Writing 122- Cora
Agatucci
English Composition [Argumentation
& Critical Reading-Response]
Example Student
Argument Essays #2
(Using at least 3 Sources)
Webpublished with Student
Permission
Online Handout, WR 122, Winter 2002
Short cuts:
Jonathan Ball (2001): "Medical
Revolution" | Nathan Creese (2002): "The
Changing Hands of Segregation"
Gita Dombrowski (1999):
"Environmentalism" |
Andrew Elster (1998): "Society
of Chickens"
Adam Fargher (2002): "A Single Administration
and District...Maybe?"
Crista Harrison (2001):
"Free Love: Free from What?"
Jenny L. Miller (2002): "Andrea Yates:
Is Capital Punishment the Answer?"
Darlene West (1999): "Welfare:
Abuses by Government and Recipient Need to Be Stopped!"
Jonathan Ball
WR 122, Prof. Agatucci
Essay #2
26 February 2001
Medical Revolution
Marijuana has been an illegal drug in the United States
since the 1930's. Before this, it was a plant
that was highly used for its industrial, medical, and spiritual value. But at
the beginning of the century, it was thrown into the group of Class 1 drugs,
meaning that it had a relatively high rate of abuse, and was not accepted to
have any medical value. This class of drugs also includes such illegal drugs as
LSD and heroin. When misused marijuana can have negative effects on the brain and, when
its popularity of misuse grew, it was seen as a threat to society. Our nation
saw it as the "gateway drug," fearing that it led young people to use
of more dangerous drugs. According to The Columbia Encyclopedia,
marijuana, having over 400 known chemicals, can affect motor
skills and, in some cases, cause the user to become paranoid. It has also been
known to affect the reproductive system, in some cases lowering sperm count in
males. It can also lead to developmental difficulties in the fetus stage
of a growing child. When young people abuse marijuana, it can affect their
short-term memory and comprehension. It can also cause lung damage in heavy
users ("Marijuana"). However, most of these
negative aspects are fairly rare. For the most part, marijuana can be seen as a
relatively safe drug when not abused. Even the AMA (American Medical
Association) feels that our national negative attitude toward marijuana is based
on misinformation. When marijuana was being debated in court in the 30's, Dr.
James Woodward, who was both a physician and an attorney, testified on behalf of
the AMA. He claimed that the whole fabric of federal testimony was tabloid
sensationalism, yet the government succeeded in making marijuana illegal for any
purpose, ignoring the fact that it had an incredible medical value (cited in
Herer 28).
For over 3,500 years, cannabis has been one of the most
widely used plants for medicines. The cultural diversity of its use ranges all
over the world, including China, India, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. Dr.
Raphael Mechoulam of Omni magazine (September 1982) claims that if
marijuana were legal, it would replace ten to twenty percent of all
pharmaceutical prescription medicines (based on research through 1976). He also
estimates that forty to fifty percent of all medicines could contain some
extract from the cannabis plant when fully researched (cited in Herer 33). Yet
our society has tabooed this useful plant as a threat to our youth and society
as a whole, and deemed it as the gateway drug. It was made illegal in our
country early this century, and although it had been commonplace in many
societies around the globe for millennia, our nation suddenly took a severely
negative attitude toward the plant for any purpose. Our society must take away
that prejudice rooted in the early century and reexamine the facts about
marijuana as a useful remedy for countless illnesses.
One of marijuana's most direct beneficial results is seen
by the glaucoma patient. Glaucoma is a disease that attacks the eye and slowly
takes the patient's vision completely. Most doctors prescribe pills or
eyedroppers to reduce pressure in the eye caused by the disease. If this is not
helpful, surgery is the next step taken. According to studies done at numerous
medical schools, such as Harvard, UCLA, Medical College of Georgia, and the
National Eye Institute, marijuana smoking could benefit 90% of our 2,500,000
glaucoma victims, and is two to three times as effective as any current
medicines for reducing pressure in the eye (cited in Herer 37). Because the
traditional ways of relieving the patient's symptoms are sometimes painful and
ineffective, some patients resort to the use of marijuana. One such patient is a
man by the name of Bill Barrett. He had seen his mother suffer from the same
disease that was now attacking him. He went with the doctor's advice for a while
and used prescription medications, but these had dangerous side effects such as
slowing down the heart, and the possibility of causing it to fail completely.
After his illness progressed significantly and surgery was in the near future
for Bill, he began to use the illegal alternative, and was incredibly pleased
with the results. "I remember the first time I went in for an examination
after smoking marijuana. My doctor thought a miracle had happened. My pressure
had gone down [significantly] since the last time I'd seen her." (quoted in
Zimmerman 61). His doctor was so amazed that she began working with him to
monitor the effects marijuana was having on his pressure. At the end of ten
years of following his progress, she claimed that if marijuana were legal, she
would have prescribed it for him, yet our own government prohibits scientists to
even study these uses. Another illness that is sweeping our nation and affecting
millions of people around the world is cancer. Although some types of cancer are
treatable and people can recover, it takes intense treatment. One of the
treatments involves chemotherapy. The problem with chemotherapy is that it has
many negative side affects, such as nausea and loss of appetite. At times, these
side effects can be more distressing and debilitating than the cancer itself.
The nausea has been known to be so extreme that a patient will spend hours
vomiting and dry heaving. Some patients have even broken or fractured bones in
the process. Patients have even been known to accept death over the
painful process of recovery (Zimmerman 30).
Before the studies of medical marijuana was banned in 1976
(Herer 34), its therapeutic uses were studied with positive results by the
government. These studies demonstrated marijuana's usefulness in reducing
nausea and vomiting along with stimulating the appetite. It was also proven to
promote weight gain, which is also a difficult task with chemotherapy patient
(Zimmer and Morgan 17). According to Dr. Thomas Ungerleider, the former
leader of California's Marijuana for Cancer research program, "Marijuana is
the best agent for control of nausea in cancer chemotherapy." (quoted in
Herer 37). Instead of taking the government scientist's word for it, let
us look at a story from a real cancer victim. Her name is Jo Daly. She
discovered she had cancer of the colon, and it was already in phase IV. She went
through emergency surgery which took her ovaries, uterus, part of her colon, and
some lymph nodes. This surgery was followed by six months of chemotherapy.
She struggled with all the side affects of the treatment, in addition to a
severe fever after her first treatment. She suffered indescribable pain, along
with the inability to sleep and eat. She tried many drugs to battle these side
effects, but each one only seemed to bring on another side effect. Among
these drugs were Compazine and Ativan. After this pain went on for several
days, she decided to try marijuana. "This time I closed the door to my room
and lit up a marijuana cigarette that had been given to me by a friend... Within
a half an hour, the fever subsided... no vomiting, very minor nausea-and I
actually ate a sandwich later on that evening. I slept well for the first time
since I could remember." (quoted in Zimmerman 35).
Cancer and Glaucoma are only two of the many illnesses that
marijuana can help to alleviate, including AIDS, arthritis, asthma, multiple
sclerosis, paraplegia, quadriplegia, epilepsy, migraine headaches, and many
more. Our own government's DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) judge ruled through
extensive testing that "marijuana is one of the safest therapeutically
active substances known to man." (quoted in Herer 35). But still, our
government continues to ignore this evidence and force countless patients to
either suffer or break the law just to get relief. This injustice needs to
end. Our government and society need to reexamine the facts revolving
around marijuana as a medicine, and at least allow organizations to further look
into its legalization for medical purposes.
Works Cited
Baum, Dan. Smoke and Mirrors.
New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1997.
Herer, Jack. The Emperor Wears No
Clothes. Van Nuys, CA: Hemp Publishing, 1995.
"Marijuana" The
Columbia Encyclopedia. Sixth ed. 2001. http://www.bartleby.com/65/ma/marijuana.html.
(2/24/01).
Roulac, John W. Hemp
Horizons. White River Junction, CA: Chelsea Green Publishing
Company. 1997.
Zimmer, Lynn and John P. Morgan. Marijuana
Myths, Marijuana Facts. New York: The
Lindesmith Center, 1997.
