Monthly Archives: May 2012

Leading Clinical Researcher Frank Vocci Joins Journal of Addiction Medicine

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Research key to developing quality addiction care programs

Newswise Philadelphia, PA (May 30, 2012) Dr. Frank Vocci has been named as the third Co-Editor of Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). He joins Senior Editor Dr. George F. Koob and current Co-Editors Dr. Shannon C. Miller and Dr. Martha J. Wunsch. Dr. Vocci, PhD, is President and Senior Research Scientist of Friends Research Institute, Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Vocci previously served as Director, Division of Pharmacotherapies and Medical Consequences of Drug Abuse, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and Chief, Drug Abuse Staff, Food and Drug Administration (FDA). He is President-Elect of The College on Problems of Drug Dependence.

Dr. Vocci joins Journal of Addiction Medicine at a critical time, with the journal experiencing such recent changes as inclusion in PubMed, a commitment to increase issue count from four issues to six issues a year, and an addition of electronic publication ahead of print.

We are excited to welcome a leader with such stature to our Journals editorial team. Dr. Voccis background in the development of medications and clinical trials as well as his interest in blending research with practice makes him ideal for this post, stated Dr. Lori D. Karan, Treasurer and Publications Council Chair, ASAM.

Dr. Vocci has worked on cutting edge clinical research in the areas of addiction disorders, substance abuse disorders, and the medical consequences of drug abuse. His clinical experience includes studying an implantable form of buprenorphine (PROBUPHINE), evaluating the effects of depot naltrexone (VIVITROL) on formerly opiate dependent prisoners before their release from prison and then for six months following release, and ensuring that the Friends Research Institutes Torrance clinic participates in multi-center trials evaluating treatments for methamphetamine and cocaine dependence.

He has received numerous awards for his contributions to the field of addiction medicine, including a Meritorious Executive award from President George Bush for his management of the NIDA medications development program, a Distinguished Service Award from the College on Problems of Drug Dependence for his work on the development of buprenorphine as a treatment for opiate dependence, and the Vernelle Fox Award from the California Society of Addiction Medicine. He also received the FeDerSerD (Italian Addiction Society) award.

Dr. Voccis research interests include developing medications for treating nicotine and stimulant dependence and evaluating best practices for treatment of opiate users with criminal justice involvement. He is beginning two new projects this year. The first is collaboration with UCLA to evaluate the effects of buspirone on the subjective effects and craving associated with methamphetamine. The second is a pharmacokinetics project with a new formulation of nicotine. The pharmacokinetics project with this new nicotine formulation presages a smoking cessation trial.

Dr. Vocci maintains a keen interest in improving the quality of clinical trials that evaluate treatments for substance abuse disorders. The use of adaptive clinical trial designs, improvements in medication adherence, and discovery of markers of sustained improvement that predict post-treatment outcomes are three areas he believes will become more prominent in clinical trials in substance abusing populations in the near future.

According to Drs. Koob, Miller, and Wunsch, bringing Dr. Vocci on board as a Co-Editor will be a wonderful new direction for the journal. Besides his prominence in the field of addiction medicine, his vast expertise in clinical trials will help strengthen the journals content, which is key to improving the quality of addiction care.

Journal of Addiction Medicine is the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. It is currently in its sixth year of publication and features peer-reviewed articles focused on developments in addiction medicine as well as on treatment innovations and ethical, economic, forensic, and social topics.

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Leading Clinical Researcher Frank Vocci Joins Journal of Addiction Medicine

Morehouse School of Medicine Establishes Endowed Chair in Sexuality and Religion

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ATLANTA, May 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Morehouse School of Medicine today announced the creation of an endowed academic chair devoted to issues related to sexuality and religion. The Marta S. Weeks and David E. Richards Endowed Chair in Sexuality and Religion will develop innovative health and pastoral services as well as teaching, research and public leadership related to issues that bridge the topics of sexuality, religion and medicine.

"Through this unique chair, Morehouse School of Medicine will provide national and international leadership addressing the challenges of sexuality and sexual health in the worlds of medicine and religion," said David Satcher, M.D. Ph.D., 16th Surgeon General of the United States and founder of Morehouse School of Medicine's Satcher Health Leadership Institute and its Center of Excellence for Sexual Health.

The Marta S. Weeks and David E. Richards Endowed Chair in Sexuality and Religion is a major accomplishment of more than a decade of work by Satcher, who in 2001 released the Surgeon General's Call to Action to Promote Sexual Health and Responsible Sexual Behavior. That document outlined a framework of initiatives to strengthen the national dialogue on sexual health. It recognized that sexuality and religion are deeply connected in the United States and that public health would benefit from coordinated efforts of leaders in public health and religion as well as other major constituencies with deeply held beliefs relating to sexuality.

"While the chair will address sexual health issues in all communities, it will place a particular emphasis on underserved populations which is integral to Morehouse School of Medicine's mission," added Satcher. "The continuing disparities in access to quality health care services for minorities, poor people, and other disadvantaged groups results in a weakened public health infrastructure, which ultimately affects everyone."

