Tuesday, October 26. 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 3
Humanities valuable to physician
Class to instruct premed students on treating people
By Erinn R. Barcomb
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
Next spring, premedical students will be offered a class that is less about body and more about soul, and Douglas Merrill wishes he could have taken it.
Merrill, a physician from Phoenix, Ariz., and University of Kansas alumnus, spoke at the Kansas Union yesterday about the value of a humanities education in a physician's practice. He received a bachelor's degree with honors in both humanities and English from KU in 1975. Nearly half of the audience of about 45 identified themselves as premed students.
The department of humanities and
western civilization will offer HWC 300 Studies in Medical-Ethical Issues in Literature.
Merrill said that if he would have had the opportunity to take such a class, it could have helped him deal with a situation he experienced in his practice: He witnessed a Hispanic family deciding whether to donate a loved one's organs. He said the Hispanic culture in Phoenix dictated that entire families make decisions together.
"I think what that class would have provided me is a different way to portray the situation to a different family," Merrill said.
Erin Fitz-Gerald, graduate teaching assistant in humanities and western civilization, will be teaching the class. It was her idea to combine studies in the humanities as part of a premedical student's education.
"Doctors aren't being trained to see their patients as persons," Fitz-Gerald said. "I think that medicine
can teach a doctor that the body is like a car that needs to be fixed. I think a humanities class will get them to think more about the whole person."
Fitz-Gerald said the philosophy behind the class would be narrative ethics, which is the use of abstract philosophy and English literature to examine ethics.
She used the abortion debate as an example of a topic usually discussed in philosophical abstraction. Narrative ethics also would examine the feelings of those involved in that situation.
Fitz-Gerald set the curriculum to include a book called How We Die by Sherwin B. Nuland.
Fitz-Gerald said the book addressed deaths due to complications of AIDS and cancer, and the process the body goes through when dying. The class will also examine medical ethics through films and art. Fitz-Gerald said.
Merrill, too, used films in his
speech to bring home his point that while biology classes trained doctors in technique, humanities classes trained doctors to deal with people.
He showed a clip from Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, in which an frail elderly man is brought into a classroom and used by the instructor to demonstrate the body's nervous system.
While it is a humorous scene, it reveals the serious issue of how patients are treated by doctors and medical schools, Merrill said.
"The information brought to the students is at the expense of the health and dignity of the patient," Merrill said.
He encouraged premed students to relish their humanities classes and take away with them a greater understanding of human beings.
"There is not time to learn this in medical school," he said. "You are busy learning technique. You, the student, must bring your humanitarian skills with you to med school."
Edited by Ronnie Wachter
Physician Douglas Merrill, a 1975 University of Kansas graduate, spoke yesterday at Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union on the value of a humanities education in the medical field. Merrill said that his humanities degree has enabled him to better relate to his patients. Photo by Lucas W. Krump/KANSAN
University of Kansas Parking Department employee Zeke Cunningham, Topeka junior, distributes a ticket to a car parked in a wrong zone. Photo by Kate Levenson/KANSAN
Parking ticket issuer teaches tips to economize KU tickets
Continued from page 1A
gears. We will now patrol the seven lots that are restricted until 7:30 p.m.
He says this is usually the time when he issues the most tickets, and it does not take long to see why.
We pull up to lot 3 behind Strong Hall, and almost every car is parked illegally.
He says he will give them a chance to move their vehicles by turning on his flashing lights to let them know he is outside. Two people come running out and move their vehicles.
Cunningham says the biggest problem with parking is that people are afraid to ask for help. If people see him and ask him where they can park, he says he always tells them the closest place.
Cunningham says he will let her go this time but tells her to tell her friend never to park in a fire lane again.
We head up to Gertrude Sellards Pearson-Corbin Hall for a quick check of lot 111. The first car we see is parked in a fire lane and as he is about to issue a ticket, a student comes out and asks that we not ticket her friend's car.
While leaving the lot he comments on the encounter. He says parking in the fire lane is a $65 ticket, three feet back is a yellow curb that is a $20 fine, and the meter tall a few more feet back is only a $5 fine.
