Using Technology to Improve Education Essay -- technology and Educatio

Purchasing a new technological gadget can be an exciting experience. After tearing through stubborn security labels, discarding excessive wasteful inner packaging, and tolerating the scent of new plastic wafting through the air, the consumer finally reaches their electronic goodie. Without power, the device is useless. It is simply a plastic brick with some fancy buttons attached. However, when this device is given a source of energy, it comes to life, and brings to its user access to entertainment, information, or communication. Many people treasure their high end technologies, and use them on a day to day basis. What some people fail to see is the full potential of their device. Their electronic gadget, when in their own hands, improves their happiness and quality of life. That same gadget in the hands of a student can promote knowledge gain, personal growth, and allows them to receive an overall better education. The educational experience in America can be enhanced great ly by utilizing various new technologies available today. One of the fastest growing technological trends in the classroom is the integration of computers. The appeal in using computers is seen in its wide capabilities; the possibilities are virtually endless. A computer in today's world can do almost anything for its user, so of course it can be used to enhance a student's learning experience. Use of computers and their complementing technologies in the classroom present a teacher with many options. When the teachers have options, the students can greatly benefit from experiencing a wide variety of teaching methods. â€Å"Research shows that children who use computers in an academic setting experience better development than children who do not use compu... ...oir Fitz Gibbon. â€Å"Is IT worth it?.† Teaching With Technology, Rethinking Tradition. Les Lloyd. Medford, NJ: Information Today. 2010. Pg. 23-37. Hernandez, Marjorie. â€Å"Governer launches digital textbook initiative in Calabasas.† Ventura County Star. N.p. 8 JUN 2009. Web. 16 FEB 2012. â€Å"Interactive Whiteboards in the Classroom.† Florida School for the Deaf and Blind. US Department of Education. 6 NOV 2009. Web. 17 FEB 2012. â€Å"Internet.† Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster Online. 2010. Web. 8 MAR 2012. Perry, Bruce D. Interview. â€Å"Using Technology in the Early Childhood Classroom.† By Kimberly Moore Kneas. Scholastic. n.d. Web. 8 FEB 2012. Shen, Lynda. â€Å"Ebooks are especially suitable for educational purposes. Why is that so?.† ebook88. N.p. n.d. Web. 15 FEB 2012. â€Å"Software for the tablet PC.† Tabletpc2. Blue Thunder. n.d. Web. 8 MAR 2012.

Yeats’ Second Coming and Cummings’ what if a much of a which of a wind

The End of the World in Yeats’ Second Coming and Cummings’ what if a much of a which of a wind Hellfire and brimstone, a massive environmental disaster, a third World War; how will the world end? This issue can stop conversations, or start hour long arguments; it can start a religion, or cause people to renounce their faith. The answer to the ubiquitous question of how the world will eventually end is a paradox; to know the answer means that the final hour has come. Both E.E. Cummings and William Butler Yeats express their premonitions about when and why this awesome event may occur. Both prophetize about the horrific destruction of the world in their poems, "what if a much of a which of a wind" and "The Second Coming"; however, Cummings and Yeats disagree on the final cause of this destruction. While both utilize graphic imagery, stark contrast, and unique syntax to warn their readers about the evils of mankind, Cummings predicts society's irresponsible use of technology will engender the world's end, while Yeats believes that men themselves, the "worst full of passionate int ensity," will ultimately cause the downfall of civilization. Cummings' use of intense and somewhat disturbing imagery in his poem "what if a much of a which of a wind" urges readers to realize the extent of the devastation caused by catastrophic, preventable, destruction. The first stanza of the poem, describing images such as the sun "bloodying the leaves", evokes terror in the reader. The thought of the sun, usually associated with warmth and love, destroying something that it has helped to develop, directly parallels technology's current role in society. Technology, usually thought of as beneficial to mankind, slowly destroys the society that it ... ...thinkers since the beginning of time. E.E. Cummings and William Butler Yeats felt compelled to express their thoughts as to the imminent destruction of mankind. However, what they were unaware of at the the time that they wrote their prophetic poems, was how frighteningly true their predictions almost came. Yeats commentary regarding the leaders of the world and their "passionate intensity" prophetized the Holocaust of World War II and the autocracies created by Hitler and Stalin, while the masses "lacking all conviction" sat and watched with passive indifference. E.E. Cummings' description of man's misuse of technology, was exemplified by the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These poets sounded an alarm that was ignored; hopefully we are now prepared to heed their warnings so that their dire predictions will not prove to be ultimately true.

