The Luo Down - Fall Issue, September 2007
"A Special Vessel of Communication Between Channels"
Southwest Acupuncture College
Santa Fe & Albuquerque, New Mexico
Boulder, Colorado

In this issue:

How to Apply for the NCCAOM Exam

We Are Writing National Exams

The Department of Education Announces New Fiscal 2007-2008 Interest Rates

Southwest Acupuncture College Annual Patient Statistics Report

A Mid-Summer’s Dream: Re-accreditation Self-Study Wraps Up

Eating for Health

Some Basics On How To Study For And Take Exams

News From Boulder

Frown’s Syndrome

Softlink: The New Library Cataloging System for SWAC Libraries

Passages

Graduate Herb Garden-Seeds Sprouting

Boulder Campus Garden Project Grant

SWAC Alumni Association Registration Form

The Graduate Herb Garden Membership Form

How to Apply for the NCCAOM Exam
By Dr. Bingzeng Zou, Academic Dean, Albuquerque Campus

As an Academic Dean for about five years in the college, I have often been asked from the students how to apply for the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) exams. Actually, it is an easy process.

The NCCAOM requires that a college verify that their student has attained sufficient hours before they will be certified to sit for a national exam. We therefore have adopted the following policy concerning when we will issue such a verification:

Upon request from a student, Southwest Acupuncture College will submit a transcript verifying a student’s completed hours to take the Foundations of Oriental Medicine, Acupuncture with Point Location, and Biomedicine modules of the NCCAOM exams for any student who is within one calendar year of their graduation date.

Additionally, upon request from a student, Southwest Acupuncture College will submit a transcript verifying a student’s completed hours to take the Chinese Herbology module ofthe NCCAOM exams for any student who is in heir last semester of the program.

On February 15th 2007, the NCCAOM introduced year-round testing for Acupuncture, Acupuncture combined with Point Location, Biomedicine, Chinese erbology and Foundations of Oriental Medicine. There are no deadline dates for eligibility and once you are found eligible, you can schedule your exams at your convenience.

The new test format that began in February 2007 is called a Computer Adaptive Test. This change is what allows the NCCAOM to offer the examination year-round and to provide immediate preliminary scoring.

Computer Adaptive Exam	Number of Questions	Time Allowed	Cost
Foundations of Oriental Medicine	100	2.5 hours	$250
Acupuncture with PointLocation	100	2.5 hours	$250
Biomedicine	50	2.5 hours	$150
Chinese Herbology	100	2.5 hours	$250

If you are eligible to take the NCCAOM exams according to the school policy, you need to follow the procedures below:

1. Go to www.nccaom.org and download free “NCCAOM Handbooks and Applications.”
2. Fill out and send the application form to NCCAOM according to the instructions.
3. Fill out the school’s Pre-Graduation Verification for NCCAOM Exams Request Form in the Administration Office.
4. Completion of a CNT course is not required to take the examination; however, NCCAOM certification will only be awarded after a notarized copy of the CNT course certificate is received. We recommend that you send your notarized copy of the CNT certificate with your application form at the same time.
5. Allow 10-12 weeks for processing your application before you are approved to test by NCCAOM.
6. Once you are approved to test, you can register and schedule your exam for any time that is available at a Pearson VUE testing center.

The NCCAOM address is:

NCCAOM
76 South Laura Street, Suite 1290
Jacksonville, FL 32202
Phone: 904-598-1005
Fax: 904-598-5001
Web: www.nccaom.org

Next National and State Exam Dates:

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We Are Writing National Exams...
By Dr. Li Xu, Campus Director, Albuquerque

“How do they create national exams?” “These questions are strange. Where are they coming from?” “Are they using the books that we are using?”

Constantly, I hear these questions from students who have taken or are preparing to take the national exams. Sometimes, I do have similar questions as well. The answer to all these questions was soon to come!

We were notified that the Albuquerque Campus was going to hold a test writing event for the NCCAOM on June 2, 2007. Our faculty responded actively to this event, even though it was scheduled for a Saturday morning. Southwest Acupuncture College faculty represented more than 50% of the participants!

