Tallahassee Democrat March 05, 2004 New FSU school backed Chiropractic program set for approval in Legislature By Diane Hirth Add doctor of chiropractic medicine to the list of Florida State University graduate degrees. A $9 million appropriation creating an FSU School of Chiropractic Medicine is almost guaranteed to emerge this week from the state Legislature. It's part of a measure containing an Alzheimer's institute and other biomedical research projects dear to House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, R-Plant City, and Senate President Jim King, R-Jacksonville. It's on a fast track for a final vote possibly today and should be fine with Gov. Jeb Bush, who put the school into his budget plan for next year. While the school is a "budget goodie" for Senate President King, a gung-ho FSU grad, and Senate Majority Leader Dennis Jones, R-Seminole, a chiropractor for 40 years, it would be the first public school for training chiropractors in Florida. Only one branch of a private Iowa chiropractic school exists here, so thousands of students leave Florida to get their degrees elsewhere. The new school at FSU "will provide students with a cost-effective, in-state alternative, and it will broaden the science faculty and staff at the university. So it's a win-win," said Lawrence Abele, FSU vice president for academic affairs and provost. The first freshman chiropractic class probably would be enrolled in fall 2006, said Abele, explaining that curriculum must be developed, faculty hired and construction of a building started. Some groundwork has been laid because of studies and planning in prior years. While eventually the school may accept up to100 freshmen a year, it is likely to start smaller. The Florida Chiropractic Association will announce a scholarship program later this month for minorities to attend the new school, Jones said. About 5,000 chiropractors practice in Florida, and fewer than 5 percent are minorities. Nibbled at by Democrats as to why the chiropractic school and biomedical facilities should get special treatment before the entire budget is discussed, King said he and Byrd are "going to try and take on all the contentious issues early." In 2003, the Senate tried raising more than $1 billion in new state revenues, and the session bogged down over the House's refusal to concur. The Senate told Byrd that if he insisted on a tight budget, it wasn't fair to provide millions of dollars for the Florida Alzheimer's Center and Research Institute that Byrd wanted to create to honor his father. At the same time, King wanted more money for a program trying to cure cancer and other diseases named after his parents. "We kept parrying and thrusting" about these projects last year, King said Wednesday. But this year, the GOP legislative leaders' quest for election-year peace prevails, and Byrd's "we must live within our means" budget mantra is a given - once these projects long sought by Byrd and King get their $21 million. As for FSU's role in getting the chiropractic school, Abele said: "We've been following legislative guidance."