Zimmerman, Bill, and others. Is
Marijuana the Right Medicine for You? New Canann,
CA: Keats Publishing, 1998.
© Jonathan Ball, 2001
Nathan
Creese
Wr 122, Prof. Cora Agatucci
Essay #2 - Final Revised Draft
13 March 2002
The Changing Hands of Segregation
In 1963, a man stood in front of 250,000 people and spoke of a dream. “Nineteen
sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning” (King). Martin Luther King, Jr.,
was the leader toward the abandonment of racism and segregation in the United
States. His words are now taught from the beginnings of elementary school to the
depths of college discussions. Although the “I Have a Dream” speech and the
march on Washington happened twelve years before I was born, at twenty-six I can
easily visualize the black and white video showing Dr. King’s passion as he
spoke to a quarter of a million people filled with different races and cultures.
I, a young Caucasian male, deeply mourn the death of Marin Luther King, Jr.,
because his beliefs could have gone even further to assist the country’s
learning process about leaving racism and segregation behind.
Under the teachings of Elijah Mohammed, Malcolm X targeted all whites and
blamed them for all the drug abuse, prostitution and poverty that existed in the
African American culture. Malcolm X preached that white people were the man
devil and segregation was the only answer to solving the problems of the black
race, and even migrating the whole race back to Africa and establishing a new
society. After Elijah Mohammad abandoned Malcolm X, he went to Arabia and
learned that an individual’s actions told more about a person than the color
of their skin, He came back to America after his trip saying: “I am not a
racist…In the past I permitted myself to be used…to make sweeping
indictments of all white people, the entire white race, and these
generalizations have caused injuries to some whites and perhaps did not deserve
to hurt. Because of the spiritual enlightenment which I was blessed to receive
as the result of my recent pilgrimage to the Holy City of Mecca, I no longer
subscribe to sweeping indictments of any one race. I am now striving to live the
life of a true Sunni Muslim. I must repeat that I am not a racist nor do I
subscribe to the tenets of racism. I can stat in all sincerity that I wish
nothing but freedom, justice, and equality, life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness for all people (Malcolm X). He then changed his name from Malcolm X to
Malik El- Shabazz. Soon after the creation of Malik El- Shabazz, he was
assassinated and his death left a shortcoming to the growth of our nation.
I believe that we have made long strides in treating our black brothers
and sisters as equals. I do not see a color, but I see character and personality
just as I see in all people of all ages. I am sure however that me using the
words “our black brothers and sisters” would not be accepted by a lot of
African Americans simply because I am a twenty-six-year-old Caucasian. In the
same form, it is not acceptable for me to go to the clothing store and purchase
jerseys with the name brand FUBU, which is a brand of clothing that is
specifically targeted for black people. The name FUBU stands for “for us by
us” and according to its creators for us by us means for blacks by blacks.
When FUBU first hit the market the athletic apparel was a fresh new style
with a bright and a new look. I knew FUBU stood for “for us by us,” but I
thought of it in more of an x generation kind of standpoint. Later people told
me that I should not be wearing that name brand of clothing because it was only
for black. I didn’t care: the style was irreplaceable and I thought the racist
statements would be a fad that would just go away with time. Time just opened my
eyes to FUBU’s advertising, which is basically sustained by BET (Black
Entertainment Television) and never used any white models for their clothing
line. I soon began to see the light. Now I have given away the most beautiful
baseball jersey I have ever owned to Stacey Crenshaw, who happens to be a
twenty-nine-year-old male black day care provider and best friend of mine for
ten years. I interviewed him and asked him if he thought FUBU was only for
blacks. He said, “FUBU started off in the hood, came up in the hood, and now
it is worn by the hood.” I then asked him if he was ever offended by me, his
long-term friend, wearing FUBU. He replied that he knew that I did not see
things in a racial way. Jokingly he said, “Man, can’t we just have some
things to ourselves?” Although I laughed and the way he put it was funny, I am
sure that the mentality of that statement is taken a lot more seriously through
most of the African American culture. Not wanting to share because of the color
of someone’s skin is racism.
Disgusted with the entire idea of a brand of clothing being designed and
targeted for one race I began to see other things. Racial slurs toward white
people from black comedians like Chris Rock offend me, and I am offended that I
cannot wear the same clothes. Yet I do not say anything because I am afraid to
be looked at as a racist. I know in my heart that I am no such thing. The
stereotype of being a racist because my great grandpa was a racist is
unacceptable to me. My great great grandpa probably did cocaine like it was
tobacco because it was legal. Does that make me a new and improved crack head
even though I never touched cocaine my entire? That is how I feel about racism.
I never knew what racism was until someone told me that white people used to
hate all other ethnic groups. I never knew that racism would affect me until I
bought a FUBU jersey.
Imagine Jay Leno slamming the culture of African Americans; he would be
kicked off NBC and ruined for life. Yet somehow with the Chris Rock show we just
kind of nod our heads and smile as he slams Caucasian American culture. This
difference is a new change of racism and segregation. As time moves on and
racism has begun to change hands, I am now the one who needs to sit at the back
of the bus and drink from a different water fountain.
It seems that segregation is starting to take a new turn. The African
American culture has now started to separate itself from the rest of America.
What started as the revival of a beautiful culture has erupted to social
segregation and words of hatred from blacks toward whites. If only all black
people could look back on Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech that said, “I have
a dream that one day…little black boys and little black girls will be able to
join hands with little white boys and little white girls and walk together as
sisters and brothers” (King 3). What once started out as a movement to earn
African Americans civil rights can now be used as a way to defend myself against
black racism toward whites. It seems as though it is a price to pay until time
can show that this new segregation is also bad for the ultimate goal of ridding
the world from the hatred of racism.
African Americans and all ethnic groups will have a hurdle to keep their
racism strong. Racism cannot defeat the growing number of interracial babies.
Interracial human beings are the ones that can say, “What do I care my mom is
white and my dad is black. My grandma is Mexican and my other grandma is an
American Native. I can drink at any fountain. I can wear any type of clothing. I
see all races as members of my family.” America used to be a melting pot
because it was a place where different people, from different countries, and
different races may all live together in harmony. America’s new melting pot is
the birth of a new generation supporting a lot more interracial babies. A
Washington editor of a Harpers article that originally appeared in New
York Times wrote, “Ending racial segregation by class might –just might-
bring about and end to race itself in America. It is certainly worth a try”
(Lind 645)
It used to be a big deal during the times of integration what boat you
came from. Who was German, Jewish, Italian, or Irish? Now nobody really seems to
care about a white person’s heritage. They are now simply Americans, because
we have mixed up all those heritages to a forgettable point. The original
melting pot has melted. The new melting pot is the task of forgetting what race
we are. Imagine the day when it is common for someone to say, my grandma was a
quarter African American and my grandpa was a quarter Mexican American.
For twenty thousand years human beings lived segregated. I can’t see
the ultimate desegregation of all races simply disappearing in forty years. It
depresses me to know that things could get a lot worse before they start getting
better. White people have begun to learn to start treating everyone as equals.
Time will offer a period when other ethnic groups will have to take notice of
their racism and segregation toward white people. In the end time will be the
true cure, for twenty thousand years from now America will be one race,
Americans.
Works
Cited
Crenshaw, Stacey. Personal
Interview. 24 February 2002.
King,
Martin Luther, Jr. “I Have a Dream.” Congressional Record, 88th
Congress, 109.12 (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1963), pp.
16241- 16242. Rpt. “Martin Luther King, ‘I Have a Dream,’ 28 August
1963”; Douglas Archives of American Public Address, Northwestern
University, 1197-2002. http://douglas.speech.nwu.edu/kingb12.htm
[accessed: 5 Jan. 2002]
Lind,
Michael. “The Beige and the Black.” The New York Times 16 Aug. 1998
Rpt. The Aims of Argument: A Rhetoric Reader. Eds. Timothy W. Crusius and
Carolyn E. Channell. 3rd ed. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 2000. 642-645.
