Today is a nonprofit news publication of Loma Linda University, Loma Linda University Medical Center, and Adventist Health/Loma Linda, operated under the auspices of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
February 26, 1997
Loma Linda University
- LLU Councilors and the group's past presidents are recognized by the University for their service
- School of Dentistry to provide free services
- Cornel West, nationally known speaker, and author, is keynote speaker during BALL fundraising Banquet
- OT students present research results during senior colloquium
- Larry Chinnock, PT, EdD, presents podium presentation at American Physical Therapy Association Conference
- Delia Gutierrez presents a paper at American Physical Therapy Association Conference
- Allied Health students spread cheer to children
- Nursing faculty and students attend spiritual retreat
- Ribbons awarded to nine table clinics during School of Dentistry Alumni-Student Convention
- Faculty Notes
Loma Linda University Medical Center
- Opening ceremonies scheduled for Coleman and Cancer Research Pavilions
- LLUMC doctor featured on CBS-TV 'The Body Human 2000'
- Editor's Note
Loma Linda University Children's Hospital
- Local car dealer exhibits commitment to LLUCH and Inland Empire children
- 'Chemo Babies' dolls give pediatric patients a pal at Children's Hospital
Editorial comments / Community stories
Loma Linda University
LLU Councilors and the group's past presidents are recognized by the University for their service
The past presidents and current Loma Linda University Councilors were honored by the Loma Linda University Board of Trustees during a banquet held at the Drayson Center on Sunday, February 9, 1997.
In recognizing the contributions of the University Councilors and their presidents, LLU Board of Trustees chair Calvin B. Rock, PhD, DMin, thanked the Councilors for their continuing support of institutional projects and their wise counsel to the institution.
Loma Linda University president B. Lyn Behrens, MBBS, especially thanked the Councilors for their part in making possible the Loma Linda University Drayson Center and their long-time support of student-oriented projects such as the student organization, Students for International Mission Service.
The Loma Linda University Councilors were organized in 1961 with the purposes of: advising the president of the University; assisting the president in developing and enhancing the University as an institution of higher education and service; serving as ambassadors for the University; promoting the goals and plans of the University in the business and professional community, and in the Seventh-day Adventist Church; and providing counsel, support, and leadership in the financing of University projects and development.
Nominees for the Councilors, recruited for their special interest in Loma Linda University, are approved by the University's Board of Trustees. Traveling at their own expense, the group meets with the University president at least two times a year.
Since their inception, the University Councilors have raised more than $13 million to underwrite a number of campus-wide projects and programs.
Past presidents of the University Councilors include the following individuals:
Jerry L. Pettis, United States Congressman, 1961-1967; M. Bernard Graybill, MD, physician, 1967-1969; Harry Schrillo, business executive, 1969; N. A. McAnally, business executive, 1969-1971; Harold W. Willis, business executive, 1971-1974; Samuel H. Fritz, MD, physician, 1974-1977; Tom Zapara, business executive, 1977-1983; Paul S. Damazo, business executive, 1983-1985; Ronald D. Drayson, PhD, University administrator and business executive, 1985-1988; J. Dee Lansing, MD, physician, 1988-1990; Carleton Wallace, MD, physician, 1990-1992; Bill Johnson, business executive, 1992-1994; and Rueben Matiko, MD, physician, 1994-1996.
The current president of the University Councilors is Robert Reynolds, PhD. Dr. Reynolds is an educator and currently serves as chair of the Social Action Community (SAC) Health System, as well as president of the Councilors.
The recognition banquet was held as part of the University Councilors annual business meeting that is held each winter in Loma Linda.
During their business meeting held earlier in the day, the University Councilors received a live demonstration of the University's new distance learning program. The Councilors are currently helping to financially support this project.
School of Dentistry to provide free services
Students, staff, and faculty from the School of Dentistry are gearing up for the annual Clinic with a Heart, a day of free dental care for the community.
In the past years, an average of 200 patients have been treated during each Clinic with a Heart.
On April 13, 1997, volunteers from the school will provide a variety of dental procedures, from simple fillings and cleanings to extractions and diagnosis of more complex dental problems.
Clinic with a Heart will take place at the LLU School of Dentistry, and doors will open at 7:00 a.m. for patient screening and diagnosis.
Cornel West, nationally known speaker, and author, is keynote speaker during BALL fundraising Banquet
More than 300 alumni and friends of Loma Linda University and La Sierra University (LSU) gathered for the Fourteenth Annual Scholarship Banquet sponsored by the Black Alumni of Loma Linda and La Sierra Universities (BALL), on Saturday, February 15, at the Sheraton Grande Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.
Honored guest speaker for the event was Cornel West, PhD, professor of African American history and philosophy of religion, Harvard University. Dr. West is an internationally noted expert on African-American history, political thought, and philosophy, in a manner of W.E.B. DuBois. Dr. West, author of many books including Race Matters, is part of the "dream team" of philosophers being assembled by Dr. Henry Lewis Gates, Jr., at Harvard University to address the dreams, fears, aspirations, and responsibilities of the African-American community on the brink of the twenty-first century.
Named as BALL's alumna of the year for 1997 was Monica P. Reed, MD, a 1982 graduate of LSU, and a 1986 graduate of LLU. Dr. Reed completed her residency training in obstetrics and gynecology at White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles in 1990, receiving the Berlex Resident Education award in her final year of training. Currently director of the Loch Haven OB/GYN group at Florida Hospital in Orlando, Dr. Reed holds the additional positions of associate director of the Family Practice Residency Program and medical advisor of the Menopause Clinic, both at Florida Hospital.
Scholarships in the amount of $1,000 were awarded to 12 students at the event. Loma Linda University awardees included Cheryl Joy Anthony, School of Nursing; Tishona Yvette Baham, School of Allied Health Professions; Sheba Franklin, School of Nursing; Anissa Yvonne LaCount, School of Medicine; Beatrice Kerubo Ratemo, School of Nursing; and Brent Alfred Williams, School of Medicine. La Sierra awardees included Velda Falecia Cobb-Brown, business administration and finance; Jonathan Joey Mthombeni, Jr., religious studies; Anthony W. Simpkins, pre-occupational therapy; Angela Maria Judy Strut, pre-medicine; Janelle Melissa Sylvester, pre-medicine; and Nicole Turner, music education.
BALL was formed in 1980 as a support system for minority students. The mission of the Black Alumni of Loma Linda and La Sierra Universities is to be instrumental in promoting and facilitating Christian professional health science education of Black young men and women at Loma Linda University and La Sierra University.
Following is a transcript of the keynote speech made by Dr. West. The remainder of Dr. West's remarks will be printed in the next issue of TODAY.
I appreciate those very kind words from my friend and brother, Nyron McLean.
It is more than a pleasure and delight for me to be here tonight--it is my privilege, and my honor, and a blessing. I would like to thank the good humor and charm of Brother Augustus Cheatham. It's a very difficult task to keep things moving. He's done a wonderful, wonderful job. I would like to thank my friend and sister, President Lyn Behrens, for her service. I would like thank my old friend and fellow Harvardian, President Larry Geraty. Good to see you again. I was just there a little while ago and and met the interim...Brother David Taylor as well. Brother Rabbi Allen Freehling, who has played such a very, very important role, not just in Black-Jewish relations, but in holding up the progressive blood-stained banner in this city. Its so very good to see him and his wife.
I'm just very deeply, deeply moved by the really love of BALL for such achievements as Dr. Monica Reed [BALL alumna of the year]. In all her humility you can see how real she actually is in terms of her service.
You can see it in the eyes of the students, and I can especially see it when Brother Nyron was searching for words for dean Lloyd Wilson. As I examined Brother Nyron closely, you could see the tears. I said to myself, "I'm sure he speaks on behalf of numerous young people, many young brothers, for what Dean Wilson has done for them. Because in the end, that's what its all about.
Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack raised a question a few years ago. They said, "Where is the love?" Marvin Gaye put it another way: "What's going on?" That's not the question, that was the title. The question was, "Who really cares?"
