Rotary speaker talks bioethics

    Dr. James Lindemann Nelson, professor of bioethics at Michigan State University, was the program speaker April 9 at the noon meeting of the Presque Isle Rotary Club.
    A Woodrow Wilson Fellow touring the University of Maine campus in Presque Isle,  Dr. Nelson teaches bioethics and moral theory in MSU’s philosophy department. He co-authored “The Patient in the Family” and “Alzheimer’s: Answers to Hard Questions for Families” and in 2003 published “Hippocrates’ Maze: Explorations through Medicine’s Labyrinth” and “Rationing Sanity: Ethical Issues in Managed Mental Care”.
    Dr. Nelson spoke briefly about organ donation and the range of diseases that require organ donation. He talked about the importance of thinking on a personal level about organ donation and making your intentions known to friends and family members so that your wishes are clearly understood. Nearly 100,000 people are on the national waiting list now for an organ and last year 6,000 died while waiting for a match.
    Dr. Nelson spoke about the philosophical ideals of organ donation as it is seen as an altruistic gift, not as a commodity or some moral or social command, but a truly free gift. He acknowledged that there are some religious traditions that prohibit someone from becoming an organ donor but gave an analogy that might apply to others who just haven’t thought of it in basic terms. He reminded Rotarians that organs come (most often) from those who have already lost their lives. He urged listeners to talk to their loved ones about their wishes and consider becoming an organ donor. For more information on this issue visit http://www.organdonor.gov. In other Rotary business, the club is re-instating the Governor’s Potato Plot that has a long history within Presque Isle where potatoes were grown and harvested locally and then packaged in 50-pound boxes and sent to the Governor of Maine to send out to his/her 49 counterparts in other states. This happened for the first time in 1959 during the city’s Centennial and the field was just south of the city. President Sharon Campbell has spoken with the Maine Potato Board, who has done most of the initial setup and they will be working with Danny Stewart on the Houlton Road. The club will have a sign made indicating its sponsorship and members’ role will be to harvest those potatoes the old fashioned way, by picking them and sizing them and packaging them for a nice shipment to the Governor.
    “We are looking forward to not only promoting the best potatoes in the world, but having some fun at the same time! Tom Stevens has agreed to chair the “potato pickers committee,” said Campbell.
    The mystery Rotarian this week was Dick Duncan and his favorite charity is The Shriner’s Hospital and they will have $50 sent in his name from the P.I. Rotary Club.