Woodrow Gordon, 89, of Rome, died June 17, 2013. Wright Memorial Mortuary has charge of the arrangements.

Ten-year-old Sarah Murnaghan of Pennsylvania has a new set of transplanted lungs. She didn’t get them in the usual way, by moving to the top of the waiting list and being fortunate enough that a donation of suitable lungs came through. Sarah got her new lungs after U.S. District Judge Michael Baylson ordered Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to allow Sarah the same access as adults to lungs from adult donors. That’s not the way it usually works. Because of the difficulties in fitting adult lungs into a child’s body and other medical hurdles, children younger than 12 are first in line for lungs from donors of their own age. They are second in line for lungs from adolescent donors, aged 12 to 17. Usually they receive adult lungs only if no adult awaiting transplant in the local area accepts the lungs, which is rare. Sebelius had refused to change the rules because giving Sarah special consideration would mean other young people waiting for transplants would have to wait longer. But Sarah’s parents sued. Her family and friends launched a petition drive that gathered more than 372,000 signatures. In ordering the “under-12 rule” set aside, Baylson cited the plaintiff’s argument that the rule “discriminates against children and serves no purpose, is arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion.” The judge did not order the transplant. But Sarah, who was critically ill because her lungs were ravaged by cystic fibrosis, was fortunate: Adult lungs were available. Doctors said the surgery was a success. Sarah’s parents are elated. We rejoice with them. But we think that this case should not set a legal precedent. Organ transplants, whether for children or adults, are governed by complex rules that take into account death rates among people waiting for lungs and the survival rates after transplantation. In general, lungs go to those who are sickest, and also those most likely to do well after a transplant. Sarah’s case “is a thorny ethical decision and a complicated medical one,” Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s chief of thoracic surgery Dr. Malcolm DeCamp told us. “The size of the donor and of the recipient is critical. Lungs vary in size primarily according to height, gender and age. The courts are clearly poorly equipped to adjudicate this kind of decision.” He’s right. Transplant decisions should be driven by medical professionals, by doctors consulting with patients and their families, not by the courts. Taking these delicate medical decisions to court invites “significant chaos and inherent unfairness because access to the courts is not equal,” Alexandra Glazier, ethics committee chair of the United Network for Organ Sharing, told The Associated Press. “Public trust and procedural fairness demands that organ allocation policies be made in an open public process and not by urgently convened committees.” UNOS, the nonprofit that oversees the national transplant system for the federal government, will now allow for appeals in cases like Sarah’s. Other UNOS committees will spend the next year studying possible rule changes in the way lungs are allocated to children. One thing will not change: These decisions are excruciating, whether or not a child is involved. There’s a huge need for more donors. Too many people die waiting for lungs, kidneys, livers and hearts. In 2012, 224 people died awaiting a lung transplant. That included eight children younger than 11. As of early this month, 30 children younger than 11 were waiting for new lungs.

Greg Richardson and his Rome-based business Civitium LLC formally unveiled CrowdFiber on Tuesday night.
CrowdFiber is a crowdfunding application that seeks to unite people interested in expanding the broadband network and setting up gigabit communities, including one in Rome.
Downtown Rome already has GigNet — a gigabit-speed Internet service — launched by Parker FiberNet. The DeSoto Theatre, 7Hills Makerspace and Maker Village on Clock Tower Hill already are subscribers.
But the super high-speed service is only available in the downtown area bounded by First Avenue, East First Street, Turner McCall Boulevard and East Third Street.
During a news conference across from Rome’s iconic Clock Tower, Richardson explained how CrowdFiber allows community groups and service providers to cooperate on advancing their infrastructure.
“Service providers have a tough time making investments that give them the returns they want. Communities have a tough time doing anything about it,” Richardson said. “(CrowdFiber) allows service providers to aggregate demand. If they knew they could get 30 percent of the people in that area to subscribe to the service, they would make the investment — they could handle the operating expenses.”
Dave Parker, CEO and founder of Parker FiberNet, said Richardson and his team are pushing his company along to expand services to the larger community.
“CrowdFiber allows us to identify those customers, and those customers that want it, Parker said.”
People wanting the gigabit service can search for their addresses on the site to see if they’re in an active campaign area.
“If you’re in an active campaign area you have the opportunity to back the campaign and contribute to it being successful,” Richardson said.
The Rome campaign offers support levels ranging from $10 to $700. As of Tuesday night, there were six pledges totaling $3,400 — 30 percent of the goal to connect the service throughout the downtown area.
Residents pledging $300 and businesses pledging $700 would automatically be signed up as customers if the goal is met.
Tricia Steele with SAI Digital said the goal is to attract at least 20 new gigabit customers in the downtown area in the short-term future. If the goal is reached, customers could expect service within 30 days of the end of the campaign.
CrowdFiber has also launched campaigns in Baltimore, Md., Lawrence, Kan., Baldwin City, Kan., and Clarkesville, Ga. The campaigns are being led various service providers and community groups.