Primum Non Nocere tag:www.fthsbiosci.org,2009-07-30:/blog//1 2010-09-08T20:00:40Z Movable Type Pro 4.3-en To Lie? Or Not to Lie? tag:www.fthsbiosci.org,2010:/blog//1.34 2010-09-08T19:35:58Z 2010-09-08T20:00:40Z IS IT WRONG TO LIE?"First, do not harm!" In the episode of House we saw today, Dr. House decides to lie in order to get his patient a heart transplant. In the process, he saves his patient's life. But Dr. House even asks himself, "I want to know what is right!" -- the issues and choices involved are far from clear.What is your opinion? Did Dr. House do the right thing? The wrong thing? Why? EXPLAIN!This blogsite comes due on... Mr. Geib http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib IS IT WRONG TO LIE?

"First, do not harm!"

 In the episode of House we saw today, Dr. House decides to lie in order to get his patient a heart transplant. In the process, he saves his patient's life. But Dr. House even asks himself, "I want to know what is right!" -- the issues and choices involved are far from clear.

What is your opinion? Did Dr. House do the right thing? The wrong thing? Why? EXPLAIN!

This blogsite comes due on Friday morning September 10, 2010 at 8:00 a.m.

A HEART TRANSPLANT

A new lease on life. Deserved? Or not?

]]> Mrs. Butler: "Goodbye! Goodbye" tag:www.fthsbiosci.org,2010:/blog//1.33 2010-06-04T15:03:59Z 2010-06-16T07:29:51Z NOT "GOODBYE," BUT "UNTIL THEN...""We wish you the best of luck in college and beyond!" GOODBYE, BIOSCIENCE DIRECTOR WENDI BUTLER! Without Mrs. Butler, there would be no Bioscience Academy at Foothill Technology High School. Without Mrs. Butler, your sophomore and junior years would have looked much differently. Here at the end, it is time to say "goodbye" to Mrs. Butler. A remembrance of good times shared, things you will remember, and "until thens" would all be appropriate to write about... Mr. Geib http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib NOT "GOODBYE," BUT "UNTIL THEN..."

"We wish you the best of luck in college and beyond!"

 GOODBYE, BIOSCIENCE DIRECTOR WENDI BUTLER!

Without Mrs. Butler, there would be no Bioscience Academy at Foothill Technology High School. Without Mrs. Butler, your sophomore and junior years would have looked much differently. Here at the end, it is time to say "goodbye" to Mrs. Butler. A remembrance of good times shared, things you will remember, and "until thens" would all be appropriate to write about here.

This blogsite comes due on Friday June 11th, 2010 - your last day of high school.

MRS. BUTLER, FTHS BIOSCIENCE ACADEMY DIRECTOR

]]> Teenagers, Sex Education, and the Schools tag:www.fthsbiosci.org,2010:/blog//1.32 2010-04-26T18:51:55Z 2010-08-23T17:26:48Z OF BABIES HAVING BABIES..."It's hard to raise a child when you're still a child." A Pregnant Teenager and the Public Schools Our current system of public education does not stigmatize teenage mothers, as it used to do. They are not told to leave high school for a time and "come back after childbirth" and we'll-pretend-nothing-happened. Nowadays pregnant teenagers attend school all the way until their due date, and then after they give birth they attend special schools where they receive... Mr. Geib http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib OF BABIES HAVING BABIES...

"It's hard to raise a child when you're still a child."

 A Pregnant Teenager and the Public Schools

Our current system of public education does not stigmatize teenage mothers, as it used to do. They are not told to leave high school for a time and "come back after childbirth" and we'll-pretend-nothing-happened. Nowadays pregnant teenagers attend school all the way until their due date, and then after they give birth they attend special schools where they receive free child care and other special services that are expensive to provide. In effect, the system spends lots of money to ensure that being a teenage mother does not mean the end of one's education.

We read Patrick Welsh's opinion in class (comments), and now I would like you to add your own thoughts.  In effect, does the current school system contribute to teenage pregnancy? Does the system (either consciously or unconsciously) tell young woman that is it OK to get pregnant so young? Contribute to teenage pregnancies? And if it does, would you be in favor of withdrawing these expensive educational services for pregnant mothers? Why? EXPLAIN!