Of course, I got clear answers for the following questions from Ms. Laura Culver Edgar, Deputy Director of NCCAOM:

Q: Who is eligible to write questions for national exams?
A: Anyone who is certified by the NCCAOM. We also accept questions for Biomedicine from individuals with appropriate qualifications, for example, MD’s.
Q: Can we write any questions that we want?
A: Any questions can be written as long as the question relates to the Content Outline (which you can find on the NCCAOM website).
Q: Will the question that we wrote really be used in national exams?
A: All questions that were made will be entered into NCCAOM database. Then they are reviewed by the Exam Development Committee (EDC). After approval by the EDC, the EDC Chair and Board Liaison selects items for specific exam administration. Then these questions will have a chance to be shown on the computer during test taking.
Q: Can we use any book to write a question?
A: Yes, however, your questions need to be within the Content Outline and every question needs a page num- ber from the source book. Of course, if your question is not approved by the EDC, it won’t be used for nation- al exams.
Q: Can we still teach this content in our class if we wrote questions for nationals?
A: You can still teach the content as long as you don’t show the exact question that you wrote to your students.
Q: What about the “weird” questions?
A: NCCAOM analyzes the results of all questions after the student takes the exam. If a question constantly received a low passing rate, it would be brought up to EDC for discussion. The qdeleted from the database after the evaluation.

After this test writing, I performed a survey among the faculty tended and a summary follows:

• 88.9% of our faculty said “To write a good question is not easy work.”
• 66.7% spent about 30 minutes to write one question, 33.3% spent 20 minutes for one question.
• Southwest Acupuncture College faculty wrote a total of 66 questions for the national exam this time.
• 100% thought “this is a good opportunity and it is time worthy of a Saturday morning.”.

The following books were mainly used to write the tests questions:

Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion... Xinnong Cheng
Acupuncture: A Comprehensive Text... John O’Conner and Dan Bensky, Editors
A Manual of Acupuncture... Peter Deadman
Chinese Auricular Acupuncture... Dr. Skya Abbate
Merck Manual... Mark H. Beers
Bate’s Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking... Lynn Bickley
Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica... Dan Bensky
Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formula and Strategies... Dan Bensky

The participating faculty members were: Dr. Beth Gineris, Dr. Bingzeng Zou, Dr. David Salgado, Dr. Dawei Shao, Dr. George Goodkin, Dr. Hilary Broadbent, Dr. Li Li, Dr. Li Xu, and Dr. Xiaolu Luo. Thank you, Southwest Acupuncture College faculty, for your interest in the exams.

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The Department of Education Announces New Fiscal 2007-2008 Interest Rates
By Marcella Sanders, Financial Aid Director

Rates are valid for the period of July 1, 2007 to June 30, 2008 and apply to new fall 2007 semester loans

Subsidized Stafford Loans during In-School, Grace, and Deferment: 6.62%
Subsidized Stafford Loans during Repayment or Forbearance: 7.22%

Unsubsidized Stafford Loans during In-School, Grace, and Deferment: 6.62%
Unsubsidized Stafford Loans during Repayment or Forbearance: 7.22%

TIP: To help you estimate how unpaid interest can affect the outstanding balance of your loans, go to www.collegeanswer.com, click on the Calculator tab, and choose the Accrued Interest Calculator. .

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Southwest Acupuncture College Annual Patient Statistics Report

June 2006 - June 2007
Almost 20,000 patients seen

The college’s in-house clinics at all three campuses are thriving. In addition to the clinics on campus, several thousand patients were seen at the numerous externship clinics in the community. Pain continues to be the primary reason patients are treated, followed by headaches, fatigue, stress, and insom- nia. Clinics run at almost full capacity since there are always “no-shows” and consultations. As usual, we are limited to treatment based upon the number of students available to treat.

Congratulations to all campuses for keeping the clinics so booked and to all the students, clinical faculty, and clinic managers for your careful demographic statistics.

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A Mid-Summer’s Dream: Re-accreditation Self-Study Wraps Up
by Dr. Skya Abbate, D.O.M., Executive Director

In final preparation for submission of the college’s three self-studies required for re-accreditation in the Spring of 2008, the Advisory Board of Southwest Acupuncture College met in early July to review, discuss and recommend plans for the college.

The Advisory Board consists of eight members: Dr. Anthony Abbate, D.O.M., President and Dr. Skya Abbate, D.O.M. (Administrative Board members), Dr. Link Tate, D.O.M., Chairman and professional member, Dr. Sandy Canzone, D.O.M. (professional member), Dr. Mary Ellen Marino, D.O.M. (faculty member), Dr. Jishun Hao, D.O.M. (professional member), Dr. William Wei, Ph.D. (public member), and Dr. James Cornfield (public member). The Advisory Board meets a minimum of twice a year to review long range financial planning such as the build- ing of the schools and new campuses as well as all other areas of institutional activity including reports from all Campus Directors on things hap-pening at their campuses.

At this meeting, we reviewed our long range goals as a result of the self-study question- naires administered to all faculty and students, the institutional retreats and the independent studies made by all the Academic Deans, Clinic Directors and other administrators at each cam- pus who each wrote 1-2 chapters of the self-study.

The following major decisions were made in regard to the 14 essential requiremeach school must meet for accreditation.

1. Purpose ­ strengthen and articulate the development of the Japanese program.
2. Legal organization– no changes.
3. Governance – report to constituencies on the Advisory Board, such as this article.
4. Administration­ continue to empower local autonomy of each campus in regard to some policies and spending.
5. Records
   a. Continue to investigate on-line application to the college.
   b. Continue to investigate and implement on-line student registration.
   c. Continue to develop a virtual campus tour on our website.
   d. Streamline forms and communication.
   e. Continue to assess student performance independently and in relation to the NCCAOM exam.
6. Admissions
   a. Develop scholarships particular to each campus.
   b. Promote the college internationally and as a state-of-the art facility as the college is consistently ranked as the most beautiful school in the country.
7. Evaluation ­ create a task force to assess if additional measures of competency of students are needed.
8. Program
   a. Continue to evaluate the program through a comprehensive curriculum review.
   b. Strengthen herbal studies.
   c. Continue to revprerequisites.
9. Faculty
   a. Propose a new faculty ranking system in consideration of new certification and programs available.
   b. Develop a faculty education training program.
10. Student Services
    a. Update student “placement” (i.e. job opportunities for students).
    b. Continue to administer cohort alumni surveys.
11. Library
    a. Continue on-going purchase of computers for all campuses.
    b. Complete on-line library project. See article in newsletter by Dr. Dawei Shao, Librarian and Santa Fe Academic Dean.
12. Physical Facilities a. With Albuquerque’s lease up in August 2008, continue investigating financing of new campus.
13. Financial Resources
    a. If needed per Campus Directors provide more financial aid in-person on-campus personnel.
14. Advertising
    a. Complete website revamping including the virtual tour.
    b. Investigate promoting school internationally.
    c. Increase recruitment personnel and areas covered in country.
    d. Provide more website services to college constituencies.

The Advisory Board, whose purpose is to provide oversight to the operation of the school, will next meet on November 9th. Board members will also be visiting the campuses during this period. Mil gracias para todos to our outstanding, hard working, insightful Board members all of whom volunteer their time and talent, taking time to travel and to share their expertise in their individual and professional capacities to the col- lege. Next step, the accreditation site in the Spring.

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Eating for Health
By Dr. Xiaolu Luo, Clinic Director, Santa Fe and Albuquerque Campuses

“How should I eat?” “What should I eat?” and “What foods are good for me?” These are the most common questions arising from our patients in the nutrition clinic. Today, accompanied by science and technological developments, more and more foods from all over the world are becoming available to us. However, our diets are getting poorer and poorer, and conditions and diseases, which relate to diet, are getting more and more common.

Food provides nutrients for the mainte- nance of body function and growth; it is a basic guarantee of health and longevity. Traditional Chinese medicine has, through long health care, developed systematic theories and have come up with a series of principles and methods which have contributed a great deal to the health and longevity of the Chinese people.

