Pierre Laclede Society ($10,000 or m

ore)• D

ennis L. Gierhart

Charitable G

ift Fund

• Missouri O

ptometric Foundation, Inc.

Chancellor's Circle($5,000-$9,999.99)• D

r. Edw

ard D. and

Mrs. C

arroll T. Bellingrath

• Essilor U

SA

• Mr. and M

rs. Dennis L. G

ierhart

Dean's Circle($1,000-4,999.99)• C

anela Softw

are•C

enter for Keratoconus

•CIB

AV

ision Corporation

•Crow

n Optical

•Mr. P

atrick H. G

adell•H

ome V

ision Care

•Pearle V

ision Foundation, Inc.

•Drs. E

mily L. B

urkett and N

. Thom

as Van Tran

• Wal-M

art Foundation

• Dr. Terrace L. W

aggoner• M

r. James and D

r. Krist R

. William

s(E

ye To Eye O

ptometry)

Founder's Circle ($500-$999.99)• A

merican A

cademy of O

ptometry

• Dr. Larry J. and M

rs. Janice K. D

avis• S

aint Louis Optom

etric Society

Century Club($100-$499.99)• M

r. Steve R

ight and D

r. Laura E. B

arnes• D

rs. Edw

ard S. and Jean B

ennett• D

r. Douglas G

. Biggs

• Dr. C

ullen G. and

Mrs. H

elen V. Bonebrake

• Dr. B

arbara W. B

rown

• Dr. G

ail B. D

oell• D

rs. Driver and C

lark, O

ptometrist, P.A

.•D

r. Jerome A

. and M

rs. Connie A

. Fay

• Dr. R

alph P. and M

rs. Sylvia G

arzia• D

r. Wayne R

. and M

rs. Tracy Gilm

ore

• Drs. Jam

es M. and Janet N

. Gordon

• Mr. Jon S

. Jacobs and D

r. Traci L. Schm

alle-Jacobs• D

rs. William

and Wanda Long

• Drs. G

erald A. and

Phoebe M

cLaughlin• M

r. Richard L. N

ix(N

ix and Associates)

• Dr. C

arol K. P

eck• D

r. Jay S. P

epose (P

epose Vision Institute)

• Dr. W

illiam and

Mrs. C

harlotte Ridley

• Mr. C

harles Rudolph

• Mr. O

wen and M

rs. Louella Rugg

• Mr. D

anny V. and M

rs. Phyllis A

. Schneider

• Dr. John E

. Scott

• Dr. C

olleen C. S

hear• D

r. Larry D. S

nider• D

r. A. G

regory and M

rs. Mabel Toler, Jr.

• Dr. John and M

rs. June Turley• D

r. Darrin G

. Vits

• Dr. C

raig H. W

itte• D

r. Peter and

Mrs. M

arilyn Zim

merm

an

College Supporters ($1 to $99.99)• M

r. Ted M. A

bele and D

r. Miriam

L. Anderson

• Mr. R

obert A. B

aumann

• Mr. T

homas R

. and M

rs. Linda Burjeck

• Mr. B

yron and Mrs. Linda B

. Chalem

• Ms. D

alia Fadel

• Dr. S

uzanne M. H

agan(O

n Site E

ye Care LLC

)• M

r. Mel and D

r. Allison H

all• D

r. Beth A

. Henderson

•Mr. S

am and D

r. Vinita A

. Henry

•Dr. R

obert and Mrs. M

arcia Kopitsky

•Mr. C

hristopher and D

r. Jennifer S. M

ahurin•D

r. David P. M

artin•M

r. Saul and M

rs. Barbara M

irowitz

•Ms A

lta G. M

yers•D

rs. Steven E

. and Karen B

. Rosen

•Dr. Irving L. S

hapiro•D

r. Jane E. S

hea• D

r. Suzanna R

. Sm

ith• D

r. Harold Tachm

an• U

.S.V

ision, Inc.• M

r. Stanley J. and

Mrs. E

laine E. W

ielansky

Giving to the College of Optometry

We are sincerely grateful for the support of our donors.

>>COVER STORY: The College ofOptometry is moving into the fastlane, literally. New clinic takesinterns to where the patients are.

>>THANK YOU: College recognizesthose often silent contributors whohelp students, the school & pro-fession

>> FIRST CLASS: College’s Class of’84 marks 20 years

>> Welcome the newest membersof profession

>>Alumni in the NewsMoving Into the Fast Lane

The C

ollege of Optom

etry isrolling out a new

way of training

tomorrow

’s optometrists w

hile betterserving disadvantaged com

munities,

social service agencies and evenbusiness and industry.

