of our school’s chapter, WCCS meets in room C-108 at 5:00pm on Wednesdays.

If you’ve ever been at Joels Tavern and been lucky enough to hear Liquid Rootz, you know what a great band this is! The band was formed in the summer of 2009 and has grown into a unique combination of contemporary music with an island twist. Another thing that separates this band from other bands on campus is that it represents virtually every program of study that Life University has to offer. The original members, Tui Osborne (Exercise Science), Benny Mateialona (Business) and Colton Cariaga (Business) have added Arthur Driver (Business) and Marc Chianese (graduating from the DC program this quarter.)  While the group has created 12 original songs and is in the process of recording their first album, they also do a lot of cover music at their shows.  Tui states, “Most of our inspiration comes from just being together a lot, hanging out in my man cave garage, having a few brews while listening to great artists on the radio and just enjoying each other’s company.”  Lead Vocalist, Tui, believes that, “we stand out because of what each person brings to the table music-wise in terms of cultural backgrounds; I grew up around reggae, Arthur and Ben grew up around rap/hip-hop and Marc and Colton listened to more contemporary stuff and rock, so we try to have a touch of each genre in our songs.” Each member brings their own unique flare to the group, and when meshed together, the sound is Liquid Rootz! Make sure to check them out at any of their local venues – Joel’s Tavern, Red Sky Tappas, Party Chic, The Vineyard Winemarket and V2 Room and be sure to find them on Facebook at Liquid-Rootz.