Welcome to the show!

[fletagew-blog]

Final Paper: Willed Cadavers- Any Body In?

Even after death, a human body can still hold some useful value to science. The medical world is in need of cadavers to practice on in order to have any hopes of advancing science for those still living. Willing volunteers can donate their whole bodies to science through willed body programs faciliated through mortuaries or medical schools. Many people, however, are afraid to do this because they fear the consequences of death. Physicians and other professsionals have a responsibilty to seriously counsel any patients and their families who are consideing donation as the subject matter is delicate to some and requires intense consideration. Legislation is also in the works to protect the rights of donors and their families after they die since recently and historically, autopsy practices have been abused by physicians and others for financial gain. Ultimately, cadaver donation is a worthy cause to consider that benefits many lives through use of dead volunteers. So long as procedure is carried out soundly, this practice can be allowed to thrive on the basics of ethics.

[fletagew-blog]

Thematic Link Ancillary

Ultimately, patients should have legitimate reasons for cadaver donation and be completely secure before committing to a decision.

Ultimately, patients should completely understand the motives behind their decision to donate their cadavers and possess complete psychological stability throughout their decision-making process.

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A final factor to consider is the advancement of medical technology complicating the definition of death.

Finally, donors and physicians should consider how the advancement of medical technology prolongs the human life, thus complicating the definition of death.

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Donors may experience apprehension about donating their bodies to science because they fear death.

Donors may be apprehensive about willingly donating their bodies to science because they fear physical death.

[fletagew-blog]

A Life Long Student, for Life Indeed

Reminiscing today, I smile fondly as I think of all the learning I have done in the admittedly short nineteen years of growth I have endured and will surely continue to pick up along the way-- and I cringe inwardly at the not so fond memories as well: proverbial scraped knees, times of illness, letdown, of  jagged holes left by heartbreak and loss, my mess-ups, moments of embarrassment, and the not-so-proud moments of meekness when I either did not or could not find my own inner voice-- however, I shan't take a single moment for granted, since all of these collectively continue to shape my person on the pilgrimage of life; for all of this endured I am grateful to be a lifelong learner, a student of the world.

[fletagew-blog]

Drafting an Appeal to Ethos- History of Human Autopsy

The lexicon of the word "ethos" refers to its Greek roots in:  "the distinctive character, spirit, and attitudes of a people, culture, era, etc: the revolutionary ethos" (dictionary.reference.com).

 Neighboring to the ancient Greeks, the ancient Egyptians practiced early forms of autopsy and mummification to appease a religious ethos. Further through history, human autopsy has appealed to several other societies' collective ethos. During the 1800s physicians widely practiced public autopsies to discover the form and function of human anatomy.Although controversial (means of obtaining enough bodies were often immoral if not illegal), such research has aided in a much more accurate understanding of the human body; in turn this has drastically improved medical practice.

Not only utilized for scientific purposes, autopsy can also provide peace of mind for loved ones.Knowing the cause of death can ease much anxiety. Death as in dying is a difficult subject, an emotionally confusing and messy process for all parties involved. With a clear mind, family members can decide what is appropriate to do with the remains of their loved one. If the deceased wishes to act altruistically, one such option is willed cadaver donation. Life-- or death-- as a cadaver does not  necessarily have to be dull. 

For example, the majority of donated cadavers in willed body programs end up at medical schools. Physicians and medical students may at first struggle with separating a cadaver from its once live identity. However, using cadaver labs for practice of surgical  procedures provides a much better alternative than sending students to practice on live patients after observation as their only training. Medical students also learn to objectify the body as a means for practice, to cope with death. Many anatomy labs devote a portion of the class to confronting death and dying. 

The process of losing a life and working with the dead (remains) are two separate entities. As humans, it is natural in our culture to feel a spirit of attachment to our loved ones. However, if we can separate our spiritual attachment from these bodies, it is clear that cadaver donation is a necessary means to broaden our understanding of life and even death itself. 

Works Cited: "Ethos." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2013. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ethos?s=t>.