I'm blessed to be here tonight, precisely because of the sweet spirit in this place. It is clear to me, and in answer to Donny and Roberta, that there is some love, not just in this room, but represented, exemplified, in BALL. That in fact, the care is real in the actions of BALL. It's that love and care that sits at the very heart of the tradition that has allowed Black folk to get as far as we are. The many thousands gone--the foremothers and forefathers who loved us so, and sacrificed so much, and cared for us to allow us to be who we are and still attempt to bequeath to the younger generation the best of what they gave.
That is what we're here to talk about tonight. Tradition. How do you keep that tradition vital and vibrant? How do you keep it alive, as it were? Tradition, deeply rooted in the Best of Jerusalem. Hebrewfied. Old Testament. New Testament. Historically, most Black folk haven't always been Christian, but it is impossible to conceive a New World African without Christianity, without that Old Testament, without those prophets, without that Palastenian Jew named Jesus.
Jerusalem, sitting at the center, of how these Africans will attempt to make sense of a world in light of their encounter with the absurd called America. Slavery. Jim Crow. Second-class citizenship. Segregation. Valconization.
Yes, how is it these folk will still be able to muster the courage to love, the courage to care?
The courage to fight for justice and freedom has tradition. Tradition is something that one inherits--that's a myth. You gain it by means of struggle, and if you don't struggle you'll lose that tradition. It's not a process of osmosis. You've got to sacrifice for that tradition to stay alive. Another way of putting it is, "What ever it is that thy loveth well, that will be thy heritage."
If you love your material toys more than your young people, then you're going to end up with a materialistic, narcissistic, and hedonistic generation. But if you love your folk more than you love your toys, then your folk are going to have virtue and character and courage and vision and a sense of willingness to fight. That's precisely what the best of the older generation taught. That's why Black folk have never been a optimistic folk in America. If they were, they made the inference in a mistaken manner. The evidence was never overwhelming. Never. But they loved their young people!
"Slavery seems as if it will last forever, but I'm still going to keep track of little Johnny. Jim Crow seems too deeply entrenched, but I'm going to keep track of little Signifia, because I love her. That's why I named her that way." The flow of this tradition--the Isley Brothers call it a "Caravan of Love." At its best that's what it is, that's what BALL is all about, the "Caravan of Love"--but up against adverse circumstances.
Another way of putting it is that BALL is part of a tradition constituted by Leroy Jones called "the Blues People." That's precisely what Black folk have been, a Blues People, wrestling with the blues, the absurd, the arbitrary and capricious treatment--owing to skin pigmentation--viewed as a benchmark of one's humanity.
Yet, here comes Jesus, Blues Man on the cross! On the cross! Dealing with the absurdity of arbitrary and capricious treatment of a Roman empire whose elites were running amuck. The encounter of these Blues People with that Blues Man on the cross, immersion in that blood, signified by the love that allows them not just to affirm their humanity but to be free in the midst of such unfree circumstances. Because you can't have the courage to love if you're not free in some way. No matter how tight the chains might be around your body, you can still be free in that blood.
Somewhere down through the corridors of time, the old folks said, "You know, maybe if we keep pushing, keeping this "Caravan of Love" moving, there'll be a BALL someday--Black Alumni of Loma Linda and La Sierra filtering through these institutions. There might be a BALL at Harvard, and a BALL at Yale, and a BALL at University of Chicago, and a BALL at City College. They began to fuse with the brothers and sisters from Howard and Morehouse and Tuskeegee and other places. Oakwood, yeah!
It's got to spill over to the brothers and sisters on the street in Oakland, and the south side of Chicago, in Harlem--got to be connected, to be linked in some significant way. That's the tradition we're talking about.
I tell you why this is one of the grandest traditions of the 20th century. When they write the history 150 years from now, somebody's going to have to say that there lived a Blues People who sustained their dignity and grace in the midst of such darkness and thunder! It's because this tradition has the audacity to raise the most fundamental question of what it is to be human.
Let us always remember the word, "human," comes from the Latin Humanicus, derived from Humando which means "to bury." To be human is to bury your dead, to bury your loved ones, to put those beloved corpses in the grave, and somehow connect yourself to them. To never forget. Maybe forgive, yes, if we have some Power higher than us. To never forget your connection to the dead. To link the present to the past.
It allows you to project the future, because if you decouple that link to those who came before, then whatever vision that you have will be empty. It will be nothing but sounding brass and tinkling cymbals of your own narcissistic projections rather than rooted in something real, in regard to struggle.
What is the question that this tradition raises over and over again? It's the old problem of evil. How can we be true to ourselves in a form that enables us to respond lovingly and compassionately to unjustified suffering? The fundamental question. That's it!
Shakesphere's Hamlet: "I will preach forgiveness and believe in justice but practice revenge." Socrates: "I will evade the question, I think its just a matter of knowing the good and then doing the good because virtue equals knowledge, and argue about it, but never weep." Socrates never cries, he never laughs. In part, he never really lives.
As grand as the legacy of Athens actually is, give me Jerusalem! Jesus wept. That's different. He wept, why? Because He cared, because He loved. As James Baldwin puts it in that fascinating essay of his, he wrote a fascinating book on it, "The Fire Next Time." He says, "Love is daring, difficult, and dangerous; don't play with it." I added the last few words, but that's what he meant. That's serious!
What happens in trying to muster the courage to love for a people who have been so hated? People of African descent, people who have been so hunted, people of African descent in America wrestling with the problem of evil. No theoretical resolution, only engagement with it.
You can come up with the best frameworks in the world in our academic texts, but if you're not loving somebody, if you're not sacrificing, if you're not risking, its still vacuous. That's been part of the problem.
We've got hundreds of theoretical resolutions on the problem of evil in the 20th century, but look at this ghastly century! Nazism at the core of so-called civilized Europe. Europeans thought they had theoretical resolution of the problem of evil, you can't treat Jewish brothers and sisters right! Not just Hitler, capitulation taken back.
Stalinism at the core of the Soviet Union: Marx and Lenin said, "We've got it right." We saw how they solved their problem of it. You can't even treat your own folk right--look at the repression and regimentation at work. What's going on on the ground?
European colonialism: "We think we've got it right," and they're treating Africans and Asians like they're animals!
Japanese imperialism in Korea.
The Philippines.
America: "We're the 'city on the hill,' we've really got it right!" What about your own Apartheid? Doesn't apply there, does it?
We can go on and on. Pol Pot in Cambodia. Bosnia. East Timor. Tibet. South Central Los Angeles. The problem of evil on the ground. Too much suffering, unnecessary suffering. Too much misery, unnecessary misery. And Blues People come back every generation saying, "Be true to ourselves, be true to America, and then tell the truth about America, tell the truth about the world." We're going to continually raise this question and do something about it in our own imperfect way.
One of the great insights of the Best of Jerusalem is that you never engage in the critique of others until you've also criticized yourself because usually the very thing you're criticizing is operating in your own life. It cuts right through your soul and the society. It's what I love about the tradition of struggle, it's always a part of it, it always connects the existential to the economic. It connects the person to the political. It connects the social to the spiritual. You have to have a holistic view of this thing or you're going to miss something. You're going to end up with a truncated view of things, or you're going to end up with a sentimental conception of what we're up against. Blues is distinctly unsentimental. By sentimental I mean believing that all the good is on one side and all the bad is on the other. The either-or perspective, manikeun perspective. By sentimental, I mean believing in fact that one can have the luxury of an emotion without paying for it, pleasure with no consequences, delight with no duty. Very American actually! Profoundly American!
One of the problems--the tradition that has produced BALL, the tradition that BALL is very much a part of--is how you raise the problem of evil in American civilization, what Henry James called the "hotel civilization." I know we're in a very nice hotel. I actually appreciate Nyron putting me up in this hotel. But I don't confuse it with reality!
The "hotel civilization" is a civilization that is obsessed with comfort and convenience and contentment. Leave your room dirty, and come back, everything is in place. Don't see who did it. Working people invisible. Bring food to your table, you don't even see them put it down! It's just there!
