JULY 27, 2009

Schools, VA Providing Tuition Assistance To Veterans.

   WVIR-TV Charlottesville, VA (7/26, 11:18 p.m. ET) broadcast, "Mary Baldwin College is stepping up to help post-9/11 veterans and their families afford a college education. The school is one of nearly 60 colleges and universities in Virginia partnering with the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide tuition assistance to those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan." Students at Mary Baldwin "will be eligible for $9,000 a year from the college. Those funds will be matched by the Federal government."
      The Worcester (MA) Telegram & Gazette (7/26, Welch) reported, "Nine local institutions are among the 68 colleges, universities and schools in Massachusetts that have entered into Yellow Ribbon Program agreements" with the VA "to improve financial aid for veterans participating in the Post-9/11 GI Bill program: Anna Maria College, Assumption College, Becker College, Clark University, College of the Holy Cross, Mount Wachusett Community College, Nichols College, University of Phoenix and Worcester Polytechnic Institute."
      The Austin (TX) American-Statesman (7/25, Summers) reported, "Austin Community College is among colleges and universities nationwide that expect to see a boom in veteran enrollment this year as a new GI bill with revised college tuition benefits takes effect Aug. 1." The US VA "estimates that the new benefits will bring more than 460,000 veterans to college campuses nationwide, an increase of 20 percent to 25 percent. Experts say this is the largest overhaul" of the GI Bill "since it was established."
      In a related story, the Daily Texan (7/27, Longoria) reports, "Austin Community College held a veterans' appreciation and open house event Saturday that provided veterans with information regarding" the US VA, "post-traumatic stress disorder and a new GI bill that will go into effect August 1."
Impact: Shinseki, cabinet members’ town hall

Report Suggests Possible Link Between Agent Orange And Parkinson's, Heart Disease.

  In continuing coverage, HealthDay (7/25, Gardner) reported, "Exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides that were sprayed far and wide" by the US military "during the Vietnam War might put veterans at increased risk for heart disease and Parkinson's." An Institute of Medicine (IOM) report released on Friday "finds 'suggestive but limited' evidence of an elevated risk for these two conditions among soldiers who served in that conflict." The "IOM's report is the seventh update in a series requested" by the US Department of Veterans Affairs "and mandated by Congress."
      Bloomberg News (7/25, Waters) noted that Bernard Edelman, deputy director for policy and government affairs of Vietnam Veterans of America, "said his group 'applauded' the new report and its finding. 'This is something we've been working on for a long time and we will be petitioning'" VA "'to add these conditions to the list of diseases the agency considers to carry enough risk that they'll grant disability compensation,' Edelman said in a telephone interview" Thursday. The fifth item in the Los Angeles Times' (7/25) "Science Briefing" column also noted the IOM report, as did a story aired by NEWS13-TV Orlando, FL (7/26, 12:26 p.m. ET).
Impact: Agent Orange Exposure

Senate Passes Franken's Service Dogs Bill.

  In continuing coverage, the KSTP-TV Minneapolis, MN (7/26, Nahm) website noted that the "first piece of legislation" introduced by US Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), "a bill aimed at providing service dogs to more disabled veterans," has been passed by the Senate. The Service Dogs for Veterans Act "would create a pilot program within" the Department of Veterans Affairs, which "would partner with non-profit groups" that "train service dogs. The bill was incorporated into the Defense Authorization bill for fiscal year 2010 and passed as part of the larger bill." The website for KAAL-TV Austin, MN (7/26) published the same story.