Author Archives: Michelle Mensah

The Real Cost of Care

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                 This Monday I went to a talk given by Dr. Elizabeth Rosenthal about rising healthcare rising costs. This event was about the exorbitant rising costs of healthcare and their impact on patients. Dr. Elizabeth Rosenthal detailed the ways in which our healthcare system in the U.S. differs from other systems of healthcare around the world. She also discussed the ways in which money is being used in the healthcare system for excessive comforts, such as coffee in the waiting room. I was very surprised to learn that rising healthcare costs is currently the number one cause of bankruptcy in the United States! I think this demonstrates that healthcare costs can become a financial burden and cause inequality.  Dr. Rosenthal’s career as a medical correspondent was most interesting. I rarely hear about doctors who have delved into other careers that meld their interests outside of medicine with their medical training. It was interesting to see how her two interests manifested themselves in her new book.

            I agreed with Dr. Rosenthal because I have personally dealt with medical care costs that seemed to overcharge me for the care I received. I also agree with her advice to patients. I think we really do need to challenge our healthcare providers and insurance agencies to give us the care we want at the price we deserve. Her statements also convinced me that change is not going to come from Washington, D.C. The state level government has people in positions of power that can change things for patients. In addition, I think that this event made me realize that Americans cannot just wait and hope that Congress will pass an acceptable bill. Citizens have to act in order to get the results they want. If other countries don’t deal with exorbitant medical care costs, then why should we?

Although Dr. Rosenthal focuses more on the complex aspects of healthcare that need to be reformed, Irealized that in the big picture, Americans should be more involved in their government. If they were, perhaps the healthcare system would not be where it is today. I think that this demonstrates a failure in our government. People should be able to vote for representatives that can come together and create a plan. The fact that both parties cannot compromise displays a lack of cohesion and divisiveness that we have to fix before we can even begin to think about reforming the healthcare system.

Seize the Day to an Extreme

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The Dead Poet’s Society is a perplexing movie that brings up many questions about parents and teenagers. Who has the right to tell you how to live your life? Should we “seize the day?” or pace ourselves and enjoy small victories? I think the movie was shocking and emotionally riveting, but not something I can say I enjoyed.

I think that the main character, Neil, had extremely controlling and brutal parents. This is not to say I did not understand their point of view. Although they were fortunate enough to get Neil into the exclusive boarding school, they seemed to have worked hard and endured much to get to this point. However, they could have let Neil blow off some steam and done at least one thing he wanted. Participating in the play would not have ruined his chances at Harvard and medical school, it would have probably made him more well-rounded and might even have helped his application. These days, even theatre majors can end up going to top medical schools. I feel that the film is unrealistic to this extent.

In addition, I thought the characters took “carpe diem” to an extreme in that they took it to mean doing reckless things such as going to rowdy parties, heavily drinking, and smoking cigarettes. These events were passed off in the film as “normal teenage behavior.” However, I saw it as an unraveling of the characters’ carefully curated lives. Not only are these health risks, but also give them a distorted view of what happiness means and how happy people behave.

Overall, the movie was gripping and I couldn’t look away. The conclusion felt unresolved, though. I felt as if Neil’s death wasn’t fully explained. It left me wondering whether the characters fully understood and processed what he was going through.

The Contribution of Women and Girls

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This week I attended a talk with Nicholas Kristof, a Pulitzer prize winning journalist and author. His talk was about the welfare of women and girls. He touched on topics such as education and human trafficking.

This talk made me realize how in access to education and human trafficking of women and girls creates and generates inequality. Mr. Kristof’s story about a Chinese girl who, due to donations from being the subject of his New York Times article, was able to receive an education and benefited her entire rural community, displays the value of girl’s educations. When girls are educated, they not only become leaders in their families, but also in their communities. As the first person to be educated in her family, she lifted up her whole family’s position on the income ladder. Education can help people become economically and socially mobile. Kristof’s story demonstrates the concepts about social and economic mobility I learned about in a course I am taking this semester, just in a more global perspective.

The pictures Nicholas Kristof took of the women and girls were the most impactful for me. The youth of the victims of human trafficking was very emotionally devastating. An interesting fact he stated was that many of the pimps who sold these girls into slavery were never arrested by the police, but many of the underage girls were arrested and returned back to the criminals. This also demonstrates the ineffectiveness of law enforcement in combatting inequality. Instead, they perpetuate it.

