As the number one cancer killer among women, most adults in Wesley Chapel — and around the nation — have had a close friend or family member who has had and/or succumbed to breast cancer.
But, whether you’ve been touched by this scourge personally or you just want to go for a 5-km (3.1-mile) walk for a good cause, we hope you’ll wake up tomorrow morning — Saturday, October 22 — throw on something pink and head to the American Cancer Society (ACS)’s “Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of Pasco” walk at the Shops at Wiregrass mall in time for the 8:30 a.m. start.
ACS of the South Nature Coast of Florida (serving Pasco, Hernando & Citrus counties) senior market manager Robyn Liska says the 2015 walk between the Shops and Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel attracted an estimated 5,000 people, including more than 1,250 registered participants on 176 teams and raised more than $175,000.
A week before this year’s event, Liska said there were 116 teams and 724 participants registered that had already raised nearly $60,000, and that figure doesn’t include sponsorship money.
According to the ACS website (Cancer.org), “Making Strides walks are the largest network of breast cancer awareness events in the nation, uniting nearly 300 communities with a shared determination to finish the fight.”
For more info about tomorrow’s walk, visit MakingStridesWalk.org/PascoFL or MakingStridesWalk.org/RealMeanPascoFL. — GN
Giana gets checked out by nurse practitioner Evie Roque at the new Community Health Center, which is located on the campus of Hunter’s Green Elementary, but available to all students.
After spending the weekend moving from Naples to Heritage Isles, Shane (who asked we use only his first name) walked into Heritage Elementary to register his daughter Giana for fifth grade. He brought a stack of paperwork with him, trying to guess what he would need.
Turns out, he guessed wrong. He didn’t have her record of vaccinations, and he didn’t have a record of a recent physical.
“To get into school in Hillsborough County, or anywhere in Florida, you have to have a physical,” says Evie Roque, MSN (Master of Science in Nursing), a nurse practitioner who works at the new community health center located on the campus of Hunter’s Green Elementary. Shane and Giana were referred to the health center to get her physical and immunization records so that she could start school.
“I called her doctor in Naples five or six times and I never got a call back,” Shane says. “If it wasn’t for these ladies, I would still be trying to get her shot records.”
Being new to the area, Shane didn’t yet have a primary care physician for Giana. The referrals he had gotten from her pediatrician in Naples didn’t pan out, and he wanted to start her in her new school as soon as possible.
Dr. Maria Russ, supervisor of school health services for Hillsborough County Schools, says Giana’s situation isn’t unique.
“Sometimes we see kids who are out of school three or four months waiting to enroll because they don’t have access to healthcare to get their school physical and vaccines,” she says. “So, our health centers are a surrogate for people until they find a permanent medical home.”
Roque explains, “We’re not primary care health providers. We don’t do treatments, and we’re not prescribing medications. Our goal is to get students into school, so we do physicals and make sure immunizations are up to date.”
While they don’t provide immunizations, the health care professionals at the clinic have access to statewide immunization records, and they refer people to the State of Florida Health Department if immunizations are needed.
Hunter’s Green Elementary has been the site of a school-based health center for more than 10 years, but the building it was housed in was dilapidated. Dr. Russ and other school officials wrote a grant to request money available through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as authorized by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. They received $500,000 for the construction and outfitting of the new, modular building.
It was officially opened on August 19, when Hillsborough County school officials gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“We had the support of the superintendent and the School Board for this project,” says Dr. Russ. “And, (U.S.) Representative Kathy Castor and Senator Bill Nelson were instrumental in that money being appropriated for this project.”
Dr. Russ also says that every high school in the county has a health center, but the Hunter’s Green Community Health Center is unique. It is one of just a few located at an elementary school, and most health centers are within the school campus. The Hunter’s Green health center is housed in a stand-alone modular building on campus, but completely outside of the school, so that it is easily accessible to families who need to use its services.
The grant even paid for additional parking spaces right outside the building.
Inside, the clinic features a waiting room, four treatment rooms, and a classroom equipped with smartboard technology for training nurses. Registered nurse Angella Eikenberry does patient intake at the health center, and also is responsible for training all new Hillsborough County Schools nurses in electronic medical records.
While a student doesn’t need a referral to visit the health center, many school principals and registrars refer families to the school-based health centers, including the one at Hunter’s Green.
“It can be an obstacle to being in school if parents can’t afford co-pays or have gaps in their insurance,” says Dr. Russ. So the staff at the clinic helps with needed services and connects families with health care providers.
Melanie Hall, executive director of the Family Healthcare Foundation in Tampa, says, “The Hunter’s Green clinic is ideally situated in an area that has a high concentration of uninsured children who need access to care.” She says that, according to data from the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation, the 33647 ZIP code has just under 9% of children who are uninsured, and the greatest number of uninsured kids in Hillsborough County are in the neighboring zip codes, 33592 (Thonotosassa) and 33559 (Lutz).
