Guardian
UCSD’s speech and debate team hosts tournament
The UCSD speech and debate team will host the first annual Sun God Invitational on Jan. 17 and Jan.18. Participants will include UC Berkeley, Whitman College and Reed College.
The tournament will consist of eight preliminary rounds of parliamentary debate and then divide into elimination rounds for the novice and open divisions. Participants will have 25 minutes to prepare once the central topic is announced. The tournament follows guidelines from the National Parliamentary Debate Association.
The invitational will prepare competitors for the Point Loma Sunset Cliffs Classic and also provide regional practice for the national competition. The tournament goes from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on both days. Center Hall 101 will serve as headquarters for the tournament.
Persian Club raises funds for earthquake victims
The Persian Club at UCSD will hold a donation drive on Jan. 12, Jan. 13, Jan. 15 and Jan. 16 on Library Walk to benefit the victims of the earthquake in Bam in southeast Iran. The club will collect various supplies including clothes, blankets and canned goods. Donated items must be new. The drive will also accept cash or check donations. Checks must be made out to the UCSD Persian Club.
Supplies and other goods will be sent to the Iranian Muslim Association of North America. Meanwhile, monetary donations will benefit the Shirin Ebadi fund to be used for rebuilding and assistance for the victims.
The magnitude 6.6 earthquake that shook the region on Dec. 26 killed over 30,000 people and leveled approximately 80 percent of Bam’s buildings and other parts of the city. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes.
Study shows arm positions matters in pressure readings
Researchers from UCSD School of Medicine and the Medical College of Wisconsin found that blood pressure readings are up to 10 percent higher when an arm is parallel or extended in the same direction as the body than readings when the elbow is at a right angle.
The study, which was published in the Jan. 6 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, points out that arm position during blood pressure readings could be vital. Values during a reading determine treatment options and consistent arm positioning should always be used, according to the study.
The study also found that 73 percent of health care workers fail to use the proper arm and blood pressure cuff positions as defined by the American Heart Association.
The investigation consisted of measuring the blood pressures of 100 emergency room patients between the ages of 18 to 88 with symptoms unlikely to be linked to cardiovascular instability. Patients’ blood pressures were measured with parallel and perpendicular arm positions while laying, sitting and standing. Forty-one percent of patients sitting with their arm parallel were found to have blood pressures classified with hypertension, compared to 22 percent of patients with the arm perpendicular.
School of Medicine will establish tuberculosis center
The National Institutes of Health recently awarded the UCSD School of Medicine Pulmonary Division a five-year $6.2 million contract to establish the Tuberculosis Curriculum Coordinating Center.
The center will coordinate with a multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses and health care leaders from various health schools to implement a curriculum using the latest technology for education. The TCCC will also work with a consortium of five curriculum centers and 23 partner schools. The consortium will include faculty representatives from twelve medical schools, six nursing schools and 11 health schools.
The five centers working together will include the University of Southern California, Wayne State University, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, University of Arkansas and Columbia University. According to statistics, about 25,000 people develop active TB and about 5,000 people die from the disease. Additionally, one person every second is infected with TB.
The TCCC Core Group includes UCSD faculty members Antonino Catanzaro as project director, Marguerite Jackson as the administrative unit director, Shawn Harrity for the curriculum unit director and Helene Hoffman as the educational technology unit director.
Author Alan Maisel to speak at UCSD Bookstore
Author Alan Maisel will discuss his book ³Brain Chicane² at the UCSD Bookstore on Jan. 12 at 4:30 p.m. His medical thriller is inspired by his background in internal medicine. He currently serves as the professor of medicine and director of the Coronary Care Unit at UCSD’s VA Hospital.
