The College Perspective by Lindsey

Good evening. My name is Lindsey Smith and I’m here with KTIV News to give you the latest on what’s happening in the world.

In recent science news, a popular diabetes drug could help lower the risk of getting Alzheimer’s.

Metformin is a drug taken by millions of Americans to control their blood glucose. According to Scientific American, the drug itself is very safe and very cheap; Walmart sells it for only four dollars.

And now in recent studies, it may be possible that metformin could help even nondiabetics from diseases like Alzheimer’s.

While diabetes is a risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s, professors at Tulane University discovered that metformin can greatly reduce incidences of Alzheimer’s and other serious illnesses.

Essentially, any diabetes patient who uses metformin for more than four years has the same risk of getting Alzheimer’s as anyone else. This is significantly less risky than those who only take insulin or other drugs for their diabetes.

Neurologists hope to run larger trials for more evidence, but have run into troubles with funding. Some groups are also hoping to find biomarkers, measurable signals that could help identify Alzheimer’s patients earlier.

Researchers believe that if the Alzheimer’s disease is identified before serious damage has been done, metformin could save patient’s lives.

In other news, students in the Siouxland community are finding creative ways to pay their tuition after another rise in price this year.

Grady Klein, a Morningside college sophomore is trying to pay for tuition after already maxing out on possible scholarships and financial aid, a problem that many students face at private colleges.

However, Klein isn’t going down without a fight. He’s taken two jobs to combat the prices, one as an R-A and one as a member of campus security.

The biggest part of the rise in tuition every year comes down to one thing: a change in personnel costs. Each year salaries are raised and other costs, like health insurance also increase, putting more pressure on the college to get more money.

Ron Jorgensen, the Vice President for Business and Finance believes that without the professors, Morningside College wouldn’t be as strong of an educational institution as it is today. (Sound bite)

In the meantime, Klein hopes his efforts will put at least a small dent in his student loans, but says he can only hope for the best once he gets out of college.

Recent events have caused an outpouring of support across the entire state of Iowa after a shooting in Des Moines today resulted in the death of two police officers.

Early the morning of November second, gunshots rang out, calling police officers to the scene where two of their fellow officers had been shot in their squad cars.

The man suspected of killing these officers in this ambush style is Scott Greene, a man who was escorted out of a football stadium two days earlier for causing a disturbance. He had been waving a confederate flag that was stolen by other members in the crowd, causing him to become angry.

Soon after the dead officers were found, Greene was seen walking nearby and was taken in for questioning. He went without argument.

Communities across Iowa are shocked by this ambush attack of police officers, students on Morningside College campus included. Many are surprised by this sudden act of violence and have signed a pledge to support the local police force here in Sioux City.

Austin Norton, a sophomore at Morningside College, believes that the police deserve our support now more than ever, and that we as a community need to show how grateful we are for their sacrifice.

Meanwhile, at the Urbandale police station, people have been leaving small items to show their support for the families of the officers who died as well as the rest of the officers on the police force.

And that’s the news. Thanks for watching and from all of us here at KTIV, goodnight.