Information on organ donor system lacking

KEYLA HOLMES campus editor keyla.holmes@my.tccd.edu

The government announced plans two weeks ago to overhaul the organ transplant system by breaking up UNOS (United Network for Organ Sharing), the only entity ever to operate the system.

According to HRSA (Health Resources and Services Administrator), over 100,000 people are on the national transplant waiting list.

“I think if people were more aware of organ donations and how many people it can save, I think they would become donors,” South student Chelsea Hutchinson said.

Hutchinson made the decision to become an organ donor after working in healthcare and watching people struggle.

because she knew there were people in need.

“I am not informed at all,” Johnson said. “I just assume that whenever you check it, you’re letting law enforcement know that you would donate your organs if something happened.”

Johnson said that she knows very little about what being an organ donor actually means, and thinks that gaining more information would cause positive change in the overhauled system.

“There’s probably not enough information out there to inform people of how they can help, so I feel like that would be a necessary step to try to help people get the organs that they need,” Johnson said.

TCC SE theatre department will premiere the play “Proof” on April 19.

The play is centered around Catherine, a young woman struggling with her mental illness and profession as a mathematician. Associate professor of drama Drew Hampton acknowledged the nature of the play.

“It’s very modern — it’s certainly dramatic,” Hampton said. “But it knows how and when to be funny.”

Though math plays a large role in the plot of the play, Hampton assured that audience members will still be able to resonate with it.

“Math is the skin of the play, but the bones of it are things everybody is going to get like home, family, mental health,” Hampton said. “Those themes that actually are ones that we can relate to. A lot of people talk about this as the ‘math play’ and that’s the skin of it. But the bones and the life underneath it are much more relatable than that.”

SE students Lily Clouse, Haleigh Ferguson, DaShaun Ellis and

“One of my favorite aspects of the performance that I like to tap into is the whole feminism thing,” Clouse said. “My character is a mathematician, and you know how the whole world is with women in STEM. And there are parts where Hal is very dude guy and he’s like ‘you’re a woman, you can’t do math’ and I kind of like the ability to portray a strong female lead. She can do math and she’s capable of all these things.”

For Ellis, he felt fortunate to step out of his comfort zone with his character Hal.

“In previous plays I’ve never really played people,” Ellis said.

“I’ve played like exaggerated caricatures of potential people. But this is just a dude. Hal is just a guy and strangely enough that’s the most difficult thing I’ve ever done, just being a guy.”

Catherine’s sister Claire is played by Ferguson. She noted how the complexities of the play made it stand out among others.

“I did notice it was very heavy on subjects, but I actually like that,” Ferguson said. “Other than musicals and some plays, it’s just basic and the same conflict. It is cool how there are heavy subjects being talked about and different conflicts within the big conflict. It’s a challenge.”

One of the main motifs of the play is mental health. Despite the heavy subject matter, Clouse felt comfortable to harness past experiences and incorporate them into the play.

“I haven’t personally gone through what my character has gone through,” Clouse said. “I remember first talking to Drew about it when we first started the rehearsal process. I’ve never really been able to tap into those emotions I’ve felt before in a show.”

Hampton hopes the audience gains a greater appreciation for theatre after attending the play.

“Live theatre, that particular art experience, is incredibly powerful in a very different way than film and television,” Hampton said. “You go in the program and see four people onstage but there’s like 40 people mentioned in terms of how they affected this play. Just an appreciation for the art of theatre is usually what I’m most excited for people to walk away with.”

“It was people who needed to go to the dialysis all the time and didn’t have very good kidneys that made me think that if something ever happened to me, I’d want to be able to donate my kidneys to someone who is struggling,” she said.

While organ donors do help the system, South student Katie Ferrera recognizes how it comes down to personal preference.

“I guess it depends on whether or not you’re comfortable with giving it away,” she said. “It’s positive that you’re helping someone, but you’re also giving away something you may potentially need.”

South student Hannah Johnson is also an organ donor. It’s a box she just checked whenever she got her license. While she doesn’t know much about the system, she decided to become an organ donor

Along with the issue of the system being overcrowded, South student Layla Chadwick said that she has concerns about people of color being disproportionately affected.

“I think (organ donations) are a good thing, but there needs to be a better way to make it equal for everyone,” Chadwick said.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, African Americans make up the largest group of minorities in need of an organ transplant.

Johnson said what she thinks could improve the organ donor system.

“I think spreading information through social media would be helpful, like advertisements and stories telling how this could be beneficial for people,” she said.