Once upon a time, I was a student ignorant of the issues plaguing our nation; issues such as abortion and a frightening scarcity of organ donors meant little to me, who was neither pregnant nor in need of replacement body parts. Today, I fortunately remain a simple witness to these scenarios rather than a participant, but I have certainly established a new perspective since reading Neal Shusterman’s Unwind several years ago. Unwind is a brilliant novel set in the near future following the United States’ second civil war, known as the Heartland War, in which the definition of human life was debated with fatal passion: when does life truly begin and when should it be legally permitted to end? Desperate for an end to the warfare, the …show more content…
Additionally, I find myself to be a probable candidate for the Arts Scholars program through a similar fascination with theatre: while I’m far from the artistically gifted person I yearn to be, I have enjoyed with the theatre since I played the lead in a disco-themed rendition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Theatre is the greatest place for the athletically-incompetent, such as myself, to realize the power of a group effort: since taking part in the theatre I have found myself to be more empathetic of others. Through the Arts Scholars program I would not only find others who share my need to burst into song, but who also share this confidence in teamwork. Nevertheless, I believe that nothing represents me better than the Humanities Scholars program. In this program, my fascination with culture and community appear to be fantastically represented as well as my passion to serve: I have spent time over the last several years volunteering with children and animals, such as through my library’s Tail Waggin’ Tutors project, and it appears as though the Humanities program offers similar intriguing opportunities. Although several programs seem to embody fragments of myself, I’ve discovered through Honors and Scholars Day that only the Humanities Scholars program provides me, who until now has been indecisive in what I desire from college, a feeling of belonging and a plan for
Schulman first introduce readers to the fact that 17 people die each day in United States due to organ shortage, which is staggering and alarming at the same time. The lack of organ donors has raised discussion about legalizing organ sales as a solution to increase the number of donors. Many ethicists, however, are opposed to the idea because they worry that putting a price tag on a human body part will “corrupt the very meaning of human dignity” (447). Yet, it is no longer a secret that the black market has already put a value on human dignity, which caused more damage,
It doesn’t make sense for people to die unnecessarily if there is a way to easily save their lives. Author of "Organ Sales Will Save Lives" Joanna Mackay seems to agree. In her essay, she argues that the government should regulate organ sales, rather than ban them. In "Organ Sales Will Save Lives" Mackay uses facts and statistics to reveal shocking numbers to the audience dealing with the long and lengthy waitlist for an organ, as well as how many patients have passed annually due to end-stage renal disease. Mackay also uses counterarguments in pieces of her essay to relive any doubts or questions they have to persuade them to take her opinion. The author also
Many years and musicals later, as a junior heavily involved with the musical program, my director came to me with an exciting proposition. She’d heard of a program that was being utilized all throughout the world: the International Thespian Society. As the class representative of the musical, she proposed to me that we look into the possibility of our school creating an official chapter of the organization.This program, which would allow students to win awards for hours put into the theatre arts, push themselves to obtain higher rankings on the thespian scale, travel to theatre competitions, and meet students just like themselves at sponsored conventions, was the perfect way for myself and many other students at my school to pursue their love for theatre year round. Being part of this prestigious program would help the musical program to expand by grabbing the attention of students schoolwide with the countless opportunities it offers. The strength of the International Thespian Society would provide a strong base of support for the future of our school’s musical program in a society that continues to cut funding to arts programs of schools
The article “Need an Organ? It Helps to be Rich,” by Joy Victory informs readers of how medical systems work for those who are in need of an organ transplant. In the article, Victory talks about a 34-year-old man named Brian Shane Regions - who is in need of a heart transplant, but is not able to secure one because he is not insured. Therefore, not having insurance, Brian is put into an unfortunate situation because he is simply not getting any treatment for his heart failure. This is a great example of how patients without insurance could not be provided with an organ donor. Victory argues a variety of issues concerning how the organ donation system is unfair to certain people. A transplant cost a bundle amount of money, which leads to the rich only able to have the procedure done. While the poor cannot afford the cost of the transplant, creating an unfair situation for the less fortunate. The transplant centers can do anything as they please because they simply care more about the money. However, not all transplant centers treat their patients unfairly, several centers are truly able to support the uninsured patients in need of a transplant. It is simply unfair for the patients, who do not have enough money to pay for transplant and the medical systems are unethical.
“6,935 people are dying because they had to wait. That’s 19 people dying per day for an entire year”(Barry). That’s nearly 7,000 lives; which is equivalent to to almost 25% of the current undergraduate body here at UW-Madison. According to Dr. Chris Barry, a transplant surgeon and researcher at the University of Rochester Medical Center, “19 people die per day on the organ donor recipient list because there aren’t enough people signing their organ donor consent forms”. He proposes that we need to increase people's knowledge and tear down the myths and barriers of organ donation to facilitate their decision to donate.