More than that, it allows you to feel as if you're at home for a moment, but you have to pay when its time to leave! Which means that there's a fusion of the home and the market. Those are highly American phenomena. Home, haven; market, heartless world. That haven in a heartless world. We hold on to family for dear life as that market with its dynamism, and quest for liquidity and profitability and mobility, shapes our lives.
Very American‚ which means its very difficult to raise the problem of evil in such a civilization. People too busy. That's why these moments are so very important. They're Chiros moments, moments that are infused with meaning. You can stop Chronos for a moment, stop their everyday routine and turn to one another and say, "I like what you're doing and also, I actually love you, too." That's empowering! That helps you keep going. But that's hard in America. We hardly have time to put our dead in the grave, then run back to the job. Don't have time to grieve! Got to keep moving--keep moving--keep moving! Very American! Yet what? Yet even in these two sites of home and market, the problem of evil lurks very deeply.
Toni Morrison, tell us about that Black family in the "The Bluest Eye" called the Breedlove family. See how they wrestle with suffering and misery!
Eugene O'Neil, tell us about that all-American family, the Tyrone Family in "Long Day's Journey in to Night." Our great artists won't allow us to get off the hook.
William Faulkner, tell us about the Cubeson family in "The Sound and the Fury." And that Black Gibson family. What are they doing? Wrestling with the problem of evil.
Laurane Hansbury, young genius that she was at 29 years old, tell us about the Younger family in "A Raisin in the Sun." Our artists will not allow us to get off the hook!
The market, similarly so. Whether our busy-bodiedness is a form of evasion of wrestling with the suffering and the pain and misery, or is it an form of engagement? That has always been the problem, especially when it comes to issues of race.
A hundred and fifty years from now, one of the things that historians will say is that American civilization was ingenious in so many ways, made some grand contributions to humanity and also committed some crimes against humanity. But they were highly creative in terms of coming up with modes of denial and evasion on issues of race. It's amazing! Amazing!
It's very rare that the country as a whole hits head-on the vicious legacy of White supremacy. It's very rare. It was hit on the head in the Civil War, the most barbaric of wars at that time--612,000 fellow human beings died as a result of killing or disease. Owing to what? "What are we going to do about these Black folk?" Oh, that's part of the memory, isn't it? We'd rather preserve a White supremacist way of life and go to war and hit it head on and push it back.
Even Lincoln himself said, "I want to preserve the Union, and if it includes certain White supremacist ways of life, then its going to have to be there." See, Lincoln didn't become a full-fledged opponent of White supremacist practices until the last few months of his life. He met with Fredrick Douglas and said, "Black folk ought to go to Costa Rica!" Those last few months he changed.
People do change--they do. I think George Wallace changed, actually! I do. No doubt about that. Look at the Texan who used to run on White supremacist segregationist platforms who ends up president saying, "We shall overcome." Lyndon Baines Johnson. He changed, didn't he? Look at him in 1948 and look at him in 1965.
People change, but you can't make a political program on that kind of change. It's still too thin. Abe Lincoln changed. The minute he endorsed Black suffrage, John Wilkes Booth said, "I'm going to put a bullet in his head." He was a thoroughgoing White supremacist. And that's exactly what John Wilkes Booth did, when Lincoln supported the New Orleans Plan in 1865.
For a moment, America embarked on one of the most fascinating experiments in the history of the human adventure: a multi-racial democracy called Reconstruction. If Reconstruction had been carried through, we'd live in a qualitatively different America. We had more Black senators then than we do now! Isn't that something? That takes tremendous imagination and courage to create a multi-racial democracy. It's hard enough just creating a democracy, but a multi-racial one that would confront its White supremacist legacy. In 1877, boom, its over!
For over 85 years, with Black codes, and then Jim Crow and Jane Crow, it became very clear that America was engaged in a form--not just denying race, but reinforcing the racist patterns. That's a long time. Every two-and-a half days for 51 years, there was some Black man or Black woman or Black child hanging from some tree. The "strange fruit the Southern trees bear" that Billie Holliday sang about. No major voice in America rose up against it!
Let's be honest about the history. There were a few White brothers and sisters here, progressive Jewish voices there, but they were marginal. Introduce a bill in 1903; it couldn't even pass until 1944 just to make it a crime. What's going on here? Evil--that's what's going on! It doesn't make it an evil empire; it's evil in the empire. Unjustified suffering. These people's doings, these people's struggles, are going to be those under what? Conditions of institutionalized hatred!
George Bernard Shaw reminds us that hatred is nothing but the coward's revenge to being intimidated--which means we're talking about cowardliness in America. Jim Crow is nothing but institutionalized cowardliness, because Black bodies intimidated folk! That's what we're talking about. And yet here's the best of these Blues People saying, "We want to engage in a tradition that has the courage to love." The best--I didn't say all Black folk. No, no. We've got some Black cowards, too! Hate, contempt, hostility, animosity, intimidated by White brothers and sisters. That's been part of the problem.
It would be not until the 1960s that America would once again try to engage in creating a multi-racial democracy. That's a long time. It was by no means just Martin Luther King--the way they trot him out every January these days! You'd think Martin Luther King fought the whole battle all by himself. "Martin Luther King freed me." "Martin Luther King did that." "Martin Luther King did that."
How was one brother going to do all that?--with 329 rebellions in 257 cities between 1964 and 1968. You all recall August 11, 1965, in Los Angeles. One night--there were 228 uprisings the day Martin Luther King was murdered; that shook the foundations of American civilization. One had no choice, either you came to terms with it or you slid down the slippery slope to chaos and anarchy.
That's when Harvard and Yale and Princeton and all these other predominantly White institutions of higher learning said, "I think we'll let some of these Negroes in! Things are getting scary out there."
For some, the plan was to allow some of the Negroes in so they would begin to think that they were exceptional and therefore different than the masses of people. That they would separate themselves, decouple themselves, from brothers and sisters on the streets. That they would think they were so smart, so sophisticated, so charming, that they were gaining access to the mainstream and somehow the other folk were uncouth!
But BALL is here to say that there's nothing wrong with being a Black middle-class person if you've got your heart in the right place, if you're spending your time and energy in the right way, and if you're still willing to connect with the tradition of struggle. That's what BALL is about. That's the key.
There is always the question of, are you using what you have? How are you deploying it? How are you applying it? That's true whether you're poor, working poor, middle-class, upper-class, or whatever. Why? Because the tradition of struggle that we're talking about has always said, "Whosoever will, let them come." The choice is up to you.
It's a matter of, what are your commitments? It's a matter of whether you're willing to pay a certain price, bear a certain cost, and suffer a certain weight that cuts across race, class, region, sexual orientation. It's "whosoever will."
When I look at America, 1997, I must say that we're living in one of the most frightening and terrifying moments in the history of this nation! When I say that, people say, "You know, Brother West has lost his mind. These are times of prosperity. The President tells us the economy's okay. He's the education president."
The President says he wants to go beyond the cynicism.
I say, "Well, I'm a small part of a tradition that tells me that if I continually raise a problem of evil in America, that I'm going to keep track of those forms of unjustified suffering."
So when I hear that the economy's okay, I ask, "For whom? Would you specify the context, Mr. President? The top 20 percent of America? Yes, you're absolutely right. The top one percent? They are euphoric. You're absolutely right." The Stock Market is breaking records every day. Eighty percent of Americans of all colors are wrestling with stagnating and declining wages at the very moment in which corporate profits are up 205 percent since 1980, and CEO salaries are up 499 percent since 1980. It's not just the function of international competition against the Japanese and the Germans. Certain choices are being made, it is called "corporate greed," "managerial greed."
All of us have the capacity for greed.
If there are no mechanisms of accountability, then it means that people are going to get what they can get--which means your democracy is beginning to unravel because the mechanisms of self-correction and self-criticism are weakening. Galloping wealth inequality, galloping income inequality--with devastating impacts from so many different levels for chocolate cities.
I'm often criticized for calling for redistribution of wealth. "Why is that Brother West is always talking about redistribution of wealth?"
I say, "The wealth is already being redistributed, its just being redistributed upward!" That's already taking place. That's what cutbacks in programs for poor people are. That's what the take backs at the negotiating table between working people and management are; its a redistribution upward. It's a trickling up, and its been going on for 25 years. So nobody's going to just redistribute the wealth. It's just going to go one way or the other. The question is, how do you get some of it going downward?
