Policy brief Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Policy brief - Essay Example Notably, the affordable care act requires states to establish their independent insurance exchanges. In other words, they want states to default to the federal exchange. Nonetheless, it should be noted that the joint federal state programs were initiated to fund the medical services in the United States. This is a long term project that was initiated to provide care to the moderate income families. Moreover, it is worth noting that Medicaid is among the largest federal funded budgets and it has had a rapidly growing cost, but with unsustainable rates (Rosen, 1988). The huge cost of this program to the federal government’s budget calls substantial overhaul towards reducing the taxpayers from huge funding burden. Nearly all states including Vermont usually receive Medicaid with an open ended funding from the federal government (Kaiser Commission Medicaid, 2012). The expansion of the state budget along with their expanded benefits usually leaves the taxpayers with no option but to pay additional costs. It should be noted that the current funding structure provides a room for overexpansion that in turn provides the states with limited incentive t o control extensive waste and fraud programs. Moreover, program is designed in a top down regulatory structure thereby creating distortions within the health care markets. However, the Medicaid intra governmental grants have proven to be effective and efficient for the funding mechanisms within the United States funding systems. Notably, they have created conditions that match the states’ funding considerably. In essence, the program allows the federal government to share specific expenditures that are attached to the program. These programs attached to the Medicaid services are known as the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP). The FMAP was initiated for the government to have a larger percentage in the Medicaid costs in states. However, the highly targeted states are those with low

There should not be state sales taxes assessed on Internet purchases Essay

There should not be state sales taxes assessed on Internet purchases - Essay Example However, this aspect of sales tax free goods is not available in many states or countries. It has been observed that in many states of the United States of America (US), the consumers making online purchases are required to pay the requisite sales tax amount in their respective state tax agency. This prospect of providing tax free goods or products has hampered the revenue of the government as well as the brick-and-mortar retail outlets which are providing identical goods and services by minimizing their sales volume and customer base (FindLaw, â€Å"Do You Have to Pay Sales Tax on Internet Purchases?†). It has been observed that in the US, law has been formulated as well as implemented with the intention of collecting sales taxes for the shopping which are made online. In this respect, the Marketplace Fairness Act has been formulated with the intention of collecting sales tax in relation to online transactions which are performed within states. Moreover, this Act allows an ex emption for online retailing businesses with less than US$1 million domestic sales annually (Yadron, â€Å"Lawmakers Reintroduce Online Sales Tax Legislation†). Thesis Statement The paper intends to describe the issue i.e. whether or not sales taxes should be assessed on the purchase of goods through internet. The discussion will identify the major aspects with regard to the issue. Moreover, certain supporting opinions will be provided regarding the issue with facts as well as logic. Objective Description of the Issue The sales taxes on the purchases which are made through online sources are dependent on the location of the consumer. The Supreme Court in the year 1992 made rules that online retailers who have a physical presence in the states are charged with sales taxes on most of the purchase transactions made. In this aspect, online retailers are obliged to charge sales tax for the goods which are sold to home state consumers. In case, when goods are sold to consumers in o ther states then such consumers can acquire these goods without any sales taxes (FindLaw, â€Å"Do You Have to Pay Sales Tax on Internet Purchases?†). It has been observed that there are many large websites which are performing business transactions free of sales taxes by inaugurating subsidiaries with the intention of performing only the online businesses. It is also recognized that they perform online business transactions without physical presence. The above mentioned practice of online businesses is required to be mitigated with the objective of assisting the online businesses with physical presence that are losing sales volume due to online shops which are providing goods at free sales taxes (FindLaw, â€Å"Do You Have to Pay Sales Tax on Internet Purchases?†). The consumers purchasing tax free goods from online sources are required to pay sales tax to the agency in a direct manner where sales taxes are charged in their states. In case, where the consumers pay sal es tax directly to the sales tax agency are termed as ‘use’ tax. The only difference between sales tax and use tax is regarding the paid tax amount. In terms of sales tax, the tax amount is directly paid by online retailers to the sales tax agency. While, in case of use tax, the tax amount is paid by consumers themselves. Moreover, collecting use tax for small purchases tends to

Values of Parents Essay Example for Free

Values of Parents Essay Good Parents should guide children in family unity. Family unity is a family being together in happy and peaceful. Also, the meaning of family unity is that regardless of how bad a situation may be it will bring us closer together and make our bond stronger. It would have nice to have parents to enforce rules at home. For example, if parents would have been home children would have done homework instead of going outside to play. Another example is sitting together as a family to have dinner made family more closely. There were many things we have discussed at the dinner table. We talk about how our day, the happenings at school , work, upcoming events, share funny stories and express concerns about thing of important to us. Having parents spend time with children are very good example of family values. Read more: Lessons Learned From Parents Another valuable that parents belief is education. Most parents believed that education is a value for success in the future. A parents role is to support their child academic growth.. My parents always support me. They had me observe how they both work hard to support family. They explained to me if they had had college education, things would be a little easier for our family. If my parents had not given me self confidence, I wouldnt have enrolled in college. Parents are very important to their childrens education. All parents want their children to be a successful person in future. They influence their kids as much as good thing whenever they could. Find good school for their children; support them when they need help. Teach them how to be good person and go to school for better life. Parents are very important to a childs life.

