Word: optometrist
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Spotting a lucrative way to diversify, about half the nation's 24,500 optometrists -- specialists who examine eyes and prescribe corrective lenses -- offer some form of eye-improvement therapy, also called vision training. The premise is simple: while eyesight is largely determined by genetics, seeing is an acquired skill, developed through practice, much like walking or swimming. Says Richard Kavner, a New York City optometrist: "The goal is to improve faulty connections between the brain and eye muscle." Common exercises include walking on a balance beam while reading a chart, completing connect-the-dot pictures and touching points in patterns...
...down to 2,400, from 3,000 in 1980. Fister's Department Store is out of business. Iowa Public Service has trouble collecting electric bills from nearly bankrupt farmers, and the utility's Sac City office has dropped from six employees to two. Bill Brenney, the town's remaining optometrist, says, "People are spreading payments way out. Accounts receivable are way up." The town's children look elsewhere for jobs, and not even fathers can help sons. Says Ralph Youll, co-owner of Youll Plumbing and Heating: "We've only made money one year in the last five...
...child in Akron, where her father was an optometrist, she practiced the piano religiously for an hour every day, even though she often hated it. As a student at Akron's Firestone High School, she was a member of the honor society, the French club, the chemistry club and the math club (the only girl among 15 boys), and had perfect scores of 800 on her Scholastic Aptitude Tests. "I can still see this little, short brunet in bobby socks and saddle shoes, quiet as a mouse," said Donald Nutter, a math teacher. "If you had a question...
...boniatos (sweet potatoes); old men play excitedly at dominoes in the main park. Little but Spanish is heard on the streets and indeed in many offices and shops. A Hispanic in need of a haircut, a pair of eyeglasses or legal advice can visit a Spanish-speaking barber, optometrist or lawyer. In the barrios of Los Angeles, an Argentine can watch the latest movies from his homeland at any of a dozen theaters, while a Guatemalan can find a soccer league composed entirely of players from the country he left. In Chicago, says Ariel Zapata, a journalist who emigrated from...
...happy-go-lucky student, I enjoy the proliferation of eateries and record stores until I need to transact some "real life" business--that I usually save for trips home. But how must it feel to live here and watch your neighborhood optometrist, or vacuum repairman clear out to make way or yet another video arcade...