What’s going on in America?
KU announces name change
The University of Kansas Hospital is now officially the University of Kansas Health System. Hospital officials announced the name change on Jan. 23, saying that the new name better represents the hospital’s extensive healthcare system.
“We are much more than the facilities off 39th (Street) in Kansas City, Kan.,” explained University of Kansas Health System CEO, Bob Page in a press release. “We reach across the state line and throughout Kansas.
The University of Kansas Health System name will apply to the organization’s partnerships with Hays Medical Center, Stormont Vail in Topeka and KVC Behavioral Health in Hays, Kan., and North Kansas City Hospital and Cornerstones of Care in Kansas City, Mo. The University of Kansas Hospital will remain the name of the flagship hospital building at 39th and Cambridge streets in KCK.
The rebranding process will occur in phases and is expected to take up to three years. The organization’s website, physical signage and stationary will eventually carry the new name and new icon.
The University of Kansas Health System works closely with but is not a part of the University of Kansas Medical Center or the Schools of Medicine, Nursing and Health Professions, which are part of the Kansas system of higher education. The University of Kansas Health System is independently governed and doesn’t receive tax appropriations.
Border wall in the works
Yesterday morning, President Trump signed an executive order authorizing “the immediate construction of a physical wall” on the southern border. He announced the move in remarks he delivered Wednesday afternoon at the Department of Homeland Security.
“We’re in the middle of a crisis on our southern border,” Trump said. “The unprecedented surge of illegal migrants from Central America is harming both Mexico and the United States. I believe the steps we will take starting right now will improve the safety in both of our countries. It’s going to be very, very good for Mexico. A nation without borders is not a nation.”
The executive order doesn’t cover the cost of the wall’s construction. Trump has said since he began campaigning for president that he would get Mexico to pay for it, one way or another.
A portion of the 1,954-mile U.S.-Mexico border “wall” has been completed. The Secure Fence Act of 2000 approved up to 700 miles; 652 miles have been built, at a cost of $2.3 billion, according to Border Patrol testimony before a Senate committee in 2015. Recent studies by research groups estimate that it could cost up to $25 billion to construct the remaining 1,200-plus miles.
Restarting pipelines
On Tuesday, President Trump signed two executive orders giving the green light to advance the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines. Work on the controversial Dakota Access was stalled last fall when former President Obama refused to approve the final remaining easement after prolonged, violent confrontations between protesters and law enforcement. Obama nixed the Keystone project in 2015.
Environmentalists and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline. It threatens drinking water and Native America cultural sites, they contend. They say it also violates an 1815 treaty as well as federal antiquities laws.
Lack of thorough federal environmental review puts communities’ drinking water sources and local ecosystems at risk, argue environmentalists opposed to both pipeline projects.
The 1,200-mile Keystone XL Pipeline would carry 800,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Canada to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. As proposed, the $8 billion pipeline would go through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
The 1,172-mile Dakota Access Pipeline would carry 470,000 barrels of crude oil a day. As proposed, the $3.7 billion pipeline would go from North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa and end in southern Illinois.
Opponents of the pipelines were dismayed by Trump’s decisions to “expedite” the work. They vowed to challenge his executive orders in court.
