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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 2016)
SPORTS 8A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2016 Harber makes irst start for Wisconsin The Daily Astorian GRAND CHUTE, Wisc. — Three pitchers — including Asto- ria’s Conor Harber — combined on a two-hit shutout to lead the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers to a 1-0 win over the Great Lakes Loons Thursday afternoon. The victory at Fox Cities Stadium was the ifth straight win for the Rattlers, the Midwest League afiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. Wisconsin’s David Denson drove in the only run of the game with an RBI single in the eighth inning. After making six relief appearances this year, it was the irst start of the season for Harber, who responded by strik- ing out ive batters PREP SCHEDULE in two and two- TODAY thirds innings. Baseball — Astoria at Banks, 5 p.m.; Sea- The only hit side at Scappoose, 5 p.m.; Knappa at Nestuc- allowed by Har- ca (2), 3 p.m. Softball — Tillamook at Astoria (2), 3:30 ber was a bunt sin- p.m.; Banks at Seaside (2), 3:30 p.m.; Warren- gle in the top of ton at Ilwaco, 4 p.m.; Knappa at Nestucca (2), the third to Gage 3 p.m. SATURDAY Green. Track — Dick Baker Invitational, Gladstone, Alex Farina took over with two 10 a.m. outs in the third and retired all four batters he faced. Jake Drossner pitched the inal ive innings and got the decision for Wisconsin. Harber faced 11 batters and threw 53 pitches (36 for strikes), walking two. “I thought it went really well,” Harber told the Rattlers’ radio network after the game. “Right out of the gate, the defense made a really good play and gave me the conidence to keep throwing strikes.” For the season, Harber has allowed 11 hits in 12.0 innings pitched, with 18 strikeouts, six walks and a 4.50 ERA. SCOREBOARD Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Astoria High graduate Conor Harber got his first start of the season Thursday, and gave up just one hit in 2.2 innings pitched. Lady Fishermen sweep Valiants in doubleheader The Daily Astorian BEAVERTON — The Asto- ria softball team bounced back from Tuesday’s tough loss to Banks with a 3-1, 15-1 double- header sweep over Valley Cath- olic Thursday in Beaverton. The No. 10-ranked Lady Fish tuned up for today’s dou- bleheader vs. Tillamook by shutting down the Valiants’ offense. Libby DiBartolomeo got the win in Game 1, allowing just four hits with ive strikeouts and no walks. Rylee DeMander had two of Astoria’s four hits, while Mykka Abrahams added a dou- ble for the Fishermen, who scored a run in the irst and two in the ifth. DeMander pitched all ive innings of Game 2, in which Astoria scored six runs in the irst inning. The Fishermen had four play- ers (DeMander, Abrahams, Han- nah Mather and McKailyn Rog- ers) with two hits apiece, while DeMander gave up just two hits with 10 strikeouts and two walks. Abrahams and Abi Danen each had a double in Game 2. Astoria improves to 4-3 in league (10-6 overall), and can take over second place in the Cowapa League with a sweep over Tillamook today. The last- place Valiants fall to 0-7 in league. VA study of service dogs for vets with PTSD faces questions Some worry animals become substitutes for hard work By ALLEN G. BREED Associated Press FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Army veteran Joe Aguirre opens a restaurant door, then steps aside to let his golden retriever take point. “Clear,” Aguirre commands, and 3-year-old Munger pivots right, left, then right again, sweeping the room for potential threats. “He’s basically looking for ... anything that would be out of the ordinary. A bag. A par- ticular weapon. People acting erratic,” says Aguirre, who suf- fers from post-traumatic stress disorder after three tours of duty in Iraq and one in Afghan- istan. At the cash register, Agu- irre says “Block,” and the dog places himself perpendicular to his master, creating a buffer to anyone who might approach. Before Munger, a sim- ple outing like this would have been terrifying, if not impossi- ble. “He’s put faith back into my way of looking at society,” Agu- irre says. But do the comfort and secu- rity this lovable dog provides come at the expense of true healing from PTSD? Is Munger merely preventing Aguirre from confronting his demons? Since 2002, the U.S. Depart- ment of Veterans Affairs has paid veterinary bills to veterans with guide or service dogs for physical disabilities. Now, the agency is in the midst of a $12 million study to gauge the efi- cacy and costs of using dogs to help those who suffer from post-traumatic stress. Four years in, that research has been plagued by problems. Only about 50 dogs have been placed with veterans, and crit- ics question whether the proto- col itself is lawed — with the dogs being trained to do things that could reinforce fears. Oth- ers worry the animals could become a substitute for the