Sight for St. Louis

A publication for the alumni and friends of the University of Missouri-St. Louis College of Optometry

Sight for St. Louis, a silent and liveauction, including entertainment, washeld on March 23, 2006, in the beautifulBlanche Touhill Performing Arts Centeron the UMSL campus. This year, throughSight for St. Louis, alumni and friendshelped the college raise money to beginthe endowment of a fund to help ourlow-income patients in perpetuity.

More than 12,000 patient contactsare made annually in the various Centersfor Eye Care operated by the College ofO p t o m e t r y. These include the UniversityEye Center, Optometric Center, East St.Louis Center, the Mobile ExaminationVehicle (at schools and nursing homes),four St. Louis Regional CommunityHealth Centers, and neighborhood clin-ics, such as La Clinica. However, not allof our patients in need have insurance;many do not earn above the poverty leveldespite working several jobs. T h e s epatients are referred by social workersand other case workers to our clinics forh e l p .

Sight for St. Louis items auctionedlive included vacations in Ve n i c e ,

Spring Extra 2006

Florida; Vail, Colarado; and St. Maarten,as well as tickets to the Regis and Kellys h o w. The silent auction offered sought-after items including a BBQ Basket, andtickets to various St. Louis sportingevents. The event raised $23,000;$20,000 earmarked for the endowmentfund and $3,000 to help patients over thenext year.

If you missed this wonderful andworthwhile event, but would like to helpour patients, please send your donation toBarb Brown, OD ‘88, Optometry/331MH, UMSL, One University Blvd., St.Louis, MO 63121-4400. Please makeyour check payable to UMSL, and pleasenote on the subject line “Sight for St.Louis”. If your prefer that your giftdirectly support the endowment, add“Endow”, or if you prefer your gift tosupport patients this year, please add“Annual”. Every dollar helps; $75means a patient receives glasses, and$105 dollars provides a comprehensiveexamination and eye glasses. Please helpif you can.

Message from the Dean

A Generous Thank You

“The mission of the College of Optometryis to promote and provide improved eyeand health care…”

Greetings! In order for us to passionatelypursue that high calling set forth withinthe College vision, mission and valuesstatements, we depend upon the relation-ships with and support of others whoshare that desire. Fortunately, many within our community not only recognizethe tremendous unmet need for eye carebut also respond to that reality thoughtheir monetary and in-kind support. Inthis issue of the EyeWire you will see testimony of that commitment which wasexhibited during the Sight For St. Louis.The individual and collective response forthe event -- from those who served on theplanning committee, to the donors andsponsors, to those who prepared thevenue, to those who were in attendance --was nothing short of generous. To each ofyou, sincere thanks are directed your way.Know that your generosity is appreciatedeven more by those who will now see theworld a little more clearly.

Additional examples of that charitablespirit follow. Generosity provides a last-ing positive impact for the giver as wellas the beneficiary. It is an honor to beamong so many in a community of professionals who have learned that alongthe way!

Best Regards,

ljdavis@umsl.edu

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

Winston Churchill

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NEWS & NOTES Thank You to Our Generous Sight for St. Louis Sponsors ® The class of 2010 is participating

in a On-Line Community for incomingstudents. The On-Line Communitypermits them to receive pertinentinformation from the university, suchas housing options, and to send andreceive e-mails to communicate withothers in their entering class. It ishoped that the students will have asense of community before they meetor begin classes next fall.

® Edward Bennett, OD, and VenguLakshminarayanan, PhD, authoredtwo books, Review Questions for theNBEO Examination, Part One, andReview Questions for the NBEOExamination, Part Two, both pub-lished by Elsevier Publications, bothwith a CD-ROM.

® Larry Davis, OD was co-author ofan article entitled “LongitudinalChanges in Visual Acuity inKeratoconus” which reported resultsfrom the Collaborative LongitudinalEvaluation of Keratoconus (CLEK)study. The article was published inthe February 2006 issue ofInvestigative Ophthalmology andVisual Science.

