A U.S. senator toured the UA campus Friday afternoon and was briefed on three science programs requesting funding from the federal government.
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., heard short presentations from professors and directors of the College of Nursing, the Arizona Telemedicine Program and the biomedical-Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems program.
Because of a tight schedule that Kyl referred to as a "whirlwind," the senator spent about 20 minutes from his two-hour visit at each site. Consequently, each presenter had to speak quickly and summarize a significant amount of detailed research in only a few minutes.
As the professors described the applications of each of the programs, Kyl joked about having to absorb everything in such a short amount of time.
"I think I have about 98 percent of it committed to memory," Kyl said.
All kidding aside, he said he understood the essentials and was "enormously impressed."
"The benefit of being a senator is that it's like going to school every day," Kyl said. "I learn something new every day, and (today) it's fun to hear what you all are doing."
Judy Bernas, associate vice president of the Office of Federal Relations, which arranged Kyl's visit to campus, said the purpose of the trip was to highlight the new and "exciting" research being done at the UA and educate the senator about major programs.
"Senators are so busy, it's always a great opportunity when they get to spend a little bit of time on campus," said Bernas, who called the visit a success.
The three programs are requesting a total of $10.5 million from the congressional delegation, which will decide whether to fund the programs when federal budgets are completed later this year. The federal government contributes $420 million to the university budget through Pell Grants and other funding, Bernas said.
The College of Nursing is requesting $1.5 million, the Arizona Telemedicine Program is requesting $3 million, and the biomedical-MEMS is requesting $6 million, Bernas said.
Eniko T. Enikov, assistant professor in the College of Engineering, explained the need for funding within the college of engineering in order to "establish a world-class bio-MEMS center and program."
Enikov, along with engineering professor Yitshak Zohar and department head John McGrath, used a color poster to outline the programs needing funding and to explain the applications, such as devices to detect and treat cancer and creating bio-sensors to prevent bio-terrorist attacks.
Kyl also sat in on a presentation by Ronald Weinstein, director of the Arizona Telemedicine Program and president of the American Telemedicine Association, on telemedicine applications at the UA.
Weinstein said the program, founded in 1996, has been extremely successful, and the university will benefit from improving the network of 150 sites by using new telemedicine devices and continuing the program's clinical research.
The program has already received $1.2 million, used to equip the UA college of medicine's T-Health facility in Phoenix, and is requesting the remaining $1.8 million for next year's budget, Weinstein said.
For the final program, Kyl went to the Patient Care Learning Center in the College of Nursing where Dean Marjorie Isenberg introduced the senator to "Sim Man," a computer-programmed dummy that breathes, coughs, and simulates the sounds and symptoms of a real patient.
Isenberg said the lab was built in 1979 to accommodate 150 students, but is currently used by 340 undergraduate and graduate students. Practice in the lab is necessary because it gives students confidence before going into a hospital, but those who try to use it often find it booked, she said.
The skill lab also has fake arms and dummies for students to practice skills such as inserting IVs, said Erinne Juszkiewicz, a fourth-semester nursing student who was drawing blood from a fake arm in the lab.
Juszkiewicz said she was glad Kyl visited because with the shortage of nurses in Arizona, it's good to know people are taking interest.
"It's a really small space considering the number of nursing students who use it," Juszkiewicz said. "The practice we get from it is so helpful, it would be nice to have even more opportunities to use it."
While on campus, the senator also participated in a roundtable discussion on the KUAT-TV "Arizona Illustrated" program, and was asked questions about topics in Arizona, such as Minuteman volunteers, protesters on the Arizona-Mexico border who claim the U.S. border policy is weak, and Social Security reform.