Out of town on a rail
When I travel to another city the first thing I want to try out is the public transportation, especially if it’s rail. I love trains, subways, light rail and never pass up the opportunity to take rail into town from the airport if at all possible.
I have visions of some day seeing light rail lines running east and west and north and south through downtown Oklahoma City, connecting Norman with Edmond and Midwest City with Yukon or El Reno.
Anyway, I was down in Houston recently visiting the M.D. Anderson campus a few miles southwest of downtown. At the end of the day, my hosts suggested we take Houston’s new light rail train into downtown to dine at a restaurant.
So, we walked a short ways to the train station that was in the middle of Fannin Street and caught the next train headed downtown. I sat next to a woman who had just got off work at one of the Texas Medical Center hospitals, and asked her what she thought of the light rail system.
She said she rides it every day but wasn’t a big fan of it because the rails were plunked down right in the traffic lanes of the street and that it had posed a big hazard for drivers. Or maybe it was drivers who posed a big hazard for the train.
The train has to stop at red lights just as do cars, and its traffic lane is also the left-turn lane for vehicles. Dozens of collisions have occurred because drivers weren’t anticipating the train continuing on through the light, she said.
In fact, she was on one of the trains that got hit by a car and was forced to stay on it until police arrived and sorted out the collision and let the train go on its way. She wasn’t a happy camper.
Anyway, the train got us to downtown in short order for only $1. We dined, then caught the outbound train— trains run every few minutes—back to the Medical Center campus at about 6 p.m. The train was packed for the return trip, too.
Other Houston natives to whom I talked said the city is planning a second line that will carry passengers through other sections of town. Maybe Oklahoma City can use Houston as a template for any light rail plans it has in the future — without the traffic hazards, of course.
Jim Stafford
Business News reporter
Free prostate cancer screenings
OU Medical Center and OU Physicians will offer free prostate cancer screenings Saturday for men ages 40 to 70.
The screenings will be at the OU Physicians Building, 825 NE 10th St. Registration is required and is available by calling 271-5000.
The screening consists of Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood tests, funded by the Medical Center Volunteers Inc. and Digital Rectal Exams (DRE) performed by urologists.
Prostate cancer is the number one cancer affecting men in Oklahoma and is the second leading cause of death due to cancer in the United States. Each year, more than 500 Oklahoma men die from prostate cancer. The American Cancer Society recommends men 50 years old and older should have a screening once a year.
All the news that’s fit to print … from my e-mail inbox
As I cleaned out my e-mail inbox this morning, I came across a couple of interesting items.
USA Today reported:
Although health insurance premiums rose 6.1 percent this year, the lowest rate of increase since 1999, the jump still outpaced inflation and wage growth.
“The average cost of a family plan purchased by employers this year hit a new high, $12,106, according to a detailed annual survey of nearly 2,000 employers by the non-partisan Kaiser Family Foundation, a research group based in Menlo Park, Calif. Individual coverage premiums averaged $4,479,” USA Today reported.
And the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reports cholesterol-lowering blockbuster drug Lipitor ranked first, at almost $5 billion, in terms on total spending on prescription medicines by adults ages 18 to 64 in 2004. Zocor, a competing cholesterol drug, ranked fourth, at $2.3 billion.
Rounding out the top five were Nexium, at $2.7 billion; Prevacid, at $2.4 billion; and Zoloft, at $1.9 billion. Prevacid and Nexium reduce stomach acid, while Zoloft is an antidepressant.
For children ages 17 and under, the top five drugs were Singulair (asthma, allergies), Concerta (ADHD), Strattera (ADHD), Adderall (ADHD) and Zyrtec (allergies).
Does anyone notice a pattern here?
For Apple, Silence is Golden
Apple Inc. is notorious for communicating with everyone but the news media.
So, it was no surprise that Apple did not send out a news release or make a phone call or share the news with us that it was shutting down its Penn Square retail store from Sept. 3 through Sept. 14 for renovation.
But I saw it on the Apple Web site and made a call to Apple’s media relation line to inquire about the renovation. No call back.
So, I drove over to the mall to take a look. Sure enough, the store windows and doors are covered with jet-black material to ensure that you can’t see through.
Posted on each side of the doors is a brief explanation of what’s happening with the popular store:
“We’re making this store better than ever, so we’ll be closed for renovation from Sept. 3 to 14.
“We reopen on Sept. 15, in the meantime, please visit apple.com/retail to find the nearest Apple Store.”
We hope Apple will let us have a sneak preview of the store so we can print a picture or two of the new-look to coincide with its opening. I’m not holding my breath on that.
In the meantime, prospective buyers who want to touch and feel the iPhone before forking over $399 can try any of the local AT&T retail stores or Apple’s Woodland Hills retail store in Tulsa.
If it’s Macintosh computers that shoppers are after, they can shop locallly at the ProMac Apple dealer on Northwest Expressway.