Malcolm X. (Al-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz) "Letter from
Mecca." The Pilgramage to Makkah.
http://www.arches.uga.edu/~godlas/malcolmx.html
[accessed: 1 March 2002].
© Nathan Creese, 2002
Gita Dombrowski
Wr 122, Dr. Agatucci
Argument Essay #2
12 February 1999
Environmentalism
To write something truly original on environmentalism
in any of its forms is a task of difficult measure. The
environmental movement, as it is often called, is no longer a
movement, but a way of life for many. Among those with whom it is
not a major priority, it seems that they are at least aware of
their implications, and make basic efforts to minimize their
effects on our ecosystems. How is it then that we continue to
lose species and habitat at such alarming rates, when it seems
that there is only a fraction of people responsible for the
largest damages? I propose that those most often behind the
greatest of ecological disasters are large corporations, with a
seemingly endless desire for the eternal profit. So how do we
hold groups or individuals responsible for their actions? The
answer lies in a series of responsibility, starting at the most
basic link, that being the responsibility of one's own actions.
H. Patricia Hynes states in her short essay
"Beyond Global Housekeeping," "[There is] dramatic
evidence that environmental protection is not working and cannot
be left to government agencies and small numbers of
activists" (230). With this she makes a very valid point for
a society that often leaves the most important issues to be dealt
with by other "officials." This leads to the issue of
personal responsibility, and one's personal stewardship of the
Earth. We as a society can no longer afford to trust the actions
of officials whom we may no little about, and may not have even
voted for. Take for instance a very at home incident in the Crown
Pacific-Forest Service land swap that was sealed this summer.
Evidence suggested that we were not getting anywhere near the
value of land that Crown-Pacific was getting. Furthermore it
became clear that Crown-Pacific intended to develop or log most
of the land acquired in the deal (the major portion of this land
was set aside as prime recreation land, with the intention that
it never be developed). Too many times we sit and idly watch the
news on our TV, and maybe we voice a complaint there in the
comfort of our chair; but how many can say they were there at the
meetings asking for a detailed appraisal of the monetary values
of both sets of land, or a outline of what Crown-Pacific plans to
do if they acquire the land? How many petitioned for a non-Forest
service based environmental impact study of the Pelican Butte Ski
Area proposal; or who petitioned our governor for a complete
impact study of dumping the New Carissa at sea? The list
continues on, and these are only local issues, all taking place
within our state.
To hold one's self-accountable for each action that is
made is a feat utterly admirable in today’s ultra-high paced
society. In a world where an ability to make an instantaneous
decision with little thought of the implications, is many times
the norm, the issue of personal responsibility becomes clouded.
Add to it the pressures of family and the basic needs of self
preservation, then pile on that a little of ones vice's, and you
have created a situation in which it is difficult to even find a
logical starting point for change. Where then does one start when
one makes the decision to become "eco-friendly?"
The decision to become eco-friendly starts with the
recognition of one's own bad habits. For instance the most
probable one is laziness. This can take forms such as not taking
the time for recycling or not buying minimally packaged goods.
Wasted paper, unnecessary use of water, and non-necessary
consumption of energy are also common examples of simple changes
that once compounded together can make for large changes all from
a single person. However the recognition of bad habits is in of
little use until a desire is expressed to change them. When this
recognition is made then one can begin the process of changing
ones behavior. The way that one's change is realized is very
personal, and to suggest a single method would be foolhardy.
There is however one thing that will permeate every approach, and
that is education. The methods for educating oneself are quite
numerous, and can range from reading books and literature, to
getting a Ph.D. in environmental science though the latter is
most often done as a career choice.
What turns one from action-less to activist? It is
knowledge of oneself as merely a piece in a web of such
complexity that it is currently beyond the scope of our
understanding. It is this self-knowledge, which interestingly
enough is the most often cited reason for non-environmentally
conscious decisions. When the Union of Concerned Scientists
issued their "World Scientists’ Warning to
Humanity," they stated, "Uncertainty over the extent of
these effects cannot excuse complacency or delay in facing the
threats" (217). Their report serves as an example of a great
educational tool. It can not be dismissed as extremist, due to
the fact that 1600 scientists--including 102 Nobel Prize
Winners-signed the document. The number of research based
articles entering the mainstream has definitely grown over the
years. This has made the status of the environment inextricably
linked to everyday actions that involve our manipulation of it.
For instance there is hardly a development that occurs today
without the objections of at least some portion of the people.
In her essay, "The Environmental Movement: A
Skeptical View," Virginia I. Postrel states that, "The
ideal is of an Earth that doesn’t change, that shows little
or no effects of human activity. Greens take as their model of
the ideal society the notion of an ecosystem that has reached an
unchanging climax stage. 'Limits to growth' is as much a
description of how things should be as it is of how they
are" (223). Her view of environmentalism is that
"greens" are against growth of the human species at
all. This however is not the case for the majority of people who
compose the environmental middle ground. The Sierra Club and
Audubon Society are comprised of a great many individuals who
wish to find more sustainable ways in which to coexist with the
environment around them.
The idea of environmentalism is an ancient notion. It
has unfortunately been often replaced with the capitalist
commerce ideal of money is everything. One can hope that as
people find they can have the money they desire without the
destruction of species and habitat. It can be foreseen that if we
do not recognize our link to the habitat to which we have done
elaborate construction to separate ourselves from its
inconsistencies, then the foundation that supports our basic
needs will continue to collapse until? Until we as citizens
realize that we have a moral obligation to protect that which
supports us; the question is, do we recognize that to be the
money in our pockets, or that which provided the soil to grow the
cotton and wood that is used to make our money?
Works Cited
Hynes, H. Patricia. "Beyond Global
Housekeeping." Ms. Magazine
July/August 1990: n. pag.
Rpt. Aims of Argument.
Eds. Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E. Channell. 2nd
ed.
Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Co., 1998.
230-234.
Postrel, Virginia. "The Environmental Movement: A
Skeptical View." ChemTech
August 1991: n. pag.
Rpt. Aims of Argument.
Eds. Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E. Channell. 2nd
ed.
Mountain
View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Co., 1998. 221-228.
Union of Concerned Scientists. "World
Scientists’ Warning to Humanity." Rpt. Aims
of Argument.
Eds. Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E. Channell. 2nd
ed. Mountain View, CA:
Mayfield Publishing Co., 1998. 216-219.
© Gita Dombrowski, 1998
Andrew Elster
WR122, Dr. Agatucci
Argument Using Sources, Essay #2
January 13, 1998
Society of Chickens
Gone then is the
absolute importance of man,
gone the sanctity of his life, and
the meaning of it.
--Matthew E. Connolly
It pushed and strained against its
tenebrous world. Weak and wobbly, the chick slowly emerged from
its shell. Like cookie cutters, each baby chick was
identical—fuzzy and yellow. Except for one. One chick had a
little brown spot on its side. This difference marked its fate.
Ominously, the other chicks gathered around. Peck, peck, peck,
each chick pecked and pulled at the little brown spot. The
elimination of the brown fuzz left the pink skin showing. Without
hesitation, the chicks began another onslaught of pecking. They
mercilessly stabbed their beaks into the chick’s side until
blood ran and they continued until the baby chick
collapsed--bloody, beaten, and dead. The barbaric nature of
chickens causes them to lash out against anything they view as
being different, a deformity, or a threat. Are we any better than
they?
For some time there has been a movement
to grant death to those who want it. Voluntary euthanasia appears
to be a noble idea, but is morally harmful to this nation.
Euthanasia, like all morally harmful practices, will always
degenerate from its purported idealistic beginning.
The terms "voluntary" or
"active" euthanasia does not allude to the people who
have requested that life support be withheld when their heart
stops beating. Rather, I am referring to the people who are at
the end of their ropes, depressed, and are wishing to end their
existence. They may or may not be suffering in a hospital bed,
but they want to be killed. They do not kill themselves, but a
doctor "assists" them in the process. Because a doctor
is actively euthanizing the patient, it is referred to as
assisted suicide.
Morally Harmful
Who can set a price on a human life?
