NCMIC Donates More than $28,000 in Chiropractic Scholarships

As part of its ongoing scholarship program, NCMIC Insurance Company will be donating $28,050 in scholarship money to 16 chiropractic colleges in the United States during 1998. The program, which began operating in 1996, has helped more than 80 chiropractic students toward the completion of their chiropractic education.

"Our continued sponsorship of this scholarship program further demonstrates our enduring commitment to tomorrow's doctors of chiropractic," said Louis Sportelli, DC, NCMIC's president. "These scholarship funds help chiropractic students pursue their educational objectives within the chiropractic field, assuring the future of the profession."

Each college has instituted its own application process for the scholarship funds. Information about the scholarships and a list of the program guidelines are available at the financial planning offices of chiropractic colleges.

Jack Donovan, DC, of Carroll, Iowa, recently made a donation of $20,000 in appreciated stock to the National Institute for Chiropractic Research (see "Donating to Chiropractic Research" in the May 4 issue of Dynamic Chiropractic). By donating the stock and deducting the its full market value, Dr. Donovan was able to make a more valuable contribution to chiropractic research than if he'd simply sold the stock and contributed the remaining amount after taxes.

Individuals can make such donations of stock to NICR or any other private chiropractic foundation and still receive a tax deduction for the appreciated value of the stock, but only until June 30 of this year. For more information, consult the article in the May 4 issue of DC, or contact a tax/legal advisor.

India, roughly the size of California and the second most populous nation in the world, is a country where 252 children are born every minute, and people pay rent just for the right to sleep on a hard piece of sidewalk at night. It's also a place where chiropractic has gone virtually unnoticed for more than a century.

In June of 1997, Life University made its first visit to this ancient country to look for a site to open a chiropractic center. They also initiated talks with representatives from India and the World Health Organization in Geneva to help investigate the proper way to bring chiropractic care to India.

"India is an important part of Life University's goal to take chiropractic around the world," said Dr. Sid Williams, the university's president and founder. "A presence there will provide an excellent clinical experience and cultural exchange for our participating doctors."

With the help of Drs. Rod Handly and Gary Auerbach, the Life team found just the type of building they were looking for in the city of Bangalore. Located just south of New Delhi, in an area known as the "Silicon Valley of India," team officials found a modern facility perfect for the university's needs. Currently, the site is being studied and is pending official approval.

Dr. Handly views the opening of the clinic as just the tip of the iceberg for providing chiropractic care around the world. "A facility in India will be a starting point for Life's new program allowing student clinicians and externs to work in other nations," Dr. Handly said. The new program, known as Life Around the World (LAW), will send student clinicians and faculty supervisors to China and Egypt in the near future, with Africa, Russia, Indonesia and others scheduled at later dates.

Once in place, these centers will be supplemented with mobile units to help provide chiropractic care to the more remote areas of the world. "All of the facilities around the world will be a place for field doctors who are looking to take a few weeks or months sabbatical from their practices to come and share their experiences and expertise with students," said Dr. Handly.

Keith Asplin, PhD, has been named Life University's new academic dean. Dr. Asplin joined Life earlier this year after serving as a college administrator and faculty member for New York Chiropractic College, Cleveland Chiropractic College of Los Angeles, the University of Colorado, Colorado State, and Michigan State.

Dr. Asplin has a keen interest in the chiropractic profession: "I believe my knowledge of and fundamental belief in the philosophy of chiropractic, (and) the fact that I am not a DC, places me in a position where I can often be an advocate for the profession."

Dr. Asplin has a son and a daughter who are both chiropractors, and his daughter's husband, Dr. Robert Argylelan, is the current president of the California Chiropractic Association (CCA). He also has a 15-year association with Life's founder and president, Dr. Sid E. Williams. "I have always respected Dr. Williams," Dr. Asplin said. "I hope to make a difference in the academic and personal life of the University."

Lonnie Knight, DC, has been named dean of chiropractic sciences at Parker College of Chiropractic. Dr. Knight had held the position of acting dean of chiropractic sciences since last December.

A magna cum laude alumnus of Southeastern College in Lakeland, Florida, Dr. Knight graduated from Parker in 1993 and opened a successful practice in Orange, Texas before returning to accept a faculty position at the college. An active member of the community, Dr. Knight serves as an assistant baseball coach and team doctor in several local leagues. He has often volunteered time to work with the local YMCA and the Cub Scouts of America.

As the dean of chiropractic sciences, Dr. Knight will oversee the college's chiropractic faculty, budget and planning. He will also supervise the departments of chiropractic principles, analysis and technique, and chiropractic practice.

This past basketball season, Life University entered into a special agreement with the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association. For every three-point shot made by a Hawks player during the season, Life would donate $30 for charity.

