The
Luo Down
- Spring Issue, May 2003
"A Special Vessel of Communication Between Channels"
Southwest Acupuncture College
Santa Fe & Albuquerque, New Mexico
Boulder, Colorado
In this issue:
Whispers of Transformation and the Transformation of Whispers
The Santa Fe Source: New Color Catalog Has Arrived | Graduation 2003 | 4th New Book!
Albuquerque News: Albuquerque Campus Grows and Moves!
Spring Reappears
Real Heart of Boulder
Enrollroment Explosion! (Boulder campus)
Financial Aid News
Southwest Acupuncture College & UNM Medical School Make a Connection
Library Growth Continues
Automated Libraries in SWAC’s Future!
Clinic Patient Questionnaire
Whispers
of Transformation and the Transformation of Whispers
by Anthony Abbate, President
I am sure many of have heard murmurs of a new campus in Santa Fe. Perhaps you have happened upon the soft chatter of designs for a clinic with a waiting room that overlooks a two-story waterfall and koi pond. Maybe you heard someone mentioning something about land in the medical district. Perchance you walked by an office where a group of people were huddled around a table strewn with blue prints. And then, there is the possibility that you’ve not even heard a whisper.
The college has for quite some time been looking for the right opportunity to purchase or build new physical facilities for its Santa Fe campus. With continued increasing cost of leasing school facilities as well as increased costs of operations we are well aware of the advantages and cost effectiveness of the college owning its own building. Santa Fe has proven to be a very difficult city to make this happen. Land is scarce and expensive and most developers who own the land do not want to sell it, as it is more profitable to build and lease.
The college has literally been working on this project for over five years. Several times we found situations that looked promising but in the end did not work out. We have always been cautious about making announcements about these opportunities until we are reasonably sure that they will come about. Of course, there are always whispers…
About 8 months ago we found a situation that looked promising. We have been negotiating and working on this project since that time and we have reached the point where we feel reasonably assured that it is going to take place. So now we can transform our whispers to a voice, although I will speak softly for the time being.
make this happen. Land is scarce and expensive and most developers who own the land do not want to sell it, as it is more profitable to build and lease.
The college has literally been working on this project for over five years. Several times we found situations that looked promising but in the end did not work out. We have always been cautious about making announcements about these opportunities until we are reasonably sure that they will come about. Of course, there are always whispers…
About 8 months ago we found a situation that looked promising. We have been negotiating and working on this project since that time and we have reached the point where we feel reasonably assured that it is going to take place. So now we can transform our whispers to a voice, although I will speak softly for the time being.
THE
SANTA FE SOURCE
THE NEW COLOR CATALOG HAS ARRIVED:
The new beautiful color catalog is here and is full of pictures of staff
and faculty as well as the new 3000 hour program which started in January
2003.
GRADUATION 2003
We will be graduating over 30 students in Santa Fe this summer, and 79
from the three campuses.
Congratulations to you all!
We wish you all great success.
We will miss you!
4th
New Book!
The Textbook of Chinese Auricular Acupuncture
by Skya Abbate, coming October 2003 Published by CRC Press, Life Sciences
Group.
ALBUQUERQUE
NEWS!!!
by Pam Weber, Administrative Director, Albuquerque Campus
After receiving over 200 resumes for the positions of part-time secretary and full-time clinic receptionist and many interviews, I have narrowed it down to two. I'd like to welcome Frances Romero and Babette Conley to our staff here at the Albuquerque campus.
Frances is the new part-time secretary who works the afternoon shift and Babette has taken the full-time clinic receptionist position. Their positive attitude and eagerness to learn about the job and the school’s program is refreshing. We are happy to have them as part of our team and look forward to working with them.
Albuquerque Campus Grows and Moves!
Due to the increase in student enrollment, Southwest Acupuncture College has been looking for a new building to accommodate its growth. Larger classrooms and a larger student lounge are needed along with additional treatment rooms in the clinic. It has been a challenge trying to find an existing building that meets the school's needs and requirements for a safe, warm and welcoming environment.
