AURORA, Colo. - A faculty committee asked to look into the experience of minorities at the University of Colorado's School of Dental Medicine found the school has such a bad reputation that potential black students are advised not to apply.

The committee reported that there is "A generalized perception that the climate is especially adverse to African Americans."

"These findings reveal a need to address the climate as related to race and ethnicity, as well as other categories of identity (e.g., gender, nationality, social class, religion and sexual orientation)," the report states.

In their report issued this week, four CU staff members strongly encouraged the school to immediately address certain action items, including:

Researchers stated that there is a recurring sentiment among alumni of color that students of color experience "routine, ongoing discrimination in the School, to the extent that potentials applicants are being dissuaded from considering the School."

According to a survey, 24 percent of students said they witnessed other students making disparaging remarks or exhibiting hostile behavior toward minority groups; 11 percent said the same was done by faculty members.

Twenty percent said the school had a sexist environment; 13 percent said it was racist; and 12 percent said it was biased against certain sexual orientations.

There have been 10 black graduates of the school since 1977, compared with 1,600 white graduates, according to our partners at the Denver Post, who spoke to Eugene Brooks, an associate professor at the school.

CU's dental school is located at the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora.

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Report: Minorities wary of CU dental school

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Eight students will be honored during Spring 2014 Commencement ceremonies as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Alumni Association's Outstanding Graduates.

Every spring and fall semester, deans from eight academic colleges each nominate a student as an Outstanding Graduate, based on leadership, scholarship and service. A selection committee of the Alumni Association interviews the candidates and selects one to receive the overall award.

The overall Outstanding Graduate will be announced during the Spring Commencement General Assembly on Saturday, May 17, at the Cajundome.

Here's a look at this semester's Outstanding Graduates.

Jacob Broussard is the Outstanding Graduate for the College of the Arts.

He is a visual arts major with a concentration in painting.

Broussard has a 3.89 GPA,has been on the Dean's List, and is a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.

He received the Spark Student Scholarship, the Marvin and Anne Dubose/Lafayette Art Association Endowed Scholarship, TOPS Performance Scholarship, the Distinguished Freshman Scholarship, and the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts Scholarship.

His work has been displayed at numerous art shows and exhibitions, including the University of Louisiana System's "Academic Summit Invitational Student Exhibition,""The Big Easel Preview Show," and "Under 30: Louisiana's Fresh Crop of Talent."He's a member of the Lafayette Art Association.

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UL Alumni Associations Outstanding Graduates

Joe McBride and Adam Fine have been selected as Masters of Ceremonies when Butte Central celebrates 100 years of athletics later this year.

The two former student-athletes from Butte Central are separated by about four generations.

McBride graduated from Boys Central High School, as it was known back then, in 1960. He worked in the investment business until retiring and returning to Butte in 2011. He is currently the President of the Butte Central Education Foundation Board of Directors.

Fine is a four-year letter winner who graduated from Butte Central in 2008. The former two-time First Team All-State selection also played football at Montana Tech, and is preparing to attend medical school in the fall.

Tickets for the 100th anniversary banquet celebration, scheduled for July 16 at the Maroon Activities Center, are available through the Central Foundation Office.

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Central student-athlete alumni selected as Masters of Ceremonies

Law-breaking Lowndes deputy isn't the norm Law-breaking Lowndes deputy isn't the norm

Updated: Wednesday, May 7 2014 3:41 PM EDT2014-05-07 19:41:16 GMT

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Updated: Wednesday, May 7 2014 12:43 PM EDT2014-05-07 16:43:15 GMT

Dozens of Alumni who graduated from Dougherty County High School got together to celebrate this weekend.

It's a reunion and a time to reconnect with old friends and do some networking. The alumni cookout was held at Heath Park on Maple Street.

This year the class of 1986 is helping out a Dougherty High School Senior Ricardo Sloan who recently received an Athletic Scholarship.

"We know that once you get a scholarship and go to school there is other things that you need money for that's where the class of 1986 steps in," says Sebon Burns, with the class of 1986.

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Newswise MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. Tufts University today announced that it has licensed a novel silk technology for the treatment of chronic skin wounds to Akeso Biomedical, Inc., an early stage medical device company. The technology was invented by David L. Kaplan, Ph.D., Stern Family Professor of Engineering at Tufts University, and his team of researchers at Tufts School of Engineering.

Akeso hopes that the new silk technology will be able to improve wound healing in patients with leg ulcers and diabetic ulcers, where there is a significant, unmet need. Each year millions of Americans seek treatment for these chronic wounds, and many remain unhealed even after six months of treatment.

The significant advantages of the Tufts technology include the ability to control the rate of degradation of the silk, and produce silk solutions that can be processed into different formats from water, including films and sponges, and used to deliver active agents that can speed healing.

Akeso joins a growing number of promising new silk technology based ventures spun out by Tufts Tech Transfer in the Office for Technology Licensing and Industry Collaboration.

