Recording music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Recording music - Essay Example Technology has today simplified the work in the music industry. It is easier for a producer to produce high-quality music without the use of instruments. Music producers in most cases are competent composers or songwriters who can constantly inject new ideas into a project (Landy, 2013). He or she will often select and suggest to the mixing engineer what to record, edits and modifies the songs with software tools. This creates a stereo of all the artists’ voices and instruments to produce a high-quality soundtrack. The composers must be, therefore, communicative and meaningful in their music. She talked about Nyman’s process music, an audible or concealed process to the listeners. This is a very dynamic and highly complex process that involves audible structures in musical performance. The chance determination limits the composer’s powers in determining the materiality. This means that one can take an idea, put it through the process and wait for the outcome, which the ideas will generate by itself (Nyman, 2000). The process gives the performers a chance to move through the suggested or given material at their speed, useful for the in-depth understanding of the whole idea.It also helps in the detailed understanding of what was not understood during the first listening thus making recording more relevant. The presenter also encouraged the use of technology to capture or record musical ideas with an aim of repeated listening to manipulate, recreate, recycle and cannibalize these ideas in order to produce quality stereo.

Answers to Prompt Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Answers to Prompt Questions - Essay Example However, the idea of Plato that knowledge is inclined more on the non-sensible Forms contradicts his own metaphysical claim that Forms would depend upon the interpretation of the philosopher’s works. According to Irwin (154), Plato’s epistemological claim states that â€Å"these Forms are inaccessible to the senses.† While Plato expressed that his metaphysical claim is â€Å"the Form of F has properties that no sensible F can have.† However, according to Silverman, epistemology is about the acquisition of knowledge and what knowledge is (Silverman). On the other hand, metaphysics is anything which can be thought and said to be. One cannot fully endorse Plato’s theory of Forms as there are difference in interpretations and opinions of the said work. Not all knowledge is being considered as knowledge by the philosopher. It is only those people who have philosophical thoughts or the non-sensible ideas which are being considered as knowledgeable. This p roposition does not apply to those who are exerting more on their physical capabilities. Acquiring skills can still be considered as knowledgeable by other people or group of thinkers, but not Plato. The idea quite discriminate skill workers which are very much part of the society especially with regards to the economic and workforce aspect. Though what the skilled are doing is sensible, their actions are still knowledge because they are thinking what to do next on a systematic manner. In this aspect, the famous line â€Å"I think, therefore I am† by Rene Descartes can come into context (Irwin, 148-55; Silverman; Russell, 516). Plato makes people seem that knowledge is unachievable which is contradicted by Descartes. According to the latter, there is no perfect knowledge. If the idea proposed by Descartes would be considered, one can be considered knowledgeable without the need to measure up to forms or criterions. Descartes may not have proven to everyone the existence of Go d; however, he had proclaimed its existence in his works. The author stated that the knowledge which a person acquires is from a supreme being, which is God. This is supported by the statement: But after I have discovered that God exists, seeing I also at the same time observed that all things depend on him, that he is no deceiver, and thence inferred that all which I clearly and distinctly perceive is of necessity true: although I no longer attend to the grounds of a judgment, no opposite reason can be alleged sufficient to lead me to doubt of its truth, provided only I remember that I once possessed a clear and distinct comprehension of it. (Descartes & Veitch, 109) There might be no concrete evidence to prove the existence of God. Nevertheless, knowing within the self that a supreme being exists is enough to convince the self and preach about its existence or truthfulness to others. Though there is neither a concrete fact nor a distinct indication of God’s existence, Desca rtes proposed his readers to meditate and reach within the self to be freed from the doubt that is covering them from recognizing the presence of a higher power. In most if not all of the writings attributed to Descartes, there is always an indication towards the existence and acknowledgement to the things created and attributed to the power and creation of God as the Supreme Being and higher power (Russell, 515-20; Descartes & Veitch, 103-10). There will always be people who would be skeptic upon the idea of God’

Problems with air pollution in Manila