The unfortunate consequence of euthanasia, in any form, is the
cheapening of human life. The specialty of our lives is devalued
when we take it upon ourselves to decide who is fit to live and
who is better off dead. The Hemlock Society, an organization that
advocates voluntary euthanasia, argues for the dignity of the
patient when advertising assisted suicide. Dignity does not come
from killing oneself. Our dignity comes from the fact that we
were created in the image of God and are special creatures of his
handy work (Genesis 9:6). "He giveth to all life, and
breath, and all things…and hath determined the time before
appointed, and the bounds of their habitation…For in him we
live and move and have our being…" (Acts 17:25-28).
Contrary to the claim by supporters,
euthanasia does not make death easy. Euthanasia brings with it
burdensome decisions that were not there before. As Matthew E.
Conolly, a professor of medicine at UCLA, put it, "Then what
about those precious people who even to the end put others before
themselves? They [founders of Hemlock] will now have laid upon
them the new and horrible thought that perhaps they ought to do
away with themselves to spare their relatives more trouble or
expense." (Conolly, 67)
In stark contrast to the selfishness of
the euthanasia movement is the famed nun, Mother Teresa. Mother
Teresa gave her life for the poorest and most desolate people in
Calcutta, India. She devoted all her time and energy to helping
the sick and dying. Nothing stopped her. Not even the deadly
diseases that she worked among. Mother Teresa died the epitome of
compassion—an example to us all. Have we learned anything
from the selfless testimony of her life? When we look at the old,
the sick, and the disabled do we see someone to love or someone
whose "dignity" would best be salvaged by euthanasia?
William F. May, a professor of ethics at Southern Methodist
University, says, "The community, moreover may need its aged
and dependent, its sick and its dying, and the virtues which they
sometime evince—the virtues of humility, courage, and
patience—just as much as the community needs the virtues of
justice and love manifest in the agents of care." (62) Death
is inevitable and we will always have the sick and the disabled.
It is the existence of these people that gives us the opportunity
to exercise love and compassion—qualities, which set humans
apart from animals. An essay written by Sidney Hook argues that
euthanasia is compassionate. Sidney Hook was a philosophy
professor at New York University and an octogenarian at the time
of his writing. Professor Hook very vividly describes the pain
that he suffered from congestive heart failure. Hook’s case
for euthanasia argues for the release of the suffering into
death.
"To some extent, my views reflect
what I have seen happen to the aged and stricken who have been so
unfortunate as to survive crippling paralysis. They suffer, and
impose suffering on others, unable even to make a request that
their torment be ended," says Hook (65). Euthanasia,
however, is not a compassionate way to end their suffering. The
executive director of the International Anti-Euthanasia Task
Force, Rita Marker, observes that, "…about a quarter of
patients killed by overdose take longer than three hours to die,
often in extreme pain." (ctd. in Sillars 20) Lethal
injection is used in the Netherlands for such an occasion.
However, in Oregon there is no such provision for lethal
injection (20). What does the Hemlock Society recommend in such a
circumstance? They advocate suffocation with a "good quality
plastic bag." (20) " ‘The best size is about 19
inches by 23 inches,’ wrote Hemlock Society cofounder Derek
Humphry in a 1994 letter to The New York
Times." (qt. in Sillars 20) Is this
compassionate and dignified? Professor Conolly states that,
"Experience with hospice care in England and the United
States has shown repeatedly that in every case, pain and
suffering can be overwhelmingly reduced. In many cases be
abolished altogether. This care…is not easy. It demands
infinite love and compassion." (68) Is not this a better way
to care for the patient?
Doctor-assisted suicide erodes away
some of the moral values of our society. Active euthanasia
cheapens human life, opens the door for undue pressure on the
patient, and exchanges our compassion with indifference. Future
generations watch the values and politics of the generations
proceeding them. The values compromised by the first generation
are tossed away by the second. Legislation supporting euthanasia
has opened the door and ushered in dangerous and radical views.
The euthanasia movement is a downward spiraling path of
selfishness.
Deadly Progression
At the mere mention of Adolf Hitler one
envisages the tired huddled masses of the old, the deformed, and
most importantly the Jews. All were marched mercilessly to their
death by Hitler’s plan for the superior race. He did not
begin by killing everyone that he deemed inferior, at once. That
would have been too difficult. He started out as all tyrants
do—one subtle and deadly step at a time. As professor
Conolly said, "Adolf Hitler showed with startling clarity
that once the dam is breached, the principle somewhere
compromised, death in the end comes to be administered equally to
all…" (67) In the words of the American Author, George Santayana, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned
to repeat it." (qtd. in Hirsch 56) History is in the process
of repeating itself.
Physician-assisted suicide is already
accepted legally in Holland and is progressing to the next step.
"The Journal of the American Medical Association reports
that euthanasia advocates there have… begun arguing that in
certain circumstances doctors should neither require nor seek the
consent of mentally competent patients before they kill
them."(Stetson 18) One doctor euthanized a nun because
"she was in excruciating pain but her religious convictions
did not permit her to ask for death." (18) Even more
startling was an incident involving a patient with advanced
breast cancer. She "explicitly said she did not want to be
euthanized" (18). Why did her doctor kill her anyway?
"It could have taken another week before she died. I just
needed this bed," he said (18).
Robert Latimer, a Canadian farmer, was
convicted of second degree murder last December for killing his
daughter. Robert’s twelve-year-old daughter, Tracy, had
cerebral palsy and he decided to end her suffering. In October of
1993, while the rest of his family was in church, he put Tracy in
the cab of his truck. He then proceeded to pipe the exhaust into
the cab and watched her die. Surprisingly, the judge only gave
him a one-year jail sentence and one year confined to his farm.
Canadian law requires a life sentence with no parole for ten
years in second degree murder cases, but Latimer’s jurors
thought that was cruel and unusual punishment. Mr. Latimer’s
light punishment reflects a growing sympathy towards euthanizing
those who suffer from disabilities. Jim Hughes, an activist for
the disabled, said, "It’s a sick world when killing is
called compassionate and punishment for killers is called
cruel" (qt. in "Convicted"7).
Even in our nation euthanasia is
progressing. For instance, Hallmark has released a line of
suicide cards intended to "console a person whose loved one
killed himself" (Veith 25). These cards "make what is
horrible seem nice, socially acceptable, and more common"
(Veith 25). Also, Oregon was recently subjected to an impassioned
debate over repealing doctor-assisted suicide legislation. Both
sides offered compelling arguments, but the advocates of
euthanasia came out the winners. During the debate, the proponents of assisted suicide
proposed some "safe guards" to prevent euthanasia from
being misused. The safe guards were the requirements of both an
oral and written request and a waiting period. However, since the
Hemlock society was successful in keeping the Oregon legislation,
they are applying pressure to increase the scope of the
doctor-assisted suicide. Faye Girsh, the Executive Director of
Hemlock, said, "A judicial determination should be made when
it is necessary to hasten the death of an individual whether it
be a demented parent, a suffering severely disabled spouse or a
child" (qtd. in Rahm 2). The Director of the National Right
to Life Committee’s Department of Medical Ethics, Burke J. Balch, commented,
The first legal assisted
suicide under Oregon’s law has yet to be publicly
reported, but the Hemlock Society is already casting off
the "safeguards" it so loudly touted during the
debate in November’s referendum campaign over its
potential repeal. It should be noted that Girsh’s
statement endorses the killing not only of those who are
"terminally ill" but also just
"chronically ill" - which in Hemlock’s
definition undoubtedly covers people with permanent
disabilities. Then, Hemlock drops the requirement that
euthanasia be voluntarily chosen by a competent adult.
The agenda of the euthanasia movement is now in the open
for all to see; not respect for individual choice, the
slogan with which they deceived the people of Oregon, but
elimination of those whose "quality of life"
does not meet Hemlock’s standards. (qtd. in Rahm 2)
As Professor Conolly said, "Our
modern tragedy is that man has turned his back on God, who alone
can help, and has set himself up as the measure of all
things" (69). When the absolutes of God are ignored on a
moral issue, anything goes. Euthanasia is no exception. As
society sinks continually into deeper depths of selfishness, the
more drastic euthanasia will become. We are already killing the
very young and now we want to kill the very old and the deformed.
