October 9, 2003 -
October 8, 2003 - Last months shootings in a Cold Spring school and at the Hennepin County Government Center recently have focused attention on gun violence. Medical professionals say the problem goes well beyond those headline-grabbing incidents, but they've been struggling to find the right approach to reduce gun injuries and deaths. Dr. Jon Hallberg is medical director of the Primary Care center at the University of Minnesota. He says gun violence should be treated like any other public health issue.
October 3, 2003 - It's been two years since anthrax-tainted mail terrorized the nation in the wake of the September 11 attacks. Over the course of several weeks, five people died and 17 others became sick after being exposed to anthrax. No one has been arrested in those attacks. Michael OH-ster-holm is the Director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. He says one of the most sobering discoveries to come out of the anthrax investigation is how easy it is to disperse the dangerous POWDER.
October 2, 2003 - This summer, a commission appointed by President Bush called for transformation of the patchwork of federal and state programs that often hinders access to mental health care. The study also called for equal insurance coverage of mental illnesses. William Cope Moyers says any such changes ought to include addiction treatment. Moyers is a vice president for the Hazelden foundation, an addiction treatment facility based in Center City. He says that addiction treatment has been excluded from coverage of mental illnesses, even though a large percentage of individuals who wrestle with addiction also have mental health problems.
October 1, 2003 -
October 1, 2003 - Critics of escalating prescription prices say one of the factors driving up costs in this country is advertising. The U-S and New Zealand are the only two nations that permit drug advertising. The U-S Food and Drug Administration regulates the ads, and invited researchers to testify last week on the practical effects of the advertising. Dr. Jon Hallberg was among those who testified. He's the medical director of the primary care center at the University of Minnesota, and our regular medical and health analyst here on Minnesota Public Radio's All Things Considered. He says drug advertising certainly gets people in the clinic door.
October 1, 2003 - A national study confirms what many Twin Cities commuters already know -- they're spending more time stuck in traffic. The study out of the Texas Transportation Institute estimates the average Twin Cities commuter spent 53 hours tied up in traffic jams in 2001, the most recent year with available figures. Among the 75 urban areas studied, the Twin Cities ranks second for the pace at which congestion is worsening. The study suggests metro areas with larger mass transit systems have lower levels of congestion. Tim HENK-uhl is the program manager for the Minnesota Department of Transportation's Metro District. He says the report verifies the need for a more diversified long-term approach to transit.
September 30, 2003 - The Governor says Montreal and Minnesota have similar strengths, and should cooperate in the area of biotechnology after a wrapping up a trade mission with the Canadian province.
September 25, 2003 - Cold Spring is not the first small town to wrestle with the trauma of a fatal shooting at the local high school. And there are lessons for Cold Spring residents from those who gone through this. On April 28, 1999, a fourteen-year old boy killed one student and wounded another at W.R. Myers High School in Taber Alberta. Taber is a town of about 7000 people in southern Alberta; it was the first high school shooting in Canada in 20 years. The suspect had dropped out of school after he was severely ostracized by his classmates. He had over 400 rounds of ammunition on him that day, and he did not have a relationship with his victims. Kevin Cameron is a school counselor in Taber. He led the crisis response team on that day and has since become a national expert on school trauma recovery. He says a community must be patient and open during the process of healing.
September 24, 2003 - Author Tracy Kidder has made his name by writing about ordinary people's lives and finding drama where few others would think to look. He established himself with "The Soul of a New Machine," a book detailing the human interactions behind the rush to create a new computer. It won Kidder both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and has since become the definitive book about the technology industry. He's also written about building a home, school children, a nursing home and the town of Northhampton, Massachusetts. Kidder's latest work, however, details the extraordinary. "Mountains Beyond Mountains" tells the story of Dr. Paul Farmer, an infectious-disease specialist and anthropologist who's made caring for the world's poorest and sickest his life's work. Kidder followed him to Peru, Cuba, Siberia and Haiti, chronicling his tireless efforts to bring medicine to those most in need.