1/1/02

LUCC transfer student to NYCC:

I transferred to NYCC.   Here are some differences that I can think of and that I am aware 
of after being here for a few months.  Some are more trivial than others, but I'll mention 
everything I can think of at the moment. 

1.  They teach towards the biomechanical and motion palpation model.  The analysis and 
adjustments make a lot more sense.  For example, at Life we were told by twisting our 
contact clockwise or counterclockwise on a prone thoracic adjustment, we could close the 
open wedge.  I think that would take a hell of a lot of friction for that to be true.  I admit 
most of the adjustments taught to me down there would get the job done, but I don't feel 
that doing it that way was the best known methods of adjusting. 

2.    To go with number one, the entire replacing a bone out of place concept was taught at 
Life.  I have not seen the exact studies myself, but I heard that it just doesn't happen.  It 
seems that what we do is restore motion to the joints, not reposition vertebrae.  Also in this 
could be the outdated concept of a subluxation putting pressure on spinal nerves.  I think 
most of us can agree that just doesn't happen.  On a side note, I found it funny once I got 
up here and started reading articles and books that I never seen down at Life.  It would start 
out as "Historically, chiropractors thought..."  Well, most of the time what followed was 
information that Life was still teaching to us today. 

3.   More professors in the lab.  At Life, they struggled to put one professor in each lab.  
Here, they have at least 2, sometimes 3 doctors in our labs.  While we practice, both walk 
around to answer questions and demonstrate what is going on.   

4.  Class time is used more efficiently.  For some reason at Life, it was not uncommon for 
profs to show up 10-15 minutes late for labs and lecture.  Up here so far, class has not 
started more than a minute or two late.  Also, the entire lab time is used.  At Life, it was not 
uncommon to have lab for 40 minutes for a 2 hour lab.  Of course, we could have stayed 
for the rest of the time, but when it's getting close to lunch there is less incentive to stay.   
Up here they make you stay, and also... 

5.   Students seem more eager to learn up here.  I know that is being a bit judgmental of my 
old classmates, but I think it's true.  The educational atmosphere seems different up here.  
If there is a really difficult exam coming up, there is no scrambling around to look for old 
exams, but getting together and going to the library to try and learn the material.   They take 
great pride in thier board scores up here.  Plus, they are more likely to ask questions in 
class if a professor says something questionable or if they've seen research that contradicts 
them. See number 7 below. 

6.  Free board reviews, notes made available, etc.   For some reason down at Life, 
everyone was always trying to make a buck. Notes were for sale, review sessions charged 
admission, etc. 

7.  The biggest difference in my opinion, the promotion of critical thinking and allowing of 
free thought.   At Life I felt like others views were always being shoved down my throat.  
Hell, in first quarter we had a chiropractic philosophy class with Rabin.   In that class I 
learned a little bit of history, that medical doctors are useless, that vaccines kill innocent 
children, and chiropractic can allow the body to heal everything.  He asked once who took 
advil for headaches and said, "If you want to talk the talk, walk the walk."  And went on to 
say that we should never take a pill again. 

Other than that, professors told us schools like NYCC and National were medical 
wannabes, the ACA wanted chiropractors to become medical doctors, the AMA and 
pharmaceutical companies are trying to get rid of chiropractic, try to see 1000 patients a 
week, etc, etc, etc.     The bad part about all of this in number 7 is that if you disagreed or 
tried to offer balance to the discussion, professors got mad and didn't allow you to speak.   
I didn't believe this myself until it happened to a friend of mine. 

8.   Life wasted entirely too much time on upper cervical classes.  I had 3 toggle classes 
and two Grostic classes.  The only thing good that came out of that is I can adjust atlas 
from any angle, with a variety of thrusts, with my hand, a handheld gun, and a table 
mounted device.  I'm sure all of that will be useful in the future.  These should have been 
electives, but because Sid loves upper cervical, he forced us to take all of these classes.   

9.   I never heard once in 2 years from any professors mention any journals such as Spine 
or JMPT.   You would figure that since JMPT is chiropractic's only journal in index 
medicus that it might be important.  Again, there are studies or commentaries that opposes 
some of the things taught at Life, so I guess they didn't want everyone reading it.   

10.   I took a neurological diagnosis at Life and learned procedures and the positives of the 
exams, but I never learnd what it meant exactly.  Up here I am taking a similar class and 
they do a better job of teaching how to interperet the findings.   

11.  Recognition of current research.   
That's about all I can think of right now.
(ZBTDR2B@aol.com)

1/1/02

LUCC transfer student to Palmer West:

I am now a very very happy student attending the fine institution of Palmer 
West.  I can honestly say that I didn't know graduate school could be this 
good.  These people really care about us future doctors of chiropractic.  
They really want us to know the material. The transfer went pretty smooth except for the 
one delay I encountered with getting a Life faculty member to send in a letter of 
recommendation and I understand why.  I drove out myself in a box van, towing my car, 
and loved it!
Yes, the administration has been fair.  And professional!  I knew ahead of 
time that of course they cannot take everything (credits) and I understand 
why.  They even explained it all to me twice with out any difficulty what so 
ever.  I lost some time (probably about 6 months) and some money (afraid to 
add that up), but now that I know my future is secure my life can go on as 
planned.  Yes, life is good again!  :) The Palmer faculty informed me that 
they would give some pretty good discount benefits for a commitment.  Well I 
never requested anything in a legal form and they came though as promised 
without a hitch.  Thank you Palmer!