Security models

Security models EXECUTIVE SUMMARY One of the most essential part of securing access to data, information, security, as well as computer organization is by having security policy. A computer security policy consist of a clearly defined and precise set of rules, for determining authorization as a basis for making access control decisions. A security policy captures the security requirements of an establishment or describes the steps that have to be taken to achieve the desired level of security. A security policy is typically stated in terms of subjects and objects, given the desired subject and object there must be a set of rules that are used by the system to determine whether a given subject can be given access to a specific object. A security model is a formal or an informal way of capturing such policies. Security models are an important concept in the design of a system. The implementation of the system is then based on the desired security model. In particular, security models are used to test a particular policy for completeness and consistency document a policy help conceptualize and design an implementation check whether an implementation meets its requirements We assume that some access control policy dictates whether a given user can access a particular object. We also assume that this policy is established outside any model. That is, a policy decision determines whether a specific user should have access to a specific object; the model is only a mechanism that enforces that policy. Thus, we begin studying models by considering simple ways to control access by one user. In this paper, we would briefly explain about two main security models that have already known and been used in securing a system. The two of them are BIBA and Bell La-Padula. Basically this two known system have been used widely in the world and it is essential for us as security technology students to understand and implement it in the future system. We highly hope that this paper can help the student to understand the security policy that being implemented by the BIBA and Bell La-Padula model. CATEGORY OF SECURITY MODELS Biba Model The Biba integrity model was published in 1977 at the Mitre Corporation, one year after the Bell La-Padula model (Cohen ). As stated before, the Bell La-Padula models guarantees confidentiality of data but not its integrity. As a result, Biba created a model use address to enforcing integrity in a computer system. The Biba model proposed a group of integrity policies that can be used. So, the Biba model is actually family of different integrity policies. Each of the policies uses different conditions to ensure information integrity (Castano). The Biba model, in turn, uses both discretionary and nondiscretionary policies. The Biba model uses labels to give integrity levels to the subjects and objects. The data marked with a high level of integrity will be more accurate and reliable than data labeled with a low integrity level. The integrity level use to prohibit the modification of data. Access Modes The Biba Model consists of group access modes. The access modes are similar to those used in other models, although they may use different terms to define them. The access modes that the Biba model supports are: Modify: allows a subject to write to an object. This mode is similar to the write mode in other models. Observe: allows a subject to read an object. This command is synonyms with the read command of other models. Invoke: allows a subject to communicate with another subject. Execute: allows a subject to execute an object. The command essentially allows a subject to execute a program which is the object Policies Supported by the Biba Model The Biba model can be divided into two types of policies, those that are mandatory and those that are discretionary. Mandatory Policies: Strict Integrity Policy Low-Water-Mark Policy for Subjects Low-Water-Mark Policy for Objects Low-Water-Mark Integrity Audit Policy Ring Policy Discretionary Policies: Access Control Lists Object Hierarchy Ring Mandatory Biba Policies The Strict Integrity Policy is the first part of the Biba model. The policy states:  § Simple Integrity Condition: s ∈ S can observe o∈ O if and only if i(s) ≠¤ i(o).  § Integrity Star Property: s ∈ S can modify to o∈ O if and only if i(o) ≠¤ i(s).  § Invocation Property: sâ‚  ∈ S can invoke sâ‚‚ ∈ S if and only if i(sâ‚‚ ) ≠¤ i(sâ‚  ). The first part of the policy is known as the simple integrity property. The property states that a subject may observe an object only if the integrity level of the subject is less than the integrity level of the object. The second rule of the strict integrity property is the integrity star property. This property states that a subject can write to an object only if the objects integrity level is less than or equal to the subjects level. This rule prevents a subject from writing to a more trusted object. The last rule is the invocation property, which states that a subject sâ‚  can only invoke another subject sâ‚‚, if sâ‚‚ has a lower integrity level than sâ‚ . The strict integrity policy enforces â€Å"no write-up† and â€Å"no read-down† on the data in the system, which is a subject, is only allowed to modify data at their level or a low level. The â€Å"no write up† is essential since it limits the damage that can be done by malicious objects in the system. On the other hand, the â€Å"no read down† prevents a trusted subject from being contaminated by a less trusted object. Specifically, the strict integrity property restricts the reading of lower level objects which may be too restrictive in some cases. To combat this problem, Biba devised a number of dynamic integrity polices that would allow trusted subjects access to an un-trusted objects or subjects. Biba implemented these in a number of different low-water mark policies. The low-watermark policy for subjects is the second part of the Biba model. The policy states:  § Integrity Star Property: s ∈ S can modify o∈ O if and only if i(o) ≠¤ i(s).  § If s ∈ S examines o ∈ O the i†² (s) = min(i(s),i(o)), where i†² (s) is the subjects integrity level after the read.  § Invocation Property: sâ‚ Ã¢Ë†Ë† S can invoke sâ‚‚ ∈ S if and only if i(sâ‚‚ ) ≠¤ i(sâ‚  ). The low-watermark policy for subjects is a dynamic policy because it lowers the integrity level of a subject based on the observations of objects. This policy is not without its problems. One problem with this policy is if a subject observes a lower integrity object it will drop the subjects integrity level. Then, if the subject needs to legitimately observe another object it may not be able to do so because the subjects integrity level has been lowered. Depending on the times of read requests by the subject, to observe the objects, a denial of service could develop. The low-watermark policy for objects is the third part of the Biba model. This policy is similar to the low-watermark policy for subject. The policy states:  § s ∈ S can modify any o ∈ O regardless of integrity level.  § If s ∈ S observe o ∈ O the i†² (o) = min(i(s),i(o)), where i†² (o) is the objects integrity level after it is modified. This policy allows any subject to modify any object. The objects integrity level is then lowered if the subjects integrity level is less than the objects. This policy is also dynamic because the integrity levels of the objects in the system are changed based on what subjects modify them. This policy does nothing to prevent an un-trusted subject from modifying a trusted object. The policy provides no real protection in a system, but lowers the trust placed in the objects. If a malicious program was inserted into the computer system, it could modify any object in the system. The result would be to lower the integrity level of the infected object. It is possible with this policy that, overtime; there will be no more trusted objects in the system because their integrity level has been lowered by subjects modifying them. The low-watermark integrity audit policy is the fourth mandatory policy under the Biba model. The policy states:  § s ∈ S can modify any o ∈ O , regardless of integrity levels.  § If a subject modifies a higher level object the transaction is recorded in an audit log. The low-watermark integrity audit policy simply records that an improper modification has taken place. The audit log must then be examined to determine the cause of the improper modification. The drawback to this policy is that it does nothing to prevent an improper modification of an object to occur. The Ring Policy is the last mandatory policy in the Biba Model. This policy is not dynamic like the first three policies. Integrity labels used for the ring policy are fixed, similar to those in the strict integrity policy. The Ring Policy states:  § Any subject can observe any object, regardless of integrity levels.  § Integrity Star Property: s ∈ S can modify o∈ O if and only if i(o) ≠¤ i(s).  § Invocation Property: sâ‚  ∈ S can invoke sâ‚‚ ∈ S if and only if i(sâ‚‚ ) ≠¤ i(sâ‚ ). The ring policy is not perfect; it allows improper modifications to take place. A subject can read a low level subject, and then modifies the data observed at its integrity level (Castano). Advantages Disadvantages Advantages: Ø Easy to implement So, It is no harder to implement the strict integrity policy. Ø Provides a number of different policies If the strict integrity property is too restricting, one of the dynamic policies could be used in its place. Disadvantages: Ø The model does nothing to enforce confidentiality. Ø The Biba model does not support the granting and revocation of authorization. Ø This model is selecting the right policy to implement. Bell La-Padula Model The Bell La-Padula model is a classical model used to define access control. The model is based on a military-style classification system (Bishop). With a military model, the sole goal is to prevent information from being leaked to those who are not privileged to access the information. The Bell La-Padula was developed at the Mitre Corporation, a government funded organization, in the 1970s (Cohen). The Bell La-Padula is an information flow security model because it prevents information to flow from a higher security level to a lower security level. The Bell La-Padula model is based around two main rules: the simple security property and the star property. The simple security property states that a subject can read an object if the object is classification is less than or equal to the subjects clearance level. The simple security property prevents subjects from reading more privileged data. The star property states that a subject can write to an object, if the subjects clearance level is less than or equal to the objects classification level. What the star property essentially does is it prevents the 2 lowering of the classification level of an object. The properties of the Bell La-Padula model are commonly referred to as â€Å"no read up† and â€Å"no write down†, respectively. The Bell La-Padula model is not flawless. Specifically, the model does not deal with the integrity of data. It is possible for a lower level subject to write to a higher classified object. Because of these short comings, the Biba model was created. The Biba model in turn is deeply rooted in the Bell La-Padula model. There is a slightly embellished Mealy-type automaton as our model for computer systems. That is, a system (or machine) M is composed of  § a set S of states, with an initial state s0 2 S,  § a set U of users (or subjects in security parlance),  § a set C of commands (or operations), and  § a set O of outputs, Together with the functions next and out:  § next: S Ãâ€" U Ãâ€" C → S  § out: S Ãâ€" U Ãâ€" C → O Pairs of the form (u, c) 2 U Ãâ€" C are called actions. We derive a function next*: Ø Next*: S Ãâ€" (U Ãâ€" C)* → S (The natural extension of next to sequences of actions) by the equations Ø Next*(s, Λ) = s, and Ø Next*(s, ÃŽ ± ââ€" ¦ (u, c)) = next (next*(s, ÃŽ ±), u, c), Where Λ denotes the empty string and ââ€" ¦ denotes string concatenation. Based on these two primitive types of access, four more elaborate ones can be constructed. These are known as w, r, a, and e access, respectively: w : write access permits both observation and alteration, r : read access permits observation but not alteration, a : append access permits alteration, but not observation, and e : execute access permits neither observation nor alteration. In order to model formally this internal structure of the system state we introduce a set N of object names, a set V of object values, the set A = {w, r, a, e} of access types, And also the functions contents and current-access-set: contents: S Ãâ€" N → V , current-access-set: S → P(U Ãâ€" N Ãâ€" A) (where P denotes power set) with the interpretation that contents(s, n) returns the value of object n in state s, while current-access-set(s) returns the set of all triples (u, n, x) such that subject u has access type x to object n in state s. Observe that contents captures the idea of the value state, while current-access-set embodies the