Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Carolina News Snow from page A1 “When I thought I had to come in at 11 a.m. I thought it was ridiculous for USC to expect people who live off campus to have to drive to school. I think USC should place more emphasis on the safety of off •» -campus students.” Traffic problems proved not to be the only consequences of the winter storm. Cathy Love of South Carolina Electric and Gas Company told The State that about 20,000 residents in the Columbia area wer^without power Tuesday mom Police from page A1 number of codes the department must ad here to in order for accreditation, the assessors’ inspection is invited. “The division of Law Enforcement and Safety has to comply with approxi mately 355 standards in order to remain accredited,” he said. “I am extremely proud of the level of professionalism with which the division provides law-en forcement services to the university com munity. Law-enforcement accreditation is the recognition of professional excel lence by our peers, and I have welcomed their scrutiny.” All of the standards “have value and merit,” Ellis said. “The entire procedure is very valu able and so are the standards,” he said. The verification by the team o| as sessors is a “highly prized recognition of law enforcement professional excellence,” Ellis said. Ellis said he expects the division to be accredited again. “I think we’ve worked very hard at maintaining and complying with ing. Timmins lost her power at around 8 p.m. Monday, and it wasn’t restored un til 11 a.m. Tuesday. “I had a bunch of candles from when Hurricane Floyd hit, and I was giv ing them to my neighbors,” Timmins said. If students should have questions about the cancellations of classes again, they can call 777-TIPS or check the USC home page at www.sc.edu. Light snowfall was expected Tuesday night, according to WIS. It is also expected to snow again this weekend. The Associated Press contributed to this article. [CALEA’s] standards,” he said. “I hope the community appreciates it.” As part of the assessment, agency em ployees and members of the community are invited to offer their opinions at a pub lic information session scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday in RH 205. Those who can’t attend are also in vited to share comments anonymously via telephone at 777-4489 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday. CALEA has been in existence since 1979 and was formed by several other law -enforcement membership associations. The other major law enforcement as sociations involved in forming CALEA include the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Organiza tion of Black Law Enforcehient Execu tives, the National Sheriffs’ Association and the Police Executive Research Fo rum. CALEA is an independent accredit ing organization consisting of 21 mem bers, 11 of which are practitioners. The remaining 10 are assigned by directors of four affiliated associations. Med students concentrate on interaction by Amanda Garder College Press Exchange New York — Meet Ethel Greenwald, a 74-year-old woman who had a mas tectomy on her left breast five years ago. Ethel is alone in the world. Her husband, Jim, died 20 years ago and she has no children. She has a few friends, but she hasn’t told any of them about the severe pain she has been suffering in the past few weeks or that the doctor recently or dered a bone scan. Now Ethel is sitting uncomfortably in an examining room waiting for the doctor to arrive with the bone-scan re sults. Actually, Ethel is waiting for the first of five fourth-year medical students to tell her—each in his or her own way — that the cancer has spread into her bones and that the outlook isn’t good. Ethel is a “standardized patient” played by actress Barbara Haas at the Morchand Center for Clinical Compe tence, part of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. The Morchand Center, now almost 20 years old, teaches listening, compassion and sensitivity to medical students and is perhaps the model pro gram in a 1-5-year trend to incorporate “communication skills” into medical school curricula. Courses on communi cation skills are required if a medical school is to be accredited. According to the American Association of Medical Colleges, 98 percent of medical schools now use “standardized patients” (actors especially trained to-play patients) to teach these skills, up from 80 percent in 1993 and 70 percent in 1989. Two years ago, the Educational Com mission for Foreign Medical Graduates started requiring foreign medical gradu ates to pass an interpersonal skills as sessment before starting residencies in the U.S. The National Board of Med ical Examiners plans to include a section on communication ability in the U.S. licensing exam in the next few years. “A number of things have happened,” said Dr. Deborah Danoff, assistant vice president of medical education at the AAMC. “There’s been an increase in technology and it moved the language and activity of the doctor further away from that I’m-coming-into-your-home and-holding-your-hand