The 23^rd Annual Early Childhood Education Conference will be held Saturday, October 26, on the campus of the University of Southern Indiana.

The Early Childhood Education Conference is a valuable resource for the region, providing cutting-edge professional development and personal growth opportunities to those who most influence the lives of children—parents, teachers, early childhood program administrators and owners, interventionists, and others involved in caring for and educating young children.

“The primary focus of the conference is on how we, the adults in the lives of young children, can make the most of the period between birth and age eight,” said Dr. Jane Meyer, USI associate professor of education. “The early years are the learning years, after all.”

This year’s conference features a keynote address by Elizabeth Montero-Cefalo, an educator who has worked extensively with special needs children and whose classroom was recognized as a Conscious Discipline model classroom. Developed by Dr. Becky Bailey, an international expert in child developmental psychology, Conscious Discipline is a method which aims to develop discipline within children, rather than subjecting them to it.

In addition to the address, 25 workshops facilitated by early childhood education experts and faculty from USI, Indiana University, Ivy Tech, and Henderson Community College will cover topics such as science for infant and toddlers and preschoolers, new children’s books, kindergarten readiness, early literacy, project work, and many others.

Registration and workshops will take place in the Education Center. The keynote address will be held in Forum I in the Wright Administration Building.

The conference is co-sponsored by the USI Teacher Education Department and the Evansville Area Early Childhood Association, a chapter of the Indiana Association for the Education of Young Children.

Online registration is available at http://www.iaeyc.org/. Call Meyer at 812/465-7044 for more information.

The Indiana State Police would like to remind parents of a few safety tips to observe during the Halloween holiday. Parents and children will be out in full force next week trick-or-treating and the Indiana State Police would like to remind parents that observing just a few rules will help can make the evening both fun and safe.

Costume Tips-
•Keep costumes short to prevent trips and falls.
•Try make-up instead of a mask. Masks often obstruct a child’s vision, which makes tasks like crossing the street and going up and down stairs dangerous.
•Make sure children wear light colors or put reflective tape on their costumes.

Trick or Treating-
•Make sure older children trick-or-treat with friends. Together, map out a safe route so parents know where they will be.
•Instruct children to stop only at familiar homes where the outside lights are on.
•Encourage children to trick-or-treat while it’s still light out. If children are out after dark, make sure they have flashlights and travel on well lighted streets.
•Remind children not to enter the homes or cars of strangers.
•Follow your communities trick-or-treating hours.

Treats-
•Remind children not to eat any of their treats until they get home.
•Check out all treats at home in a well-lighted place.
•Only eat unopened candies and other treats that are in original wrappers. Remember to inspect fruits for anything suspicious.

Additionally, many communities, schools and churches offer children safe alternatives to trick-or-treating designed to keep children safely within parents’ view. Some hospitals and schools allow children to trick-or-treat by going from room to room virtually eliminating the dangers associated with being out walking on the street after dark.

 

Two Red Ribbon Week activities taking place Friday in EVSC Schools

• Stringtown Elementary, 8:05 a.m., 4720 Stringtown Road:  Students will gather outside following their morning news report and will do a red balloon release to show their pledge to be drug free.  This is the culminating event of a week of activities informing students about the danger of drug use.  Contact at the event:  Principal Martin Brown.

• Bosse High School, 1:20 p.m., 1300 Washington Avenue:  Teen Power students at Bosse are getting the word out about not using drugs through several activities including Friday’s theme day — wearing t-shirts using the theme: “Day of the Dead.”  They will have a wrecked car parked on campus to symbolize what can happen and at 1:40, a school-wide assembly with guest speakers will be conducted.  Interviews with Teen Power students are available around 1:20 to talk about the importance of not using drugs, and what they are doing at Bosse to get the word out.  Media are welcome to stay for the assembly following the interviews for b-roll and photos.  Contact at the event: Teacher Sally Hale.

Background: National Family Partnership (formerly National Federation of Parents for Drug Free Youth) annually provides drug awareness by sponsoring the National Red Ribbon Celebration. The movement started in 1988, in response to the murder of DEA Agent Enrique Camarena. His murder angered parents, and youth in communities across the country began wearing Red Ribbons as a symbol of their commitment to raise awareness of the killing and destruction cause by drugs in America. Today, the Red Ribbon serves as a catalyst to mobilize communities to educate youth and encourage participation in drug prevention activities.  http://redribbon.org/

Report supports notion of adopting ‘wait and see’ approach after PSA test, experts say

Men who undergo a biopsy that rules out prostate cancer might still experience severe anxiety because the procedure can result in pain or bleeding, researchers have found.

