Sunday, January 4, 2015

On Auditing


We have a number of auditors and look forward to having them join us.  They have much to impart from their life and professional experience.

The NY Times recently had an informative article about auditing college courses.  
 “Older students audit courses at colleges and universities for many reasons. Some retirees prefer lecture halls to bingo parlors. Travelers might take history or geography classes to learn about future vacation destinations. A philosophy class might help a widow cope with grief.”  We welcome our auditors and would like to briefly mention auditing etiquette."

Auditing Ground Rules
Since this college course is mainly for the benefit of the students taking it for credit, your primary status as an auditor is be aware of when it is OK to speak up and when you should just listen. Please respect the needs of students who are taking the class for credit by arriving on time, by paying attention and not causing distractions, by observing, and in general, by not contributing.  The instructors will allow you to participate in class under certain circumstances.  We recognize that our auditors have much to share and will facilitate that.  Generally, the instructor will ask your opinion.  You may want to speak with, or email, Professor Alecson before class to suggest something you want to contribute.

The Extreme of Omega


Cheshire, Mass. — The state's oldest citizen and the fifth-oldest person in the world died early Saturday morning, January 3, 2015.

Bernice Emerson Madigan was 115 years, 163 days, old.

I met Mrs. Madigan on a few occasions and she was a memorable person.  iBerdkshire has a moving obituary.

Bernice Madigan was a member of an exclusive club, the supercentenarians: people who has lived to or passed their 110th birthday. This age is achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians.  It is believed that supercentenarians live a life typically free of major age-related diseases until shortly before maximum human lifespan is reached between 110 and 115 years.

The Liberation of Growing Old


by Anne Karpf
NY Times, January 3, 2015




This thoughtful essay addresses some of our society’s attitudes toward the elderly and touches on “gernotophobia.”

Excerpt:  “…at the start of the 19th century, the idea of aging as part of the human condition, with its inevitable limits, increasingly gave way to [our current] conception of old age as a biomedical problem to which there might be a scientific solution. What was lost was a sense of the life span, with each stage having value and meaning.”



Art: An Old Man and his Grandson, ca. 1490, by Domenico Ghirlandaio.


Friday, January 2, 2015

Departures

This is a charming movie that deals with respect for the dead and has some cultural overtones.  It's a gem that is well worth watching.  The acting is understated and memorable.

Departures - MedFlix (2008)


Montaigne On Death and Dying

Montaigne's Study
In Book II, Chapter 6 of his collected essays, Mountaine reflects on a nearly fatal horseback riding accident that led him to lose the philosophic fear of the act of dying that had obsessed him and so many others before him.  Here are some quotes and a few comments:  Montaigne/Docs-Google.

Those who read this essay will find other thoughts to resonate with.

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Doctor Loses License Over Assisted Suicided

by Alan Blinder (New York Times, December 31, 2014)

Maryland regulators this month revoked the medical license of an anesthesiologist for helping six ill people, none of whom had terminal conditions, to commit suicide.

The doctor, Lawrence D. Egbert, 87, lost the Maryland medical license he had held for more than 60 years after a disciplinary panel for the Maryland Board of Physicians found that he had engaged in “unprofessional conduct” while working as the medical director for the Final Exit Network, which offers aid to people “who are suffering from intolerable medical circumstances.”

Full NT Times article

(It's clear that some are following in Kevorkian's footsteps)