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            Auburn University - University Relations
                         (334) 844-9999
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6/1/95                                    Sam Hendrix (334)
844-3698

** GRADUATION FEATURE **

TWINS GRADUATING FROM AU'S COLLEGE OF VETERINARY MEDICINE

     AUBURN -- The Townsends of Waldoboro, Maine, will add a
doctor to the family on June 6. Twice.
     Richard and Virginia Townsend's twin sons, Jon and Matt,
will earn doctor of veterinary medicine degrees at the Auburn
University College of Veterinary MedicineÕs spring commencement.
They will be part of a class of 86 who will pick up their diplomas
at the 7 p.m. at the Student Activities Center
     All of the graduates are alike in their drive for
excellence and love for animals, but the Townsends are nearly
interchangeable.
     "We have been mistaken for each other a number of times,"
says Matt.
     Growing up on a dairy farm operated part-time by their
high school teacher-father, Jon and Matt developed an early
interest in animal science. They decided while at the University of
Maine that they wanted to become veterinarians.
     "We applied to several schools and were accepted at some
top places -- Purdue, Kansas State, Cornell, Minnesota," says Jon.
"All we knew about Auburn at that time was from football games we
had seen on TV."
     When they interviewed at AU during February, Maine was
covered in snow.
     "When we arrived in Auburn, it was 70 degrees and flowers
were blooming," Jon said. "That was a factor, but what really sold
us was that Auburn by far was the best interview we had. Instead of
pressuring us into selling ourselves, the people at Auburn made us
feel welcome and really sold us on the university."
     Have they regretted leaving the Northeast for the Deep
South?
     "Auburn offers a very solid education, one of the best
values in the country," Matt said. "The veterinary facilities are
nice, especially for a publicly assisted university. We found
Auburn to be similar to the rural area we are from, the same type
people, a real family atmosphere."
     Jon said the difference he sees in Auburn and other veterinary
programs is the amount of hands-on work AU faculty make available
to students.
     "We cover a broad range of science, but in our clinic
work every day we see cases that prepare us for the real world," he
said. "And in doing that type work, you meet clients, the pet
owners. What that has taught us is that veterinary medicine is as
much a people business as it is an animal business."
     The real world for  the Townsends will mean a few years
of working with established veterinarians. Matt says he is headed
back to Maine to look for a practice to join, while Jon plans to
work for a few years in either New York or Pennsylvania.
     "Maybe some day we'll open a clinic together," Jon said.
"That's become one of our goals."
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june95:townsends