August 28, 2013 11:28:00 PM

The military academy of roughly 4,500 students, founded in 1845, is about 30 miles east of Washington, D.C., in Annapolis, Md.

It's "Anchors Aweigh" for three high school alumni from Yuba-Sutter as their ship, or school year, has officially set sail at the U.S. Naval Academy.

The officers-in-training, also know as midshipmen, are from River Valley, Yuba City and Sutter high schools.

"Having three people from Yuba-Sutter is very cool," said sophomore midshipman Mario Kohn, 19, a 2012 Yuba City High graduate.

Incoming freshman and recent Sutter High graduate Aiden Lang, 18, agreed.

"I am really proud of the other two Yuba-Sutter midshipmen," Lang said. "We represent our area well with an outstanding caliber of character."

Former U.S. Rep. Wally Herger nominated all three midshipmen.

"It takes a lot of people to get to the Naval Academy. It's not just parents; it is teachers and coaches," said Diane Sawyer, 53, mother to academy senior and 2008 River Valley High graduate Andrew Sawyer, 21. "We can really feel wonderful about our community because we do have teachers that can teach them academically and get them in with their grades."

Sawyer, of Yuba City, who is studying systems engineering and wants to be a pilot, had an older brother graduate from the academy in 2012. His father served in the Army for 24 years.

See the article here:
3 residents from Yuba-Sutter are in U.S. Naval Academy

Kansas University has 13 schools between its Lawrence campus and the KU Medical Center, and they are led by 12 deans. One school, the School of Engineering, has a new dean this school year. Another, the School of Medicine, is set to appoint a new dean during the year.

The Journal-World asked the deans of each of KUs schools about their plans, priorities and projects for the 2013-14 year:

Photo by Richard Gwin

John Gaunt, dean of the KU School of Architecture, came to KU to approach architecture and education in a way he had not done before. He now oversees the 1,000 students in the architecture program and teaches a free-hand drawing course, among other responsibilities.

School of Architecture, Design and Planning

Dean: John Gaunt

Appointed: 1994

Coming up: The school will be putting an emphasis on education and research that spans its three departments, especially in the area of environmental sustainability, which Gaunt said applies to architects, designers and planners alike. It will also continue to form partnerships with outside companies through its Center for Design Research, where students already are working on projects for corporations such as Bayer and Ford. And the school will help with interdisciplinary research on meeting the needs of retiring baby boomers.

Kansas University

Neeli Bendapudi

Read more here:
Deans discuss goals, priorities, upcoming projects

Serena Lau spent up to four hours a day for eight weeks this summer traveling between her Sunnyvale home and San Francisco to participate in a UCSF science internship program.

For this 17-year-old, whos heading off to Yale University in the fall, the long commute was worth it.

This program is really awesome, Serena said at the conclusion of the program earlier this month.

UCSFs Biomedical and Health Sciences Internship for High School Students (BHSI) aims to expose high school students to the professional world of science by matching them up with mentors through the Department of Pediatrics.

BHSI intern Mario Goins II poses for a photo with his poster presentation sum-

marizing his work this summer.

The program, which celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, has hosted about 165 students over the years. Its one of several educational outreach programs that UCSF offers teens during the summer to give them real-world experiences in science, medicine and health.

Serena, the only senior among this summers 15 BHSI interns, worked closely with her mentor, UCSF orthodontist Snehlata Oberoi, DDS, MDS, an associate professor of orofacial sciences. They developed and administered a survey to see if young patients with retainers would be receptive to a wireless temperature sensor and mobile app that would track and improve wearing time.

Having the chance to shadow her and do this project let me see a multifaceted life, said Serena, who conducted kid-friendly interviews for the survey and watched Oberoi treat youngsters with cleft palates and other deformities.

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Summer Programs Give High School Students a Firsthand Learning Experience

Don Binnie

GRAFTON One week from Saturday, the Midview Athletic Hall of Fame will induct its class of 2013.

Its an annual event that brings out proud Midview High School alumni, but this year the graduate known by many as Mr. Midview will not be in attendance.

Don Binnie, 75, of Grafton, the man behind the moniker, died Saturday at EMH Elyria Medical Center after a brief illness. His absence will undoubtedly be felt in the room, but those who knew him best said he would not want to steal the spotlight from the deserving alumni.

Don will surely be missed. He touched so many lives, and I cant think of a person who will be in the room that does not know him, said friend and neighbor Dick Bickel, also a hall of fame member.

Bickel said Binnie will be honored in the event program with a list of his many accomplishments.

His affinity for all things Midview began as part of the first graduating class in 1956. While at Midview, he participated in athletics, band, choir and theatre. He was a charter member and officer of the Athletic Booster Club.

In 1980, he helped organize the Midview Athletic Hall of Fame and was its president for seven years.

It was actually his idea from the ground up, said Tim Alcorn, a 1981 graduate and MAHOF board member. He really wanted it to happen. He was a Midview guy through and through. He knew Lorain and Elyria had halls of fame and there were so many great athletes that also came out of Midview.

Binnie was not just interested in the athletic endeavors of students, he served several terms on the Midview school board.