Cultural Profile

Cultural Profile Culture is said to be a universal of shared beliefs, values and norms that guide a particular group of people through everyday life. Culture does not only shape and mold a country on a national level but it also molds many businesses within that country as they build their own norms, beliefs and values as it pertains to different aspects of conducting their business in a culture. In order for a business to be successful one must first understand how national and business culture differ and how it relates to work goals and this is addressed by Hofstede’s model of national culture.Hofstede uses five dimensions of basic cultural values. The first one is power distance which refers to what people expect regarding equality among others. The second is uncertainty avoidance which a typical reaction to a certain situation that is seen as dangerous or different. The third dimension is individualism which refers to the relationship in society between an individual and a group. Masculinity, the fourth dimension is what is expected about gender roles and lastly is the long-term orientation which refers to the way people see and value time.I will be making references to the data from Jamaica which is similar to Belize in several ways given that Belize is not in the list of countries in the Hofstede Centre. From the graph, the score for power distance was 45 which means that the Jamaicans are independent and a hierarchy is only for convenience as power is decentralized and managers depend on team members experience and their participation is welcomed in the decision making process of the business. Compared to the United States who had an even lower score of 40 shows that they do not view inequality as something good and they do not support the authoritarian leadership style.For individualism, Jamaica is considered to be a collectivistic society with a score of 39. This means that family, social class, organization and team takes priority over an indiv idual and this is the foundation of long-term commitment to the parties involved which in most cases are extended family and close friends. Compared to the United States who scored a high of 91, this means that they believe that everyone is responsible for themselves and individual’s achievements and good performance is beneficial in gaining rewards in the workplace.This brings out the aggressiveness in Americans. Next was the masculinity score of 68 for Jamaica and 62 for the United States. This shows that both countries are considered as a masculine society with Jamaica a little bit more masculine. This means that men are seen as the dominant and assertive and that we should live to work which is more important than even the family. A masculine society sees success, advancement and money as important factors in one’s life. The fourth dimension was that of the uncertainty avoidance where Jamaica had a low score of only 13.This implies that Jamaicans tend to be go for more flexibility as they allow subordinates to make more on their job choices, they are more relaxed and they encourage less rules and regulations which cause more freedom for subordinates. The United States, even though scored higher than Jamaica, score is still a low 46. Americans is more open to ideas and opinions of others as the allow freedom of expression and they too encourages less rules and regulations. Lastly, was the dimension of low-term orientation where Jamaica has no score so far.The United States however, has a low score of 29 which means that their orientation is short-term and they are use profit and loss statements to measure the performance of a business. They believe that immediate rewards such as higher pay and promotions are necessities in a business. Jamaicans like Americans are seen as a monochronic culture. Some of their traits are that they are committed to their job, they are serious about time commitments and so show great emphasis on being prompt. They have a tendency to do one thing at a time and often times stick to their plans.On the other hand their are polychronic people and they tend to be more committed to human relationships and if possible they achieve their objectives. They tend to do many things at once and it is easy for them to change plans. Polychronic people are mainly from northern and western Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. Jamaicans are known to be direct and say what they mean which is considered to be a people of low-context language. They are action-oriented and they value logic and facts which they based their decisions on rather than their intuitions. Jamaicans are very explicit in their contracts which often times conclude negotiations.Belizeans and Jamaicans are very close in culture and based on this fact, the data collected was very helpful in determining how I would create a company culture over time. I believe that in order to make both myself and my subordinates comfortable and to get the maxi mum performance their will have to be some compromise. I am a born Belizean so I am very familiar with the culture and is verse with what is expected. Over the years I had changed some of my traits as far as business and so some of the traits that I have adopted from being here in the United States I would definitely want to implement in my business in Belize.Employees would be selected from the Belizean population who will be facilitated with sales training. The senior manager would have to display leadership qualities to as enforce a break away from being so laid back and relaxed. I would use promotions and pay increase as motivational tools for my employees and I do believe that since they are more verse with what is in demand that it is important for me to welcome ideas and suggestions from the employees and allow them to be apart of the decision making of the business. 100 75 50 Jamaica (similar to Belize) 25 United States 0 PDI IDV MAS UAI LTO

Assessments †Nutrition †Food Groups Essay

My first grade class is participating in a health lesson that will introduce them to the food groups. They will use MyPlate as a resource for learning the food groups and what foods are included in each group. The objective of this lesson is that the student can name foods that belong to each of the food groups labeled on MyPlate. Our health goal will be using MyPlate as a healthy eating tool and our vocabulary words will be food group and MyPlate. We will place foods in each of the five food groups and know the food groups by name and color coding: Grains (orange), Vegetables (green), Fruits (red), Dairy (blue) and Protein (purple). Students will be assessed on their ability to place and/or name foods in the appropriate food group. Students will be placed in assessment groups based on their level of English proficiency. The students will be assessed as follows: * Beginning ELL – students will be shown a photograph of a food and be told the name of the food (ie: photograph of an apple with teacher speaking the word apple) the student will then be asked to point to the food group on MyPlate (see attachment 1) (www. cnpp. usda. gov) in which the apple belongs. Intermediate ELL – Students will be given photographs of food with the name of the food along with a blank MyPlate (see attachment 2) (www. choosemyplate. gov). They will be asked to color each food group and then place the foods in the appropriate food group. * Advanced ELL – Students will be given a blank MyPlate (see attachment 2) (www. chosemyplate. gov) and be asked to write the names of at least three of their favorite foods in each group and then color the food groups the appropriate colors. The data gathered from the assessments will let me know how they comprehended and understood the lesson and will start to give me a snapshot of their English proficiency. Did they understand the words when they were spoken to them? Are they apple to read words associated with a photograph? Can they write words based on their knowledge and the lesson that was taught? Nutrition is taught every year in Kindergarten through 5th rade so a student of any level†¦ELL, SPED, Gifted, and Regular Education can be evaluated and previous years knowledge can be compared. Did the first grade beginning ELL student move up at least one level by second grade? Are they considered proficient by fifth grade? Portfolios can be made and follow the ELL student through school so that teachers can compare previous year’s work to the work they are doing that year. They can look for improvement in their English proficiency as well as the knowledge in the content areas being taught. As a teacher with ELL students I would not only look to teach them our English words for our foods but I would try to pull photographs of foods that might be important to their culture. I would try to find foods they are already familiar with and show them where they fit in the world of nutrition. Using this data would help create a comfort zone for them because they would at least recognize the photograph of the food and learn how we say it in English. Once the assessments are performed we will be able to determine if the student is capable of learning the content even though English proficiency may be low. If they score low then we will know that we have to continue to improve their English to help them in all content areas. If they are scoring high, while we will continue to improve their English but we will know they are capable of learning and understanding the content being presented to them. A teacher might consider placing the ELL student in peer groups with English speaking students to help increase their fluency.