Oh, almost forgot that CompUSA is an Apple dealer. Its local store is located it 6410 N. May Ave.
Jim Stafford
Business news reporter
How to avoid eye irritation
Oklahomans young and old risk constant eye irritation and strain these days because of allergies, increased time spent in front of a computer and television, e-mails, and a dependence on text messaging. But the California-based Feinerman Vision Center offers these tips on how to avoid eye irritation and advice for dealing with some of the most common causes of red, dry, irritated eyes:
— Get more sleep: Lack of sleep is considered the most common cause of red eye. Even an extra hour or two per night can help keep redness at bay.
— Use drops to keep eyes lubricated and comfortable.
— Know when to pull the plug: Know how much time in front of a computer is too much. Force yourself to disconnect to avoid strained eyes.
— Know when to way “When.” College students and adults should avoid staying out too late on weeknights. “Partying and red eyes usually go hand-in-hand,” according to Dr. Gregg Feinerman. “Know when to call it a night and go home.”
-Jim Killackey, Medical Writer
110 and counting
Kristine Klostermyer Brown certainly has seen a lot during her life.
She was born a few months after William McKinley was elected president of the United States and lived during the entire 20th century.
Brown of Alva turned 110 on Sept. 8.
She moved to Alva in 1947 to teach in the mathematics department of what is now Northwestern Oklahoma State University. Her teaching career began at a rural school near Perry in Noble County.
Last year M.J. Alexander snapped photographs of Brown for the book “Salt of the Red Earth: A Century of Wit and Wisdom From Oklahoma’s Elders.” The book is a collection of photographs and essays of Oklahoma centenarians. It’s an official project of the Oklahoma Centennial Commission and is endorsed by the Centenarian Club of Oklahoma.
Brian Sargent
Staff Writer
No parachutes
If you were at the University of Oklahoma football game Saturday and you wondered what the U.S. Army Chinook helicopter was doing circling the stadium before the game, I have your answer.
Lt. Col. John Altebaumer, a spokesman for the Oklahoma National Guard, tells me the helicopter was supposed to drop a team of Army skydivers who planned to parachute into the stadium to present the game ball. The helicopter pilots were trying to reach a safe altitude to drop the parachute team, but Saturday’s weather forced them to cancel the drop.
Unfortuantely for Miami, the game went on as planned. The Sooners won 51-13.
Bryan Dean, Staff Writer
Health study seeks women 50-75
Interested in finding out how your environment and daily activites affect your health? From now through Thanksgiving, the Department of Health and Exercise Science, University of Oklahoma Norman Campus is seeking women 50 to 75 years old to participate in a physical activity research study.
Jennifer Han, who is involved in conducting the study, said women are asked to wear an acceleromator for one week. Just like most people, I was clueless as to what an acceleromator is.
“You wear it above the hip bone, and it tells us how intense the movement is,” Han said.
Instead of just measuring how far a woman may walk any given day, this small, pager-like device measures the intensity of exercise. After the women wear the device for a week, they receive a physical activity and body composition report, and OU will also give them a $10 gift card. To participate or for more information, contact Jennifer Han or Lindsey Mallow in the Department of Health and Exercise Science, University of Oklahoma Norman Campus, at 641-1458 or physactlab@ou.edu.
NewsOK.com Editor
A shared health care burden?
A recent policy brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation intriguingly dealt with the effects of well-documented medical insurance premium increases and cost sharing on senior citizens and young workers.
“This analysis examines the relative burdens of out-of-pocket spending on seniors and younger adults,” the Kaiser Web site said. “Seniors consistently spent a larger share of their income out of pocket on health care than younger people. Given the persistent differences between young and old, it suggests that even with Medicare’s prescription drug benefit, significantly narrowing the wide gap between seniors and younger adults in their out-of-pocket spending burdens is unlikely.”
Some things the report mentions:
- From 2000-05, average in-network deductibles for PPOs (as opposed to HMOs), almost doubled, while average monthly premiums for family coverage rose by two-thirds.
- During the same time frame, median (the point at which half of all families earn more and half earn less) family income rose by about 10 percent.
- During the same time frame, Medicare Part B premiums rose by 72 percent, while premiums rose by 35 percent for a popular “Medigap” plan.
- In 2003, median per-capita health care expenditures were five times higher for seniors than for others.
“Our findings document a persistent gap in financial burden between young and old which could have important implications for ongoing policy discussions in several areas, including the generosity of coverage for working age adults, rising health care costs, entitlements and more fundamental questions about the appropriateness of shifting more costs onto consumers,” the report states.
The main thing to keep in mind is that this cost growth shows no signs of stopping. Any thoughts? E-mail me below.
