Mountain Views News          Saturday, July 28, 2012

4


Mountain Views-News Saturday July 28, 2012 


Report Shows Abuse 
and Neglect in Two 
Local Nursing Homes

Curiosity on 
Track for 
Early Landing

Police Sign 
Agreement 
to work with 
Foreign 

Police 

Deparments

 A maneuver Tuesday adjusted 
the flight path of NASA’s Mars 
Science Laboratory spacecraft 
for delivering the rover 
Curiosity to a landing target 
beside a Martian mountain.

 The car-size, one-ton rover is 
bound for arrival the evening 
of Aug. 5, 2012, PDT (early 
Aug. 6, EDT and Universal 
Time). The landing will mark 
the beginning of a two-year 
prime mission to investigate 
whether one of the most 
intriguing places on Mars 
ever offered an environment 
favorable for microbial life.

 The latest trajectory 
correction maneuver, the third 
and smallest since the Nov. 
26, 2011, launch, used four 
thruster firings totaling just 
40 seconds. Spacecraft data 
and Doppler-effect changes 
in radio signal from the 
craft indicate the maneuver 
succeeded. As designed 
by engineers at NASA’s Jet 
Propulsion Laboratory, 
Pasadena, Calif., the maneuver 
adjusts the location where the 
spacecraft will enter Mars’ 
atmosphere by about 125 miles 
(200 kilometers) and advances 
the time of entry by about 70 
seconds.

 “This puts us closer to our 
entry target, so if any further 
maneuvers are needed, I 
expect them to be small,” said 
JPL’s Tomas Martin-Mur, the 
mission’s navigation team 
chief. Opportunities for up 
to three additional trajectory 
correction maneuvers are 
scheduled during the final 
eight days of the flight.

 The maneuver served both to 
correct errors in the flight path 
that remained after earlier 
correction maneuvers and to 
carry out a decision this month 
to shift the landing target 
about 4 miles (7 kilometers) 
closer to the mountain.

 It altered the spacecraft’s 
velocity by about one-tenth of 
a mile per hour (50 millimeters 
per second). The flight’s 
first and second trajectory 
correction maneuvers 
produced velocity changes 
about 150 times larger on Jan. 
11 and about 20 times larger 
on March 26.

 Shifting the landing target 
closer to the mountain, 
informally named Mount 
Sharp, may shave months off 
the time needed for driving 
from the touchdown location 
to selected destinations at 
exposures of water-related 
minerals on the slope of the 
mountain.

By Dean Lee

 

 Through a recently obtained 
public records request, the 
California Advocates for 
Nursing Home Residents 
(CANHR) released reports, 
last week, issued by the 
California Attorney General’s 
“Operation Guardians” that 
detail widespread abuse, 
neglect, and other unsanitary 
conditions in nursing homes 
inspected since 2010 — two 
facilities, of which, are in 
Pasadena.

 According to the report, at 
Golden Cross Health Care 
on Fair Oaks Avenue there 
was inadequate wound 
prevention and treatment, 
dehydration, inadequate 
psychotropic medication 
practices, and poor end-
of-life care identified.” One 
resident developed maggots 
in an open wound. 

 A summary of the report 
states, the facility did not note 
dehydration as a diagnosis 
for multiple residents despite 
“clear documentation of 
dehydration” in the residents’ 
records. The facility also 
improperly medicates its 
residents with antipsychotic 
drugs. “Deficiencies in this 
area include: inadequate 
verification of informed 
consent; inappropriate 
monitoring and lack of 
monitoring; and lack of 
monitoring for adverse drug 
effects.” Patients are even 
treated with antipsychotic 
drugs that have reactions to 
medications they are already 
taking 

 One of the most prominent 
discoveries inspectors made 
at Sunrise Convalescent 
Hospital also on North Fair 
Oaks Avenue, was the lack of 
precautionary measures for 
residents wandering in and 
out of the facility. Residents 
were permitted on many 
occasions to come and go 
as they please without first 
informing staff. 

One resident, recovering 
from a traumatic brain 
injury, was reported to have 
left the facility on at least one 
occasion without permission 
and returned with alcohol on 
his breath.