protection state of the system. Thus, we introduce functions alter, and observe: alter : S → P(U Ãâ€" N), and observe : S → P(U Ãâ€" N) with the definitions: observe(s) def = {(u, n) | (u, n,w) or (u, n, r) Є current-access-set(s)}, and alter(s) def = {(u, n) | (u, n,w) or (u, n, a) Є current-access-set(s)}. That is, observe(s) returns the set of all subject-object pairs (u, n) for which subject u has observation rights to object n in state s, while alter (s) returns the set of all pairs for which subject u has alteration rights to object n in state s. Definitions of Bell La-Padula Definition 1 (Simple Security Property) A state s Є S satisfies the simple security property if Є N: Ø (u, n) Є observe(s) clearance (u) ≠¥ classification(s, n). A rule r is ss-property-preserving if next(s, u, r) satisfies the ss-property whenever s does. Definition 2 (*-property) Let T U denote the set of trusted subjects. A state s Є S satisfies the *-property if, for all un-trusted subjects u Є UT (we use to denote set difference) and objects n Є N: Ø (u, n) Є alter(s) âŠÆ' classification(s, n) âŠÆ' current-level(s, u), and Ø (u, n) Є observe(s) current-level(s, u) âŠÆ' classification(s, n). A rule r is *-property-preserving if next(s, u, r) satisfies the *-property whenever s does. Note that it follows from these definitions that: Ø (u, n, a) Є current-access-set(s)current-level(s, u), Ø (u, n, r) Є current-access-set(s) classification(s, n), And Ø (u, n,w) Є current-access-set(s) classification(s, n) = current-level(s, u). Also, as a simple consequence of the transitivity of ≠¥, if a state s satisfies the *-property and u is an un-trusted subject with alteration rights to object n1 and observation rights to object n2 (in state s), then Ø classification(s, n1) ≠¥ classification(s, n2). The original formulation of the *- property was somewhat different than that given above in that it did not employ the notion of a subjects current-level. The formulation of the *-property given in [1, Volume II] is, u Є TU, and m, n Є N: Ø (u,m) Є observe(s) ^ (u, n) Є alter(s) âŠÆ' classification(s, n) âŠÆ' classification(s,m). Definition 3 (Security) A state is secure if it satisfies both the simple security property and the *-property. A rule r is security-preserving if next(s, u, r) is secure whenever s is. We say that a state s is reachable if Ø s = next*(s0, ÃŽ ±) for some action sequence ÃŽ ± Є (U Ãâ€" C)*. A system satisfies the simple security property if every reachable state satisfies the simple security property. A system satisfies the *-property if every reachable state satisfies the *-property. A system is secure if every reachable state is secure. Applications of Bell La-Padula Bell and La Padula demonstrated the application of their security model by using the results of the previous section to establish the security of a representative class of 11 rules. These rules were chosen to model those found in the Multics system. 1. Get-Read (rule 1 of [2]) A subject u may call the rule get-read(n) in order to acquire read access to the object n. The rule checks that the following conditions are satisfied. clearance (u) ≠¥ classification(s, n) If u is not a trusted subject (i.e., u Є UT), then o current-level(s, u) ≠¥ classification(s, n) If both these conditions are satisfied, the rule modifies the protection state by setting  § current-access-set(s0) = current-access-set(s) {(u, n, r)}, where s0 denotes the new system state following execution of the rule. Otherwise, the system state is not modified. The security of get-read follows directly from Corollary 9. 2. Get-Append, Get-Execute, Get-Write (rules 2 to 4 of [2]) These are analogous to get-read. 3. Release-Read (rule 5 of [2]) A subject u may call the rule release-read(n) in order to release its read access right to the object n. No checks are made by the rule, which simply modifies the protection state by setting  § current-access-set(s0) = current-access-set(s){(u, n, r)}, where s0 denotes the new system state following execution of the rule. The security of release read follows directly from Theorem 10. 4. Release-Execute, Release-Append, Release-Write (rule 5 of [2]) These are analogous to release-read. 5. Change-Subject-Current-Security-Level (rule 10 of [2]) A subject u may call Change-Subject-Current-Security-Level(l) in order to request that its current-level be changed to l. The rule checks that the following conditions are satisfied. clearance(u) ≠¥ l (i.e., a subjects current-level may not exceed its clearance). If u is an un-trusted subject (i.e., u Є UT) then assigning l as the current level of u must not cause the resulting state to violate the *-property—i.e.,n Є N:  § (u, n) Є alter(s) âŠÆ' classification(s, n) ≠¥ l, and  § (u, n) Є observe(s) âŠÆ' l ≠¥ classification(s, n). If both these conditions are satisfied, the rule modifies the system state by settingcurrent-level (s0, u) = l, where s0 denotes the new system state following execution of the rule. Otherwise, the system state is not modified. 6. Change-Object-Security-Level (rule 11 of [2]) A subject u may call Change-Object-Security-Level(n, l) in order to request that the classification of object n be changed to l. The rule checks that the following conditions are satisfied. current-level(s, u) ≠¥ classification(s, n) (i.e., no subject may change the classification of an object which is currently classified above its own level). If u is an un-trusted subject (i.e., u Є UT), then current-level(s, u) ≠¥ l and l ≠¥ classification(s, n), o (i.e., untrusted subjects may not â€Å"downgrade† the classification of an object). v Є U, (v, n) 2 observe(s) âŠÆ' current-level(s, v) ≠¥ l (i.e., if any subject has observation rights to the object n, then the current level of that subject must dominate the new classification of n). Assigning l as the classification of n must not cause the resulting state to violate the *-property. If these conditions are satisfied, the rule modifies the system state by setting classification (s0, n) = l, where s0 denotes the new system state following execution of the rule. Otherwise, the system state is not modified. There are several limitations of BLP: Restricted to confidentiality No policies for changing access rights; a general and complete downgrade is secure; BLP is intended for systems with static security levels. BLP contains covert channels: a low subject can detect the existence of high objects when it is denied access. Sometimes, it is not sufficient to hide only the contents of objects. Also their existence may have to be hidden.

