Foot Levelers Raises $62,000 for Chiropractic Schools and Groups

Checks totaling $62,000 were recently presented by Foot Levelers, Inc., to 14 chiropractic colleges, two national associations and three research foundations. The checks represented the total proceeds collected from Foot Levelers' "Back to Basics" series of educational seminars, which were held throughout the country during 1996.

The proceeds from the seven "Back to Basics '96" seminars were presented by Dr. Monte Greenawalt, chairman and founder of Foot Levelers, and Kent Greenawalt, Foot Levelers' president, at a special reception on March 13. One third of the money collected was distributed to the presidents of the eligible colleges attending their annual Association of Chiropractic Colleges (ACC) meeting. One third went to the ACA and ICA. The remaining third was divided between the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research, the Foundation for Advancement of Chiropractic Tenets and Science, and the American Spinal Research Foundation.

During the presentation, Mr. Greenawalt announced plans for Foot Levelers to hold a series of seminars in 1997 to raise additional funds for chiropractic education. These seminars, collectively titled "Managing the Subluxation," will be held in six U.S. locations during the fall of 1997. Addressing the college presidents, Mr. Greenawalt said, "Since 1992, your students and former students have enabled Foot Levelers to raise nearly half a million dollars for chiropractic education, promotion and research. We would like to make that a million dollars by the end of the century, and we can with your help."

Herbert Ross Reaver, DC, gave students at Life West a glimpse of what it was like to be a chiropractor in the profession's earlier days.

Future chiropractors met an historical figure from chiropractic's past, when Herbert Ross Reaver, DC, spent the morning of April 21 at Life Chiropractic College West. Holding the title of most arrested chiropractor in history, Dr. Reaver, 91, and his wife addressed a full auditorium of chiropractors and students.

Dr. Reaver has been a chiropractor for 69 years and still maintains a practice in Cincinnati, Ohio. His wife, Millie, has served as his receptionist. He has been arrested a dozen times and served four prison sentences for "practicing medicine" without a license. Asked why he was such a target of the law, Dr. Reaver answered, "I stepped on a lot of medical toes; I had a good practice and the local MDs were jealous."

In the early 1920s, Herbert Reaver was a professional musician, playing banjo and guitar in dance bands. During a performance in Davenport, Iowa, Herbert met some students at Palmer College of Chiropractic who treated his rheumatoid arthritis. "My health problems were solved through chiropractic adjustments," recalls Dr. Reaver. "I became enthused with the idea of studying chiropractic. It wasn't much later that I enrolled in Palmer College" (1927).

When asked about recent chiropractic techniques and philosophies, Dr. Reaver replied, "The instrumentation of my brain and hands are all the instruments I need."

At the end of the seminar, Life West President Dr. Gerard Clum told the attendees: "For the rest of our lives, no matter what we're doing in the chiropractic arena, we will always remember this day, the day we experienced with Herbert and Millie Reaver."

Editor's note: DC readers of longstanding will recall Dr. Reaver's son, Herbert "Chap" Reaver Jr. From 1984-92, Chap wrote articles for DC, and later went on to write two novels, one of which (Mote) won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award for best young adult novel for 1991. Chap died of a heart attack on January 11, 1993.

Plaintiffs in the Solla et al. antitrust lawsuit will be having a teleconference meeting of national and state chiropractic leaders, educators and experts. The teleconference will be held June 10 at 4:00 p.m. EST.

The meeting is the result of the tremendous grassroots support from chiropractors around the country. In calling for the conference, Solla attorney William Weber stated, "We have to let the insurance industry and the medical societies know that their minions of lawyers and unlimited layers of money will no longer be a barricade against the fight to include DCs in HMO basic managed care plans."

Participants in the meeting will hear plans for trial preparation and testimony from experts retained to prove issues, such as the cost effectiveness of chiropractic. The Solla attorneys will also introduce a nationally recognized trial attorney who will join their antitrust team.

Dr. Phillip Solla will announce plans to organize a Chiropractic Alliance Research and Educational Foundation which will benefit from any monetary recovery the lawsuit brings. "This foundation will provide scholarships, purchase modern equipment for our colleges, provide grants for research, establish public relations programs to educate the public and provide legal assistance for DCs throughout the country," said Dr. Solla.

