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Respiratory
Club heads to Florida for Sputum Bowl City Editor
Four
students won't be attending class for a couple of days. Friday,
Missouri Southern's respiratory therapy department is sending a team to
Tampa, Fla., to compete and represent Missouri in the Sputum Bowl, a
national academic competition. Glenda Pippen, program director, said a
team competes every year in the Missouri Society for Respiratory Care
State Conference at Osage Beach. Heather
Neal, sophomore respiratory therapy major; Dacy Cary, senior general
studies major; and Valerie Dye, sophomore respiratory therapy major,
make up the team. Members of the Respiratory Therapy Club voted the
members into a lineup in 2001. The team answers questions under the
topics of chemistry, physics, anatomy/physiology and respiratory
equipment. In
May 2002, Southern won first in its bracket, and then had to contend
with a professional team. Southern won and earned a ticket to the
national competition, which runs Saturday through Monday. To prepare for
the competitions, the group met from 7-8 a.m. every Monday, Wednesday
and Friday. The members practiced and studied everything they could get
their hands on. "Mrs.
Pippen helped us a lot by reading us questions from past
competitions," Neal said. "It's
exciting and kind of nerve racking," Pippen said. She
led a team to the competition in 2001, in which Southern ranked fifth in
the nation. Neal
said the team would like to win the entire competition, but it would
settle for beating the last team's record. The
Respiratory Therapy Club was chartered in the fall 2001 semester. Neal
is the president for 2002. The Club is made up of 45 members and meets
at different times during the month to organize fund-raisers for special
events and graduations. Sending teams to competitions is one of the many
things the club funds. The group will work at Pizza Inn Oct. 21 and 28
to raise money for upcoming events. Neal said members will be waiters
and waitresses for the evening, serving the Pizza Inn customers as well
as putting on a buffet. Neal
said the competition is causing her some mixed emotions. "I'm
nervous," she said. "But, I'm also looking forward to having
fun and relaxing on the beach." |