One percent of the population of America owns 48 percent of the total net financial wealth. Sounds oligarchic, plutocratic, to some degree, pigmentocratic, because when you look at senior management in American corporations it's still almost lily white. Not a lot of affirmative action going on there--that's what I want to tell brother Ward. If you don't need affirmative action, then how come the senior management is not, more than it is. How come you're not senior management? How come you're just doing P.R. work? So meritocratic!You believe you deserve so much merit, how come you've only gone so far? You've got a glass ceiling, too, brother! Check yourself.
Twenty percent of the American population own 94 percent of the wealth, which means 80 percent struggle over 6 percent of the wealth. It's amazing. It's in Edward Wolfe's book, called "Top Heavy." Wonderful title for a book--"Top Heavy." Increasing wealth inequality in America. It is linked to race, but it's not confined to race. It has to do with working class brothers and sisters of all collars, be they white collar, pink collar, blue collar, no collar. We see even white collars now with a little anxiety ridden cause they can get down-sized! It's just bureaucratic language for being fired.
They work longer weeks--163 hours a year more than they did 15 years ago, which means less time for children, less time for church and mosque and synagogue, and so forth. In addition to that, they can be pushed into temp work. No pensions. No benefits. It's frightening. Why? Because they are in such a situation, people feel as if things are out of control. They become more and more paranoid. When people become paranoid--all of us are so human, which means we tend to scapegoat the most vulnerable. We don't have the courage to look up and confront the powerful. We'd rather scapegoat the most vulnerable.
"Keep the immigrants out! That's the problem. Keep them out."
You say, "How long have you been here?"
"I'm second generation."
"You want to close it already?"
"Uh-huh."
"Oh, I see. Oh, I see. I see."
Or, "Let's get the women out of the labor force. You know they're 46 percent of the labor force right now. Let's get them out; let the brothers come back in--brothers of all colors."
"Oh, really? Who are you dependent on?"
"Oh, oh, my girlfriend."
"Um-hmm--she's working?"
"Yeah, she sure is."
"Well, let's push the gay brothers and lesbian sisters back in the closet. You know, when they stepped out of the closet the whole civilization began to disintegrate."
"Three-point-five percent of the population stepped out of the closet, the whole thing collapsed? Interesting analysis."
But the main target, people of African descent--244 years of child slavery. No legal status, no social standing, no public worth, only of economic value. No discourse about family values as Black folk had to deal with the slave auction, with various mothers and children going to different parts of the country. Two-hundred-and-forty-four years, and then 81 years of Jim Crow. We finally begin to step into the mainstream, and we are targeted. Scapegoating the most vulnerable.
"They're making special pleas and demands. They're taking over. Taking over the university."
"What percent of Black folk at your university?"
"Three percent."
"Oh, yeah, they're really taking over, aren't they! Wow!"
Scapegoating the most vulnerable. It's a human thing, very human. It's in all of us if we're not courageous. But when it becomes policy, like the vicious Welfare Bill? You see, you couldn't have that Welfare Bill signed without that symbol of 'welfare queen.' That's why President Clinton had the Black sister right behind him when he signed it. Did you notice that? He had to have a sister standing right there. Why? Because that particular symbol, which is such a pernicious attack on Black moral character, could facilitate a major act of legislation that would deny the most vulnerable members of our society: poor children. Yet, when you look at the history of Black women in America, they were the only women who were forced to work in the fields during those 244 years of slavery, and as soon as slavery was over they moved into White households, raising White children, going back to their households, raising their own children.
In 1960, 62 percent of Black women were still working in White households raising White children, going back home and raising their own. And they become the symbols of laziness in America that facilitates the timing of such a bill? That's what I'm talking about in terms of the modes of denial.
O.J. verdict, same way. Oh, that verdict has now caused polarization. Caused polarization? We're already polarized! It disclosed polarization, it revealed polarization.
You look where Americans live--geographical, spatial segregation along with legal defacto segregation. Read a book by Douglas Massey and Nancy Denton called "American Apartheid." It says, "We are now more segregated now than we were in 1965."
Who do we socialize with? Who do we talk to? What schools do our children go to? Right across the board. And we're surprised that we're polarized? Mode of denial. We start with the polarization, and say "How can we engage with the courage to love and fight for justice to overcome it?" But let us not fool ourselves! The thick walls of demarcation are there. In Washington state I was hanging out at this wonderful place called Grounds for Coffee, and about 85 percent of the folk in there, mainly White brothers and sisters, were from California. And I said, "What are you all up here for?" Then I began to think. White-flight--trying to run!
"I used to live in L.A., and I moved out to the Valley. I moved out, now I'm up in Washington."
"Really. Where you going next? Vancouver?"
Mode of distancing oneself is just part and parcel of polarization. The result is what? It's hard to even talk about the issue of wealth, income, and inequality in such context. Race itself becomes so reified. By reified, I mean it becomes an abstraction, or it becomes reduced simply to individual and interpersonal relation.
White brothers and sisters often tell me, "You know, I like Black folk."
I say, "Which ones?"
"It's in the abstract--I just like them."
"How many in your neighborhood?"
"I don't see too many of them, but I just like them."
Or you can smile on the individual interpersonal. Nothing wrong with smiling, but it doesn't deal with the structural institutional question of power--at all or just outright denial.
"Brother West, I'm not a White racist at all. I've gotten beyond that. Mark Furman needs more work, but I've gotten beyond that."
I say, "Well, White brother, White sister, there's White supremacy in me; my hunch is that there's some in you. You've got to check yourself."
It cuts that deep. In many ways that's part of the blindness linked to this discourse about "color blindness."
Up until the 1960s, Black skin and Black bodies were associated with difference. That difference was assimilated to degradation and disgust. After '66 and '67, we said, "Well, we need a color-blind discourse." Which means the Black bodies' now are to be eliminated! You don't see Black bodies, you just see people! Just generic!
Casper Weinburger wrote that he was sitting in the Oval Office, and he said, "Any time I was there and I'd look over and see Colin Powell, I didn't see a Black man, I just saw a man."
I say, "Brother Weinburger, what did you see? Platonic form or Aristotelian essence? But no body?"
You see, the assumption is, if he includes that Black body, then degradation slips in and he figures he's prejudiced. So all he sees is just generic "people."
And I say, "Well, what did Colin see?"
Colin saw a White brother, because Colin doesn't have to eliminate White bodies to see humanity! We have a longer tradition of that. We're not worried about Whiteness; we're worried about White supremacy. We know there are John Browns around. We weren't worried about his Whiteness. We know there are Abraham Joshua Heshells around. We're not worried about his Jewishness; he's with us, he's making a moral stand. He's making a political commitment. Anybody come, him who's willing to do that. Black folk show up? Keep your body outside, and just bring your personhood in!
But that's serious business because it shows limited imagination is still at work in coming to terms with African bodies. Not only that, but it also reveals just how deep the White supremacy still lurks. That's what's frightening. Just drop a Black body in predominately White space and watch the ripples of unease. Just drop him in. Don't even say a word. Just show up. Because the body itself has already been constituted as different, even among well-intended White brothers and sisters.
Black bodies show up at a cocktail party.
"Why don't you go and say, 'hello.' Make them feel at home."
"Oh you know, they may get upset? Why do they get upset sometimes?"
"He doesn't look like he's upset right now, does he?"
"Right now, catch him, catch him!"
He hasn't said a word yet.
Black bodies show up at senior management meeting in corporate America, and watch the body language shift. Why? Because that body has been degraded, trying to convince the world that those bodies have the wrong hips and lips and noses and hair texture and skin pigmentation. The sad thing is a lot of Black folk believe it. They Europeanize their nose when they get a little money--and other things, too! That's how deep it still cuts.
If we can't talk about it at that level, then we're not honest with one another. The only way we can move, and keep moving, is through a certain honesty. Why? Because it's in each one of us. The White supremacy in Black folk! That's part of the problem. And in Brown, and in Yellow! Black/Brown relations--looking at each other through a White supremacist lens, at each other's throats. Black/Yellow relations, Black/Korean relations, Black/Jewish relations--looking at each other through a truncated lens, and still not able to--the way we ought--keep track of each other's humanity.