The findings add to growing criticism of prostate cancer screening using the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. Critics say the test is unnecessary and potentially harmful, given that many men with the cancer will have a slow-growing form of the disease that may never prove fatal.

The results of a PSA test often are followed by biopsy. In the new study, even those men who received a negative biopsy report often felt alarm or worry due to pain at the incision site or blood in their urine, stool or ejaculate, the British researchers reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Dr. Durado Brooks, director of prostate and colorectal cancers for the American Cancer Society, said the research highlights important issues.

“This does give one more reason why doctors should be upfront with their patients talking about the whole process of prostate cancer detection,” Brooks said. “If they choose to undergo a PSA test and it comes back high, they will have to have a biopsy. They may have a number of negative consequences from the biopsy even if they don’t have a cancer diagnosis. This is a conversation that should take place before the first PSA level is drawn.”

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States, and its incidence has risen rapidly following the introduction of PSA blood tests, the researchers said in background information.

The influential U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, however, recently recommended against PSA screening for men at average risk for prostate cancer, concluding that it has little to no effect on prostate cancer deaths but can cause great emotional and physical harm to men who undergo treatment due to their test results.

“We think that men should have as much information as possible about the possible consequences of having a PSA test before they decide to take the test,” said study co-author Jenny Donovan, a professor of social medicine at the University of Bristol.

“Most men having a PSA test will hope that it is negative, but it is important that they know that if the PSA is raised, they will be advised to have a prostate biopsy,” Donovan said. “The biopsy process is uncomfortable for most, and for some will be painful and lead to symptoms including bleeding and infection, and, if the symptoms are severe, will lead to anxiety.”

The study tracked more than 1,100 British men who underwent a biopsy for prostate cancer. They returned questionnaires assessing their anxiety and depression at the time of their biopsy, and at seven days and 35 days following the procedure.

Men who reported biopsy symptoms as a moderate or major problem a week after the procedure had markedly higher levels of anxiety than those reporting biopsy symptoms as a slight problem or no problem at all, the researchers said.

For example, 10 percent of men who had blood in their ejaculate and considered it a serious problem experienced heightened anxiety, compared with about 3 percent who had the same symptom but did not consider it much of a problem.

This anxiety decreased over time, however. By 35 days after the biopsy, the proportion of men with troubling biopsy-related symptoms remained about the same, but they reported considerably reduced levels of anxiety.

These results should give doctors pause before recommending a PSA test to a patient, or ordering one on their behalf, cancer experts said.

“One of the major debates in American health right now is whether men should be screened for prostate cancer, because screening can lead to unnecessary biopsies,” said Dr. Charles Ryan, a genitourinary cancer specialist with the University of California, San Francisco. “This article should be read by both urologists and primary-care physicians who should weigh this in their decision-making related to prostate cancer screening.”

Despite current guidelines, however, many U.S. physicians still routinely order PSA tests for patients. For example, a study in the Oct. 16 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association found that doctors surveyed in the study ordered PSA tests for 40 percent of their male patients older than 75 — even though no major medical group recommends prostate screening for that age group.

Brooks, of the American Cancer Society, said that in the past, doctors have tended to automatically order a PSA screening whenever blood work is performed on a man, often without even discussing with the patient what might happen if the test comes back abnormal.

“It does them a real disservice if you haven’t had a discussion with them about whether they want to head down that particular path,” he said.

More information

For more information on prostate cancer, visit the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

SOURCES: Jenny Donovan, Ph.D., professor of social medicine, University of Bristol, United Kingdom; Charles Ryan, M.D., genitourinary cancer specialist, University of California, San Francisco; Durado Brooks, M.D., director of prostate and colorectal cancers, American Cancer Society

On behalf of the entire Deaconess family, congratulations to Nancy Koehler, Executive Director of the Deaconess Foundation for being named Rotarian of the Year.

Congratulations to Nancy Koehler, Executive Director of the Deaconess Foundation, for being named the Rotarian of the Year for the Evansville Rotary Club. Rotary President, Jeffrey Berger, told the club that Nancy, “has truly modeled the motto of Service Above Self” in her job as well as in her work in the community. We couldn’t agree more.

In her time as Executive Director of the Deaconess Foundation, Nancy has enabled countless employees to receive the education and training needed to advance the practice of medicine provided by Deaconess. She has secured funding to provide medical services to those who could otherwise not afford or access it, and served as a living example of Deaconess’ mission to provide quality healthcare with a compassionate and caring spirit.