Problems with air pollution in Manila In Manila there are a lot of problems with air pollution, hygiene practices and the lack of good sanitation. These are the most important hygiene and health related risks in the Philippines. One-sixth of all deaths in the Philippines and approximately 6,000 premature deaths a year are because of hygiene, water-borne diseases and poor sanitation conditions. Diarrhea is the most common water-borne disease, then intestinal worms, typhoid, and cholera. These diseases are very common because more than 25 million Filipinos do not have a basic access to sanitation and more than 13 million do not have proper water resources. Thanks to the water pollution the costs increases, which led to more than 6.7 billion in 2006. Air pollution makes this even worse, and therefore it is another big issue. The most common diseases are chronic bronchitis, pneumonia and cardiovascular diseases. And this is not going away soon, the city has a lot of factors which increases this. Like the smoke the vehicles leave behind, but also something small like tobacco smoke. The people who clean the city, which are more than 18 million people, are the biggest victims of this air pollution All the costs of treatment and lost income, due to air pollution, is more than 7.6 billion per year. Although there have been some improvements in alleviating diseases from the lack of hygiene and air pollution, which is thanks the governments more pro-active attempt for the environmental role in health, it is still a major problem. There should be more easy-to-access information on different methods and also more improvements in health infrastructure, such as good sanitation facilities and a healthy water resource to prevent health risks from water pollution. The government is now busy with discouraging people to use vehicles with high smoke emissions. Which is a big factor in air pollutions Quick Facts 2005 Population growth (annual %) 1.87 Population, total (millions) 85.50 Life expectancy at birth, total (years) 71.05 Mortality rate, infant (per 1,000 live births) 27.50 GNI (current US$) (millions) 98535 GNI per capita, Atlas method (current US$) 1160.0 Prevalence of HIV, total (% of population ages 15-49) . These are the Ten Leading Causes of Illness in the Philippines 1. Acute Lower RTI and Pneumonia 2. Bronchitis/ Bronchiolitis 3. Acute Watery Diarrhea. Influenza 5. Hypertension 6. TB Respiratory 7. Pneumonia 8. Diseases of the Heart 9. Malaria 10.Dengue Fever The most common diseases: degree of risk: high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, and Japanese encephalitis water contact disease: leptospirosis Of these diseases almost all of them are caused by the hygiene. Habitat A lot of conflicts are also because of their habitat, and what they are seen like. Because people cannot get easy higher up. The biggest one and the most known one is the Payatas The poorest families live on the Filipinos and collect trash of the dump. One of the dump places is Payatas, on the edge of Manilla. Where 4500 ton waste is dumped every day. More than 30.000 people, also children, live on this dump. Through day and night trucks are coming in and out with lots of garbage. This garbage consists of (operation) waste, from hospitals. It is not difficult to conclude that a lot of people get sick because of all the bacteria and germs that are produced by the garbage. Because of all the garbage that is dumped, the hill keeps getting bigger and bigger. This happens through the chemical processes who are caused by the scalding and joining together of substances. Around the dump there is a big haze which you can see on a very large distance. For most of the inhabitants of the Payates there is no other option than to work on the dump. More than 400 families collect garbage to support their family. Children from already a young age help with collection plastic, empty cans and other stuff which helps to produce some money. In short Payatas means a big hill with stinking garbage and a source for the incomes of hundreds of families Sanitation More than 2.6 billion people in the world have one thing in common, which is; they do not have good access to basic sanitation. Worldwide, there are about 1.7 million deaths a year, with 90% of them being children, who died mainly through infectious diarrhea. Which was caused by unsafe water, poor sanitation and hygiene. 1.5 million children a year could be saved by access to sanitation, good hygiene and a safe water supply A good sanitation will reduce children illnesses and so increase primary school enrolment, because children will not miss as much as used to be. Also it will increase the productivity among adults, it will provide more safety for women and also reduce the pollution of water resources. Fortunately it is increasing, in only 14 years more than 1 billion people have received access to sanitation. Sanitation and wastewater commitments have effectively tripled since 1990 and after that nearly doubled since 2002. Less than half of the Latin American countries are on track to double the rate of sanitation provision. Poor sanitation is responsible for at least 9 billion in losses per year in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam combined. Sanitation is a neglected aspect of development in countries, the money going to this is minor. If you look to the economic impacts of poor sanitation, and the potential gains from improved sanitation, than