®Edward Bennett, OD, also had anarticle, “Gas permeable toric use andapplications: Survey of Section onCornea and Contact Lens Diplomatesof the American Academy ofOptometry,” Blackmore K, BachandN, Bennett, ES, published in theJanuary issue of Optometry Journalof the American OptometricAssociation.

® Vengu Lakshminarayanan, PhD,has been appointed a member-at-large of the U.S. Liaison Committeefor the International Union of Pureand Applied Physics. TheCommittee’s charge is to promote theadvancement of physics in the UnitedStates and throughout the world.

® The sixth annual UMSL ContinuingEducation in Las Vegas was offeredMarch 1-3, 2006, featuring LouCatania, OD, John McGreal, OD andLeonard Naeger, PhD. Over one-hundred ODs from across the countryattended.

C o m m i t t e eKaren Rosen, O.D., Co-ChairSteve Rosen, O.D., Co-ChairCarmen Castellano, O.D.Thomas Cullinane, O.D.Isabelle CoovertThe Honorable Mary Gillespie Rick G'Sell, O.D.Lawrence A. Gans, M.D.Tom Greene, O.D.Matt IovaldiDeborah Kerber, O.D. Zoe Lyle Sean Mulqueeny, O.D.Barbara NahlikThe Honorable Anne Ream, O.D. Allison Voigt Matt Wickham, O.D.

Thank you to our S i l v e rS p o n s o r sAdvanced Medical Optics, Inc.C I B AVi s i o nC o o p e r Vi s i o nE s s i l o rGateway Optical Service, Inc.Midland OpticalPepose Vision Institute

Thank you to our D o n o rS p o n s o r sThe Alcon FoundationAndrew Blatt, M.D.D r. Larry and

Mrs. Janice DavisFred We b e r, Inc.John P. Goltschman, M.D.Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc.R e s l e r-Kerber Optometry, Inc.The Koetting A s s o c i a t e sTLC Laser Eye CentersO p t o s

Thank you to our P a t ro n sMs. Joyce E. BlackwellD r. George M. BohigianD r. Kathleen J. BolandRubin Brown LLPMs. Laurie F. CohenMs. Isabelle CoovertD u ffens OpticalDrs. Raymond and

Pamela Fada Firestone Optical, Inc.D r. Gerald A. Franzel

Fraternal Lodge No. 363 A . F. & A . M .

D r. Lawrence GansGateway Optical Service, Inc.The Honorable

Mary S. GillespieD r. Robert G. GoerssD r. Thomas F. GreeneD r. Richard D. G'SellM r. Ray HartmannM r. Allen D. HellmannD r. James D. HollmannD r. Douglas L. HuffM r. Russell G. Humphrey J r.Mrs. Cyndi P. HuppertsI v e r s o n - Tomasino EyecareM r. Craig A. JaycoxD r. Deborah L. KerberD r. Kathleen C. KleekampMrs. Nancy LangstaffLions Club of Saint ClairLions Regional Eyecare

C o m m i t t e eLucas Optometry, Inc.D r. Kevin G. Ly d o nD r. Jennifer S. MahurinD r. Brenda M. McPhailD r. Donald P. MillerMissouri Optometric A s s o c .Mulqueeny Eye Center LLCD r. Sean P. MulqueenyD r. Raymond I. MyersMrs. Barbara E. NahlikM r. Howard NimmonsOptical Expressions LLCPech Optical CorporationSt. Louis Post-DispatchM r. Mujtaba QaziM r. Jeff T. RehrD r. Mary Beth RhombergRosen Optometry Associates, Inc.D r. Steven E. RosenM r. John H. RussellThe Honorable

Thomas P. SchneiderM r. Mark A. SedgwickMs. Kerry K. SimmonsSouthwest Bank of St. LouisD r. Larry D. StoppelD r. Julie M. SturmSutherlin Optical

C o m p a n y, Inc.Town and Country Banks of

Salem, MO

Vision Care Consultants, Inc.Mrs. Julie A. Wa l l a c eM r. Charles E. Wa r w i c kD r. Jeffrey L. We a v e rD r. Matthew D. Wi c k h a mWright Vision LLC

