| about this site | who we are | site map | reading tips | teaching tips | student tips | build vocab | | teaching vocab | hot links | visit Thai school | Bangkok Post | student weekly | home

This column covers "developing stories" meaning that you can expect additional stories on the same subject in the near future. The material that follows was written using much of the same language as your Bangkok Post writers use in their stories. March 29, 2005

INTERNATIONAL Dying the hard way A bitter dispute over a brain dead woman captures the world’s attention Terri Schiavo, right, gets a kiss from her mother, Mary Schindler, in this August 11, 2001, file image taken from videotape and released by the Schindler family October 14, 2003. — AP All last week, people in the US and throughout much of the world were debating the ghastly case of an American woman in the state of Florida who lay slowly dying of starvation and dehydration. Actually, the woman, 41-year-old Terri Schiavo, was probably more fortunate than those who were emotionally distressed over her situation. Since she was missing most of her cerebral cortex, the part of the brain involved in thinking and feeling, she was almost certainly totally unaware of what was happening. Indeed, she had been in such a condition, what doctors call a “persistent vegetative state” since 1990 when a sudden heart failure temporarily cut off oxygen to her brain. Apart from that, however, she had been relatively healthy, able to breathe unaided and to get nourishment through a feeding tube inserted in her stomach. That was the problem. Her husband, supported by a team of neurologists, said her condition was hopeless. He also said his wife told him before her heart attack that she never wanted to be kept alive artificially. Consequently, he had, on several occasions, received permission from Florida courts to remove the feeding tube and allow her to die. Her parents vehemently disagreed. They, too, went to court and each time the feeding tube was removed, they won a delay that required it to be reinserted. Ms Schiavo’s parents admitted her condition was serious, but they said it was not hopeless and they believed there was a chance that she would recover at least some of her mental functions. They said they also had evidence that she could respond to verbal and visual stimulation and they produced controversial short videotape that seemed to back up what they said. The Florida courts were unconvinced and consistently sided with the husband and the medical experts who examined her. And since Florida state law gives legal guardianship to the husband, not the parents, it was his wishes that were carried out. Thus, on March 17, Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube was once again removed – the fourth time in the last five years. What followed was a series of legal manoeuvres on the part of Ms Schiavo’s parents that probably seemed confusing to both Americans and non-Americans alike. Essentially, however, all the parents were doing were appealing to higher courts, first the Florida Supreme Court and then to a series of federal courts all the way up to the Supreme Court. In each case, they were rebuffed – almost 20 times altogether – and always for the same reason. There was no evidence, the higher courts said, that the Florida state court has acted improperly. Having failed in the court system, the parents also appealed, with some success, to state and federal government political leaders. Florida Governor Jeb Bush won them one reprieve and the US Congress also won them a hearing before a federal court, but, like every other time, the judge refused to intervene. There are really three reasons why this story has garnered so much attention around the world. The first, of course, is the human tragedy on all sides. Even though most Americans appear to support the husband’s right to withdraw his wife from life support, many have profound sympathy for the parents. There is also a vocal and influential minority that has joined forces with the parents to try to keep Ms Schiavo alive – the second reason why this is such a big story. That minority – made up largely of conservative Christians – are opposed to any action to end a human life, be it euthanasia or abortion. The “pro-life” movement has become politically powerful in recent years and many analysts believe it played a big role in re-electing George Bush to a second term. Finally, there is the videotape that you may well have seen on local television. It does indeed appear to show Ms Schiavo responding both to her parents and to objects shown to her. What you may not know, however, that the tapes released so far are a series of short, edited clips from more than four hours of video footage in which she is almost totally unresponsive. The Florida court saw the same tapes and found no evidence that she had any awareness. Indeed, medical experts pointed out that her movements were random and quite typical of people in a vegetative state. As I write, I don’t know if Terri Schiavo is alive or dead. The tragedy of it all is neither does she.

ghastly frightening and unpleasant starvation dying from lack of food dehydration the process of losing water from the body (in this case because water is not being supplied) fortunate lucky distressed upset and anxious persistent continuous vegetative state a condition in which you have lost all higher brain functions and to therefore be unaware of your surroundings

nourishment food that it need to stay alive neurologists doctors who study and treats conditions of the nerves and brain vehemently showing strong feelings stimulation the process of causing a reaction legal guardianship being legal responsible for someone and able to make decisions for that person  controversial causing disagreement

manoeuvres plans or actions appealing (related to a court) requesting a higher court to change a decision of a lower court rebuffed refused; rejected federal involving the national government in a system in which individual states have considerable control over their own affairs reprieve a delay before something bad happens intervene to get involved garnered obtained or collected

profound strongly felt sympathy a feeling of being sorry for someone vocal speaking forcefully about something euthanasia the practice of killing without pain a person who is suffering for a disease that cannot be cured abortion the deliberate ending of a pregnancy at an early stage – i.e., before giving birth random without thinking; without following a definite pattern

Another government falls A massive protest gives Kyrgystan new leaders, but can they stay in power? A young participant of the opposition protest is surrounded by other opposition supporters as he kicks a portrait of Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev in Bishkek on March 24. — EPA The dominoes just seem to keep falling among the former Soviet republics. Last week, Kyrgystan (pronounced kur-guh-STAHN) became the third former republic to see its government overthrown by massive protests in the last 18 months. Pro-democracy advocates around the world immediately applauded, but any celebration might be a bit premature. It is not yet clear just how democratic the new leaders will be and, indeed, whether they can hold on to power. One of the most problematic groups for them so far has been their own supporters. After storming government headquarters and forcing President Askar Akayev to flee the country, they have shown a great appetite for ransacking government property and looting businesses in Bishkek, the country’s capital. There is also the question of how supporters of the ousted president will react. Mr Akayev had ruled Kyrgystan since 1990 – even before the country gained its independence – so he must have a significant base of support. Indeed, there were reports of a large group of his supporters converging on the capital, but it appears they were persuaded to turn back. Interestingly, President Akayev was considered to be one of the more democratic leaders in the region. But in recent years he was accused of dealing harshly with dissent There were widespread reports of vote rigging in recent parliament elections. That is what apparently set off the protests which began in the southern part of the country and quickly spread. At the moment, the man in charge of Kyrgystan is acting Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the leader of the opposition in the former government. A presidential election has been set for June 26. Mr Bakiyev says he will run in that election, but it is not clear how much support he has. Meanwhile, Kyrgystan has a lot of unfinished business to take care of. The Supreme Court has annulled the result of the parliamentary elections, so the old parliament remains in power. Watch to see if and when new elections are called. Then there is the matter of law and order. The police and military forces didn’t intervene against the protesters when they took over government headquarters and they did little to stop the looting either. Watch to see how supportive they are of the new government. dominoes a game using small rectangular objects with spots on them – often used to describe a political situation when events in one country affect other countries, especially when governments are overthrown advocates supporters applauded gave praise premature happening or done too soon ransacking searching through a place in a violent and destructive way looting stealing from shops during a violent event ousted forced out of power converging coming together from different directions dissent strong disagreement vote-rigging unfairly influencing or manipulating an election to win a particular result annulled officially declared to no longer be valid

•This lesson was prepared by Acharn Terry Fredrickson, BA Stanford, MA (TESL) University of Minnesota, Manager/Editor of the Learning Post at the Bangkok Post and general editor of this programme. Read our other What's news columns here. Back to our home page |© The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. All rights reserved 2005 | Last modified: March 29, 2005