The endowed chair will focus its efforts on:

For more information on Morehouse School of Medicine and the institution's latest endowed chair in sexuality and religion, please visit http://www.msm.edu.

About Morehouse School of MedicineMorehouse School of Medicine is one the nation's most widely recognized community-based medical schools, established to recruit and train minority and other students from disadvantaged backgrounds as physicians, biomedical scientists and public health practitioners. The institution's mission places special emphasis on primary care training; development of model community-based health services and the conduct of research and translation of discovery to benefit vulnerable populations and ultimately eliminate health inequities.

The School offers doctoral programs in medicine and biomedical research; and master of science degree programs in public health and clinical investigation. It also sponsors graduate training (residency) programs in family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, public health and preventive medicine, and general surgery.

Morehouse School of Medicine annually ranks as one of the top U.S. medical schools in the percentage of graduates practicing primary care specialties. The School ranks # 1 in the first-ever study of all U.S. medical schools in the area of social mission. Such recognition underscores the vital role that MSM plays in the nation's health care system.

Morehouse School of Medicine is accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. It is also a member of the Atlanta University Center Consortium, the world's oldest and largest association of historically black colleges and universities. For more information about Morehouse School of Medicine, visit us online at http://www.msm.edu.

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Morehouse School of Medicine Establishes Endowed Chair in Sexuality and Religion

Foundation Medicine Launches FoundationOne™

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Foundation Medicine announced today the commercial launch of FoundationOne, the first pan-cancer, fully informative genomic profile designed to help oncologists expand their patients treatment options. FoundationOne is optimized to fit current oncology practice. It uses clinical-grade, next-generation sequencing to interrogate hundreds of cancer-related genes from routine, formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor samples. Test results are provided in a straightforward report that aligns detected genomic alterations with potential treatment options and clinical trials.

The launch of FoundationOne marks an important moment in the field of oncology, said Michael J. Pellini, M.D., Foundation Medicines chief executive officer. This first commercial product from Foundation Medicine is the result of a convergence of genomic sequencing, information technology and clinical practice that would not have been possible at any other point in history. Foundation Medicine is the first company with the ability to put these advances into everyday care, giving oncologists the molecular blueprint of each patient's cancer to help inform a more targeted treatment strategy.

FoundationOne interrogates all genes somatically altered in human solid tumors that are validated targets for therapy or drivers of oncogenesis based on current knowledge. It reveals all classes of genomic alterations, including base substitutions, insertions, deletions, copy number alterations and select rearrangements. Genomic profile results are reported to the physician for each individual patient along with targeted therapies and clinical trials that may be relevant based on the specific alterations identified in the patients tumor and the most recent scientific and medical evidence.

FoundationOne brings a best-in-class molecular diagnostic to all oncologists and pathologists, both in the community where most patients are treated and at major academic centers, said Vincent Miller, M.D., senior vice president of clinical development, Foundation Medicine. FoundationOne gives physicians a powerful new tool to help them incorporate the latest genomic findings into treatment decisions for each patient. The commercial availability of FoundationOne is perfectly timed to accelerate the clinical adoption of the burgeoning molecular information in oncology.

Early clinical studies with FoundationOne have demonstrated high accuracy and an ability to interrogate all classes of potentially actionable alterations to reveal clinically-relevant information1-2. Since receiving CLIA certification in October, 2011 and beginning pre-launch operations, Foundation Medicine has shown that FoundationOne reveals, on average, approximately three reportable alterations per patient sample and three times as many actionable alterations than the most comprehensive hot spot panels or tests currently available3. FoundationOne sequences hundreds of genes known to be clinically relevant in cancer and identifies any actionable alterations, whereas existing technologies are able to find only pre-determined alterations. Experience to-date shows that FoundationOne can identify previously undetectable, yet potentially actionable, alterations, and suggests that FoundationOne will profoundly increase the application of molecular information in clinical practice.

Foundation Medicine was founded in 2010 by world leaders in the fields of cancer genomics, cancer biology, clinical oncology, and information sciences from Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute. The company is funded by Third Rock Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Google Ventures.

About FoundationOne

FoundationOne is a fully informative genomic profile that complements traditional cancer decision tools and often expands treatment options by matching patients with targeted therapies that may be relevant to the molecular changes in their tumor. Using next-generation sequencing, FoundationOne interrogates all genes somatically altered in human cancers that are validated targets for therapy or drivers of oncogenesis based on current knowledge. It reveals all classes of genomic alterations including base substitutions, insertions, deletions, copy number alterations and select rearrangements. Each patients genomic profile is reported to the physician matched with targeted therapies and clinical trials that may be relevant based on the molecular blueprint of their tumor. Results are supported by the latest scientific and medical evidence. FoundationOne has been optimized to fit easily into the clinical workflow of a practicing oncologist. It is available for all solid tumors and clinical grade results can be obtained from as little as 50ng of DNA obtained from formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissue samples. FoundationOne is a laboratory-developed test performed at Foundation Medicines CLIA-certified facility and is currently available for all solid tumor types. Please visit http://www.foundationone.com for more information.

