Eeyore's News and View

Boom amid bust: Med schools grow as economy tanks March 12, 2009 - 5:46am
By DAVID N. GOODMAN Associated Press Writer
ROYAL OAK, Mich. (AP) - You wouldn't know there was an economic crisis the way the medical school business is booming these days.
Responding to warnings of a looming doctor shortage, existing schools are increasing enrollment, and new ones are opening or under development from El Paso in West Texas to Kalamazoo in western Michigan.
Medical school expansion plans are rushing ahead despite the severe economic downturn, even in the battered home of the nation's struggling auto industry.
The reason is quite simple, according to the president-elect of the American Medical Association.
"Americans are living longer, and there are more of them," said Dr. J. James Rohack, a Temple, Texas, cardiologist. "It's clear that the demographics of American society point to the need of having and expanding a well-educated medical work force."
Today, many poor and rural areas already face doctor shortages, and primary care positions go unfilled as doctors gravitate to higher-paying medical specialties. Graduating more doctors doesn't directly address either problem, but is a key part of the answer, medical groups say.
This year alone, the number of accredited medical schools training doctors in the U.S. is set to grow by four to 130. Five others have applied for accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, with the aim of accepting students in 2010 or 2011.
Michigan, where unemployment jumped to 11.6 percent in January, could see medical school ranks go from three today to six within a few years.
In the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak, William Beaumont Hospital is collaborating with Oakland University in Rochester on a new medical school that would accept its first class in 2010.
Michigan State University is expanding its medical school programs at a new campus in Grand Rapids, as well as in Detroit and Macomb County's Clinton Township. Central and Western Michigan universities are well along in planning medical schools of their own. Wayne State University has significantly expanded its medical school enrollment, while the University of Michigan has kept its enrollment steady.
Pushing plans for a new medical school even as Michigan's auto-based economy sputters isn't as crazy as it might seem, according to Robert G. Miller, associate vice president at Western Michigan University.
The board at his Kalamazoo school gave the go-ahead for advanced planning on a new medical school in January.
"It's many years out," Miller said. "There's enough support in the community and enough assets to move forward."
Health care in America is a $2.4 trillion annual business, or about $8,000 for each of the nation's 300 million residents. President Barack Obama has made overhauling health care _ extending coverage to the 48 million uninsured while fighting rising costs and attacking waste _ an early priority of his administration.
A quarter century ago, experts blamed rising health costs on what they said was a surplus of doctors. They said doctors seeking income would perform unneeded procedures, making medical care more expensive. In response, medical schools capped or cut enrollments.
But in recent years, doctors and medical school groups have re-examined the issue of doctor supply and now warn of a large shortfall in coming decades.
The Association of American Medical Colleges said last year that if current demand and supply patterns continue, the U.S. will have about 750,000 doctors by 2025 _ about 159,000 fewer than it needs. The shortage will be particularly acute for primary care doctors, the group said.
The medical school group called for stepped up recruiting of minority group students more likely to practice in underserved areas. It also called for adding 1,500 spots each year to the National Health Service Corps, which finances training for medical students who work in underserved areas after graduation.
One area already facing a doctor shortage is El Paso, Texas, where Texas Tech University greets the entering class at the Paul Foster School of Medicine on July 13.
Northerners migrating to the Sun Belt and immigrants arriving from Latin America have driven up demand for doctors, and 30 to 35 percent of El Paso's doctors now are graduates of medical schools outside the U.S., said the school's founding dean, Dr. Jose Manuel de la Rosa.
Also accepting their first entering classes this year are Florida International University in Miami, the University of Central Florida in Orlando and Commonwealth Medical College in Scranton, Pa.
Nationwide, enrollments already are edging up. Accredited schools accepted 18,036 new medical students in 2008, up 9.1 percent from 16,538 in 2003. The number of students applying for admission rose 21.4 percent in that period, from 34,786 to 42,231.
The AMA warns that expanding medical school enrollment leaves another big problem unanswered: Coming up with the $200,000 per year it takes to train new doctors during their three- to seven-year residencies.
The federal Medicare program has financed residencies since 1965, but the government capped the number of positions at about 98,000 in 1997, Rohack said. The actual number of residents has risen since then, with hospitals financing the extra slots through stopgap measures.
"If we can take the cap off ... then American society will be better served," he said. "Most societies that are successful tend to have healthy populations."
http://wtop.com/?nid=106&sid=1622457