After looking at numerous buildings and locations, a choice has been made. The new building is located at 7801 Academy NE, Albuquerque NM 87109 on the northwest corner of Wyoming and Academy in a lovely section of town. Inside the building it is very bright with a lot of natural sunlight streaming through the windows, beautiful views of the Sandia Mountains, and enough parking spaces to meet the school's needs. Southwest Acupuncture College is taking approximately 10,000 square feet of space with the option for more space if needed, that is over 3000 square feet larger than what the school has at its present location. The school will take the entire first floor and possibly some space on the second floor for its campus. The new facility has twelve treatment rooms, large classrooms, offices and library. There are apartments within walking distance and easy access to I-25 Interstate. Also within walking distance are several restaurants, The Great Wall of China, Boston Market, Rexes Hamburger, Dions Pizza, Tomato Café, Baskin Robins Ice Cream, Kiva Juice, Starbucks, Einstein Bagels and a Whole Foods Store with outside dining. High visibility should make it easy for new students and patients to locate the college and clinic.
This is an exciting time for the Albuquerque campus. Many students have been supportive by offering to help with packing up the school; unpacking and setting up the new campus which is greatly appreciated. The move will take place in July so that we may be ready to start the fall semester in the new facilities.
Spring
Reappears
by: Valerie Hobbs, Campus Director, Boulder Campus
The Boulder Campus celebrated Chinese New Year with our second annual Chinese New Year Luncheon and Talent Show. We are such a big group that moving en masse to another venue for a lunch has become unworkable, so if we can no longer bring the students to the lunch, the lunch gets brought to them. To begin the celebratory mood here, we displayed our awesome talents and mostly pretty bad "goat year" jokes. Our thanks to Deborah Skelton, Rebecca Warner, Melissa Osmun, Rachel Sylvester, Karen Marks and Michael Sakowich for being willing to share their talents, and to Daniela Webster and Daisy Dong for letting us "suffer" their jokes.
I am writing this article just after our Spring midterms, a week that is generally frantic, and one where students and faculty alike experience some amount of academic stress. In such a time, it feels appropriate to recognize the seemingly small and usually anonymous kindnesses that appear, as if by magic, in our midst. In Boulder, this comes in many forms, and is generated in no small part by staff and students alike. Faculty sometimes bring a small treat, cheerful decorations appear, a student offers someone some study notes, friends seem to know when each other need support. We seem to be offering a number of opportunities to dance and enjoy each other’s company. Staff may stay late to cover for each other when weather is bad, a student staying late on a snowy day in clinic makes sure their instructor gets home safe in the snow. Observers in clinic sneak in for their intern and set up the room for their next patient without being asked or it being expected. Anyone in Boulder who needs to feel a bit brighter needs to seek no farther than our front office.
We have so many things to worry about, so many things that could take up all our time and attention. There is no end to paperwork, no end to State and National forms that must be filled out and properly sent. The intensity of the program is relentless. We all have our moments to react to it with human frailties. What strikes me as so good about being here is that I walk into the clinic, and we care about our patients and each other. I step into the classroom, and I see students supporting one another. I receive from faculty the constant exhortation about how we can make the program more relevant for our students. For such expressions to be realized, from the top down and the bottom up. People really care and strive and dream.
Enrollroment
Explosion!!!
Boulder Campus
The Boulder Campus took in our largest January class ever, and now have
a very diverse and exciting group of just over 60 first-year students.
The common thread in this class seems to be the excitement that they express
over being here and following their personal goals to become immersed
in Oriental Medicine. The sheer delight in being surrounded by others
with the same dedication is truly infectious, and we are lucky that so
many interesting, talented people have decided to become part of our community.
New
Boulder Instructors
Jeff Wolfe, BA, LMT, MSA, Dipl. Ac., received a Bachelor
of Arts in Psychology from Haverford College in 1985. He completed the
program for Massage Therapy at Swedish Institute in 1991, and attained
a Master of Science in Acupuncture from Tristate College of Acupuncture
in 2000. While at Tristate, he became a student of Dr. Mark Seem, Dr.