About Foundation Medicine

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Foundation Medicine Launches FoundationOne™

Ross University School of Medicine Signs Affiliation Agreement to Enhance Clinical Education with Kern Medical Center

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NORTH BRUNSWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) and Kern Medical Center (KMC) in Bakersfield, Calif. today announced a 10-year affiliation agreement to allocate, on an annual basis, a significant number of core clinical rotation slots to RUSM students. The affiliation, which will allow RUSM students placed at KMC to complete all of their third-year clinical rotations there over 48 consecutive weeks, is the largest clinical affiliation arrangement in RUSMs history.

Kern Medical Center, established in 1867, is a 222-bed acute care teaching hospital owned and operated by the County of Kern. As the major healthcare provider serving a community of approximately 650,000 residents, KMC is an integral part of the local community. KMC provides care for more than 16,000 inpatients annually, and experiences 43,000 Emergency Room visits per year. In addition, KMCs three federally qualified health centers serve 100,000 outpatients per year.

This is a landmark development for Ross for many reasons, especially for the opportunity to work closely with an institution that shares our commitment to serving the local community, said Joseph Flaherty, MD, dean and chancellor of RUSM. RUSM students who complete their rotations at Kern will not only benefit from learning from Kerns great faculty and residents, but also gain an appreciation for the important role these community hospitals and their physicians play in the lives of local families.

All of KMCs core residency programsInternal Medicine, Family Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Psychiatryare accredited by the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). KMCs affiliations with the University of California at Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine and University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine ensure a significant depth and breadth of teaching resources, in addition to KMCs 65 full-time faculty physicians.

Paul Hensler, FACHE, chief executive officer at KMC, said that RUSM is a partner that shares Kern Medical Centers academic vision. The affiliation, he said, is geared to looking after the long-term sustainability of the local physician workforce. California in general and the San Joaquin Valley in particular are medically underserved. We believe that building a robust working relationship with RUSM will enable us to provide a superior clinical rotation experience with the potential to attract physicians to our community, said Hensler.

Enrique Fernandez, MD, senior associate dean for clinical sciences at RUSM, said the new affiliation is great news for current students, seventeen percent of whom are from California. Many of our students have already set a goal of returning to their home communities to practice medicine. This partnership will enable many of them to complete their clinical clerkships in California as well, he said.

As part of the agreement, RUSM and KMC will offer scholarships to accepted RUSM students from Kern County, via the Kern Medical Center Foundation.

About Ross University School of Medicine

Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) was founded in 1978 and is a provider of medical education offering a Doctor of Medicine degree program. Students begin their foundational studies in Dominica, West Indies, and complete their clinical training in teaching hospitals throughout the United States. RUSM graduates obtain more US residencies than graduates of any other medical school in the world.

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Ross University School of Medicine Signs Affiliation Agreement to Enhance Clinical Education with Kern Medical Center

Maybe medical school debt isn’t the problem

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The high cost of medical school often gets tossed around as a key reason why doctors dont go into primary care jobs, instead choosing specialties such as radiology and surgery that prove more lucrative. When physicians graduate with an average of $161,290 in debt, its hard (Melissa Cannarozzi/The Washington Post) to see money not factoring into career decisions.

While this narrative makes sense, theres one major flaw: It doesnt seem to be true. Aaron Carroll flags a story in the San Francisco-area Bay Citizen, where a local health-care authority established a loan forgiveness program. If doctors committed to practicing primary care in the area, for at least four years, all of their loans would be forgiven.

The program has been around for a decade now and no one has signed up. Not a single doctor has volunteered for the opportunity to have all of their educational debt relieved. In San Mateo County, at least, debt didnt seem to be the big obstacle for doctors pursuing primary care careers.

This doesnt seem to be specific to one area of California. National data on medical student debt find that those with a high debt burden are actually more likely to go into the less lucrative primary care fields than doctors who hold no loans at all.

For private schools, odds of choosing primary care increases as debt increases, with those having no debt (and no scholarships) less likely to choose primary care, researchers at the Robert Graham Center concluded in a 2009 report.

Why do those with a higher-debt burden go into lower paying medical fields? Debt-free doctors, the thinking goes, come from higher socioeconomic backgrounds and tend to have higher expectations for their eventual salary.

For those who come from a less advantaged background, and do take out loans, the calculus might be a bit different. You have people who are willing to tolerate up to $200,000 in debt to become a doctor, Robert Phillips, director of the Robert Graham Center, said in a recent interview. To him, it suggests that doctors who have already made a huge financial commitment to becoming a physician arent as concerned with their eventual salary.

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Maybe medical school debt isn’t the problem

Liberty fourth-grader's artwork on display at aviation museum

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Article posted: 5/30/2012 11:39 AM

An avid aviation fan from Liberty Elementary School in Community Unit Community Unit District 300 has some of his artwork on display in a museum.