That's what the tradition and the courage to love and to be compassionate is about. None of us are or ever will be perfect. No, that's true. But I hear this language all the time: "But we're making such progress."
"We've made such breakthroughs."
"Here's the statistical analysis of how many Black folk we have."
And I say, "That's wonderful."
Malcolm X reminds us, "You don't stab a man in the back nine inches and pull it out six inches and say you're making progress." The suffering is still there; misery is still there. The challenge of, How do we create a context for dialogue and conversation that is honest enough so that we can keep track of these various dimensions that are usually suppressed in any serious discussion about race? How do we do it in such a way that we open people rather than close them? That's the key.
That's what Brother Martin understood, you see. Part of the genius of Martin King is that he knew he had to do two things: he had to learn from the great Marcus Garvey (he's not historically associated with Garvey, but he knew Garvey had a love ethic you see. It's called self love.) He knew that for a hated people, they would never want to move against the powers that be unless they loved themselves enough and respected themselves enough to come together to do it.
Martin said, "If I can get a self love in place, it would then open up Black folk to love others, but love others in such a way that it would open up some of the hearts and minds and souls of White brothers and sisters so they would be willing to move"--because most of them were frozen solid, you see. That's what we need these days.
But in opening up, you can't open up in such a way that people feel as if they're comfortable too soon and declare victory prematurely. They've got to open up and see--"This is a major issue. I've got to engage in even more effort now. I see how deep race cuts. I see how deep White supremacy still cuts, even in its very subtle forms. But in seeing it, I'm not been paralyzed, and I'm empowered, because you still have a little belief in my ability to change and to move and to make a difference."
That's what BALL is about. That's what this tradition of struggle is all about. Will we have enough courage and vision and imagination to do it? It is hard to say. I don't think it looks good. If we actually look at the cultural decadence in America, we see that the "Caravan of Love" is actually slowing down--not transmitting the love to the younger generation. Not enough older people respect younger people; not enough younger people respect older people. The generational gap is getting bigger and bigger. The families are weakening. The neighborhoods are becoming 'hoods.
Churches are getting weaker--and I'm not talking about quantity, I'm talking about quality. We've got a lot of market religion around; it has little to do with the Gospel. Selling Jesus like they're selling a bar of soap. Prayer becomes "Let's Make A Deal" with God: "Give me, give me, give me," rather than "Thy will be done." The choir's putting on a show, stimulating rather than nourishing people's souls. A lot of the preaching turns the Blood into Kool-Aide. We are in deep trouble.
It's not just a matter of how many churches are out there; its certainly not a matter of how big your church is. It's the quality of the Gospel preached and lived in those contexts that keeps the struggle going. Give me two churches on fire, for 20 churches that are marketing some commercial-like Gospel. It's always the question of the quality. It's the challenge for each and every one of us. Can we get beyond the cynicism and the pessimism? The best of the tradition of struggle has been one in which Black folk are never optimistic but always prisoners of hope.
Hope and optimism are not the same thing. We do not have grounds to be optimistic at all. Thank God for B.A.L.L! BALL is making such a fundamental difference. BALL for me exemplifies hope, not optimism. When I look at BALL, I also remember what else is in Black America. I remember the brothers and sisters struggling this very moment, so far removed from our world. Think of the brothers in prison, the sisters in prison, so far removed from our world. They're not a source of despair, but certainly an acknowledgement that the evidence does not look good.
Hope for me is participatory; optimism is spectatorial. Optimism is, you stand on the outside looking, and it doesn't look good. Hope is, you're in the midst of the mess and fighting and loving and struggling, and you feel emotion so you keep fighting and struggling and loving. BALL is in the mess struggling, loving, fighting, which means they're on the move. That's the key. You have to be on the move. Thank God they're on the move with a vision that goes back to Jerusalem, that said, "Even given this evidence, we still believe that we can make leaps of faith because we come from a people who stepped out on nothing and still landed on something. It's called faith. It's called grace--and it makes a difference.
My grandmother used to tell me, "Little Riley, always remember to pray."
"I don't see the causal connection, Grandma, between my praying and what I want."
She said, "That's the point."
Because you've got to struggle and sustain it, and you're not in control. But with one another to fall back on, you can make a difference. That's the challenge. That's what this tradition represents. That's what BALL, for me, represents.
I simply say to each and every one of you, even in these very difficult times, let us promise ourselves that we will attempt to speak our fallible truths more clearly, and expose vicious lies more openly, and bear our imperfect witness more humbly. Because that's what the foremothers and forefathers did. That's what allows us in these very dark times to keep our heads to the sky, as Earth Wind & Fire put it.
We're to keep our "hands on the plow," the way Mahalia Jackson used to sing with such poignancy. We're to keep our "eyes on the prize," something bigger than us and something grander than us that can lure the best in us. And maybe we have a chance, but we don't know. We're not going to save ourselves, we're not going to save America. But we can certainly leave it a little better than we found it.
As the old folk used to say, "If the kingdom of God is within you, then everywhere you go, you ought to leave a little heaven behind." And BALL is certainly leaving a lot of heaven behind.
Thank you all so very much.
OT students present research results during senior colloquium
Senior occupational therapy students in the School of Allied Health Professions recently presented results of their research projects during a senior colloquium held Tuesday, February 11, in Randall Visitors Center.
During the event, students from ten groups enrolled in the undergraduate occupational therapy program took the podium to present their research findings.
"The American Occupational Therapy Association encourages research at the undergraduate level," says Esther Huecker, MA, OTR, department of occupational therapy. "Each group of students chose a faculty and community advisor to guide them as their research progressed."
As they sought research topics, students were instructed to look for needs in the community, and work with private and community groups.
"Some of the groups decided to work with agencies not currently utilizing occupational therapists," says Ms. Huecker. "For instance, one of our groups worked with a women's shelter. Their project, entitled 'The measurement of the effectiveness of occupational therapy intervention with homeless women residing at Genesis Shelter,' may someday lead to occupational therapists helping to improve the lives of women who come to the shelter for help."
This is the 16th year occupational therapy students at Loma Linda University have been required to do research as part of their training, and according to Ms. Huecker, their projects are becoming more and more sophisticated.
"This year, for the first time, one of our groups received federal funding for their project," she says. "Their project, entitled 'Life Satisfaction in Elderly Veterans with Reference to Their Level of Leisure and Daily Physical Activity,' was done in cooperation with the Veterans Administration.
"Diana Su-Erickson, OTR, of the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans Medical Center, served as community advisor for the project. She allowed the students freedom to design the study. And as the research took place in conjunction with the Tenth Annual National Veterans Golden Age Games, the study included a population from across the country."
As part of each presentation, the student researchers examined how their projects were constructed, challenges they faced, and offered suggestions as to how the research project could be improved upon.
"Sometimes projects are continuations of research done by students in past years, and we encourage this," says Ms. Huecker.
The colloquium was attended by over 200 community guests, family members, and students from the school.
Larry Chinnock, PT, EdD, presents podium presentation at American Physical Therapy Association Conference
During the American Physical Therapy Association Annual Conference Program (California Chapter), Larry Chinnock, PT, EdD, assistant professor of physical therapy, and program director, Master of Physical Therapy program, School of Allied Health Professions, presented a podium presentation entitled "Defining Success of the Physical Therapist Assistant."
Here Dr. Chinnock poses with Andrea Owans, MPT, and Lianna Philbin, MPT. A major issue facing admission committees of physical therapist assistant programs is the selection of the "best" candidates from a pool far exceeding the number which can be accepted.
Dr. Chinnock's study had two primary goals: first to identify a consensus among center coordinators of clinical education of what a successful physical therapist assistant would be; and second, to determine if pre-and/or/post-admission variables correlate with clinical success scores.
The study found the five highest descriptors of success were clinical competency, honesty/integrity/ethics, positive attitude, ability to verbally communicate, and being a team player.