Fabian Maman (Vibrational and Sound Medicine), and Kiiko Matsumoto. Jeff
has four years of experience as a teacher of high school AP sciences.
He has maintained a private practice in Massage Therapy from 1992-2000
and in acupuncture since 2000. He is currently a staff acupuncturist for
Longmont United Hospital and the President of the Acupuncture Association
of Colorado.
Nina Herrick, B.A., M.A., L. Ac., Dipl. Ac., received a Bachelor of Arts in English and pre-med from the State University of New York at Albany and West London Institute of Higher Education in 1978. She completed a M.A. in Journalism at CU Boulder in 1981. Nina completed her training in Chinese Medicine Theory and Acupuncture at the Dechen Yonten Dzo Institute of Buddhist Medicine, taught by Bob Flaws in 1990 and was awarded a Diplomate in Acupuncture in 1991. She did additional training in herbology at the Colorado School of Traditional Chinese Medicine from 1991-1993. From 1978-79 she instructed writing at Baruch College. She has maintained a private practice in Oriental Medicine in Boulder working at Stillwater Health, Wellspring for Women, and Partners in Health since 1991.
Boulder Hires New Administrative Director
Dana Driscoll has been hired as our New Adminstrative Director for the Boulder Campus. The position was previously held by Nannette Gilbert, who found the long commute from her new home in Greeley to be hard on both her and her family. She made a tremendous contribution to the college, and we wish her nothing but the best.
Dana comes to us with a varied and extensive background in management. Her experience has been both as a paralegal and in a booming telecom company, among other situations. Her skills in process analysis, organization, and general helpfulness have made her an invaluable asset already. She is certainly stepping into some capable footsteps in her own equally capable but unique way, and we look forward to the mutual benefit of working together.
If you are a returning student and plan to apply for financial aid in the 2003-2004 school year, there are several steps you must take to ensure your financial aid is processed in a timely manner:
Do not complete the 2003-2004 FAFSA until you have filed your tax return because this information is required in the application.
Complete a 2003-2004 FAFSA online at www.fafsa.ed.gov. You can also pick up a paper FAFSA application from the financial aid office or your campus administrator. Your FAFSA should be filed no later than May 15th.
In addition, you must complete a new Loan Data and School Certification form. The completion deadline is also May 15th, but you may complete them sooner. These forms are available through the financial aid office as well as your campus administrator.
What’s money?
A man is a success if he gets up
In the morning and goes to bed at night and
In between does what he wants to do.
-Bob Dylan
Donna Gurule, our Financial Aid Officer, has a new addition to her family ---a baby girl named Samantha. Donna will return as Finanical Aid Officer on May 5th after taking a short maternity leave. Thanks to Marcella Sanders for filling in for Donna!
Southwest
Acupuncture College & UNM Medical School Make a Connection
by: Dr. Qijian Ye, Academic Dean, Albuquerque Campus
The Albuquerque campus has made a connection with the University of New Mexico School to send our Oriental Medical students to observe surgeries. This is a great opportunity for the students to experience the allopathic way of learning western pathology, and gives them assistance in understanding western pathology solidly in order to build a strong western medical background.
We are in the planning stages for the students to observe surgery one to two times per semester in the Western Pathology course I, II, III. Each surgical observation will be in different medical fields that include abdominal surgeries, orthopedic surgeries, nervous surgeries, respiratory surgeries, cardiovascular surgeries, OB/GYN surgeries, urogenital surgeries and more!
This is a strong way to accentuate the importance of allopathic medicine with our Oriental medical curriculum.
Library
Growth Continues
by Dr. Skya Abbate, Executive Director
Thank You Contributors!
Since our last newsletter when we acknowledged our library contributors several more people have continued to support the growth of the college libraries. In this year’s issue we take the time to thank the new contributors for their thoughtfulness in providing books and money for the benefit of the students. New contributors are listed in the following categores.
$10.00 - $99.00 You are acknowledged as a Friend of Southwest Acupuncture College Libraries. Your name is published in the college newsletter.