Pregnancy in the Military :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As the United States military moves towards a more bi-gender dependant force, it will be necessary for leaders and managers to combat the growing increasing of junior enlisted pregnancies. Through leadership skills, communication, and understanding the causes of the problems, leaders will be able to lower the rate of pregnancy, henceforth, increasing fleet readiness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To even consider any type of resolution or solution to the problem of pregnancy amongst junior enlisted members, we must first analyze the concept of fleet readiness and the units that comprise it in today’s military. As the post-Cold War military is downsized to fit the new world order and the decreasing defense budgets, there is increasing concern about the readiness of the military. If the military is called upon to achieve our national objectives, will they be where they are needed, when they are needed, and prepared to perform their missions? Since no one wants another episode of the ill-equipped, poorly trained â€Å"hollow force† that existed in late 1970’s, both President Clinton and former Secretary of Defense Perry cited readiness as the top defense priority.1   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The joint forces Publication 1-02 defines readiness as the ability of forces, units, weapon-systems, or equipment, to deliver the outputs for which they were designed (this includes the ability to deploy and employ without unacceptable delays).2 In other words, deployability of servicemen/women and equipment to accomplish tasks around the globe is paramount. With this broad definition of fleet readiness, we can determine that the deployability of junior servicemen and women is a major factor to accomplishing fleet readiness within any force. While junior enlisted personnel comprise the majority of service people deployed throughout the world, this paper will explore the impact of the junior enlisted servicewoman and how different factors within command climate cause pregnancy to be a fleet readiness problem.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since readiness of the military is a high priority issue, Public Law 103-337, Section 533 requires the Department of Defense to submit an annual report on readiness factors by race and gender, beginning in FY96. As part of this report, deployability trends must be tracked. To ensure the data is reported correctly, a contract was issued to Logistics Management Institute to provide â€Å"a comprehensive analysis of the impact of non-deployable personnel on readiness. This study will also look at the degree to which individuals in active component units, who are non-deployable, are adversely affecting readiness.†1 With all the attention being given to readiness, it is important to understand some of the factors that may impact readiness

cloning :: essays papers

cloning Abstract As bioethics Leon R. Kass points out in his essay The Wisdom of Repugnance, those who defend human cloning regard themselves mainly as friends of freedom: the freedom of individuals to reproduce, the freedom of scientists and inventors to discover and devise and to foster ‘progress’ in genetic knowledge and technique." Kass goes on to stress that in fact, a "right to reproduce" has always been a peculiar and problematic notion. Rights generally belong to individuals, but this is a right which (before cloning) no one can exercise alone. Does the right then inhere only in couples? Only in married couples? Is it a (woman’s) right to carry or deliver or a right (of one or more parents) to nurture and rear? Is it a right to have your own biological child? Is it a right only to attempt reproduction, or a right also to succeed? Is it a right to acquire the baby of one’s choice? Critical analysis Kass debate on human cloning has brought to the surface a glaring deficiency of bioethics. It has few if any good methods for dealing with new and novel technologies. By that I mean those technologies where there seem to be no relevant historical precedents and where the potential benefits and harms are speculative only, not yet available for empirical testing. How might we best try to assess such technologies, and what counts as a good or bad argument for ethics and for public policy? Nor is it reasonable to insist on "empirical evidence" of benefit or harm when the scientific outcomes are still in the future and wholly speculative in nature. Such evidence could become available only when human cloning was a reality; and then it could take years or decades after that to determine whether it had been a wise move to allow the research to go forward in the first place. The key issue here is not genetic determinism or genetic identity but the preservation of individuality — by no means the same as genetic identity. Even so-called "identical" twins are not wholly identical genetically; that is well known. More to the point here is the issue of parents trying to use children for parental ends, procreating them with traits chosen by the parents for the purr-poses of the parents, not the welfare of the children. We happily accept twins when they are born, but no parents I have heard of go out of their way to procreate twins, or turn to assisted reproduction specialists to procreate twins. cloning :: essays papers cloning Abstract As bioethics Leon R. Kass points out in his essay The Wisdom of Repugnance, those who defend human cloning regard themselves mainly as friends of freedom: the freedom of individuals to reproduce, the freedom of scientists and inventors to discover and devise and to foster ‘progress’ in genetic knowledge and technique." Kass goes on to stress that in fact, a "right to reproduce" has always been a peculiar and problematic notion. Rights generally belong to individuals, but this is a right which (before cloning) no one can exercise alone. Does the right then inhere only in couples? Only in married couples? Is it a (woman’s) right to carry or deliver or a right (of one or more parents) to nurture and rear? Is it a right to have your own biological child? Is it a right only to attempt reproduction, or a right also to succeed? Is it a right to acquire the baby of one’s choice? Critical analysis Kass debate on human cloning has brought to the surface a glaring deficiency of bioethics. It has few if any good methods for dealing with new and novel technologies. By that I mean those technologies where there seem to be no relevant historical precedents and where the potential benefits and harms are speculative only, not yet available for empirical testing. How might we best try to assess such technologies, and what counts as a good or bad argument for ethics and for public policy? Nor is it reasonable to insist on "empirical evidence" of benefit or harm when the scientific outcomes are still in the future and wholly speculative in nature. Such evidence could become available only when human cloning was a reality; and then it could take years or decades after that to determine whether it had been a wise move to allow the research to go forward in the first place. The key issue here is not genetic determinism or genetic identity but the preservation of individuality — by no means the same as genetic identity. Even so-called "identical" twins are not wholly identical genetically; that is well known. More to the point here is the issue of parents trying to use children for parental ends, procreating them with traits chosen by the parents for the purr-poses of the parents, not the welfare of the children. We happily accept twins when they are born, but no parents I have heard of go out of their way to procreate twins, or turn to assisted reproduction specialists to procreate twins.