And what about sex education -- or lack thereof -- in the public schools to prevent unwanted pregnancy and STDs? Rely on parents only to provide guidance on sex education? What about "abstinence only" sex education programs?

Please post your response to these questions by the beginning of period 6 on Friday April 30th, 2010.

PREGNANT IN HIGH SCHOOL:

"Reducing teen pregnancy and birth is one of the most effective ways of reducing child poverty in the country."
Jordan Brown
]]> A "Therapy" for Homosexuality? tag:www.fthsbiosci.org,2010:/blog//1.31 2010-03-13T00:23:23Z 2010-03-24T14:55:32Z In his book Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution author Francis Fukuyama writes the following:Assume that in twenty years we come to understand the genetics of homosexuality well and devise a way for parents to sharply reduce the likelihood that they will give birth to a gay child. This does not have to presuppose the existent of genetic engineering; it could simply be a pill that provided sufficient levels of testosterone in utero to masculinze the brain... Mr. Geib http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib

In his book Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution author Francis Fukuyama writes the following:

Assume that in twenty years we come to understand the genetics of homosexuality well and devise a way for parents to sharply reduce the likelihood that they will give birth to a gay child. This does not have to presuppose the existent of genetic engineering; it could simply be a pill that provided sufficient levels of testosterone in utero to masculinze the brain of the developing fetus. Suppose the treatment is cheap, effective, produces no side effects, and can be prescribed in the privacy of the obstetrician's office. Assume further that social norms have become totally accepting of homosexuality. How many expecting mothers would opt to take this pill?
My suspicion is that very many would, including people who today would become quite indignant at what they perceive to be antigay discrimination. They may perceive gayness to be something akin to baldness or shortness - not morally blameworthy, but nonetheless a less than a less-than-optimal condition that, all things being equal, one would rather have one's children avoid. (The desire of most people for descendants is one guarantee of this.) How then might this affect the status of gays, particularly those in the generation from which gayness was eliminated? Wouldn't this form of private eugenics make them more distinctive, and greater targets for discrimination, than they were before? More important, is it obvious that the human race would be improved if gayness were eliminated from it? And if it is not obvious, should we be indifferent to the fact that these eugenic choices are being made, so long as they are made by parents rather than by coercive states?

What do you think of this possible future Fukuyama describes without many gay people? Without much of a gay culture? Or even without any gay culture at all? Is there anything wrong with the "expecting mothers" preference to have children that are not short, bald, or gay? EXPLAIN!
"...one would rather have one's children avoid."

"They may perceive gayness to be something akin to baldness or shortness - not morally blameworthy, but nonetheless a less than a less-than-optimal condition that, all things being equal, one would rather have one's children avoid."
]]> Privacy in the Genomic Age tag:www.fthsbiosci.org,2010:/blog//1.30 2010-03-12T17:09:10Z 2010-03-24T14:55:14Z DOES YOUR GENOMIC INFORMATION WANT TO BE FREE? Harvard Professor Steven PinkerNEW TECHNOLOGIES, NEW DILEMMAS:Seemingly we are besieged with privacy concerns already in the "digital age" of Facebook, Flicker, and online chat and chatter. And identity theft is a major issue when all that is at play are your social security number and name. The ability to sequence an individual's genome threatens to complicate hugely the threat to privacy.But not everyone is adopting a defensive posture with respect to genomics... Mr. Geib http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib DOES YOUR GENOMIC INFORMATION WANT TO BE FREE?


Harvard Professor Steven Pinker

NEW TECHNOLOGIES, NEW DILEMMAS:

Seemingly we are besieged with privacy concerns already in the "digital age" of Facebook, Flicker, and online chat and chatter. And identity theft is a major issue when all that is at play are your social security number and name. The ability to sequence an individual's genome threatens to complicate hugely the threat to privacy.

But not everyone is adopting a defensive posture with respect to genomics and privacy. The "PGP 10" have launched an effort to model the use of genetic information voluntarily to help move science forward in this area. What do you think?

How about these questions: Would you want to have your genome fully sequenced, if you could? Do you want to know? Or do you prefer not to know? Would you make the information on your DNA public? What concerns do you have? Why? Explain!