Joey Hill, who just finished the fourth grade, has some of his drawings on display at the Future of Flight and Aviation Center and Boeing Tour near Seattle, Wash.

His mother, Tami Hill, had sent the pictures to Boeing. Joey would like to be an aeronautical engineer for the company one day, she says.

Joey has a passion for all kinds of airplanes, particularly Boeing models. He enjoys drawing pictures of real airplanes, as well as pictures of airplane designs he would like to see made, Tami Hill wrote in an email.

This winter, he decided hed like to become an aeronautical engineer so he can build some of those models himself in the future. He drew an entire set of diagrams showing the interior and exterior of his dream plane using existing Boeing models as a reference. He detailed out the planes overall size, passenger and cargo capacity, etc. and even tried to estimate the cost it would take to build it.

The submissions part of the i4innovation display that showcases artwork and designs from young aviation enthusiasts.

Joeys designs will be featured in the museum for a few weeks, and his family hopes to make the trip to Seattle to see his work on display.

Congrats: The Algonquin Lions Club has awarded Kristin Wodka with the Ted Spella Education Award. The Jacobs High School senior, who was expected to graduate last weekend, received a $2,000 check and the award for her outstanding academic achievements, dedication to the Jacobs music program and her community service.

Kristin will attend Olivet-Nazarene University in the fall, where she will major in psychology. The award is named after Ted Spella, a former village president and former president of the Lions Club.

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Liberty fourth-grader's artwork on display at aviation museum

Liberty Ross inspired by mother’s style

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Liberty Ross mother is her ultimate style icon.

The model inherited her love of vintage clothes from her fashion-savvy parent, who used to hunt for unique items.

Having walked for the likes of Louis Vuitton, Burberry and Diane von Furstenberg, the brunette beauty has been spoilt for choice when it comes to designer items.

But the 33-year-old clothes horse loves nothing more than taking to the streets of London to shop in markets.

Ive always been into clothes. I grew up on Portobello Market so I was always there, picking up a bargain, she told the July issue of Elle magazine, before adding her mother still rifles the rails and picks out items for her. My mum is the coolest girl Ive ever meet.

Liberty isnt a clothes hoarder and regularly clears out her wardrobes.

The star, who is currently appearing in Snow White and the Huntsman, often sells unwanted garments on the internet.

I wish my dressing room was bigger, she said. I cant stand having too much of anything. I like clean spaces. So I regularly go through my wardrobe and pass things around my family or do a big eBay sweep.

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Liberty Ross inspired by mother’s style

Resources Increase at New Liberty – Update on Completion of Definitive Feasibility Study

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TSX: AUE AIM: AUE

TORONTO , May 30, 2012 /CNW/ - Aureus Mining Inc. (TSX: AUE / AIM: AUE) ("Aureus Mining" or the "Company") is pleased to announce an upgrade to its NI43-101 compliant Mineral Resource at its 100% owned New Liberty gold project in Liberia ("New Liberty").

Highlights

Commenting on the updated MRE for Aureus Mining, David Reading , President and Chief Executive Officer of Aureus Mining, said:

"We are very pleased to increase the total Mineral Resources at New Liberty to 1.14million ounces in Measured and Indicated Resources and 0.6 million ounces in Inferred Resources. As a result of the need to upgrade the reserves and complete the final metallurgical testwork, the Definitive Feasibility Study is now scheduled to be released in Q32012. Aureus will continue to define the size of the New Liberty ore body, which remains open at depth and along strike, through drilling one kilometre to the west of the planned open pit area."

Increased Resource at the New Liberty project

The increased MRE is accretive and updates the estimate announced on February2, 2012, which was undertaken by AMC Consultants Pty Ltd ("AMC") in accordance with the requirements of NI43-101. The MRE incorporates all the results from drilling as at April 4, 2012 , being 409 holes for 65,276 meters and was calculated on the basis of a 1.0g/t cut-off grade.

The total Resource estimate is comprised of 651,000 tonnes grading 4.77g/t (for 100,000 ounces) in the Measured category, 9,145,000 tonnes grading 3.55g/t (for 1,043,000 ounces) in the Indicated category, and 5,730,000 tonnes grading 3.2g/t (for 593,000 ounces) in the Inferred category, as detailed in the table below. The Measured and Indicated Resources are located generally within the first 200 meters below surface. The Inferred Resource remains open at depth.

Notes

Resource estimation parameters

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Resources Increase at New Liberty - Update on Completion of Definitive Feasibility Study

June 2012 New York Liberty Schedule

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After a rough start to the 2012 WNBA season, June holds more hope for the New York Liberty. That doesn't mean the schedule gets any easier though, as there are some tough opponents waiting for their chance to play the Liberty.

New York has 10 games in the month of June, starting off with two straight games against the undefeated Indiana Fever on June 2 and 3. Later in the month, New York has to take on the Minnesota Lynx as well; the team that leads the Western Conference with a 4-0 record and is the defending WNBA champions.

New York went 0-4 in the month of May, meaning the team can go nowhere but up at this point. They will need to string some wins together quickly though, because the team could quickly play itself out of contention when it comes to the playoff race.

