Vol. XVII	LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, FRIDAY, JULY 15, 1966	72	No. 7
University of Southern California
TROJAN
SUMMER
WATTS CLINIC
Artist conception shows proposed Watts medical-dental clinic to be built with a $2.4 million grant awarded to the School of Medicine. The project was termed crucial in view of the lack of health facilities immediately available to the residents of Watts. Construction of the 55,000 square-foot building is expected to begin in September and the facility is scheduled to be operational by January 1967.
Honor society to have Med school surgical team headquarters at USC develops new heart valve
One of the nation's youngest and largest academic honor societies has established its headquarters at USC.
Omicron Delta Epsilon, the National Honor Society in Economics, will henceforth conduct the affairs of its 120 chapters and 7.000 currently active members from the USC campus, reported D*r. Alan A. Brown, chairman of its board of trustees.
Dr. Brown is a USC assistant professor of economics and a Research Associate in USC’s Research Institute on Communist Strategy and Propaganda.
Another USC faculty member. Dr. E. Bryant Phillips has been named executive sec-retary-treasurer of the society. Dr. Phillips is a professor of economics. A third USC facultyman. Dr Gerhard Tint-ner. distinguished professor of economics and mathematics, has been elected a trustee of the society. Taking office as president is Dr. Ervin K. Zingler, profesor of economics at the University of Houston. Texas.
Recognizes Attainment
Omicron Delta Epsilon has as its objectives the recognition of scholastic attainment in the field of economics and the establishment of closer ties between professors and students of economics on various campuses throughout the nation.
Publishes Journal
It is the publisher of The American Economist (circulation 4,500), a semiannual journal primarily for students of economics. A portion of
each issue includes readings in some particular field of economics. The forthcoming winter issue will be devoted to material on Russian and Chinese economics.
This scholarly effort is made possible by the support of USC's Research Institute on Communism. Business affairs of The American Economist are conducted at USC: editorial offices are at Princeton and New York University.
Establishment of a professional employment service for economists and employers will be instituted in the Fall, Dr. Brown said. The service, for which there will be no charge, will seek to acquaint potential employers with young economists of demonstrated professional caliber.
The present organization. Omicron Delta Epsilon, is the result of a merger. January (Continued on Page 3. Col. 1)
Successful development and use of a new flat disc valve to replace defonned valves in the human heart was reported at the 14th annual scientific meeting of the North American chapter of the International Cardiovascular Society by a surgical team from USC's School of Medicine.
The meeting was held in the Waldorf room of the Conrad Hilton Hotel.
The new plastic (silastic rubber) disc valve, about the size of a nickel, is held in a small metal (vitalium) cage fixed to a (teflon) cloth ring. The entire device is about only one-fourth as big as a marblesized ball valve used for the past five years.
Clotting of blood on the new flat disc valve has been reduced to apparently less than ten per cent as compared with a previous incidence of 25 to 30 per cent with the larger ball valves. Blocking of blood flow7
into the heart has also been virtually eliminated by use of the new device.
Go To Brain
Clots forming on ball valves have been known to go to the brain, kidneys and even the extremities, resulting in strokes, impaired kidney function and also occlusion of the vessels to the arms and legs.
Under development for two years and first used last August 6, the USC disc valve has been placed in more than 600 patients throughout the world. Sweden, Italy and Japan have been major users of the device outside the United States.
Sixteen persons have received the new prosthesis at St. Vincent’s Hospital and County General Hospital, both in Los Angeles, in operations performed by the USC surgical team headed by Drs. Jerome Harold Kay. Harold Tsuji and John V. Redington.
Two fires destroy old Delta Tau Delta, Phi Kappa Tau houses
Fire destroyed the former Phi Kappa Tau fraternity house on 2830 South Ellendale PI. Wednesday morning. The house, which was declared a total loss, was empty.
The fraternity had moved into a new building this spring.
It was the second fire in this area in three days. The old Tau Delta Tau house on
Adams Boulevard was razed by fire Sunday night.
Fire department officials are reported to be investigating arson in both cases.
The Tau Delt house had been owned years ago by the late E. L. Doheny, and Keystone Cop Fatty Arbuckle once lived there. Before World War II the house was considered a showplace when
the area around USC was a fashionable section of Los Angeles.
Only two students were living at the house at the time of the fire; the rest had moved into a new building next door. Some furniture and personal possessions were ruined, but the fire was confined to just the attic and third floor of the fraternity house.
They also led the development work in the research laboratory of the LTSC School of Medicine.
Most Used
Although ball valves have been used in approximately 35.-
000	patients world-wide, Dr Kay said he believes the new flat disc type will be the valve most used in the future.
“The valve is undergoing constant improvements, and more refinements will be forthcoming with experiments now being conducted in the laboratory,” he said.
Tests of the disc valve on a pulse duplicator indicate a life expectancy of more than 40 years for the device.
In the research laboratory the disc has caused no obstruction to any heart function, pressures in the heart were more nearly normal, and the function of the entire heart was more satisfactory.
Doing Well
The Los Angeles patients who received the device are doing extremely well, and are back to a normal existence with a normal life expectancy. Dr. Kay reported.
Research on the new hear! valve was supported by the Childrens' Heart Fund of Southern California, the Los Angeles County Heart Association. Los Angeles Thoracic and Cardiovascular Foundation. and the National Institutes of Health.
The USC device was exhi bited at the meeting and also at earlier sessions of the American College of Chest Physicians.