It seems as if in the very near future, DNA screening will become routine for doctors. It appears they will send your blood away for testing blood sugar, cholesterol, etc, and also for SNPs. What do you think about your doctor having access to this information?

This blogsite posting will come due Monday morning March 15, 2010 at 8:00 a.m.

THE "PGP 10"

"The first ten participants in the PGP, called the 'PGP-10', have volunteered to share their DNA sequences, medical records, and other personal information with the research community and the general public (see here)."
]]> A Sliding Scale of Value for Life Globally? tag:www.fthsbiosci.org,2010:/blog//1.29 2010-02-24T19:41:35Z 2010-03-12T19:37:28Z HOW WILL YOU SERVE? BONO BETRAY YOUR AGE TO SAVE IT The following is excerpted from the Penn State Commencement Address made by Bono, co-founder of DATA (Debt AIDS Trade Africa) and (Red), and lead singer of U2, on May 17, 2004: The biggest obstacle to political and social progress isn't The Establishment, or the boot heel of whatever you consider 'the Man' to be. It's something much more subtle: a combination of our own indifference and the Kafkaesque labyrinth... Mr. Geib http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib HOW WILL YOU SERVE?


BONO

BETRAY YOUR AGE TO SAVE IT The following is excerpted from the Penn State Commencement Address made by Bono, co-founder of DATA (Debt AIDS Trade Africa) and (Red), and lead singer of U2, on May 17, 2004:

The biggest obstacle to political and social progress isn't The Establishment, or the boot heel of whatever you consider 'the Man' to be. It's something much more subtle: a combination of our own indifference and the Kafkaesque labyrinth of 'no's you encounter as people vanish down the corridors of bureaucracy.
The truly great Irish poet, Brendan Kennelly, said, "If you want to serve the age, betray it."
What does that mean, "to betray the age"? Well, to me, it means exposing its conceits, it's foibles, its phony moral certitudes. It means telling the secrets of the age and facing harsher truths.
Every age has its massive moral blind spots. We might not see them, but our children will. Slavery was one of them and the people who best served that age were the ones who called it as it was-- ungodly and inhuman. Segregation was another one. America sees this now, but it took a civil rights movement to betray their age.
Fast forward 50 years. What are the ideas right now worth betraying? What are the lies we tell ourselves now? What are the blind spots of our age? What's worth spending your life trying to do or undo? It might be something simple. It might be something as simple as our deep down refusal to believe that every human life has equal worth. Could that be it? Could that be it? Each of you will probably have your own answer, but for me that is it.

How might you, or might you not, "betray your age"? Is that a good idea? A bad idea? Both? Poverty in the "developing world"? Some other "betrayal" of "our age"? Explore these ideas in this blogsite posting. Use this opportunity to speak to what makes you passionate! This blogsite posting will come due on Wednesday morning March 3, 2010 at 8:00 a.m. Good luck!


"It might be something as simple as our deep down refusal to believe
that every human life has equal worth."
]]> American Health Care and Reform tag:www.fthsbiosci.org,2010:/blog//1.27 2010-01-13T20:11:04Z 2010-02-03T17:25:11Z ARE YOU YOUR BROTHER'S KEEPER? WHEN PEOPLE SEE YOUR STORY, WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM TO SEE?"A working man that never gave up, and now... he fought all of his life. Now he still keeps on fighting for his life with hope and faith."Joe Gallegos OF HEALTH, RESOURCES, AND JUSTICEWe have looked at the allocation of health care resources in the United States from many different perspectives, highlighting the pros and cons of a system many (most?) claim is... Mr. Geib http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib

ARE YOU YOUR BROTHER'S KEEPER?


WHEN PEOPLE SEE YOUR STORY, WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM TO SEE?
"A working man that never gave up, and now... he fought all of his life. Now he still keeps on fighting for his life with hope and faith."
Joe Gallegos

OF HEALTH, RESOURCES, AND JUSTICE

We have looked at the allocation of health care resources in the United States from many different perspectives, highlighting the pros and cons of a system many (most?) claim is in crisis. We have also briefly looked at how other advanced industrial countries organize their health care systems and pay for it.

So what do you think?

