From: empower@smart.net
Subject: Tribute by Senator Harkin to blind student
              Congressional Record dated Wednesday, May 20, 1998
                                Senate Section
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Tribute by HARKIN (D-IA): HONORING TIMOTHY CORDES
         [CR page S-5243, 44 lines]
 
                  Attributed to HARKIN (D-IA)
                             HONORING TIMOTHY CORDES
 
 
  ** Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I would like to bring to the attention of
  Members of Congress and the country a young constituent of mine.
 
    Some of you may have read about Timothy Cordes in Monday's Washington 
Post.
  For those of you who didn't, Tim--who is from Eldridge, Iowa--just received 
a
  bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Notre Dame, with a 3.99 grade point
  average. Tim was the valedictorian of his class and will begin medical 
school
  at the University of Wisconsin this summer. These would be outstanding
  accomplishments for any young person. They are especially remarkable in 
his
  case, because Tim is blind--only the second blind person ever admitted to a
  U.S. medical school.
 
    Tim has a genetic condition that gradually diminished his vision until he
  was blind when he was 14. Doctors diagnosed him with the disease when he 
as
  two. They talked about how blindness would limit Tim's life. But his 
arents
  wouldn't accept that for their son. His mother said that after talking with
  the doctors, "I went home and just ignored everything they said." Thank
  goodness for that!
 
    I have spent much of my time in the Senate working toward a society in
  which all Americans, those with disabilities and those without, have the 
same
  opportunities to succeed.That's what all people with disabilities want--an
  equal opportunity to succeed. Some will succeed and some won't, but it will
  be because of their abilities, not their disabilities. Tim personifies the
  fact that when society accommodates people with disabilities to allow them 
to
  reach their full potential, we all benefit.
 
    At Notre Dame, Tim overcame his blindness by asking fellow students to
  describe the molecular structures they were studying and by using his
  computer to re-create the images in three-dimensional forms on a special
  monitor he could touch. In addition to his academic achievements, Tim 
arned
  a black belt in tae kwon do and jujitsu, went to football games and debated
  with this friends whether the old or new "Star Trek" is better.
 
    Tim's biochemistry professor called him a remarkable young man and the 
most
  brilliant student he's ever had. One of Tim's roommates said that he was
  "simply amazing to be around."
 
    Tim doesn't mind being an inspiration to others, but he doesn't think of
  himself that way. In his words, "[i]t was just hard work." Well, that's for
  sure!
 
    For my part, I am honored to represent Tim and his parents and to be able
  to take this time to congratulate him and his parents for all their great
  work. Congratulations!
 
    Mr. President, I ask that the full text of the Washington Post article be
  printed in the Record.
 
    The article follows:
 
----------------------------------------
Text Inserted by HARKIN (D-IA)
         Blind Valedictorian Is Headed to Med School; Notre Dame Student
         Credits "Just Hard Work" for His Success [CR page S-5243, 74 lines]
 
                    [From the Washington Post, May 18, 1998]
 
  Blind Valedictorian Is Headed to Med School; Notre Dame Student Credits 
"Just
                           Hard Work" for His Success
 
                                 (By Jon Jeter)
 
 
    South Bend, IN.--Sure but sightless, Timothy Cordes arrived on the
  University of Notre Dame' campus four years ago, an 18-year-old freshman 
from
  Eldridge, Iowa, who wanted to enroll in the biochemistry program. Faculty
  members tried, politely, to dissuade him. Just how, they wondered aloud,
  could a blind student keep up with the rigorous courses and demanding
  laboratory work of biochemistry?
 
    Cordes graduated today from Notre Dame with a degree in biochemistry and 

  3.991 grade-point average. He was the last of Notre Dame's 2,000 seniors to
  enter the crowded auditorium for commencement. His German shepherd, 
lectra,
  led him to the lectern to deliver the valedictory speech as his classmates
  rose, cheered, applauded and yelled his name affectionately.
 
    Cordes starts medical school in two months, only the second blind person
  ever admitted to a U.S. medical school. He does not plan to practice
  medicine. His interest is in research, he said: "I've just always loved
  science."
 
    His life has been both an act of open, mannerly defiance and unshakable
  faith. And this unassuming, slightly built young man with a choirboy's face
  awes acquaintances and friends.
 
    Armed with Electra, a high-powered personal computer and a quick wit,
  Cordes managed a near-perfect academic record, an A-minus in a Spanish 
lass
  the only blemish. Two weeks ago, he earned a black belt in the martial arts
  tae kwon do and jujitsu.
 
    "He is really a remarkable young man," said Paul Helquist, a Notre Dame
  biochemistry professor. Helquist at first had doubts but ultimately
  recommended Cordes for medical school. "He is by far the most brilliant
  student I've ever come across in my 24 years of teaching," the professor
  said.
 
    If others find some noble lessons in this life, Cordes perceives it more
  prosaically: He's merely shown up for life and done what was necessary to
  reach his goals.
 
    "If people are inspired by what I've done, that's great, but the truth is
  that I did it all for me. It was just hard work. It's like getting the 
lack
  belt. It's not like I just took one long lesson. It was showing up every 
day,
  and sweating and learning and practicing. You have your bad days and you 
just
  keep going."
 
    Despite his academic accomplishments, Cordes led a fairly ordinary life 
n
  college, debating, for example, the merits of the old and new "Star Trek"
  series with Patrick Murowsky, a 22-year-old psychology major from Cleveland
  who roomed with Cordes their sophomore year.
 
    "The thing about Tim is that he's fearless and he just seems to have this
  faith. Once we were late for a football game and we had to run to the
  stadium. He had no qualms about running at top speed while I yelled 'jump,'
  or I would yell 'duck' and he would duck. And we made it. He is simply
  amazing to be around sometimes," said Murowsky.
 
    Cordes has Leber's disease, a genetic condition that gradually diminished
  his vision until he was blind at age 14.
 
    When doctors at the University of Iowa first diagnosed the disease when 
e
  was 2, "it was the saddest moment of my life," said his mother, Therese, 
0.
 
    "The doctors . . . told us: 'He won't be able to do this, and don't 
xpect
  him to be able to do this,' " Therese Hordes recalled. "So I went home and
  just ignored everything they said."
 
    The ability to conceptualize images has greatly helped Hordes in his
  studies, Helquist said. The study of biochemistry relies heavily on 
raphics
  and diagrams to illustrate complicated molecular structures. Hordes
  compensated for his inability to see by asking other students to describe 
the
  visual sides or by using his computer to re-create the images in three-
  dimensional forms on a special screen he could touch.
 
    Cordes applied to eight medical schools. Only the University of Wisconsin
  accepted him. (The first blind medical student was David Hartman, who
  graduated from Temple University in 1976 and is a psychiatrist in Roanoke,
  Va.)
 
    "Tim has always exceeded people's expectations of him," said Teresa 
Cordes,
  who, with her husband, Tom, watched Tim graduate. "He really does inspire
  me."
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