“We’ve found that school grades go up when kids are in school,” says Dr. Russ. “That’s our focus, to keep kids in school.”
It worked for Giana. After being referred to the Hunter’s Green center, she and her dad were thrilled with their experience. “These ladies are so personable,” says Shane. “Giana is afraid of the doctor, afraid of the dentist, but they made her feel so comfortable, and the way they interacted with her made me comfortable, too.”
And, that paperwork he needed?
“They were so helpful,” he says. “Angella came out from behind the desk and sat down with me and helped with each thing that needed to be filled out.”
And best of all, Giana was able to start school right away.
Dr. Yogi Goswami, pictured here with his wife Lovely, was inducted into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame on the USF Tampa campus at an Induction Ceremony & Gala on September 16.
Thomas Edison. Henry Ford. Yogi Goswami.
These three are among the 20 inventors who have been inducted into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame since its inception in 2013. Only one, though, lives in New Tampa.
Yogi Goswami, Ph.D., P.E. (Professor Emeritus), is a University of South Florida Distinguished Professor and director of the university’s Clean Energy Research Center. The Cory Lake Isles resident is one of seven inventors honored at an induction ceremony and gala at the Inventors Hall on the USF Tampa Campus on September 16.
Dr. Goswami has lived in New Tampa with his wife Lovely for 10 years, since he left his position as director of the University of Florida’s Solar Energy Research Lab in Gainesville. He came to USF because he says it gave him, “more opportunities for doing groundbreaking research.” For example, Dr. Goswami says, “To establish a new research lab, you need space to do that, and USF was able to give me that space. Because the university is newer, it is open to a lot of things that may be harder to do at a (more) well-established university.”
The Florida Inventors Hall of Fame chose Dr. Goswami for his work in solar energy and indoor air quality. “I have 18 patents,” he says. “Some are related to solar energy, some to energy storage, and six are related to indoor air quality and the technology to disinfect and clean air.”
He says the key to being chosen for this honor is for those patents to be in use and helping people.
“My inventions are being used around the world,” Dr. Goswami says, “especially my invention to disinfect
When his now-grown son, Dilip, was much younger and suffering from allergies and asthma, Dr. Goswami began to look for a way to help him. He used his expertise to develop the technology that actually destroys the pollutants in the air that were making his son sick.
“The air inside homes and offices has a lot of pollutants, not just bacteria, viruses and mold,” says Dr. Goswami, “but also volatile organic chemicals that come from paints and other materials we use inside our buildings. Those things make us sick. Before air conditioning was so widely available, we used to have open windows so we would have fresh air. Now, these pollutants concentrate inside. This technology is the first on the market that destroys them.”
Dr. Goswami and Dilip co-founded Molekule, the company that is now producing an indoor air purifier that uses this technology. The first two production runs of the device, also called Molekule, have completely sold out, and the company currently has a waiting list for the next batch of air purifiers, which are expected to be available for sale in November.
He says many of his other inventions are related to making solar energy conversion more efficient, to bring the cost down.
“Costs have come down quite a bit over the last few decades in solar energy,” says Dr. Goswami. “We can make it more efficient and bring the cost down even further in the future.” He also has inventions related to storing energy more effectively, since solar energy is “intermittent,” meaning it’s not available at night or when it’s cloudy. His work in this area is directed toward large- scale power plants that produce solar energy.
“The Florida Inventors Hall of Fame is very prestigious,” says Dr. Goswami. “I feel honored to be inducted, especially seeing the people who were inducted before me, such as Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Dr. Robert Cade, the inventor of Gatorade.”
The Florida Inventors Hall of Fame is located in the USF Research Park at 3702 Spectrum Blvd., Suite 165, and is online at FloridaInvents.org.
For more information about the Molekule air purifier, visit Molekule.com.
A group of women from New Tampa are headed to Peru Oct. 16 to give students in a disadvantaged, mountainous area of the country laptop computers to enhance their educations.
The women are students of Hanaq Prana Yoga Studio, located at 10323 Cross Creek Blvd., Suite E., and the group is led by studio founder and director, Lorena Saavedra Smith, who is a native of Peru.
The group will spend a week at the Willa T’ika wellness retreat near Cusco, Peru, and will have a “packed itinerary” of doing yoga, experiencing the local attractions and serving the community.
“I’ve been planning this retreat since February,” says Lorena. “It’s a time of self discovery, time to reconnect, and for many of these women, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to visit such a fascinating country.” She says the 10 available spots for the trip were filled quickly and she has a waiting list of three or four women who will be first to attend next year’s retreat.
“We’re going to explore the ruins, enjoy the beautiful scenery, visit the (15th Century Incan citadel) Machu Picchu, taking in all this amazing energy from the mountains,” Lorena says. “Then, the service part is the last day of the retreat, so after we’ve cleansed the body, and taken in the energy, we can serve these kids.”
Tony Selvaggio, owner of eSmart Recycling, has provided 10 laptop computers to be donated for the trip.