Eco friendly theme parks Essay

Inquiring and analyzing Theme parks contribute to a number of environmental problems, one being air pollution. Theme parks require large amounts of energy; they need energy to power the rides, to keep the ac running, to light the park etc. Providing all this energy contributes to CO2 emissions. Not only does the park need huge amounts of energy, the transport to the theme park (e.g. cars, trains, buses etc.) also emit CO2. Also there’s lots of excess waste produced due to the large crowds attracted to the theme park creating trash. Also, water parks use an excessive amount of water to run their water slides, this creates water wastage. Theme parks may also destroy animal and plant habitat in order for them to be built on the right location but this varies from different theme parks. Why do we need a solution? Global warming is one of the biggest issues that our generation faces, by contributing in this battle against global warming every bit helps. Creating a more ecofriendly form of entertainment can possibly help save our planet. By providing an eco friendly theme park we’re not only making teenagers more aware of our environment but we’re also saving our earth from large emissions of carbon dioxide. Theme parks are mainly here for people’s amusement and entertainment where people can relax and have fun. They’re socially beneficial to escape from one’s daily life and bond with others. Identify and prioritize the primary and secondary research needed to develop a solution to the problem Conducting an online Survey using survey monkey targeting teenagers. 1) Conducting how often teenagers visit theme parks and what types to find a suitable solution (ages 14-19) of 20 students. How often do you visit a theme park? Never Once a year Once every couple of months Every months Every week What irritates you the most? Crowded areas Trash Diluted Air What type of Theme park do you prefer Water Park Amusement Park What would you think is a suitable solution against global warming? Solar panels Wind mills Recycling Hydroelectricity http://www.ehow.com/info_8483212_environmental-come-making-theme-park.html http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/solar-power-help-environment.htm

Economy of the United States Essay

The time is considerably improved for the distinctive American citizen of 2007 than for a citizen of the 1800s. An array of economic policies known as import substitution is frequently quoted as the central reason of Latin America’s crises in the 1980s. The stratagem had outsized harmful upshots on economic growth in the 1980s reacting to the 1970s and 1980s progress. However, in the mid 1990s, import substitution policies had slight hit in renovating Latin American countries into sellers of feigned products. In fact, the condition was even worse in 1980s, as anxieties about non-payment raised; mean yearly price rises climbed radically from 1980 to 1985. And the economic deformations linked with hikes in inflation are stern. From last 1990s, numerous efforts have been carried out to alleviate the dilemma related to Latin America’s huge outside debt. A few restructurings in the 1990s had no brunt or were untied almost immediately as they were brought in. Just the once recent economic development and dependable growth in input & output, and output per person commences, it is liable to persist on a usual source and progress public’s being. It is constant with the world’s practice in the 80s and 90s era. For now, in the United States, the introduction of Information technology generated an innovative market that created the hardware and generated the software required to suit the ignition claim for these appliances that had grown to be reasonable to about everybody. That market substituted the previous; a belief of capitalist theory called creative destruction which envisaged that outcome, truly emerged to be operational, even as the economy appeared to be strong. Obstinately, United States government tax policy also offers inducements for U. S. multinational firms to set up abroad. In current tax laws, firms are allocated without letting up to suspend disbursing business revenue taxes on incomes made offshore. The suspension is fine in anticipation of these firms send back the incomes to the home, upon which occasion they are taxed at the typical business income tax charge. However the U. S. business income-tax charge is one of the biggest in the planet, there is an extremely well-built inducement for firms to reinvest those profits outside of the United States. As a result, United States Government; the Congress agreed to provide tax relief per annum, in order that firms could send back incomes back to the home at a lesser tax charge. Firms made it in having this 2004 tax break by saying that it would facilitate them to employ those incomes to invest in the home and make employments for US citizens. Certainly, it’s almost unfeasible to establish they performed the deed or not. The initial phases of globalization and outsourcing charge millions of U. S. manufacturing employments but different specialists declared us that this was nil to agonize about since they were blue-collar Rust Belt employments. United States of America was converting itself into an overhaul economy, and facilitated all along by the Information technology. Internet tune-ups, cutting-edge research and growth made the transparent, high-paying employments that kept U. S. ahead in the current era. However, supporters of globalization disagree that outsourcing millions of mechanically transportable service jobs will decrease rates and increase productivity in the U. S. Except the assets of globalization don’t seem so gentle from the perspective of an American computer analyst or auditor. They have performed what they were expected for but their effort was obstinately spoilt when the home employers hired overseas staff working so cheap. When lucrative manufacturing and service jobs shift abroad, relocated American employees are frequently obliged to accept low pay jobs and upward mobility. Paradoxically, at the instance millions of jobs are being outsourced and millions of unlawful migrants are overflowing into the U. S. , to get away form their domestic scarcity and joblessness; hence purely spoiling U. S. internal economy. Ironically, the good news is that, while United States governed Congress helped out to generate this chaos with poor economic and foreign policies, she can assist to overcome it. Still, U. S. is the best-positioned to make sustainable advantage of the growing world economy in the global marketplace. Modern economic trends, together with a huge trade shortage, on its last legs of norm revenues, comparatively weak job