From: David Andrews 
Subject: Medical schools and the Blind
>Hi,
>
>        I thought others might want to hear of  this news item which
>appeared over the weekend.  I am delighted to hear of this fellow's
>getting accepted at one medical school and saddened that so many
>rejected an outstanding candidate.
>
>Will
>wilsmith@iglou.com
>
>   SOUTH  BEND,  Ind.  (ITN)  *  Timothy  Cordes  earned  straight  A's as a
>biochemistry major at Notre Dame and is giving the  valedictory  address  at
>commencement Sunday.  Then he embarks on a seven-year course of study at the
>University of Wisconsin's Medical School.
>   That's all in spite of being blind.  He's believed to be only the  second
>totally blind person ever accepted by an American school of medicine.
>   Cordes was born with limited vision because of a genetic condition called
>Leber's disease, and he was completely blind by age 14.
>   Relatives   and   professors   said   he   considers   his  blindness  an
>inconvenience, not a major disability.
>   "I went to class and studied hard and hung out some,  just like everybody
>else in college,  and my hard work paid off," said Cordes, from Cedar Falls,
>Iowa.
>   "It doesn't do you any good to be overly proud.  It's great to know  your
>strengths  and  to know what you can do.  But when you overestimate,  that's
>when you get into trouble."
>   Cordes studied new  antibiotics  in  the  laboratory  of  professor  Paul
>Helquist.
>   "He  is  the brightest student with whom I have worked during 24 years of
>university teaching," Helquist said.
>   However, although Cordes graduated with 3.991 average,  the University of
>Wisconsin  was  the  only  school that accepted him out of the eight he sent
>applications.
>   "It's  never  fun  to  get rejected," said Cordes.  Cordes has dreamed of
>doing research since he was 12 and has no desire to  practice  medicine.  "I
>love science.  It's what I do.  It's how I think," he said.
>
>
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