the investments in sanitation should be very helpful for everyone The most disastrous impact of poor sanitation is an increased risk of infectious diseases and premature death, declaring for more than 4.8 billion annually. Poor sanitation also contributes enormously to water pollution, adding to the costs of safe freshwater for homes, and increasing the production of fish in lakes and rivers. Garbage and streets Garbage  is a big problem for the communities in Manila. In the past years, Smokey Mountain, once a smoking mountain of garbage, which was Manilas monument to one of the citys most continuously problems; trash. But through years of effort, Smokey Mountain has been increased to a big hill. Still the problem goes on: What to do with the amount of garbage produced by more than 10 million residents of Manila every. In Dagat-Dagatan, Navotas, a group of women has taken the matter, of the communitys garbage, into their own hands through the Metropolitan Environmental Improvement Program (MEIP). The MEIP is a regional program for Asia with the costs provided by the United Nations Development Program and the World Bank as collaboration partner. Through the funding received by the local Dagat-Dagatan Polymedic Medical Foundation, the women of the Dagat-Dagatan community established a community centre; the Zero Kalat sa Kaunlaran (Zero Waste for Progress), which is turning the garbage of their neighbourhoods into cash and opportunity. To eliminate the extausion of diseases, the foundation launched a program within the community to spread ecological waste management, set up a recycling system and a redemption centre, and continue with the maintenance of sanitation and hygiene in every household. The women, who are called volunteers but are actually members of a co-op. They first collect all the garbage, then sort it out at the community centre, and recycle almost all of it. Their recycling efforts take many forms. Some of the refuse is used in woven baskets and handbags, which the women sell for profit. But also some is sold to scrap metal dealers and to companies that recycle plastics and corrugated cardboard. The effort is actually more than a business for these women. They come together in the morning and exercise before starting the work of that day. They chat as they wash the water bottles and chat when they are on their way to the recycler. They have planted flowers and grass around the community and next year they will begin composting the scraps and clippings they collect to produce another marketable product. A women had admitted that this centre has changed her life. I was fascinated to see how the women managed to make money out of what people throw away, said Mats Karlsson, World Bank vice president for External Affairs and UN Affairs, who was visiting the women at the redemption centre. Karlsson, who was in the Philippines for the current Manila Social Forum, took some time visiting nearby projects. I was especially impressed by their motto: Kung hindi tayo, sino? which means in english, If not us, then who?' Drinking water Bottled water has established a major foothold in the Philippines. In some places, there are no piped-water systems; in others, people are not sure about biological contaminants, taste, odor, and the disinfection by-products from the chlorination process. Even in the Manila, only about 75% of the population receives piped water from the municipal authority. Outside Manila even fewer people have access to healthy water distribution. In both locations, these people must find alternative water sources if they want to avoid cholera epidemics and other health problems caused by the only water that is available in their neighborhoods. There is already a solution appearing, and now happening in thousands of water refilling. The shops began as private community sources, where consumers went with their containers to fill them up for a per-gallon fee, which was a small part of commercially bottled water costs. Most stores deliver home for regular customers nowadays. Most of those shops produce between 3,000 and 12,000 liters of water per day. Everything of the supply comes from the pipes of municipal concessionaires. The executives invests in treatment equipment and further purify their product before they sale it. Other shops are likely supplied by unauthorized or illegal diggings. A production of these private sources could have damaging effects on the groundwater reserves and will lead to contamination. The government has accepted private water shops, because of the increasing of waterborne diseases, but they do monitor their quality control practices and final product as much as they can. However, it is difficult to continuously keep an eye on the entire industry, given the large number of shops. Although many people in the Philippines benefit from the availability of water shops, the system does not really account the long-term water delivery and sanitation infrastructure improvements, which are necessary to provide reliable water to everyone. A lot of people do not live near a source of water. Distribution systems take the water from a source and deliver it to people who use it. They use different distribution systems which are depending on the needs of the people and the amount of infrastructure available. All of these systems have a risk