growth, have been to state the slightest rather intimidating. However there is one thing encouraging, the strong growth of productivity in the U. S. Commencing in the mid-1990s, productivity has recovered after 20 years of comparatively meager presentation. Regrettably, economists have hardly any solutions for progressive economic growth, as conservative neo-traditional growth forms pay no heed to technological modernization. On the contrary, a â€Å"neo-Schumpetarian† examination proposes that the revitalization and immobility of productivity are tied to the materialization and succeeding collapse of new techno-economic manufacture procedures. While an old economy attains its perimeters from the perspective of innovation and the dispersal of the technology structure, it grows to be ever more intricate to spin out productivity growth. Just after an innovative technology system suits reasonably priced as much as necessary and invasive adequate is it capable to rejuvenate the engine of productivity patterns. This examination recommends that though the modern information technology based technology system is probable to prolong to impel strong productivity growth for at any rate the coming 20 years, an innovation-exhaustion hold up may be very soon above the prospect. In fact, IT is really improving productivity, however merely in peculiar segments. Since the 1990s, productivity grew 1. 1% per year in segments spending greatly in computers and about 0. 35% in segments spending less. During 1990 and 2003, productivity growth in IT-exhaustive production averaged 3. 03% per annum, in contrast to just 0. 2% per annum in less-IT-exhaustive industry. In effect, the increase in mechanical automation was the really enormous growth of the economy of the era. Since many economists declare that globalization and technology have merged to generate up-to-the-minute tenets for the U. S. economy. However this economist considers old economics still offers the unsurpassed elucidation for current happenings. However, the new-economy model is not only a design that is obviously cleared by a particular economist and an extensive choice of thoughts descends below the new-economy streamer. Relatively than reviewing the concepts of a range of new-economy researchers, the subsequent argument assembles the thoughts into three extensive reports of the new economy; a long-run-growth, a sources-of-growth version, and a business-cycle version, which reveal the combined concept of several economists. Even as these reports disagree in particular calculations and inferences; butt all contribute to a widespread center that constructs them ingredient of the new-economy structure. In the past few years, the U. S. conomy has gained from a pointed deterioration in oil and commodity costs, a well-built American dollar, a tendency on the way to handled concern and reserved health-care prices, an impartial budget, and a fall in military expenses. Each one of these transient causes may have assisted the economy and guided to the unforeseen blend of falling inflation and unemployment rates. While distinguishing between temporary factors and structural changes, it is a hard chore that entails cautious empirical analysis and, additionally significant is a lengthier instant sequence of information. Simply by scrutinizing unemployment and inflation under a broad variety of economic circumstances for several years will it be achievable to wrap up if a structural change has in fact risen? Fast track and fiscal policy for the International Monetary Fund are merely fractions of a better scheme the United States Government must create to facilitate its citizens retain their leadership in what is, incontrovertibly, an accurately global economy. Moreover, the Federal Reserve should reduce interest rates, at this time sprinting at approximately four times the rate of inflation, with no less than one-half of 1%. Moreover, Conformist economics observes economic growth as a consequence of input accumulation and technological growth in a world of nearly invariable come backs to level. At the same time, there is a little argument about how to determine inputs and how to describe technological growth, there is an agreement that a great deal of economic growth engages trade-offs, such as increasing capital means investment, forgone consumption and savings, though increasing labor input needs education expenses and relinquished freedom. Whichever unsolved growth is branded the input of total factor productivity (TFP), also called the famous Solow residual, which reveals technical progress, improved efficiency, spillovers, scale economies, demand side policy, pull inflation and so on. Countless economic studies of foreign direct investment center on the features of the companies in creating its resolution to spend overseas. While the rest employ features of host nations as independent variables, that U. S. oreign direct investment runs to Europe contain such independent variables as growth of market size and size in host countries, levels of protectionism in host countries, and capital control programs of the U. S. Government. The causes for the disparity in corresponding the employment and productivity growth amid the two regions may be vibrant, except mostly dialogue they go down into three types. At the outset, the expansion of the pay, the rental ratio is a typical macroeconomic elucidation for modifications in labour and capital intensity influencing the employment growth productivity. During the 2000-s, pay control and active labour market policies elevated labour force membership statistics in Europe however, simultaneously decreased the growth of labour charge comparative to the capital cost. The quicker employment growth but lower growths of labour productivity are probable consequences of these policies of the U. S. Government. Seeing the initiation of the global economy and amplified tax competition, businesses and other shareholders employ geographically fungible capital to reduce their tax charges by shifting their assets to lower tax regions. Hence the capacity for capital flight compels limitations on the point of taxation that in order compels fiscal discipline on the U. S. Government. However the normative economic research have demonstrated that the optimal tax rate on capital is zero, while the optimal tax rate on labor is positive, proposing that the expressive decline of taxes on capital, during tax competition, would offer wide-reaching advantages in the global market. In addition, in a more competent market, investment will be owed more effectively, escorting to worldwide welfare profits in the all-embracing race. The interconnected concepts comprise nonlinear growth once a critical mass is attained, worthy rounds of positive feedback in manufacturing and communal firms for example Silicon Valley, and declining costs and amplified excellence by means of technology and scale economies. These concepts are not new-fangled to conservative US economics; however the new economy offers them far better magnitude and looks them as the dynamic energy of growth economy-wide (Fretz, 4-15). The recent facts propose that it is yet excessively untimely to let know if a new economy has actually materialized. The new economy is resolutely constructed on the supposition of structural changes in the economy; however there is just not sufficient information yet to differentiate elemental transformations from unconventional accounts, for example transitory shocks can escort to the identical upshots. By building up these concepts at this instant, economists and policymakers would be capable to come to a decision if there truly is a new economy in the United States