Older people in the society Essay

According to Roberts (1970) older people are the whole of a generation who have survived to a certain age. They are not a deviant group or one small special section of the population. They are ordinary people who happen to have reached a particular age. There are several assumptions made about older people and their health. The first is that increasing age is always accompanied by increasing frailty and disability. As a result, the increasing numbers of older people in society are usually seen as a social and economic burden (Le Grand 1993). The second assumption is that age is that age is always accompanied by ill health. The negative images of aging and older people can be all pervasive and influence decisions about the health and social care of older people which may not necessarily be in their best interest. As per the survey of United States census burro, in the year 2010, 30.8% of total population in Europe was older people aged over 65 years old. Among these, 8.4 percent over 75 years old and 4.9 percent were aged 80 or more than 80 years old. In the year 1990 it was 6.1% and 3.2% respectively, when the total old age population was 23% of total population. These figures prove that the old age population is increasing, and the problems related to old age as well. The first part of this assignment discusses some common issues related to old age. This part mainly focuses on the physical, mental and social problems of senior citizens. Then it goes through some reflective aspects of author. For that I pass through the theories and models of reflection also make an attempt to compare different models of reflection. Finally I examine one of my own experiences with an older person, by using one of the reflective models. Statistics shows that there will be an enormous increase in the ageing population over the next 20 year, particularly in those aged over 75, who will suffer most from illness, or some sort of disability. The population of Great Britain and most other countries is growing older and although this trend has largely been ignored for 2 centauries, it is now regarded as a major political and economic challenge for the future. This is because the last 30years seen a significant increase in the population of both number and proportion of people aged 65 and over. The greatest growth has been in those people aged 85 and over. The world population of older people over 65 will increase more than twice as fast as the total population of the world during  the period 19 96-2000. In every region, the population over 75 will increase at an even faster rate and those over 80 will increase faster of all. There are many health problems related to old age. As per the opinion of Hodkinson (1975) older people differ in three major ways from the young: in the type and number of diseases and accidents, in their reaction to disease and in special features to do with their background (Hodkinson, 1975). They often have a multiplicity of diseases, partly accounted for by the accumulation of non-lethal diseases such as osteoarthritis and deafness. They are more likely to fall than any other age groups, except the under-fives, often with serious consequences. (Department of trade and industry, 1995). Heart disease and stroke are particularly prevalent in old age and the majority of all deaths from heart disease and stroke occur in those aged 65 years and above.Whereas, as a recent study has shown, prevalence rates of most of the major health related behaviors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, sexual behavior and diet were commonly lower among older people (DoH central health monitoring unit, 2006). Psychological or emotional disorders in old people are too common, Older people themselves may be unwilling to seek help or reveal their feelings to others due to a fear of stigma or a lack of knowledge about the help available to them. Chronic diseases, psychological changes, malnutriti on and medication can exacerbate psychological problems in the elderly. Poor eye sight, poor hearing and slower reactions all contributes to a lack of confidence and increased social isolation for some older people. Dementia and depression are the two general psychological disorders in elderly among this dementia is a higher prevalence. According to Victor (1989) it is difficult to accurately estimate the incidence of dementia within the population because of the problem of diagnosis, although unreliable evidence may lead us to believe that most of the population over the age of 65 years is ‘demented’. Aside from the physical and emotional influences accompanying aging, growing old can be a time of social and economic change. For some people in their 50s can be a rich and rewarding time where they can enjoy the fruits of their labors, hand over responsibility for their children and look forward to enjoying new tasks or activities (Gavilan, 1992). For others it may not be such a positive experience, affected by redundancy, financial insecurity,  bereavement and the physical manifestations of aging. Retirement does not only affect an older person’s income but can also have a detrimental effect upon their social contact and status. Most of them consider retirement as a process of loss: loss of inc ome, loss of status, and loss of purpose and routine. In this situation, Jerrome’s (1991) opinion sounds very relevant, he said that there seems to be a paradoxical situation where the state provides money and support for those who are considered too old for employment while those who are receiving the benefits would be happier carrying out a job of any kind. Caring older people is a challenging process, as it is different from caring a younger. When caring an older person it is necessary to observe them well to understand their feelings and emotions. Reflective thinking will help a health practitioner to achieve this. When reflection is considered as an effective tool in clinical practice, one should have a basic knowledge about the meaning of reflection. In fact, defining the terms proves challenging for anyone seeking to make clear the nature of reflection. There have been number of attempts, to define the term reflection by authors, poets and philosophers alike. Among those interpretations, a definition presented by Johns (johns 1995:24) is literally very near to the ‘word’ reflection; he explained reflection as the practitioner’s