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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 4, 2015)
Wednesday, November 4, 2015 OFF PAGE ONE DOCTOR: Received the Woltman BULLY: About 28 percent of students award after he completed his residency in grades 6-12 experience bullying Page 10A East Oregonian Continued from 1A asked if he would consider teaching math full time. Cutsforth-Gregory started the next Monday. It felt a little surreal at ¿rst. %arely older than his pupils, he wore a dress shirt and tie each day so they could tell him apart from their classmates. They addressed him as Mr. Gregory (his name before his marriage two years ago). Though the neophyte educator felt awkward in the classroom, he quickly grew comfortable. “It was being onstage six times a day getting kids to like math, rather than hate it,” Cutsforth-Gregory said. “I loved it.” The next fall, he entered Mayo Medical School and left high school math far behind. He sought out teaching opportunities, though, ¿rst as a teaching assistant in gross anatomy during his third year. As a second-year resident, he instructed ¿rst-year residents. Last year, he started teaching as a faculty member. His current students, the ones who voted to award him the iridescent yellow apple, appreciate Cuts- forth-Gregory’s easy style. “His enthusiasm for neurology is contagious,” Cupit said. “He is able to make the most complicated neuroscience seem like common sense. He won this award in a vote, and he was nominated far more than any other candidate. I am “There are a lot of things we can’t cure, but we can absolutely help every patient in some way.” — Dr. Jeremy Cutsforth-Gregory, neurologist, teacher and fellow at the Mayo Clinic con¿dent he could teach neuroscience to ¿rst graders and still succeed.” Cutsforth-Gregory chalks it up to passion for the subject. Despite the seemingly complex nature of neurology, he described the branch of medicine as one where doctors can usually diagnose without high-tech equipment. Time with the patient, a detailed exam and some simple tools bring an avalanche of information. From there, diagnosis is a “logic puzzle” and additional scans only provide con¿rmation. “A reÀex hammer and a tuning fork — those are our fancy tools,” he said. “When you see a doctor walking down the hallway carrying a reÀex hammer and a tuning fork, you know that’s the neurologist.” Neurologists deal with some heavy-duty conditions such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and stroke, but Cutsforth-Gregory focuses on what he can do rather than dwell on the downside. “There are a lot of things we can’t cure, but we can absolutely help every patient in some way,” he said. Therapies can ease tremors and other symp- toms and allow patients to live fairly normal lives. As a fellow, he studied Parkinson’s disease last year and, most recently, autonomic diseases. Dr. Andrea Adams, a fellow faculty member and neurologist, taught Cuts- forth-Gregory when he took ¿rst-year neurology — the class that awoke his passion for the subject. Adams wasn’t surprised the young teacher is beloved by his students. “When he completed his neurology residency, he was awarded the Woltman award. This is given to the best neurology resident,” she said, via email. “He is fantastic in every way.” When his year as a fellow comes to an end, Cutsforth-Gregory with continue to teach, and to help patients at Mayo. He loves seeing those lightbulb moments. “That is so rewarding for me,” he said. “It’s a delight.” Cutsforth-Gregory is the son of Kathy Gregory, of Pendleton, and Craig Gregory, of San Antonio, Texas. ——— Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@eastoregonian.com or call 541-966-0810. SCHIMMEL: Leaders come from 567 tribes Continued from 1A Nike as spokesperson for the N7 Collection, a line of clothing and gear marketed to Native Americans. In April, Schimmel released a book, “Dream- catcher,” which chronicles her childhood on the Umatilla Reservation and her adventures on the hardwood playing with Louisville, alongside her older sister, Shoni. The White House Tribal Nations Conference offers the chance for tribal leaders from 567 federally recognized tribes to interact with high-level government of¿cials such as Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez. Obama’s meeting with Native youth will be broad- cast live at 1:14 p.m. at www.whitehouse.gov/live. ——— Contact Kathy Aney at kaney@eastoregonian.com or call 541-966-0810. Continued from 1A I suck,” she said. “I realized when I got to California that that’s where I belonged and that I’m OK. That’s when I realized I need to write a song about this so I could tell kids around the world that I felt the same way that they do.” In 2012, she released a ¿ve-song EP, including “Mean Girls,” the single she co-wrote about overcoming bullying. Crow enjoys encouraging people to stand up for them- selves and to be who they are, she said, because “nobody can do you better than you.” %y giving back and helping others boost their self-esteem, she discovered a boost of her own. “When I get in here, and I get to talk to these kids and one by one they come up and they tell me things, it’s really inspirational,” she said. “It makes me feel good that I ¿nally did something to change the world, and that’s the real reason I do this: to change kids’ lives every day.” Stan¿eld senior Cynthia Curiel, who was a fan of Crow’s back when she was on The X Factor, was in the audience dancing and singing along with “Mean Girls.” She said the song has an important and uplifting message. “I think that it gets out a message for girls to stand up for themselves and not get discouraged at how other girls look at them,” she said. “%ecause all girls are beau- tiful, and they shouldn’t get down because some girls are telling them stuff.” -unior Hunter %arnes said bullying was a problem in Stan¿eld his freshman year, but events similar to Crow’s concert have had a positive impact. The junior class, he said, now takes an active role to stop bullying. “If we see someone getting bullied, we try to stick our nose in it and make it stop,” he said. “We’ve got seniors that are kind of on the edge, and we’ve really Staff photo by E.J. Harris Students dance, sing along, and take photos while Rachel Crow performs at Stanfield Secondary School. “It makes me feel good that I finally did something to change the world.” — Rachel Crow, singer stepped in and kind of put them in their place even as the underclassmen.” Students from Echo and Pilot Rock also traveled to Stan¿eld for the event. Pilot Rock seventh-grader JoJo Jeffers said she knows many students who say they don’t like going to school because of bullying. “I think (programs like this) really lifts them up and gives them a little bit of courage,” she said. Echo School Principal Keith Holman said raising awareness about bullying is important, so administrators and teachers talk to students about it. He said having the message spread by someone like Crow, who the students look up to, can be even more bene¿cial. “If it’s cool, then it digs in a little bit more,” he said. Stan¿eld Secondary School Principal %ryan Johnson said bullying can be dif¿cult to control and is a signi¿cant problem across the nation. In addition to assemblies, he said the school teaches about bullying in health classes, trainings and daily advisory periods. He said he takes bullying seri- ously and does not tolerate it. “Kids want a safe environ- ment so they can learn,” he said. “The studies show that (bullying) leads to depres- sion, kids not wanting to come to school,” he said. “It could lead to suicide. In the past across the country, there have been school shootings where the kids might have been bullied, and that might have been part of the reason why.” About 28 percent of students in grades 6-12 experience bullying, and about 70 percent say they have seen bullying in their schools, according to statis- tics compiled at stopbullying. gov, which also has resources for preventing it. Stan¿eld counselor Kirsten Wright said, with the proliferation of social media, cyberbullying has become more common. She said students may say things online they would not say in person. She said it is dif¿- cult to determine whether bullying is on the rise, but the effects are easily quanti¿able. “It can cause a lot of emotional turmoil for them,” she said, “so events that can bring awareness to bullying and show students that they are not alone are really posi- tive and shows it’s something other people have worked through and can persevere through.”