[fletagew-blog]

Ten Research Questions

1. Should zoo animal breeding practices become more mandated at a federal level?

2. Is it humane for animal shelters impose euthanasia on overpopulated kennels?

2. Is hospital food healthy enough for patients' and employees' diets as mandated by the FDA?

3. Are hospitals to blame for surgical site infections? (SSIs)

4. Do doctor malpractice laws mandate strict enough consequences for offenders?

5. Should the bodies of deceased homeless people be donated for scientific purposes?

6. Is it ethical for the cadavers of those who choose to donate their bodies to science be used as crash test dummies or practice modules for medical students without the knowledge of the deceased? (Should there be laws to specify which scientific purposes the deceased permits their corpse be subjected to?)

7. Should hand washing be mandated among healthcare workers?

8. Should insurance cover the medical bills of those subjected to 'pain and suffering' if they are legally at fault for an automobile accident?

9. Should Congress tighten legislation on the Right-to-die laws in the case of incapacitated patients? (Terri Schiavo)

10. What are the benefits of drone warfare? Are these benefits ethical enough to constitute widespread use?

[fletagew-blog]

Five Thesis Statements "Time to Change" England

1. By manipulating the setting, characters, and background to reflect a neutral tone,  the "Time to Change" England campaign coaxes viewers into becoming more comfortable to accepting its claims.

2. "Time to Change" England presents relatable characters and scenarios to its audience so that they may able to relate and empathize with mental health issues.

3. The "Time to Change" PSA appeals exclusively to its target audience's sense of pathos by individuating the mental health issue, thus advancing its claim that change beings with one person. 

4. In order to steer British society away from mental health discrimination, the "Time to Change" Campaign attempts to normalize the issue and diffuse pre-existing apprehension involving discussion about mental health.

5. Per use of a predominately emotional appeal, aided also by establishing credibility throughout the commercial, "Time to Change England" seeks to convince its viewers to take action against mental illness.

[fletagew-blog]

Outlining Analysis "Cinderfella" Introduction

Love is universal. Unfortunately the young gay community does not always get to experience the love they deserve due to discrimination. The parody video "Cinderfella" models the Disney original "Cinderella" to present what true love really means. The story line follows a young man seeking his true love, Prince Charming, at the kingdom ball. His struggles to even get to meet his true love as well as the ridicule he receives demonstrate the same struggles that young gay people face. Song choice, video imagery, and the pairing of the images and lyrics show how people love in different ways.

[artphotocollector]

“Justice in the conduct and life of the State is possible only as first it resides in the hearts and souls of the citizens.”—Plato 

Although we do not hear enough about it, there are more than 70,000 juveniles presently incarcerated in the United States. Richard Ross, a Professor/photographer at the University of California Santa Barbara, has spent more than five years in over 300 facilites in 31 states documenting, interviewing, and photographing what we do to young people in this country. This project, Juvenile-in-Justice, and the accompanying book offer a sobering analysis of how we administer justice in the USA.

Ross’s skills as a photographer are quite evident throughout his work. While these images may on the surface appear perfectly composed and cooly detached, they are, in fact, indictments of injustice. This rich alchemy of beauty and indignation gives these images their power and resonance.

Juvenile-in-Justice is on view in NYC at Ronald Feldman Fine Arts until Saturday, and then moves on to the LA Municipal Art Gallery. For an excellent and poignant overview of the project, this video is required viewing.  --Lane Nevares 

[fletagew-blog]

Assertion: Evil acts are committed by those who submit blindly to authority. Therefore, under pressure, those who would not normally behave more aggressively or take a certain course action. Underlings are perpetrated to do and push boundaries farther than ordered to do so so under a system of hierarchy-- perhaps for fear of punishment. 

Example: Phillip Zimbardo, a social psychologist at Stanford University, conducted an controversial role-playing experiment among students. Students were screened for psychological soundness and overall health and randomly assigned to roles of prison ward or prisoner. Zimbardo, who played the role of prison superintendent,  in the experiment, did not expect the students to take on their roles as seriously and as readily as they did.

Explanation: Zimbardo halted the experiment after only six days once he realized the extreme amount of psychological pressure the students were subject to. Those assigned as prisoners accepted harassment passively from guards; and those who tried to halt the abuse were subject to more psychological torture such as solitary confinement. This displays how Zimbardo overlooked the effect of a hierarchy system on human behavior.