Thank you to ourAuction Donors

American Image Salon and Spa

Beauty Source Salon and Spa

Mrs. Alice BennettMs. Diana BostonD r. Barbara W. BrownClarkson Eyecare

F o u n d a t i o nMs. Isabelle CoovertCreve Coeur Camera

and Vi d e oD r. Thomas J. CullinaneCunetto House of PastaD r. Larry J. DavisExpanded SoundEye To Eye Optometry, Inc.Finklang Eye Health A s s o c .Genovese JewelersGrene Vision GroupInSight EyecareM r. Matt IovaldiJames Pearson

Day Spa-SalonJeri Changar DesignsThe Koetting A s s o c i a t e sD r. Bernard KovacsLive with Regis and KellyMidland Optical CompanyMissouri Optometric

A s s o c i a t i o nMrs. Barbara E. NahlikRiverfront Ti m e sD r. Karen B. RosenSalon Ltd.Sunglass HutS u r e Vision Eye Centers

M i d w e s tTurquoise Shell InnWines of Wi l d w o o dZ e a Vision LLC

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Lee Ann Barrett, OD ’85, ReceivesOptometrist of the Year Award

Scenes From HOACL 2006

February 11, 2006, at the Awards Luncheon at the HOACL annual congress inKansas City, MO, Kyle Dohm, ’O6, was awarded a $2,000 scholarship. Picturedabove are Norman Hinkle, OD, President; Courtney Goetsch, PUC; Kyle Dohm,UMSL; Justin Hart, NSU; Marissa Krug, UH; and Mike Todd, OD, Past President.

Dr. Joni LaFerla ('93), Director of Publicity,(left) presents the HOACL Optometrist of theYear award to Dr. Lee Ann Barrett ('85).

February 11, 2006, Dean Larry Davis, OD, and Ellen Weiss, OD ’92, were elected tothe Board of Directors of the Heart of America Contact Lens Association at the orga-nization’s annual meeting. Each has been elected to a two-year term; Davis asDirector of Arrangements, and Weiss as Director of Exhibits.

Lee Ann Barrett, OD ’85, was pre-sented with the Heart of A m e r i c aContact Lens Society’s Optometrist ofthe Year award at the awards luncheon at

NEWS & NOTES

Wesley, OD '03, and Mrs. JenniferKinerk and big sister Liz welcomedTod William Kinerk into their familyDecember 2005. Wesley is servinganother tour of duty in the Air Forceand will be stationed at Misawa AirBase in Misawa, Japan.

Tim Wingert, OD, and his wife Terri,both lost encounters with the icy side-walks of Poznan, Poland. Wingert isin Poland as part of his FulbrightScholarship. His cast has beenremoved, but his wife has some timeremaining with hers. Their two chil-dren, Molly and John are also withthem, but are unscathed.

the HOACLS annual congress. Barrettreceived the UM-St. LouisDistinguished Alumnus Award in 1999.She has been involved in leadershiproles for optometry on the state, regionaland national levels. In 2000, she waselected Missouri Optometric A s s o c i a t i o nPresident and served on various MOAcommittees from 1994 to the present. In2002, she was named the OD of the Ye a rby the MOA. She was President of theNorth Central States Optometric Councilin 2003. Barrett has been a member ofvarious A O A Committees from 2002 tothe present and is currently campaigningto be elected A O A Trustee in June,2006. Congratulations, Lee A n n !

The EYEwire is published by the Office of the Dean at the University ofMissouri-St. Louis College of Optometry.

Dr. Jerry Christensen, EditorJChristensen@umsl.edu

Janice White, Designerjanice.white@umsl.edu

Dr. Larry J. Davis, Deanljdavis@umsl.edu

If you prefer to receive your newsletterelectronically, please email Dr.Christensen and provide your emailaddress. Thanks! (If we already haveyour email address there is no need tore-submit it.)

Here at EYEwire Central, we were soanxious for spring that we dated the last issue as the "Spring" issue when it wasactually the "Winter" one. That's why you're receiving this "Spring Extra".Enjoy!