Were looking forward to the transition of this silk technology from our laboratories to the clinic and commercial products. We believe this is an exciting biomedical application for this technology, which leverages the unique properties of this protein-based biomaterial in new ways, said Kaplan, who chairs the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Tufts and also holds additional Tufts appointments in the Department of Chemistry, Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences and School of Dental Medicine.

Tufts University, Tufts Medical Center and Akeso plan to collaborate on the clinical development of the new silk-based products. Mark Iafrati, M.D., chief of vascular surgery at Tufts Medical Center, will lead the pre-clinical effort.

Im very pleased to be working with this exciting technology because it has the potential to address a very significant problem in healthcare, by providing a much-needed treatment for those patients with hard-to-heal chronic wounds, said Iafrati.

Said Simon Williams, CEO of Akeso, I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with David Kaplan and Mark Iafrati on this exciting project, and look forward to developing new products that can help the many people who suffer from treatment-resistant wounds.

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Tufts University Licenses Silk Biomaterials Technology to Akeso Biomedical

OSWEGO With more than 1,600 SUNY Oswego students eligible to take part in the colleges three commencement ceremonies on May 17, many have already found their directions before donning their caps and gowns.

Physics major Patrick Howard will head to medical school, pursuing a Ph.D. in biophysics at New York University.

Physics major Patrick Howard will pursue a Ph.D. in biophysics at New York University after his May graduation from Oswego. He is one of many soon-to-be graduates who have found career paths before they will walk in May 17 commencement ceremonies.

Biophysics is the use of techniques and principles in physics to do biological research, he explained. In the physics department I was able to find professors that I really enjoyed working with who were also genuinely invested in the outcome of my career. I also had the chance to live in Taiwan during the summer of 2013 to do biophysics research at the graduate level.

Howards experiences also include research funded by the National Science Foundation and the campus, presenting at the American Physics Society conference in Denver, planning on-campus scientific conferences and serving as a physics tutor and teaching assistant.

I was given as many opportunities to get involved as I asked for, Howard said. Thats the key thing: I put a lot into the physics program and I got everything I wanted out of it.

Business success

Human resource management major Alycia White will head to Knoxville, Tenn., to work in the human resources operations department of Scripps Networks Interactive, which owns channels that include the Food Network, HGTV and the Travel Channel. She said the many opportunities Oswegos School of Business offers plugged her into the future.

Being able to connect with previous Oswego grads who now work in the field has not only taught me networking skills, but has also provided a clearer picture of what a day in the life is like for HR professionals, White said. The environment at Oswego has really supported students who take initiative, whether it be within student organizations or classrooms. My experience here has fostered a go-getter attitude that will help take me anywhere I want to go.

Before graduation, MBA/accounting major Kristin Metzger had a job lined up in the audit department of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Rochester.

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SUNY Oswego students poised for post-graduation moves

MONTREAL An external review done of the admissions process for the faculty of medicine at McGill University concludes that the faculty has taken a defensible path with changes it has made to how students are selected and in its emphasis on diversity, but also hints at the frustration and unhappiness the new direction has sparked among some of McGills traditional stakeholders.

That frustration may have translated into a decline in donations as the universitys financial vulnerability, particularly in light of seeking alumni and potential donors, is mentioned no less than seven times in the 13-page report.

The review which was commissioned last spring, conducted last fall and made public this spring makes recommendations about how the faculty should improve the way it communicates its message and on the process surrounding admissions.

It suggests that the assistant dean of Admissions, Equity and Diversity, Dr. Saleem Razack, should not also serve as chair of the admissions committee or chair of the multiple mini interview (MMI) review committee to avoid the appearance of combining roles that should be entirely separate.

However, the review doesnt make recommendations about the admissions process itself namely, the criteria used for selection purposes, the way the MMIs are conducted or how the CV and narrative required by applicants should be assessed.

When asked about that, Razack said the reviewers were very happy with the way the process runs. He also said that all of the recommendations are being studied with a goal of implementing them, but while he probably will soon step down as chair of the MMI review committee, he couldnt give a clear answer about the admissions committee.

But one recommendation that likely wont be implemented any time soon was the one to increase the number of interviews of applicants, because it is more palatable to be rejected after an interview. Razack said while he would love to grant more interviews, it also requires more resources and may not be feasible.

A story in The Gazette last summer described a palpable frustration among many in the urban anglophone community who believe the facultys increasing emphasis on diversity has put them at a disadvantage. They believe that such selection criteria as empathy, intelligence and dedication have been replaced with a growing emphasis on parental income, skin colour, language and rurality.

And with only about eight to 10 per cent of applicants getting in to medical school these days, a spot at a prestigious school like McGill is a little like winning the lottery hence the fierce debate surrounding the admissions process.

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Newswise Today, the Medical Alumni Association of the University of Maryland School of Medicine (SOM) along with notable national experts review the cause and end of life issues surrounding the death of one of the most prominent figures of the 20th Century: former First Lady and leading womens and civil rights advocate Eleanor Roosevelt as part of the 21st Annual Historical Clinicopathological Conference.