model. There al so began to be a collaborative model of doctor-patient relations. Patients want ed doctors to discuss with them. That re quired doctors to reexamine the way they interacted with patients.” And it made sense to give students the chance to practice those interactions before taking the plunge with real pa tients, real problems and real fears. Through an academic consortium, the Morchand Center currently provides this kind of practice to about 10 percent of all graduating medical students in the U.S. Each one of the Center’s various programs uses standardized patients; ac tors play roles intended to help stu dents learn how to conduct a physical exam, deal with ethical dilemmas, meet the needs of culturally diverse pop ulations and — the scenario the most likely to win a daytime Emmy — break ing bad news. The news is never easy to take—or to give — but, said Devra Cohen, edu cation program director at the Morchand Center, “There are some basic things you can teach.” For instance, did the student shake the patient’s hand? Use the pa tient’s name? Make eye contact? Whs the student’s body posture attentive? Did the student assess what kind of support the patient had? All of these details really point to a bigger issue. “The students are so fright ened of the emotion that they’re going to unleash,” said Haas. “It’s very difficult for them not to have a solution and to just be there. That’s the prime difficul ty: if they can overcome and accept and work through their fear of our fear.” At the Morchand Center, medical students are videotaped in each of the different scenarios and spend the last part of the day dissecting their perfor-^ mances with their classmates, the actors and two doctors. The issue of touch is a big one. So is knowledge — or lack thereof. Many of the students think they should have known which of the three scenar ios they were going to get the night be fore so they could research treatments. But that would have defeated the whole purpose. “Medical students always want to know everything,” said Cohen. “We’re emphasizing the relationship-^ building rather than ‘Is this the smartest doctor?’ The focus has shffted and it’s hard for them.” “It’s a very human business,” con cluded Chris Brauer, a fourth-year med ical student. “No one really addresses the fact that you’re dealing with people.” Elections from page A1 serve in any elected SG office who has ever been convicted of a felony or oth er criminal offense with a fine of $500 or more. The Elections Commission can also deny filing to a person if he or she has ever been suspended from USC be cause of a disciplinary matter. Anyone wishing to file for president must have completed 60 hours of cours es. Thirty of those hours must have been completed at the Columbia campus. Vice-presidential candidates must have completed 45 hours of course study, and 15 of those hours must have been -- completed at USC-Columbia. The treasurer must have completed 30 hours of course study, and 15 hours must have been completed in Co lumbia. ing the signed form stat This year, the polling lo- ing that the candidate cations are in major com- understands the rules, puter labs in the dorms the candidates may start and classroom buildings. campaigning. The Elec There will be a tions Commission en mandatory meeting for forces the rules in night candidates on Jan. 31. ly meetings that will At the meeting the spe- begin Jan. 31. cific rules of campaigning will If a candidate breaks be discussed, and candidates must an elections code, any person turn in a signed rorm indicating that they have read and they understand the rules by which the SG elections are run. LeMaster said she wasn’t sure of any new rules other than the change of polling location. She said any changes will be dis cussed at the mandatory meeting. After attending the meeting and return on campus can hie tor a campaign vio lation. The Elections Commission hears the complaint, then makes a ruling. The candidate might be charged with a warning, given an infraction or cleared of the violation. A candidate can only re ceive five infractions before being re moved from the candidacy. Because of office closings on Mon day and Tuesday, The Gamecock couldn’t get a list of candidates filed. LeMaster ^ said she didn’t know every candidate who has officially filed. She declined com ment as to who has already filed for elec tions. . ' 's'..- i 5 . I * \CapPa Alpha Theta - Cordially Invites You to Our Recruitment Week Monday, January 31: Theta Preview (mingling on the hall, information & other fun activities) I Tuesday, February 1: Get Reel Movie Night — f j (movies and fun with the sisters of Kappa Alpha Theta) 1 ^ Wednesday, February 2: Believe in Theta < |r - 7pm-9pm By Invitation Saturday, February 5: Shine with Theta lpm By Invitation A Theta representative will meet you each evening in the lobby of South Tower. flf you have any questions or would like to RSVP for a party, contact Kristen Liljequist at 544-1276. KA@: Celebrating 130 Years of Sisterhood. Established January 27, 1870 * * » * if * «