Bioethics of Euthanasia

Therefore, the family is also an institution which generates the same attachment to objectivity that encourages a certain set of goals. Ultimately though, it is one’s subjective experience that has it’s own social, physical, mental, and spiritual habits and attachments that cause the mind and body to perform and exist in a particular way. The overarching illegality of euthanasia across North America is supported by religious institutions which act as the sole moral platform for questioning the professional conduct of medical practitioners. The hegemonic belief that is fostered views euthanasia as a breach of non-maleficence, though doctors have and will likely continue to comply with life-ending aid in North America, regardless of recent deliberation regarding legislation. A legalization of euthanasia could ease tensions for physicians and patients dealing with chronic fatal health conditions, but would require specific criteria for legality. The debilitating suffering from a terminal illness should be the first criteria, as well as an autonomous request made by the sufficiently competent patient. Those who advocate for the legalization of euthanasia are part of a particular morality that sees beyond the mystical value of medical non-maleficence and opposes overarching institutional moralities that forbid life-ending decisions. Also of concern is the slippery slope argument, whereby any level of legal euthanasia would likely incite requests for more flexible criteria, publicly bringing into question the intangible value of human life. A central notion of biomedical ethics that stands as a major contender against the legalization of euthanasia is non-maleficence. To generally adhere to the principles of non-maleficence, physicians should not provide ineffective treatments to patients as these offer risk with no possibility of benefit and thus have a chance of harming patients. In addition, physicians must not do anything that would purposely harm patients without the action being balanced by proportional benefit (Beauchamp, 155). This benefit is not necessarily beneficial to the terminally ill individual who has requested euthanasia. The benefit referred to in the medical field is generally an extension of life and a restoration of health, which is not a reality for the terminally ill, rather a benefit might be an end to incurable suffering. Because many medications, procedures, and interventions cause harm in addition to benefit, the principle of non-maleficence provides little concrete guidance in the care of patients, and acts as a fairly weak argument against euthanasia. A helpful distinction when debating the validity of physician assisted suicide is that of ‘killing’ and ‘allowing to die’. If a patient is too frail to undergo restorative treatment, it can be said that the withholding of that treatment is allowing the patient to die. On the other hand, ‘killing’ entails taking action that would hasten the onset of death. There is considerable overlap between these two concepts, to the point that a clear distinction is not readily discernible (Beauchamp, 172). The prima facie nature of allowing a patient to die, as expressed by Beauchamp is acceptable under certain conditions whereby a medical technology is considered futile, or ineffectual, or a patient and/or surrogate decision maker has validly denied a medical technology (173). In the case that a patient is suffering unnecessarily, and has denied or been denied the opportunity for treatment due to severity of illness, should euthanasia not be an acceptable option? This action would undoubtedly fall under the category of ‘killing’, but if the nearest solution is the imminent death of a terminally ill patient, the concept of non-maleficence should not apply to a deliberate hastening of the patients’ biological shutdown. It can also be argued that fading to death in palliative care with little to no cognition is of little value, and coming from a strictly utilitarian perspective, in some cases, may be unnecessary. If an elderly patient has no immediate family, and is in the final stages of a degenerative disease, the option of the patient to deny extended care and hasten the imminence of death should ot be considered immoral. The approval of certain cases such as the example above would definitely introduce a ‘slippery slope’ argument whereby the notions and parameters of conducting euthanasia would be challenged, inflated, and publicly scorned. The infamous example of Dr. Kevorkian is indicative of the demand for physican-assisted suicide, and the flexible moralities of perhaps many physicians who are faced with the challenge of allowing a patient to pursue a hastened death. Michigan doctor Jack Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder for delivering a lethal injection to a 52-year-old man suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease. It was the first time in five trials that Kevorkian was found guilty of a crime after participating in, by his count, at least 130 assisted suicides. Likened to â€Å"a medical hit man† by the prosecution, Kevorkian compared himself to Martin Luther King and told the court he was no more culpable than an executioner. The 70-year-old doctor had dared prosecutors to charge him and threatened a hunger strike if convicted. â€Å"Suicide†). The case of Kevorkian’s assisted suicides shows that public hegemonic belief places all burden on the physician involved, for it is technically legal to carry out or attempt suicide, but not with the aid of any other person, especially a clinician. These laws tend to make sense in every realm except the medical world, where euthanasia is an issue that arises with the terminally ill, and particular moralities strongly advocate