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Show r n THE 0 I 31 Substance Over Style: Chronicle Opinion Editor Scott Lewis wants politicians to worry more about ideas than images. Yummy in Your Tummy: Chronicle Feature Columnist Josh Stewart says the restaurants on State Street are a value for your dollar. Back in the Saddle Again? Utah football for the The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice Since 1890 MWC The team could compete with its win over MONDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2000 SDSU. VOL 110 NO 47 Doctor Attempt s to Alter Tra System ing all Utah medical centers to JARED WHiTLEY Chronicle News Writer r5 f"' Caff . - t ; 0 " -- v J if r . While enjoying a rigorous trek through southern Utah, a mountain biker topples and breaks his neck. Ke needs emergency medical attention, which the closest medical center cannot provide. Several hours later he arrives at a nearby county hospital, undergoes examination and learns that this hospital, too, has neither the staff nor the equipment to heal him. Eventually physicians call the University Hospital, and AirMcd dispatches a helicopter to retrieve the injured man. While this story is fictional, similar situations are all too common in states Utah and other because of areas of sparse population and distant medical centers. Utah is one of only a handful of states that collects emergency room data on such injuries. On Oct. 12 the of Health Utah Department .released its annual Emergency Room Encounter Report for 1997, ;the most current data available for mid-weste- rn i fuirlMt'ym''- - " room iOf visits that year, almost 80 percent were in urban-are- a emergency rooms. For the last decade, Dr. Richad Barton, who works at U Hospital, spearheaded legislation to improve the effectiveness of bringing patients to those urban ERs. "Thirty percent of trauma deaths may be preventable," Barton said, if patients receive proper care quickly enough. "At U or LDS hospitals, you can get any specialist for any injury. A rural medical center has only family practitioners." Under the sponsorship of Sen. who Robert Montgomery, is also a medical doctor, the Utah State Legislature passed the Trauma Systems Amendments during the 2000 general session. The amendments will "improve the quality of care and reduce mortality," according to Barton. The amendments establish a statewide trauma system, organiz- - -- is ; , ,, , OFF-DA- Y ,. ,,-,- ,.,,..,-11,-- ACTIVITIES: - f ,..u ...MiSi s'f'-- Skaters have fun in front cf the John Coleman Honored For His Work in The Humanities MATT CANHAM Chronicle Asst. News Editor One by one they stood. A couple who taught him about his African American heritage, a man who made sure the African American athletes of the 1960s associated with Ogder.'s black community, a woman who strives to document Utah's cultural diversity, and his mom. In a ceremony to honor University of Utah Professor Ronald Coleman, Coleman turned the tables and hon- - see COLEMAN, page 6 R. ' ' Park Buifdin? Sur.d2y afterncoa Leavitt Wants More MATT CANHAM Chronicle Asst. News Editor Leavitt wants the future of a heightened computer-scienc- e have to education higher focus, with more online classes and increased outside business Gov. Michael O. Leavitt presented this message during campaign stop at the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics Friday, where he said education is the center plank of his platform. The two gubernatorial candidates decided to make separate appearances at the institute, with a Democratic challenger Bill Orton coming Nov. at 9:40 a.m. While people can now decide whether they want to go to college, Leavitt sees higher educa- tion as a must for future generations. "There will be more and more college training 1 education. He also wants more bachelor's degrees offered at Utah Valley State College and Dixie State College of Utah, and more master's degrees at Southern Utah University. He said Utahns' access to education would not be hurt by this year's tuition increase, which will hike. probably be higher than last year's d "There will be no major tuition increase," he said. This coincides with the plan of the Utah State Board of Regents, which governs Utah's System of Higher Education. The Regents arc proposing a d tuition system, where the board would set a basic tuition increase and allow university presidents to decide if they need an additional across-the-boar- two-tiere- draw. "The system doesn't mean the state makes the rules, but it makes sure that all protocols are in line with each other," Barton said. "The whole point of the system is to shuffle patients back and forth more effectively." Within that system, statewide medical facilities may receive trauma center designations from one to five, based on an American College of Surgeons' assessment of their capabilities. "The U and LDS hospitals arc level one trauma centers," Barton said. Level one trauma centers arc equipped to handle almost any major medical emergency and have specialists on staff. The amendments also expand the Department of Health's ability to gather data on trauma cases within the system. "We've been collecting data from ER departments for many years," said Joleen Whitney, emergency health systems program manager. "The trauma reports vill augment our annual ER encounter reports." The ER reports include data from only emergency departments, but trauma hospitals wiil report on all services, Whitney said. Trauma registry will help Department of Health officials develop trauma education programs for hospital providers and injury prevention activities in schools and community organizations, Whitney said. "The best way to help the public is to prevent the injuries from happening in the first place," she continued. Barton helped plan a similar statewide trauma system in 1993, but it was a plan "with no legislative teeth." The system required hospitals to submit data on traumas see TRAUMA, page 5 Education Technology-Base- d in the workplace," he said. "And campuses will work to enhance that training." Leavitt believes a closer relationship between public higher education and private business will increase the access Utahns have to further their bet- ter meet the needs of patients. After three years within the system, medical centers may elect to with- increase to meet their needs. The plan is meant to allow institutions, such as the U and Utah State University, to increase tuition faster than in the rest of the state. Utah's universities are cheaper than their peers nationally, while the community colleges are more expensive. "We must adjust for market values," he said. busiLeavitt also said he wants more high-tec- h nesses to transplant themselves to Utah, and he is willing to spend some money to entice them to come. He is asking the Utah State Legislature to appropriate $8 to 12 million a year to pay for his plan to triple the number of computer science and engineering students in eight years. By increasing the number of students in high-tec- h fields, he force. Utah's to work hopes expand "In the 21st century, computer scientists and see LEAVITT, page 5 THE DAILY UTAH ONLINE CHRONICLE IS ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT WWW.Utahchronicle.com |