To do this, the College of

Optom

etry at the University of

Missouri-S

t. Louis has converted a28-foot W

innebago into a portableclassroom

and eye clinic. Funding for

the center came from

a generous$250,000 grant from

the Housing and

Urban D

evelopment A

gency securedby M

issouri Senator. K

it Bond.

“The M

obile Eye C

enter removes

distance, time and affordability barri-

ers that can separate patients fromoptom

etrists,” College of O

ptometry

Dean Larry J. D

avis said. T

he mobile clinic concept it not a

new one: F

raternal organizations likeLions C

lub International have longoffered sim

ilar mobile screenings

services to disadvantaged comm

uni-ties. S

etting the College of

Optom

etry’s program apart is the

ability to offer complete vision serv-

ice, from com

prehensive exam to

fitting and delivering eyewear.

Assistant D

ean of Clinical

Services R

alph Garzia explains: “T

heM

EC

can deliver complete optom

etriccare because it com

es with tw

o fully

equipped exam lanes. T

his means

our interns can do more than sim

plyscreen a patient’s vision and m

ake areferral if needed. Interns can fullyasses a patient’s vision, m

onitorprogress through follow

-up visits andeven provide corrective eyew

earthrough the dispensary all on site.”

“We sim

ply need a good road totake us to our patients,” D

avis said. T

he ME

C has the potential to reach

217,000 school-age children in Metro-

St., Louis. W

hile children in under-served areas are the largest targetedbeneficiary of the m

obile center, theprogram

is also designed to provideservices to senior centers w

herepatient m

obility is a concern, forsocial service agencies, at healthfairs and businesses w

here employ-

ees find it difficult to leave for extend-ed periods of tim

e.T

he program is open to both pub-

lic and private organizations locatedw

ithin an approximate 75 m

iles radiusof the U

niversity of Missouri-S

t.Louis.

The C

ollege’s innovativeapproach stands to benefit m

ore thanpatients in underserved com

munities.

The ultim

ate goal for optometry edu-

cators is to provide new and diverse

leaning experiences for students. In m

id-Septem

ber, the ME

C w

asdeployed to an A

frican Am

ericanhealth fair held at that S

t. LouisS

cience Center. E

ight interns, intheir third and fourth year of study atthe C

ollege, conducted detailedscreenings on 56 patients, m

any ofw

hom w

ere referred for follow-up

care. “It was a great experience. W

esaw

a range of conditions that day—

a couple things I personally had-n’t seen first hand before,” saidthird-year student M

ark Gifford, w

hoalso recently begun his clinicalw

ork. “I got a lot out of it. It w

as worth

giving up a Saturday” he added

The recreational vehicle w

as outfit-ted this past spring w

ith equipment

designed for in-the-field examina-

tions. The C

ollege began making

trial runs this past summ

er to testthe m

obile center’s limitations and

capabilities.T

he Mobile E

ye Center is one

component of the C

ollege ofO

ptometry’s C

enter for Eye C

are,w

hich operates clinics in North S

t.Louis C

ounty, East S

t. Louis, theC

entral West E

nd and St. C

harlesC

ounty.

We’d like to know

what you’ve

been up to. Are you m

arried? New

child? Career C

hange? N

ew practice? T

hese are allaccom

plishments you shouldn’t

keep to yourself. Share them

with

your friends and colleagues fromyour alm

a matter by visiting our

new E

yeWire w

eb site at:

In May, 41 students participated in one

of the most im

portant rites of passage atthe C

ollege of Optom

etry: Graduation.

This is the 20th class to participate in

the annual exercise. More than 800

optometrists call U

M-S

t. Louis their alma

matter. M

embers of the C

lass of ’04 are:

Brian L. Adam, B

eatrice, Neb.

Christopher Allen Banninger, Salina, K

an.Jerem

y A. Beatty, St. Louis, M

o.M

aurice Allan Clark, St. Louis, M

o.Jennifer Lynn Craig, C

ollinsville, Ill.Jerem

y Michael Fast, S

t. Charles, M

o.Destiny D. Foulk, F

ort Scott, K

an.Am

y Renee Goertz, Wichita, K

an.Shaw

n Michael Haferkam

p, St. Louis, M

o.Jill Lynn Higgs, C

assville, Mo.

Gina Stokes Johnson, Mounds V

iew, M

inn.Tasha Jo Jones, B

rookins, S.D

.Lisa S. Keller, F

lorissant, Mo.

Stephanie I. King, Marion, M

iss.Kim

berly Dawn Kohne, D

ecatur, Ind.M

ichael R. H. Laue, St. Louis, M

o.Ryan P. Lem

pp, Bellevue, N

eb.Dorothy Erin M

ark, St. A

ugustine, Fla.