Obama, Geithner: Recession requires global action
WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner this weekend will seek backing from G-20 nations for a one-two punch of economic pump-priming and regulatory reform to combat the worsening global financial crisis.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Geithner downplayed an emerging split between the United States and its European allies. The U.S., which is spending $785 billion to jump-start its economy, wants other countries to more aggressively help boost global demand. European officials instead appear more concerned with crafting regulatory changes to prevent future collapses.
Geithner said the goals are "complementary," adding: "The world really is moving together now."
At the White House, President Obama underscored the need for a coordinated approach. "It's very important to make sure that other countries are moving in the same direction, because the global economy is all tied together," the president said.
A meeting Friday and Saturday of finance ministers and central bank chiefs will pave the way for a G-20 leaders summit in London on April 2. Representing about 90% of world output, the G-20 includes major industrial nations, as well as China, India, Mexico and Saudi Arabia.
The meeting comes as economic conditions continue to deteriorate. Global industrial production is plummeting at an annual rate of 25% to 30%, even faster than in the fourth quarter last year, JPMorgan estimates.
The U.S. wants the G-20 countries to agree to spend 2% of annual economic output to boost demand. So far, the U.S. and China are doing so. But major European countries have fallen short, with Germany spending 1.5% of gross domestic product, the U.K. 1.4%, and France just 0.7%, according to the International Monetary Fund. Europe, however, has more generous unemployment and social programs that automatically pump money into lagging economies. U.S. demands for more spending are "not to our liking," Luxembourg Finance Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said this week.
Dan Price, who handled international economic matters for President George W. Bush, said summit participants risk falling behind the fast-moving crisis if the dispute lingers. "If there is a difference of opinion, that difference does need to be ironed out," said Price, a partner at law firm Sidley Austin.
Agreement is more likely on a proposal to give the IMF an extra $500 billion to help troubled countries.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2009-03-11-geithner-europe_N.htm

Invisible RFID Ink Safe For Cattle And People, Company Says The process developed by Somark involves a geometric array of micro-needles and an ink capsule, which is used to 'tattoo' an animal. The ink can be detected from 4 feet away. By K.C. Jones InformationWeek January 10, 2007 04:49 PM A startup company developing chipless RFID ink has tested its product on cattle and laboratory rats. Somark Innovations announced this week that it successfully tested biocompatible RFID ink, which can be read through animal hairs. The passive RFID technology could be used to identify and track cows to reduce financial losses from Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (mad cow disease) scares. Somark, which formed in 2005, is located at the Center for Emerging Technologies in St. Louis. The company is raising Series A equity financing and plans to license the technology to secondary markets, which could include laboratory animals, dogs, cats, prime cuts of meat, and military personnel. Chief scientist Ramos Mays said the tests provide a true proof-of-principle and mitigate most of the technological risks in terms of the product's performance. "This proves the ability to create a synthetic biometric or fake fingerprint with biocompatible, chipless RFID ink and read it through hair," he said. Co-founder Mark Pydynowski said during an interview Wednesday that the ink doesn't contain any metals and can be either invisible or colored. He declined to say what is in the ink, but said he's certain that it is 100% biocompatible and chemically inert. He also said it is safe for people and animals. The process developed by Somark involves a geometric array of micro-needles and a reusable applicator with a one-time-use ink capsule. Pydynowski said it takes five to 10 seconds to "stamp or tattoo" an animal, and there is no need to remove the fur. The ink remains in the dermal layer, and a reader can detect it from 4 feet away. "Conceptually, you can think of it in the same way that visible light is reflected by mirrors," he said, adding that the actual process is slightly different and proprietary. The amount of information contained in the ink depends on the surface area available, he said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture calls for a 15-digit number to track cattle. The first three digits are "840" for the U.S. country code. The remaining digits are unique identifiers. The numbers would link to a database containing more information. "It can say where it has been, who it has talked to, who it has eaten with, and who else it has been in contact with," Pydynowski said. Ranchers and others in the agricultural industry can choose a covert stamping system, which would make it impossible for cattle thieves to tell which animals have been marked and easy for those checking for stolen cattle to determine a cow's source. Pydynowski said the technology is an improvement over ear tags, which can be detached from cows and other products. The technology could verify that cuts of meat originated in a hormone-free environment, Pydynowski said, adding that consumers would destroy the system by breaking down the ink when chewing the meat. In other words, Big Brother wouldn't know whether someone ate a Big Mac or a filet mignon, according to Pydynowski's explanation. However, the government and agricultural producers and retailers could track e-coli outbreaks in spinach, he said. The ink also could be used to track and rescue soldiers, Pydynowski said. "It could help identify friends or foes, prevent friendly fire, and help save soldiers' lives," he said. "It's a very scary proposition when you're dealing with humans, but with military personnel, we're talking about saving soldiers' lives and it may be something worthwhile."
http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=196802844
http://frc4u.org/phpbb/index.php?topic=469.0;topicseen (provided by 411lman)
Rev 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:

Record dry start to 2009 worries farmers, firefightersThe first two months of 2009 are the driest start of any year since the USA began keeping records over a century ago, leading to severe drought in Texas, dipping reservoir levels in Florida and a surge in wildfires across the nation.
Farmers, cattlemen, firefighters and others worry that the dry start may be a harbinger of a bleak summer that could lead to increasing risk of fire and poor crop conditions.
Cattle rancher Jim Selman of Gonzales, Texas, has sold all but 30 of his 300 to 400 breeding cows because his pasture is too dry to feed them. "It might take me 10 years or more to get back where I was," he says. "It's so dry."
Richard Heim, a meteorologist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center, said the 2.69-inch average rainfall across the U.S. in January and February is the least amount of moisture in those months since NOAA began keeping records in 1895.
So far this year, the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise has logged 11,814 wildfires, the most for any two-month period in a decade and almost 3,700 more than the average.
The dry spell extends a drought that has hammered Central Texas since 2007 and California and the Southeast since 2006.
• In Texas, planting season for cotton, corn and sorghum should be well underway, but in much of the state it's been too dry to plant, says state climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon. Even with 2 inches of rain forecast for the next few days, crops will be at risk, Nielsen-Gammon said.
"Winter rain is like putting money in the bank for plants to withdraw," he said. "That supply of water isn't there, so plants will be very vulnerable to dry spells."
• In South Florida, Lake Okeechobee is at 12.54 feet, which is about 2 feet below its average for much of the past 45 years. The South Florida Water Management District is holding public meetings starting today to discuss water restrictions, spokesperson Gabe Margasak said.
• In California, NOAA reports the snowpack is at 80% of normal and much of the state is under severe drought. State officials are using prison inmate crews to clear away brush and create fire breaks around communities to reduce the risk of wildfires, said Daniel Berlant, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The dry winter could mean a longer fire season in the summer because the grasses will dry out sooner and the trees will have less moisture in them, Berlant said.
Despite the current severity, the latest conditions pale in comparison to the drought of the 1930s, known as the Dust Bowl. At its height in July 1934, nearly two-thirds of the nation was in a severe to extreme drought. Today, 7% is. Hundreds of heat records from the 1930s still stand across the Plains.
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/drought/2009-03-10-drought_N.htm

Our culture is sliding down hill quickly and loudly.
Lesbian sues over denial of prom tuxedo
A 17-year-old lesbian in Indiana is suing her high school over the right to wear a tuxedo to the senior prom.
The principal of Lebanon High School decreed that the teen, who wasn't named in court documents, must wear a dress to the prom, the Indianapolis Star reports. According to the newspaper, the student "does not wear dresses because she sees them as expressing a sexual identity that she does not embrace."
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, filing on behalf of the 17-year-old, wants a federal injunction that would let her wear the same kind of attire as male students at the prom.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/03/lesbian-sues-ov.html
While on the face of it, i son't care if she wears a tux or not, nor do i think it is the governments place to decide, this is having to do with being vocal, they go past tollerance to acceptance.

Maryland General Assembly Set to Vote on Risky 'Gender Identity' BillMaryland Retailers Association Amendment Confirms Opening Women's Restrooms/Showers to Cross-Dressers
ANNAPOLIS, Md., March 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Women and children will face one of the greatest threats to privacy, safety and security that Maryland residents have ever known with the passage of a "Gender Identity" bill now before Maryland House and Senate legislators.
The proposed law adds a broadly defined category of "gender identity" to the state's existing anti-discrimination law. Because the bill's broad definition of "gender identity" includes "expression and behavior," men are not required to have undergone a sex change operation. The Maryland Retailers Association has purportedly agreed to allow men to enter women's bathrooms.
"The effect of this bill is to give special rights to men who want to dress like women, but completely disregards the safety of vulnerable women and children," notes Ruth Jacobs, M.D., president of Maryland Citizens for a Responsible Government. "Restrooms and showers will be opened up to cross-dressing or female affirming men thereby allowing undressing in front of women and children in a woman's locker room."
"We believe that the bill should be dropped," says Dr. Jacobs. "Even the senator sponsoring the bill admits that he does not understand gender identity issues."
"If it is not dropped, then exemptions similar to the Baltimore City law stating 'It is not discrimination for any person to provide separate toilet facilities for males and females' and other exemptions as signed by [then mayor and now] Governor Martin O'Malley should be included."
Gender Identity Bill HB474/SB566 imposes fines for public accommodations and allows imprisonment and fines for housing violations. The bill includes a "private cause of action" giving any cross dressing employee the right to sue employers in state court. Awards can include back pay and up to $400,000 in damages not including punitive damages.
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/prnewswire/press_releases/national/Maryland/2009/03/10/DC81280