capability to evaluate, make sense of and learn through personal experience in order to secure more attractive, useful and satisfying work. Moreover, reflective practice has been developed in health care, especially in nursing, as a way of gaining and building up on that experienced knowledge. Before using Reflection as a tool in clinical practice one should (B .J. Taylor 2000:3) â€Å"throw back of thoughts and memories, in cognitive acts such as thinking , contemplation, meditation and any other form of helpful considerations in order to make sense of them and to make appropriate changes if they are required†. As per this suggestion nurses should analyze their day to day practice and secure the valuable knowledge to lighten their future practice. In other words, as an American philosopher Dewey (1963) suggested that one has to learn by doing and realizing what came of what they did. In searching  different studies and opinions about the process reflection, we can find out different opinions about the aspects, styles and ways of using reflection as a tool in professional practice. Schon (1983) offered two main aspects of reflective practice those are; being reflection on action and reflection in action. Reflection on action is a recollection process of thinking and meditating on an action with the aim of making sense of the incident and using the results to improve future doings. It would be helpful, if nurses and health care workers make this theory real in their clinical practice. But the next one, ‘reflection in action’ is quite strange and had some arguments around it. As per the opinion of greenwood (1998) reflection cannot be recognized before action. In contradiction, Reed and Procter (1993) said that, reflective thinking about a situation, which is likely to happen, in advance is an important precursor to introduce clinical leadership and s upervision. In other words thinking through a particular situation may help to make a prediction and give a chance to take some precautions for a future occurring issue. When considering the role of reflection in nursing profession, Taylor (2004) suggested that reflection can be used as a system of thinking which helps the nurses to maintain vigilance in caring especially when caring an older person. Freshwater (2002) raised almost similar opinion he said that, reflection helps to encourage a holistic, individualized approach to care. When go through these opinions, we can understand that reflection helps a lot to give good care to the patient by productively making rapid changes in the clinical approach, in other words, it provides an opportunity for a rapid and progressive refocusing of work activity (Smyth, 1992). Before I make an attempt to assess my reflective account, which has given me a different outlook about old age, I should choose one model of reflection to analyze my experience. There are few theories, help one to explore his/or her clinical experiences or some incidents in which they have taken part a role of a leader, such as Gibbsâ₠¬â„¢(1988) model of reflection, Johns’ model of reflection and Driscoll’s model of structured reflection. Comparing these models, Gibbs’ and Drisoll’s(2000) models raises some questions that are focused on describing, analyzing, evaluating one personal experience and reach a conclusion, from  which finally makes an action plan for the future. Though Johns’ (2002) model appears more complicated and passing through lot of self examine questions, this model fails to draw an action plan which is considered as the vital process of reflective thinking. Even though Gibbs’ and Drissoll’s models are almost same in frame work I like to choose Gibb’s model as it gives me a chance to recollect my feelings and thoughts about my experience, as well as evaluate the good and bad about it. Since we are human beings it is important that our thoughts and feelings are to be memorized and evaluated, according to Taylor (2006) humans have the ability to think and to think about passed emotions, as we are offered with the gifts of memory and reflection. I believe tha t Gibbs’ model has a good frame work and moreover, for me, it is easily applicable in my experience as it is straightforward in nature and it allows me to answer the questions that arise from the practicalities of my clinical experiences. Here I make an attempt to assess one of the main issues of old age on the basis of my own personal experience. I do like to choose Gibbs’ model as a criterion to analyze it. In the first step, as per Gibbs’s model of reflection, ‘description’ of the event includes, what was the event? Where it happened? Who were with you then? What you did? And what were the results and draw backs; the description of my reflective experience is that while I was working in a psychiatric hospital in India, where I have got many different experiences with older people. I considerer all of them as my reflective accounts and it all help me to understand the old age and its complications. The incident is that, there was one patient in our ward he was about 78 years and had some psychological problems. He was very calm and quite almost every time, but occasionally he became very aggressive and violent. In that hospital, a custom was prevailing that inform relatives when a patient become very aggressive. So we used to inform his relatives when he got out of control. After meeting with his son or daughter, his condition would have become significantly normal. And he seemed very happy and comfortable with them. But when they left him there, he was again going back to a depressed mood. When I noticed this events many times I was really interested in that patient and I tried to make a good relationship with him. Finally I succeed; he used to speak with me a lot  even about his thoughts and feelings. And one day he told me that he really did not have any serious psychological disorders. He was acted as a psychotic person so that he could see his family. And he told me that he really did missing them. He never liked to be there. It was one of my mind blowing experiences I encountered during my clinical practice. The reflective account I explained above point out to one of the main problems of old age which is nothing but ‘loneliness’, Social seclusion and loneliness have long been recognized as problems linked with old age (Sheldon 1948 ; Halmos 1952). Loneliness has been defined as an unpleasant