Delia Gutierrez presents a paper at American Physical Therapy Association Conference
During the American Physical Therapy Association Annual Conference Program (California Chapter), Delia Gutierrez, PT, EdD, assistant professor of physical therapy, and program director, progression master of physical therapy program, School of Allied Health Professions, presented a paper titled, "Development of an Assessment Plan for PTA Programs." Physical therapist assistant (PTA) programs need a standardized method of assessment for the process of accreditation. The 134 PTA programs were surveyed for Dr. Gutierrez' study. The programs use different means to assess efficiency and outcomes of their respective programs. Each institution independently strives to meet criteria set by the Commission of Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE). A thorough investigation of PTA programs in the United States using surveys and interviews led to recommendations for an assessment plan which offers an easier format for objective, reliable measurement of needs and outcomes than are currently used.
Allied Health students spread cheer to children
Physical therapy and physical therapist assistant students from the School of Allied Health Professions donated 130 gift boxes, filled with toys, school supplies, and children's books to impoverished children in 36 countries, including Armenia, Bosnia, and Nicaragua.
The students, organized by Larry Chinnock, PT, EdD, assistant professor of physical therapy, and program director, MPT program, SAHP, packed gifts, which included stuffed animals, hygiene items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, and brushes, into shoe boxes, wrapped the boxes in colorful gift paper, and donated them to a Christian relief and evangelism organization, Samaritan's Purse, headed by Franklin Graham, son of evangelist Billy Graham.
According to project administrators of the project, "Operation Christmas Child," this is the fourth year the program has been held, and the number of shoe boxes received was 1 million, up from 812,000 in 1995.
Nursing faculty and students attend spiritual retreat
Living in the fast-paced '90s sometimes leaves little time or energy for rest and relaxation. This was the idea behind the School of Nursing's first-ever spiritual retreat, held at Pine Springs Ranch February 7 through 9.
Entitled "Back to the Basics," the weekend retreat, co-sponsored by the Association of Student Nurses (ASN), the spiritual life and wholeness committee, and the Emori Endowment Fund, centered around the idea that it is easy to get caught up in the trials of everyday life that one tends to lose sight of what is really important. The spiritual and social activities planned were designed to remind participants that what really matters is one's closeness to God and each other.
"I enjoyed spending time with my classmates and teachers outside of the classroom," says Karen Kim, junior nursing student. "What I remember most about the trip is laughing. It was so nice to relax, and stop worrying about quizzes and tests, at least for a little while."
The retreat attracted between 100 and 150 students, faculty, and families, most of whom stayed the entire weekend.
Highlights of the weekend included worship talks by a guest speaker, Hyveth Williams, senior pastor of the Campus Hill Church. Pastor Williams' messages stressed the practical applications of Christianity, which were especially meaningful to the students.
"I know God is real, but sometimes He seems so far away," says Ariel Rodriguez, a senior nursing student.
"Pastor Williams brought God close. The way that she loves Him and can relate to Him in the simplest ways really touched me."
In addition to Pastor Williams' sermons, conference-goers enjoyed praise singing, nature walks, dramas, special music, and other group activities. More in-depth communication and sharing took place in small family groups.
The beauty of such a spiritual retreat, according to Earline Miller, PhD, RN, assistant professor of nursing, was that students and faculty were given the opportunity to strengthen their connection with the Lord in a non-threatening and inspiring setting. She further adds that she applauds the efforts of the ASN officers and others who were involved in planning the retreat.
Based on the success of this event, the ASN plans to support a similar venture next year. In the meantime, this year's retreat has generated interest for a vespers series to be given by Pastor Williams. The series, entitled, again, "Back to the Basics," would be on a monthly basis and would be open to all.
Ribbons awarded to nine table clinics during School of Dentistry Alumni-Student Convention
Nine table clinics earned ribbons during the School of Dentistry Alumni-Student Convention last month. The larger-than-usual number of winners was made possible by a change in the classification policy used by the judges.
Instead of one category for dentistry and one for dental hygiene, each category was divided into two sections--laboratory sciences and clinical sciences.
Winners here automatically go to the California Dental Association (CDA) convention in Anaheim to present their table clinics. Because there are two blue-ribbon entries in the dentistry category this year, the one that earns the highest ranking at CDA will be the one sent to the American Dental Association convention to represent Loma Linda University School of Dentistry.
This year's panel of judges included prominent professionals from Missouri, New York, Ohio, Oregon, and California, in addition to faculty members from the Loma Linda University School of Medicine. Clifford Herrman, MS, PhD, associate professor of biochemistry; Ben Nava, MS, PhD, associate professor of anatomy and director, division of human anatomy; George Saukel, MD, assistant professor of pathology, LLU, and chief of autopsy service and surgical pathology services, LLUMC; and dental student Kevin Kuniyoshi, SD '97, represented Loma Linda University.
Table clinic winners are as follows:
Dentistry
First place, clinical sciences: Kathrine Eldridge, Sonja Finnie, and Amable Mauad, for their entry, titled,"The Efficacy of a Non-alcohol Based Chlorhexidene Mouthrinse as an Antimicrobial Agent."
First place, laboratory sciences: Matt Bruner, Tony Ramillosa, and Sean Reisig, for their entry, titled,"Aerobiological Contamination of Air Ventilation Systems in the LLU Implantology Operatories."
Second place, laboratory sciences: Duane Tamashiro, Kevin Hszieh, and John Law, for their entry, titled,"A Comparative Study of Five Disinfecting Protocols for Dental Unit Water Lines."
Second place, laboratory sciences: Robert Mower, Toan Nguyen, and Jeffrey McFadden, for their entry, titled,"The Effect of Disinfectants on Shear Bond Strength of Two Dentin Bonding Systems."
Dental Hygiene
First place, clinical sciences: Robyn Kiger, Charity Kazikiewicz, and Margie Tillinghast, for their entry, titled,"Recurrance of Streptococcus Mutans Following Antimicrobial Rinsing."
Second place, clinical sciences: Jodie Sankey, Tina Morphis, and Shauna Baybarz, for their entry, titled,"Fluorosis: Are Local Pre-school Age Children at Risk?"
Third place, clinical sciences: Erika Schreiner, Pamela Monroe, and Julie Lobenzana, for their entry, titled,"What Product Will Best Disinfect Your Operatory?"
First place, laboratory sciences: Lisa Lang and Heather Watts, for their entry, titled,"The Antiviral Efficacy of Six Surface Disinfectants."
Second place, laboratory sciences: Shirley McIntire, Dana Bowen, and Patty Tappan, for their entry, titled, "Efficacy of Face Masks in Preventing Aerosol Penetration."
Faculty Notes
* Jay Brand, PhD, associate professor of psychology, department of psychology, Graduate School, along with Nancy Kishino, OTR, CTE, and David I. Davamony, MPH, MS, second- year doctoral psychology students, co-authored a paper titled, "Empowering Chronic Spinal Disorder Patients Through Functional Restoration." This paper has been accepted for publication in QME Quarterly.
* Elaine Drake-Horst, PSAT, assistant clinical professor, department of psychology, Graduate School, along with Robin Campbell, MA, and Adam Cash, third-year doctoral psychology students, Graduate School, presented at the Cultural Competence and Mental Health Summit IV in San Diego on November 7, 1996. Their presentation was titled "Development and Practical Applications of a Cultural Competence Plan for Managed Care Providers."
* Hector Betancourt, PhD, chair, department of psychology, Graduate School, was a keynote speaker at the Regional Conference of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology, and presented two research papers at the meeting of the Mexican Association of Social Psychology, held in Hermosillo, Mexico, October, 1996. The title of his keynote address was "From the Individual Culture in Attribution Theory: A Two Way Road," and the two research papers were titled, "Cognitive Processes and Emotions in Interpersonal and Intergroup Violence," and "Attributions and Judgements of Hispanic and Native-American Chileans."
* Hector Betancourt, PhD, chair, department of psychology, Graduate School, has been appointed consulting editor of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (JPSP). JPSP is published by the American Psychological Association, and is the leading journal in the field of personality and social psychology. Dr. Betancourt is also consulting editor for a number of psychological journals, including Peace and Conflict, a journal published by Division 48 of APA, and Revista de Psicologia Social, the Spanish journal of social psychology.