First of all, simple and light diets had always been advocated by ancient Chinese experts in health care, who believed that the diet can prevent diseases, strengthen the body and prolong life. “Simple” refers in effect to whole grains, vegetables and fruits and, apart from a vegetarian diet, the ancients also advocated mild tasting food. Sun Si Miao, who is one of the most influential physicians in the history of Chinese medicine, proposed that the diet should mainly consist of non-heavy, lightly salted food; barley, wheat and non-glutinous rice.

Secondly, food with "five flavors", as the source of Qi and blood, provide support and the maintenance of good health. To keep the five flavors in regulation, we must firstly, select food according to the arrangement of flavors and the right proportion and, secondly, regulate the fla- vors by means of cooking, thus making full use of their mutual checking and promoting functions.

Dining at regular times and controlling intake is another important part of traditional Chinese medical health care. “Regular times” means dining at comparatively fixed times, while “intake control” means the rational control of amount, so that there is no excessive hunger or fullness, and no excessive eating or drinking. Keeping the time interval between meals neither too short nor too long is an important principle in diet regulation. The general principle of food intake is "neither too much nor too little", as traditional Chinese medicine holds the view that being too full or too hungry is harmful to health; generally speaking, 60-70% fullness is optimal.

Finally, there are some principles to be followed. For example, while eating, one should concentrate on eating with a good mood and chew the food thoroughly. After eating, one should walk a hundred steps and rub the abdomen while sitting.

Changing the diet is difficult especially for someone who has had his or her eating habits for so long. There are some patients who face these situations in our clinic. However, an old Chinese saying goes: “Give a man a fish and he’ll be fed for the day. If you teach the man to fish, he’ll be fed for the rest of his life.” A good and healthy diet is a benefit for one’s life.

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Some Basics On How To Study For And Take Exams
by Melanie Crane, M.S. Ed., Academic Dean, Boulder Campus

Start on the first day of class

• Do all the right stuff all along. You know... go to all the classes and do all the homework/readings and study from the very beginning

Playing catch up is hard!

• Get enough sleep (that means at least 8 hours every night for most people).
• Eat right. Yes, you are what you eat!
• During each class meeting, ask yourself what might be on a test and make sure you get the answers from the instructor if you have any questions.
• Keep excellent, organized class notes.

Learn as you go

• Some things just have to be memo rized, no matter how hard it is.
  - Make lists of them.
  - Use mnemonic devices to remember the lists.
  - Give yourself time to memorize the information.
• Don’t cram. Study steadily over several review sessions.
• Study beyond simple recognition of the information.
• Get to know the teaching and testing style of your instructors.
• Form a study team/group and meet regu- larly, not just for exam cramming.
• Have a positive outlook. Imagining your self doing well in your classes and on exams helps with stressand actual class room/test performance.

On taking a test

• Arrive early. Rushing in at the last minute (or later) is stressful for you and disrespectful to your classmates and instructor.
• Walk into the test knowing you genuinely have pre- pared for the test.
• Get settled and remain relaxed and focused.
• Review the entire test and organize your thoughts before continuing.
• Work steadily, skipping what you’re not sure of and coming back to it later.
• Don’t worry about how long/little time it takes others to take the test. The time you need is all that matters. Pay no attention to what other students are doing.
• Review your answers again before you hand in the exam.

After the test

• Find out what you missed and why you missed it and get the correct answers. This isn’t an exercise in challenging the instructor’s exam questions, but a real effort on your part to understand why you missed certain questions so that the information can finally be mastered and integrated into your long-term memory.

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News From Boulder
By Valerie Hobbs, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M., Boulder Campus Director

Boulder Welcomes New Staff

Boulder Clinic Manager, Jennifer Arts, left her position last July to enroll in college in Durango, Colorado. Jennifer really carried our clinic and all of us here in Boulder wish her well. Sarah Zuege, former Administrative Assistant, was promoted to Clinic Manager. Although Jennifer will be missed, having Sarah in the clinic has made for a seamless transition, and we con- gratulate her on the promotion. To fill out our administrative team, we hired Terri Billman as our college receptionist. Terri has significant experience in alternative health care offices, a love for our medicine and takes on any task. She is astonishingly friendly, and we are lucky to have her.

Boulder Student Activities

Boulder students have developed two dif- ferent kinds of activities that contribute to our community. The first of these is the formation of informal “clubs.” We have a Go Club, and a new Chinese Language Club has been formed (Go is a complex strategy game from Asia.) These clubs use college space to meet, and are informally organized.