of contaminating water when it is not handled properly. Every system has a cost involved to bring safe and reliable water to people. HouseholdpService In the larger cities of the world, it is standard that there is water pumped from a natural source, which is treated in a water treatment plant, stored for use in water storage tanks and then piped directly into every household. The cost of household service, which is the delivery, treatment for this water, but also the upkeep of this system is usually paid by its consumers. If the infrastructure is not maintained good, household service can become unreliable and result as possibly unsafe. WaterjSupply by Vehicle In a lot of areas, the plumbing in households is unreliable or non-existent. In these areas other distribution systems are developing. For instance in the Mexico City are, more than 2 million people live to far from piped distribution systems. For these people, water trucks transport water from the piped distribution systems directly to their home. Those water trucks can also be used to combat when there is natural disaster or a temporary water crises caused by war. BottledlWater and Water Refilling Stations Bottled water or water refilling stations are used in many areas where people have no access to clean water. In the Philippines, clean water is sold at water refilling stations throughout the whole country. At these stations, consumers may bring their own containers with them, to carry the water back home. The poor are the ones that are the most depending on vehicle delivery, bottled water, and water refilling stations. Unfortunately, the poor also need to pay the highest price for the water that is being delivered by such methods. CentrallCommunity Source In the rural areas almost no household infrastructure exists, so the communities dig wells and bore holes, and then they can pump groundwater to a central location in the community. From these central community sources, consumers collect water themselves and bring it back home for treatment and then use. In rural Niger, solar pumps and hand pumps were installed by the international aid organizations at central locations within villages. These pumps provide easier access to clean water without having to dig up water from traditional wells. These water stations are used by the community and also, in most cases, maintained and controlled by the community. Individual WaterlTransport Most people, especially in the rural areas of developing countries, have to walk to a lake, river, or other water sources and put the water in containers. This water is brought back home and, but needs treatment before use. In comparison to other methods, this distribution system is the simplest solution . But it does involves costs. Water gatherers, women and children are spending hours each day being busy with this basic chore. This responsibility leaves them to little time for good schooling, earning any income, crowing food, or any other things that will help them live without poverty. It does not matter on which location the distribution systems are they need to have some form of infrastructure that must be maintained to keep the water safe and healthy. And while all distribution systems involve costs, somelcosts can be more expensive than others. STIs What is a STI? STI is the abbreviation of sexually transmitted infection. STIs are contagious, and it is possible an infected person has not noticed yet before passing the infection on to its sexual partner without noticing. Luckily, serious consequences can be prevented when the victim is treated in time. Some examples of STIs are HIV (the virus that can cause AIDS), chlamydia, genital warts, genital herpes, gonorrhoea, hepatitis B, and syphilis. STIs can be transmitted through infected sperm and vaginal fluid. Second, people can also get an STI through infected blood, for example due to unhygienic tattooing and piercing, unhygienic needles etc. with using drugs, and babies can be infected during the pregnancy or birth. Third, STIs can be transmitted due to the contact between mucous membranes (in the rectum, penis, vagina, and mouth). And last, and probably best known, unprotected sex is dangerous because of an easy transmission of STIs. There are some myths about the transmission of STIs. So lets get rid of them forever. STIs cannot be transmitted through drinking out of another persons cup, someones cough, insect bites, a dirty toilet seat, and in a swimming pool. HIV/AIDS Since the start of 2009 every month approximately 60 Filipinos are diagnosed as an HIV positive. But this rose sharply to 126 cases in December. If this will not stop, the number will increase rapidly. And in three years the number of people in the Philippines with HIV/AIDS will be 30,000. In January 2010 143 people were diagnosed with HIV in the Philippines. This was the highest number reported since the disease first appeared in the country, in 1984. Most of the cases in January were males, who were infected by sexual contact with men. Since 1984 the Philippines has had 4,424 cases of HIV reported, of these cases 832 have been developed into full-blown AIDS and 314 deaths had been reported. Also among children the HIV infection is increasing as never before. The infection among 15-24 year old Filipinos has increased with five times, from 41 in 2007 to 218.

