Financial aid to cover insurance
For UCLA students on financial aid, the Financial Aid Office
will add $415 to its per-student budget to cover additional costs
which may be brought on by university-required health
insurance.
Because of a new UC policy set last September, undergraduate
students will be required to have health insurance coverage
starting in the fall of 2001.
At UCLA, about a quarter of the students did not have health
insurance last year, said Michele Pearson, director of ancillary
services at the Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness
Center.Â
Uninsured students can purchase the Undergraduate Student Health
Insurance Package for $534 a year, a rate many times lower than
that of outside private health insurance companies, according to
Pearson.
But some UCLA students also expressed concerns about
ramifications of the policy.
“I guess it is a good idea, because you never know what
can happen to you in the future. But some students are totally
self-supporting, and they don’t have the money to buy health
insurance,” said Julie Tran, a second-year psychology
student.
Medical center still best in west
UCLA Medical Center ranks as the best hospital in the western
United States for the 12th consecutive year, according to a U.S.
News & World Report survey of 2,550 board-certified physicians
from across the nation.
The 12th annual guide to “America’s best
hospitals” will be on newsstands July 16.
UCLA Medical Center, ranked as the fifth-best hospital
nationally in the latest survey, is the only Southern California
hospital to earn a spot on the magazine’s “honor
roll” rankings during the 12 years U.S. News has conducted
the survey.
The honor roll recognizes hospitals that demonstrate excellence
across many specialties.
“This honor reinforces UCLA’s commitment to
excellence in patient care and medical advances,” said Dr.
Gerald S. Levey, provost and dean of the UCLA School of Medicine.
“We congratulate our faculty and staff for helping UCLA earn
this well-deserved distinction.”
A survey by the National Opinion Research Center at the
University of Chicago of 150 board-certified physicians in each of
the 17 medical specialties serves as the base for the U.S. News
rankings. Each physician ranks the leading hospitals in his or her
specialty.
“Judging the quality of medical care is an increasingly
important and complex issue,” said Dr. Michael Karpf,
director of the UCLA Medical Center. “This survey provides
one key source of information for consumers since it demonstrates
the respect for UCLA Medical Center by a peer group of physicians
nationwide. We’re honored by this recognition.”
UCLA ranked highly in numerous specialty areas, including a
number one ranking in geriatrics for the 10th consecutive year. In
the field of psychiatry, the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Hospital was
ranked best in the western United States and sixth in the
country.
UCs work to treat prostate cancer
UCLA is administering a $50 million prostate cancer treatment
program for uninsured men ““ Improving Access, Counseling and
Treatment for Californians with Prostate Cancer.
“In California, a total of 21,180 new cases of prostate
cancer were diagnosed in 1999,” said Dr. Jean B. deKernion,
chair of the UCLA Department of Urology and the Clark Urological
Center. “Timely treatment is critical with prostate cancer
and this program will help us reach more men in California than
ever before.”
UCLA, UC San Francisco and UC Davis are the three initial sites,
though UC Irvine and UC San Diego will join the ranks next year.
Each center will collaborate with other health centers in the state
as well as community providers.
Men who are ineligible for Medi-Cal or Medicare, have no or
insufficient health insurance, or have incomes under 200 percent
the federal poverty level may partake in the program.
“This is a major award for UCLA and the UC System,”
said Dr. Gerald S. Levey, UCLA’s provost of medical sciences
and dean of the school of medicine. “We are very pleased to
administer this program that will help improve men’s health
in California.”
Flight formation to lower gas costs
UCLA engineers are turning to nature to help solve a very
problem: the rising costs of fuel for air travel.
Researchers at The Henry Samueli School of Engineering and
Applied Science have designed an instrument that makes it easier
for pilots to fly multiple aircraft in a V-formation ““ much
like a flock of Canada geese ““ and they’re going to
test the new device on two F-18 fighter jets this month.
The engineers and their partners at NASA claim that by flying
planes in formation, fuel consumption can be reduced by 20 percent.
The device that UCLA is testing provides important data that makes
maintaining such a formation easier and safer.
Dubbed a “formation flight instrumentation system,”
this shoe-box-sized gadget measures the relative position, velocity
and attitude of each plane while it’s flown in formation.
According to Professor Jason Speyer, lead investigator for this
project at UCLA, the goal is to “fly planes in formation in
order to save fuel,” which could save some companies hundreds
of thousands of dollars each year.
The advantages of formation flight have long been known. By
flying in a V-shaped formation, each pilot can save energy by
“hiding” behind the wing of a neighboring plane where
there is less wind resistance, or drag.
Reports from Daily Bruin staff and wire services.