Redistricting, Hospital Loyalty, Coral Reefs, Living Expenses

Redistricting and SCOTUS (1:04) Democracy is Top of Mind today. In drafting the Constitution of the United States, the founders spent a lot of time wrestling with how to ensure the federal government represents the will of the states and their citizens. The US Supreme Court recently interpreted what’s known as the “Elections Clause” in the Constitution to allow for unelected commissions of citizens to draw the boundaries for congressional districts. Supporters of the ruling say it reduces the amount of partisan game-playing that has always gone into district boundary-drawing. Opponents say the ruling strips away the rightful power of state legislatures to do the work of redistricting by putting it in the hands of citizen commissions. Kelly Patterson is an elections expert and professor of political science here at BYU. Stick to your Hospital (20:19) One byproduct of the intense debate Americans have had over health care reform is our increased awareness of what it costs. It’s increasingly common for patients – particularly those with high-deductible insurance plans – to shop around for the best price on a procedure. At the same time, there’s a trend toward hospitals establishing themselves as expert in certain procedures like heart surgery or knee replacement. What that means is that “medical tourism” is on the rise: people traveling to a hospital far from home for specialized surgical care. What too few people consider in making the choice to travel for surgery is where they’ll turn if complications arise and they’ve already returned home. University of Utah surgery professor Benjamin Brooke’s latest research published in The Lancet finds your chances of surviving surgical complications are better if you go back to the same hospital. . . which could be a problem if that hospital is hundreds of miles away.Dr. Benjamin Brooke is an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Utah School of Medicine, and lead author of “Readmission destination and risk of mortality after major surgery.” Drones in Coral Reefs (38:32) Scientists are quickly finding ways to deploy drones for their research, too. We spoke recently with one who has designed a drone to collect water samples. A team at the Nature Conservancy has an amphibious one that is helping chart sensitive coral reefs in the Caribbean.Steve Schill is a Senior Scientist for the Nature Conservancy’s Caribbean Program. High Rent, Low Wages (51:41) The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Some cities across the country have bumped theirs to $15 – the highest minimum wage in American history. And yet, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, even $15 an hour is not enough to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment in most states. Sheila Crowley is the President and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Their report “Out of Reach” addresses the conflict between wages and rent affordability in America. Parent Previews Terminator Genisys (1:12:20) It’s that time of week when we talk movies here on Top of Mind.The Terminator franchise is back with “Genisys” and Arnold Schwarzenegger is too. Rod Gustafson reviews films at ParentPreviews.com and joins us weekly. Tech Transfer - Mass Digitization of Documents (1:27:14) I had a project once that entailed a lot of standing over a digital scanner loading in one page at a time to create digital files. I occupied my mind with daydreams, for the most part. If I’d been more innovative, maybe I’d have had a flash of inspiration that could have improved the drudgery of my task. That’s what Scott Eldredge has done. He manages the digital initiatives program for BYU’s Harold B. Lee Library and works as the Digital Initiatives Program Manager for the BYU library.