Advice for other students?  Run like the wind!  For Dr. Sid to build a 
school based on his own background and beliefs from Palmer Iowa, why is it 
so different?  I mean the whole mess of Life University is so bad that they 
even have embryology in their sixth quarter!  Hello?  Of course its first 
quarter here.  The people are so nice and they treat us as human beings and 
not just numbers with a fat loan check.  They actually teach what we NEED to 
know and actually WANT us to pass the classes.  All quite a change from 
Life.  It shouldn't be so different and I feel extremely bad for everyone 
involved in Georgia.  I still blame part of the whole mess on the CCE 
because I feel they should have acted years ago.  Well, better late than 
never I guess.  But then I suppose it all comes down to politics and money.  
So sad to be caught in the middle.

Well doc, it has been a bad year for the economy since 911 but I never 
thought it would come around and get me.  I thought I was safe for a while 
until I graduated.  But then Mr. Selfishness came in and changed all that.  
Oh well.  I believe it always gets back the evil doer in one way or another. 
  I still use and love your phrase doc that you told us all in a past 
message, "Consider Marietta as a stepping stone to success!"

Thanks doc and keep up the good work!
(flchiro1@hotmail.com)

9/12/02

Transfer student from LUCC to Parker:

Hello. I received your newsletter and I found it interesting what youhad to say about Life 
U.   I myself was at life for close to 2 years before I transferred here to Parker.   I am very 
glad that I did so.  Parker has a strong subluxation philosophy and they facilities are even
better than what I have ever experienced.  Even while I was attending Mich State I had 
never seen facilities such as these.  The Professors are so completely compassionate and so 
far everyone of the PhDs that I have had teaching me ACTUALLY get's chiropractic and  
most all of them have a student intern in the clinic.

I have so many emotions about what has been happening at LIFE U.  I
don't know what to think anymore?  I pretty much lost  $70,000 while at LIfe because 
most of my credits didn't transfer.  Even though I am still glad that I am here.  It is amazing 
to see the love for Chiropractic that exists here and to actually look around and see how the 
tuition is being spent.  It took me awhile to  catch on the the fact that  we clap for every 
professor at the end of every class period to show a  sign of respect and appreciation. It is 
definitely a flipside from I had previously experienced.  Everthing is so organized and there 
never seems to be any cliques or  bad energy.  In my first two weeks I had learned the 
scientific proof behind chiropractic and how it is proved by the simplest amino acids
glycosaminoglycans then we turn right around and learn the philosophy from BJ, and other 
great pioneers.  I have kind of taken on a mentoring aspect for the current  35 transfers 
from LIFE. They are in their first week here.  I started Parker back in May before 
everything at LIfe was breaking down.  Most all of the transfers have told me that they are 
very happy and cannot believe that there is such a difference and that they feel that they are 
really in a professional school and yet still learn about  chiro philosophy; and Chiro science 
and yet are not in cardboard classrooms.  Anyway I just wanted to let you know from a 
students perspective that had to go thru all that mess that  everything is working out.

Logan Transfer student from LUCC .. 9/02

Hello Doc,

I am a Life University transfer. I had 9 months left. I transferred to Logan. I have to say 
that I got a good foundation and education at Life of which I did not think that I was getting 
while I was there. The upper cervical experience was awesome. Now that I am at another 
school I can see what I am appreciative of Life University for . But I can also see now 
where the loop holes were in our education. I understand now , why Life is having 
problems. Already in just a few classes I have learned a wealth of information especially 
regarding clinical interpretations and differential diagnosis. When I left Life I did not feel 
like I was ready to enter the world as a Chiropractor. I am certain that when I leave Logan I 
will be ready for that world. I feel fortunate that I am in a sense getting the best of two 
worlds.  My experience with Logan thus far has been an incredible journey, I wish I would 
have transferred sooner, however I am grateful for all that Life University gave me. 
Without extending any disrespect for Dr. Sid, I have to say that in the end he was doing 
extreme harm to Life University as well as the profession. He was creating a mockery of 
Chiropractic. Let me say that since leaving and coming to Logan I have found my fire for 
Chiropractic once again. The students were very receptive to us from the get go as well as 
very sympathetic to our plythe. They all offered class notes and other various information 
that we would need to get ourselves together with the transition. The instructors and staff 
have been the same. They have been incredible. Any problems we have get addressed 
within 24 hours. That to me is amazing. At Life the student body, well they had a voice but 
it was never heard. There have been no negative remarks towards our quality of education 
at Life.. In fact the instructors are quite impressed with our skills and knowledge. We do 
exhibit some weaknesses however we are acknowledged about our strengths.  We the 
transfer students are also impressed with the quality of education we are receiving thus far 
at Logan. I feel extremely fortunate to be continuing my education at Logan.

