Health-care experts discuss rising obesity rate
Tuscaloosa News – June 5
The fourth annual health and obesity conference, held at the University of Alabama, brought together health professionals from across the Southeast to discuss and develop a plan to combat the obesity epidemic in Alabama. The obesity rate has increased dramatically across the U.S. over the past 20 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2008, Alabama was one of six states with an obesity rate of at least 30 percent. “The mission of the obesity conference is to provide a forum for health care, education and business professionals to discuss the prevention, assessment and treatment of obesity and related health conditions,” said Rebecca Kelly, director of health promotion and wellness at UA and 2008 chair of the obesity conference.
Tuscaloosa VA to acquire mobile clinic
Tuscaloosa News – June 7
Later this year, the Tuscaloosa VA will receive a new, $1 million mobile clinic that looks like a large RV. It will contain two examining rooms, a lab area and a small waiting room. But unlike the VA center in Tuscaloosa, the clinic on wheels will not be staffed with physicians. Instead, there will be nursing staff and a lab technician. All primary care and mental health care will be done through two-way video cameras that will allow the patients to converse with the physicians back at the center in real time. . . . Alabama, however, lags behind the national trend toward telemedicine, said John Higginbotham, director of the Rural Health Institute at the University of Alabama, which has been expanding telemedicine efforts across the state, particularly in child psychology. “Telemedicine in other parts of the country are going far beyond where we are here in Alabama,” Higginbotham said. “But the need is so great here.”
Best hope to stop spill? Relief wells, but they’re tricky
McClatchey Newspapers – June 6
The last, best hope of stopping the oil that’s gushing into the Gulf of Mexico is two “relief wells” that are being drilled, but they won’t be finished until August. Although some scientists are skeptical that BP will be able to connect the relief wells to the original well bore on the first attempt – David Rensink, the incoming president of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, has said the probability is “virtually nil” – others say that drilling a relief well is easier than drilling the primary well. “A relief well is a standard operation when (companies) have blowouts,” said Peter Clark, an associate professor of mineral engineering at the University of Alabama. “If they can’t control (the flow) any other way, they drill a relief well.” Clark said he was optimistic that the relief wells would work, even though they must link up with a small pipe about 18,000 feet below sea level. “Nothing that is being done to date is new technology,” Clark said. “It’s technology that has been used in other places, just not at this depth. They are not inventing anything. If they miss, they can back up and try again. It’s not an all-or-nothing shot.”
Relief wells usually stop spill, but not necessarily right away
Miami Herald – June 5
In every discussion of top hats, junk shots and other ways to halt the Gulf of Mexico oil leak, industry experts cite one procedure as the ultimate, if slow, solution: relief wells. But drilling the wells — in this case, BP is tunneling through 3 ½ miles of rock to meet an 8 ½-inch steel pipe and plug it — is a high-stakes, daunting task that can take months. . . . Just above the drill bit is an instrument that communicates with a computer aboard the ship by sending dot-dash pulses through the mud as it ascends to the surface. That instrument steers the bit. “Drilling has become a lot more sophisticated in the past 10 years,” says Philip Johnson, professor of petroleum engineering at the University of Alabama.
Alabama governor’s primary for GOP looks like 1998 all over again
Birmingham News – June 6
Since Tuesday’s voting there has been much speculation as to whom Byrne would do better against — Bentley or James…”I have to believe Byrne wants to face James and not Bentley,” said David Lanoue, chairman of the political science department at the University of Alabama. “In James he has someone he has been focusing on all year, someone he seems to know how to run against. Dr. Bentley, while he has been in the race, is not someone who Byrne has paid much attention to and someone who, to obviously a large number of voters, appears to be a nice guy who wants the job but won’t take the salary. I just think his persona is harder to run against for Byrne.”
Report Reveals SECU Saved Its Members Over $550 Million in 2009
News Blaze – June 4
A recently issued report on the benefits of membership at State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU) revealed substantial savings for members of the North Carolina financial cooperative. A culmination of extensive research and comparisons of SECU products and services to the marketplace, The Financial Benefits of Membership in State Employees’ Credit Union of North Carolina in 2009 report estimated overall benefits provided to SECU members at $551 million. The report was written by Dr. William E. Jackson, III, Professor of Finance, Professor of Management, and the Smith Foundation Endowed Chair of Business Integrity in the Culverhouse College of Commerce at the University of Alabama…Dr. Jackson states, “Even in a year when the economy of North Carolina suffered severe unemployment and was in an economic recession, State Employees’ Credit Union of North Carolina produced an exceptional amount of financial benefits for its members. SECU also provided significant value to all North Carolinians, especially through competitive pressures on other financial institutions, through generous scholarships and grants from the SECU Foundation, and via its 1,100 no-surcharge Cash Points ATM network.”
Mason’s top scholars learned to balance grades, life
Mason (Ohio) Pulse Journal – June 7
The top scholars of Mason High School’s Class of 2010 know something about living a balanced life. Co-valedictorians Rohit Rao and Dennis Tseng and salutatorian Amanda La Rue managed to earn good grades while still finding time for extracurricular activities and a social life. . . . This fall, La Rue will take her academic talents to the University of Alabama, where she’ll major in economics and health care management. La Rue was awarded the Rittgers and Rittgers Scholarship and the UA Top Scholars National Merit Finalist Package.
Roman completes Senate internship
Rome (Ga.) News-Tribune — June 5
Zachary Meltzer, the son of Marc and Lisa Meltzer of Rome, has completed an internship in the Washington office of U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican. . . . Meltzer is enrolled at The University of Alabama, where he is currently enrolled in the Honors College program and will be receiving a degree in political science.
Starving artists waiting tables: They could use some help
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – June 6
With no WPA in today’s Great Recession, the number of artists receiving government or private stipends so they can do their life’s work is relatively small — nowhere near the 12,000 who received aid in the ’30s under the theater project alone. . . . Award-winning short story writer Brendan O’Farrell has downgraded his passion for writing to an avocation after accepting a job helping students navigate the University of Alabama.
Irondale plant earns energy award
Birmingham Business Journal – June 4
W.R. Grace & Co. said its Irondale manufacturing facility recently was recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy for reducing energy. The Irondale plant, which makes fireproofing materials for structural steel, participated in an energy assessment done by the department and the Alabama Industrial Assessment Center at the University of Alabama, said a news release.