4 -- Tuesday, Januray 25, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com 4-Tuesday, Januray 25, 2011 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom 0 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890. 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor MI 48109 tothedaily@michigandailycom Lacking nutritional value STEPHANIE STEINBERG EDITOR IN CHIEF MICHELLE DEWITT and EMILY ORLEY EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS KYLE SWANSON MANAGING EDITOR Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily's editorial board. All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors. Stayv maize and blue Grad programs should reach out to undergrads Many University graduate schools feel that four years in Ann Arbor just isn't enough to get the full experience. Several of these schools - including the School of Public Health and the Law School - have started to use on-campus pro- grams to reach out to current Wolverines and assist them through the application process. While it's great that some University gradu- ate programs are working to increase the number of undergraduate applicants from the University, many others aren't. Graduate pro- grams at the University should heavily recruit University undergrad- uates, and students should seriously consider staying in Ann Arbor to receive their advanced degrees. F or a long time, childhood and obesity weren't a natu- ral pair. It wasn't until later - the teen years, specifically - that issues of weight loss became per- vasive. But today, that timeline - has changed." According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MARY obesity rates DEMERY increased from 5 to 18.1 percent from 2007 to 2008 among ages 12 to 19. These statistics are alarming, and it only gets worse. A recent study in Britain found that girls are more likely to be overweight by age 7 than boys. According to the University of London study, about one in four girls are overweight by age 7, as compared to only one in six boys. Obesity has now invaded child- hood. This isn't a problem unique to Britain. Childhood obesity is an issue across the United States. And the problemis evenbigger for adults. According to recent CDC statistics, about 65 percent of adults are at least overweight, if not obese. Though it's clear that obesity is a major problem in this country, it's not yet time to panic. Obesity can be tackled and prevented through healthy eating. Because it can be tricky to navigate through the world of nutrition, registered dietitians become essential. Dietitians are food and nutrition professionals with educational training. Many accredited graduate and under- graduate programs exist across the nation, and the University's School of Public Health has a graduate pro- gram in Human Nutrition for stu- dents looking to become dietitians. As agents of preventative medi- cine, registered dietitians are at the forefront of the fight against obesity. And yet the University doesn't have a nutrition undergraduate major. There is no easy way for students hopingto become dietitians to major in a speciality that will assist them in achieving that goal as they gradu- ate. These forlorn students are left with some unappealing options: cre- ate their own major, - also known as the Individual Concentration Pro- gram - study a loosely related major or wait until graduate school and attend the School of Public Health. Any way you look at it, there's no opportunity for Uniyersity students to become a dietitian directly after getting an undergraduate degree. Although the University would need the American Dietetic Asso- ciation's accreditation before form- ing a nutrition major, it's possible to attain and has been done elsewhere in the state. It's not unusual for universities to have undergraduate dietetic pro- grams. Michigan State University, for instance, has an undergraduate program in dietetics that has been approved by the ADA. After com- pleting an internship and an exami- nation, students in the program at MSU are then qualified to be prac- ticing registered dietitians. But it's not so easy atthe Universi- ty. As a sophomore, I was interested in becoming a registered dietitian. After realizing that there was no way to do so as an undergraduate, I decided to fulfill all the prereq- uisites that graduate schools with dietetics programs required. My first step was to make my own major under the Individual Concentration Program. After meeting with an ICP adviser, I learned that other stu- dents had made their own nutrition majors. Unfortunately, it's ICP pol- icy to not share the details of other students' devised majors. But there was another issue blocking my way - the graduate schools. Each one's requirements varied slightly, mak- ing it nearly impossible to devise a logical schedule. The University's School of Public Health wants stu- dents to take calculus, for instance, while Columbia University requires statistics. Navigating the various prerequisites was becoming a career in itself. My next step was to transfer into the School of Kinesiology. While it wasn't an exact fit, some of the pre- requisites - biology and physics, for example - for movement science overlapped. But after a few months, I found that I was learning very little about nutrition. I decided to spend my undergraduate education else- where and transferred back to LSA. U needs an undergradate nutrition major. Ultimately, my interest in becom- ing a dietitian waned. On some level this is becausethe University doesn't offer a compatible program for undergraduates hoping to become registered dietitians." Students at the University who want to become dietitians after they graduate must first pay tuition for four years to study an unrelated major, and then they must pay even more for gradu- ate school. They don't actually get to help people until many years after they've finished their undergradu- ate education. One of the reasons I