$100.00 - $499.00 You are acknowleged as a Supporter of the library goals of Southwest Acupuncture College Libraries. Your name is published in the college catalog when it is redone every three years and annually in the newsletter.
$500.00 - $1,000.00 You are acknowleged as a Life Supporter of the Southwest Acupuncture College Libraries. Your name is engraved on the beautiful group plaque we have established at each campus’ library.
Library Contributors: May 2003
LIFE SUPPORTERS:
Amira Russell
SUPPORTERS
Michelle Uthoff-Campbell
Devachan Press, LCC
Cliff Hertz
Alex and Dianne DeMolles
Harcourt Publishing
Ilse Hernandez
David Legge
FRIENDS
American Massage Therapy Association
Associated Bodywork
Atlantic Institute of OMB
BluePoppy Press
Body Sense
Books of Discovery
Heather Bullock
Hill McGraw
Martin Eisele
Nancy Huber
Soma Glick
Diane Jalbert
Kathleen Matthews
Lotus Herbs
Lotus Institute of Integrated Medicine
Janice MacKenzie
Omnivite Nutrition
Qi Journal
Smithsonian Journal
Taijiquan Journal
Touch of Health Education
Vision Works
Frank Yurasek
Library donations may be made by contacting the campus of your choice.
Automated
Libraries in SWAC’s Future!
By: Colette Martin, Special Projects Coordinator, Santa Fe Campus
Southwest Acupuncture College is in the process of investigating a number
of software programs designed to automate our library system. In the coming
year, using either simple (title, author, subject) or advanced (keyword)
search options, students will be able to locate, borrow, reserve, and
renew books from a computer terminal in the library of each campus. Perhaps
even more exciting, our library will soon be linked to a web browser that
will allow students to access the SWAC library catalog from the comfort
of their own home computers, Mac or PC!
The new software offers something for everyone. Not only will automation turn the heretofore tedious process of library research into a high-tech-piece-of-cake for our students, our librarians will soon be able to catalog each campuses’ collection automatically, using what is known in "librarytalk" as a z39.50 server interface. By entering either a book’s ISBN number or the title and author, librarians will have the capacity to link to the Library of Congress, the Library of Medicine, and over 100 other libraries’ cataloging systems in order to download cataloging information for each book in our collection.
Several of the software programs we are investigating include self-service options. This technology could transform the current library experience into something more like the following six-step process.
Upon entering
the library students would:
1. Scan in their ID card
2. Log on to the computerized catalog
3. Search by title, author, subject, or keyword
4. Determine the shelf location of the books in seconds
5. Scan in the barcode on the books they wish to borrow
6. Receive a printed receipt itemizing:
What books were borrowed
Due date of borrowed items
The status of their library account, i.e., books previously
borrowed, overdue books, fines, reserved items that have become available,
etc.
Searching through journals will also be a breeze. No more flipping through journal after journal, page after page, trying to find that article you heard about. Journal articles will be cross-referenced by title, author, subject, and keyword. You’ll simply enter the information you’re looking for and - in seconds - the computer will lead you to the journals’ exact location and the page number of the article you need.
Clinic
Patient Questionnaire
by Dr. Jeff Meyer, Clinic Director, Albuquerque and Santa Fe Campuses
Spring 2003
Recently I compiled the questionnaires from Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Boulder listing the top three answers to the following questions.
What are the reasons you come to Southwest Acupuncture College for treatment rather than going elsewhere?
1. Cost was a factor.
2. A friend suggested the acupuncture clinic.
3. Prefer alternative healthcareOne thing I particularly like about the clinic is:
1. Friendly, Professional.
2. Staff, Practitioners.
3. Hospitably, knowledgeable, efficient and courteous
atmosphere.I heard about this clinic:
1. By a relative or friend.
2. Saw it listed in the yellow pages.
3. OtherOverall, I rate the student practitioner, supervisor, and staff as (with 10 the highest and 1 the lowest).
1. Overall the average rating was 10.
How can we better meet your healthcare needs?
1. Everything is great.
2. More appointments avail able over break.
3. No response.
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Read previous issues: November
2002 |May 2002