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