for the right to die under certain circumstances, as illustrated by Kevorkian’s rash threats of a hunger strike if convicted. Obviously viewing himself as a liberator, Kevorkian’s particular morality quickly earned him a reputation, and having participated in over one hundred assisted suicides, he stands not as a reputable opposition to hegemony, but rather a moral pariah. Kevorkian’s comparison of his ‘moral fallacy’ with the conduct of an executioner is an interesting philosophical idea, and also illustrates the exclusivity of moral professionalism within the medical world. This is mostly apparent in the United States where there is a domination of privatized health care, and plenty of capital punishment. The application of morality is varied when it comes to death and dying, in a society where a 20 year old can be put to death for committing murder, and in the same society, a terminally ill, suffering patient cannot decidedly seek a peaceful death without moral intervention. In both cases, strong moral impositions are made, and guide the fate of both individuals. The convict has a chance at rehabilitation, and renewing his moral adherence and contribution to society, but is not rewarded the chance because his actions stripped him of his dignity. On the other hand, the dying patient is not permitted to seek assistance in death because common morality forbids it, much like the same common morality denies the convict a second chance. The patient is denied euthanasia because the hegemonic function of the medical field is to avoid non-maleficence, so according to the same morality, the criminal is denied rehabilitation and put to death because the function of the law is to appropriately punish offenders. This paradox shows how two distinct versions of the same common morality are stamped like a ‘cookie cutter’, yielding the anticipated results of the societal function: the patient can’t die because medicine is designed to keep him alive, and the criminal can’t live because capital punishment is designed to eliminate him. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to suggest that the application of euthanasia in the medical field should be acceptable in certain circumstances, and that exclusive clinical moralities should allow deliberation on the subject, and not continue to function in a ‘cookie cutter’ fashion. In Canada and the United States, laws distinguishing ‘active’ and ‘passive’ categories of euthanasia are divided into four sections: â€Å"deliberately killing persons who wish to die or assisting them in suicide (active voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide), deliberately killing persons whose wishes are unknown or opposed to such treatment (active involuntary euthanasia), withholding or withdrawing life-preserving means from those who do not want them used (forgoing treatment of competent individuals), and letting persons die by withholding or withdrawing life-preserving means when their wishes are unknown or when they want, or would tolerate, such means to be applied or maintained (forgoing treatment of incompetent individuals)† (Dickens, 136). According to these legal parameters, it would seem that active and passive euthanasia should only occur when indicated by the patient, living will, or a surrogate, such as active voluntary euthanasia, an d the forgoing of treatment to competent individuals. These two forms provide the patient with the moral decision to adopt the institutional values of their choice and affect their course of longevity and suffering. In the cases of active involuntary euthanasia, and the withholding of treatment from incompetent patients it can be said that, morally, the physician has no right to change the course of the patient’s treatment without clearance from a living will or surrogate. To conduct active involuntary euthanasia, or withhold treatment for no apparent reason indicated by the patient or surrogate, negligence would necessarily apply and represent the justified fault of the attending physician. Dealing with death is a subjective experience that generates fear, and causes humans to seek comfort in institutional beliefs, whether that be family, religion, other forms of spirituality, or modern medicine itself. Death reminds humans of their biological capacities and fleeting opportunities for experience in life, and generates a desire to medicalize suicide. â€Å"We want physicians to provide the means to end life in an antiseptically acceptable fashion. Knives, guns, ropes, and bridges tend to be messy. We seek a more aesthetically pleasing way of terminating life, one that leaves the patient looking dead, but not disgusting. For this, as in so much else in the 20th-century quest for happiness, we turn to the physician† (Paris, 33). Much like we seek aesthetic modifications from plastic surgeons, and mental stability from psychologists, we turn again to professional doctors for a method of dealing with the harsh reality of death. Though euthanasia may be an acceptable option for some people in certain sets of dire circumstances, it is the fear of death generated by the triumphs of medicine that provide the illusion that death and suffering are something a physician can cure. Medicinal miracles and the rise of technological medicine give people the impression that old losses are new triumphs, at least insofar as one can be kept alive for longer with chronic diseases. This notion sparks the fear of suffering before death, and that morbidity will be extended instead of compressed. Essentially then, it is the physician who bears all weight of the laws pertaining to euthanasia, which seems unjust when there is little more that medicine can do for a terminally ill patient than aid in their peaceful departure from life. The argument that legalized euthanasia would initiate the slippery slope, and â€Å"hospitals would become cruel and dehumanized places† are refuted by the suggestion and observation of the exact opposite (Schafer). As Schafer suggests, â€Å"experience has shown that what happened was exactly the opposite of what was predicted by the naysayers: Doctors and hospitals have become kinder and gentler, patients’ wishes are better respected than previously and society has come to accept the importance of individual autonomy at the end of life† (3). Clearly, the legalization of euthanasia would not entirely disrupt the nature of medical care in Canada, and with current debates indicating the possibility of change, society may undergo a change of ideas in the near future. The idea that euthanasia may provide a patient with more dignity at death than what is often referred to as ‘sedation to unconsciousness’ is becoming more common, and should not be deemed unacceptable next to palliative