Lab training program may be closed

A program that trains UA undergraduates to work in hospital laboratories is facing closure as the Arizona Health Sciences Center looks for places to trim the budget.

The UA Medical Technology Program, which trains students to do the lab work that enables doctors to identify illnesses and prescribe treatment, may be shut down due to lagging state funding, health sciences sources said.

Each year 18-20 students earn their Bachelor of Science degrees in the program, which runs on a $370,000 budget.

At least two of the programâs five instructors have started lobbying everyone from the governor to UA vice president for health sciences Dr. Ray Woosley to keep the program running.

Woosley recently explained his funding priorities to the medical technology staff, said Harold Potter, director of the Medical Technology Program.

The tech program was not at the top of his list. Nursing, pharmacy, medicine and public health were, Potter said.

ãThey told us that they certainly donât want to cut us, but weâre under consideration,ä instructor Joyce Timson said.

Woosley was not available for comment.

Medical technologists perform more than 1,500 diagnostic tests in Tucson hospitals, from testing blood sugar levels to determining whether anthrax is present in a substance.

A national shortage of medical technologists is even more severe than the nursing shortage because of low graduation rates. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says there is a need for 9,000 new medical technologists each year, but there are only 4,900 graduates in the field each year.

The only other Medical Technology program in Arizona, located at ASU, graduates even fewer people each year

Web site addresses legislative issues

In an effort to inform the UA community of legislative activities, the Office of Government Relations has developed a new AdvoCATS Web site.

The site at http://www.uagrad.org/advocats/home.html lets members of the UA community know about advocacy activities, legislative issues and information about what they can do to help UA.

It also provides information about upcoming elections and tells viewers who the state legislators are.

ãWeâre telling people how they can make a difference,ä said Charlene Ledet, director of the legislative advocacy programs.

She said it is important for UA staff and students to get involved with the state legislature because such a large portion of UAâs budget comes from state funds.

Ledet said the Web site does not tell visitors what position to take on an issue.

The site informs visitors of upcoming issues and gives them the necessary tools to contact their state legislators and voice their opinions, including records that show how legislators voted on various bills, she said.

ãThis is a very easy way to do it. They only have to make a phone call,ä she said.

Ledet said the new Web site will be a valuable tool in encouraging UA community members to take a stance on state issues that affect the university.

Engineering grads win software contest

Three UA Industrial Engineering graduates took first place in the eighth annual IEE/Rockwell Software Student Simulation Contest in Orlando, Fla.

Lisa Hardegree, Mark Hutzler and Gavin Ekins used a computer simulation to develop a plan for a fictional hotel owner that detailed how big the hotelâs call center should be and how many people should be hired to staff it.

ãWe had to tell them the number of calls they could get through each day with a certain number of staff members,ä Hardegree said.

The students credited their win to good use of animation and the teamâs ability to translate technical information into concepts that could be easily understood by non-engineers.

The three split aspects of the project among themselves. Hardegree worked on the simulation, while Hutzler handled animation and Ekins did statistical studies of the data.

ãOur undergraduate work was a big factor in doing well,ä Hutzler said.

All three students are UA industrial engineering seniors who graduated in May. Their faculty adviser on the project was Young Jun Son, an assistant professor in Systems and Industrial Engineering.