 Investigators found that 
several residents did not 
have the capacity to make 
decisions and the facility 
staff had become their 
decision maker.” In addition, 
some residents who had 
been appointed conservators 
had personally signed 
forms consenting to the 
administration of medication 
without the conservator ever 
being notified. “In a number 
of cases reviewed, residents 
lacking capacity were 
signing their own Physician 
Orders for Life-Sustaining 
Treatment (POLST) forms.” 
Additionally, the wishes 
of patients reflected in 
their POLST forms, were 
sometimes ignored the 
report states.

 CANHR called on 
California’s Attorney 
General to use the reports as 
a basis for a criminal or civil 
prosecution of nursing home 
staff members, managers 
and owners responsible 
for the reprehensible care 
and conditions in the poor 
performing nursing homes.

By Dean Lee

 Police Chief Phillip Sanchez 
signed a partnership agreement 
Wednesday with U.S. 
Assistant Secretary of State for 
International Narcotics and 
Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) 
William Brownfield to utilize 
the knowledge and expertise of 
active serving Pasadena police 
officers to train, advise and 
mentor foreign law enforcement 
personnel.

 Pasadena joins 28 other U. S. 
cities participating in the foreign 
programs. Pasadena Police Sgt. 
Ed Calatayud spent one week, 
earlier this month, in Kingston, 
the capital and largest city of 
Jamaica, training officers in the 
use of nonlethal police tactics. 

 Calatayud said it was not 
uncommon for Jamaican police 
to use military tactics, including 
using assault rifles, during a 
simple traffic stop. He said 
Jamaica is the largest supplier of 
marijuana to the U.S. so police 
are over cautious dealing with 
drug cartel. He said his mission 
was to catalog proper equipment 
such as pepper spray, batons and 
stun guns and other equipment 
the INL might fund. 

 “By sending Ed Calatayud 
to assess the state of Jamaican 
law enforcement the State 
Department’s bureau 
International Narcotics and 
Law Enforcement has taken the 
first steps towards enhancing 
law enforcement cooperation 
between the United Sates and 
Jamaica,” Congressman Adam 
Schiff said in a statement. “This 
is also taking steps that will 
result in less crime here on or 
shores and on our streets.”

 “At the end of the day what we 
are looking for… is a situation 
in which everyone wins,” 
Brownfield said. “A foreign 
government and its police 
community win because they 
have accesses to the knowledge 
and the talent of big U.S. city 
police departments. I win 
because I have a very talented 
pool of officers that I can draw 
from not just in this hemisphere 
but in Southeast Asia in Central 
Asia and Africa… The 
Pasadena police department 
wins because it develops the 
experience, the contacts and the 
networks overseas.” 

Brownfield also speculated, 
although insisted he was 
not pressuring Sanchez, that 
Pasadena police officers could 
help with future deployments 
in Mexico, Guatemala, and El 
Salvador. 

 Sanchez said the partnership 
was an opportunity for the 
department to reach out 
internationally.


Chief Phillip Sanchez and 
William Brownfield sign MOU

White House Honors 
Caltech and JPL 
Scientists, Engineers

New PCC 
Measure P 
Oversight 
Members 
Introduced

 
The Pasadena Area 
Community College District 
Board of Trustees announced 
the appointment of Sandra 
Burton Greenstein, Hanna 
Israel, Anthony Portantino, 
and Allen Shay to serve on 
the Pasadena City College 
Measure P Citizen’s Oversight 
Committee, which will report 
on the progress of PCC 
renovations and construction 
funded by voter-approved 
Measure P Bond funds. The 
passage of Measure P in 2002 
authorized PCC to issue up 
to $150 million in bonds to 
finance the construction. 
Bonds will be repaid through 
local property taxes.

 The 12-member committee 
meets quarterly to ensure that 
campus projects are developed 
and funded as specified 
in Measure P. Committee 
members serve for two years. 
Members may be reappointed 
for a second term. Measure P 
campus projects have included 
a new parking structure, a 
new Industrial Technologies 
Building, the renovation of 
the Campus Center building, 
and technology and safety 
upgrades to most of PCC’s 
existing buildings.