Invitations to participate in the conference were mailed in early May. However, any DC wishing to attend can contact Dr. Andrew Lacerenza at (516) 225-9880.

On April 30, 1997, the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts adopted an administrative rule requiring that chiropractic applicants have a baccalaureate degree prior to entering chiropractic college. The baccalaureate requirement applies to all chiropractic applicants who begin chiropractic college on or after January 1, 1999.

The requirement was supported by the leadership of the Kansas Chiropractic Association and the three chiropractic members of the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts. Kansas thus joins Maryland and Florida as the only states which require a baccalaureate degree before entering chiropractic college.

Fourteen chiropractic college representatives were included among the key personnel of the four programs sponsored by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration Bureau of Health Professions who convened in Columbia, Maryland April 5-8. The conference was designed by the Bureau of Health Professions to bring exerts in health profession education together to develop innovative ways to integrate diverse programs and promote interdisciplinary education and practice. The meeting marks the first time that chiropractic has participated as an equal partner, both in planning and participation with all other health professions at a federally sponsored event of this type.

Among the participants were Cheryl Hawk, DC, PhD, of the Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research, and Joanne Nyiendo PhD, of Western States Chiropractic College, who represented chiropractic on the conference planning committee. At the conference, Dr. Nyiendo facilitated a small group session on "Responding to the Emerging Health Care System" and monitored a panel of experts from each of the programs on that topic. Dr. Hawk facilitated small group discussions and moderated the expert panel on "Restructuring Health Professionals' Educational Programs."

Also representing chiropractic at the conference were Ram Gudavalli, PhD, and Jerrilyn Backman, DC, from National College of Chiropractic; Alan Adams, DC, John Hsieh, MS, DC, and Clark Danielson, MPA, of Los Angeles College of Chiropractic; Lisa Killinger, DC and Lori Byrd from the Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research; Meridel Gatterman, MA, DC, and Mitch Haas, DC, of Western States Chiropractic College; Joyce Miller, DC, and Charles Sawyer, DC, from NWCC; and Ruth Sandefur, DC, PhD, from Cleveland Chiropractic College, Kansas City.

The National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE) has announced the addition of two new directors: Paul Townsend, DC, has been named director of practical testing; Nancy Richardson, CPA, joins NBCE to direct finances and computer operations.

Ms. Richardson, who previously was the controller for Wasson-ECE Instrumentation, Inc., said she was excited about her new position and wants to "help the NBCE to continue to take advantage of new technologies, especially in the computer area."

Dr. Townsend joined the NBCE in 1991 to devote his full time to the organization and clinical testing projects. Prior to that, he held successful practices in Colorado and Italy, and taught at Palmer College (1975-1979). He also served as the Part IV practical examination project team leader and was instrumental in the initial development and implementation of the exam.

Horace Elliott, NBCE's executive director, praised Dr. Townsend as "one of the finest clinicians in the chiropractic profession."

The NBCE, established in 1963, is the international testing organization for the chiropractic profession, developing and administering standardized examinations to serve chiropractic regulatory boards in the U.S., Canada, France, England, Australia, and New Zealand.

To your marks ... get set ... shuffle! One of the largest snowshoe races in the world, the Snowshoe Shuffle consistently draws top athletes from the U.S. and Europe. An annual event which helps raise money for breast cancer awareness, this year's contest was held in Beaver Creek, Colorado. One of the major sponsors of the event was Joel Dekanich, DC, director of the Colorado Chiropractic and Sports Medicine Clinic in Vail. In addition to being a sponsor, Dr. Dekanich also participated in the 10k race.

Runner's World magazine sent associate editor Eileen Portz-Shovlin to cover the event. Says Dr. Dekanich, "Eileen and I spent a lot of time talking about common running injuries and how integral sports chiropractic is in treating those conditions. She was surprised at the quick average rate of recovery for some of my professional triathlete patients whose conditions were previously considered "therapeutically resistant" or possibly career-ending."