Sweepstakes Winner 2006 Texas Intercollegiate Press Association
THE WICHITAN
VIEWPOINTS
Finalist 2004 Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker Award
Sept. 19, 2007
Staff Editorial
Parking issues Some of the most dangerous places for women surround Midwestern on all sides. Parking lots are convenient stalking grounds for predators, and the regulations set out by the administration make this peril even more profound. For resident students, finding a parking spot within a reasonable distance of their halls becomes almost impossible after dark. Those students who have
A new hope for victims of heart attacks
off-campus jobs or other responsibilities that keep them out until the sun sets find themselves faced with a long, dark walk home while the non-resident student parking lots nearby sit empty. Part of the problem stems from the fact that the lot south of Prothro-Yeager is off-limits to resident
CHRISTIAN MCPHATE STAFF REPORTER
students. The need for non-resident parking is obvious, but the nearest and most well lit parking spaces should be reserved exclusively for those students who are often faced with coming home late rather than those who arrive in the mornings and leave when their classes are complete. One of the lots reserved for resident use is entirely unreasonable. The area behind the IELI building just off Midwestern Parkway is simply hazardous, especially to female students walking alone. While a police escort service is available, many students aren’t aware of how to request it. A simple way to relieve this potentially dangerous situation in part would be to reserve the nearest parking
Every 65 seconds, an American is killed. No, not by war and not by terrorists, but the silent assassin—a
heart attack. It is the number one killer in America. In fact, every year coronary heart disease kills 1 out of every 5 people in America, and more than 1,200,000 people suffer through a heart attack every year. According to the American Heart Association’s Web site: “Some heart attacks are sudden and intense—the “movie heart attack”––But most heart attacks start slowly, with mild pain or discomfort.” Signs of a heart attack range from chest discomfort (in the center of the chest that comes and goes, an uncomfortable pressure) to problems in the arms (or arm), the back, jaw, neck and stomach, which could lead to nausea, cold sweat and/or lightheadedness. Heart attacks are more likely with intense exertion either physical
and/or psychological: Work-related, spouse-related, enemy-related, family-related, bill-related, problem child-related, traffic-related, legal problem- and school-related stress factors – just to name a few. Local area hospitals across Montague, Clay, Cooke, Archer and Wichita counties, as well as the rest of the state, use the normal emergency heart attack routine that includes: Chest compressions, oxygen intake into the lungs and sometimes shocking of the heart with the infamous paddles. According to a study conducted by four hospitals in California, in traditional methods of resuscitation, the survival rate for the victims of a heart attack was only 15 percent. Hospitals across the nation have worked hard to figure out a way to raise the number of survivors. Current medical guidelines require that heart attack patients should receive an angioplasty (opening blocked arteries) within 90 minutes of arriving at the emergency room. However, many hospitals have hard time meeting this standard. And yet, St. Francis Heart Center in Indiana instituted the Emergency Heart Attack Response Team, a protocol that allows emergency department to activate the cath lab instead of waiting on a cardiologist. The new protocol decreased the
severity of heart attacks by 40 percent, reduced the medical costs $10,000 per person. Patients suffered less damage to the heart and a shorter stay in the hospital. More than 125 hospitals across 33 states have contacted the hospital, searching for copies of the new protocol, as well as hospitals from Japan, Israel, Italy, Russia, Great Britain, Australia and Canada. And another idea has sparked the flames of knowledge and promises to save more lives than ever before. In a study published last year by the University of California, instead of the normal emergency room procedure of resuscitation, doctors put heart attack patients on a heart-lung bypass machine to maintain circulation and then treated sudden cardiac arrest with a “cardioplegic” blood infusion that kept the heart in a state of suspended animation. The hospital discharged more than 80 percent of the patients alive, a 65 percent success rate over traditional methods. Dr. Lance Becker, an authority on emergency medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, found that heart cells cut off from blood supply survived hours without oxygen. “After one hour,” he explained in an interview with Newsweek, “we couldn’t see evidence the cells had died. We thought we’d done some-
thing wrong.” Becker explained that standard emergency-room procedure is exactly backward because after a cardiac arrest, medical personnel give the victims oxygen, jolt the heart with paddles and pump in epinephrine to force it to beat—in turn taking in more oxygen, a scenario that leads to cellular breakdown and death. Becker explained that medical practitioners should “reduce the oxygen uptake, slow metabolism and adjust the blood chemistry for gradual and safe reperfusion.” He said that one way to accomplish this is hypothermia, a procedure that lowers the body temperature. “In an emergency department, you work like mad for half an hour on someone whose heart has stopped, and finally someone says, ‘I don’t think we’re going to get this guy back,’ and then you just stop,” he explained. “The body on the cart is dead, but its trillions of cells are all still alive.” So as we continue on our path of destruction with the war, maybe the light of incompetence will continue to shine upon the hospitals across America and more studies will arise to develop this new technique—changing the course of humanity and insurance companies for the next millennia.
