DAILY LOBO new mexico
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July 18-24, 2011
summer The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
HSC justifies costly off-campus training
NOT OUT OF WOODS YET
Faculty member says colleagues outraged over spending by Alexandra Swanberg aswanny@unm.edu
Zach Gould / Daily Lobo Although the Las Conchas fire has been more than 50 percent contained, the orange glow of fire can still be seen from the outskirts of Santa Fe.
Hospital reps say rights violated by Chelsea Erven
news@dailylobo.com
An anti-abortion group protested outside the UNM Center for Reproductive Health after an ambulance was called to the Center in February, and center physicians responded by saying patients’ rights are being violated. Lauren Cruse, Public Affairs representative for UNM Health Sciences, said Defending Life violated patient privacy when it posted a recording of the 911 call on its website. “It is unfortunate that organizations use situations without knowing the facts, especially when discussion and public disclosure may violate the right of all patients to maintain the confidentiality of their medical information,” Cruse said in an e-mail. An ambulance was dispatched to the UNMCRH Feb. 15 for a patient who
was “unresponsive” after receiving a sedative medicine during an abortion, the group claimed. Tara Shaver of Defending Life, the group responsible for the protesting and a pregnancy resource center set up across the street from UNMCRH, said an eyewitness saw the ambulance, prompting Shaver to request a recording of the 911 call. “Someone saw the ambulance, and we got the recording because these clinics are really just abortion clinics,” Shaver said. “No other procedures require a sedative like that. We want to inform women of the dangers of abortion.” The Daily Lobo obtained a recording of the call July 7 from Melissa Romero, media contact for the Albuquerque Fire Department. Tony Ogburn, a physician at UNMCRH and professor of obstetrics and
gynecology, said organizations like Defending Life interfere with health care. “What they have is not a medical clinic, and they have no licensed health care professionals,” he said. “They have an agenda, and their goal is not to provide legal healthcare.” Ogburn said it is unfair for UNMCRH patients to be harassed by protesters. “It really hasn’t impacted our operation, but I would prefer that patients didn’t have to be bombarded by protesters,” he said. Ogburn and Cruse said the 911 call was standard procedure given the situation but that the patient was not transported to the hospital and was released that day. He and Cruse would not give the nature of the patient’s problem. “People don’t need to know,” Ogburn said.
UNM’s Health Sciences Center Board racked up a nearly $12,000 bill at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa during a May training session, leaving some faculty questioning the use of funds. The Bank of America corporate purchasing card statement for the HSC Board reflects $11,543.38 spent on a two-day training session for inaugurated board members and HSC leadership. HSC spokesman Billy Sparks said the board is a complex organization that demands its leadership to have a thorough understanding of its functions. “How do you explain and be available for exchange on a $1.2 billion organization that is going to be your responsibility to govern in the least amount of time in the most effective way?” he said. “Having a two-day training session is considered very efficient and very worthwhile.” Board members and HSC leadership decided to hold the retreat at the Tamaya, Sparks said. He said he didn’t know why the training session could not have been held in a free meeting room on campus, but he said holding offcampus meetings is nothing new. “We’ve had a long partnership with the pueblos over the past 50 years,” he said. “It’s a local operation owned by the pueblos, and there has been other meetings there by many different departments in the University over the last several years. … It was strictly a business meeting
conducted in a single room for that time period.” After reading an Albuquerque Journal article about the highdollar meeting, University professor Sherman Wilcox wrote a letter to the editors at the Daily Lobo and Albuquerque Journal. Wilcox said he was upset because his department had recently rejected several talented students because of lack of funding. Sparks said money the HSC Board spends is mostly generated by the HSC, which means it would not be spent on anything outside the HSC. Still, Wilcox said the wealth disparity between University operations is disheartening, a sentiment he said is shared among many faculty members. “It may be entirely true that this is money that only could be spent on meetings, but faculty at UNM have heard this so much, and very often it’s true, so it’s not that it’s factually inaccurate,” he said. “It’s the perception and the feeling when programs are suffering so much. It’s the sense of despair that strikes you so much when you see something like this.” HSC Board chairperson Carolyn Abeita said an offcampus venue best fit the board’s needs but future routine meetings should be held on campus. “This was not a typical Board of Directors meeting,” she said. “It was the board’s first opportunity to meet as an established body with new board members, some of whom have not had experience serving on a board for a major health science center.”
Lapped in funding, students on track by Miriam Belin
mbelin08@unm.edu UNM’s race car cruised to a top 10 finish at an international racing competition last month. The LOBOMotorSports team placed eighth in engineering design and ninth in autocross at the Formula Society of Automotive Engineering competition in California. Project Manager Jaik Ortiz said that this year’s car was one of the best in the class’ history. “For the first time, we were able to build a car and program that competed on the same level as the best teams in the world,” Ortiz said. “It was a great feeling to be one of the most watched teams at the event and also have one of the best looking cars.” Instructor John Russell said he was pleased with his students’ work. “We were keeping up with the best
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 115
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of the teams,” he said. The LOBOMotorSports team was not affected by University-wide budget cuts, and Russell said its budget increased thanks to contributions from private sponsors. Even with the increase, he said, LOBOMotorSports remained in the bottom 25 percent of funded teams at the competition. “We are a low-budget team, but we learned to deal with it,” Russell said. The class is a three-semester course that teaches students vehicle dynamics and engineering procedures. Students then build and test a race car, and Ortiz said the 2012 LOBOMotorSports team will begin work on next year’s car in the fall. “After our great showing at this year’s competition, the 2012 team is mainly focusing on improving our car rather than completely designing a new one,” he said.
Courtesy of LOBOMotorSport LOBOMotorSports’ racecar participated in an international competition in California last month. The racecar placed in the top 10 in two categories.
Getting Gronk
Red, white and blew it
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