care. With the right safeguards in place, euthanasia should be one of many life-ending options available to Canadians near the end of their life, with palliative care being a morally adjacent decision. The subjective experience of death is one’s own, and even familial institution can only do so much to comfort the process of being terminally ill. Therefore it should be a decision of the patient to seek medical help, either in the form of sedation and longevity, or immediate peace. Bioethics of Euthanasia Therefore, the family is also an institution which generates the same attachment to objectivity that encourages a certain set of goals. Ultimately though, it is one’s subjective experience that has it’s own social, physical, mental, and spiritual habits and attachments that cause the mind and body to perform and exist in a particular way. The overarching illegality of euthanasia across North America is supported by religious institutions which act as the sole moral platform for questioning the professional conduct of medical practitioners. The hegemonic belief that is fostered views euthanasia as a breach of non-maleficence, though doctors have and will likely continue to comply with life-ending aid in North America, regardless of recent deliberation regarding legislation. A legalization of euthanasia could ease tensions for physicians and patients dealing with chronic fatal health conditions, but would require specific criteria for legality. The debilitating suffering from a terminal illness should be the first criteria, as well as an autonomous request made by the sufficiently competent patient. Those who advocate for the legalization of euthanasia are part of a particular morality that sees beyond the mystical value of medical non-maleficence and opposes overarching institutional moralities that forbid life-ending decisions. Also of concern is the slippery slope argument, whereby any level of legal euthanasia would likely incite requests for more flexible criteria, publicly bringing into question the intangible value of human life. A central notion of biomedical ethics that stands as a major contender against the legalization of euthanasia is non-maleficence. To generally adhere to the principles of non-maleficence, physicians should not provide ineffective treatments to patients as these offer risk with no possibility of benefit and thus have a chance of harming patients. In addition, physicians must not do anything that would purposely harm patients without the action being balanced by proportional benefit (Beauchamp, 155). This benefit is not necessarily beneficial to the terminally ill individual who has requested euthanasia. The benefit referred to in the medical field is generally an extension of life and a restoration of health, which is not a reality for the terminally ill, rather a benefit might be an end to incurable suffering. Because many medications, procedures, and interventions cause harm in addition to benefit, the principle of non-maleficence provides little concrete guidance in the care of patients, and acts as a fairly weak argument against euthanasia. A helpful distinction when debating the validity of physician assisted suicide is that of ‘killing’ and ‘allowing to die’. If a patient is too frail to undergo restorative treatment, it can be said that the withholding of that treatment is allowing the patient to die. On the other hand, ‘killing’ entails taking action that would hasten the onset of death. There is considerable overlap between these two concepts, to the point that a clear distinction is not readily discernible (Beauchamp, 172). The prima facie nature of allowing a patient to die, as expressed by Beauchamp is acceptable under certain conditions whereby a medical technology is considered futile, or ineffectual, or a patient and/or surrogate decision maker has validly denied a medical technology (173). In the case that a patient is suffering unnecessarily, and has denied or been denied the opportunity for treatment due to severity of illness, should euthanasia not be an acceptable option? This action would undoubtedly fall under the category of ‘killing’, but if the nearest solution is the imminent death of a terminally ill patient, the concept of non-maleficence should not apply to a deliberate hastening of the patients’ biological shutdown. It can also be argued that fading to death in palliative care with little to no cognition is of little value, and coming from a strictly utilitarian perspective, in some cases, may be unnecessary. If an elderly patient has no immediate family, and is in the final stages of a degenerative disease, the option of the patient to deny extended care and hasten the imminence of death should ot be considered immoral. The approval of certain cases such as the example above would definitely introduce a ‘slippery slope’ argument whereby the notions and parameters of conducting euthanasia would be challenged, inflated, and publicly scorned. The infamous example of Dr. Kevorkian is indicative of the demand for physican-assisted suicide, and the flexible moralities of perhaps many physicians who are faced with the challenge of allowing a patient to pursue a hastened death. Michigan doctor Jack Kevorkian was convicted of second-degree murder for delivering a lethal injection to a 52-year-old man suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease. It was the first time in five trials that Kevorkian was found guilty of a crime after participating in, by his count, at least 130 assisted suicides. Likened to â€Å"a medical hit man† by the prosecution, Kevorkian compared himself to Martin Luther King and told the court he was no more culpable than an executioner. The 70-year-old doctor had dared prosecutors to charge him and threatened a hunger strike if convicted. â€Å"Suicide†). The case of Kevorkian’s assisted suicides shows that public hegemonic belief places all burden on the physician involved, for it is technically legal to carry out or attempt suicide, but not with the aid of any other person, especially a clinician. These laws tend to make sense in every realm except the medical world, where euthanasia is an issue that arises with the terminally ill, and particular moralities strongly advocate for the right to die under certain circumstances, as illustrated by Kevorkian’s rash threats of a hunger strike if convicted. Obviously viewing himself as a liberator, Kevorkian’s particular morality quickly earned him a reputation, and having participated in over one hundred assisted suicides, he stands not as a reputable opposition to hegemony, but rather a moral pariah. Kevorkian’s comparison of his ‘moral fallacy’ with the conduct of an executioner is an interesting philosophical