turned away from becoming a dietitian was because I didn't want to wait until after graduate school to start help- ing people - surely this reasoning applies to others too. Obesity - not just for children - is a huge issue in this country. It affects millions of people daily. The University should create an undergraduate program geared toward those who want to become registered dietitians. It's time for the University to join the fight. -Mary Demery can be reached at mdemery@umich.edu. 0 The Law School, Ford School of Public Pol- icy and School of Social Work are just some of the graduate schools that have started target- ing more University undergraduates. Some of the schools hold informational lectures throughout the year and send out e-mails and postcards to potential applicants, while other schools have developed programs specifically for undergraduate students. The Law School's program, Wolverine Scholars, allows current undergraduate students to apply without tak- ing the LSAT if they have a GPA of 3.8 or high- er. The School of Public Health has a program called 4 + 1, which allows students to graduate in five years with their bachelor's and mas- ter's degree. And the School of Social Work now has a preferred admissions program. As a result of these programs, application numbers are climbing. According to a Jan. 20 article in the Daily, the School of Public Health's appli- cations from University undergraduates rose from 1,650 in 2008 to 2,100 inx010. It's encouraging that University gradu- ate programs are reaching out to University undergraduates and offering them advantag- es. Undergraduates at the University already have a solid understanding of the University's environment and demands. Providing oppor- tunities like the Wolverine Scholar's program or preferred admissions programs allots students deserved benefits. But more gradu- ate schools, specifically Rackham Graduate School, need to have programs like these. The other professional schools - like the School of Dentistry and Medical School - should also reach out to students on campus. These feeder programs help strengthenthe application pool and maintain a high student retention level. But graduate schools cannot expect under- graduate students to build a model 'resume' on their own. Graduate schools need to work closely with students throughout their under- graduate years to make sure they're on track for the desired graduate program. Graduate schools should provide class and extra-curric- ular advising so that undergraduate students are able to create a strong application. But students need to also be interested in these programs. The University has a variety of excellent programs, and undergraduate students need to remember these on-campus resources when they apply to graduate school. They should attend information sessions and learn about the graduate programs that are right in Ann Arbor. Students should at least consider these options and seek out these graduate schools throughout the application process. The University's graduate schools need to work more closely with undergraduate students and encourage them to stay in Ann Arbor for one or seven more years. 0 The Complete Spectrum: Chris Dyer takes a look at * what qualifies as a 'real marriage. poUi umIGo to michigandaily.com/blogs/The Podium MARK J. LOWELL, M.D. I Survival Flight needs animal labs 0 EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS: Aida Ali, Will Butler, Eaghan Davis, Michelle DeWitt, Ashley Griesshammer, Erika Mayer, Harsha Nahata, Emily Orley, Harsha Panduranga, Teddy Papes, Roger Sauerhaft, Seth Soderborg, Andrew Weiner SEND LETTERS TO: TOTHEDAILY@MICHIGANDAILY.COM Students need to learn more Let Chris Armstrong move about drug policies past the Shirvell incident TO THE DAILY: Jake Fromm should be congratulated on his thought-provoking comments in his viewpoint (Talk policy, not pot, 01/20/2011). As faculty members, it's our responsibilityto help educate students educate themselves. The Ann Arbor law that decriminalized marijuana years ago was clearly a step in the right direction for users as well as naysayers. Controversial issues always have a pro and con set of facts. Furthermore, the "facts" may not always have as much truth as society needs to know to formulate rational drug policies. As a professor concerned with what drug abuse does to the human body, it's important to note some so called "facts" aren't actually facts. This is especially true with occasional vs. chronic use of pot. Personal education on the pro and con use of pot, tobacco and other drugs of abuse is far more helpful to society. Chronic marijuana use has very serious potential side effects. These include a greater incidence of schizophrenia in young people, reduction of male fertility and possible testicu- lar cancer. These effects need to be studied fur- ther - some of the money spent on the War on Drugs needs to be used to support more medi- cal research. Also, current medical marijuana needs to be standardized for relative D9THC, cannabidiol and tar content. Jake: You and your fellow students here at the University, take advantage to educate your- selves. Personal education will do far more to change drug policy and someday truly let our remarkable country reach its full potential. TO THE DAILY: Last semester, The Michigan Daily released a five-page story highlighting Michigan Student Assembly President Chris Armstrong and his attempts to overcome the hurtful and inappropriate actions of former Michigan assistant attorney general Andrew Shirvell (The next chapter: MSA president Chris Armstrong works to re-define his presi- dency after Andrew Shirvell, 12/06/2010). The article mentioned how Armstrong and his executive board plan to put the issue behind them and start addressing the many important concerns that this administration proclaimed they would tackle in the Winter 2010 elections. This goal will be extremely hard for