The Historical Clinicopathalogical Conference, established in 1995, has evaluated more than 20 historical figures including Joan of Arc, Alexander the Great and Vladimir Lenin among others. The 2007 conference focused on treatment outcomes for President Abraham Lincoln, had he suffered the same injury today, to determine if the historical diagnosis, treatment and outcomes would have been different with the use of modern knowledge and technology.

The Historical Clinicopathological Conference is sponsored by the SOM and the Medical Alumni Association. Additional notable participants in this years conference include Daniel Sulmasy, M.D., Ph.D., the Kilbride-Clinton Professor of Medicine and Ethics at the University of Chicago, and Christopher Brick, M.A., editor of The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers documentary history series.

Known as an avid supporter of civil liberties and the assertion of the rights of women, Roosevelt, the subject of this years conference developed a reputation as a tireless worker who was rarely ill. Her attending physician at the time of her death, Dr. A. David Gurewitsch, gave a diagnosis of aplastic anemia and conducted test upon test, driving the First Lady to beg for a hastened end to her life. Experts from UM SOM are now re-evaluating her diagnosis due to the wide range of symptoms she exhibited and her generally excellent health, while also reviewing and considering the end of life and right to die issues that surrounded the final period of her life.

Along with her husband, Eleanor Roosevelt remains one of the twentieth centurys most iconic figures. In 1999 the Gallup organization drew on more than six decades worth of public opinion data to rate FDR the sixth most admired person of the previous hundred years, and ERas she often signed letters to close friends and associatesthe ninth.

Unfortunately, Eleanor Roosevelts role in history remains poorly understood, in good part because period scholarship has tended to downplay or overlook entirely the remarkable years of public service and achievement that followed her husbands presidency, said Christopher Brick, M.A., an editor of The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers documentary history series. With concerted effort, however, the records that document this final phase of Eleanor Roosevelts life and career are coming to light, and as this years Clinicopathological Conference demonstrates, they bear great relevance not just to her time, but our own as well.

Leading the evaluation of the former First Lady is Philip A. Mackowiak, M.D., M.B.A., Clinical Professor of Medicine and the Carolyn Frenkil and Selvin Passen Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Maryland School of Medicine who is also a 1970 graduate of the medical school. Dr. Mackowiak is well known for his evaluation of other historical figures and the clinical pathology of their deaths, including a recent evaluation of William Henry Harrison. He is also the author of Diagnosing Giants: Solving the Medical Mysteries of Thirteen Patients Who Changed the World.

Identifying the ailments and deaths of key historical figures helps us to understand the narration of socio-political events and environments, said Dr. Mackowiak. Sometimes the truth is more fantastic than the myth. Gaining this understanding helps us unlock the past by discovering ways the future, and the technology we possess today, can help more accurately tell the story of significant historical figures.

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Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt's Cause of Death and End of Life Issues Examined During 21st Annual Historical ...

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Newswise ANN ARBOR, Mich. A painter recovering from burns over 80 percent of his body. A young girl getting cancer treatment tailored to her DNA. A team of scientists working to cure heart rhythm disorders. A doctor probing the origins of Alzheimers disease. A medical student on the cusp of a promising career.

The faces and stories of these extraordinary people show why the University of Michigan Health System has earned its national reputation for excellent patient care, research and education.

Now, theyre illustrating how donations of all sizes can help transform health care and biomedical science well into the future. Those gifts can come from patients and their families, from U-M faculty, staff and alumni, and from families, philanthropists and businesses that believe in the Health Systems ability to create the future of medicine through discovery.

A new web site, http://www.medicineneedsvictors.org, features the stories of some of these remarkable patients, professionals and students and information on giving.

More than 46,000 donors have already contributed to the Health Systems Victors for Michigan campaign to support medical research, patient care and medical education. With its $1 billion goal, it is the Health Systems most ambitious fundraising effort ever, and is a significant portion of the $4 billion university-wide Victors for Michigan fundraising campaign that kicked off last November.

The fundraising effort will have a profound impact on the care of seriously ill or injured children and adults, on medical discoveries made by scientific teams, on the careers of current and future doctors and medical scientists, and on UMHS facilities where care, discovery and learning happen.

According to Richard Rogel, the U-M alumnus and major donor who chairs the UMHS campaign, Everyone here has a passion, a goal they want to achieve, a way to make the world a better place. Its tremendous. We have top researchers, great administrators, fabulous students all dedicated to saving lives. This is Collaboration University. Ive seen it in action, and everybody can be a part of it. This campaign is just the beginning of what we can accomplish together.

UMHS campaign co-chair and major U-M donor A. Alfred Taubman says, By investing in research and supporting the people who can push the boundaries of medicine, we will save lives. And by expanding U-Ms capabilities as one of the nations top translational research institutions, we will help drive a resurgence in the Michigan economy, establishing the region as a global epicenter for the biomedical sector.

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Medicine Needs Victors: $1B UMHS Fundraising Effort Supports Medical Research, Patient Care & Education