WNBA Live Access will broadcast all of New York's games in June, with MSG picking up coverage for three others.

June 2012 New York Liberty Schedule

Saturday, June 2

New York at Indiana Fever, 7 p.m. ET

Sunday, June 3

Indiana Fever at New York, 6 p.m. ET (MSG)

Tuesday, June 5

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June 2012 New York Liberty Schedule

Liberty Mutual Insurance Celebrates Three Firefighters For Outstanding Heroism And Community Service With The Liberty …

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BOSTON, May 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Liberty Mutual Insurance, one of the nation's leading home and auto insurers, today is celebrating America's firefighters by announcing the recipients of its National Firemark Award. Lieutenants Paul McAllister and Christopher Seelenbrandt of West Warwick, R.I., are recipients of the Liberty Mutual Firemark Award for Heroism; and Lieutenant Robert Hendrigan of Brockton, Mass., has earned the Liberty Mutual Firemark Award for Community Service and Public Education. For their everyday self-sacrifice and tireless efforts to protect and promote public safety, Liberty Mutual will award the West Warwick (IAFF Local 1104) and Brockton (IAFF Local 144) Fire Departments each with a $10,000 grant in their respective winners' honor.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110607/NE15669LOGO)

A committee comprised of numerous fire safety organizations selected the Liberty Mutual National Firemark Award winners from among a pool of more than 150 firefighter nominees, each of whom had received a local Firemark Award from a Liberty Mutual Insurance office in their community throughout 2011. The selection committee includes representatives from such fire safety groups as the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the National Volunteer Fire Council, the National Fire Protection Association, the National Association of State Fire Marshals, the Society of Fire Protection Engineers, and the Center for Public Safety Excellence.

"The Liberty Mutual National Firemark Award winners exemplify the unique courage and commitment firefighters demonstrate every day to help us prevent the devastation of a home fire and to protect us when they do occur," said Greg Gordon, Liberty Mutual Insurance senior vice president of Marketing. "As a company that also embraces our responsibility to protect lives and homes, it is fitting for us to honor Firefighters McAllister, Seelenbrandt and Hendrigan, and to celebrate the countless men and women career or volunteer who serve our communities so selflessly."

Liberty Mutual National Firemark Award for Heroism

Lieutenant Paul McAllister and Lieutenant Christopher Seelenbrandt, West Warwick Fire Department

On March 1, 2011, the West Warwick Fire Department conducted an ice-rescue training exercise with four new recruits. Little did they know that only hours later two of their more seasoned firefighters would be in freezing Rhode Island pond waters saving the life of an 8-year-old boy who had fallen through thin ice. Lieutenant Paul McAllister was the first out of the truck and he set out across the ice in his survival suit connected to 100 feet of lifeline, falling through the ice three times along the way. About 20 feet short of reaching the panicked child, the rope reached its end. McAllister unhooked himself and continued without his safety line, reaching the young boy just moments before he lost what was left of a tenuous grip on the ice.

Lieutenant Chris Seelenbrandt, following moments later in the department's hazmat vehicle, arrived to find his colleague stranded more than 40 yards from shore, without a lifeline and with the young boy clinging to his neck. Seelenbrandt crept across the ice with 300 feet of lifeline to rescue them both, ultimately relying on the other West Warwick firefighters on shore to tow all three back in. The boy was treated and released from a Providence hospital later that evening.

West Warwick Fire Chief Joseph Baris says the department will earmark the Liberty Mutual grant toward purchasing a new boat, motor and trailer to aid in future water rescues. The department currently relies on a reconditioned inflatable boat; and that craft only recently replaced a 1954 aluminum boat the department was forced to retire after it proved inadequate during the 2010 floods.

Liberty Mutual National Firemark Award for Community Service

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UCD's new conservatism class is funded by…conservatives

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Students at the University of Colorado Denver will be able to take a new class on conservative thought this summer thanks to the efforts of the Leadership Institute, a Virginia-based organization dedicated to taking campuses back in time. The class, Conservative Political Thought in America, incorporates the writings of some big thinkers from the pantheon of conservatism/libertarianism, like Russell Kirk, Murray Rothbard and George Nash, and will be taught by Department of Political Science instructor Ryan McMaken.

UCD's information on the class, available on the poli-sci department's website, reads, "This is a course covering the intellectual history of American right-wing movements since the New Deal. The course will seek to help students gain a better understanding of these movements by examining the sometimes bitter debate between conservatives and libertarians on the American right." More information is available at a site called http://www.rightwingthought.com, and the Leadership Institute has apparently implemented similar programs at Brown University, the University of Virginia and American University.