Should everyone in our society should have equal access to limited health care resources? Should the better off be taxed at much higher rates to pay for treatment for the poor? As Karl Marx said, "Each according to his ability, each according to his need." Do you agree? Are we our brother's keeper? Should the State be the vehicle by which we equalize wealth? Or do you prefer a more individual approach? To take care of yourself and your family first? Do you support universal health care such as seen in Canada, Great Britain, and France? A private system? Public? Some mix of the two? Do we need massive change -- a complete overhaul? Do you think our current system should remain as is, with only small adjustments at the margins?

JOE GALLEGOS: A CASE STUDY

This blogsite posting will come due on Friday morning January 15th, 2010 at 8:00 a.m.

"IT'S A SIN!"

FR. MIKE SEIFERT
"If you open the Scripture to anywhere you want, you will find that the poor are the blessed of God -- the poor are the preferred. The Lord blesses the nation that takes care of His poor."

]]> Dr. Anna Pou: Guilty? Or Innocent? tag:www.fthsbiosci.org,2009:/blog//1.26 2009-11-16T19:38:51Z 2009-12-04T17:06:13Z DR. ANNA POU - GUILTY? OR INNOCENT? OFFICIAL POU POSITION:"The physicians and staff responsible for the care of patients, many of whom were gravely ill, faced loss of generator power, the absence of routine medical equipment to sustain life, lack of water and sanitation facilities, extreme heat, in excess of 100 degrees, all occurring in an environment of deteriorating security, apparent social unrest, and the absence of governmental authority. Dr. Pou and other medical personnel at Memorial Hospital worked... Mr. Geib http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib

DR. ANNA POU - GUILTY? OR INNOCENT?


OFFICIAL POU POSITION:
"The physicians and staff responsible for the care of patients, many of whom were gravely ill, faced loss of generator power, the absence of routine medical equipment to sustain life, lack of water and sanitation facilities, extreme heat, in excess of 100 degrees, all occurring in an environment of deteriorating security, apparent social unrest, and the absence of governmental authority. Dr. Pou and other medical personnel at Memorial Hospital worked tirelessly for five days to save and evacuate patients, none of whom were abandoned. We feel confident that the facts will reveal heroic efforts by the physicians and the staff in a desperate situation."
Rick Simmons, Dr. Pou's attorney, in a statement to CNN on behalf of client.


IN SUMMATION:

We have looked at the September 2005 events surrounding Hurricane Katina at Memorial Hospital in New Orleans at some length. We had a mock trial of the participants, and then we had a vote: 20 students thought Anna Pou was "guilty" of murder, and 12 thought she was "innocent." Cohort 4 had spoken. But what did they say exactly?

Now is the time for you to explain individually and at length your thinking on the issue. Is Pou guilty of violating the Hippocratic Oath and euthanizing patients during the crisis at Memorial Hospital following Hurricane Katrina? Or was she perhaps technically guilty, but with extenuating circumstances making it understandable? Do you hesitate to judge anyone in such a crisis? Or do you think she is innocent of the crimes some accuse her of? Explain at length your conclusions.

Please explain your thinking on this issue and post your response by Friday morning November 21, 2009 at 8:00 a.m. Good luck!
]]> The Ultimate Question: To Choose to Live? Or Die? tag:www.fthsbiosci.org,2009:/blog//1.25 2009-09-21T20:30:12Z 2009-09-26T04:30:58Z TO TAKE ONE'S OWN LIFE - RIGHT OR WRONG? TO BE? OR NOT TO BE?"There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy."Albert Camus History is replete with examples of societies where suicide is both revered and execrated. The Kamikazes in Japan and the Roman philosophers of antiquity respected highly the much considered and planned suicide, but the monotheistic... Mr. Geib http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib

TO TAKE ONE'S OWN LIFE - RIGHT OR WRONG?


TO BE? OR NOT TO BE?
"There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy."
Albert Camus

History is replete with examples of societies where suicide is both revered and execrated. The Kamikazes in Japan and the Roman philosophers of antiquity respected highly the much considered and planned suicide, but the monotheistic religions have always held to be one of the worst things a person could conceivably do. The Catholic Church would not let suicides be buried in its cemeteries, for example. On the other hand, many would agree with Edward Abbey who claimed "there are circumstances in which suicide presents a viable option; a workable alternative; the only sensible solution." Others see it as an individual question on which others have no right to opine, that we humans can either do it or not as we choose. But it has a ripple effect on others besides the individual to their families and the rest of society. "We can never go back. This 'thing' we deal with after suicide...it doesn't get better. It just changes with time. We will be affected profoundly by this for years to come. It is not something that can be forgotten, explains Peter Greene, "As anyone who has been close to someone that has committed suicide knows, there is no other pain like that felt after the incident."

