Veritas, Vol. 18, No. 14, April 3, 1978

              Volume 18, Number 14
For Faculty, Staff and Friends of the University of Miami
April 3, 1978
Laser Beam Replaces Throat Surgery Scissors
It’s A Small World At Canterbury
Stopping for a word of advice, Elisa Heffernan shows what finger painting is all about. For more on activities at UM’s Canterbury Child Care Center, see story on Page 4.
Women’s Movement Is Focus
By Susan L. Hartt News Bureau
Dade County State Attorney Janet Reno will be the first speaker in the UM Women’s Commission Spring Lecture Series III: Perspectives on the Women’s Movement. Ms. Reno’s topic will be “Women in Government.” Her lecture, as are all the presentations, is free and open to the public. The session will meet at noon, Tuesday, April 4, in the Flamingo Ballroom of the Whitten Student Union.
In the past, sandwiches have been available for purchase during the noon meetings of the Series; beginning with Ms. Reno’s talk, however, only coffee, soft drinks and dessert will be for sale.
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On Monday, April 10, Dr. Claudia Rogers, assistant professor in UM’s anthropology department, will speak on “The Anthropology of Women,” at noon in Room 237 of the Student Union.
Dr. Phyllis Franklin, associate professor in UM’s English department, will discuss “Women in Literature” at noon, Tuesday, April 11, in Rm. 237 of the Student Union.
In a departure from theTormat of the other programs the Women’s Commission has offered this spring, Thursday, April 13, will be devoted to “A Day with Pat Russian.” Ms. Russian, a former instructor in the German department at Brown University, was one of the litigants in a sex discrimination class-action suit against Brown University. (The Brown case was settled in September, 1977, by a consent decree by which Brown agreed to take specific measures to eliminate sex discrimination in the recruiting, hiring and promoting of faculty women.) The Women’s Commission invited Ms. Russian to speak with the women and men of UM about the role of affirmative action for women in higher education and the ways in which sex discrimination can be avoided through conscientious efforts to eliminate intended or de facto discrimination.
Ms. Russian will speak at an Administrators’ Breakfast at 8 a.m. in the Ibis Cafeteria private dining room on why it is better for universities and individuals to avoid going to court on discrimination cases, and what happens when the Federal government becomes
By Jack Oswald School of Medicine
Armed with a laser beam especially developed for the purpose, surgeons at the UM are pinpointing and destroying growths inside the throat more efficiently than ever before.
Described as a carbon dioxide laser for laryngeal surgery, the $25,000 instrument was acquired recently by the department of otolaryngology.
Throat surgery entails highly delicate techniques, explains Dr. James R. Chandler, department chairman. Routinely, the surgeon peers down the throat with a lighted laryngoscope and with the aid of a microscope manipulates miniaturized forceps and scissors to snip off offending tissue. Removal of the growths—nodules, polyps, cysts of non-cancerous nature— which develop inside the larynx requires extreme precision to avoid damaging the underlying vocal cords and disrupting speech.
The laser beam replaces scissors, meaning one less instrument to work with in the narrow confines of the passageway.
of Lectures
involved in discrimination problems in higher education. All UM women and administrators — men and women — are invited to attend. Cost of the breakfast is $2.50; reservations can be made through Judy Koncsol, 284-4214, or by returning the coupon on Page 7 by Friday, April 7.
All UM women are invited to attend an informal workshop with Ms. Russian, meeting from 3 to 7 p.m. on April 13 at the Wesley Foundation on the main campus. She will respond to specific and general questions and concerns women have about discrimination, discuss the issues at Brown — including the procedures that worked or failed — and will detail the terms of the consent decree. While the workshop will run for four hours, those interested in attending may come at any time and stay as long as they like. Refreshments will be served.
The following week, Monday, April 17, Dr. Rita Bornstein, consultant on Continued to Page 7
A red light is focussed on the target site inside the throat of the anesthetized patient. The surgeon presses a pedal to trigger the laser. Length of time, strength and depth of exposure are predetermined and preset. A small level, called a joy stick because of its similarity to an airplane control, is used to guide the beam over the area to be covered.
The powerful light completely destroys the unhealthy tissue on which it’s beamed—“vaporizes it,” says Dr. Chandler.
One of the first patients to undergo laser surgey here was a man who suffered from recurring papillomas, a benign tumor.
“We must have operated on him a hundred times in the past,” Dr. Chandler notes. “This time, we got markedly improved results—the best yet. Laser surgery heals better and causes less scar tissue.”
Little training is necessary to operate the instrument.
“The surgeon already has the professional knowledge of the procedure. The laser is simply a technological advance—a new tool,” he explains.
The instrument has been under development for about five years, Dr. Chandler says. “It has been perfected now and is no longer a research device. So far as I know, there are no others in this area.”
The laser mechanism is housed in a cabinet mounted on wheels and is rolled into the operating room at Jackson Continued to Page 7
New/ Briefs
■	Jai-Alai Benefit For UM. The University community is invited to sip sangria, enjoy a Basque dinner and watch jai-alai during “University of Miami Jai-Alai Charity Night” starting at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 4, at Miami Jai-Alai Fronton, 3500 N.W. 37 Avenue.
Pari-mutuel and concession proceeds for the evening benefit will go to the UM.
Tickets are $5 per person and include beer, wine and sangria; a buffet Basque dinner; and a reserved Fronton seat.
Dinner accommodations are limited. Reservations may be made by calling the alumni office, 284-2872. Tickets will be held in your name at a designated Fronton gate.
■	Journal Seeks Reviewers. Phi Kappa Phi Journal, an interdisciplinary publication of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, is seeking reviewers from all fields for current books of general interest. Eight to 12 reviews are published quarterly.
If interested, send letter or vita to Dr. Stephen W. White, Editor, Phi Kappa Phi Journal, Box 19420A, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN 37601. You should indicate present areas of general interest.