PR1
Office of the President December 12, 2006
1.         Ground Broken for New Student Health Building Near Kentucky Clinic
University of Kentucky President Lee T. Todd, Jr. and other officials broke ground November 15 for the new University Health Service (UHS) building, the preventive and primary health care facility for students. With more than 72,000 square feet, the new building will have more than five times the amount of space available in the current UHS location and will allow 120,000 patient visits annually. The facility is expected to open in March 2008. The projected $24 million facility will be located adjacent to Kentucky Clinic and the Charles T. Wethington Jr. Building. The 2005 budget passed by the Kentucky General Assembly authorized the university to sell bonds to pay for the facility. Those bonds are backed by student fees. The new facility will feature primary care, gynecology, mental health, and prevention clinics and other services. Currently, UHS is located in a 13,000 square foot space in Kentucky Clinic and conducts about 72,000 patient visits per year.
2.         President Bush's Cancer Panel Gathers Tobacco-control Information in Lexington
The President's Cancer Panel, including six-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, visited Lexington in late October to gather information on tobacco control from invited experts and public participants. Among the presenters were Kiyoung Lee, assistant professor of environmental health, UK College of Public Health, and Richard Clayton, professor and associate dean for research, UK College of Public Health. The invited experts agreed that tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the nation and that something must be done to solve the nation's problem with tobacco use. Speakers called for more money for tobacco prevention and control programs, as well as more comprehensive smoking bans across the country. The meeting was one of four across the nation that focused on healthy lifestyles that can reduce cancer risk. The Lexington meeting specifically focused on how policies about tobacco and indoor smoking can positively affect cancer rates.
3.         UK Faculty, Start-up Company Display Advances at IdeaFestival in Louisville
UK continued its leadership as a presenting sponsor of the international IdeaFestival (IF) held October 11-14, in Louisville. UK continued its partnership with the event through the leadership of David Mohney, 2006 IdeaFestival speaker and planning committee member and dean of UK's College of Design, a lead sponsor of IF. UK was also home to two other presenters, Buck Ryan and John Stempel, leaders in the fields of journalism and international diplomacy from the School of Journalism and Telecommunications and the Patterson School, respectively.