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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2013
Arizona combats doctor shortage
VOLUME 107 • ISSUE 70
PLAYING WITH FIRE
L.A. CLAY SHOWS POTENTIAL FOR WATER ON MARS
The Daily Wildcat
“
At least for the short term, an influx of a lot more patients into our network is really going to strain our capacity.” — Conrad Clemens, associate dean for graduate medical education
DOCTORS, 2
CLIMATE CHANGE NEEDS OUR ATTENTION SCIENCE - 6
BY ETHAN MCSWEENEY
The UA is seeking solutions to the problem of doctor shortages in the state of Arizona by expanding its graduate medical education programs. According to a 2013 report from the Association of American Medical Colleges, the state of Arizona had 15,133 active physicians in 2012, or about 230.9 physicians per 100,000 residents, which is below the national average of 260.5 physicians per 100,000 residents. The implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will make this problem more noticeable, said Conrad Clemens, associate dean for graduate medical education at the College of Medicine. “At least for the short term, an influx of a lot more patients into our network is really going to strain our capacity,” Clemens said. “That’s why there is a lot of talk of needing more primary care doctors.” Victoria Murrain, assistant dean for GME at the College of Medicine, also said the Affordable Care Act presents challenges. “The Affordable Care Act is bringing to the forefront the fact that we need more providers to provide the care that is actually needed,” Murrain said. “It is making us more aware of a problem that has been looming that definitely is going to get worse if we don’t fix it.” Expansion of GME, the residency training doctors complete upon graduating from medical school in order to obtain a specialty, beyond the UA campus and throughout the state of Arizona is one way to mitigate the effects of the doctor shortage on multiple levels, Murrain added. It would provide more training places for medical students and help keep those trained physicians here in Arizona. “People generally tend to stay in the area in which they have trained,” Murrain said, “so our goal is that we are able to keep them here in Tucson or Pima County, or at least the state.”
OPINIONS - 4
SCIENCE - 7
CAVES PROVIDE HOME FOR MICROORGANISMS
SPORTS - 12
WOMEN’S HOOPS HITS THE ROAD AGAIN
Student begins Flow Cats club on campus to share hobby BY BRITTNY MEJIA The Daily Wildcat
The smell of fuel hangs in the air as a crackling blaze illuminates the pitch-black Tucson night. Two students stand among the flames, but they don’t pull away. After all, they’re the ones holding the fire. Nic Wolf, an undeclared sophomore, weaves poi effortlessly around his body while a friend stands nearby with a wet towel in case of an emergency. The fire poi, tethered weights doused in white gas and lamp oil lit aflame, spin behind his back and over his head in time to music playing on a mini stereo, leaving trails of heat in their wake. Although he seems like a professional fire dancer, Wolf has only been spinning fire for a
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KYLE MITTAN/THE DAILY WILDCAT
TOP Undeclared sophomore and Flow Cats President Nic Wolf holds a pair of fire poi during the club’s practice on Tuesday night. Wolf began the UA club in August. BOTTOM Wolf, left, and Jacob Aragon, a biology sophomore and club treasurer, practice fire spinning in a club member’s backyard on Tuesday night.
little more than a year, after seeing fire dancing at a music festival. The show stuck with him, and much of what Wolf knows now, he taught himself. “I’ve never really fallen in love with a hobby before,” Wolf said.
“This was the first thing that really grabbed me. Just having something that I’m really able to devote all of my attention to is a really awesome experience
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FLOW CATS, 3
Asteroids USS Arizona survivor visits campus, shares WWII stories hold key to
UA research
BY STEPHANIE CASANOVA The Daily Wildcat
Lauren Bruner, 93, was a crew member on the USS Arizona when the ship was bombed on Dec. 7, 1941. Bruner spent seven months in the hospital with burns on 70 percent of his body, before serving another four years in the military during World War II. One of 10 USS Arizona survivors, Bruner will visit the UA this weekend to share his story. The UA will hold a series of events between today and Sunday to commemorate those affected by the attack on Pearl Harbor and World War II. The USS Arizona Reunion Association worked with the UA’s Naval ROTC unit to bring Bruner and Donald Stratton, also a USS Arizona bombing survivor, to campus for the USS Arizona Ceremony on Sunday. Bruner will be on campus today to talk to the community about his experiences and visit the Student Union Memorial
Talk by Lauren Bruner, USS Arizona bombing survivor Today at 12:20 p.m. • UA Student VETS Center, on the fourth floor of SUMC “Remembering the Fallen” Saturday,10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. • Student Union Memorial Center Rotunda, on the first floor of the SUMC PHOTO COURTESY OF LORA HARWOOD
LAUREN BRUNER CENTER, a crew member on the USS Arizona, at the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. Bruner will be at the UA this weekend.
Center, which was named and designed after the USS Arizona and is home to one of two bells that were on the ship. Ed McGrath, a writer and documentary filmmaker who’s working on a book and
USS Arizona Ceremony Sunday, 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. • UA Mall (Parking is available at the Second Street Parking Garage, 1340 E. Second St.) USS ARIZONA, 2
WEATHER
BY MICHAELA KANE The Daily Wildcat
HI
Thousands of YouTube videos showcased the explosion of and ensuing damage caused by an asteroid over Russia in February. The Chelyabinsk asteroid wasn’t big enough to cause any catastrophic damage to Earth, and scientists believed a collision of that size would only occur once every few hundred years. However, according to new research published in the journal Nature, scientists now believe that Earth has a much higher risk of being hit by similar-sized objects. Such impacts could potentially occur once every decade, according to the New York Times. Generally, this kind of news inspires a “doom and gloom” reaction among the public, as people may start to think the new research means that they will somehow wind up being annihilated by a falling space rock. However, researchers at the UA
ASTEROIDS, 6
51 CLOUDY 32 LOW
Number One, Ky. Bear, N.C. Downe, Canada
41 / 27 79 / 57 -6 / -19
QUOTE TO NOTE
“
I have no doubt that the sound scares away pigeons, but I can imagine it would also scare away customers.”
OPINIONS — 4