“Tony has an amazing business of keeping old electronics out of landfills,” Lorena says. “Thanks to this donation, students in the small village of Cusco will have the opportunity to succeed academically with the access to technology that this donation of laptops will provide.”
Republican candidate Donald Trump was trounced in the first Presidential Debate by Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, but our editor says he can’t vote for either of them.
So, like 80 million or so other Americans, I watched every second of the first presidential debate between Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton and I will admit that the former First Lady, U.S. Senator from New York and Secretary of State absolutely wiped the floor with the businessman/real estate developer/reality TV star who somehow fooled Republican voters into thinking that he would be a better choice than the dozen or so much more qualified GOP candidates he ended up besting during the primary process.
And, as a native Lawn Guylander, it was hard to not see the irony of two candidates I truly dislike, each with ties to New York, duke it out at Hofstra University, which is 15 minutes from where I grew up.
Does anyone…even the staunchest Republican supporters…still believe that the unprepared, unimpressive “La Donald” was the best choice for the GOP to try to take back the White House after eight years under President Obama? Seriously?
Trump didn’t just lose the debate; he embarrassed himself and his supporters. Registered Republicans across the country let out a collective “uh-oh” as the billionaire stumbled, bumbled and sniffed (what was that anyway? a cold? allergies?) his way to the worst on-stage performance by a Republican since Sarah Palin.
Trump railed on about the number of murders in Chicago, but seemingly only because it’s Pres. Obama’s hometown, not because he had some important (or valid) point to make. He gave himself credit for changing his mind about the president’s birth certificate not being real, but never explained why he did three+ years after that certificate was produced.
When Trump jabbed lightly at Clinton about her 33,000 deleted emails, she countered with a smashing left hook to the jaw about why he won’t disclose his taxes. “Maybe he’s not as charitable…or as profitable…as he’d like us to think,” Hillary said to the American people. “But mainly, I think it’ll show that he hasn’t paid any federal income tax for years.”
“That just makes me smart,” the precocious billionaire sniffed back.
Smart? OK, maybe he is. But, appealing to undecided middle and lower class American voters who somehow have to pay thousands of dollars a year to Uncle Sam while only making thousands themselves? I don’t think so.
As I mentioned in my editorial after the first debate, I’m a registered Republican who could have happily supported Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson or Marco Rubio (I voted for Rubio in the primary, even though I don’t agree with all of his Tea Party positions), saying that I could get behind almost anyone other than Trump.
The only other major candidate who gave me similar pause was the second-place Republican Ted Cruz, who would attempt to make Christianity our national religion, despite our country’s diverse population. Trump may have sold GOP voters on the “fact” that he was the only non-politician in the field — just as he sold unsuspecting students on the bogus Trump University and unsuspecting condo buyers in New York, Tampa and other locations on buildings with his name on them that he ultimately walked away from without completing — but his “non-politically-correct” responses did nothing throughout the campaign but convince me he was the wrong choice, even as he built up his treasure trove of delegates.
So, obviously, I can’t vote for Trump — or recommend that anyone else should either. Even so, I also can’t throw my support behind Clinton, as I twice did Obama. A few weeks prior to the debate, I heard the former Secretary of State take credit for being in the “war room” as Pres. Obama and our top military officials came up with the plan to ultimately “take out” Osama bin Laden, but where was the First Lady when her husband was President? Meeting multiple times with the Al Qaeda leader after he had made his first (and unsuccessful) attempt to blow up the World Trade Center?
Did we even once hear Hillary say, during either of her Presidential campaigns, that, “We should’ve taken out that SOB when Bill had the chance” all those years ago?
No. Instead, we have been (since the 1990s) — and continue to be — told about the “stand by my man” relationship between Hillary and her husband, who surely didn’t begin and end his process of wooing White House interns with Monica Lewinsky. I don’t believe the Clintons are in any way, shape or form a loving couple. I say Hillary has stuck with her hubby only because she feared that she would never become president herself if she divorced him, despite his blatant philandering.
Hillary claims to be fighting for you and me, but I honestly believe neither candidate cares as much about us as they do themselves.
Yes, Clinton dominated Trump in Round One. It was so bad that if it were a prize fight, it would have been stopped early, with Trump sniffing blood back into his nose instead of sniffling before and after every time he spoke.
Even so, I will still be at the polls on Nov. 8, voting for other offices. I just can’t see myself casting a ballot for either of these two, even though one of them has to win. Heavy sigh.
As the number one cancer killer among women, most adults in Wesley Chapel — and around the nation — have had a close friend or family member who has had and/or succumbed to breast cancer.
Roque explains, “We’re not primary care health providers. We don’t do treatments, and we’re not prescribing medications. Our goal is to get students into school, so we do physicals and make sure immunizations are up to date.” 
A group of women from New Tampa are headed to Peru Oct. 16 to give students in a disadvantaged, mountainous area of the country laptop computers to enhance their educations.
