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TTC, U.S. Air Force team to provide dental care

An arrangement between the U.S. Air Force and Trident Technical College has Staff Sgt. Noreena Svoboda and Technical Sgt. Alycia Miller hanging up their uniforms in exchange for scrubs. The two enrolled in TTC's dental hygiene associate degree program and started classes in January. Once they complete the two-year program, they will be re-assigned to a base in the Air Force where they're needed.

TTC is one of only two colleges in the nation partnering with the Air Force to increase the level of dental care to those serving in the U.S. armed forces.

"This arrangement has a huge impact on the Air Force," said Chief Master Sgt. Terry M. Hartford, headquarters Air Force superintendent of dental policy and operations.

Four more Air Force students are slated to begin the program next spring.

Charleston personal ­training studio goes digital

Clipboards and workout cards are on the way out at Faster Fitness, a chain of personal training studios based in Charleston. Instead, trainers access and add to the client's workouts with handheld computers that link to web-based software over a Bluetooth wireless connection.

The program allows trainers to instantly graph client progress on any exercise. It automatically cues trainers to make strategic increases in weight, repetition or aerobic work level by showing past performance and future goals upon demand. The handhelds streamline the interface between client, trainer and program and provide a user-friendly way to motivate the client by showing progress instantly.

Company president Chris McNeil developed the web-based software that runs on the HP 1945 Pocket PC computers through a Belkin Bluetooth Access Point. McNeil claims the "Wireless Workout" is part of a larger plan of changing the fitness professional.

"I see fitness programs evolving nationwide to be much more advanced than they are now," says McNeil. "The benefit is the motivation of having both clear goals and an ongoing experience of success. Making the fitness programs digital makes a client's goals and progress much more visual and accessible."

More employees impacted by rising health premiums

Rapidly rising health care costs are forcing employers across North and South Carolina to pay double-digit premium increases. In turn, employers are scaling back benefits and passing a larger share of the rising costs to employees.

This is according to Compdata Surveys' latest annual survey of employers' compensation practices, the largest of its kind in the region with data from more than 154,000 incumbent workers on 468 job titles.

As employers struggle to deal with double-digit premium increases, they are looking to employees to shoulder more of the burden. In 2001, 40.8% of employers in the region asked their workers to pay more of the costs of health insurance, the survey showed. This number increased in 2002 to 41.3%, and even further in 2003, to 55.9%. Experts are predicting the increases will continue in 2004 and is indicative of a larger trend across the country.

"Organizations across South Carolina are preparing measures to reduce the impact of these costs," said Suzanne Adams, manager of survey operations for Compdata Surveys. "However, the overall costs are going up dramatically, and employers will be forced to share some of these expenses with employees."

Charleston employers are experiencing the same rising costs as the rest of the state and nation. Over 83% of Charleston organizations experienced a premium increase with the average increase equaling 16.9%. In response, 63.6% of Charles­ton employers raised the employee portion of the premium.

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