hard work that comes with therapy. “You will have the veterans go to more places with the dogs and do more things than they would otherwise do. But they are reliant on the dog, not on their knowledge of ... whether really they are afraid of a ghost,” said Dr. Edna Foa, director of the Center for Treatment and Study of Anxiety at the Univer- sity of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Only ‘evidence-based’ therapies More than 350,000 veter- ans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have sought help from the VA for PTSD. Yet the agency is authorized to pay only for “evi- dence-based” therapies such as cognitive processing and pro- longed exposure, which involve having veterans confront and analyze traumatic events. In 2010, Congress permit- ted the VA to study alternative treatments for PTSD, including A storia B a n d B oosters CAN & BOTTLE DRIVE 1 P.M . - 3 P.M. • SUNDAY, MAY 1 ST AT ASTORIA HIGH SCHOOL e c k t h e l e l a b c h P L E A SE , N O E A RL Y D RO P - O FFS Item s m u st h ave th e 5 c en t, O R red em p tio n lab el in o rd er to b en efit th e b an d p ro gram s Th e B an d B o o sters are th e o n ly so u rc e o f fu n d s to k eep A sto ria’ s sc h o o l b an d p ro gram s fu n c tio n in g. P lease h elp b y d ro p p in g o ff yo u r em p ties o r m ak in g a d o n atio n . Trained for cues AP Photo/Allen G. Breed Army veteran Joe Aguirre drapes a tattooed arm across the back of his service dog, Munger, in Fayetteville, N.C. The Department of Veterans Affairs is in the middle of a multiyear study to determine whether it should pay for such psychiatric service dogs. the therapeutic use of animals. The study began in late 2011 in Tampa, Florida, with three non- proits contracted to provide up to 200 service dogs for veter- ans, who would be compared against a control group that did not receive dogs. The effort soon ran into trou- ble. The VA cut off two of the three dog vendors following bit- ing incidents involving partic- ipants’ children. The inal con- tract was terminated in August 2012 amid allegations of lax veterinary care and placement of dogs “with known aggres- sive behavior,” according to VA records. By then, only 17 dogs had been placed. During the next year and a half, the study protocol was revamped to exclude veterans with children under age 10. It also dropped the no-dog control in favor of a group that would receive less-specialized “emo- tional support dogs” whose “sole function is to provide comfort.” NORTHWEST PRAYER BREAKFAST to a rra n ge picku p of la rge a m ou n ts. Coast Community Radio presents DAVID BARSAMIAN of Alernative Radio talking about Saving the Planet Thursday, May 5 th , 2016 National Day of Prayer At Seaside Doogers 505 Broadway WAKE UP AMERICA ~ Isaiah 58:1A Breakfast Buffet from 7:30 to 8 am (Please pay upon arrival) Ca ll (503) 791-8134 or em a il i_wa n t_to_help@ a storia ba n d s.org Critics of the study object most strongly to the tasks the VA is requiring of the dogs — sweeping the perimeter of a room before a veteran enters, for example, or protecting the vet- eran by “blocking.” “Isn’t that saying that al-Qa- ida could be behind the shower curtain? That’s supporting par- anoid, pathological thinking,” said Meg Daley Olmert, author of a book on how contact with a dog can create a sense of well-being. Olmert is chief research adviser for Warrior Canine Connection, a Maryland-based nonproit that uses veterans to train service dogs for their fel- lows. The group’s leaders say dogs should be trained to pick up on cues from PTSD suffer- ers and then provide the appro- priate support, such as learning to wake someone up during a nightmare or detecting when a veteran is anxious, and interact- ing in a way that helps calm him. The VA’s training protocol “reinforces the cognitive distor- tions that accompany PTSD,” said Robert Koffman, a retired Navy psychiatrist and chief medical oficer for Warrior Canine Connection. Rick Yount, executive direc- tor of the nonproit, questioned whether the study had perhaps even been set up to fail so that the VA wouldn’t have to pick up the tab for veterinary bills for psychiatric service dogs. Already the VA is on the hook for upward of $1.4 million a year to cover bills for service dogs for physical disabilities. Michael Fallon, the VA’s chief veterinary medical oficer, said the insinuation that money is the researchers’ chief con- cern is “ludicrous.” As for the training guidelines, he said the list of commands was devel- oped during more than a year of consultation with mental-health experts, service dog provid- ers and veterans. They help get veterans “out into the commu- nity and integrated more into the public life,” he said. Prayer and Song Program from 8 to 9 am May 6 • 7pm • $10 Performing Arts Ctr - 16th & Franklin, Astoria Tickets $10 at the station & door info at CoastRadio.org Hear Alternative Radio Thursday at 3pm KMUN 91.9 Astoria/KTCB 89.5 Tillamook