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Office of the Dean

One University BoulevardSt. Louis, Missouri 63121-4400

Telephone: 314-516-5606Fax: 314-516-6708

http://optometry.umsl.edu

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDSt. Louis, MOPermit No. 3

The Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO) has initiated the“Each One Reach One” (EORO) campaign. The campaign is a practitioner-based,career promotion effort that encourages ODs to talk to their patients and other acade-mically-gifted young people about optometry as a career choice.

The goal of the “Each One Reach One” program is to increase optometry’snational applicant pool to three applicants for each first-year position, and to developan applicant pool that reflects the diversity of America’s population. The majority ofstudents in the schools and colleges of optometry indicate that their decision to selectoptometry was due to the encouragement of individual optometrists. You are optome-try’s most effective advocates—your enthusiasm and commitment to the professionwill encourage students to choose optometry as a career.

Please note that this program is not about increasing the number of optometrygraduates, it is about ensuring that the profession continues to attract bright and car-ing young people.

Become a part of the EORO corps by going to the ASCO website,www.opted.org , and clicking on Career Promotion Corps, or by contacting VictoriaSmith-Moore at ASCO: vssmithmoore@opted.org.

Optometrists rank second in the Excellent Careers for 2006 category in a January 5,2006 U. S. News & World Report article by Marty Nemko. His study rates the"Most and Least Rewarding Careers for 2006," describing 39 different careers andcategorizing them into excellent, good, fair and poor career choices in today’s eco-nomic and social environment.

Join the “Each One Reach One” Career Corps

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Hurricane Katrina Hits College of Optometry

(Desarae Bonds, ’07, describes inher own words her family’s encounterwith Katrina.)

On Sunday August 28, 2005 Iturned on the weather channel and sawthat Hurricane Katrina was headed forNew Orleans. My family has had toevacuate for the last few years, butNew Orleans was always spared. Icalled my family and asked if theywould evacuate again this year. Therewas only one working vehicle at myparent’s home and eleven people werethere at the time. My oldest sister,Dana and her three kids left first with afriend. The remaining seven traveled inone car to my grandmother’s home inMcComb, Mississippi. The first call Ireceived Sunday night was from mysister Dana. She and her kids were in ashelter near Baton Rouge, Louisiana.My remaining family members’ trip toMcComb took eight hours which isfour times the usual travel time.

The storm made landfall inLouisiana on Monday August 29, I wasunable to contact my family due to the

phone lines being down. I worriedabout their safety the entire day. OnTuesday August 30, I woke up to thenews that 80% of New Orleans wasunder water. At that moment, I knewour lives would change forever. I spentmost of that day glued to the televisionscreen watching countless devastatingimages. The images of the starvingchildren were extremely heartbreakingand reminded me of my own daughter.She was about to begin kindergarten inLouisiana the week of the hurricane,but she was now in McComb with myparents. What if she had been one ofthose kids on my television screen? Atone point, someone had suggested thatmy family evacuate to the Superdome,but they refused due mostly to myautistic brother’s needs. After seeingthe images of the Superdome, I wasrelieved that my family traveled awayfrom the city. My aunt in Chicagocalled to ask me about the locations ofseveral family members, and I had noanswers. I had yet to hear from any-one. My sister, Dana called Tuesday

night from a pay phone in BatonRouge. She was crying because sheand her kids had left the shelter andthey were now on the streets. I spentthe rest of that night worried abouttheir safety.

When I attended school the nextday, all I could think about was myfamily. A few of my classmates sug-gested that I go home, but I told them Ijust wanted to get through that day. AsI walked away from them, I began tocry. The anxiety was really taking atoll on me at that point. I went homeduring my break, and Dana called.She and her kids were now at a churchin Baton Rouge. My aunt in Chicagocalled to say that another aunt of minehad broken her hip while trying toevacuate her flooded home, and shewas transported to a hospital inMorgan City, Louisiana. All of myother family members were unaccount-ed for. I was finally able to contact myfamily in McComb. My motherinformed me that she was unaware of

Desarae Bonds (second from left) and her family.