There will never be a logical place to stop euthanasia’s
deadly progression. Baaaaawk bawk bawk bawk bawk bawk.
Works Cited
Conolly, Matthew E. "Euthanasia Is
Not the Answer." The Aims of Argument; A
Rhetoric and Reader. Eds. Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn
E. Channell. Mountain View, CA.: Mayfield Publishing Co., 1998. 66—69.
"Convicted Father’s Sentence
Light." Life In Oregon
Feb—March. 1998: 7.
Hirsch, Kett, and James Trefil. The
Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1988.
The Holy Bible.
King James version, 1611.
Hook, Sidney. "In Defense of
Voluntary Euthanasia." The Aims of
Argument; A Rhetoric and Reader. Eds. Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn
E. Channell. Mountain View, CA.: Mayfield Publishing Co., 1998. 64—65.
May, William F. "Rising to the
Occasion of Our Death." The Aims of
Argument; A Rhetoric and Reader. Eds. Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn
E. Channell. Mountain View, CA.: Mayfield Publishing Co., 1998. 62—63.
Rahm, Cindy. "Implementing
Assisted Suicide." Life In Oregon
Feb—Mar. 1998: 2.
Sillars, Les. "Death on the
March." World Dec.
1997: 18.
Stetson, Brad. "I Just Needed this
Bed." World Jan.
1998: 18.
Veith, Gene Edward. "For Suicide
Send a Card." World
Feb. 1998: 25.
© Andrew Elster, 1998
Adam
Fargher
WR122, Dr. Agatucci
Essay #2 Final Draft
6 March 2002
A
Single Administration and District…Maybe?
After heading east from Portland [Oregon] on Interstate 84, sixty miles
later one will come upon the city of The Dalles. From there, one can head south
on Highway 197 and take a scenic tour of Wasco County. Being a large county, a
number of schools inhabit the area. However, the major ones are Chenowith Middle
School, The Dalles High School, Dufur School, and South Wasco County School. The
Dalles High School and Chenowith Middle School are both located in The Dalles.
Dufur School is fifteen miles south of The Dalles and South Wasco County School
is around 30 miles south of Dufur. These four schools each has its own district
which is run by its own administration. A proposal has arisen called Measure
33-37, and if passed, it would create a new single county district consisting of
Chenowith, The Dalles High, Dufur, and South Wasco County Schools. One chief
administration would run this large district instead of four different ones.
This main administration would consist of chosen members from the four different
school administrations. The schools would then be divided up into local
committees made up of community elected members. These committees would have no
official authority and must submit to the chief administration. This Measure
33-37 is not only a bad idea, but also a waste of time for a plethora of
reasons.
One of the major problems with this proposal is the lack of power that
the schools would have. If a school wanted to get anything done, its local
committee must contact the main administration, which would then approve or
disapprove the plan or suggestion. South Wasco County School board chairman
Dennis Ross hit it on the money saying, “The schools must first talk to the
big administration to find out what to serve for breakfast and when they can mow
the lawn.” The local committee of the school would need to plan a meeting, the
chief school board would need to be brought together, and then a majority vote
would take place in order to pass the improvement or suggestion. It would be an
enormous hassle to get anything accomplished in the schools.
In accordance
with a school's lack of power, the smaller schools will especially be the
underdog because of the loss of local representation. Chenowith School Board
Chairman Jeff Stranz explains, “This measure…only removes more control from
the local communities” (Lemons and Spatz A1). Ross feels the same way:
“Consolidation [of the schools] would remove local decision making. The school
is such a part of the community…if you take that out, it would make a big
impact on the community. You’re taking the heart out of here” (Lemons and
Spatz A7). The loss of local representation means that Dufur and South Wasco
County, the smaller schools, will be outweighed by the two bigger schools who
have more local representation. Bill Douglass, COCC Sports and Recreation
Director, adds, “The majority of the money will be spent on The Dalles because
it’s the big dog.” Being the big dog also means the majority of the good
teachers will more than likely end up there because of the larger student body.
The primary idea behind this measure is to save the whole county money,
which should leave more funds for buildings, teachers, and programs, in turn
creating more educational opportunities for students. Some solutions for saving
money include paying a single administration instead of four; a single,
countywide bus barn; and a specialized teacher instructing at all of the schools
instead of one per school. However, there is no guarantee that these proposals
will save money. This is another important reason that Measure 33-37 is a bad
idea. The money saved from paying a single administration would be used up when
school staff and teachers salaries are increased all over the county. A
countywide bus barn would have to be built or the one in The Dalles would need
to be enlarged to hold the county’s buses. The drawback of having the bus barn
in The Dalles is that a lot of the saved money will be spent on transportation
because it’s such a big county. “Merging of the bus barns will cost a lot
because transportation is so expensive,” says COCC Mazama Gym supervisor Rich
Carpenter. Finally, using one teacher at four different schools puts a lot of
stress on that teacher. That teacher’s salary will more than likely need to be
increased enough so that he or she will continue to teach and not quit. This
will use up more of the saved money.
If this single
district forms and ends up costing the same or more than the original four
districts, then this entire process was a pointless waste of time. To show the
importance of the proposal, the supporters of Measure 33-37 are comparing Wasco
County’s school districts with neighboring Hood River County’s consolidated
district. Since merging their districts, Hood River County is allegedly saving
$879,349 a year compared to the total combined costs for the four Wasco County
School Districts (Lemons A5). Tom Rinearson, South Wasco County School District
Superintendent, reran the numbers for Hood River County and found that they are
saving $779,349 instead of $879,349 (Lemons A5). That is a $100,000 difference!
This shows that the supporters of the measure are using inaccurate evidence and
that they are just making some rough estimates. Ken Onstott, The Dalles School
Board Chairman, summed the whole idea up nicely by stating, “There’s just a
whole lot of questions that haven’t been answered. Just jumping off a cliff
into the middle of this…seems a little premature” (ctd. in Lemons and Spatz
A1). Jeff Stranz considers Measure 33-37, “an attempt to fix a problem without
grasping the unintended side effects” (ctd. in Lemons and Spatz A1). Finally,
Stan Ashbrook, Dufur School Board Chairman, captures the pointlessness of
Measure 33-37 by stating, “there hasn’t been any kind of financial analysis
done. You can’t just take a few months and throw it out there” (ctd. in
Lemons and Spatz A7).
The bottom line
is that Measure 33-37 must not be passed. It would give the smaller schools a
lack of power and a loss of local representation. If a school wanted to
accomplish something they would have to ask the chief administration, making
improvements around the school an enormous hassle. With regards to the single
district saving money, it would be very difficult because of the surplus of
school expenses. Once again, this proposal is a terrible idea and a waste of
everyone’s time.
Works
Cited
Carpenter, Rich. COCC Mazama Gym
supervisor. Personal interview.
27 Feb. 2002.
Douglass, Bill. COCC Sports and
Recreation Director. Personal
Interview. 27
Feb. 2002.
Lemons, Nancy. “County School
ballots to arrive soon.” The Dalles
Chronicle
18 Feb. 2002: A1, A5.
Lemons, Nancy and Dan Spatz.
“School Measure Brings Debate.” The
Dalles Chronicle 19 Feb.
2002: A1, A7.
Ross, Dennis. South Wasco County
School Board Chairman. Personal
Interview. 25
Feb. 2002.
© Adam Fargher, 2002
Crista Harrison
Wr 122, Dr. Agatucci
Essay #2 (Argument Using Sources)
23 March 2001
Free Love: Free from What?
During the 1960’s, American young people fought for what they called
“free love” and “sexual freedom.” They
declared--through protests, direct rebellion against authority, and large
gatherings such as Woodstock—that they had the right to do with their bodies
whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted, whenever they wanted and with
whomever they wanted. They claimed
that it was a natural right that was unjustly restricted by the social and moral
codes of the time. After a bit of a
struggle, those young Americans gained their sexual freedom, but what are the
ramifications of that freedom? Now,
because of that fight for sexual freedom, sex has become, in many cases, a
reckless, pleasure-grubbing fling that is consistently inconsiderate of the
medical, lifestyle, and emotional ramifications it causes.