A more formal student association has grown out of our Clinical Counseling 272 class. During one of the first classes this summer, the students began discussing issues surrounding our profession. They expressed a desire to work towards more acceptance for acupuncture. Along with their instructor, Abbye Silverstein, they have begun organizing an effort to assist the Acupuncture Association of Colorado (AAC) in their efforts to support the Hinchey Bill, which would include acupuncturists in the class of professionals that are recognized by Medicare/ Medicaid. Ms. Silverstein is also our Clinic Director, and she has volunteered for the AAC Board in order to see this effort through. Their goal is to meet with the staff of each of Colorado’s congressmen and women and ask for them to support the passage of the Hinchey Bill. They have also approached the AARP to create a coalition with a powerful consumer group in their efforts to make acupuncture available to more of our US population. Along with these efforts, the students have become vitally concerned about the national pro- fessional association for the acupuncture profes- sion. Their plan is to hold a fundraiser among stu- dents to send a student representative to the next national meeting in Portland, Oregon in October.

Self Study 2007

The Boulder campus faculty and students have been very active in participating in informa- tion gathering for our current Self-Study. Just over one-third of the campus’ students and facul- ty responded to our Self Study questionnaire (53 out of 158), which is a high return rate for this kind of survey. A Self Study Retreat was held and offered several recommendations for the college’s consideration. Students and faculbe vitally interested in the process.

Faculty Involvement

The Boulder faculty continues to offer sug- gestions and insight into positive development in assessment procedures. At the most recent facul- ty meeting, departmental goals were developed and suggestions were offered for consideration for regular curriculum review.

The faculty honored two professors who have reached a milestone in their contribution to our medicine. Whitfield Reaves and Honora Wolfe have both been teaching in the acupuncture and Oriental medicine field for 20 years. Whit Reaves has been teaching in various colleges for 20 years, and Honora Wolfe has been teaching 20 years in seminar settings at various colleges and as a member of the Boulder faculty for 5 years.

Campus Director Activities

Valerie and Dr. Bingzeng Zou, Albuquerque Academic Dean, continue to represent the college at national meetings of the Council of Colleges of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Valerie continues her work with the Entry­Level Standards Committee on the Council of Colleges and volunteers for the Review and Disciplinary Committee for the National Commission for the Certification of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.

In May 2007, Valerie represented the Acupuncture Association of Colorado in a presentation to the Physical Therapy Advisory Board for the Division of Registrations, which regulates the health profession for the State of Colorado. In 2005, Colorado Physical Therapists were granted an increase of scope to include a practice called “dry needling”. “Dry needling” is an acupunc- ture technique that has become a scope of practice for PTs in six states. This technique, which involves deep muscle puncture of muscle trigger points with or without electrical stimulation, has been widely promoted by Physical Therapists in Canada and medical acupuncturists in Europe.

This expansion was enacted through a policy statement by the Director, a legal process allowable under Colorado law that has resulted in scope expansion in other professions. The rul- ing was made after a teacher (a PT) of a weekend course on “dry needling” asked the Physical Therapy Advisory Board to allow the practice of the procedure by Physical Therapists. No other groups of professionals were consulted at that time. The Acupuncture Association of Colorado appealed the procedure by which the ruling was made, and was granted a hearing before the Physical Therapy Advisory Board. Unfortunately, due to exclusion in the acupuncture act, once the scope becomes legal for PTs, acupuncturists are excluded from the practice. A ruling on whether to continue the Director’s policy was not yet issued at press time. Look for updates in the next newsletter.

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Frown's Syndrome
By Dr. Skya Abbate, D.O.M., Executive Director

The area between the eyebrows, known as the glabella in Western anatomical terminology, is a muscular area prone to deep wrinkles. In Chinese medicine, in regard to physiogamy, that area represents the Liver. It is the function of the Liver to keep all the energy in the body moving, somewhat akin to blood circulation, and the Liver also plays a role in the availability of blood flow in the body. When Liver energy becomes slow, deficient or blocked, we call it stagnant. The Liver is the organ in the body most prone to stagnant energy or Qi because it is the organ that deals with it.