Significance: Submission to authority without question of motive can yield extremely dangerous circumstance. Throughout history humans have shown an incredulous capacity for evil. These are perpetuated by systems of power; subjects have even been reported  even commit atrocities beyond what they have been ordered to carry out by their leaders. The Abu Gharib US Prison Raid at a Middle Eastern Prison is a stark reminder of what can happen given the right circumstances of people and power.

[fletagew-blog]

The Soloist, based on true events, is directed by Joe Wright. Actor and musician Jaime Foxx portrays homeless schizophrenic Nathaniel Anthony Ayers. Steve Lopez, (portrayed by Robert Downey, Jr.) a down-on-his-luck Los Angeles reporter who stumbles upon the ex-Julliard cello prodigy. Lopez intends to "decode" Ayers' mind in an attempt to write an article that will save his career. What follows is an unlikely story of friendship.

 "Life has a mind of its own" reads the tagline of The Soloist, as demonstrated in the short clip from the film. In context, this color sequence is a powerful example of symphony and color blended together from the creative mind of a schizophrenic musician. When Lopez and Ayers attend a Beethoven symphony at the Los Angeles concert hall, the onscreen imagery of color in sync with the orchestra allow the audience to see music through the eyes of Nathaniel. It may provoke such questioning as: Does mental illness inspire creativity? Are schizophrenics more apt to being artistically inclined than the rest of society?

Music lovers will be drawn to this sentimental piece that displays the healing effect of music, especially on mental illness. Film-goers may appreciate writer's Susannah Grant's dramatized screenplay based on the novel written by the real Steve Lopez. This piece is also a loose biography.The following is an excerpted interview of  Nathaniel Ayers and Steve Lopez that depicts their real life friendship : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHt6e7jqY5U 

The film conjures up issues of mental illness and the alarming reality of homelessness in the United States- especially the scenes depicting daily life on Los Angeles' Skid Row, one of the largest homeless communities in the country. There is also no definitive cause or known cure for schizophrenia today, meaning that Nathaniel will never see recovery and will most likely be persecuted by delusions his whole life. However, this is also a story of hope and healing: through the power of music and of friendship.

[fletagew-blog]

The insanity plea

more to come

[fletagew-blog]

I grew up listening to music from my parents' era, classic rock especially. Among my favorites from the 1970s is Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon.  This concept album is a psychedelic journey into the depths of the complexity of human nature. It focuses especially on the mind verging on insanity. The famous album cover features an image of a triangular prism reflecting a rainbow on a black background. It can be speculated that the prism represents a warped perception of reality.  Lead singer Syd Barret narrates about deteriorating mental states, quite possibly inspired by his own.Themes of psychological issues such as: death, doubt and confusion, looming threat of insanity due to isolation, lack of control, significance of the human life, and true nature of our identities are apparent lyrically and melodically. Pink Floyd is often recognized for its experimental instrumentals, sound effects, and use of multi-track recording. For example, at the beginning of the first track and finale of the last track, a human heartbeat can be heard to symbolize vitality or weakness of life, dependent upon which stage of life one is undergoing. Female vocals featured on most of the tracks represent delusions of grandeur, hallucination, and paranoia. Haunting synthesizers give a presence of ominousness throughout.

Law.com offers this definition of criminal insanity: "Insanity.n. mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollableimpulsive behavior."

The Dark Side of the Moon raises endless questions. How does the album illustrate mental illness and the human experience? What is reality and what is fantastical? Is there an escape to suffering? How is obscurity represented, physically and psychologically? What causes deteriorating mental states?     

Medicine categorizes mental health on a spectrum-based approach, so there is no one way to define the manifestations/causes of mental processes and behaviors considered to be insane. Heredity may to be to blame, but I believe that outside stresses and unhealthy forces one is exposed to in their environment contribute much more strongly to mental state than does genetics. Is the current system of medical diagnostics enough to address these outside pressures?

[lookatthisstory]

On the night of the shootings in Newtown, Conn., a woman named Aline Marie attended a prayer vigil at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, which was packed with local residents and the media. After about 45 minutes, Marie saw the statue of Mary and knelt down to pray.