For more information about 
Measure P, call (626) 585-7202 
or visit the Measure P website 
at www.pasadena.edu/bond.

 


 Chiara Daraio, professor of 
aeronautics and applied physics, 
and Christopher Hirata, 
professor of astrophysics, both 
at the California Institute of 
Technology (Caltech), and Ian 
Clark of NASA’s Jet Propulsion 
Laboratory (JPL)—which is 
managed by Caltech—are 
winners of the Presidential 
Early Career Award for 
Scientists and Engineers. This 
is the highest award given by 
the United States government 
to science and engineering 
professionals in the early stages 
of their independent research 
careers.

 Daraio was recognized by 
the Department of Defense for 
her “pioneering contributions 
to nonlinear mechanical 
phenomena in acoustic 
crystals, granular material, and 
multifunctional nanostructures, 
and for mentoring women 
and providing research 
opportunities for high school 
and undergraduate students.”

 “I am very excited about 
this award. I wanted to be an 
inventor and engineer early on. 
I came to the U.S. as a graduate 
student and am grateful that 
here I could pursue my dreams,” 
Daraio said. “Caltech has 
provided me with an excellent 
environment to realize my 
ideas, working with the world’s 
best students, postdocs, and 
colleagues on the faculty.”

 Daraio added, “This has been a 
very special year for me: I had a 
baby just two months ago, and a 
few weeks earlier became a U.S. 
citizen. The Presidential Early 
Career Award is the icing on the 
cake.”

 Hirata was recognized by 
the Department of Energy for 
“innovative work reducing 
astrophysical uncertainties 
that limit the extraction 
of fundamental physics 
parameters from cosmological 
observations, for studies of 
the sensitivity of structure 
formation to the relative 
velocity between dark matter 
and baryons in the early 
universe, and for service on 
NASA/DOE Joint Dark Energy 
Mission working groups.”

“In the past decade, cosmology 
has been revolutionized by 
ever-improving observational 
capabilities. My colleagues 
and I have been developing 
the theoretical tools that 
enable us to connect the direct 
observables—the cosmic 
microwave background and the 
distribution of galaxies—to the 
underlying physical processes 
that occurred during the first 
fraction of a second after the big 
bang,” Hirata said.

 “When I received word about 
winning this award, I was in the 
middle of debugging software 
code, so the work continues,” 
he added. “But it’s nice to take 
a step back and see how far we 
have come.”

 Clark was recognized by NASA 
for “exceptional leadership and 
achievement in the pursuit 
of advanced entry, descent 
and landing technologies 
and techniques for space-
exploration missions.”

“It’s certainly quite an honor,” 
Clark said. “However, there 
are remarkable achievements 
every day here at JPL/Caltech 
that are equally deserving of 
recognition. I wish we could 
honor the JPL and NASA teams 
for the amazing work on the 
Mars Science Laboratory as we 
prepare for it to land on Mars.” 

 “Discoveries in science and 
technology not only strengthen 
our economy, they inspire 
us as a people.” President 
Obama said. “The impressive 
accomplishments of today’s 
awardees so early in their 
careers promise even greater 
advances in the years ahead.”

 The Presidential Early Career 
Award for Scientists and 
Engineers was established 
by President Clinton in 1996 
and is coordinated by the 
President’s Office of Science 
and Technology Policy. 
Awardees are selected for their 
pursuit of innovative research 
at the frontiers of science 
and technology, and their 
commitment to community 
service as demonstrated 
through scientific leadership, 
public education, or community 
outreach. Fourteen Caltech 
professors and researchers 
have won the award since its 
inception.

Golden Cross Health Care


Citizen 
Journalism 
Meet-up

Pet of 
the Week

 Learn not just how to 
blog but how to report 
the news

 The Pasadena Community 
Network and this newspaper 
are holding a workshop on 
Citizen Journalism. 

 This group is the place where 
aspiring journalists can learn 
from trained professionals 
and support their local 
community by covering what’s 
really happening in their 
neighborhoods.

 We will put the news in your 
hands. Learn how to find 
the story, the tools needed to 
capture the story and the means 
to tell the story using the power 
of video, audio and print along 
with online social media The 
next meeting is July 31 from 6 
p.m. to 8p.m. at the Pasadena 
Community Network - Studio 
G, 2057 N. Los Robles Ave.