“Depression” in Chinese medicine is defined as Stagnant Liver Qi (or energy). Hence, if the person has a fair degree of Stagnant Liver Qi physiologically, it can become manifest anatomically on the face in the glabella region. The deeper the line or groove, the more Stagnant Liver Qi the person is likely to have.

In Oriental medicine there are acupunc- ture points on the body surface and the underlying superficial muscles in which energy can be accessed and regulated with acupuncture needles. The glabella region encompasses a point called Yintang. Yintang is a non-meridial point meaning it is not located per se on an energy pathway but in a special place. Such points are called extra points.

Yintang, located between the medial ends of the two eyebrows, is a relatively large area like an oval. With acupuncture, we needle it subcuta- neously downward 0.3 ­ 0.5 of an inch and kept in place 5-20 minutes.

Anatomically, Yintang is located above the pituitary gland, and deep and posterior to the pituitary gland at its base, is the pineal gland that responds to light and seasonal changes. When light levels are low, the pineal gland secretes melatonin, a hormone that it also manufactures, which is involved in the regulation of sleep and mood disorders. Melatonin has the effect of sedating and relaxing the body, promoting sleep and improving mood. As such, it is a primary acupuncture point used for these purposes. Patients who have Yintang needled frequently return and ask for it to be needled again because of these desired effects. Patients oftentimes refer to it as the “heaven” point because of this pleasant reaction.

Likewise Yintang becomes a primary point to treat Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a condition whose primary clinical manifestations are depression and accompanying lethargy. Yintang can also be used to treat memory and concentra- tion problems, sinus infections, rhinitis, headache, dizziness, hypertension and hormonal problems.

Sometimes a reddish coloration is observable at Yintang. This red in Oriental medicine indicates “heat in the blood,” meaning the blood is stagnant, and pooling and that blood stagna- tion is observable through the skin. Such a coloration is abnormal, infrequent and serious, however treatable with conventional acupuncture needling.

Interestingly, when Botox is applied in this area for wrinkles patients miraculously report an improvement in mood and depression. While Botox works to de-enervate the muscle and thus inhibits the contraction of muscles that cause the wrinkle, the needle insertion activates the underlying physiological energetics of the Yintang point. This mechanism is akin to the way acupuncture point injection therapy work, that is by simultaneously stimulating the point and mechanically displacing the blockage (Stagnant Liver Qi) with the physical needle and the injected substance, much like we would use a saline solution or Vitamin B 12 into ST 36 (Zusanli) in a patient with polio.

That is a wonderful side effect, a silver lining to the procedure I believe, further attesting to the energetic functions of the Yintang point, and the physiological workings of acupuncture. Don’t wait to get those wrinkles to try acupuncture for depression and many other illnesses. Smile!

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Softlink: The New Library Cataloging System for SWAC Libraries
By Dawei Shao, Academic Dean, Santa Fe Campus

The college has recently purchased a state of the art web-based library management system called Softlink®. This program allows us to catalog our library collections by importing information from several systems including the Library of Congress and Library of Medicine designations and, also, allows us to input the book information by ourselves.

In the online database, the books or other collections’ information include the author’s name, publisher, publishing date, place, main subject, special note to the book, how many pages, size of the book, ISBN number, barcode and location code, and so on. When you pull out one book’s information through the website, you will have a general idea of what this book is about, its general content. You might find out it is actually not a book but a video cassette or a CD.

Students will need to use their student ID and a password to get access to the online database. They can search for a book by all kinds of key words, including the book’s title, main su ject, author’s name and so on. It is easy, efficient, just like you “google” the internet, and very user friendly.

Besides searching for a book, the students can also check books in and out, and check the status of our collection from any terminal, even at home as long as you can get access to the internet. They may place books on hold and receive automatic email messages when books are checked back into the collection. They may send a request for any title to be added to the collection. Web-sites, as well as physical holdings, may be catalogued, so an instructor may request that web- sites relevant to course material be placed in the catalog for use by students, all of which may be accessed by their computers at home.

