1994_11 The Daily Collegian November 1994

              Page 4
WS
Friday, November 4, 1994
Nursing graduate program options dropped
By David John Chavez
At the Oct 18 Graduate Com¬
mittee meeting, a request was
made and passed for the nursing
department to delete two of its
options under die Master of Sci¬
ence degree program at CSU,
Fresno.
The request wasmadeby Dean
ofGraduate Studies Vivian Vidoli
and approved by Richard D.
Ford, the dean of the School of
Health and Social Work.
The options to be removed are
nursing administration arid nurs¬
ing education.
The removal of
the two options
doesnotmeanthat
students currently
in the options will
have to transfer to -
other schools.
It means that
there will be no
other graduate students admit- %
ted under these two options. The   .graduate studies and a full-time
new sy*stem will go into effect    French professor,
next f all. 1$ this a step backward        "This is what happens to all
for the nursing department? programs from time to time,
Not according to Dr. David    when options are deleted or
Ross, assistant to die dean of    added," explained Ross. "At the
"This is what happens to all pro¬
grams from time to time, when
options are deleted or added at the
moment, it is not a sufficient area."
moment, it is not a
sufficient area."
There are cur¬
rently six options
in the nursing
graduate studies
program: pre¬
mising, nursing,
administration/
supervision, clini¬
cal specializing,
education and primary cafre/
nurse practitioner. Themost
popular optionin die program is
primary care/practitioner, which
has a total of 52 students. The
smallest program is pre-nursing,
with only one student Adminis¬
tration/sur>ervision has three stu¬
dents in its program, and educa¬
tion has only seven students.
Does" this also mean that the
school will never see these two
options again?
Ross didn't think so.
"Justbecausetheprogramhas
been discontinued, it does not
mean we will never art it back,"
said Ross. "Right now the de¬
partment can count on the other
areas of the nursing program."
1 here are currently 77students
in die graduate program in nurs¬
ing.
Alzheimer's, silently erasing
the memories of the elderly
By Lai Yen Wong
Many people have seen relatives and friends
become.disorientated as they advance in age. They
can become forgetful. Some don't recognize their
surroundings, or even the people around them.
Others revert to a time when the worid wasn't a
ball of confusion, a time when they felt safe in the
knowledge of the familiar.
In many cases, these individuals are diagnosed
with Alzheimer's disease.
There's a silent cry for help among those who
have fallen victim to this illness. Dr. Fen-Lei Chang
hears those cries.
Chang, a graduate of the University of Illinois,
has/ecentfy been appointed as the new director of
the University of California's Alzheimer's Disease
Center of Central California. He and his staff are on
a mission to find die causes and cures for a disease
which mostly affects the aging and elderly.
The Alzheimer's Disease Center is qne of nine
research centers estaFGshed in California to better
diagnose and treat Alzheimer's and other related
Alzheimer's disease is a condition which si¬
lently and slowly deteriorates mental functions
such as memory.
In the advanced stages of the disease,
Alzheimer's patients forget who and where they
are. Family members and people they've known
for years can, in a matter of weeks, become utter
strangers to them.
AWwugh Alzheimer's is a disease usually asso-
Cjatea with the elderly, it can also strike those in
tn&tf40s and 50s. It's adise&se that doesn't discrimi¬
nate, and thafs why finding a cure is so vital.
Much of the past research into Alzheimer's has
focused on identifying genetic factors and theeffec-
tiveness of drugs to slow down the advanced dete-
Fee hike, from Page 1 -
rioration in the brain.
At the Alzheimer's Disease Center, Chang and
his colleagues have taken another approach. They
plan tomap me hippo campus, a region of the brain
where memories are stored. Chang believes that
the hippo campus works like an information ga te- >
way.
"Instead of looking at very specific genetic fac¬
tors, what we are looking at is die nerve connec¬
tions from one. brain region to another," Chang
said.
Chang believes that Alzheimer's disease causes
patients to lose their brain functions because the
circuits in their brains are being destroyed. The
nerve cells die, thus a break develops in the path-
wa/between one region of the brain to another. By
studying these connections, theoretically, it is then
possible to repair, or even replace, what has been
destroyed.
Chang hopes that his research into all facets of
Alzheimer's disease will lead to more accurate
diagnosis and treatment of the condition.
"These things are important because we're learn¬
ing more and more that dementia in the aging is not
merely limited to Alzheimer's disease. There are a
lot of different types of dementia," Chang said.
The impact of Chang's work will directly benefit
Valley residents, especially in patient care. It will
bring>relief to the family members of those diag¬
nosed with Alzheimer's disease.
The work done at the Alzheimer's Disease Cen¬
ter may also enhance Fresno's reputation in the
field of medical and scientific research.
"We want to work with local physicians, interns
and residents who in the future will be serving our
Valley's population," Chang said.
"We're also playing an important role on a state L
and national level, and in addition, maintaining a
keen awareness and interest in regard to local
concerns."
I have to pay it"
Isabel Castellanos, a sopho¬
more, said she didn't understand
the need for a fee increase.'
Her friend, finance major Geoff
Horsley, said die fee hike was
"completely asinine."
"For ttfe people who have to
pay for school themselves, I think
it's pricing them out of school,"
Horsley said.
The proposed fee hike may
not have to be implemented if
Gov. Wilson and the State legis¬
lature come up with the addi¬
tional $37 million Hollars to the
current budget of $1.55 billion
dollars adopted by the Board of
—?	
Trustees.
CSU, Fresno President John
Welty said they [Wilson and the
State legislature] would have to
allocate funds from existing state
revenues.
"I think ifs possible," he said.
"It depends on die availability of
the additional state revenues and
setting priorities for education.
"It will be very difficult be¬
cause of the demands being
placed on the state budget to fund
corrections and other services.
That makes it very difficult to
find new dollars."
Welty said that from the curs,
rent fee increase, one-third will
go to financial aid for studentsN
The remainder would be allo¬
cated for additional courses, im¬
provement of library support and
improvement of advising ser¬
vices.
v He said it was too early to
determine which courses would
begiven priority to receive the
additional funding.
Democratic gubernatorial can¬
didate Kathleen Brown included'
in her campaign proposals that
she plans to freeze college fees if
she's elected.
Welty said it was an "admi¬
rable good," and that the question
remains of how to set up educa¬
tional funding and where it will
come from to offset the costs.
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