In view of the rising number and frequency of sexually transmitted
diseases (STDs), the number of out-of-wedlock births (and abortions), and the
emotional state of those who practice so-called “free love,” I feel it
necessary to argue that abstinence, not sex, before marriage is the key to true
sexual freedom.
If for no other reason, the words “sexually transmitted
diseases” should be enough to cause a person to stay abstinent until marriage. According to Drs. Werner and Sharon Hoeger, authors of Lifetime
Physical Fitness and Wellness, “[s]ex lasts only a few minutes.
The consequences of irresponsible sex may last a lifetime.
And in some cases, they are fatal” (327).
This goes for STDs, too. In
the United States alone, STDs have reached epidemic proportions.
It is reported that 25% of all Americans will contract at least one STD
at some point in their lifetime and “each year more than 12 million people are
newly infected with STDs.” There were more than 74,180 new cases of AIDS in
the US just in 1995 (Hoeger and Hoeger 319).
This is not to say that STDs occur only because of “free love,” but
studies do show that the rate of increase and frequency of STDs has risen since
the 1960’s and the sexual revolution.
Research
and logic have also shown that STDs are transferred more “effectively” among
those with multiple sexual partners. Picture
this: a man sleeps with a woman and she contracts an STD from him.
She then sleeps with another man and passes the STD to him.
He goes and sleeps with another woman and the STD is passed to that
woman. But don’t forget. The first man has also already slept with other partners, as
have the first woman and the second man. This
cycle is a horrific chain that can only thwarted if people choose to wait for
sex until they are in monogamous relationships.
This cycle is perfect for the reproduction of the bacteria being passed,
but I don’t hear Americans chanting, “SAVE THE CHLYMIDIA!”
While some people
say that these are risks they are willing to take, they forget to recognize the
social effects of their behaviors. AIDS,
the most dreaded of the STDs, cost the Federal Government about $10.4 billion in
1994. According to Drs. Hoeger and Hoeger, as of 1993, “the
annual U.S. health-care cost to care for an HIV-positive individual who had not
reached the AIDS stage was approximately $5,150…to treat an individual who had
developed AIDS was about $32,000…and the average cost from the onset of AIDS
until death was $85,333…. The direct treatment per person would average
$121,383” (326). These figures
add up to be more than $30.5 billion to treat the reported 253,448 cases of AIDS
in December 1992, which doesn’t include the cost if all of the estimated 1
million HIV infected people in the US develop the AIDS virus (Hoeger and Hoeger
326).
These statistics
alone should cause anyone to be abstinent until marriage.
However, STDs are not the only health and social risks involved in the
ramifications of “free love.” Two
words: bastard children. It’s a
harsh reality, but also very true. According
to “Trends in Teen Sexual Behavior”, an article detailing the effects of
teen sex, by Douglas Besharov and Karen Gardiner, teenage mothers make up more
than 30% of all out-of-wedlock births. “Between
1965 and 1994, for example, the number of [out-of-wedlock] births increased
almost fourfold, from 49,000 to 253,000.” These figures show that there is now
a generation of children growing up in mostly one parent, welfare homes.
Not only that but “about the same proportion of white and black
unmarried adolescent mothers go on welfare within one year of the birth of their
first child” (Besharov and
Gardiner). Each of these
illegitimate children costs the government billions of dollars a year through
welfare programs of many kinds. This
in turn costs the taxpayers money, which means you.
And it’s not just monetary costs that are valid for argument.
There is a social cost to our structure and strength as a country as
children are being raised by almost equally inexperienced, uneducated children. This doesn’t even account for those out-of-wedlock births
in college students and other young adults.
STDs and
out-of-wedlock births are both very strong reasons for support of abstinence
before marriage, but an equally strong reason is that of emotional damage.
I had a friend in high school whose long time boyfriend pressured her
into having sex with him. Previous
to this experience, she had been adamantly against premarital sex, but when he
told her how much he loved her, she decided it was okay.
After the fact, however, he dumped her.
She told me how awful she felt and how much she wished she hadn’t done
it. What if she had conceived and
given birth to his child? As a
consequence of his pressuring and her giving in, she would have had to live with
the emotional, monetary, and social consequences of hers and her boyfriend’s
actions for the rest of her life. As
it is, when she does get married someday, she’ll carry with her the
experiences from an unfaithful relationship.
According to
Drs. Hoeger and Hoeger, “Sex in the early stages of a relationship is not the
product of love but is simply the fulfillment of a physical, and often selfish,
drive. A loving relationship
develops over a long time with mutual respect for each other” (327).
They also state that the promiscuity of “free love” does not lead to
trusting, loving, and lasting relationships (327).
This mutual respect can be proclaimed in many ways, the most significant
of which is the marriage ceremony.
In the marriage
ceremony, a man and woman stand together before their friends, family, and an
officiator (religious leader or judge) and declare their commitment to be each
other’s only partner for life: partner in bed and partner in living.
Respect in a
relationship can also be shown to a person’s future partner by abstaining from
sex even before they meet that partner. It
shows a great amount of care and love on a man and woman’s part for their
spouse if they wait until the marriage bed to sleep with anyone other than the
person they plan to spend their life with.
This is the kind of respect and mutual commitment that Drs. Hoeger and
Hoeger are talking about. It is
also a great way to reduce the risk of infecting each spouse with another
person’s STD, which is another show of respect.
The benefits of
abstinence are numerous. According
to Gracie Hsu, author of “Revolt of the Virgins,” the positive outcomes of
abstinence from premarital sex include the following: greater sexual
satisfaction in marriage, an enduring marriage and no regrets over past
partners. She reported that “the
1994 University of Chicago study Sex in America found that the people
most satisfied with their current sex life are monogamous, married couples.”
Along with those findings were quotations from couples surveyed by the
Family Research Council, which found that those married couples who believed sex
outside of marriage to be wrong had the greatest sexual satisfaction out of
everyone studied (Hsu).
Many people argue
that abstinence from premarital sex is an ideal that is not practical nor one
that can be reached. I would have
to ask them, “Why?” Why is it
that when the facts plainly state the destructive ramifications of “free
love” and the benefits of “marital love,” people continue to make
irresponsible choices in their sex lives and sexual partners?
That irresponsibility affects everyone in our society, not just those
involved.
Others argue that if
they really love another person and it’s a mature relationship, it is okay for
them to sleep with that person. I
would tell them then, go ahead, have sex with them…after you marry them.
If you truly love them and want to be with them forever, stand before
your friends and family and a religious leader/judge and make known your
commitment to be together forever. Then
you’ll know for sure that the other person loves you as much as you love them
and that you are the one they want to have as their partner for life.
So, what is “free
love” free from? It may be free
from moral and societal rules, but it leads to a prison of costly STDs, a
generation (and many to come) of bastard children, and deep emotional scars for
everyone involved. Abstinence is an
ideal, but practicing it today carries hope for real sexual freedom in a future
marriage relationship: a relationship free from disease, battered emotions and
broken hearts; a relationship in which each partner is committed to the other
heart, mind, AND body.
Maybe, through
careful reconsideration of “free love,” abstinence will become popular again
and today’s generation can change the effects of their parents’ decisions
for the sake of generations to come.
Works
Cited
Besharov, Douglas J., and Karen N. Gardinar.
“Truth and Consequences” and “Trends in Teen Sexual Behavior.”
The Orlando Sentinel Tribune 21 February 1993.
NewsBank. Home
Computer. http://infoweb.newsbank.com/ (17,
Feb. 2001). Key word for search:
“abstinence.”
Hoeger,
Werner W.K., and Sharon A. Hoeger. Lifetime
Physical Fitness & Wellness. Englewood,
CO: Morton Publishing Company, 1998.
