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LIFE&ARTS PAGE 12 A couple of green thumbs
Longhorns push defense Friday, December 4, 2009
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Medical deal could benefit UT System Plan aims to bring more medical school graduates to Austin for residencies
Erik Reyna | Daily Texan Staff
Chief Medical Examiner Dr. David Dolinak brings answers to families by examining bodies for the cause of death. He said the process is “not as easy as they make it seem on TV.”
Examiner looks for the cause ALONG FOR THE RIDE By Bobby Longoria Editor’s Note: This is the second installment in a series that explores law and order in Travis County. In a room filled with fluorescent lighting, tinted grey by concrete floors, stands a lone doctor — scalpel in hand. He is looking down at a cold body lying on an even colder metal stretcher. This doctor is not concerned with saving lives — he wants to know how they were taken.
The Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office was established in 1977 with the purpose of investigating sudden, violent, suspicious or unnatural deaths. The three-story facility, located south of University Medical Center Brackenridge, houses a morgue, autopsy room, toxicology department, histology laboratory and administrative offices where medical examiners investigate deaths that occur in 43 counties across the state. With a staff of four medical examiners and several technicians, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. David Dolinak strives to bring closure to family members and law enforcement officials. “We are very curious people. We have to know why things happen and how deaths come about,” Dolinak said. “It
Perry officially kicks off 2010 re-election bid By Jordan Haeger Daily Texan Staff After months of back-andforth with his expected primary opponent, Gov. Rick Perry officially began his re-election campaign Thursday. Perry promised to continue creating jobs and to keep taxes and spending low. “The 2010 [gubernatorial]
elections are occurring at a watershed moment in American history,” Perry said. Perry signed the election papers on the first day of the filing period at the Texas Republican Party headquarters with his wife, Anita, by his side. With the country facing
PERRY continues on page 2
Bruno Morlan | Daily Texan Staff
Gov. Rick Perry holds a press conference to sign the documents to make his re-election bid official.
gets tough, depending on the uniqueness of the case. We will work with what we got and try to get as much information from the body as possible.” Dolinak said the office first responds to incidents with on-scene investigators, who record observations of the body and the area around it, before it can be disturbed. He said the education required to become a medical examiner is very rigorous, including a bachelor’s degree, a medical degree and pathology training, followed by completion of several national tests. According to the office’s 2008 annual report, it handled 4,112 cases, of which
AUTOPSY continues on page 2
HOSPITAL continues on page 9
Jordy Wagoner | Daily Texan Staff
Dr. Timothy George, pediatric neurosurgeon at the Dell Children’s Medical Center, speaks on Thursday afternoon.
Demonstration criticizes gas-leak damages By Alex Geiser Daily Texan Staff A row of bodies shrouded by white sheets lay across the West Mall on Thursday, symbolizing those who died in a deadly gas leak in India 25 years ago. The sixth annual Mass Die-In at UT, organized by the Austin chapter of the Association for India’s Development, was intended to bring awareness to the University about the ongoing death and destruction caused by the leak, said Vinay Pandey, leader of the Bhopal Campaign and member of the association. In 1984, 27 tons of poisonous gases leaked from a Union Carbide Corporation pesticide factory in Bhopal, India, and left 8,000 dead and thousands more poisoned. Many activist groups, including those who staged Thursday’s demonstration, blame the Dow Chemical Company, an American chemical manufacturer and the current owner of Union Carbide, for the deaths. Scott Wheeler, Dow spokesman for the Bhopal issue, said the company never owned nor operated the plant. “Dow acquired the shares of Union Carbide Corporation more than 16 years after the tragedy, and 10 years after the $470 million settlement agreement — paid by Union Carbide Corpo-
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By Shabab Siddiqui Daily Texan Staff A new partnership between UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and the Seton Family of Hospitals could benefit UT in the long term and train more doctors in Central Texas, said leaders from the UT System Thursday. Business, civic and higher education leaders spoke about the prospects of the partnership, which aims to increase the number of post-medical school residents in the Austin area. The Seton Family of Hospitals hosted a celebratory luncheon Thursday
at its administration building. “The best thing you can say about an organization is that it does what it does best, and it creates partnerships with groups in areas it doesn’t do the best,” said Charles Barnett, president and CEO of the Seton Family of Hospitals. “We are very fortunate to make a partnership with one of the top medical schools in the country.” The 15-year agreement will be administered by a joint council consisting of representatives from Seton, UT-Southwestern and the UT System. Seton will expand its residency programs, adding to its presence in medical research. In addition to treating patients,
Members of AID, the Association for India’s Development, lie in the West Mall as part of the sixth annual “Die-in,” held in remembrance of a poisonous gas leak that killed 8,000 in Bhopal, India.
Kari Rosenfeld Daily Texan Staff
ration and Union Carbide India, Limited — was approved by the Indian Supreme Court,” Wheeler said in a written statement. Dow was pulled back into limelight after an Oct. 27 gas leak at a Dow plant in Freeport, Texas. Residents were notified of the leak within a couple of days and more than 65 families were evacuated to a hotel, paid for by Dow. Pandey said the chemical company’s double standard reveals its lack of interest and failure to take responsibility for the incident. The UT Student Government and the Graduate Student Association both passed resolutions
with AID in 2006, resolving to collaborate in an effort to convince University President William Powers to write a letter to Dow addressing the Bhopal incident and asking the company to spend matching funds for the environmental cleanup. The resolution between AID and the Graduate Student Assembly supports the complete disassociation of the University from Dow, said Sreangsu Acharyya, engineering graduate student and AID member who participated in the demonstration. He said UT has received a large amount of money from Dow for
research, but he is unclear about the amount and the specific uses of the money. He said AID filed a Freedom of Information Act requesting to see how much of the money goes where, but was blocked by Dow’s lawyers, who said the information is private. Acharyya said the organization’s ultimate goal is to place enough pressure on Dow that they finally turn themselves in and submit to a criminal trial in India. “We want to send a message to Dow that they cannot avoid their liabilities by forcing their way through the issue,” Acharyya said.