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Community mourns esteemed ‘Mr. Midview’

DANVILLE, PA. >> Dr. Ashlee Smith recently joined Geisinger Medical Center at Danville, Pa. as a gynecologic oncologist, specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of gynecologic cancers. She is trained in performing minimally invasive and robotic surgery.

Smith earned her medical degree in 2006 from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. She completed an obstetrics and gynecology residency in 2010 at Geisinger where she was appointed chief resident. Smith then completed a fellowship at Magee Womens Hospital of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in June.

During her residency Smith worked as resident reporter at the American College of Osteopathic Obstetricians and Gynecologists Convention and served on the Geisinger Medical Education Committee. While in school, Smith was the recipient of numerous awards including the Ruth Wadel Cathie Award, Sigma Alpha Omicron Award and the Alumni Association Award. She has written various publications and given several presentations.

Smith is a graduate of Madison Central School and St. Lawrence University. She is the daughter of Myron and Kristin Smith of Munnsville.

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Madison Central School grad joins Geisinger Medical Center in Pennsylvania

WESTWOOD

The following Westwood High School Class of 2013 graduates received college scholarships: Michael Syzykowski (Southern Methodist Universitys Founders Scholarship), Colette Terhune, (University of Arkansas Alumni Association Scholarship and Distinguished Scholar Scholarship from University of Oklahoma), Jennifer Tippets (Westwood High School Softball Scholarship), Emma Tipps (Westwood Softball Scholarship, McKissick Scholars Award from University of Southern California, Academic Heritage Scholarship from Auburn University, Presidents Gold Scholarship from Baylor University and New Arkansan Non-Resident Tuition Award from the University of Arkansas), Jessica Tom (Academic Honors Scholarship from University of Texas in Dallas and Presidential Scholar Scholarship from Tulane University), Tracy Tran (Grisham Middle School PTA Scholarship), and

Luis Valencia (Exemplary Presidents Achievement Scholarship from the University of Texas at Austin, College Board Recognition Award from Texas A&M University, College of Agriculture and Life Science Award from Texas A&M, Opportunity Award from Texas A&M, Merit Scholarship from Baylor University and El Amistad Club of Round Rock Scholarship), Sarah Valencia (Westwood Basketball Booster Club Scholarship), Rachel Van Der Berg (Deans Gold Scholarship from Baylor University and Ruter Scholar Scholarship from Southwestern University), and

Victoria Walter (Westwood Cheerleading Scholarship), Bradley Watson (football scholarship to Wake Forest University), Joshua West (University of Houston Scholarship), Abigail Westover (Balcones Country Club Womens Scholarship, Westwood Choir Booster Club Senior Scholarship and Parent Teacher Student Association Scholarship), Leo Wood (PTSA Scholarship, Texas A&M University-Galveston Academic Scholarship and Town and Country Optimist Scholarship), Russell Yang (National Merit and 3M Scholarship), James Yoon (PTSA Scholarship and Round Rock ISD Partners in Education Foundation Scholarship) and Russell Zacher (Westwood Choir Booster Club Senior Scholarship and Foundation in Excellence Scholarship from the University of Alabama) and Eric Zhang (National Merit Scholarship).

ST. DAVIDS FOUNDATION

St. Davids Foundation presented scholarships to nine graduating high school seniors, including one valedictorian, from the Round Rock area to aid in their pursuit of careers in health care.

The 2013 St. Davids Neal Kocurek Scholarship recipients, along with their major course of study and university, include: Anjalee Choudhury, biology, University of Texas at Austin (2013 Cedar Ridge High School graduate); Jamie Choe, biochemistry, Abilene Christian University (2013 McNeil High School graduate); Sheng Qing Lin (valedictorian), biomedical engineering, University of Texas at Austin (2013 McNeil High School graduate); Kevin Nguyen, biology, University of Texas at Austin (2013 McNeil High School graduate); Chelsea Clark, biology, Texas Tech University (2013 Round Rock High School graduate); Youmean Lee, chemical engineering, Texas A&M University (2013 Round Rock High School graduate); Alisha Mathews, biology, University of Texas at Dallas (2013 Round Rock High School graduate); Jasmine Seo, biomedical sciences, Texas A&M University (2013 Westwood High School graduate); and Aaron Smith, biochemistry/genetics (Texas A&M University).

The St. Davids Neal Kocurek Scholarship Fund provides each student with up to $7,500 per year for up to four years for undergraduate students, and up to four years for graduate studies and medical school at Texas colleges and universities, according to a news release from scholarship officials.

Students attending Texas community colleges will receive up to $4,000 per year. Applicants must be graduating seniors within the school districts of Travis, Hays, Williamson, Bastrop or Caldwell counties, and in pursuit of careers in health care.

TEACHERS LAW SCHOOL

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Campus briefs

When he was in medical school, a friend told Dr. Richard Wender he should consider the field of family medicine. The appeal was instant.

I liked the idea of being someones physician, who they would name when someone asked, Whos your doctor? he explains. You treat all ages, he adds, while, from the patients standpoint, You dont have to know whats wrong before you come in.