Also, the new cataloging software will enable us to adequately assess the diversity of the library holdings. For example, we can easily analyze how many books are in the field of western medicine, Chinese Medicine, or veterinary acupuncture, and what are the books studentsborrow most and so on. This data will improve library development where it is most needed.

In the last one and half years, we have been working on cataloging the collections in theSanta Fe and Albuquerque library. During the cataloging, we frequently had to limit books the students could borrow or ask them to read the book only in the library. We are sorry for the inconvenience, but the results will improve library convenience in the future.

You will find that there are two new labels now on each book and other collections in the library. One is called barcode with a number like “R001867” on it. This is the number for scanning. In the future, when you check a book out, the librarian will scan the barcode on the book and the barcode on your student ID, and the whole process will be done.

The other label is called a “call number,” which is usually on the spine of the books. If the book spine is too narrow, it will be placed on the back of the book. The call number is a location code, which indicates the book’s alphabetical location on the shelf. When you find a book online, you will need to write down its’ call number. With the call number, you can find the book’s location on the shelf.

How do we create the call number? Let’s take an example. “AND.FLI..1” is a call number. The first section “AND” is from the author’s family name “Andrews”, and the second section “FLI” is from the book’s title “Flight of the Seventh Moon: The Teaching of the Shields”, and the third section “1” indicates it is the first copy of the book.

Sometimes, the call number will start with a number. If it starts with “6”, it is a video or a CD or audio cassette; if it starts with “7”, it is a journal; if it starts with “8”, it is an oversized or irreg- ular size collection; if it starts with “9”, it is writ- ten in a foreign language. The collections with call numbers starting with numbers are placed together and have their own special location.

We are upgrading the software for the database, and some equipment also needs to be installed. We arinto use in 2008.

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Passages

It is with sadness that we report the passing of the following former Southwest Acupuncture College students and alumni:

Christopher Adams
Misha Dynnikov
Dr. Gerard Erbeck
Katie Grau
Darren Hopkins
Linda Miale
Stacey Reiss
Yvonne Timmers

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Graduate Herb Garden-Seeds Sprouting

A heartfelt thanks to the Graduate Herb Garden donors who have sent us money for this spe- cial project. In Santa Fe, Dr. Alex, Dianne and Alexander B. DeMolles - $300, in Albuquerque, Dr. Lorella Tapia - $300, and from Boulder, Soma Glick - $50. Money for Santa Fe was spent per donator’s request on a painting of St. Joseph. Albuquerque money will be spent depending upon plans for the new campus under consideration or for plants for the current facility. Boulder money was spent on plants for the Five Element Herb garden.

To support the Graduate Herb Garden, click here.

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Boulder Campus Garden Project Grant

The Boulder Campus has received a $1000 grant through the High Falls Garden Project from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation. These grants were received through the High Falls Garden Project, which is dedicated to edu- cation about medicinal plants and creating local sources of Chinese medicinal herbs.

The mission of High Falls Garden is to:

• Make efficacious traditional medicine available at affordable cost to all Americans.
• Help recreate sustainable cultures, right here and now.
• Stop the war on nature!

More information on High Falls Garden can be found on their website at www.highfalls-gardens.net

The Boulder Campus of Southwest Acupuncture College is one of the participatory sites for the High Falls Garden Project. Last year, we hosted a program by Jean Giblette, High Falls Garden Project coordinator, who spoke to our students about herbal agriculture and brought samples of locally grown Chinese herbal medicine species. Two of our students received medicinal plant seeds as a result of her visit.

While the Five Element Garden in Boulder is a conceptual garden, space exists for the propagation of medicinal species. This grant will enable us to expand our species, augment our plantings, and sponsor a community event.

Garima Fairfax, Associate Professor and local herbalist, designed our Five Element Herb Garden and will be the project lead for the new grant. During the last two summers, Garima has offered an elective on Plant Medicine-Making, which has been well received. As part of the class, her students have taken great care of the garden space, and maintained a wonderful space to be enjoyed by all.

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SWAC Alumni Association Registration Form

Please click here for the SWAC Alumni Association Registration Form.

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Graduate Herb Garden Membership Form

If you would like to contribute to the Graduate Herb Garden, please fill out the membership form (click here).

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