Alumni in the Classroom

[FULL STORY]

On Friday, October 21, 2011 two classrooms on opposite sides of the Newman campus hosted alumni guest speakers. In one, Dr. David Indest ’82 spoke to a psychology class; in the other, Federation of American Hospitals President and CEO Chip Kahn ’70 talked to a Government class about how people and the government communicate. While alumni speakers are common at Newman, it is a rare treat to have two speaking simultaneously.

Indest spoke in Randy Zell’s psychology class about the field of psychology. Indest graduated in 1982 and was the First Honor Student of his graduating class. He is currently the Manager of Mental Health Services at Hazelden Springbrook, a residential chemical dependency treatment center in Newberg, Oregon. Indest recently left the Portland VA Medical Center, where he worked for eight years as the Psychology Training Director.

Indest spoke to the students about the many different fields of psychology and the possible career paths one could take if they were interested in that type of medicine. He also talked briefly about the education and training that could be expected with the different types of degrees. Indest discussed the types of therapy that he specializes in and the ideas of the entwined characters of mind and body. He responded to varied questions from the students about things ranging from addiction, medication vs. talk therapy, to hypnosis treatment.

Meanwhile, in Lori Bush’s Government class, Charles “Chip” Kahn ’70 discussed redress with the students. Redress is the method by which the people make their demands of the government known and (ideally) met. Kahn is the president and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals. A nationally renowned expert on healthcare, Kahn was a key player who influenced both the failed healthcare reform of 1993, and the recent healthcare plan passed in 2009.

In his talk he discussed what he called the Five I’s of Redress: the issues, ideas, individuals, interests, and institutions. According to Kahn, there must be a free flow of communication between these five elements in order for change to come about. He also touched on the subject of healthcare. A key player in that field, he helped bring about the demise of the Clinton healthcare plan. According to Kahn, this was because the bill’s proponents were unwilling to work with the plan’s detractors toward a common goal. Also involved with the Obama healthcare plan, Kahn stated that this time around, the lawmakers incorporated the views of those affected by the bill, and it passed into law.

Visits from alumni add value to classes by giving the students first-hand perspectives on the issues that they study in class. We are fortunate to have so many prominent alumni who are willing to offer their time to help enrich our classes.