SUICIDE AS REFRACTED BY THE ARTS:

It is the same for the young and the old? The healthy and the sick? What is your opinion about the complex topic of suicide? What are your personal opinions about the right of the individual to take his or her own life? Should it be permissible? Impermissible? Why? EXPLAIN!

This blogsite will come due on Friday morning September 25th, 2009.


"Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem."
Phil Donahue
]]> Cohort 4: Welcomes and Introductions tag:www.fthsbiosci.org,2009:/blog//1.24 2009-08-28T04:35:16Z 2009-09-02T19:02:38Z Cohort 4 gets down to work! WELCOME TO BIOETHICS! Mr. Geib most cordially welcomes Cohort 4 of the FTHS Bioscience Academy to Bioethics! Before we begin our academic journey in earnest, let's take a moment to introduce ourselves to each other and to instructor, to list our reasons for taking this class and/or participating in the Bioscience Academy (ie. future career goals in the medical field), briefly to sketch out what you hope to gain from this class, and to... Mr. Geib http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib
Cohort 4 gets down to work!

WELCOME TO BIOETHICS!

Mr. Geib most cordially welcomes Cohort 4 of the FTHS Bioscience Academy to Bioethics! Before we begin our academic journey in earnest, let's take a moment to introduce ourselves to each other and to instructor, to list our reasons for taking this class and/or participating in the Bioscience Academy (ie. future career goals in the medical field), briefly to sketch out what you hope to gain from this class, and to give a cursory description of how you see your senior year generally.

For those of you are text-impaired, your objectives would be these:


Please be aware this blogsite is a public forum, so watch your grammar and netiquette -- others are reading.

This blogsite will come due Monday morning August 31, 2009 at 8:00 a.m.


Back to school with a smile on the face!
]]> "Goodbye, Mrs. Butler!" tag:www.fthsbiosci.org,2009:/blog//1.23 2009-06-01T17:06:07Z 2009-08-22T05:16:34Z NOT "GOODBYE," BUT "UNTIL THEN...""It's hard to raise a child when you're still a child." GOODBYE, BIOSCIENCE DIRECTOR WENDI BUTLER! Without Mrs. Butler, there would be no Bioscience Academy at Foothill Technology High School. Without Mrs. Butler, your sophomore and junior years would have looked much differently. Here at the end, it is time to say "goodbye" to Mrs. Butler. A remembrance of good times shared, things you will remember, and "until thens" would all be appropriate to write about... Mr. Geib http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib NOT "GOODBYE," BUT "UNTIL THEN..."

"It's hard to raise a child when you're still a child."

GOODBYE, BIOSCIENCE DIRECTOR WENDI BUTLER!

Without Mrs. Butler, there would be no Bioscience Academy at Foothill Technology High School. Without Mrs. Butler, your sophomore and junior years would have looked much differently. Here at the end, it is time to say "goodbye" to Mrs. Butler.

A remembrance of good times shared, things you will remember, and "until thens" would all be appropriate to write about here.

This blogsite comes due on Friday June 5th - your last day of high school.

MRS. BUTLER, FTHS BIOSCIENCE ACADEMY DIRECTOR

]]> Teenage Mothers and School tag:www.fthsbiosci.org,2009:/blog//1.22 2009-04-15T19:03:04Z 2009-08-22T00:28:16Z OF BABIES HAVING BABIES..."It's hard to raise a child when you're still a child." A Pregnant Teenager and the Public Schools Our current system of public education does not stigmatize teenage mothers, as it used to do. They are not told to leave high school for a time and "come back after childbirth" and we'll-pretend-nothing-happened. Nowadays pregnant teenagers attend school all the way until their due date, and then after they give birth they attend special schools where they receive... Mr. Geib http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib OF BABIES HAVING BABIES...

"It's hard to raise a child when you're still a child."