the Michigan Student Assembly to attain if the Daily continues to publish sto- ries about Andrew Shirvell and recent devel- opments on his crazy antics. Armstrong admitted that he experienced setbacks when the Shirvell incident was atits climax: "I felt to a certain extent I was letting things get to me and had trouble refocusing," Armstrong said. If more attention is given to this incident, more fuel will be added to the fire and MSA will once again be consumed by this atrocious controversy. So I ask of you, The Michigan Daily, please let MSA conduct their business and stop bringing attention to something that we all want to put past us. Let Chris Armstrong be the amazing leader that he can be, and allow him to implement positive change on this campus. The University of Michigan Survival Flight's first obligation has been, and always will be, to provide the best possible care to the critically ill patients we are called upon to transport. Much has been said about the training methods used to ensure Survival Flight nurses can meet this obligation. For quite some time we've been reducing the use of animals in our training program with greater reliance on simulators. In fact, of the 160 hours of ongoing train- ing Survival Flight nurses are mandated to have, less than 1 percent requires the use of animals that are anes- thetized for the procedures. To adequately prepare for their jobs, new Survival Flight nurses undergo a four-month orientation dur- ing which time they use simulators almost exclusively. Survival Flight held three animal training labs in 2010, using three cats (all of which were adopted) and 12 pigs. One might ask, "Why can't we completely eliminate the need for practice on animals?" Survival Flighttransports some of the sickestpatients in the country, who frequently require interventions the referring hospital is incapable of performing - that's why they're being transported to the University Hospi- tal. On the way to the University, potentially life-threat- ening complications can occur that require immediate, sometimes surgical, intervention. To save a patient's life during transport, our nurses may need to insert a chest tube to drain blood, fluid or air from the chest cavity to allow the patient's lungs to fully expand. They mayhave to perform an incision to admin- ister life-saving medications or to establish an alternate airway when inserting a breathing tube isn't possible or the patient's airway is crushed. Nurses may even have to perform an invasive procedure called pericardiocentesis to remove a dangerous build-up of fluid pooling around a patient's heart. All these procedures require the skilled use of a surgical scalpel.. Survival Flight nurses are trained above and beyond the level of most all other flight teams because they're required to perform these emergency life-saving pro- cedures, which most nurses never will. And, because they're not trained as surgeons, they rarely have the surgical experience before joining Survival Flight that they'll need to perform those procedures. There's no rubber-coated mechanical simulator on Earth capable of replicating the experience of perform- ing these incisions on a living being. The first time one of our nurses is called upon to per- form one of these procedures will be for a critically ill patient, and any hesitation or mistake made during the performance of the procedure may result in the patient's death - nurses must be 100 percent prepared to act promptly and correctly. There's no credible research that supports the com- plete elimination of animals for Survival Flight nurse training. Simulators haven't evolved to the point where they're superior to training on an animal model for cer- tain surgical procedures. We're working toward complete elimination of ani- mal labs in our Survival Flight training program, but until new models are available, our commitment to patient care requires us to stay the course. When animals must be used, the labs are conducted humanely. All animals are fully anesthetized so that they feel no pain or suffering. The training procedures used have been reviewed and approved by the Univer- sity Committee for the Use and Care of Animals at the University, whose membership includes veterinarians. Earlier this year, in response to an outside complaint, Survival Flight's laboratory protocols were reviewed by the United States Department of Agriculture, and no violations were identified. Other flight programs across the nation still use animal models but may not state so publicly. We know from conversations with Michael Frakes, president of the Air & Surface Transport Nurses Association, which is an organization routinely referenced in claims made against the use of animals in flight nurse training, that organizations that host their Transport Nurse Advanced Trauma Course select the type of lab skills they find preferable and cost effective - not the ASTNA. Anonymous surveys of our flight nurses who have had training using simulators and animals overwhelmingly agree that while simulators are beneficial for learning when to perform certain procedures, they're no substi- tute for scalpel-to-skin contact thatonly animal labs can provide. More than 35,000 patients have been transported by Survival Flight - a testament to the training and exper- tise of our nurses. Survival Flight has won national and international patient care competitions fourtimes in the past four years. Though we look forward to the day when we can phase out animal use completely, simulations for nurses haven't all reached that level yet. When they have, be assured that we will be using them. Until then, we must continue to do what is necessary to ensure the safety of the patients that entrust their care to us. 0 w 0 Edward F. Domino, M.D. Steven Benson Active Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology LSA-SG President Mark J. Lowell, M.D. is Survival Flight's Medical Director.