I valued the doctor-patient relationship you could form, he said. I was interested in preventive care. Primary care is where you get a chance to do that.

Wender has been following that passion for more than 30 years, the past 11 as Alumni Professor and Chairman of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University.

Now, you might say, he is expanding his practice in a big way. The Merion Station resident was recently named to a newly-created position with the American Cancer Society. A longtime volunteer and former national president of the organization, he has been tapped to be its first chief cancer control officer.

In an announcement, the organization said the position was created as a part of the societys work to align resources to focus on the most effective strategies to fight cancer on a national and global scale.

Wender will officially take up his new duties full-time at the ACSs headquarters in Atlanta in November. He calls this a pivotal moment in redesigning how we deliver health care in the United States. There are outstanding opportunities to accelerate the war against cancer by working with the [health-care] system and our partners to make sure everyone has access to the right type of prevention and counseling, he said in an interview. That can be done, he said, by taking a sharper focus on the critical areas of prevention, cancer screening and early access to care. We want to take this fight globally.

A Pittsburgh native and Princeton University graduate, Wender received his medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1979. He began residency at Thomas Jefferson, going on to direct the hospitals residency program in family medicine for 10 years. He was named vice chair of his department in 1995 and chair in 2002.

All of my career has been here in Philadelphia, he said. Friends encouraged Wender and wife Diane, who holds a law degree from Penn and currently serves as the universitys research integrity officer, to settle in Lower Merion. The couple has a daughter who attended and graduated Lower Merion schools. What could be better than living seven miles from work in such a beautiful area?

Wender said, in addition to his patient practice, his primary academic focus has been on cancer prevention and screening. He has served in a variety of volunteer capacities with the American Cancer Society for 26 years, since a colleague asked him to help start a newsletter for primary care doctors. It became a national publication. Continued...

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Dr. Richard Wender named ACS's first-ever Chief Cancer Control Officer

wwltv.com

Posted on August 20, 2013 at 12:37 PM

Updated today at 5:17 PM

Dominic Massa / EyewitnessNews

NEWORLEANS- Dr. Charles Farris Jr., a nationally-respected obstetrician and gynecologist, who delivered nearly 15,000 babies in New Orleans during his 60-year career, while caring for their mothers and researching womens health issues from the child rearing years through menopause, died Monday of congestive heart failure. He was 87.

WWL-TV medical reporter Meg Farris is among Dr. Farris six children.

Dr. Farris remained active up until the past month, still driving to his Uptown practice daily and seeing patients, some of whom he had delivered as babies more than 50 years earlier. He delivered nearly 15,000 thousand of babies during his career as a physician at Ochsner Baptist Medical Center, formerly known as Southern Baptist Hospital, on Napoleon Avenue in Uptown New Orleans.

Dr. Farris was board certified in obstetrics & gynecology with special certification as a menopause clinician specializing in hormone replacement therapy. He was internationally known for his research into the much-debated therapy for women entering menopause, a treatment he studied and wrote about extensively and strongly supported. He was also a senior lecturer at Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Australia and a member of the International Menopause Society.

Dr. Farris was a longtime member of the physicians staff at Ochsner Baptist Hospital, even serving as a member of the executive committee of the hospital in the 1980s. He was also a former president of the New Orleans Gynecological and Obstetrical Society.

Born in Leland, Miss., in the heart of the Mississippi delta, Dr. Farris graduated from the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) and attended Ole Miss medical school before earning his medical degree from the University of Tennessee. He completed his internship and residency at Charity Hospital in New Orleans.

Read the rest here:
Dr. Charles Farris Jr., noted local OB/GYN and women's health expert, dies at 87

Schenectady

Nearly three years after settling a dispute over money bequeathed to the hospital, Ellis has opened a sparkling 17,280-square-foot school that its director says will make area students better nurses.

"We're being well-positioned to move nursing education forward in our community," said Marilyn Stapleton, director of the new Belanger School of Nursing, which opened to much fanfare on the campus of Ellis Health Center in the Health Services building at 650 McClellan St. "We are setting the stage for our preferred future."

That future, she explained during a phone interview, includes eight out of 10 nurses obtaining their baccalaureate degree, a standard the profession has set as a goal.

"We are taking some finite steps to educate nurses toward baccalaureate education," said Stapleton, adding that the school plans to partner in the future with a local liberal arts college so students can earn their bachelor's degrees.

To that end, Belanger features a skills lab and a high-fidelity simulation room complete with a mannequin that can "breathe, blink, cough, and talk" and also has a pulse and vital signs" to enhance the learning experience of students.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday attracted politicians, including Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy and Sen. Sen. Cecilia Tkaczyk, as well as medical professionals.

Stapleton said the theme of her message to them and others in the crowd of more than 150 people was new beginnings.

The facility was formerly the Ellis School of Nursing on Erie Boulevard.

In 2010, Ellis Medicine paid $5.6 million and agreed to rename its nursing school as part of a settlement with the family of John and Anna Nordgreen Belanger, who alleged Ellis misused a major bequest made to the hospital in the 1970s.

Original post:
Belanger nursing school opens