It's unclear how many of UCD's other classes are designed by outside organizations with specific agendas a spokeswoman for the university didn't return a call from Off Limits seeking comment, and another UCD employee declined to speak on the record but we're guessing that a class designed by conservatives for conservatives might benefit from a few suggestions for term-paper subjects in Conservatism 101 that deal with the realities of being a conservative today. Here are two possibilities:

How to communicate with an Obama birther or Tea Party member

Conservative political principles have little to do with conspiracy theories about the birthplace of Barack Obama or lowest-common-denominator radio pundits, but you're all under the same GOP tent now. To keep the crazies from voting for like-minded nuts, how do you explain old-school conservative principles?

How to compromise on a candidate

Your candidate campaigned on promises of lower taxes, smaller government and conservative fiscal management. But once he got into office, he signed on to a bill endorsing a gay-marriage ban and then directed millions of dollars to a pet project being financed by a donor one that will actually make government bigger. Oh, and then he cut taxes for the rich, but not for you. Ah, politics. Explain that compromises can be hard to take and what a conservative can do to rationalize what is happening.

News cycle: With so many topics to handle in this election cycle, students in UCD's new class on conservative political thought may not have time to take on bike sharing. But that wasn't the case back in 2010, when GOP gubernatorial candidate Dan Maes insinuated that Denver B-cycle was part of a mysterious United Nations plot.

But perhaps they should be concerned after all. According to Denver Bike Shares director Parry Burnap, B-cycle is trying to help poor people. In 2011, the nonprofit received a $25,000 grant from the Kaiser Foundation's LiveWell Colorado to help B-cycle recruit users from poor neighborhoods and people living in Denver Housing Authority projects. It wasn't an easy task: To check out one of the red bikes, you need a credit card something a lot of low-income people don't have and you have to deal with throngs of hipsters standing in line with you. So B-cycle issued free annual passes in card form to some people and waived the usage fees.

But it didn't work, at least not right away. "The response was startlingly low," Burnap says. But B-cycle tried again this year and is getting a better reaction. "It's a complicated process," she notes. "This should be a transportation alternative for everyone, not just early adopters, who, according to our surveys, tend to be wealthy, well-educated and white. We want to make it accessible and affordable for everyone. We are not there yet."

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UCD's new conservatism class is funded by...conservatives

Rappers and Same-Sex Marriage: How Much Do You Really Care?

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T.I./ Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for AXE

Jay-Z and the new crew of publicly gay-friendly rappers

For those keeping score at home, the list of rappers who are ostensibly in favor of same-sex marriage now includes Ice Cube, T.I., 50 Cent, and Kendrick Lamar. I don't know this because they made bold, formal statements like Jay-Z. I know this because they were asked by Ad Age, MTV, Vibe, and DJ Drama's Streetz Is Watchin' Sirius/XM radio show, and then their answers were turned into blog fodder and disseminated across the Internet. The impulse to ask rappers what they think about same-sex marriage contributes little to the discussion of this important issue, though it is a page-view win-win: If a rapper is cool with it, well, there's a story; If you ask them and they disagree, well, you've got an even bigger news story. Hopefully, they might slip up and say something homophobic!

As you might expect, all four rappers answered with fairly hedged responses. Ice Cube came the closest to responding like a sensible human when he said this to Ad-Age: "I don't want to discriminate on nobody." None of these answers are painful to read, though T.I., 50 Cent, and Kendrick Lamar sound pretty unsophisticated. T.I. told MTV: "I don't care...if it's not something that directly affects youwhat difference does it make to you what other people are doing with their lives?" 50 Cent to Vibe: "I think everyone should be happyI don't have strong personal feelings towards it because I'm not involved in that lifestyle, but I want people to be happy." And Lamar to DJ Drama: "I don't give a fuck about people doing what they do. That's your lifestyle...Do what you got to do to be happy. Fuck it man, it's fuckin' 2012, people need to stop crying over some bullshit." I suspect this well-intentioned, half-assed "live and let live" pseudo-libertarianism will become the new hip-hop party line.

Because of how prevalent and unchecked homophobic language has been in hip-hop, the same-sex marriage issue doesn't seem like an unfair topic to broach with a rapper. However, turning rappers into mouthpieces for an entire genre seems unfair, as well as unproductive. Hip-hop's homophobia is treated as a given, which turns any utterance on the issue into a mini-event. How many rappers have to half-heartedly agree with Jay-Z before it stops generating headlines? We're frequently confronted by thinkpieces that highlight open-minded rappers and pockets of "queer rap." Maybe it needs to be acknowledged that perhaps hip-hop is progressing?

Late last week, Pitchfork called out Action Bronson after he posted a photo on his Instagram of a woman on the ground, covered in water. He tweeted along with it, "Close up of drunk Mexican tranny after Bes poured a bottle of water on its head." He later apologized, in typically Bronson-like style: "I love gay people. Trannies not so much." He added, "In no way was I trying to offend anybody from the Gay and Lesbian Community. It wasn't even a transvestite it just honestly looked like one." He also told "everyone" to "blow [him] from the back." The whole thing is terribly insensitive (it may even constitute a hate crime), but not out of character for a rapper who jokes about fucking prostitutes and throws around the insults "half-a-fag" like he's doing shtick from a Scorsese movie.

