ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, July 26, 1996 TAG: 9607260062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG
SOURCE: Associated Press
Mitzi Boswell of Virginia Beach and a dozen of her classmates spent the past four weeks reading all about society's toughest ethical dilemmas.
With the guidance of a philosophy professor, they argued about assisted suicide, genetic engineering and the like with the passion and certainty typical of bright, idealistic teen-age girls. Then they left Randolph-Macon Woman's College and entered the real world.
``You can talk all you want about what you would do in a situation, but when you actually see people, it all goes out the window,'' Boswell, 17. said Thursday.
Like the afternoon they spent at a dialysis treatment center in Lynchburg.
A 50-year-old woman with failed kidneys talked about the joy she feels clinging to life so she could spend time with her daughter. A doctor explained what went through his mind as he decided whether to terminate treatment and recommended who gets a transplant and who doesn't.
``They have feelings and a family who cares for them, and there is so much difference when you see them and talk with them,'' said Jennifer Valentine, 15, of Midlothian.
Then there was the day the students went to a hospital and watched a doctor's videotaped interview with a dying emphysema patient who was told that he would lose his ability to breath before long.
``Would you want me to put you on a respirator if that's the only way we can save your life?'' the physician asked.
The patient, wheezing as he spoke, could not give a yes or no answer and ended up asking his doctor to do what he felt was best.
``That really brought home the issues of life-support technologies,'' said Michael Gillette, an associate professor of philosophy who developed the course this year. ``They saw not only the ethical issues, but a little bit about what it's like to be sick.''
They visited a vocational training center for mentally retarded people and learned how a small investment can make them self-sufficient.
They listened to an nuclear engineer wrangle with safety issues and whistleblowing, and they went to a laboratory to get a scientific basis for debating genetics issues.
They went into the classroom and considered these kinds of questions:
* Should couples be prevented from having children if they carry genetic markers for serious diseases?
* Now that the human growth hormone is available, should you be allowed to use it because you want to have a basketball player in the family?
LENGTH: Medium: 56 linesby CNB