Never before have so many people thought I was completely crazy for trying to not give into the social norm of the college party scene. I will admit to having one sip of beer because I had never had that particular brand, and I probably won’t ever again because it was horrible. Throughout the night, a few people congratulated my quest to be sober, but most of them thought I was crazy. Don’t get me wrong, though. I do drink, and I do like to go to parties. I have, you could say, made fun of my friends who weren’t drinking for whatever reason, but after that Saturday, I have a newfound respect for them. After I mingled for a little bit and scoured the house for a non-alcoholic beverage, I took refuge in one of the bedrooms. One of my friends, who wasn’t quite drunk yet, came to keep me company.
He gave me hug and told me he was proud of me, and I couldn’t help but think how ironic that statement was coming from someone who reeked of alcohol. I pulled the bed comforter over my head, sighed, and asked once again for something non-alcoholic to drink. I talked to another friend of mine who said that as long as my drinking habits didn’t directly affect my grades, classes, etc, then I should have nothing to worry about. He is right in a sense, but I am only 19 and my life should not be focused on parties and alcohol. The rest of the night went by in a haze; I tried to block out the drunken background noise that seemed to follow me everywhere. I know I left feeling pretty angry and upset, but that’s just because I can’t handle obnoxiously drunk people when I’m sober. I appreciated my friends who stuck by my side that night and who reminded me that I was doing a
good and positive thing. And yes, now is the time when all of you who actually know me can call me out and tell me that I’m a hypocrite. I won’t try to stop you from doing so. I fully admit to going to “parties” and to drinking while I’m there. It’s not something I’m trying to hide. I just don’t find it necessary to force a drink into someone’s hand when they’re trying to stay sober. I didn’t even talk to half of the people there that night, so for all I know, I wasn’t the only sober person there By no means am I trying to call anyone out. I’m just stating the events as I saw them. In the future I’m quite sure I’ll attend more parties in which I won’t be drinking, and I know there will be parties where I will drink. I just wish it were easier for people to respect someone’s decision and not pressure them into doing something they set out not to do.
Abstaining from alcohol a battle at parties
lots for resident students. Special spots for faculty and staff are a given, of course, but even a handful of extra spaces would be an improvement. More security would be another partial solution and could be achieved by more frequent police patrols of the parking lots themselves and the installment of more emergency phones between the lots and the residence halls. As it is, a student walking from certain resident-only parking lots is back at their hall before they pass one.As of right now, students, especially women, should be extra careful. For the long-term, a parking garage might be a wise investment for the university to consider.
3410 Taft Blvd. Box 14 • Wichita Falls, Texas 76308 News Desk (940) 397-4704 • Advertising Desk (940) 397-4705 Fax (940) 397-4025 • E-mail WICHITAN@mwsu.edu Web site: http://www.mwsu.edu/~wichitan Copyright © 2007. The Wichitan is a member of the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association. The Wichitan reserves the right to edit any material submitted for publication. Opinions expressed in The Wichitan do not necessarily reflect those of the students, staff, faculty, administration or Board of Regents of Midwestern State University. First copy of the paper is free of charge; additional copies are $1. The Wichitan welcomes letters of opinion from students, faculty and staff submitted by the Friday before intended publication. Letters should be brief and without abusive language or personal attacks. Letters must be typed and signed by the writer and include a telephone number and address for verification purposes. The editor retains the right to edit letters.
REBECCA FERGUSON AD MANAGER
This past Saturday I attended a party in which there were copious amounts of alcohol. I made the personal choice not
to drink that night. Sadly enough, I have to say that it was one of the hardest experiences of my life. I have no problem saying no to people and to drinking. Just because there is alcohol in front of me, doesn’t mean I have to drink it. Everything about that night reminded me of an awkward high school party in which pressuring your friends was the main source of entertainment. Never before were there so many unwanted drinks pushed into my hands by my stumbling friends.
THE WICHITAN Editorial Board
Editor-in-Chief Krystle Carey Managing Editor Brittany Norman Entertainment Editor Konnie Sewell Op-Ed Editor Christian McPhate Sports Editor Josh Mujica Photo Editor Patrick Johnston
Reporters Richard Carter Rachel Tompkins Courtney Foreman
Advertising Manager Rebecca Ferguson
Photographers Joel Abeyta
Copy Editor Haley Cunningham
Graphic Artist Robert Redmon
Adviser Randy Pruitt