We shouldn't demand rappers live up to their on-record persona, but we shouldn't be shocked when they do. If they say something enlightened like Jay-Z and, to a lesser extent, Ice Cube, T.I., 50 Cent, and Kendrick Lamar, well, that's great. Bronson's statements, though, don't say anything more about hip-hop and homophobia than the emphatic support of Jay-Z and the hedged statements that will certainly start coming in more and more often in the coming months and years. Playing the "who's more open-minded?" game however, seems dangerous and besides the point. T.I., 50 Cent, and Lamar probably represent the average American's feelings on the topic. But that makes for a much less interesting story: Rap is maturing at about the same pace as the rest of the country. For every four or five reasonable people out there, you've got one ignorant fuck who thinks it's funny to pour water on a "tranny."

Rappers are presented as violent, vulgar sexists and homophobes, and then they're not only expected to have fully-formed opinions on social issues, but progressive ones. This is an ugly update on the always implicit, often explicit demand that hip-hop, if it is to be lauded and celebrated, must espouse a strong, left-leaning political message. For too many, Public Enemy remains the blueprint for legitimate, significant hip-hop. That ideal is impossible because very few rappers or rap groups will ever be as musically incredible as Chuck D and company. Meanwhile, the actual political messages of hip-hop have far outgrown P.E.'s radical rhetoric. Kanye West made anti-homophobic comments back in 2005. As random as they are, songs from "gangsta" rappers like the late Pimp C and Z-Ro feature pro-gay lyrics. Not to mention, Public Enemy's music contains homophobic lyrics ("The parts don't fit aww shit," from "Meet the G That Killed Me"). This hangover from the '60s, where the clunky rockist ideal that "important" music has to "matter," in an activist sense, now has been updated to include rappers' ability to speak cogently on a particular issue in interviews. An issue, mind you, that until three weeks ago, our own president wouldn't discuss.

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Rappers and Same-Sex Marriage: How Much Do You Really Care?

The Solovetsky Islands opens summer tourist season

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Solovetsky Museum-reserve of excursion routes served at its first tourist groups.

As it was reported BakuToday in the Museum, though formally the tourist season begins June 1 at the Solovetsky Islands, 25 may at the island arrived by air the first excursion team from Sam travel agency dwellers-tour . In one day the tourists have visited the Solovki monastery tours Central complex and svyato-voznesensky monastery on Mount Sekirnoj. 26-28 may, the guided tour group travel company Solovki airport tour visited not only walking tours of Solovki Museum-reserve, but went by boat on Lake-channel system b. Solovki Islands and made a voyage to b. Zackij island.

This early tourist season has contributed consistently warm and sunny weather, which stands on the solovetsky Islands in the past two weeks, explained the Museum staff.

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The Solovetsky Islands opens summer tourist season

American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) Mourns the Loss of Founding President and Genetics Pioneer …

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BETHESDA, Md., May 30, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- After a career that spanned nearly half a century, Dr. David L. Rimoin, founding president of ACMG and in many ways the founder of one of the most fast-paced specialties in modern clinical medicine, passed away on Sunday May 27, 2012 in Los Angeles of pancreatic cancer, which had only been diagnosed a few days before.

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American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) Mourns the Loss of Founding President and Genetics Pioneer ...

PCH announces health care scholarship winners

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PARIS The Paris Community Hospital Volunteers recently announced the winners of three health care scholarships for the 2012-2013 school year.

Two of the recipients are graduating high school seniors and the third is a registered nurse who will continue her health care education.

High school seniors Alexis Fiscus and Lauren Funkhouser of Paris each will receive a one-year, $1,000 college scholarship to further their education in the healthcare field. In addition, Leslie Brown, Wound Care Center manager at PCH, will receive a one-year, $1,000 scholarship to advance her nursing education.

Fiscus, who attends Paris Cooperative High School, will pursue a nursing degree at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. She recently completed the Health Occupations Program at PCH/FMC, which helps students prepare for their certified nursing assistant state exam.

I want to specialize in emergency medicine with the hope of one day becoming a flight nurse, she said. I have chosen nursing because there is no greater contribution I can think of to give back to my community.

Funkhouser, who is homeschooled, will pursue a degree as a physical therapy assistant at Lake Land College.

I have always been fascinated by the human body and how God created it to function, she said. My desire is to see people enjoy their physical life because of the care I am able to provide.

Brown, a Marshall resident and wound care-certified nurse at PCH/FMC, will pursue certification as a wound, ostomy and continence nurse through the WebWOC Nursing Education Program. The School of Nursing at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Minn., is the academic partner for the online program.

I have been a nurse since 1995 and cant imagine not having a career in healthcare, she said. Helping people get better is a wonderful thing.

The PCH Volunteers conduct several events throughout the year to help fund the annual scholarships, including chocolate sales and book sales. Funds for the scholarships also come from proceeds from the hospital gift shop.

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PCH announces health care scholarship winners

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Will Do Neither

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Health care reform is flawed. Here are some better ways to fix it.

