Should Doctors Force Patients To Live? ...continued from front page

For different reasons, Fred

Lowy agrees.

“T have trouble with active eu- thanasia... There have been in- stances not too long ago in our history of physicians slipping over the edge, and for a variety of reasons not being respectful of life. Now I’m not saying a physi- cian who wants to help a per- son out of his misery is going to turn into one of the Nazi doctors, but that’s the end of the slippery slope.

“Can you imagine if it be- came common that a physician or nurse was allowed in our society to actively dispatch people who are suffering? Isn’t there a dan- ger that they might dispatch peo- ple who don’t want to go?”

A sign of the changing times is the growing tolerance for eu- thanasia in North America. A Gallup poll this year found that 77 per cent of Canadians ap- proved of some forms of euthana- sia, up from 66 per cent in 1984. Still, we are cautious.

In Germany, anencephalic ba- bies — born literally without a brain, in fact without the top of a skull, and:doomed to a few hours or days of life — are arbitrarily de- clared dead at birth. Their or- gans may be harvested for trans- plantation without the usual wait for “brain death.” In France and Switzerland, the state grants doc- tors the right to an adult’s organs after death, even if the deceased or his/her family wish otherwise.

Some physicians don’t see these measures as extreme. Ev- ery day, patients on transplant waiting lists die because there are not enough donors. Surveys show that fewer than one third of those who say they are will- ing to donate organs after death carry a signed donor card. Doc- tors are frustrated by the pas- sivity of society, by the waste of transplantable organs.

In a recent article in the Cana- dian Medical Association Jour- nal, Lowy proposed a radical, though “ethically defensible” so- lution to this problem. Those who agree to donate would be given preferential status should they ever need an organ trans- plant themselves.

Ethicists agree that reach- ing agreement in such problems won’t be easy, especially in the multicultural mix that is Canada.

“What do you do in a society that’s no longer a homogeneous culture politically and theologi- cally and ethically?” asks Mes- lin. “Do you treat according to your own cultural beliefs, which is in direct violation to theirs? On the other hand, treating them ac- cording to theirs may contravene

every code of medical ethics that was ever constructed in North America.”

“In China or India or Japan we would not be having the same kind of discussion. [In those cul- tures] there’s no reason to respect the individual; the individual is not a crucial feature.” a

The Donald C. story has an interesting outcome. Donald tried to get his discharge through the courts, but the wheels of jus- tice turn slowly. As the process wore on, Donald accepted treat- ment for his burns, and eventu-

You Can’t Get Too Drunk At

Bishop’s

LENOXVILLE (CUP) Staff at the pubs have been told to refuse to serve patrons who are drunk.

“Our purpose here is not to spoil people’s fun,” said Bruce Plaskett, assistant pub manager. “We want to students to think about the dangers of over drink- ing and drinking and driving.”

Plaskett said the univer- sity’s two student-run bars don’t have serious problems with over- drinking. ‘He said the new policy is a preventative measure.

The largest bar on campus, The Pub, seats about 850 peo- ple and has eight to 10 bounc- ers working every night, he said.

They patrol the bar looking for excessively drunk students.

Deciding who is too drunk to continue drinking is “obviously going to be a hard call,” Plaskett said. “They will have to be way over the limit for a bartender to refuse to serve them.”

“Some of the employees are a little worried about (the new pol- icy),” Plaskett said. “If there’s a small bartender telling a 6’ tall drunk football player that he can’t have another beer, it could get dangerous.”

But Plaskett said he is not worried about violence errupting because most of the bouncers are also big football players.

The death of a student who had 16 drinks in three hours at a University of Guelph bar last September has focused attention on the problem of over-drinking on Canadian campuses.

An inquest into the death heard figures about stu- dent drinking that some found startling. According to the Ad- diction Reseach Foundation, al- most 12 per cent of Ontario uni- versity students who drink con- sume at least 29 drinks per week. Another 18 per cent consume be- tween 15 and 28 drinks a week.

ally became well enough to leave the hospital on his own.

He is still alive, and newly married after his discharge. But he is thanking no one. Donald is adamant that he was wronged when his wishes to die were not honoured. He doesn’t think there is any inconsistency in his almost paradoxical situation: now that he is alive, he wishes he weren’t. It is not that life isn’t now worth living, but that the pain was not worth enduring.

Who should judge for Donald C.?

The report recommends

shorter operating hours for cam-.

pus bars, a graphic alcohol abuse awareness program, the monitor- ing and control of alcohol com- sumption in student residences, sanctions including expulsion and reduction of academic credits for students violating alcohol policies and raising the drinking age to 2h

Friday, Nov 24th

In aid of Big Brothers/Sisters of PEI

Mike Read, Noreen Gillan, Vincie Mulligan, Barry Quensed, and many other “faces” on cam- pus will be donating their time and FACE for you to throw a chocolate cream pie (topped with whip cream of course) in thier mug! How much is it worth to you $$$ Tickets on Sale, Thurs- day, Friday — see Jo-Anna Mur- phy for further instructions.

50/50Draw

Held at the Engineers pub:

Winner (an anonymous en- gineer) most graciously donated their winning to the UGLY Bar- tenders contest —

Understanding Generous Lovable

You

So far the Panther Loung has raised over $200.00 for Big Broth- ers/Sisters of PEI.

Thanks UGLY Jo—Anna Murphy Student Union 0530

Chairperson Needed

Are you looking for a fun, challenging, and educational oppor- tunity? Here is your chance to get invoived at UPEI. The Student Union needs volunteers for the following 1990 ¢csitions:

Winter Carnival Chairperson - in coordination with the VP Operations-p!an the 1990 Student Union Winter Carnival.

Winter Carnival Assistant Chairperson ~ assist the Win- ter Carnival Chairperson. :

Frosh Week Chairperson — will become a rricmber of the UPEI Orientation Committee starting January 1990.

—organize the Frosh Week Committee and cali meetings during the summer.

-in coordination with the VP Operations and ihe “tudent Ser- vices Department, organize Frosh V/eek 1990 aciiv.iies. To ful- fill these duties you must be in the Charlottetowr. area during the summer of 1990.

Frosh Week Assistant Chairperson ~ to assist the Frosh Week Chairperson.

To apply please fill out a Volunteer Bank file card and drop it off at the Student Union Office, or call Betty Johnston, Student Union Administrative Assistant, 566-0530.

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