Alfred Hitchcocks Movie, Psycho and its Impact on the Film Industry Es

Alfred Hitchcock's Movie, Psycho and its Impact on the Film Industry The 1960's marked a big change in American cinema. With the collapse of the Hollywood Studio System came a weakening of censorship laws; sex and violence moved from obscurity to the forefront of mainstream cinema (Nowell-Smith 464). Although it quickly became clear that a market existed for such films, the earliest attempts to foray into the world of modern cinema were met with ambivalence. Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, made in 1960, was one of the first of many to depict sexuality and violence in a graphic manner (Nowell-Smith 491). Although the youth market was ready for such a change, the older audience resisted the modern trends. For this reason, Psycho was initially received by many with anger and critical rejection, before moving on to be named "Hitchcock's greatest film" (Phillips 164). Psycho, produced by Universal Studios and released through Paramount (Rebello 51), contained a frank depiction of sex and violence "unlike any mainstream film that had preceded it" (Williams 1); the film included the first love scene in American popular cinema ever to feature a pair of lovers lying half-naked on a bed (Rebello 86). And not only did Psycho depict two brutal murders, but the first occurred in the intimacy of the shower. As a result, Hitchcock had to fight to make the film as close to his vision as possible and find ways to work around censorship laws. When the censors demanded he re-edit the shower scene on account of a fleeting glimpse of Janet Leigh's breast, Hitchcock simply sent back the original cut on the (correct) assumption that they either would not re-screen it or would fail to see the barely noticeable nudity the second time around (Rebello 1... ... the American popular film...midway between the repressive manners of the classic Hollywood studio era (Janet Leigh wears a bra) and the Ôliberated' ethos of the R-rated contemporary film (Janet Leigh is shown in bed with a man at midday)" (Naremore 75). Although some viewers and critics responded negatively to Psycho, their appraisal changed once they had time to reassess the value of the film. Nearly forty years after the film's release, Psycho is still cited as a masterpiece which has inspired many dozens of other films such as Dressed to Kill (1980) and Fatal Attraction (1987) (Nowell-Smith 491), and is used as "a yardstick by which other thrillers are measured" (Rebello 194). "The effect both in the short run, in establishing Psycho as the ultimate thriller, and the long run, in altering the cinema-going habits of the nation, is indisputable" (Clover 191).

Feasibility Study For Bookstore

a. Marketing philosophy with target awareness b. Market Analysis1. Target MarketThe main target markets of Bookworm Company are the student of every school here in Aklan. That every books that they looking for are in the Bookworm. The bookworm provides the most effective needs of student while they seeking their books.a. DemographicsWe can divide our target market according to age, occupation, civil status, nationality, and gender.b. PsychographicsThe Bookworm focuses on interests of customer, their activities, and also the opinions of every customer so that were going to conduct a marketing survey for our target market. It focuses the attitudes, personality formation, and cultural touchstones.c. Niche MarketsThe bookworm company determine the target audience and find what the customer wants. The bookworm sells retail book items for the consumer.2. Competition 3. Market Trendsa. Product Life cycleWe introduce our company by launch our product. We make advertising to radio and televis ion so that the customer can know that there is an opening of book store here in Kalibo, Aklan. The bookworm company make a promotion to make consumers aware that the product is now available on the market and what its purposes. Market Growth Demand begins to accelerate and the size of the total market expands rapidly. Maturity demand is the level of Bookworm when the customer are not satisfied and they replacement and new family formation rate and finally the product goes into decline as sales fall.b. Type of consumer goodsMarket Strategy -Method of Sales & Distribution – Packaging When it comes in packaging the Bookworm Company use papers bagsbecause as of now using plastic materials is not good to our environment. Using paper bags  as a material is very environmental friendly and we can reuse it. We attached our company logo and tag line into paper bags so that the costumer will know and to advertise also our products. -Pricing– Branding -Database marketing â€⠀œ Sales Strategy – Sales Incentive or PromotionThe Bookworm use a strategy like Sales promotion, advertising, and salesmanship because this three are the major techniques used in merchandising products to the public. In Salesmanship the company need to know the customer face-to-face so that the seller convinces the customer that the books on sale are essential to their satisfaction. The bookworms use the sales promotion strategy to persuade the consumer and customer to purchase immediately by providing special incentives such as discount items, promo sale and freebies.– Advertising Strategy – Public Relation – Networking

Oppressive Qualities of Society