Hsu,
Gracie S. “Revolt of the
Virgins.” The World and I
12 December 1996: 48. NewsBank.
Home Computer. http://infoweb.newsbank.com/ (17, Feb. 2001).
Key word for search: “abstinence.”
[COCC
Student].
“Abstinence Makes the Heart Grow Freer.”
Student paper written for the class “English Composition” at Central
Oregon Community College. 4 May
2000. Used as an idea base/starting
point for this paper and with spoken permission of student.
© Crista Harrison, 2001
Of
related interest:
The Effectiveness of Abstinence Education Programs in Reducing
Sexual Activity Among Youth [.pdf]
http://www.heritage.org/library/backgrounder/bg1533.html
Population
and Reproductive Health (United Nations Population Fund [UNFPA] and the
Development Gateway Foundation)
http://www.developmentgateway.org/pop
Jenny L. Miller
WR122. Prof. Agatucci
Final Draft
Essay #2
4 March 2002
Andrea
Yates: Is Capital Punishment the Answer?
On the morning of June 20, 2002,
37-year-old Andrea Yates, a postoperative nurse and wife, emotionlessly drowned
her five children--Luke, 2; Paul 3; John, 5; Mary, 6; and Noah, 7--in the
bathtub of her home. After the tragedy was over she wrapped up four of the
children in sheets and left the infant floating in the bathtub. Yates first
called the police and then she called her husband, a NASA computer engineer, to
tell him that something happened to the children. Was this woman mentally sick?
She was sick. In fact, a thousand
pages of psychiatric documentation prove that she was out of her mind due to a
severe illness called postpartum depression. It started in 1994 after the birth
of her first son, Noah. She was hearing voices and having visions of stabbing,
but she blew them off (Parker). As she gave birth to more children, the
depression worsened as she tried to commit suicide twice by overdose and
once by attempted self-mutilation with a steak knife. These acts finally landed her in the hospital in
June of 1999 after the birth of her fourth son. The doctors diagnosed her with
major depression with psychotic features and treated her with Hardol, an
anti-psychotic medication used for severe cases (Parker).
According to Paul Appelbaum, President-Elect of the American Psychiatric
Association, “About 10 to 20 percent of new mothers are diagnosed with
postpartum. And 1 or 2 out of 1,000 will experience psychosis with that
depression. A part of that psychosis might include auditory hallucinations”
(Oglesby). He further explains, “Women might hear voices that tell them to
harm themselves or their babies or they might hear voices that say that the baby
is possessed by the devil and they have to kill the baby to kill the
devil” (Oglesby). Christy Oglesby, a CNN reporter, states that women who
experience postpartum depression have a 50 percent chance of receiving it again
during further pregnancies. This woman’s medical history alone was a cry for
help; where was the medical rescuing that she needed?
Psychiatrists have documented
that Rusty, Andrea's husband, was said to be a bit controlling and a firm
believer in biblical scriptures that convinced him they should have as many babies as
nature would allow (Parker). He is a strong contributor to her illness. Andrea
did not have support or understanding from her husband; meanwhile the red light
warns no more children, but nobody seemed to be listening. Furthermore, Rusty was not
concerned with watching her signs of abnormal behavior.
For those who don’t know,
insanity is a legal term, not a medical one. It has been used in the court of
law for centuries to excuse people because of their mental problems in the
matter of their criminal history (Parker). In Texas, capital punishment is used
to solve capital offense cases. But across America the belief in preserving
human life at all costs is what our society stands for.
Andrea Yates is being charged with
one count of capital murder. The Yates murder case is a different crime case.
She is mentally ill. So does she deserve capital punishment as a solution for
the terrible tragedy she underwent by drowning her five children?
Michael Perlin, a professor at New
York Law School, believes the odds are against her if she pleads innocent by
reason for insanity. Perlin says, “It is used in one-quarter of one percent of
all felonies and is successful in one-third of those one-quarter, which gets us
down to one-twelfth. And in 90 percent of those, the prosecutor and defense
agrees” (qtd. in Parker). Laura Parker, a reporter for USA Today, argues that,
“Yate’s execution propelled a tragic family murder case into the vortex of a
public debate about mental illness, sanity and the appropriate use of the death
penalty”, after Harris County Attorney Chuck Rosenthal’s decision to seek
capital punishment as a means for her punishment. Amber Young, a student writer
for Aims of Argument, also believes in
the death penalty, stating that capital punishment is society’s means for
self-defense.
In other words, capital punishment is good for the better of our society only
when it is used for individuals who cannot be helped. She gives an example, Ted
Bundy, a serial killer, who was imprisoned and given the death penalty to
protect society from his madness. As a result before his death, he declared, “
My world is a cage,” and he described it as, “ The cruel metamorphosis that
occurs in captivity”, Young quotes. Young explains that many prisoners would
prefer death than life imprisonment. Andrea Yates will ultimately suffer her own
consequences without the help of imprisonment alone as she begins to heal from
the terrible tragedy she underwent by killing all of her children. Another point
Young quotes, “ Many people will readily or reluctantly admit to their
willingness to use deadly force to protect themselves or their families from a
murderer” (35). By the same token, Yates was protecting her children from the
murderer depression; the devil that she believed took over their lives.
Therefore, she was acting in self-defense.
Like Andrea Yates, many women
suffer from severe depression after having children. For Andrea Yates, suffering
from postpartum depression was undoubtedly the case. She had a six-month old
baby, so all of the evidence points to postpartum depression. So, why am I in
favor of her life over her death? Because I think there are other avenues for
calming nationwide emotional upheaval over her case. Unmistakably this incident
devastated America, but if it weren’t for Andrea Yates and a few others like
cases, where would millions of new mothers are certainly not coming forward and
discussing their secretive similarities of behavior. Alternatives for the death
penalty are medication and major psychological treatment or life imprisonment
with medication and psychological treatment. Either way, the death penalty does
not cure ongoing disease shared by millions by killing one woman. Rather it
feeds the problem by not giving notice to such a terrible epidemic shared by all
of humanity.
In conclusion, alternatives to
capital punishment would be more humane in treating Andrea Yate’s illness. The
positive way to look at her case is that it will draw many women, men and family
members out from behind closed doors and talk about the issue. As a result, more
extensive research can be conducted for poor suffering women like Yates.
Ultimately there is a huge cry for help and our nation needs to hear it starting
with her. She was the valedictorian of her high school and a postoperative nurse
for eight years before she married. Doesn’t this tell you she is clearly not a
murderer, but rather suffering the terrible repercussions of the murderer
itself, severe depression?
Works Cited
Oglesby, Christy.
“Postpartum Depression: More than ‘Baby Blues." [Web page.]
CNN (June
27, 2001). Retrieved March 3, 2002, from the world wide web:
http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/parenting/06/26/postpartum.depression/index.html
Parker, Laura. “Psychotic,
But Is Andrea Yates Legally Insane?
Houston Mom Who
Drowned Her Five Kids Will Find It Tough To Prove.” USA Today
(September 9, 2001). Retrieved February 28, 2002, from the world wide web:
http://www.usatoday.com/usaonline/20010911/2618026s.htm
Young, Amber. “Capital
Punishment: Society’s Self-Defense.” In Aims
of Argument: A
Rhetoric
and Reader. Eds. Timothy Crusius and Carolyn E. Channell. 3rd ed.
Mountain View, CA: Mayfield, 2000. 31-35.
© Jennifer L. Miller, 2002
Darlene West
WR 122, Dr. Agatucci
Essay 2
17 February 1999
Welfare: Abuses by
Government and Recipient Need to Be Stopped!
When I was a small child, my father put me in
trashcans throughout Central Park to reassure me that I was
garbage, and my mother found humor in his behavior. Most of my
childhood was spent in houses and apartments that were near the
neighborhood bars. My parent’s main income came from welfare
and the community churches. Being raised in an abusive poverty-stricken home, I know first hand what it is to be poor and
what it takes to climb out from the grips of poverty. I’ve seen many abuses
of welfare, but I have also seen and experienced the
government’s vituperative strong arm towards the poor. The
welfare system is far out of control, and both the government and
its recipients are to be blamed; the abuses within the system
need to be overhauled for it to become more successful and less
burdensome. There aren’t any easy answers to prevent the
poverty rate from rising, but we can help improve conditions.