The shortage of organ transplants has been an ongoing crisis for years; the growing list of patients awaiting transplants has no end in sight, and the number of people dying while they waste away on the waiting list is not going to go down unless something changes.Society has turned away from alternatives to our archaic organ donation program, but there are other options available.The transplant community and society as a whole need to step back and rethink--to adopt a more open-minded views on organs as a resource in order to save lives and make meaningful changes to the national transplant program.
Organ donation has the power to change a life ending incident into a life giving one. Throughout the United States many patients are suffering due to the lack of a vital organ, because there is more demand than supply of organs, many patients die without ever receiving one. Although organ donation saves many lives, there have been questions in regards to ethics that surround it. People are even making the argument that it should not be practiced. Another question that has surfaced is, how can organ donation be improved in the United States so that people in need of organs can receive them at a high rate? Even though organ donation in the United States has received criticism due to ethical dilemmas such as priority distribution, contributing to illegal harvesting and alternative sources; the possibilities of saving lives and giving people a second chance outweighs the potential consequences it holds. Organ donation is one of the most important modern day medical marble that needs to be better utilized United States.
Social and racial differences have all caused genocide, refugee camps, and suicide bombers to exist. And even though some rules are made to please two parties, some consequence can arise. This is what happened in the book written by Neal Shusterman named Unwind. The book takes place in the future were there is a civil war over abortion. To end the war, the Bill of Life is proposed and it requires for all babies to be born, but when the child grows up, the parents can choose to have him aborted for a greater purpose. Unwind may take place in the future, but the events are not too different from the past and present, where genocide,
Most people and including this writer, probably have never given a lot of thought about organ donation, aside from checking ‘yes’ box for DMV. A far amount of people believe that once a person is dead, that using what is left of the body so another can benefit from the donation or, perhaps, even save another human being’s life. However, what about selling a kidney not donating one? The essay “Organ Sales Will Save Lives” written by Joanna McKay, delves a lot deeper into the hot topic of human organ sales and the need to change the laws. She makes a compelling argument for the legality of organ sales as well as an ethical one.
Justin, a South Carolina college student, died at the age of 23 while on the waiting list for a lung transplant. When Justin was three months old he was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, a disease which affects the lungs. Throughout his childhood he coped with his illness but at the age of 20 his health took a turn for the worst. Justin was on the waiting list for two years but no lungs came available in time. Organ allocation in the United States of America has become a heavily debated subject in the medical field as well as the political and ethical fields. There is no doubt that there is a shortage of organs in the United States. In order to increase organ supply the American Department of Health should integrate the effective allocation
In the summer of 2016 (to present), I have been privileged enough to become acquainted with and intern for Mrs. Sigrid Frye-Revere, founder of the American Living Organ Donor Fund and the Center for Ethical Solutions. During this internship, I have been fortunate enough to interact with clients and access their records as they request for financial assistance for organ transplantations. Since then, I have been conducting research on medical journals and policies, working with clients
For this article critique, I chose to write about the New York Times article “Why People Don’t Donate Their Kidneys” by psychiatrist and lecturer Sally L. Satel. The opinion piece focused the more than 100,000 Americans waiting for a kidney donation, and why they are not receiving those donations. Even though demand from these patients is growing, the donation rate has flatlined. The author cites the inability to pay donors as the main source of the problem. Satel claims that by stigmatizing and disabling the act of rewarding organ donors, Americans lose valuable donations that could save lives.
Every day, 20 people die because they are unable to receive a vital organ transplant that they need to survive. Some of these people are on organ donation lists and some of them are not. The poor and minorities are disproportionately represented among those who do not receive the organs they need. In the United States alone, nearly 116,000 people are on waiting lists for vital organ transplants. Another name is added to this list every 10 minutes. This paper will argue that organ donation should not be optional. Every person who dies, or enters an irreversible vegetative state with little or no brain function, should have his or her organs-more specifically, those among the organs that are suitable for donation-harvested. A single healthy donor who has died can save up to eight lives (American Transplant Foundation).
In February 2003, 17-year-old Jesica Santillan received a heart-lung transplant at Duke University Hospital that went badly awry because, by mistake, doctors used donor organs from a patient with a different blood type. The botched operation and subsequent unsuccessful retransplant opened a discussion in the media, in internet chat rooms, and in ethicists' circles regarding how we, in the United States, allocate the scarce commodity of organs for transplant. How do we go about allocating a future for people who will die without a transplant? How do we go about denying it? When so many are waiting for their shot at a life worth living, is it fair to grant multiple organs or multiple
In the United States, there are over one hundred thousand people on the waiting list to receive a life-saving organ donation, yet only one out of four will ever receive that precious gift (Statistics & Facts, n.d.). The demand for organ donation has consistently exceeded supply, and the gap between the number of recipients on the waiting list and the number of donors has increased by 110% in the last ten years (O'Reilly, 2009). As a result, some propose radical new ideas to meet these demands, including the selling of human organs. Financial compensation for organs, which is illegal in the United States, is considered repugnant to many. The solution to this ethical dilemma isn’t found in a wallet; there are other alternatives available