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whether or not my oldest brother,Cordell had evacuated because no onehad heard from him since the daybefore the storm. According to newsreports, no one would be allowed backinto New Orleans for several weeks,so I made plans to bring my family toSt. Louis that weekend. Dr. BarbaraBrown called to ask if my family wassafe, and I explained the situation toher. She offered to help fund my tripto McComb and informed the faculty,staff, and students of my situation.

I arrived in McComb on SundaySeptember 4, 2005. The effects of thehurricane were evident there. Carslined the streets waiting at the gas sta-tions, and there was debris every-where. My family traveled back to ourhome to salvage anything that wecould. When we arrived at our home,the first thing we saw was that the roofof our porch had collapsed. There wasno power in the neighborhood, so mostof the neighbors who had stayed wereon their front porches. The neighborsinformed us that our roof had col-lapsed onto the porch days after thehurricane. It is very likely that if myfamily had not evacuated, they wouldhave been sitting on the porch at thetime of the collapse. This thoughthaunts me to this day. It was difficultfor me to watch my family gather up afew belongings and leave our homeforever. There were no moving trucksavailable in the city, so we gatheredwhat we could into a van. My fatherdecided to remain in McComb withmy autistic brother because an apart-ment would not be suitable for mybrother’s behavior. My sister Danadecided to remain at the Baton Rougechurch because she was told that shewould receive housing. My sister,Kendra had a two week old baby girl,

and we left for St. Louis without herever receiving a birth certificate forher daughter.

We arrived in St. Louis onSeptember 6, and my family visitedthe Red Cross and Catholic Charitiesfor assistance. There were now sevenpeople in my two bedroom apartment.I placed a message for my oldestbrother on television on September 8,and we went days without anyresponse. I finally found out through aFEMA representative that my brotherhad applied for assistance, and shegave me his contact number. All ofmy other family members wereaccounted for soon after. OnSeptember 20, Dana and her familyarrived in St. Louis. They had notreceived any housing assistance inLouisiana. There were now twelvepeople in my two bedroom apartment.My mother left that same night toreturn to McComb because my fathercould no longer care for my brotheralone.

My sisters received housingvouchers from The North EastCommunity Action Center (NECAC)in St. Charles County at the end ofSeptember. My parents wereinformed through a phone call thattheir landlord in Louisiana had decid-ed to sell the property because of theextensive damage. He allowed theneighbors to take several of my fami-ly’s belongings, and he threw out theremaining items. It was official; myfamily had nothing. My parents real-ized that they could no longer live inMcComb with my grandmother sothey arrived in St. Louis in midOctober. They received a housingvoucher from NECAC as well.Currently, six family members live inWentzville, MO and five live inO’Fallon, MO. My oldest brother isthe only member of my immediatefamily who still lives in Louisiana.My family has received donationsfrom The University of Missouri

College of Optometry, the Red Cross,The United Way, the Salvation Armyand a few local churches. Since theywere only able to salvage a few per-sonal items from home, they all had tostart from scratch. My parents andbrother were the last ones to receivebeds about two weeks ago. Up untilthen, they were sleeping on air mat-tresses donated to me by The BedroomStore. Dana’s kids love their newschool in O’Fallon, and everyone hasbeen hospitable. Kendra’s daughterwill be eight months old this month,and she will finally receive her birthcertificate next week. My family hasno plans to return to Louisiana at themoment. Their housing in St. CharlesCounty has been approved untilSeptember 2006. We have no ideawhat will happen after that date. Fromwhat we have heard, things are stillvery grim back home. Monthly renthas nearly doubled on most units, andthe areas surrounding New Orleans areoverpopulated. There are only a fewstores open, and all of them close earlyin the evening. I don’t think the citywill ever be the same. I had alwaysplanned to return home to Louisiana topractice optometry, but I am uncertainof where I will end up. We are dealingwith the aftermath one day at a time.This is not the first time that my fami-ly has had to struggle, so I know thatwhatever happens, we will make itthrough.

(If you would like to help the Bonds’family, please send your donation toBarbara W. Brown, OD ’88, College ofOptometry/331 MH, UMSL, OneUniversity Blvd., St. Louis, MO,63121-4400. Please make your checkpayable to Desarae Bonds.)