“I sat there in a moment of devastation with my hands in prayer pose asking for peace and healing in the hearts of men,” she recalls. “I was having such a strong moment and my heart was open, and I started to cry.”

Her mood changed abruptly, she says, when “all of a sudden I hear ‘clickclickclickclickclick’ all over the place. And there are people in the bushes, all around me, and they are photographing me, and now I’m pissed. I felt like a zoo animal.”

What particularly troubles her, she says, is “no one came up to me and said ‘Hi, I’m from this paper and I took your photograph.’ No one introduced themselves. I felt violated. And yes, it was a lovely photograph, but there is a sense of privacy in a moment like that, and they didn’t ask.”

On the other end of the camera was AFP photographer Emmanuel Dunand. Based in New York, he had arrived in Newtown that day. He says he was overwhelmed by the assignment of having to photograph residents during such extreme grief.

“I have two kids,” he told me. “It’s the type of story you never want to cover, ever, and being a dad … all you want to do is put down flowers, you don’t want to take photos.”

But, he said, it was his job to make photos to help tell the story to the world, and in the midst of so much raw emotion, he tried to be discreet with his camera. If he sensed that someone was bothered by the camera, he simply put it down.

What It Feels Like To Be Photographed In A Moment Of Grief

Photo Credit: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

What are your thoughts? Should photographers interact with their subjects in moments of grief, or is it more respectful to leave them alone?

[fletagew-blog]

Thoughts?

[benbrgew-blog]

Most People are narcissistic and I’m not using that word in the clinical diagnostic way and neither in the everyday sense of vain or conceited. What I mean to say is that most people are almost exclusively focused upon themselves, their personal interests and their own emotional needs for...

[fletagew-blog]

Thank you so much for the insight! This is perhaps an obvious, but much overlooked observation regarding our society's current mentality. Why the emphasis on "me"? When does self-interest become self-indulgence? Come to think of it, this way of thinking is detrimental to how some one relates to and interacts with others. Semi-recently, I read an article from Psychology Today on narcissistic personality types and tendencies. Go ahead and take a look if it strikes your interest. I think it reiterates a lot of what you mentioned.

 http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-narcissism-epidemic/200905/is-there-epidemic-narcissism-today

[fletagew-blog]

Identity- Sexual Orientation & Stereotypes: Identifying as Gay

True Story: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/justice-story/justice-story-botched-bank-job-sex-change-loot-inspired-classic-dog-day-afternoon-article-1.1139499

The film Dog Day Afternoon portrays the true events of a bank heist facilitated by novice criminal John Wojtowicz. (He was renamed Sonny in the screenplay for creative licensing purposes and to build a unique identity for the character in the film.) The film explores Wojtowicz’s/Sonny’s uncanny motive for the stick-up: his illicit lover Leon needs the money for a sex change operation. To be noted especially is Al Pacino’s unlikely casting as the deeply troubled Sonny. Typically known for his roles in crime dramas, Pacino was especially drawn to this project because it presented him the challenge of illuminating this character's struggle. Director Sidney Lumet aimed to construct an, although outlandish, relatable character. Pacino’s brilliant performance aids to the director’s goal of portraying Sonny’s inner conflict without instantaneously labeling the character as a typical gay male. There is still  a certain societal stigma attached to identifying as a member of the gay community. Consider especially this film's 1975 release date. Casting directors worried that if the role was overacted, Dog Day Afternoon would become laughable and forgettable. He struggles not only with his sexuality; moreover as his robbery attempt falls apart, Sonny's battle with identity and sanity is apparent. The following scene from the movie demonstrates the tension inside of the bank: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SR4O2gcXYA

In the film, some members of the gay community were in support of Sonny's crime for his motives, and still others were completely aghast at his actions. Lumet’s vision was to ultimately create a credible piece without stereotyping; his desire for the audience was to take the film seriously and sympathize with Sonny’s unusual plight. 

#gew101, #gew101week1, #fletagew, #pacino, #dogdayafternoon, #identity, #production, #sexuality, #sanity