On April 9, during the halftime of the game between the Hawks and the Indiana Pacers at the Georgia Dome, Life President Sid Williams, DC, presented a check for $15,000 to the Georgia Alliance for Children.

The funds will help support the Georgia Alliance for Children and help refurbish the Windsor Street Play Lot, an inner-city basketball court located near Turner Field, the new stadium of the Atlanta Braves. Last month, Dr. Williams participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the new court.

"Life University is proud to be affiliated with the Atlanta Hawks organization and to have the opportunity to support the health and well-being of the children of Atlanta," said Dr. Williams.

This past season was another successful campaign for Life University's men's basketball team, finishing with a record of 32-4 and making it to the second round of the NAIA national championships. Despite not repeating as national champions, four members of the Running Eagles -- John Brown, Anthony Maxwell, Antwon Hall and Demitrius Palmer -- were named NAIA Division I All-Americans.

Brown, a 6'8" center, was named a first-team All-American. He was the "Player of the Year" at the NAIA southeast sectionals and was also named MVP of four tournaments. Brown led the team with an average of 9.8 rebounds per game, shot 65.6 percent from the field, and averaged 17 points a game for the Running Eagles.

An honorable mention All-American in 1997, Maxwell was named a third-team All-American this season. A 6'3" guard, he finished third on the team in scoring at 14.8 points per game. He also shot 46.5 percent from beyond the three-point line this year, ranking him among the nation's leaders in three-point field-goal percentage.

Hall earned honorable mention honors for the Running Eagles this past season. A 6'4" forward, Hall led the team in scoring with an 18 points per game average and finished second on the team with 5.1 rebounds per game.

Palmer, a 6'2" guard, led the team with 4.1 steals per game. He set a single-season school record with 145 steals this past season and also broke Life's single-game record with 10 steals on two separate occasions.

Dr. Robert Haley of Lyndhurst, New Jersey served as the chiropractor for the USA Wrestling Team at a dual meet against the Russian World Cup Team. The event, held at Lakewood High School in New Jersey on April 9th, featured the top international wrestlers as they prepared for this summer's Goodwill Games and this fall's World Championships.

Dr. Haley was also the chiropractor for the New York Athletic Club Open Wrestling Championships on April 5th, an event that featured many top freestyle wrestlers from the U.S. and Japan.

The Journal of the American Chiropractic Association has won a first-place "Gold Award" for most improved magazine in the Society of National Association Publications (SNAP) Excel Awards contest. The award will be presented this June at the society's annual conference in Washington, D.C.

More than 900 publications participated in this year's competition, according to SNAP Executive Director Laura Skoff. In a letter announcing the award, Ms. Skoff wrote, "Congratulations on your fine work and exemplary product. Your efforts have truly identified the American Chiropractic Association as a leader in the field."

Dr. Kerwin Winkler is JACA's executive editor. He praised the journal's staff for their dedication in improving the journal since it was brought in-house in October of 1997. "Over the past six months, JACA has become a publication that ACA and the entire chiropractic profession can be proud of," said Dr. Winkler. "Congratulations to the JACA staff, editorial review committee and everyone involved with the magazine. Their hard work and expertise has made JACA the award-winning publication that it is today."

National College of Chiropractic has entered into an agreement with Sheridan Press to publish its quarterly journal, Chiropractic Technique. This past February, the original publishing contract between National and Williams & Wilkins expired. After examining proposals from several publishers, NCC selected Sheridan Press, a scientific, technical, medical and scholarly journal printer in Hanover, Pennsylvania.

Chiropractic Technique will continue to be published as a quarterly journal designed to stimulate interest and research in applied chiropractic sciences and to provide information about positive chiropractic practices and policies. More information on the journal, including subscription information, can be found at National's website ([url=http://www.national.chiropractic.edu]http://www.national.chiropractic.edu[/url]).

This past year, there were more than 9,500 entries for the 19th annual Telly awards, which recognize outstanding work in producing non-network and cable television commercials. One of the big winners this year was The Saunders Group, who produced a series of videos called "21st Century Back Care." Two of the videos in the series -- "Lifting in the Real World" and "Living With A Healthy Back" -- won a silver and bronze award, respectively.

"We are honored to represent the field of physical therapy in such a prestigious competition among an outstanding group of companies. The fact that we won is incredible!" said Duane Sanders, MS, PT. "We hope that the people in our industry will embrace these new videos and use them with their patients. We are confident that they will have an impact on their lives."

The Telly awards were founded in 1980. Originally designed to honor work for commercials, the competition was expanded several years ago to include film and video productions, as well as non-network TV programming. Past award winners include PBS, New Line Cinema, Harley-Davidson and the U.S. Marine Corps.