| October 2004 WMU News Archive
Tom Knific honored as 'hometown hero' (Oct. 15) Professor of music honored by Convention & Visitor's Bureau for bringing international music convention to Kalamazoo. Communication's Julie Apker wins writing award (Oct. 15) Communication faculty member earns Nursing Economics Margaret Sovie Writer's Award. Open enrollment begins for WMU employees health insurance (Oct. 15) During open enrollment, through Oct. 29, eligible employees can change plans, add dependents. Employees can sign up for Flexible Spending Accounts (Oct. 15) FSAs allow use of tax-free dollars to pay for qualified medical expenses or for dependent care expenses. Miller Auditorium goes 'Full Monty' for five shows (Oct. 14) Broadway smash hit musical makes its Kalamazoo debut for one weekend only Oct.
NHS privatisation: the ‘sicko’ firms who are after your GP surgery
Multinational firms have got their eyes on your local doctors surgery. The companies that have plundered health service budgets, forcing the NHS to buy their private services, now want to extend their reach. After the government invited the private sector to provide GPs, some of the biggest names in US health insurance are being joined by other multi-nationals, like the Virgin group, in an attempt to muscle in get contracts. GPs from across Tower Hamlets, in east London, were joined by patients in a 150-strong protest on Thursday of last week against a decision by the local primary care trust (PCT) to hand the St Pauls Way medical centre to Atos Healthcare. Atos Healthcare is a subsidiary of a French-based computer firm with only a limited experience of healthcare, much of which has been gained helping institutions "manage absenteeism".
OSI's anti-cancer drug Tarceva launches in Japan next week
The anti-cancer drug Tarceva will be launched and covered under Japan's National Health Insurance starting Tuesday, the Melville-based drug maker OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced Friday. The drug is now available in 83 countries, including the United States and European Union.
The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare approved Tarceva in October for patients with some forms of lung cancer where chemotherapy has failed. "We are pleased that lung cancer patients in Japan will now have access to Tarceva, which has been proven to offer a survival benefit with a well-described side-effect profile," said Gabriel Leung, president for oncology at OSI.
OSI manufactures and distributes Tarceva through partnerships with Genentech and Roche. The drug will be marketed in Japan by Roche affiliate Chugai Pharmaceutical Co.
Smith says Oregon vote not an argument against S-CHIP expansion
PORTLAND, Ore. The vote against a cigarette tax in Oregon isnt a good argument against a similar effort nationally to expand health insurance for children, Republican Sen. Gordon Smith says. Opponents of expanding the federal State Childrens Health Insurance Program, or S-CHIP, have pounced on the Oregon vote. They say its evidence raising the federal tobacco tax by 61 cents to insure four million more children nationally will never fly. President Bush, who vetoed the S-CHIP bill, referred to the Oregon vote in speeches and in a call to U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., the only member of the Oregon delegation to vote against the bill. Smith said Thursday he thought Bush misunderstood the Oregon vote. Oregonians were impatient that legislators hadnt handled the matter themselves, rather than putting it to a statewide vote, Smith said.
PolyAnalyst Improves Patient Safety At The Department Of Veterans ...
The National Center for Patient Safety (NCPS) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) implements text mining technologies to enhance the analysis of patient safety reports. The VA NCPS analysts are utilizing the PolyAnalyst™ data and text mining system from Megaputer Intelligence to detect common patterns, identify emerging trends, and determine root causes of issues in patient safety reports received from the 153 hospitals operated by the VA.
The goal of the VA NCPS is the reduction and prevention of inadvertent harm to patients as a result of care. To accomplish this goal, the VA analysts strive to learn from safety reports representing close calls, also known as "near misses," which occur at a much higher frequency than actual adverse events. This approach focuses efforts on continually identifying potential problems and proactively fixing them to improve patient safety and quality of care.
Weighing nearly 400 pounds, man walks off half his weight
He wasn't happy with his weight and neither were his doctors. In addition to taking medication for high blood pressure and cholesterol -- his physician warned him that he was on track to become a diabetic. Reality hit in January 2006 at a Pittsburgh Steelers game. Novak had gone to smoke a cigarette. "We were walking back up to our seats, and I started getting winded," says Novak. "I didn't feel right, I started sweating. I didn't think I would make it back up. My heart [was] beating a million times a minute; I thought I was having a heart attack." Novak stood against a cold wall for 20 minutes to catch his breath. Fortunately, he wasn't having a heart attack but he was so frightened that thoughts of his family began to race through his mind. "A lot of things went through my head, about saying goodbye to my kids," says Novak choking back his tears.
Kevin Drew: Socialising Solo
Dave Newfeld was working with the Super Furry Animals and making his new studio, and preparing for Los Campesinos!, so we were just doing what we needed to do. There must be times where you don't see these people – your friends and band mates – for a long while…
It's true, I don't see some people for months on end. I mean, it's good that these people – my friends – are doing things, and there's always someone to go to a bar with here, still, but it's different. Obviously that was going to happen, and it's great – everyone's soaring past Social Scene and doing really well. These people gave up a lot of their lives focusing on Social Scene, and that can spin you around. Now they're working that out – some publicly, some privately – and I know that, under the belly of all that, when we all get back together again it'll still be fun and crazy.
April 2007
Ospreys, the only raptors that dive fully into the water for fish, were nearly wiped out in New England by our postwar use of the pesticide DDT. But we are in the middle of an osprey renaissance, and, thanks to their booming population and outgoing nature, the birds have become a visible presence on Cape Cod and other coastal areas. Ospreys are easy to observe at their large shaggy nests (they are pack rats, filling the sides of their homes with string, plastic bags, and, in the case of one Cape nest, a naked Barbie doll). But if you get too close, they might drive you off with a dive-bombing maneuver and their characteristic warning cries. Because of the way the ospreys defend and commit to their nests, most observers think of them as homebodies. But there is another side to osprey life and another half of the year, during which "our" New England birds become world travelers.
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