Jennifer (SamsmomDC@aol.com)

Transfer student from LUCC to NYCC .. 9/02

Hello Doc,

I was almost done with my 2nd quarter at Life when we were told of the CCE's decision 
and after a week of finals and a week of thinking I decided that it would be in my best 
interest to Leave Life U.  I have recently gotten back on track to my DC degree at New 
York C.C. and I think it is a great school not that LUCC wasn't. I think that the curriculum 
at Life was set up a little better or more logically.  Life gives 1st quarter students a base to 
start with then works up, here at NYCC I notice that is not the case, but on the other hand 
the national board scores from this school are much higher, so I don't know what to say.  I 
believe that NYCC may be a little more selective with whom they accept into thier program. 
The general intelligence of the student body seems to be a bit higher here.  The one other 
thing here that I notice is that NYCC seems to be a bit light on the adjustment/technique 
classes, one class per trimester teaching the diversified technique versus Life's teaching of, 
Mo Pal, Gonstead, New Life Upper Cervical, Full Spine, etc..etc..  To me this just means 
I have to seek out more technique instruction on my own.  At Life I had would have had to 
seek out more Dx and basic science instruction on my own.  I believe every school is going 
to be lacking in some way and there is always going to be an area that is going to need 
improvement or the student is going to have to go elsewhere to further educate him/herself.  
At NYCC adjusting techniques is where the extra help is going to be needed at Life the 
Diagnosing and basic sciences is where the extra help is needed.  Who knows after all this 
with the CCE, maybe Life with be dominant in both areas.

Ivan N. (ivanmichelle@fltg.net)

9/30/02 (NYCC transfer student from LUCC)


 Most of the other chiropractic colleges seemed to be very understanding of our whole 
situation.   Most I looked into arranged for special classes that helped to bridge the 
curriculums between LUCC and their school.   I am now at NYCC and there are about 10 
other LUCC transfers as well.   We all attend a class together(with just us 10) that meets 4 
hours a week and acts as an accelerated course that will catch us up and get us acquainted 
with the slight differences in terminology, analysis, and technique.
Some schools offered relocation grants or tuition discounts for the first 1-2 tris after we 
would transfer.  I very much appreciated this as it would have helped with moving costs, 
etc., but it started to seem like schools were "bidding" for us.  At first one school was 
offering a $1000 relocation grant, but then increased it up to $1500 because that was what 
another school was doing.  I began to find a problem with it when students started
using that as a reason to chose one school over another, not basing it on the overall quality 
of the school itself. One school that stood out and was absolutely embarrassing was Texas 
CC.   They came the same day we heard the new from the CCE and held a meeting at one 
of the local bars, of all places.  They paid for our appetizers that night and was around for 
the rest of that week.   They even scheduled a bus trip (paid for by them) for LUCC 
students to come out to Houston and visit the school. I contrast TCC with the school I 
ended us choosing, NYCC.   NYCC did not go out of their way to recruit LUCC students, 
but they were very helpful when I approached them and said if my choice was to ultimately 
transfer to NYCC, that they would make the transition as smooth as possible.    So far, 
they have done just that. 
touchiba@msn.com

9/28/02
LUCC student transfer to Parker

I transferred from LIFE university and I have attended Parker College of Chiropractic since 
MAY 2002.  I have found this to be a very positive experience for me. I am so glad that I 
am here at Parker. I have had to sit back and watch many of my fellow classmates  go thru 
alot back at LIFE.   I would like to say that here at Parker there was an announcement made
to the student body last Trimester that Parker CC was remorseful in what was happening to 
LIFE but however we would not be sending representatives to Life University as many 
other Chiropractic colleges were sending their people upon LIFE  in a vulture-like manner.  
It was told to us that PARKER would not seek out students from LIFE, HOWEVER,
if contacted by the students themselves; then and only then would Parker try to help them 
and make accommodations for them. Parker would not be sending representatives to LIFE 
University unless they were invited by LIFEs board in a manner similar to how PARKER 
was invited by COLORADO (chiro) school to come to their campus. 

I do know that I have been told that there were about 500 applications to Parker.  Parker 
College has only accepted about  35 of those applicants for transfer.  Parker does in fact 
have an enrollment cap and we are not concerned  as much as with what other colleges are 
doing as we are about maintaining the current atmosphere and taking care of the students 
and the energy level that presently exists. I was at LIFE for approximately 2 years and I 
had lost most of my credits in the transfer along with tens of thousands of dollars in
student loans.  Even now knowing what I do now. I would not think twice about my 
decision to  transfer as I know that it was and is the best decision for "me" and I will 
ultimately be a better Dr. because of it. 
lhand@parkercc.edu