idea, and also illustrates the exclusivity of moral professionalism within the medical world. This is mostly apparent in the United States where there is a domination of privatized health care, and plenty of capital punishment. The application of morality is varied when it comes to death and dying, in a society where a 20 year old can be put to death for committing murder, and in the same society, a terminally ill, suffering patient cannot decidedly seek a peaceful death without moral intervention. In both cases, strong moral impositions are made, and guide the fate of both individuals. The convict has a chance at rehabilitation, and renewing his moral adherence and contribution to society, but is not rewarded the chance because his actions stripped him of his dignity. On the other hand, the dying patient is not permitted to seek assistance in death because common morality forbids it, much like the same common morality denies the convict a second chance. The patient is denied euthanasia because the hegemonic function of the medical field is to avoid non-maleficence, so according to the same morality, the criminal is denied rehabilitation and put to death because the function of the law is to appropriately punish offenders. This paradox shows how two distinct versions of the same common morality are stamped like a ‘cookie cutter’, yielding the anticipated results of the societal function: the patient can’t die because medicine is designed to keep him alive, and the criminal can’t live because capital punishment is designed to eliminate him. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to suggest that the application of euthanasia in the medical field should be acceptable in certain circumstances, and that exclusive clinical moralities should allow deliberation on the subject, and not continue to function in a ‘cookie cutter’ fashion. In Canada and the United States, laws distinguishing ‘active’ and ‘passive’ categories of euthanasia are divided into four sections: â€Å"deliberately killing persons who wish to die or assisting them in suicide (active voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide), deliberately killing persons whose wishes are unknown or opposed to such treatment (active involuntary euthanasia), withholding or withdrawing life-preserving means from those who do not want them used (forgoing treatment of competent individuals), and letting persons die by withholding or withdrawing life-preserving means when their wishes are unknown or when they want, or would tolerate, such means to be applied or maintained (forgoing treatment of incompetent individuals)† (Dickens, 136). According to these legal parameters, it would seem that active and passive euthanasia should only occur when indicated by the patient, living will, or a surrogate, such as active voluntary euthanasia, an d the forgoing of treatment to competent individuals. These two forms provide the patient with the moral decision to adopt the institutional values of their choice and affect their course of longevity and suffering. In the cases of active involuntary euthanasia, and the withholding of treatment from incompetent patients it can be said that, morally, the physician has no right to change the course of the patient’s treatment without clearance from a living will or surrogate. To conduct active involuntary euthanasia, or withhold treatment for no apparent reason indicated by the patient or surrogate, negligence would necessarily apply and represent the justified fault of the attending physician. Dealing with death is a subjective experience that generates fear, and causes humans to seek comfort in institutional beliefs, whether that be family, religion, other forms of spirituality, or modern medicine itself. Death reminds humans of their biological capacities and fleeting opportunities for experience in life, and generates a desire to medicalize suicide. â€Å"We want physicians to provide the means to end life in an antiseptically acceptable fashion. Knives, guns, ropes, and bridges tend to be messy. We seek a more aesthetically pleasing way of terminating life, one that leaves the patient looking dead, but not disgusting. For this, as in so much else in the 20th-century quest for happiness, we turn to the physician† (Paris, 33). Much like we seek aesthetic modifications from plastic surgeons, and mental stability from psychologists, we turn again to professional doctors for a method of dealing with the harsh reality of death. Though euthanasia may be an acceptable option for some people in certain sets of dire circumstances, it is the fear of death generated by the triumphs of medicine that provide the illusion that death and suffering are something a physician can cure. Medicinal miracles and the rise of technological medicine give people the impression that old losses are new triumphs, at least insofar as one can be kept alive for longer with chronic diseases. This notion sparks the fear of suffering before death, and that morbidity will be extended instead of compressed. Essentially then, it is the physician who bears all weight of the laws pertaining to euthanasia, which seems unjust when there is little more that medicine can do for a terminally ill patient than aid in their peaceful departure from life. The argument that legalized euthanasia would initiate the slippery slope, and â€Å"hospitals would become cruel and dehumanized places† are refuted by the suggestion and observation of the exact opposite (Schafer). As Schafer suggests, â€Å"experience has shown that what happened was exactly the opposite of what was predicted by the naysayers: Doctors and hospitals have become kinder and gentler, patients’ wishes are better respected than previously and society has come to accept the importance of individual autonomy at the end of life† (3). Clearly, the legalization of euthanasia would not entirely disrupt the nature of medical care in Canada, and with current debates indicating the possibility of change, society may undergo a change of ideas in the near future. The idea that euthanasia may provide a patient with more dignity at death than what is often referred to as ‘sedation to unconsciousness’ is becoming more common, and should not be deemed unacceptable next to palliative care. With the right safeguards in place, euthanasia should be one of many life-ending options available to Canadians near the end of their life, with palliative care being a morally adjacent decision. The subjective experience of death is one’s own, and even familial institution can only do so much to comfort the process of being terminally ill. Therefore it should be a decision of the patient to seek medical help, either in the form of sedation and longevity, or immediate peace.