New College Library Association Announces Colloquium 2007 on "Euthanasia" March 5-7
Attorney and author William Colby headlines this year's forum

(February 26, 2007) -- Nearly two years have passed since the national trauma of the Terry Schiavo case and 16 years since the Nancy Cruzan case became the first right-to-life case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. Both the Cruzan and Schiavo cases involved young women who were believed to be brain damaged, and after a number of years, their families entered legal battles to have feeding tubes removed.

Have we learned anything from these and other cases?

Where U.S. law, medicine, religion, ethics and society stand today will be the topic of the 15th annual Colloquium at New College of Florida in Sarasota on March 5-7. The event is sponsored by the New College Library Association, which selects a current topic each year to consider in depth – this year, it is "Euthanasia: A Modern Dilemma."

This year's Colloquium series will be held over three mornings, March 5-7, all in College Hall at New College of Florida. The 40 participants (who pay a fee to attend) will listen to and ask questions of the speakers who are recognized leaders in their fields. Prior to Colloquium, the attendees receive a collection of in-depth articles and list of recommended reading on the topic.

Past topics have included: human rights, American Indians, science and religion, stem-cell research, morality and defining a just war.

For 2007, the speakers and their topics related to euthanasia are:

• Dr. Gilbert C. Meilaender, a professor of theology at Valparaiso University, will discuss "Historical, Cultural and Religious Perspectives: How to Understand Them," Monday, March 5, from 10 a.m. to noon.
  Meilaender holds the Phyllis and Richard Dusenberg Chair in Christian Ethics at Valparaiso; he previously taught at the University of Virginia and Oberlin College.
  
  He is an associate editor of the "Journal of Religious Ethics" and a member of the President's Council on Bioethics.
  He will explore euthanasia and assisted suicide in terms of "what it means to be human," and human freedom, equality and compassion.
   

• Dr. Kenneth W. Goodman, director of the University of Miami Bioethics Program and of the Florida Bioethics Network, will address the Colloquium on "Bioethics: The Changing Medical Landscape," Tuesday, March 6, from 10 a.m. to noon. Goodman, an associate professor in the U.M. Department of Medicine, directs Miami's Bioethics Program and its Pan American Bioethics Initiative, both devoted to education, research and community service. He recently published the book, "Ethics and Evidence-Based Medicine: Fallibility and Responsibility in Clinical Science," with Cambridge University Press, and has written numerous articles in major U.S. newspapers.
  
  He will explore the advances in medical technology that often far outstrip society's abilities to deal with such change, the danger of society's complacency to that situation, and how reason and reasonableness have been missing in right-to-die cases.
   

• Attorney William Colby, author of "Unplugged: Reclaiming Our Right to Die in America," will speak Wednesday, March 7, from 9 to 11 a.m. on "You, Your Family and the Judiciary." Afterward, from 11 a.m. to noon, series moderator Dr. Richard Marcus, a retired physician, will lead a recap of the three-day series.
  
  Colby, a senior fellow with the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization in Washington, D.C., is a frequent speaker on end-of-life issues and has been interviewed on Larry King Live, Hardball, NPR, CNN and other news programs. He is also author of "Long Goodbye: The Deaths of Nancy Cruzan."

Colby, who represented the Cruzan family in their right-to-die case, also will give a free, public lecture, "The Right-to-Die Issue: From Cruzan to Schiavo – What Have We Learned?" on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. in Sainer Auditorium on the New College campus. Sainer Auditorium is located just south of the Ringling Museum of Art at 5313 Bay Shore Road in Sarasota. Colby's free public lecture will be followed by a wine-and-cheese reception at 5:30 p.m. The presentation is free, but reservations are required (941) 487-4675. 

For more information on Colloquium 2007 and to learn how you can help support the New College Library Association, call (941) 487-4600.

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The New College Library Association is an affiliate of New College Foundation and raises funds to purchase books, technology and other educational materials for the Jane Bancroft Cook Library at New College of Florida.

New College of Florida is a national leader in the arts and sciences and is the State of Florida’s designated honors college for the liberal arts. Rated as the #1 public liberal arts college in America by U.S. News & World Report ("America's Best Colleges, 2007 Edition"), New College attracts highly-motivated, academically-talented students from throughout the United States, as well as 27 foreign countries.