* Kathryn Dowling, PhD, assistant professor, environmental and occupational health in the School of Public Health, is one of five co-authors of a chapter in the American Chemical Societybook. The chapter is titled, "Flux Dispersion Characteristics, and Sinks for Airborne Methyl Bromide Downwind of a Treated Agricultural Field. In Fumigants: Environmental Fate, Exposure, and Analysis."
* Dennis deLeon, MD, assistant professor, department of family medicine and division of clinical ethics, School of Medicine, presented an invited paper at the Eighth Annual Bristol-Myers-Squibb Family Medicine Research Forum (FMRF) at Lago Mar Resort in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The abstract, titled "Sustained partnership and Family Physicians: Is This What We're All About?" examined the implications of a research model which tries to measure a longitudinal partnership between physicians and patients in order to determine the hopefully positive effect of such a partnership on health outcomes.
Loma Linda University Medical Center
Opening ceremonies scheduled for Coleman and Cancer Research Pavilions
Ribbon-cutting ceremonies for the institution's new Coleman Pavilion and Cancer Research Pavilion will be held on Sunday, March 2, 1997. The new $29.5 million building houses new facilities for Loma Linda University School of Medicine and Loma Linda University Medical Center Cancer Research Institute.
The opening events will begin at 9:30 a.m. in front of the new facility.
During the event, special recognition will be given to all of the individuals who have served as deans of the School of Medicine. Recognition trees have been planted for each of the deans.
Tours of the new building will be available following the opening ceremony. All interested individuals are cordially invited to attend the Sunday ceremony.
The four-level, 139,700 square-foot building contains laboratories and offices for principal research investigators, laboratory technicians, and support staff. In addition, the new facility features faculty and student interaction areas for Loma Linda University School of Medicine, a professional library, faculty center, and dining areas as well as School of Medicine administrative and faculty offices.
The facility also contains the 18,190-square-foot Wong Kerlee International Conference Center, designed to host national and international conferences, with a 7,290-square-foot auditorium and eight conference rooms with seating capacities for 20 to 70 individuals. The entire conference center can seat up to 1,000 attendees.
Groundbreaking ceremonies for the new Coleman Pavilion and Cancer Research Pavilion took place on October 1, 1992. This milestone represented an important link in a long chain of events which have brought this new facility from an idea to a reality.
Cancer research and treatment have long been a major focus of the Medical Center and University. On October 23, 1990, the first patient was treated at the LLU Proton Treatment Center, using a revolutionary method involving proton beams--as opposed to traditional forms of radiation. Since then, more than 2,000 patients have received proton therapy for a variety of cancers with amazing results.
It took 20 years to design and complete the Proton Treatment Center at Loma Linda, site of the first hospital-based proton accelerator in the world. The Center has served as a magnet for members of worldwide scientific and medical communities.
The new Cancer Research Pavilion was designed, in part, to accelerate the Medical Center's goal of developing a full-scale, multi-modality approach to the treatment of cancer and other diseases.
Central to the completion of both the Proton Treatment Center and the Cancer Research Pavilion have been government grants of $19.6 and $10 million respectively. The grants were secured, to a large degree, because of the efforts of one man who is among Loma Linda's most loyal and influential supporters--the Honorable Jerry Lewis.
The Honorable Jerry Lewis, congressional representative of the 40th Congressional District of Southern California, is a long-time friend and supporter of LLU&MC.
A lifelong resident of San Bernardino County and representing San Bernardino and Inyo Counties, Congressman Lewis is a senior member of the Appropriations Committee of the United States House of Representatives. He chairs the VA-HUD and Independent Agencies Subcommittee, the panel responsible for funding federal housing, veterans affairs, the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA), the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the National Science Foundation, and other federal agencies.
Congressman Lewis was instrumental in securing a grant of $19.6 million to help fund construction of the LLU Proton Treatment Center. He has also taken a leadership role in securing an additional $10 million in federal funding for the Cancer Research Pavilion.
At a special ceremony on November 17, 1992, the A-level floor of the Proton Treatment Center was named the Lewis Suite in his honor. On October 30, 1996, an unveiling ceremony took place in front of the new Coleman and Cancer Research Pavilions facility, honoring Congressman Lewis for his long-time support of LLU&MC and for his continuing support of the LLU Proton Treatment Center and the LLU Cancer Institute.
A portrait of the congressman was unveiled with an accompanying plaque which will be displayed in the new facility.
On December 1, 1994, representatives of Loma Linda University Medical Center signed a Memorandum of Agreement to establish formal scientific collaboration with NASA. The signing ceremony took place at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The collaboration primarily centers around research into the effects of space radiation both on human beings and on equipment. The NASA scientists are able to utilize the proton beam for their experiments; in exchange, they have agreed to share their findings with researchers at LLU&MC.
The LLU/NASA Radiobiology Laboratory, an outgrowth of this collaboration, will occupy a significant portion of the new facility, and will support a research program with the goal of understanding the effects of radiation on astronauts and their equipment while traveling through deep space.
Many of the conference rooms, laboratory areas, auditoriums, and other rooms in the new facility are named in honor of various individuals, signified by plaques bearing their names. These generous individuals have given major contributions to help fund the construction of the Coleman Pavilion and Cancer Research Pavilion.
Since 1905, the University and Medical Center have become the hub of a medical and health-care network that includes 600 hospitals and clinics around the world and serves 6.4 million patients annually. The work of the University's 30,000 health professions alumni is a far-reaching one.
In striving to fulfill its healing mission, the University has been casting an ever-expanding influence for medical and other health sciences. Loma Linda's medical education and research programs have increasingly drawn the attention of a worldwide community. Consequently, admission into programs such as medicine is quite competitive. Students apply for admission into medicine at the rate of 30 for each acceptance.
The University's 3,167 students represent a microcosm of its globally diverse constituency. These men and women come from each state in the United States and more than 80 other countries. The cultural backgrounds that Loma Linda students represent are many.
The University offers health profession and science education curricula through the Schools of Allied Health, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing, Public Health, and the Graduate School. Loma Linda graduates about 850 health-care professionals and scientists each year.
Loma Linda University Medical Center, one of California's most respected teaching hospitals, is the place where Loma Linda's healing mission finds its application. The 627-bed hospital, with its 4,000 health-care employees, provides in-patient services to 27,000 men, women, and children annually. Outpatient visits total 650,000 each year.
In addition to being the area's only teaching hospital, the Medical Center is the designated facility to provide the highest level of trauma care to a region that covers 25 percent of California's land area. Up to 35 percent of Medical Center patients are served in nine intensive care units: surgical/ trauma, neurosurgical, cardiothoracic, pediatric cardiothoracic, respiratory, coronary, medical, neonatal, and pediatrics.
The new Loma Linda University Children's Hospital is the institutions' latest expression of commitment to meeting the health-care needs of all its constituents.
LLUMC doctor featured on CBS-TV 'The Body Human 2000'
While the Packers and the Patriots battled for the national championship in the Super Bowl, Dr. Hendricks spent the day reenacting a battle of far more serious consequences his patient had to face in 1994.
On Sunday, January 26, Douglas Hendricks, MD, associate professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery, was filmed by a CBS-TV film crew for an upcoming TV show entitled "The Body Human 2000."
This pilot episode will feature reenactments of four medical dramas.
Dr. Hendricks was the surgeon for Rudy Garcia, a Barstow resident who contracted a flesh-eating bacteria when he scratched his arm on a bed spring.
The scratch on Mr. Garcia's arm became progressively swollen and tender. Furthermore, Mr. Garcia was having difficulty sleeping--which was secondary to the intense pain.
"My wife thought I was being a wimp," Mr. Garcia recalls.
Three days later, he went to the hospital in Barstow.
"When the pain is out of proportion with the extent of the visible wound, this may be indicative of this so called 'flesh-eating disease,'" Dr. Hendricks explains.
