Mary Beth Larsen, 24, a chiropractic student at Logan College of Chiropractic, won the women's pentathlon at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba on July 31. By virtue of winning the gold medal in Winnipeg, Mary becomes the first woman to qualify for the pentathlon at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.
The pentathlon, developed by the modern founder of the Olympic Games, Pierre de Courbertin, encompasses five events that exemplify the skills that characterized Napoleonic couriers: fencing; pistol shooting; horseback riding/jumping; a 4,000 meter cross-country foot race; and a 300 meter swim.
Mary Larsen grew up in Eagle, Wisconsin. She was named "Scholar-Athlete of the Year" for 1993 and 1994 at the New Mexico Military Institute. While attending Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Mary Beth competed on the air pistol team and placed second in the 1996 NCAA Division II team competition.
While at Logan, she participated in the 1997 and 1998 "Tour de Spine" bike rides to raise funds for the American Spinal Research Foundation. She also competed in the Ironman triathlon held in Hawaii last October, placing third in the 18-24 age group.
Mary Beth will take a year's leave of absence from her chiropractic studies to train for the Olympics, but expects to return to school in September 2000 to complete her final year.
As we go to press, Mary Beth is preparing for her August 28 marriage to Vaho Iagorashvili, a bronze medalist in the men's pentathlon at the 1988 Olympics. Vaho is now the top-rated men's pentathlete.
A training fund has been set up for her through the Marathon Management Group:
Marathon Management Group
West 339 South 5524
Woodland Wonderland Court
Eagle, WI 53119
Canadian DC Receives Award for Lumbar Spine Research At the most recent meeting of the International Society for the Study of the Lumbar Spine, Dr. Greg Kawchuk of the University of Calgary's McCaig Centre for Joint and Injury and Arthritis Research was awarded the Surgical Dynamics Fellowship. The event marked the first time the society has awarded the fellowship to a doctor of chiropractic.
The fellowship is a $5,000 award given to young investigators who show promise in researching problems of the lumbar spine. Dr. Kawchuk will use the award to participate in a collaborative research project with Dr. Partap Khalsa of SUNY-Stony Brook and Drs. Jacek Cholewicki and Manohar Panjabi at Yale University.
In the proposed study, facet capsule strains will be measured during physiological motions of lumbar spine specimens. Specimens will be tested using a new device (linear actuator) that applies physiological displacements. The spines will then be tested using an apparatus that applies "pure moments" loads. The results will provide more understanding of facet mechanics and could eventually lead to greater knowledge of the relationship between the lumbar spine and low back pain.
TCC Names Building in Honor of Dr. Harris On August 4, 1999, Texas Chiropractic College (TCC) announced the formal dedication of a new 16,000 square foot administration building named in honor of chiropractic benefactor William H. Harris.
The occasion marks the second time in as many months that a chiropractic college has named a facility in honor of Dr. Harris. Earlier this summer, Logan College of Chiropractic announced the creation of the William Harris,DC, Sports and Wellness Complex (see the August 9 issue or the ChiroWeb archives at www.chiroweb.com/archives/17/17/07.html ).
The new TCC building will accommodate the offices of the president; vice president; chief fiscal officer; the registrar; admissions; financial aid; student affairs and institutional advancement.
During the dedication ceremony, TCC President Dr. Shelby Elliott praised Dr. Harris and his Foundation for the Advancement of Chiropractic Education (FACE). When the building's construction began in January 1998, Dr. Harris issued a $250,000 fundraising challenge to the chiropractic profession. Once TCC met that challenge, FACE matched the funds.
"This beautiful new administration building could not have been possible without the generous support of Dr. William Harris and the FACE organization," observed Dr. Elliott. Texas state Sen. Mike Jackson and state Rep. John Davis were in attendance at the dedication ceremony. Pasadena mayor pro tem John Manlove presented Dr. Harris with a proclamation marking August 4 as "William M. Harris Day."
National's President Continues Fight Against Pediatric Cancer For the fourth consecutive year, Dr. James Winterstein, president of the National College of Chiropractic, participated in the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation's "Ride for Kids" motorcycle event outside Chicago. This year, Dr. Winterstein finished as the event's fourth-highest donor, raising $5,500 for research into pediatric brain tumors.
"If we can help even one child through the donations we make to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, then I think our efforts are well worth while," said Dr. Winterstein.
Chiropractic at the NCAA Championships This year's NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, (June 2-5, Boise State University) brought out a number of local chiropractors to treat the athletes. Gary Craner, head athletic trainer at Boise State, was responsible for the health care for the championships. Boise area chiropractors Rick Tweedt, Michael Clarke, Kevin Hearon, Tim Klena, Cory Matthews and Ed Perkins offered their care; DCs Keith Rau of Marietta, Georgia, Nancy North of Bayfield, Colorado, and Mike Pettit (team chiropractor for the University of Tennessee) were also on hand to treat the athletes.
Among the athletes opting for chiropractic care was Tom Pappas, a senior from Tennessee who won the decathlon.
"We look forward to seeing more chiropractic involvement in these events in the future," said Dr. Clarke.
NIH Creates New Research Project Database The National Institutes of Health have announced the formation of a new user-friendly database for identifying and tracking research on a particular disease or technology. Known as CRISP (Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects), the database contains records of research projects from 1972 to the present.
CRISP contains more than a dozen query fields which will bring up such key information on research projects as the name, address and institution of the principal investigator; project title; abstract start/end date; indexing terms; and the name of the project's supporting institute or center.
One item that separates CRISP from other databases is that it provides "raw" data. In addition to published research findings, CRISP includes information on scientific studies that are not completed or have been completed but are unpublished.
The CRISP database is available to the public and can be accessed at www-commons.cit.nih.gov/crisp .