A Pregnant Teenager and the Public Schools

Our current system of public education does not stigmatize teenage mothers, as it used to do. They are not told to leave high school for a time and "come back after childbirth" and we'll-pretend-nothing-happened. Nowadays pregnant teenagers attend school all the way until their due date, and then after they give birth they attend special schools where they receive free child care and other special services that are expensive to provide. In effect, the system spends lots of money to ensure that being a teenage mother does not mean the end of one's education.

But, in effect, does it contribute to teenage pregnancy? Does the system (either consciously or unconsciously) tell young woman that is it OK to get pregnant so young? Contribute to teenage pregnancies?

And if it does, would you be in favor of withdrawing these expensive educational services for pregnant mothers? Why? EXPLAIN!

Please post your response to this question by the beginning of period 6 on Monday April 20th, 2009.

PREGNANT IN HIGH SCHOOL:

"Reducing teen pregnancy and birth is one of the most effective ways of reducing child poverty in the country."
Jordan Brown
]]> In Defense of Imperfection? tag:www.fthsbiosci.org,2009:/blog//1.21 2009-02-06T17:23:47Z 2009-07-31T04:42:23Z OF HUMAN DIGNITY AND HUMAN HAPPINESS"There is no gene for the human spirit." IN DEFENSE OF IMPERFECTION? In our discussion last week Ms. Beard spoke powerfully about how she wished she never had to cope with epilepsy in her life. She claimed it had had a huge effect on who she was. It caused her enormous suffering. It was an unwanted burden that diminished her quality of life. We also discussed the future possibilities in genetic engineering. We examined how... Mr. Geib http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib OF HUMAN DIGNITY AND HUMAN HAPPINESS

"There is no gene for the human spirit."

IN DEFENSE OF IMPERFECTION?

In our discussion last week Ms. Beard spoke powerfully about how she wished she never had to cope with epilepsy in her life. She claimed it had had a huge effect on who she was. It caused her enormous suffering. It was an unwanted burden that diminished her quality of life.

We also discussed the future possibilities in genetic engineering. We examined how genomics appears to offer the opportunity to eventually eradicate from our collective gene pool such horrors as Multiple Sclerosis, childhood leukemia, Down's syndrome, congenital heart defects, Alzheimer's disease, and a whole host of other maladies that have plagued mankind for millennium. Is this just more of mankind using reason to understand the physical world around us through science to relieve "unnecessary suffering" and extend life and the quality of life? Is this not just the next stage of evolution -- evolutionary change which is "directed" rather than "random"? As philosopher Frederick Nietzsche claimed in Thus Spoke Zarathustra:

"All beings so far have created something beyond themselves; and do you want to be the ebb of this great flood and even go back to the beasts rather than overcome man? What is the ape to man? A laughingstock or a painful embarrassment. And man shall be just that for the overman: a laughingstock or a painful embarrassment. You have made your way from worm to man, and much in you is still worm. Once you were apes, and even now, too, man is more ape than any ape."

Professor of molecular biology and geneticist Lee Silver from Princeton University put it less colorfully but more concretely:

"Why not seize the power? Why not control what has been left to chance in the past? Indeed, we control all other aspects of our children's lives and identities through powerful social and environmental influences and, in some cases, with the use of powerful drugs like Ritalin and Prozac. On what basis can we reject genetic influences on a person's essence when we accept the rights of parents to benefit their children in every other way?"

Or are we humans "playing God" in "seizing this power" of genetic engineering and doing what we should not do? Might we create more problems than we will solve? What do you think about the prospect of genetic engineering? What might we gain? What might we lose? What about human dignity? Human nature? Would it be better if science had relieved Katelyn of her epilepsy burden? Or, as Katie O'Neil mentioned, might this just be the first step on the "slippery slope"? A world like that of Gattaca? Why? Why not? EXPLAIN YOURSELF!

