1968 Magnet Yearbook

Death has always held a fascination for man, equal to its horror. It will forever be a
mystery, as well as a reality. There is, however, a science which is attempting to thwart
death for as long as possible; the science of medicine. On December 2, 1967 a man named
louisWashkansky, ill with heart disease, received th e heart of a young woman. Four other
heart transplants followed the first in quick succession, as though doctors had only been
waiting for the starting gun. Naturally, controversy about this type of operation raged.
Was it ethical to try an operation in a field which was, as yet, not fully researched, even
though it proved successful? Inevitably, after the third transplant, some foolish, ignorant
people even questioned th e moral ltv of placing the heart of a colou red man into the body
of a Caucasian.
Now that a complicated and dangerous operation such as this has been performed
with some measure of success, it makes one wonder about medicine's future. Will the day
come when a brain transplant, hitherto the subject only of horror stories, will be performed?
let us suppose that there are two people, one of whom has in incurable brain disease
with a genetically and chemically similar body structure in a hospital where there are the
correct instruments and personnel required for a brain transplant; but one patient is a
man and the other a woman? ludicrous? Perhaps, but remember that any two people,
even of the same sex are entirely different mentally. Try to imagine the adjustments a
man and his family would have to make if he came home wearing a new and strange
anatomy or bearing a new mind. Perhaps the brain transplant will never come about, bu t I
do not imagine that many doctors even considered a heart transplant until the sixties. It
may not even be a medical man who transfers the knowledge of one man into the body of
another. Dare we go on?
Vesa Koivusalo
THE SCIENCE CLUB
The most ambitious undertaking of the Science Club this year was an assembly
designed to interest more students in the scientific field. A jolly assortment of molecules
sang their way into everyone's hearts. It is hoped that next year's Club will reap the benefits
of this talented presentation.
A series of excursions were extremely popular with the members. At the Banting
and Best I nstitute we had an interesting afternoon observing the workings of a electrocardiogram
machine and finding out the amount of air our lungs would hold.
At the Princess Margaret Hospital we toured the laboratories and cobalt bomb.
An amusing session of glass-blowing was held, but no one showed any great aptitude
for the art .
A trip to New York, was our most successful venture.
We had a profitable and educating year, i.e. there were no singed eyelashes and the
lab was not blown up.
Special thanks go to Mr. Wright.
Janet Sclanders
68