The Oppressive Qualities of Society Society’s oppressive nature greatly affects the lives of the people within it, and the expectations society sets for its citizens drive people to strive for acceptance from their peers. In â€Å"A Respectable Woman,† Mrs. Baroda, a young wife, who tries diligently to welcome her husband’s friend Gouvernail into their society, becomes enthralled with him, facing temptation that would be viewed with trepidation.Similarly, in â€Å"A Shameful Affair,† Mildred, a repressed young woman, enticed by a farmhand, faces temptation and forced to fight her personal desires because of society’s restriction based on class hierarchy. In â€Å"The Kiss,† a woman sets aside her personal desire for the image she believes society desires the most in a marriage. In her short stories, Kate Chopin illustrates contrasting imagery and intense and tempting diction to convey that society dictates people’s decisions because pe ople worry about their portrayal in society and are forced to concede their personal desires.Society’s expectations tend to reflect an ideal role, and because of this expectation society’s restrictions bind people because of their fear of an unjust portrayal in it. Society expects women to act as loving and caring mothers devoted to their children while their husband. For example, â€Å"A Respectable Woman,† when Mrs. Baroda welcomes her husband’s friend Gouvernail, she â€Å"imposed her society upon him . . . she persistently sought to penetrate the reserve in which he had unconsciously enveloped himself† (213).Chopin’s use of intense diction such as â€Å"imposed† which denotes a forcibly placed restriction, and â€Å"persistently† which denotes a tenacious behavior despite of initial opposition, suggests society’s strict expectation for woman to gracefully welcome others in their society by imposing those expected ide als on other people. Mrs. Borada’s diligence in welcoming Gouvernail becomes an infatuation when she becomes entranced by his stoic behavior towards her. The heavily stressed importance society places on material objects transferred to the expectations women believe they should strive to.For example, Nathalie coerces Brantain to become her fiance despite her desire for another, because he â€Å"was enormously rich; and she liked . . . the entourage which wealth could give her† (225). Chopin’s use of intense diction such as â€Å"enormous,† which has a denotation of grand, suggests the importance of material objects in society. She reveals how the desire for material objects taints the view of marriage, because of how the status that accompanies them is easily accepted in this materialistic society. These expectations that society sets forth tend to dictate the decisions of women.People’s choices depend on what is acceptable because individuals rema in more concerned with the image they portray to society than their personal desires. For example, when Gouvernail goes outside to bring Mrs. Baroda a sweater, she feels drawn to him, but â€Å"the stronger the impulse grew to bring herself near him the further . . . did she draw away† (215). Chopin’s use of passionate diction such as â€Å"impulse,† which contains a denotation of a strong urge, conveys the inner conflict that arises when a woman’s personal desire clashes with what she believes is right according to society.In contrast, when Mildred is fishing with the farmhand, â€Å"his brown hand came down upon Mildred’s white one,† (165). Chopin illustrates the differences between Mildred and the farmhand, with Mildred’s â€Å"white one† conveying that she is pure and innocent, while the farmhand’s remains roughened and tanned by the labor he is forced to perform due to his role in society. Furthermore, Mildredâ€⠄¢s withdrawal from something she clearly desires shows how she is forced to choose her image in society over he own desires. Women in society must ignore their impulses because harsh and unfair consequences await them if they do not conform.Lastly, despite the suppression of women’s desires, they are still forced to face consequences for their tempting thoughts. For example, after the farmhand kissed Mildred she realizes that â€Å"the secret must remain her own, a hateful burden to bear alone† (166). Chopin’s use of harsh diction such as â€Å"hateful† and â€Å"burden† conveys society’s negative view on personal desires such as Mildred’s attraction to the â€Å"Offender,† or the farmhand, while â€Å"alone† portrays a tone of alienation to suggest the idea that if she were to pursue her desires, then society would scorn her.Even when people try to ignore their desires in lieu of an image they fight to portray to socie ty, they are still left to suffer. For instance, when Nathalie is married, she expects to receive the wealth and position in society because of her convenient marriage while also having what she truly desires out of society’s view, yet she learns that â€Å"a person can’t have everything in this world† (227). Chopin’s figure of speech, that people can’t have everything, conveys the idea that loss will exist no matter a person’s decision because they cannot have â€Å"everything,† and will be forced to choose between their desires and those of society.No matter how hard a person tries to escape the ridicule of society they still face the pain of loss and suffering because of suppressed desires. Fitting in is a controversial topic within society. No matter the change in era or the region people occupy, the desire to be deemed acceptable lives strong within everybody. In Chopin’s short stories she illustrates contrasting imagery a nd intense and tempting diction to suggest that society’s strict expectations influence the decisions of women because they are more worried about how they are portrayed to society then complying with their desires.

