News highlights for July 30, 2010

Outlet: LiveScience.com
Title/Program: 3-D models promise better bone healing
Publication Date: 07/30/2010

Extract: Bone breaks often continue to limit movement after they heal because the body repairs bones in ways that change the shape of joints. According to work presented at the SIGGRAPH computer graphics and computer animation conference, 3-D modeling soon could make those residual effects a thing of the past, radically personalizing and improving the recovery process for everyone from elderly citizens hurt in falls to athletes injured on the field, says Cindy Grimm, an associate professor of computer science and engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. Link to Article

Outlet: KSDK-TV
Title/Program: Show Me St. Louis

Extract: Katie and Nate with Washington University School of Medicine talk to a Show Me St. Louis reporter about a free state-of- the-art weight loss program available to families with a child 7-to-eleven years of age who is overweight and has a family member and parent who is also overweight. About 50 spots are still available. Families will work one-on-one with a behavioral specialist in weekly meetings to encourage a healthy lifestyle and physical activity, Related news release Link to Broadcast

Outlet: Center for College Affordability and Productivity
Title/Program: Faculty salaries as a percentage of tuition revenues
Publication Date: 07/30/2010

Extract: The Center for College Affordability and Productivity (CCAP) recently took a close look at the relationship between tuition paid by students and the percentage of this tuition that ends upon the pockets of their Instructors. Using data provided by the Delta Cost Project, Ryan Brady calculated the instructional salaries as a percentage of tuition for the 610 schools included in the 2010 Forbes ranking of American colleges and universities. Within the private school category, Yale University is at the top with a ratio of 159%. Behind Yale are the California Institute of Technology and Washington University in St. Louis at 145% and 135%. On the flip side, within each category, some do very poorly. Link to Article

Outlet: chicagotribune.com
Title/Program: U. of C.’s urban health initiative growing
Publication Date: 07/29/2010

Extract: The University of Chicago Medical Center is expected to name Dr. Kenneth Polonsky of Washington University as its new chief executive on Friday. Polonsky is a former University of Chicago faculty member, noted diabetes specialist and chairman of the Department of Medicine at the Washington University’s School of Medicine in St. Louis. Polonsky inherits a hospital in transition. University of Chicago executives say 40 percent of the more than 55,000 patients who come to its emergency room each year could be better and more efficiently served in a physician’s office or a clinic. The University of Chicago, like other academic medical centers, says its costs are 30 to 40 percent higher than community hospitals, which are better positioned to treat a variety of patients. Link to Article

Outlet: Science Careers
Title/Program: Answering biomedical questions with information technology
Publication Date: 07/29/2010

Extract: Like many people in the early 1990s, Lynn Bry — then a student in the M.D.-Ph.D. program at Washington University in St. Louis — didn’t know much about computers. Bry persevered, learned how to set up a web server, the basics of UNIX administration and programming languages used in database management. Now an assistant professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School, Bry, 42, has melded her computer knowledge with her clinical and research education to fill a critical need: She has developed an informatics solution to get blood and other biological samples to researchers at a lower cost, and in a shorter time frame, than ever before. Through her efforts developing a computer application called Crimson, Bry is hoping to accelerate the pace of translational research. Link to Article

Outlet: ESPN.com
Title/Program: Wildcats’ Dunsmore not slowed by surgeries
Publication Date: 07/29/2010

Extract: Northwestern University football star Drake Dunsmore is back in the game thanks to Dr. Robert Thompson, a renowned specialist on thoracic outlet syndrome at Washington University Medical Center. Dunsmore was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome, a condition where the rib closest to the collarbone and the scalene muscle, which rundown the side of the neck, impinge the vein, causing clots. Thompson discovered the blood clot and recommended a complicated surgery to repair it. Doctors had to remove a rib and the scalene muscle by making two incisions near Dunsmore’s neck. The seven-and-a-half hour procedure took place April 1. Although he’s down a rib, Dunsmore barely notices a difference. He’s been cleared to play this season. Link to Article

Outlet: About.com
Title/Program: Depression and Teenage Pregnancy
Publication Date: 07/29/2010

Extract: New research suggests that childbearing does not necessarily cause psychological distress among teenagers. Dr. Diane Merritt of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis says that screening for symptoms of depression or distress should be part of normal health screening for all teenagers. “Talking to teenagers about their sexuality and responsible behavior (such as birth control) is key,” she commented, adding that having long-term goals and good self-esteem are among the best ways to prevent teen pregnancy. Link to Article

News in higher education

Outlet: The Associated Press / Houston Chronicle

Title/Program: AP-Univision Poll: College dreams for Hispanics

Publication Date: July 29, 2010

Excerpt: An Associated Press-Univision poll examining the attitudes of Latino adults toward higher education has broad implications not only for educators and parents, but for the economy. The poll found that Hispanics value higher education more than do Americans as a whole. Eighty-seven percent said a college education is extremely or very important, compared with 78 percent of the overall U.S. population. Ninety-four percent of Latinos say they expect their own children to go to college, a desire that’s slightly stronger for girls. Seventy-four percent said the most important goal for a girl right after high school is to attend a four-year college, compared with 71 percent for boys. However, despite strong belief in the value of a college diploma, Hispanics more often than not fall short of that goal.

Outlet: St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Editorial

Title/Program: Passing the buck • Gov. Nixon fails Access Missouri scholarship students

Publication Date: July 30, 2010

Excerpt: Depressing news started to dribble out of the Missouri Department of Higher Education earlier this week. Colleges and universities that participate in the Access Missouri scholarship program learned that the maximum award available to each student is being cut starting this school year. If the governor were to make a difficult choice, he would lead and take some political risks for these kids, rather than just pass the buck. Mr. Nixon often says that budgets reflect priorities. If fairness is one of the governor’s priorities, he will stick up for Access Missouri students and restore the cut funds — rather than pull the rug out from under students.

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