An increased demand for organ transplants and donations has complicated the lines between life and death while making the judgment more crucial than ever, Elizabeth Price Foley explains.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Nothing is certain except for death and taxes.” While our bank accounts are reliable indicators that tax time has come and gone, indicators of death aren’t always so clear.

Declaring death is important for several reasons, including for the purposes of organ donation. As transplants become easier, demand for organs has increased faster than supply. To meet this growing need, the industry must find transplantable organs beyond willing individuals indicating their post-death wishes – typically after cardiopulmonary death.

The other option, based on current legal definitions, is donation upon brain death. The definition is clear – brain death is the irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire brain, including the brain stem ¬– but the application much more fuzzy.

Foley points to two main ambiguities in the real-world setting – testing and training – that need to be standardized for us to have complete confidence in the practice of using organs from brain dead patients. Until then, we’re left to the judgment of the jurisdictions where we die.

Watch Foley’s full talk here:

Ileana Rodriguez shares her unique perspective on disabilities and devices and inspires us to pursue our goals despite perceived obstacles.

What do you see when someone enters a room? Their physical traits? Their clothes?

When Ileana Rodriguez enters, many people notice her wheelchair first. She has been in a wheelchair since the age of 13 and since then she has achieved heights most walking folks can only imagine. Still, many people still see the device first.

Rodriguez learned early on that, while her wheelchair set her apart from the crowd on land, in the water she was like everyone else. Her device “disappeared.”

Her desire to be seen for who she is, not where she sits, inspired the design of a dress for one of her FIU architecture classes. Unlike her classmates, who aimed to protect themselves from physical elements like rain and heat, her creation protected her from people – people who couldn’t see beyond the wheelchair.

Rodriguez has certainly proved herself. She and her fellow athletes in the 2012 Paralympics Games are as dedicated to their sport as their Olympic counterparts.

Though the American Record-holder didn’t place in London, Rodriguez did fulfill a dream that nearly every athlete holds: to represent her country on the world stage. And she did it without her wheelchair.

Watch her full TEDxFIU talk: