Thursday, October 16, 2003

Wilmington, NC – Programming for the week of October 20, UNCW Community Link, an interactive, public affairs television show chats with Si Cantwell, writer for the Star-News about the recent Wilmington City elections and an orthopedic surgeon about things everyone should know before entering surgery.

H.E. “Hunter” Thompson, Jr. sits down with Cantwell, writer of the Common Sense column for the Wilmington Star-News, to discuss the outcome of the Wilmington City elections. The voters spoke loudly in this election with a 31.9 percent turnout, and they said they want a change. According to Cantwell, the election was not very issue based, Broadhurst and Peterson weren’t very different and the election came down to Peterson’s personality. “[Peterson] is like anchovies on a pizza, you love them or you hate them.”

As for the city council race, Laura Padgett and Bill Saffo came out victorious, while the city waits to determine the third seat. “People admire her courage, she stuck to her guns, and it worked for her.”

Over 100,000 people died from infections in hospitals last year. With this in mind, Betty Ann Sanders speaks with Richard J. Nasca, M.D. about preventative measures everyone should take before entering into a surgical procedure. Nasca is a retired orthopedic surgeon who practiced for 35 years in the Wilmington area. The first warning he gave was to alert physicians when taking herbal medications, especially before surgery, as most herbal medicines cause increased bleeding and lowered immunity to disease. Many patients receive proper precautions from their doctors before surgery, but often forget steps do to nerves or high emotions. For this reason, doctors recommend bringing a friend or loved one to listen, or requesting a written copy of instructions to follow and always get a second opinion.

“Infections occur without surgery. Eight percent of the population has diabetes and those patients have a very high chance of infection. The infection rate is one percent of the overall population, and most of those occur after surgery with ICU patients.”

Representing the Greater Wilmington Business, this week’s Editorially Yours segment is provided by publisher Joy Allen.

UNCW Community Link reaches beyond the television studio to allow citizens to sound off on compelling issues facing Southeastern North Carolina. Hosts Sanders and Thompson engage and challenge the region’s newsmakers and opinion-shapers and then ask viewers to voice their opinions. Through collaboration with the Southeast Public Interest Network of North Carolina (www.SpinNC.org), citizens can use the latest Internet technologies to continue the dialog on show topics and community ideas. UNCW Community Link is brought to you in part by the following sponsors: Time Warner Cable, Wilmington Star News and WHQR Public Radio.



Tune into UNCW Community Link:

Wilmington & Brunswick County can tune in on The Learning Network, Time Warner Ch 5 and Charter Communications Ch 12 at 7 p.m. Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays



Pender County can tune in on Government Channel 8 at 7 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays

Carteret County/Havelock can tune in on Time Warner Channel 10 at 7 p.m. on Thursdays

Jacksonville can tune in on Time Warner Channel 10 at 7 p.m. on Thursdays