The doctor in Barstow called Loma Linda and described Mr. Garcia's symptoms, which Dr. Hendricks knew resembled the flesh-eating bacterial infection known as necrotizing fasciitis.
Mr. Garcia was rushed to Loma Linda at which time his condition was confirmed. His temperature was 105 degrees and his white blood cell count was eight times above normal. Immediately he was taken into surgery.
During Mr. Garcia's surgery, the doctors removed all the involved skin from his arm and a small amount from his chest. Skin grafts were taken from his thigh at a later surgery to cover the open wounds. Mr. Garcia had a remarkable recovery and is now back to work with full function of his right arm.
According to Dr. Hendricks, Mr. Garcia has a weakened or depressed immune system and, consequently, was predisposed to this kind of bacteria.
Ben Childers, MD, a former resident in plastic and reconstructive surgery, in conjunction with Mr. Ryan Nachreiner, a senior medical student at Loma Linda University, worked with Dr. Hendricks and Robert A. Hardesty, MD, professor of surgery, chief, division of plastic and reconstructive surgery, on collecting the largest number of case histories describing necrotizing fasciitis from three hospitals including LLUMC, Riverside General Hospital, and San Bernardino County Medical Center. From this report the news media was alerted to Mr. Garcia's dramatic case.
"The Body Human 2000" is scheduled to air on CBS-TV nationally in early April.
Editor's Note
Editor's note: in the January 19, 1997 issue of TODAY, an article appeared entitled "LLUMC physicians listed in The Best Doctors in America."
We have been informed that Robert D. Orr, department of family medicine, LLUMC, is also listed in the publication.
The Best Doctors in America, now in its second edition, is widely regarded as the preeminent referral guide to the medical profession.
The book has been featured on CNN's "Headline News," "The Today Show," and on CNBC's "Pozner/ Donahue," as well as in a number of newspapers and magazines, including USA Today, The New York Times, Family Circle, and Town and Country. Thirty LLUMC physicians are listed in the current edition.
Loma Linda University Children's Hospital
Local car dealer exhibits commitment to LLUCH and Inland Empire children
Luxury cars and sick children: two things not usually associated with each other. But now they are, thanks to Steve and Cathy Kienle, owners of Walter's Mercedes-Benz of Riverside.
The inaugural Walter's Children's Charity Golf Classic was held on November 18, 1996, at the Canyon Crest Country Club in Riverside. Approximately 144 people participated in the tournament which kicked-off this annual event and raised $50,000.
On Thursday, February 13, an enlarged, $50,000 check was presented by Walter's Mercedes to officials at the Children's Hospital representing the proceeds from the charity tournament.
Additionally, other tournament sponsors were on hand for a luncheon held in their honor at the Schuman Pavilion.
After lunch, Linda C. Johnson, PhD, RN, CNAA, executive director of nursing at the Children's Hospital, told the group about planned equipment purchases with the donations from the Walter's Mercedes-Benz Children's Charity Golf Classic. These purchases include: portable Escort cardiac monitors, Medtronic pacers, Hewlett Packard balloon pump module, and a continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis cycler.
Walter's Mercedes-Benz has been part of the Inland Empire for more than 30 years, and has been serving the residents of this area through a variety of efforts.
"With this commitment to serving the community, it is only natural that Walter's Children's Charity Classic would be conceived," says Steve Kienle. "That's why we chose the Children's Hospital as our way to help children in need within the greater Inland Empire."
"The Children's Hospital Foundation is very grateful for the generous support and commitment of Walter's Mercedes-Benz," says Reiner Roeske, director of Loma Linda University Children's Hospital Foundation. "Planning an event like this demonstrates a serious commitment to children, and we are appreciative to Walter's for their support of Loma Linda University Children's Hospital."
'Chemo Babies' dolls give pediatric patients a pal at Children's Hospital
One day before Valentine's Day, the American Cancer Society's Desert Sierra Region donated 35 "Chemo Babies" dolls made especially without hair to kids with cancer at Loma Linda University Children's Hospital.
The unique, 24-inch fabric dolls, designed by a lady named Teri Dugan, are intended to be a loving companion to pediatric patients as they experience surgery, chemotherapy, and various other aspects of cancer treatment at Loma Linda University Children's Hospital.
"The dolls can be a brave companion and caring friend to our pediatric cancer fighters," says Dolores Cornejo, LCSW, a social worker at LLU Children's Hospital who also serves on the board of the American Cancer Society's Loma Linda Unit.
Although cancer in children is rare, with an estimated 8,300 new cases in 1996, it remains the leading cause of death by disease in children under age 15.
The donation of the dolls by the American Cancer Society was made possible by a $5,600 grant from two generous benefactors.
"Chemo Babies" dolls, created by the Kelli Lynn company of Upland, are male and female and come in various skin tones and eye color, sometimes with a hat, but not with hair!
For information about pediatric cancer, call the Loma Linda University Cancer Institute at (800) 78-CANCER. You may also call the American Cancer Society at (800) ACS-2345.
Editorial comments / Community stories
The Seventh-day Adventist Church: a national bone-marrow resource
The cultural, racial/ethnic diversity of the Seventh-day Adventist Church has the potential to be a life-saving resource for bone marrow transplantation.
Across the United States, 25,000 people will contract leukemia and/or a variety of other life-threatening blood diseases. Approximately 10,000 of these people will find a donor from within their immediate family. The remainder will turn to the National Marrow Registry for an unrelated donor. As marrow matching is closely related to racial/ethnic lines, the chance of finding a match is profoundly affected by the number of persons registered with a similar racial heritage.
Treatment for severe blood diseases usually begins with chemotherapy and radiation which are immediately available in most major medical centers. The treatments are usually successful. If the disease is progressive, a marrow donor is sought
Approximately 2.5 million Americans are currently registered as donors--1.5 million of these are Caucasians. The remaining 1 million are divided among non-Caucasians making the registration for some groups relatively low. For example, Filipino registration is currently below 3,000.
The National Marrow Registry depends upon a web of organizations that promote marrow typing and registration. Regional blood banks are the backbone of the system.
The blood banks will type donors on a walk-in basis. Donor fees vary as funding fluctuates. Many blood banks will type without charge to persons who donate blood, platelets, or plasma. Non-Caucasians are usually typed without charge because of the extreme need.
Registration is also done by a number of promotional groups organized along regional and racial/ ethnic lines. In Southern California, Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches seek Asian donors. The Judy L. Davis Foundation types African/American donors. Similar organizations exist in all parts of the United States.
All of these organizations depend upon interested groups to sponsor marrow-typing opportunities. No other outreach activity is more in harmony with the Christian emphasis on the gift of the life of Christ for all humanity. The sharing of one life for another is the heart of the Christian philosophy. Every Seventh-day Adventist community could be a life-saving center for bone-marrow registration. Many already have.
The Annual Southern California Filipino Convocation at La Sierra University on November 30, 1996, hosted a marrow registration sponsored by Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches where 112 people, primarily of Filipino descent, were typed. The Hawaiian Club at Pacific Union College in Angwin, California, sponsored a drive in the spring of 1996. Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama, hosted a typing in the fall of 1996.
The close relationship between the Loma Linda University Medical Center chaplains' services and the Catholic Diocese of San Bernardino made possible a similar marrow-matching program among Filipino members of the San Bernardino Diocese. On December 15, 1996, many Filipinos were typed at the annual Christmas mass and convocation.
Typing is easy and painless. Donors do a simple health screening, sign a consent form, and give a small blood sample that is typed and entered in the National Bone Marrow Registry. Donors must be ages 18 to 60 years old and in good health.
In the event of a match, further testing is done. Donors stay in the hospital overnight, and marrow is withdrawn from the large bone of the hip under general anesthesia. Donors report a day or two of stiffness. Many return to their normal activities the next day. Most say, "I'd do it again if I had the chance."
Since matches are relatively rare, the chance of being asked is small. But since matches are relatively rare, the need for extensive typing is great.
If we can do good, we should! This is a good we can do!
For information on planning a bone-marrow-typing event, call chaplains' services at Loma Linda University Medical Center, (909) 558-4367. For assistance in planning a bone-marrow-typing event, call your local blood bank.
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