In English class we are reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Journal. The combine is refered to multiple times in the book. A combine is a harvesting machine that is used in the fields to cut grain. In the book, the combine is refered to as the ward and all the rules and regulations the Big Nurse has set for the patients. McMurphy is just as vulerable to the combine as all the other patients. He is given the same rules to follow as everyone else, except he, unlike the rest, chooses not to follow them. The combine has not gotten to him yet because he is being rebellious and not following the rules of the ward. He goes on and does whatever he pleases while the other patients obey whatever they are told to do. He is different hence the nurses and Black Boys do not know how to handle his behavior and attitude.
     I believe every institution is in some way a combine. For example in school, there are some kids who rebel against what they are told to do and others who follow the rules. The schools try to keep the students in check, but sometimes they fall a little short. Schools try equally with every student, but some kids don't want or accept the help of the school. Kids tend to rebel like McMurphy against rules at school because they think its cool, but most of the time they are just hurting them selves and others around them. Combines are used to help institutions stay organized, but they do not always work out that way and sometimes miss a few people on the way.

It's kind of scary to think that a school and psych ward could have similarities, but in fact they do. The psych ward from the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest has a few similarities to the way our high school is run. One similarity is the Big Nurse and our Principle. Everyone at school has to follow the principles orders or else they could get in big trouble. He keeps things in check and makes sure everything is runnign smoothly. The Big Nurse also has similar responsibilities as the principle. She has to make sure all the patients are taken  care of and the nurses know what they are doing. Everyone in the ward is scared of the Big Nurse because she has authority and basically runs the warda according to the way she wants it to be ran.
Another similarity between the psych ward and the school is the various people that attend each. At school, there are many different races, cultures and ethnicities that make up the school community. Along with those differences there are also many attitude variations at school. Some people are quite and keep to themselves and others are loud and like to be noticed. Similarly, there are many variations of patients at the ward. There are quite patients like Cheif Bromden and the other chronices and there are more talkative patients such as McMurphy and the othere Acutes. The patients sometimes act up just like kids at school do.
A final similaity betweent school and the psych ward in One Flew Over The Cucckoo's Nest is the way everything is schedualed. At school was have a scheduale that varies everyday, but keeps everything in order and helps run the school smoothly. Depending on the day, there is a different period order. Sometimes the principle changes up the schedules if there is a dilemma or if the day is being shortened. This is similar to the way the ward organizes their day. The Big Nurse has a schedule that everyone follows, and depending on the way she feels on a certain day, she changes it up. The Big Nurse sometimes takes away the patient's playing time if she feels like it. Although it seems scary to find similarities between a psych ward and school, there are similarites thatcan be traced.
  

       This week in class we watched a video on labotamy. It showed the begining of the procedure and how labotamy ended up being a bad treatment at the end. The whole procedure of labotamy seemed like a good long term solution but only helped out the mentally ill for a short amount of time. It ended up hurting the patentients a lot more phyisically then treaating them. There is a great difference between a mental illness and a physical illness. Physical illnesses such as broken bones can most of the time be easily cured. Mental illnesses are not like physical illnesses. They take time to heal if not leave the patient with physical damage. Doctors that operate on physical parts have it much easier than mental illness doctors because most of the time it is dificullt to pinpoint the cause of the behavior.
       It's fine to experiment on humans in order to find a cure for a diesease as long as the the human is dead because then the side effects will be known. Or the experiment could be used on someone that is desperate and can't find anyother cure to their disease. Not everything has to be human tested, sometimes animals can be used unless it is very harmful and could hurt them.