The winners and the losers

• Winner: The University of Utah and Intermountain Health Care have joined forces to provide 64 new physician residency slots a year for the next five years. Utah has fewer doctors per capita — 167 physicians per 100,000 population, compared to 286 to 100,000 for the United States. Meanwhile, Utah's population is steadily escalating. The U. and IHC will spend about $3 million a year to fund additional training slots in pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, anesthesiology and child and adult psychiatry. A primary predictor of where physicians will establish their medical practice medicine is where they conduct their residency training. For instance, about 60 percent of Utah physicians either completed or received part of their medical education and training in the Beehive State. Creating more training opportunities in Utah should help remedy Utah's doctor shortage.

• Winner: Kudos to the Gastronomy restaurant chain for imposing its own smoking ban on the private club segment of its business. The private policy supports a bill before the Utah Legislature that would remove the exemption in state law that permits smoking in private clubs and taverns. The smoking ban should make the club experience more enjoyable for non-smoking patrons, but more importantly, it is an important step to help preserve the health of Gastronomy's employees, who may spend eight hours in a smoke-filled work place.

• Loser: Two dogs in Cottonwood Heights were poisoned this past week, possibly by strychnine-laced meat thrown into their yard. The dogs' owner told authorities that she observed one of her dogs having a seizure. The dog died before it could be transported to a veterinarian. Later that day, the woman's other dog had a seizure. She was able to take him to a veterinary clinic in time to save him. A neighbor reported that her dog died under similar circumstances last November. Dog owners in the area should carefully search their yards for unusual objects. People who have complaints about animal behavior should call Animal Services instead of taking matters into their own hands.

• Winner: A federal judge fined the owner of Champion Safe Inc. of Provo $80,000 after he admitted to concealing information about two dozen undocumented immigrants working at the company. Federal agents arrested 107 Champion Safe employees during a raid of the business in February 2003. There is an ongoing problem with immigrants entering the United States illegally, but part of the draw is the lure of employment. Employers who hire undocumented workers should be equally culpable for their conduct. If there's a silver lining here, it's that the business owner is more fully aware of the laws regarding the hiring of undocumented workers. It was an expensive lesson, however.