The Oklahoma Daily

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MONDAY AUGUST 31, 2009

THE UNIVERSITY UN NIVERSIT Y OF O OKLAHOMA’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT VOICE

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Soccer faced an in-state foe last night. Check out who emerged victorious on PAGE 5

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RESEARCHER HELPS DEVELOP BLOOD CLOT MEDICATION Apixaban reduces blood clots after joint-replacement surgeries JARED RADER The Oklahoma Daily

Deadly blood clots that form after jointreplacement surgery cause thousands of deaths each year. However, an OU researcher joined researchers around the world to discover a new medicine with the capability of preventing lethal blood clots. Gary Raskob, dean of the OU College of Public Health, served as a lead researcher on a team that included scientists from Denmark, Australia and Canada to discover the new medicine, Apixaban. Apixaban is an oral medication that could replace current preventative blood clot

treatments without increasing the risk of bleeding, Raskob said. “Joint-replacement surgery is really a surgery for the quality of life,” he said. “The last things you want are fatal complications.” Current preventative blood clot treatments include a number of uncomfortable injections as well as one oral anti-clotting medication that is hard for doctors to manage because of its side effects, said Raskob. The results showed that Apixaban was just as efficient at preventing blood clots as the current procedures and medications, according to the Web site. “This discovery is very important in terms of safety, efficacy and care,” said Raskob. The researchers published their findings Aug. 6 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The research involved more than 3,000 patients in a double-blind study,

according to the abstract of the study on the New England Journal of Medicine Web site. Raskob said funding for the research came from an academic-industry partnership between researchers and Bristol-Myers Squibb, a pharmaceutical company. Raskob said blood clots can form in the large veins of the legs after knee or hip replacement surgeries, a condition known as deep-vein thrombosis. He said this condition is dangerous because the blood clots could break free and move through the bloodstream to the lungs, causing a pulmonary embolism. Deep-vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism are the most common causes of sudden death after joint-replacement surgery, according to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons Web site. Raskob said the number of joint-

replacement surgeries will increase dramatically in the coming years, making the discovery of Apixaban timely and relevant. More than 700,000 primary total hip and knee replacements are performed each year in the U.S., and that number is expected to grow to more than 3.5 million by 2030, according to the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons Web site. “This could be an important advantage for patient safety and doctors and patients would have the advantage,” Raskob said. He said Apixaban is now being studied in clinical trials, and if the FDA approves the drug, patients undergoing joint-replacement surgery will have a valuable option. “I don’t want to pre-judge what the FDA might say,” Raskob said. “But so far, the results are favorable.”

CONGA DRUMS, FOLKLORE AND THE RHYTHM OF THE MUSIC

MERRILL JONES/THE DAILY

Jahruba teaches 6-year-old twins Ryan (left) and Reed (right) Davidson rhythms to play on the Conga drum Saturday afternoon. Jahruba played and sold drums at the Dustbowl Arts Market. CHECK OUT MORE PHOTOS FROM THE FESTIVAL ON PAGE 10.

PANAM strives to preserve rich culture New president focuses on reflecting internationality NATASHA GOODELL The Oklahoma Daily

After years of being known for large social gatherings, the Pan American Association is seeking to re-establish the group’s cultural values and focus less on parties. “We aren’t just about our parties,” said Tyler Heck, international and area studies senior. “We have our cultural events, getting to know new people and just having fun together.” Heck said the parties are a great place to meet new friends but aren’t what PANAM, the largest international student organization on campus, stands for. “We don’t do as good of a job [at our parties] as I would like to incorporate

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South American themes,” Heck said. “It’s more a party atmosphere where we get together to have fun.” Diego Alvarez, management senior and president of PANAM, said they also host movie nights, bowling nights, ice-skating and other events, which are open to their members and anyone else wanting to attend. “We can be a hub for people to come and meet and share so much stuff,” Alvarez said. “I feel good about that.” Megan Powers, international and area studies senior, said an international friend from Pakistan got her involved with this organization her sophomore year. “I was hooked,” Powers said. “It was so exciting to see people from all over the world in one room.” Powers said she decided to change her major to international and area studies after being involved with PANAM. “Personally, I feel like I owe a lot of my passion and knowledge of international issues to my friends from PANAM,” Powers said. Alvarez said the parties they host throughout the year have brought them most of their popularity, but said he is hoping to bring the parties back with a more cultural aspect this year. “We want to make it more diverse,” Alvarez said. Alvarez, originally from Bolivia, said he was first introduced to the student association of PANAM about a year ago as he was visiting a friend who was an exchange student at OU.

As a result of PANAM, Alvarez said he transferred from George Mason University in Washington D.C. to OU to be involved in the association. “[As president] I was amazed to see people who were prospects of the exchange program contact us this year with a desire to be a part of PANAM,” Alvarez said. Alvarez said he assumes the parties were started because the student club was originally so small and hoped their members would socialize. “The chance to meet so many different people from so many different places really drew me,” Alvarez said. Daniel Ferrufino, civil engineering second semester exchange student from Bolivia, said he was introduced to this association from a friend in Bolivia. “It’s very complicated to be away from home,” Ferrufino said. “American culture is very different, but PANAM gives you the chance to feel like you are at home.” PANAM is for everyone, not just international students, Ferrufino said. “ We a re t r y i n g t o e n c o u ra g e American students to be apart of our association,” Ferrufino said. “I really think we have many things to offer them.” Ferrufino said Friday’s White Party, the first PANAM party of the year, had a turnout of about 600 people. He said they were expecting more American students to be in attendance. “We really want to show our culture and our points of views with the American people,” Ferrufino said.

© 2009 OU PUBLICATIONS BOARD

TWO STUDENTS HIT BY CAR FRIDAY MORNING After hearing someone scream on Elm Avenue Friday morning, one OU student ran to the assistance of two others who were hit by a car. At 1:28 a.m., Matthew Carpenter, 21, was driving a red 2004 Dodge Neon northbound on Elm Avenue when he collided with Sara Lambert, 17, and Ryan Chang, 19, just south of Stubbeman Place. All three are OU students. Nursing sophomore Neelie Brown said she was walking a friend to the residence halls when the accident happened, and she approached the victims to help. “It was like second nature for me to run over there,” Brown said. Brown said she and Carpenter sat with the victims while they waited about five minutes for police to arrive. She said they did not move the bodies but talked with the victims, trying to keep them calm. “It was kind of fate I was there,” Brown said. “I used to work at a hospital, and I went to Moore-Norman Tech, so I kind of knew what to do and not to move the victims.” According to the police report, both victims suffered head trauma, and Lambert suffered external trauma. Both were transported to Norman Regional Hospital for treatment. The driver was not impaired, and alcohol was not a factor in the incident, the report stated. -Staff reports

DEADLINES KEEP CITY FROM STIMULUS GRANT The city of Norman will not receive a commuter rail line from the Transportation Infrastructure Generating Economic Revenue grant program. Mayor Cindy Rosenthal told city officials Thursday that the portion of the plan that involved Norman could not be completed in time for the federal grant’s deadlines. The TIGER grant required that the project be shovel-ready and completed by 2012, but the Norman portion of the system would have needed more time. Consultants for the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments said they will still seek a commuter line between Midwest City and Bricktown. That portion of the project could be completed in time to meet grant deadline requirements. - Ricky Maranon/The Daily

VOL. 95, NO. 9


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