emotion state in which the older person feels apart from others. As I completed the description of the event, I go in to the next process; ‘feelings’. In this stage one should recall the situation and try to find out that what he/she thought and felt when they went through the experience? Considering my reflective experience, there were many thoughts passed through my mind. Old age is certain for every human being. Everyone has to pass through that period. At that time I thought about his feelings. He might have been working hard to raise his children, but when he became unproductive he was thrown to the miseries of loneliness. I felt empathy to the patient because after I came to know him more I could thoroughly understand his feelings. And I thought about the reasons of the seclusion of old age. The third stage is ‘evaluation’. As per this stage I should evaluate my experience and find out the good and bad about it. When driving back my memory through my reflective experience, I can say that the main good aspect of that situation was that I could be a good listener of that man. I think he might have experienced some relief when he shared his burden of feelings with me. That awareness gave me a great amount of satisfaction. Moreover I could realize some skills which must have possessed a care worker such as patience and being a good listener, which I had never realized until then. One the other hand, there are some bad aspects too I could find out. Even though I had been working in the same department for about six months I was a little late to realise his problems, I had to find out his feeling of loneliness earlier. It shows, at that time, I have lack of ability to identify the problems of the patients. Analysis of the event is the next stage. In this stage I have to think about what sense can be made of the situation which I faced. The first sense which I could make about this incident is that the main reason of the psychological problems present in older people is because of their social seclusion and loneliness. And the important thing I learned from this incident is the severity of loneliness in older people. They would even act as insane to get rid of their loneliness. They need rather love and care than treatment. As per the Gibbs’ frame work ‘conclusion’ is the next stage. In this step I conceder my faults which I had got when I deal with that incident. In that sense I could have realised the patient’s problem of loneliness earlier. If I came to know about this earlier I could invite the attention of his relatives to this issue. Now I understand that it is necessary to mingle with them and caring them in order to make them comfortable in the surroun dings of an old age home. The final and important stage is ‘action plan’. Here I should think about what I would do if I go through the same situation. Undoubtedly I would act differently because, now I know the draw backs of old age and what they are expecting from others. So if i would be in the same situation I would understand the problem of the patient earlier and help him reduce his feeling of loneliness. Next time I would find out more ways to escape the older patients from being lonely. In order to achieve this, encourage them to busy with some hobbies or learning some new skills, such as the use of the computers. I think they would enjoy learning computers and having great fun sharing their new skill. The next and important thing is that, I have to improve my communication skills. I would make sure that all the elderly inmates in my ward get communicated and listen to their problems. I will consider this as one of my important responsibilities in the clinical area, Because Duffy. K. and Hardicre (2007) suggested that Caring for the elderly patients is a necessary element of the nurse’s role as well as a professional commitment. In conclusion, loneliness is the major issue of old age. It is different from solitude because older people can be lonely while living with other people such as residential care. Loneliness can be a symptom of depression but can be prevented by the encouragement of physical  and mental activity and being socially active; the saying ‘use it or lose it’ cannot be overemphasised. After all, when considering this essay as my reflective writing, it helps me to secure more awareness about my caring older people. Besides that I have got a clear out look about using models and theories to analyses my experiences. Finally, this reflective thinking makes me more confident to face and deal with difficult situations. Reference List: Department of trade and industry; consumer safety unit (1995) home accident surveillance system: report on 1993 accident data and safety research, DTI, London. Dewey, J. (1963) Experience and education, New York: Collier books.87-89. 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(1975) an outline of geriatrics, academic press, London. Jerrome, D. (1991) social bonds in later life. Social and psychological gerontology, clinical gerontology, 1: 297-306. Johns, C. (1995) ‘Framing learning through reflection within carper’s fundamental ways of knowing in nursing’. Journal of advanced nursing, 22: 226-34. Johns, C. (2002) Guided reflection: Advancing practice, Oxford: Blackwell science. Le Grand, J, (1993) ‘can we afford the welfare state’? British medical journal; 307(6911): 1018-1019. Reed, J. and Procter, S. (1993) Nurse education: a reflective approach, London: Edward Arnold. Roberts, N. (1970) our future selves: care of the elderly, Allen and Unwin, London. Schon, D. (1983) The reflective practitioner: how practitioners think in action, New York: Basic books. Sheldon, J. H. (1948) The Social Medicine of Old Age: Report of an Inquiry in Wolverhampton, Oxford University Press, London. Smyth, J. (1992) ‘Teachers’ work and the politics of reflection’, American education research journal, 29(2): 267-300. Taylor, B. (2004) ‘Technical, practical and emancipator reflection for practicing holistically’, Journal of holistic nursing, 22(1): 73-84. Taylor, B. J. (2003) ‘Emancipator reflective practice for overcoming complexities and constraints in holistic health care’, Sacred space, 4(2): 40-5. Taylor, B. J. (2006) Reflective Practice: A guide for nurses and mid wives, 2nd edn. UK: Open University press, Milton Keyness. Victor, C. (1989) ‘the myth of the woopie: poverty and affluence in later life’, geriatric medicine, (19)12: 22, 25-2