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Page 31 text:
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Racing... WSU, Mrs. Hitchcock is quick to point out others who were involved in making the research track a reality, including siz¬ able donations from the Washington Jockey Club (owners of Seattle Slew) as well as Richard and Dixie Hitchcock. “It was really ajoint effort all the way around,” she said, “and the credit should really go to the fine people here in the department.” Mrs. Hitchcock also credits Dr. Penny, the Hitchcock’s veter¬ inarian, for introducing them to Dr. Grant several years ago. “Dr. Penny had tremendous faith in Dr. Grant and felt it was iriiportant to let people with good ideas develop them,” Mrs. Hitchcock said. Today, WSU leads the field in equine sports medicine and boasts a stable of successful racehorses. Many of the horses are given to the vet sciences department as geldings and fillies. Often these horses have Wobblers Syndrome, a congenital disease that affects the vertebrae of the horse. Until Dr. Grant perfected the surgery, these animals were considered useless. In most cases, they were put to sleep. Now, Grant and his team travel all over the country giving demonstrations and performing the surgery. Several colts have undergone the surgery and then gone on to win races. Dr. Grant’s office is covered with trophies and photographs of WSU horses that have won. From Hollywood Park to Playfair, “Cougar” horses run for the money and win. The money goes back into the program, providing extra dollars for research. The locomotion lab, run by Dr. Marc Ratzlaff, was not part of the original pla ns for the research track. Yet today, impor¬ tant work is being done through the locomotion lab that will further advance WSU’s position as a leader in equine sports medicine. The lab started in January of 1976, with the main goal of learning more about how horses run as well as learning more about the causes of lameness and reducing the stress that causes it. Ratzlaff and his colleagues have been working on special transducer horseshoes. A small electronic implant in the horseshoe measures the amount of force exerted by galloping horses. A small tape recording device records the data which is later analyzed by a computer. This information will help answer many long standing questions regarding causes of lameness, and will likely save owners a considerable amount of money, and enable trainers to keep their horses healthy. The locomotion lab also has the capability of detecting and pinpointing the location of lameness through sophisticated high speed photography. Dr. Ratzlaff said, “with current di¬ agnostic technique, you can’t pinpoint the specific site of lame¬ ness.” After a considerable amount of hard work and trial and error, Ratzlaff can locate even obscure lameness. The service fees for an evaluation of a horse by Ratzlaff locomotion lab goes “right back into the program that generated it, to improve it and buy new surgical instruments.” Although Drs. Grant and Ratzlaff may be partial to WSU, both agree that the Hitchcock Research Track is just about the only place where this type of research is going on. Other universities simply don’t have the facilities. Dr. Ratzlaff points out that “this is a good track, and it’s the only one we know of in the Western Hemisphere. This is one of the few places in the world where this type of research is carried out. We are a land grant university and this helps keep us in the public eye.” — Nancy Schlarmann Expressions 27
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Page 32 text:
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For a varied array of creatures, both natives and strangers, college science means a different kind of life can be found ... When one thinks of the Palouse, vi¬ sions of the rolling and endless wheat fields often come to mind. This creation of use is not how the land was for much of its life. Few places can be found where vestiges of any of the native vegetation and wildlife can be found. One tiny pocket of the past can be found, howev¬ er, just north of Pullman on a tiny rise of land known as Smoot Hill. Smoot Hill was purchased by the uni¬ versity in 1968 under the urgings of Dr. Gaining experience is sometimes more difficult then students expect. It takes several students to hold a fiesty mountain goat in order to take blood samples without causing any injury to the animal. (Photo by Tracy A. Bull) on the Hill G. E. Hudson, then chair of the depart¬ ment of zoology. It is from this recent beginning that the history of Smoot Hill diverged from that of the rest of the Palouse. The 768 acres of the hill were set aside to allow the science depart¬ ments of this university an area on which to conduct long term studies. Its past has been much like the rest of the Palouse. Most of the land was cleared of its natu¬ ral cover and put to farming use. Unlike its neighbors in the 1920’s, the rock was quarried. The stones were shipped to Pullman to be used as ornamentation in the building of this state university. Most of the land has been left to return to its natural state. It is administered by Dr. Fred Gilbert, head of the wildlife biology program. It is his job to oversee all the uses of the area. Part of the land is still farmed and money generated from this activity funds most of the lands up¬ keep. “We have had trouble when rent¬ ing the land to the local farmers in the past,” Dr. Gilbert stated, “but next year the Animal Science department will take over the farming portion.” Animal Science will join many other departments in their use of the area. Most are quiet, unheard of studies but vital to the university’s research status. “It is absolutely necessary for any uni¬ versity to have an area like Smoot Hill,” said Dr. Jack Thompson, a professor of botony and zoology here. He has used the hill for seven years in his study of insect and plant coevolution (how the two have evolved together). One of the more visable studies con¬ ducted involves some unique visitors to the area. Ten acres have been fenced to house big game animals for study. Cur¬ rently a small herd of deer and ten mountain goats call Smoot Hill home. For ten years Dr. Charles Robbins has used this small area to conduct nutrition¬ al studies of these and other animals. “Most of the research is funded through research grants and not through the uni¬ versity,” Robbins stated. He added, “Having an area like this is invaluable not only for research purposes but to allow students some practical experience working with the animals.” Often the students help with the busy work of research and gain insight into their chosen fields. In the nutritional stu¬ dies students are often actively involved in the weighing and taking of blood sam¬ ples from the animals. Many graduate students use the undisturbed areas of Smoot Hill to conduct research. The hill boasts a great diversity in its plant and animal communities making it ideal for many studies. Many animals and plants once common to the entire area now can only be found in areas like Smoot Hill. For all of the academic importance of the area few have ever heard of its exist- ance. “We’re about at the level of recog¬ nition we want now,” said Gilbert. “There is only a certain level of use the area can take and still maintain the goals it was set aside for,” he added, “It’s an important asset especially since there are so few natural areas left.” Whether you have heard of it or not, the often silent contributions of areas such as Smoot Hill make to the university are invaluable. Who knows, some day you may be lost near Albion—just re¬ member, if you see a mountain goat or an elk you are probably not dreaming but just found one of WSU’s little known secrets. —Kathy Gilbert Far from home, a transplanted mountain goat from Olympic National Park finds life a little different here in the Palouse. (Photo by Tracy A. Bull) 28 Expressions
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