Lisa Kathleen Masters, S

t. Peters, M

o.Ryan Christopher M

iles, Colby, K

an.Stephen Eli M

ullen, St. P

eters, Mo.

Melantha Rose Nephew

, Manhattan, K

an.Eric Daniel Porisch, R

apid City, S

.D.

Becky Lynn Rock, St. Louis, M

o.Lisa Ann Scheller, S

t. Louis, Mo.

Erin Lee Searfoss, St. Louis, M

o.Am

anda Rachelle Strom, C

hicago, Ill.M

atthew S. Thai, E

lk Grove, C

alif.Seth Alan Thibault, O

sborne, Kan.

Harry Ha Tran, Springfield, M

o.Daniel Cao Truong, S

acramento, C

alif.Andrea Johnson W

ashington, St. Louis, M

o.Eric R. W

einbauer, La Grange, M

o.Bethany Jean W

hitesell, South G

reenfield, Mo.

Eyad Hussein Yehyawi, B

urlington, Iowa

FAST LANE:You M

ay Now

Call T

hem

DO

CT

OR

What A

bout You?

ww

w.eyew

ire.org

DDrr.. AAnnggeell NNoovveel, ’03, and Michael W

illiams

are the proud parents of Michael Joseph

Novel W

illiams born A

ugust 27, 2004(w

eighing in at 6lbs-1oz). Mom

and babyare doing w

ell in Quincy, IL. A

ngel iscon-

sidering relocating backto the S

t. Louisarea as soon as she is back from

materni-

ty leave.A

ngel justcom

pleted her resi-dency July 2004 at H

udson Valley V

AH

ealthC

are System

in Montrose, N

Yw

ithan em

phasis in ocular disease/primary

care.T

he programis affiliated w

ithS

UN

Y. Angel, our congratulations on all

counts!!

DDrr.. BBeetthhaannyy ((CCuurrttiiss)) WWhhiitteesseellll, '04, w

ill beopening her ow

n practice in Willard, M

O.

She said in a recent em

ail, "I've learnedm

uch from this process." C

onstructionbegan in S

eptember and is slated to com

-plete for opening in late O

ctober. Bethany--

our fingers crossed for everything to gow

ell during construction!

MMiicchheellee ((HHaalleeyy)) RRiiccee, '01, has joined

Outreach E

ye Care of K

ansas City, w

hichprovides nursing hom

e care. Dr. R

ice saysshe really enjoys the w

ork. The R

ice fami-

ly, which includes sons D

illon and Skyler

are enjoying the new hom

estead in cen-tral M

issouri.

Third-year student MM

aarrkk KKaahhrrhhooffffis the

2004 recipient of the Julius F. Neum

uellerA

ward in O

ptics from the A

merican

Academ

y of Optom

etry. Mark is the first

recipient for the award from

UM

-St. Louis.

DDrr.. CChhrriissttiinnaa SSoorreennssoonn, ’85, of Scottsdale,

Ariz., has been elected to the B

oard ofD

irectors of the Association of R

egulatoryB

oards.

Faculty m

ember DDrr.. TTiimm

ootthhyy WWiinnggeerrtt

hasbeen selected to participate in the 2004-05 U

niversity of Missouri Leadership

Developm

ent Program

(LDP

) offeredthrough the P

resident's Academ

icLeadership Institute. W

ingert is also rec-ognized as the O

ptometrist of the Year for

the St. Louis O

ptometric S

ociety.

Associate P

rofessor DDrr.. CCaarrll BBaassssii hasaccepted an appointm

ent to serve asdirector of research for the C

ollege. The

recently developed part-time adm

inistra-tive position is intended to assist facultyw

ith the development of proposals for

internal and external research funding andthe im

plementation of research plans and

protocols.

In the News

It There A

Doctor(s) In T

he House? —

In May, m

embers of the C

lass of ’04 where

honored at comm

encement exercises for their accom

plishments at the C

ollege ofO

ptometry. A

lso in attendance were several m

embers of the C

ollege’s first gradu-ating class. It w

as only 20 years ago that mem

bers of the Class of ’84 shared the

same spotlight. M

embers in attendance include: (first row

, left to right) XX

XX

X,

Todd Lucas, Hon. A

nne Ream

, Karen R

osen, XX

XX

XX

and Rex N

ewcom

b; (sec-ond row

) XX

XX

, XX

XX

X, S

tuart Anderson, Lynn H

erndon, Mike K

lopping, Ed

Warren and Joe S

troetker. Ream

y and New

comb both served as guest speakers

at the comm

encement exercises.

The C

ollege Hits the R

oad with

New

Learning Experiences