By Michael G. Manes

PPACA will not protect patients and it won't make care affordable. It adds 2,000-plus pages of legislation, hundreds of thousands of pages of regulation and enough lawyers, consultants and actuaries to fill fleets of large cruise ships.

The system we have today is not sustainable and neither is PPACA. The marketplace has two years to find a solution. What follows is opinion:

Traditional health care and health care financing are houses divided. The patients using care want it all. Premium payers and taxpayers funding these costs are looking to reduce expenses. Typically, 5 percent of the population consumes more than 50 percent of the costs.

Third-party reimbursement (Medicare, Medicaid and insurance) has insulated and isolated the users from the direct cost for care and the spreading of the premiums and taxes over nearly the entire population allowed "payers" to ignore the problem we have.

Providers are paid for sickness instead of being rewarded for wellness. Defensive medicine and malpractices issues encourage more care than is necessary. Patients have bestowed a "god-like" power to practitioners and so they rarely challenge the provider of services about the costs or necessity of care.

Our system has evolved from a holistic "Marcus Welby" model to a system of "organs du jour." Our cultural desire for instant gratification seeks care immediately, not allowing the body to heal itself (which it often does). Super-specialization offers some advantages but this comes at a substantial cost.

There aren't enough MDs to meet tomorrow's needs yet the politics of yesterday is limiting the ability of other qualified professionals to maximize their expertise and help fill this shortfall.

As individuals we are made up of mind, body and spirit. The majority of illness and many accidents originate in the head. This includes issues of stress, addiction, mental and nervous conditions, hypochondria, loneliness, distraction, etc. Studies also show clear evidence of the healing power of prayer for those that believe. Our delivery and financing systems were built to reward treatment of illness with few incentives for wellness, limited reimbursement for issues of the head and ignored the soul.

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The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Will Do Neither

Aetna CEO Says Supreme Court Won’t Drop Entire Health Law

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U.S. Sets Duties as High as 26% on China Wind-Tower Imports

By Alex Nussbaum - 2012-05-30T16:47:51Z

The U.S. Supreme Court probably wont overturn President Barack Obamas entire health-care law, and provisions forcing insurers to cover more medical care may survive no matter who wins the November elections, Aetna Inc. (AET)s chief executive officer said.

The health-care overhauls future hinges on the outcome of this years races for Congress and the White House and, beyond that, discussions over how to trim the U.S. debt and budget deficit, Mark Bertolini, head of the nations third-biggest health insurer, said today during an investor conference.

The 2010 law will extend health coverage to about 32 million Americans by 2016, at a net cost of $1 trillion, the Congressional Budget Office estimates. If the law survives the courts decision expected next month, Republicans are likely to go after its funding next year, especially if they keep control of the House while retaking the U.S. Senate, Bertolini said.

Youll see a battle through the budget process with Republicans vying to defund the Affordable Care Act, he said at a Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. conference in New York.

The court is considering a challenge to the laws requirement that all Americans get health insurance or pay a penalty. If thats found unconstitutional, the justices might strike down the entire legislation. Bertolini said he expected a more limited ruling.

No Republican in Congress voted for the health-care act in 2010 and many of the lawmakers have introduced bills that would repeal part or all of it. The partys presumptive presidential nominee, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, has said he intends to eliminate the health overhaul should he defeat Obama.

Even if Republicans control Congress and win the White House in November, many of the laws regulations will survive in some form, Bertolini said. That includes provisions allowing parents to keep children on their health plan until age 26 as well as a ban on benefit limits.

Youll see this big movement for repeal but youll very quickly hear replace he said. Nobody on either side of the aisle is willing to tell families, you know that 26-year-old you got covered under your policy? You cant do that anymore. Or You know that kid thats survived cancer and is hitting his limits on health-care costs? Were going to put the limits back on the kid.

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Aetna CEO Says Supreme Court Won’t Drop Entire Health Law

1.3 million veterans lack health coverage

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By Allison Linn

More than 1.3 million working-age veterans dont have health insurance and are failing to take advantage of health care available through Veterans Affairs, a new study finds.

Researchers at the Urban Institute used census data to estimate health insurance coverage for veterans aged 19 to 64.

While veterans are more likely to have health insurance than the general population, about 1 in 10 of the nearly 12.5 million veterans under age 65 do not have health coverage either through the VA or other insurers.

The rates of uninsurance appear to be especially high for veterans under age35.

They are disproportionately younger, and they appear to have served more recently, said Genevieve Kenney, a senior fellow with the Urban Institute and co-author of the report.

Kenney said the uninsured veterans also tended to have lower incomes and lower levels of education and were less likely to be full-time workers than the veterans with health coverage.

Contrary to popular belief, veterans are not automatically eligible for health care coverage once they leave the military. Jacob Gadd, deputy director for health care with the American Legion, said health coverage is generally provided to the poorest and the most badly injured of those who have served.

For example, combat veterans are eligible for five years of free medical care for any service-related issues. Other veterans can get at least some coverage for injuries if they can prove they are related to their service.

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1.3 million veterans lack health coverage