I was convinced by the arguments Nicholas Kristof presented. He was very convincing because he was so passionate about his work. He has been to so many places around the world, so he has a global understanding about the oppression of women and girls. I think what he says is true, governments need to do more about the oppression of women and girls because that is a big way to combat inequality in the world.

The Implications of Knowing More

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Tonight, I saw a Nova film about the future of genome testing. I think it was a very interesting presentation about the positives and negatives of this uncertain scientific terrain. It portrayed several situations in which people regretted getting tested and others refused to be tested. In both situations, there were drawbacks. This film made me realize the difficulty of decisions many people are going to have to make in the future. It also made me question whether humankind should have access to this kind of technology and knowledge. Further on in the film, experts stated the potential implications of having people’s genetic codes made public. It could lead to discrimination.

All of these drawbacks make genetic testing seem villainous. However, the medical success stories shown in the film also highlight the positive effects. Children’s lives were significantly changed because of testing. They were able to diagnose rare diseases and develop medicines to help combat them. In some cases where the patients were older, there was less genetic testing could do. This makes me think that if genetic testing were to become normal, it would start at birth. However, this also has negative implications for these children. The stigma of a disease they cannot predict or treat could follow them around for their entire life.

Overall, it seems that genetic testing is a very difficult terrain to travel. I feel as if all of these conflicting views and stories make it extremely difficult for me to pick a side. I think that the world is going in the direction of using genetic testing regularly and fear of the unknown is mounting as time goes on and new discoveries are made. How do we know the implications of knowing more? It seems to be an impossible question to answer.

The King’s Fears

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Tonight I watched The King’s Speech as a Rose event. Although I had heard unfavorable reviews, about ten minutes into the movie, I realized these views were unfounded. Not only were the actors very good and expertly played the characters (some of which were very difficult to play), but they did not overdo it, which I see often in movies where actors are playing significant real-life characters. I think that this movie really deserved the acclaim and accolades it received upon release.

In addition, I think that the movie did a good job of making King George seem relatable by exposing his fears, not only of disappointing family and the English people, but also disappointing himself. It made me realize the separation between the expectations others put on us and the expectations we tend to put on ourselves. Personally, I think I am harder on myself than others are, which is true of everyone in certain situations. We want to ultimately exceed others’ expectations in the hopes of  impressing ourselves.

The film also made the King’s speech therapist seem relatable by exposing his fears and disappointments. I thought the movie was partly about him. Although he seemed like a regular, loving father and husband, he led a secret life for part of the movie. I thought it was extraordinary how his wife was so shocked that he had such an important client. It really portrayed how seemingly normal people can lead special lives.

An Expression of Love

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This past Saturday, I went on a long, hot walk to the Botanical Gardens. It was a beautiful day and I really enjoyed walking through the colorful flowers. I learned a lot about the medicinal properties of plants, which I did not expect to learn. Our tour guide was a very enthusiastic, nice alumnus who explained things very well. One concern I had was seeing a dog just walking around the gardens without a leash! I think this is really very dangerous and I was glad when our tour guide reprimanded them. Not only are some people allergic to dog fur,  some dogs could be violent.

However, I did not let this ruin the great time I had at the gardens. The part I most enjoyed was learning about how two husbands of Cornell alumni planted two adjoining gardens as a memorial. I also enjoyed learning about how women in the Victorian times used flowers as a way to communicate their feelings. I think that this was a great opportunity for me to learn something out of my major and out of the classroom. I personally felt like I grew during this outing. It makes me appreciate Cornell’s campus more than I normally do.

Making Rose a Great Place to Live

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I attended the discussion led by Dr. Blalock about what it is like to live in Rose House and what can be done to make it better. I thought it was engaging and something that needs to happen more often. There are problems with cleaning the bathrooms and general upkeep that would certainly make living here better. Before this, I did not know that other people were frustrated with the same things I was frustrated with.

I am grateful that we got to have this discussion and now I feel heard. I think there needs to be more events like this where we can give feedback about what could change in Rose. I definitely feel like some people’s suggestions were very valuable. I like living here, but I wish some things could change. I think some people were afraid to voice dissatisfaction or concern, but I think this is necessary to improve the living situation here.

Thank you to Dr. Blalock for listening to us. I feel like I really matter for the first time here in Rose. So thank you!