Introduction

In Philadelphia, a woman prepares for her first round of chemotherapy for her recently diagnosed ovarian cancer. In Oregon a spotted owl perches on a low branch of a 100-year-old Pacific yew tree. The woman, her cancer treatment, the owl, and the tree are factors in a dilemma facing scientists, loggers, business owners, legislators and environmentalists, in the United States and around the world. At the heart of the dilemma is a substance called Taxol^®. It is found in the bark of the mature Pacific yew tree, that is also the home of the spotted owl.

Taxol^® is an anticancer medicine used in the treatment of both breast cancer and ovarian cancer in women. One kilogram (a little more than 2 lbs.) of the yew bark contains only about 100 mg of Taxol^®, only enough for 1/60 of the woman's treatment. Which is more important—the woman's cancer treatment or the preservation of the yew and its inhabitant, the spotted owl? The controversy is not limited to these specific factors. For example, researchers around the world are combing rain forests for plants that contain potential medicines. How do these efforts fit into the larger controversy about the life of the tropical rain forests?

The Task and Resources

You are going to be involved in a committee hearing in the United States Senate. Your class will be divided into teams. Each team will research one role, and a member of your team will "testify" at the hearing. You will be part of a three-member team assigned to research one aspect of the Taxol^®-Pacific yew debate. Other students in your class will be assigned different roles. The roles are:

1. A 34-year-old woman with breast cancer: You are an elementary school teacher and the mother of two young children. You are on the waiting list to be treated with Taxol^®.

   Relevant link:

   Coping with Cancer — from OncoLink, a service of the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania.

2. Representative of the National Cancer Institute: Your main concern is to find and supply cancer treatments. You want to continue to harvest the yew trees to obtain Taxol^®.

   Relevant links:

   Taxanes and Platinum Drugs in Cancer Treatment — from the National Cancer Institute. Questions and Answers About NCI's Natural Products Branch — from the National Cancer Institute.

3. Representative from the National Save the Spotted Owl Society: You are concerned that if the yews continue to be harvested then the Pacific northwest will be deforested and the Northern spotted owl will lose its habitat and become extinct.

   Relevant links:

   Northern Spotted Owl — from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Northern Spotted Owl — from the National Park Service.

4. Representative of the Native Yew Conservation Society: You are concerned that the Pacific Yew tree will become endangered or extinct. You believe that the National Cancer Institute and the pharmaceutical companies have not done enough to find other sources of Taxol^® or ways to synthesize it.

   Relevant link:

   The Native Yew Conservation Council

5. A chemist working on synthesizing Taxol^®: You are using a substance that you extract from yew needles, that are being supplied to you from nurseries around the country.

   Relevant link:

   Taxol - by Neil Edwards — from the University of Bristol School of Chemistry.

6. Representative of the pharmaceutical company that produces Taxol^®: Your company has spent millions of dollars to find the best way to produce Taxol^®. You depend on harvesting the yew because it gives the highest yield of the drug.

   Relevant link:

   Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

7. A logger from Oregon: You are one of a long line of loggers in your family and the company that you work for harvest old-growth timber. If harvesting the Pacific yew is limited you may lose your job and the economy of your community will be adversely affected.

   Relevant links:

   Weyerhaeuser Company American Loggers Solidarity Sweet Home Hard Hit by Federal, State Logging Restrictions — from Sweet Home On-Line (SHOL), Sweet Home, Oregon USA, hosted by Karl Loren Happiness On Line.

8. A United States Senator and staff: One of you will be the chairperson of a Senate committee that is about to hold a hearing on legislation to restrict the harvesting of the Pacific yew. Forestry and logging are important to your state. You are concerned with conducting fair hearings as well as representing the interests of your state. Others in the group will take notes and be prepared to record the results of the hearing.

   Relevant links:

   Oregon Department of Forestry The Sky Did NOT Fall: The Pacific Northwest's Response to Logging Reductions (pdf format) — from the Pacific Rivers Council, hosted by ECONorthwest.

The Process

1. Research and prepare your position. Some Web sites that may be helpful are listed under each role above. In addition to studying these sites, you are expected to do research in your school or neighborhood library and on the Internet.

2. Present and support your position. Listen to the presentation of other positions. Be prepared to ask about anything you do not understand.

3. Discuss all the positions openly. Be prepared to advocate and defend your position and to evaluate and challenge opposing positions.

4. Synthesize a resolution. Take an active role in finding a plan to take into account all the opposing positions and to resolve as many of the conflicts as possible.

Rules of Behavior for the Senate Hearing

1. Be critical of ideas, not people. Challenge and refute ideas of other participants but do not indicate any personal rejection.

2. Encourage everyone to participate and learn as much as possible.

3. Listen to everyone's ideas, especially the ones with which you do not agree.

4. Try to restate what someone else says if it is not clear.

5. Bring out all relevant facts that support both sides and then try to put them together in a way that allows everyone to agree.

6. Try to understand all sides of the issue.

7. Change your mind when the evidence clearly indicates that you should do so.

8. Remember that the end result of the activity is to come up with a common solution, not to "win."

Conclusion

Your teacher will tell you how much time you have to do research. On the day of the Senate hearing each team will present its position and supporting research. Your teacher will also tell you how much time each team will be allotted. Following the hearing there will be time for discussion and consensus. The final agreement for the class will be written and assembled by the Senate staff.

Evaluation

Your teacher will observe the behaviors listed above. Your grade for this activity will depend in part on how well you meet the Rules of Behavior in addition to how well you do your research and make your presentation.

The structured mini-discussion format was adapted from that originally developed by Dr. Deborah Exton, University of Oregon.