We continue the patrol and ticket seven more vehicles behind Strong Hall before moving on.
owner of the truck comes back before he makes verbal contact with the tow truck driver he will let him off with a ticket, but the owner never comes and the tow truck driver takes it away.
It is 7:30 p.m. and all the lots on campus are open, but Cunningham says his job is far from being finished.
It is now 11 p.m., and after ticketing 63 vehicles, the shift is nearly finished. Cunningham says that usually more than 100 tickets are issued each night, but that the number is lower because we are the only patrol.
The last thing left for us to do is hammer some signs in the ground by the chancellor's house on Lilac Lane for an upcoming reception.
"If your going to park illegally, think first," Cunningham said. "The word for the day is economize."
It is now 10 p.m., and a parked truck is blocking traffic from leaving lot 3 behind Strong Hall. After Cunningham issues a ticket, he says that he has no choice but to tow the truck. He radios dispatch for a tow truck, and it arrives in 25 minutes. Cunningham says if the
LIBERTY
As we pound the stakes into the ground Cunningham talks about how relatively quiet the night has been.
We return to the garage, the shift finally over, and Cunningham says he has one last piece of advice.
"If you always read the whole sign before you park you will never get a ticket, and that's a guarantee," he said.
DANCE
Adult Classes In Latin Swing, Ballroom & Lindy Hop
Get your dance classes in before the holiday season!
(国家)
Edited by Katrina Hull
Bring out the animal in
Bring out the animal in you this Halloween
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• Boas, fans, and angel wings
• Collars & Cuffs
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Mon. Saturday: 9 a.m.
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- Play the new NCAA® Football 2000 game on the Playstation® and win prizes
- Check out the tour up at www.esports.com
- Crush the Campus Competition and we'll fly you to the National Finals
EA SPORTS and the EA SPORT10 logo are trademarks of Electronic Arts in the US and other countries. All rights reserved. The **Official License** is the property of Electronic Arts and the property is not owned by Lending Company. The **Office** is the property of the property and not owned by Lending Group. All rights reserved. The firm names, and assets associated to the KCAA, lends, bets, and conferences are owned by the firm names, and assets associated to the KCAA, lends, bets, and conferences are property of their respective owners. © 1998 Intersport Accessories, Inc.
October 28,1999
4:00 p.m.
Kansas Union Jaybowl
- Check out the Tour updates
For more information and official rules check out:
www.easports.com
DAILY DRINK SPECIALS
4pm - 2am Mon. - Sat.
12pm - 12am Sunday
623 Vermont Lawrence
749-5067
Elections Commissioner
Position Vacancy
DUTIES
Administer, interpret, and enforce all elections rules and policies set forth by the Student Senate Elections Commission. (A complete job description is available in 133 Strong Hall or O&L, 400 Kansas Union.)
ELIGIBILITY Must be a regularly enrolled student at the University of Kansas, Lawrence campus. Officers, officials, and employees of Student Senate , BOCO, and other student government organizations are not eligible.
SALARY $8+/hr., approx 15 hours per week, for 20 weeks. Start date Monday, November 15, 1999.
Applications available in 133 Strong Hall and the O&L office,400 Kansas Union
Applications Due:
Monday, November 1
5 p.m. to 133 Strong Hall
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CORPORATION
Need a Part-time Job While Going to School?
Need a Part-time Job While Using
On October 27, 1999, we will be at the Burge Union
Lobby room 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. taking applications for
several part-time night positions in our Collections Department
several part-time night positions in our Collections Department
Salary: $8.77-$10.43/hr
**Hours:** Evenings, starting at 5:00 p.m. and working at least 20 hours per week with Saturday mornings 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Skills: Confident, Strong Communicator, PC Keyboarding, Analytical & Detail Oriented; Bilingual Speaking a Plus
Enjoy paid training, stock options, casual dress work environment with new state-of-the-art work stations, exercise room and much, much more.
Full-time night positions available as well.
We will be taking applications and interviewing at the:
Main Lobby of the Burge Union
If unable to attend, we are having an Open House
on Nov. 4th & 6th at SallieMae.
You can also send a resume to, or stop by
2000 Bluffs Drive, Lawrence,KS 66044
Resumes can be faxed to 785-865-7187
Attn: Alicia Reynolds