Euthanasia Essays (600 words) - Euthanasia, Medical Ethics

Euthanasia Essays (600 words) - Euthanasia, Medical Ethics Euthanasia Euthanasia, which means "good" or "peaceful" death, has been practiced through the ages. Doctors have always been dedicated to the task of easing pain and suffering, to make dying easier. Adding the adjective "active" alters the meaning of euthanasia. The emphasis shifts from comforting the dying to inducing death. The practice of voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide would cause society to devalue all life, especially the lives of the dying, the disabled, and the elderly. We should not understate the agonies involved in chronic pain and suffering. Nobody wants to see a loved one suffer or make the decisions that accompany medical science's ability to prolong life. The same technology that keeps people alive today raise a host of questions concerning the nature and destiny of man himself. Comforting the dying is still preferable to assisting in their death. There are many reasons why, but the main one has to do with how much we value human life. God views all human life as sacred. He created us in his own image (Genesis 1:26,27), and it is he who has determined our days on earth (Job 14:5). God confirms his great love for his people, a love that does not cease when we are old or ill. His command that we not kill one another does not change when we are brain damaged or comatose. Our society, however, teaches certain classes of people that they are not wanted. If a physician's aid in dying were to become a standard part of terminal care, there is always that possibility that patients might feel the need to request death out of fear of becoming a burden to their families. The right to die could be interpreted by a patient as the duty to die. Chronically ill or dying patients may be pressured to choose euthanasia to spare their families financial or emotional strain. Joan Farah states in the New England Journal of Medicine that the elderly are often cited as being vulnerable. If Euthanasia becomes the law of the land, how long will it take before the elderly and sick begin to feel an obligation to get out of the way? There are many complicated ethical and medical issues involved in the discussion of euthanasia. The decisions that family members must make are often as painful as the conditions of their loved ones. Sometimes the families react with wisdom and compassion. However, under stress human beings can make the wrong decisions. In an attempt to avoid such risk we dare not enact legislature that will allow murder simply to make decisions easier. Opponents contend that legalized euthanasia would force medical professionals and patients' families to judge the worth of others' lives. Once a vulnerable group is denied a basic right to life, it is only a matter of time until other groups are placed in the same category. We have accepted the killing of unborn children, allowed children born with severe handicaps to die, and have ignored "mercy killing" of consenting adults. Will we tolerate or accept euthanasia just as we do abortion? There are no easy answers when a loved one faces death. Scientists must continue to seek answers and cures. Active euthanasia does not provide answers: it only tries to avoid the hardest questions. Thomas Beauchamp, a bioethicist of Georgetown University has written, rules against killing "are not isolated moral principles," but "pieces of a web of rules" that forms a moral code. "The more threads one removes the weaker the fabric becomes." Allowing ourselves the liberty of choosing the time and place of death will not lessen our sense of loss. It can only erode the wonder of human life and the worth of each individual. Wekesser, Carol, ed. Euthanasia: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1995.