The news quiz
It’s time to see how much attention you’ve been paying to the news in the past week or so. From The Oklahoman’s news copy editors and designers, here’s a quiz:
1. Apple angered loyal customers when it:
a) Pulled the plug on the iPod
b) Slashed the price of the top iPhone by $200
c) Raised the price of the iPod
d) Released a Bill Gates Special Edition iPod
2. Which Oklahoma state senator launched a campaign for a U.S. Senate seat?
a) Gene Stipe
b) Lance Cargill
c) Andrew Rice
d) Mike Morgan
3. Terrorism mastermind Osama bin Laden released a video message last week. Before then, when was the last time he appeared in video footage?
a) Last year just before the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks
b) Shortly after Sept. 11, 2001
c) Just after the fourth anniversary of 9/11 in October 2004
d) He’d never appeared on video
4. Why should filling up your car’s gasoline tank cost less in about three years?
a) The Coffeyville, Kan., refinery will be online
b) Sinclair’s Tulsa refinery should go online with a 60 percent greater capacity
c) The refineries along the Gulf Coast will have rebuilt fully from Hurricane Katrina
d) Democrats will reduce federal fuel taxes
5. Which Oklahoman ruled out running for the U.S. Senate in 2008 but hasn’t decided on plans for 2010?
a) Sandy Garrett
b) Drew Edmondson
c) Barry Switzer
d) Brad Henry
6. A German study found that men look for what quality most in potential mates?
a) Good conversation
b) Good cooking
c) Good looks
d) Good luck
7. Rockets fired from the Gaza Strip into the Israeli city of Sderot prompted parents to withdraw their children from school there. Who claimed responsibility for the rockets?
a) Islamic Jihad
b) Symbionese Liberation Army
c) Al-Qaida in Iraq
d) Irish Republican Army
8. As the Beijing Olympic Games grow nearer, Chinese have been told to line up, use proper English and stop spitting. Who got the latest warning to avoid slack behavior?
a) Athletes
b) Police
c) Taxi drivers
d) Prostitutes
9. Community leaders in Luther and Arcadia are eagerly awaiting something that won’t open until at least 2009, but which they hope will provide an economic boost. What is it?
a) Wal-Mart Supercenter
b) Munitions plant
c) Starbucks
d) Turner Turnpike gates
10. On what television program did former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson announce that he is running for president?
a) “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno”
b) “Law & Order”
c) “Late Show With David Letterman”
d) “BBC Newshour With Owen Bennett-Jones”
11. Iraqi troops raised their flags in Basra after what force left the city?
a) An Australian army regiment
b) 250 U.N. peacekeepers
c) A French Foreign Legion unit
d) 550 British army soldiers
12. In 1929, G.A. Nichols built Oklahoma City’s first shopping district north of downtown. What was it called?
a) Country Club Plaza
b) LaClede’s Landing
c) Yonge Street Mall
d) The Paseo
13. With the Oklahoma City School Board’s approval of a labor contract, what is the minimum raise each teacher will receive this year?
a) $850
b) $1,850
c) $8,500
d) $18,500
14. What’s the name of a federal sting operation targeting Hispanic gang members that arrested more than 60 people in Oklahoma County?
a) Operation Gangbusters
b) Operation Community Shield
c) Operation Community Initiative
d) Operation Gangcrusher
15. What prompted Chesapeake Energy Corp. to cut back on natural gas production and drilling?
a) Loss of leases
b) No unexplored fields
c) Price decrease
d) Supply decrease
16. What is the name of the book Alan Greenspan, the former chief of the Federal Reserve, has written?
a) “I Got Mine; You Get Yours”
b) “When I Talk, The World Listens”
c) “Street Talk”
d) “The Age of Turbulence”
17. What’s unusual about the state’s first MinuteClinic, which offers care for a limited menu of ailments?
a) It’s in a van that goes from site to site
b) It’s in a convenience store
c) It’s in a drugstore
d) It’s in a shopping mall
18. A woman in Seattle faced 90 days in jail, but has agreed to a deal to pay a $250 fine and do 10 hours of community service to expunge this crime from her record:
a) She registered her dog to vote
b) She was accused of shoplifting
c) She was accused of jaywalking
d) She was arrested for firing a gun inside the city limits
19. Which GOP senator said that he thought resigning Sen. Larry Craig should try to revoke his guilty plea?
a) James Inhofe
b) Ted Kennedy
c) Bob Dole
d) Arlen Specter
20. Which school’s football team did the Sooners stomp in Norman on Saturday?
a) University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane
b) Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College Golden Norsemen
c) Miami of Ohio RedHawks
d) University of Miami Hurricanes
How did you do on the quiz? Here are the correct answers:
1-B; 2-C; 3-C; 4-B; 5-B; 6-C; 7-A; 8-B; 9-D; 10-A; 11-D; 12-D; 13-A; 14-B; 15-C; 16-D; 17-C; 18-A; 19-D; 20-D