Though I give God the credit of all my success, I did
use welfare to help pull me out of my scurrilous situation and
impoverishment. Coming from a dysfunctional home, that lifestyle
followed me into my adulthood. After a childhood filled with
abuse, I married abusive men; I was following a pattern. My first
step was to stop marrying precarious men, and that was a
challenge in itself. But for me to become free from my
dysfunctional past, I had to take a mighty and abrupt leap. When
I filed for divorce from my second husband, my children’s
biological father, I had zero income and nobody to help me but
God himself.
During my first 30 days as a single mom, I had to
depend on town welfare (this is offered in the New England
states) for food and rent. Meanwhile, my landlady sold the house
I was renting, and I was given an eviction notice from the new
landlord. I applied for section 8 certificates (a government
grant that supplements housing cost) in several towns, but the
waiting list on all of them were one or more years. My problem
was I had the money for first month’s rent, from the town
welfare, but not last month’s rent for a new apartment. I
went to the town welfare for some additional assistance. But
instead of helping me to pay the last month’s move in cost,
the town wanted to pay for foster care for my children and put me
into a homeless shelter. I found an apartment in a high crime
area; these apartments were low-income projects, and loaded with
cockroaches. But it was either taking this apartment or turning
my children over for foster care, and I chose keeping my children
of course and making the best of it. I applied for Aid for
Dependent Children (AFDC), and went back to school to get my high
school diploma and a word-processing degree.
Life in the projects was an experience I’ll never
forget. Most everyone that lived in the 200 plus apartments did
receive AFDC, and I saw a lot of fraud while I was living there.
There were single moms that were substance abusers, and they
prostituted for their habits. These same women were selling their
food stamps to buy drugs while their children went hungry. I met
women that were supporting abusive men with their welfare checks,
and women that had three, four and more kids by different men to
collect larger grants from AFDC. But on the other hand, I knew
women that babysat, take odd jobs and/or sold cupcakes to help
make ends meet or to help them buy Christmas presents for their
children. These ladies did not report these earnings to the
welfare department. If they had reported their extra incomes, the
state would have deducted funds from their small grants. But on
the same token, these women could have lost their grants or gone
to jail for not reporting their earnings; I believe this is
self-defense and not fraud.
Uncle Sam has too much financial control, and there
are bureaucratic officials dictating lives within our family
units. The government defines poverty income levels, and these
definitions "are too low and do not realistically reflect
the cost of raising a family today…" (O’Hare 246).
I’ve seen at first hand women losing their children because
they can’t pay a light bill, don’t have enough money to
pay their rent, or need a last month deposit, such as I did. The
government finds it more appropriate to pay for foster care than
try to help keep the family unit together, but women and men who
have records of substance abuse and prostitution didn’t seem
to be bothered much by children services. It seemed to me that
the state was more liberal with those who needed to have their
children put into foster care than with the loving parents, which
were trying their best. In Connecticut, five welfare moms were
arrested and convicted for not claiming extra earnings that
ranged from $25 to $60 during the year I lived in the projects;
all of these Moms went to jail for 30 days. The ladies involved
were babysitting to make extra money for Christmas, but the state
called it fraud.
Though there are many people who misuse the welfare
system, most women only stay on welfare for a short term:
"50 percent of recipients are off AFDC after one year,
two-thirds after two years…" (Lovern 276). I believe
the welfare recipients that either abuse welfare or live on
government assistance as their permanent income are those that
come from dysfunctional homes, such as I; this belief comes from
my own personal experiences. Coming from abusive poverty stricken
homes, one loses self-esteem and forebodes inertia. These
individuals hopelessness becomes their reality, and many of them
go without an education and run with crowds that will pull them
down further into a slump. Some social workers, educators, and
children services can be more harmful than helpful. Though there
are good private programs in aiding these individuals, our
churches and communities need to address these problems even more
so than relying on the government for all the answers.
There are many politicians who haven’t the
slightest conception what it is to be poor, trying to design a
welfare reform. The liberals want to raise taxes to cover all the
expenses, and the conservatives want to end the benefits. While
all this fighting is going on within our political arena, the
poor are still oppressed and Americans continued to be burdened.
We need to put an end to all this lunacy!
Welfare reform is a strong issue within our country
these days, and I believe we need to overhaul the entire system.
We need to end big government and remove the financial control
the government has on its people, because the government’s
control is getting out of hand. For an example, Theresa Funiciello, a New York State legislator, wants to guarantee an
income, according to household size, to everyone in this country
(290); this is out and out communism. Can one imagine such a fate
for our country? Our churches and communities need to take back
the burdens of the poor from the government. Our forefathers were
able to pull their own weight, and I know we are more capable of
doing the same today. Those welfare recipients that have records
of drug/alcohol abuse or prostitution should not be allowed to
receive direct benefits. We need to give more medical and
psychological help for those addicted to drugs or alcohol, and
then we need to educate them as well. Our tax dollars should be
invested into education, housing, medical, and childcare for the
poor, and these benefits should be designed to help reduce the
burden of poverty. Today’s welfare programs are not designed
to help lift its recipients out of poverty; the welfare programs
are "geared to sustain the poor" (O’Hare 251).
Education should be on the top of the list for
assistance. After I completed my education, I was able to find
work as an executive secretary, and I climbed the ladder in my
company. Education with the help of God has changed my life.
Welfare grants and food stamps should be given freely to those
who are seeking an education and training for skills to go out
into the work force. The more educated a person is the more
beneficial that person becomes to himself or herself and to
society. But many single parent homes still need some kind of
assistance.
We need to concentrate on giving aid to single
parents, such as section 8 certificates and safe and affordable
childcare. If we take away grants from the larger group of
abusers that I have previously mentioned, there would be more
money to help the working single parent with these extra
benefits. When I finally completed school and went back to work,
I would not have made it without a section 8 certificate or the
affordable childcare with the YMCA. Even after I had been
promoted twice, my pay was still a mere $8.29 per hour. This was
hardly enough for me to pay the entire $550 per month rent that
was on my small two bedroom apartment and then plus childcare of
$90 per week. With the help of the rent and childcare supplement,
I was paying $130 per month for rent and $15 for childcare, and I
was able to support my children. These supplements are like a
second income for the unfortunate single parent, especially for
the single parents that do not receive child support.
Our government needs to reform the welfare system, but
first we need to see where the problems lie before reform can be
successful. Welfare benefits should be given out as a safety zone
for those who are getting an education, to those that have lost
their employment, the disabled, mentally handicap, and to the
elderly, and not to the substance abusers and prostitutes. We
need to discourage women who get pregnant for AFDC investments;
when there is a pattern of such behavior, the money grants should
be discontinued and only resumed for two years if the parent goes
to school. There should be other benefits to help supplement the
single parent’s one income; this will help encourage more
single parents to work. Most of all, I believe we need to listen
to the suggestions of the poor and single parents; these people
are more qualified to reform our welfare system than a politician
that has never seen the so called "wrong side of the
tracks."
Works Cited
Funiciello, Theresa. "Ending Poverty as We Know
It." Imprimus Tyranny
of Kindness 1993. Rpt.
Aims of Argument. Eds.
Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E. Channell. 2nd
ed. Mountain View, CA:
Mayfield Publishing Co., 1998. 290-298.
Lovern, Beth. "Confessions of a Welfare
Mom." Imprimus 1990’s. Rpt. Aims of Argument.
Eds. Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E. Channell. 2nd
ed. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield
Publishing Co., 1998. 271-276.
O’Hare, William P. "A New Look at Poverty in
America." Imprimus
September 1996.
Rpt. Aims of Argument.
Eds. Timothy W. Crusius and Carolyn E. Channell. 2nd
ed. Mountain View,
CA: Mayfield Publishing Co., 1998. 246-256.
© Darlene West, 1999
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