 For more info call 626.794.8585.


Democratic 
Headquarters 
to Hold 
Opening

 What is there not to like 
about Holly? She’s a mellow 
two-year-old calico. She’s 
very observant and has 
stunning green eyes. She 
loves having her head 
petted too! 

 Holly’s regular adoption 
fee is $70, which includes 
her spay surgery, a 
microchip, the first set of 
vaccinations, as well as 
a free follow-up health 
check at a participating vet. 
New adopters will receive 
complimentary health and 
wellness exam from VCA 
Animal Hospitals. Ask an 
adoptions counselor for 
more information during 
your visit.

 Call the Pasadena 
Humane Society & SPCA at 
626.792.7151 to ask about 
A307322, or visit at 361 S. 
Raymond Ave. in Pasadena. 
Adoption hours are 11-4 
Sunday, 9-5 Tuesday –
Friday, 9-4 Saturday. Pets 
may not be available for 
adoption and cannot be 
held for potential adopters 
from phone calls or email. 
Directions and photos of all 
pets can be found at www.
pasadenahumane.org.

Schiff Calls for Gun Control 
in Wake of Aurora Shooting

 Adam Schiff, a former federal 
prosecutor, Tuesday released 
the following statement after 
the shooting in Aurora last 
week:

 “I was deeply saddened by the 
tragic and senseless shooting 
at an Aurora, Colorado movie 
theater. Our priority must be 
aiding and comforting the 
victims and their families. I 
also believe we should take 
this moment to examine our 
laws and determine how we 
can prevent horrendous acts 
like this one in the future. We 
will never be able to stop all 
senseless acts of violence – 
there will always be those, who, 
for reasons unfathomable to us 
all, decide to take the lives of 
innocent people around them. 
But there are some common 
sense steps we can take to make 
these types of shootings more 
rare and less destructive.

 “First, my colleague Senator 
Feinstein led the charge almost 
twenty years ago to pass the 
Assault Weapons Ban, but 
it has since been allowed to 
expire. It is past time to put 
that law, which would have 
outlawed the type of gun used 
by the shooter, back in place. 
Second, we should pass the 
Large Capacity Ammunition 
Feeding Device Act sponsored 
by Congresswoman McCarthy, 
which would prohibit the sale 
of ammunition magazines 
that can hold more than ten 
rounds at a time. The ability 
to fire 30 or even 100 shots 
without reloading increases the 
destructive capacity of shooters 
while serving no legitimate 
purpose. Third, we must also 
examine legislation to close the 
gun show loopholes and crack 
down on straw purchasing, 
both of which help divert guns 
out of legal channels and into 
black markets where they are 
easily obtained by criminals 
and the mentally ill.

 “I realize, of course, these steps 
will not stop all mass killings, 
or even all mass shootings. 
As the Governor of Colorado 
pointed out, if this killer didn’t 
have access to the weapons and 
ammunition he used, he might 
have built a bomb instead. But it 
is also true that we do not need 
to make such killing easy, and 
I do not believe that anything 
in the Second Amendment, 
or any desire to hunt or for 
self-protection requires ready 
access to assault weapons with 
extended ammunition clips.”

 Progressive voters from 
throughout the San Gabriel 
Valley are invited to join 
the celebration as United 
Democratic Headquarters 
launches its 2012 campaign 
and celebrates President 
Barack Obama’s 51st birthday 
on August 4. The event will 
take place 519 S. Lake Ave 
from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. 

 Members of the Community 
Bible Gospel Choir will lead 
the attendees in singing Happy 
Birthday to the President while 
a special Obama birthday cake 
is presented.

 UDH is the campaign coalition 
of eight local Democratic clubs 
throughout the San Gabriel 
Valley. It is one of the largest 
and most active Democratic 
campaign headquarters in 
Southern California.

 Speakers will be, State 
Senator Carol Liu, Pasadena 
City Councilman Chris 
Holden and Assembly District 
41 candidate and Pasadena 
City Councilman Steve 
Madison

 For more information visit 
pasadenademocrats.com.