"THE BOOK OF LIFE"

"We now have the possibility of achieving all we ever hoped for from medicine."
UK Science Minister Lord Sainsbury
June 26, 2000, on announcement of mapping human genome,
a date which will go down as one of the great moments in human history.
]]> Social Justice and Access to Health Care for the Poor tag:www.fthsbiosci.org,2009:/blog//1.19 2009-01-01T23:07:57Z 2009-07-31T02:57:17Z ARE YOU YOUR BROTHER'S KEEPER? WHEN PEOPLE SEE YOUR STORY, WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM TO SEE?"A working man that never gave up, and now... he fought all of his life. Now he still keeps on fighting for his life with hope and faith."Joe Gallegos OF HEALTH, RESOURCES, AND JUSTICE Do you think everyone in our society should have equal access to limited health care resources? Should the better off be taxed at much higher rates to pay for... Mr. Geib http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib

ARE YOU YOUR BROTHER'S KEEPER?


WHEN PEOPLE SEE YOUR STORY, WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM TO SEE?
"A working man that never gave up, and now... he fought all of his life. Now he still keeps on fighting for his life with hope and faith."
Joe Gallegos

OF HEALTH, RESOURCES, AND JUSTICE

Do you think everyone in our society should have equal access to limited health care resources? Should the better off be taxed at much higher rates to pay for treatment for the poor? As Karl Marx said, "Each according to his ability, each according to his need." Do you agree? Are we our brother's keeper? Should the State be the vehicle by which we equalize wealth? Or do you prefer a more individual approach? To take care of yourself and your family first?

Do you support universal health care such as seen in Canada, Great Britain, and France? What do you think of the health care reform measures put forth by Governor Schwarzenegger or the Democratic candidates for president? Do you think our current system should remain as is, with only small adjustments at the margins?

JOE GALLEGOS: A CASE STUDY

This blogsite posting will come due on Monday morning November 19th, 2008 at 8:00 a.m.

"IT'S A SIN!"

FR. MIKE SEIFERT
"If you open the Scripture to anywhere you want, you will find that the poor are the blessed of God -- the poor are the preferred. The Lord blesses the nation that takes care of His poor."

]]> To Defy Your Time tag:www.fthsbiosci.org,2008:/blog//1.18 2008-12-15T23:03:56Z 2009-07-31T02:58:15Z

HOW WILL YOU SERVE? BONO BETRAY YOUR AGE TO SAVE IT The following is excerpted from the Penn State Commencement Address made by Bono, co-founder of DATA (Debt AIDS Trade Africa), and lead singer of U2, on May 17, 2004: The biggest obstacle to political and social progress isn't The Establishment, or the boot heel of whatever you consider 'the Man' to be. It's something much more subtle: a combination of our own indifference and the Kafkaesque labyrinth of 'no's... Mr. Geib http://www.foothilltech.org/rgeib HOW WILL YOU SERVE?


BONO

BETRAY YOUR AGE TO SAVE IT

The following is excerpted from the Penn State Commencement Address made by Bono, co-founder of DATA (Debt AIDS Trade Africa), and lead singer of U2, on May 17, 2004:

The biggest obstacle to political and social progress isn't The Establishment, or the boot heel of whatever you consider 'the Man' to be. It's something much more subtle: a combination of our own indifference and the Kafkaesque labyrinth of 'no's you encounter as people vanish down the corridors of bureaucracy.
The truly great Irish poet, Brendan Kennelly, said, "If you want to serve the age, betray it."
What does that mean, "to betray the age"? Well, to me, it means exposing its conceits, it's foibles, its phony moral certitudes. It means telling the secrets of the age and facing harsher truths.
Every age has its massive moral blind spots. We might not see them, but our children will. Slavery was one of them and the people who best served that age were the ones who called it as it was-- ungodly and inhuman. Segregation was another one. America sees this now, but it took a civil rights movement to betray their age.
Fast forward 50 years. What are the ideas right now worth betraying? What are the lies we tell ourselves now? What are the blind spots of our age? What's worth spending your life trying to do or undo? It might be something simple. It might be something as simple as our deep down refusal to believe that every human life has equal worth. Could that be it? Could that be it? Each of you will probably have your own answer, but for me that is it.

How might you, or might you not, "betray your age"? Is that a good idea? A bad idea? Both? Povery in the "developing world"? Some other "betrayal" of "our age"? Explore these ideas in this blogsite posting. Use this opportunity to speak to what makes you passionate!

This blogsite posting will come due on Tuesday morning May 30, 2007 at 8:00 a.m. Good luck!


"It might be something as simple as our deep down refusal to believe
that every human life has equal worth."
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