Genetically modified organism Essay Example for Free

Genetically modified organism Essay My environmental issue is genetically modified foods. I will explain why the foods should not be modified and the dangers of eating modified foods. Why this issue is important Evidence shows that food that has been genetically modified is a danger to the health of humans. The American Academy of Environmental Medicine says that the public should not eat genetically modified foods because several studies have shown that there are a variety of health problems such as organ damage, reproductive disruption, accelerated aging, immune dysfunction and insulin disorders associated with GM foods. The process of genetically modifying food is done by changing the original DNA by adding other organisms to it, also called GMO which stands for Genetically Modified Organisms. Consumers have been eating foods that contain genetically modified ingredients in them not knowing the risk factors. (Doctors Warn About Dangers of Genetically Modified Foods, by David Gutierrez) The FDA claims to have no knowledge that these foods were any different than naturally grown foods and labeled them as being Generally Recognized as Safe or (GRAS). The law says that a substance has to go through a certain amount of peer-reviewed published studies and has to have a certain amount of consensus among the scientific community that agrees that the product is safe. This allows them to be put on the market without any additional testing. Even though the GRAS labeled them to be safe, there are no proven facts that show that Genetically Modified foods are safe; the information that was given to the FDA was altered to expedite the approval of the products at the expense of the safety of the consumers. There has been no credible study done on genetically modified food safety. Evidence in Support of the Thesis In 1998 there was a lawsuit against the FDA for not listening to the warnings of their own scientists who were telling them that GM foods were not safe. The scientists warned that the GM foods could create unpredictable side effects that were hard to detect such as allergies, nutritional problems, toxins and new diseases and said that long-term studies needed to be done, but was ignored. (FDA ignored own scientists’ warnings about GM foods by Ken Roseboro) Even though it may be true that food crops are bio-engineered to produce their own pesticides and herbicides, these traits transfer to weeds and insect, which means that there effects are not long lasting. GM foods have not yet been proven to be safe. Rebuttal of the Evidence that Contradicts the Thesis Genetically modified foods have the potential to help benefit consumers by improving nutritional qualities in fruits and vegetables. Some of the crops are genetically engineered with herbicide resistant so that when the farmer uses herbicides to kill the weeds it doesn’t hurt the crop, which benefits not only agriculture but also the economics. Losing crops due to insects can be a tremendous loss to farmers. Biotechnology also generates crops with genes that are resistant to long periods of drought and frost. Since there is an increase in population, more land will be needed to grow crop on harsh landscapes. Farmers will need to grow crops in places that will be unsuitable for agriculture. With the world population increasing, it will be a challenge in the years to come to make sure that there is enough food for the growing population. Genetically modified foods will help to produce enough crops in these harsh times. It will help to feed malnutrition in third world countries. There is a widespread of undernourishment in the worlds where people are poor. They depend on one main crop which is rice. Rice by itself doesn’t have enough nutrients that a person need. But rice can be genetically modified to contain extra vitamin and minerals. Biotechnology has allowed people to be able to receive crucial vaccines and medicines which are hard to distribute. With vaccines and medicines being so expensive and the need to be stored a special way, they have come up with a way to put vaccines in food products so that they are easier to administer to people and easily transported. (The Benefits of Genetically Modified Food Crops) Rebuttal of the above claims Although malnutrition is a big problem in the world, according to the United Nations World Food Program, there is enough food being produced to feed the world without GM foods. The reasons that people go hungry are, they don’t have enough money to buy it or don’t have access to growing their own. The UN’s world food body is not in favor of using GM foods because of the effects on health and the environment. The Food and Agriculture Organization says â€Å"although GM crops could help with hunger in the world there are still questions about their implications for animal and human health and the balance of the ecosystems. † (Say No to GMOS) Conclusion Genetically modified foods have some pros and cons as I have showed you, but I am still a believer of the traditional way of growing foods. Since the foods will be labeled, that will give people the choice of rather to eat GM foods or naturally grown foods. that also have pro and cons to them. Reference http://www. naturalnews. com/028245_GM_food_side_effects. html http://www. non-moreport. com/articles/october2011/FDAignoredscientistswarningsGMfoods. php http://www. betterhealth. vic. gov. au/bhcv2/bhcarticles. nsf/pages/Genetically_modified_foods http://www. saynotogmos. org/ http://suite101. com/article/the-benefits-of-genetically-modified-food-crops-a218670.

Precursores De La Teoria De La Calidad

Precursores De La Teoria De La Calidad Antes de hablar de la calidad debemos referirnos a sus precursores y sobre todo al padre de la misma quien es W. Edward Deming, quien ha recibido numeroso reconocimientos entre ellos podemos hacer mencià ³n de la medalla Shewhart dela Soc. Americana de Control de Calidad en 1956. Desde muy pequeà ±o el Dr. W. Edward Deming aprendià ³ que las cosas que se hacen bien desde el principio siempre acaban bien. El estadista, educador y precursor dela Calidad Total W. Edward Deming, fue desconocido por muchos aà ±os por las corporaciones americanas, Deming viajo a Japà ³n en 1950 a la edad de 49 y pudo enseà ±ar a los administradores, ingenieros y cientà ­ficos Japoneses como podà ­an producir calidad. Luego de treinta aà ±os despuà ©s vio un documental en televisià ³n en la cadena NBC, titulado, â€Å"Si Japà ³n puede, porque nosotros no† y es a la sazà ³n donde corporaciones como Ford, General Motors y Dow Chemical, solo por mencionar algunas de las prestigiosas empresas que se dieron cuenta de lo que estaba atravesando y buscaron de inmediato la asesorà ­a del Dr. Deming. La vida del Dr. Deming se transformo por completo y se volvià ³ un torbellino de consultas y conferencias. La temprana vida de Edward Deming fue caracterizada por la carencia y el trabajo duro. Nacià ³ en Sioux City Iowa el 14 de octubre de 1900. Su padre, quien pedio una demanda judicial en Powell, siempre fue un abogado luchador, pero esto lo hizo que cambiara a toda la familia de dicha ciudad cuando Deming tenà ­a apenas siete aà ±os. Vivieron en una casa humilde donde el preocuparse por que seria su prà ³xima comida era parte de su rà ©gimen diario. Ampliamente cotizado luego que Deming compartià ³ sus ahora famosos â€Å"14 puntos† y â€Å"7 pecados mortales† con algunas de las corporaciones mà ¡s grandes de Amà ©rica. Sus patrones de calidad se convirtieron en sitios comunes en los libros de administracià ³n, y el premio Deming, otorgado por primera vez en Japà ³n pero ahora reconocido internacionalmente, es ahora buscado por algunas de las corporaciones mà ¡s grandes del mundo. Cuando Deming tenà ­a sus ocho aà ±os salià ³ a trabajar a un hotel local, Deming se fue de Powell a la edad de 17 hacia Laraman, ala Universidadde Wyoming donde realizo sus estudios de ingenierà ­a. Y luego recibià ³ un Ph. D en Fà ­sicas Matemà ¡ticas enla Universidadde Yale en 1927 donde al mismo tiempo fue empleado como profesor. Deming recibià ³ muchas ofertas en la industria privada pero tomà ³ un empleo donde trabajarà ­a para el Departamento de Agricultura en Washington, D.C. Fue acà ¡ donde Deming tuvo la dicha de conocer a su esposa, Lola Sharpe, con quien contrajo matrimonio en el 1932, y fue presentado con su guà ­a, Walter Shewhart, un estadà ­stico para Laboratorios Bell y sus escritos impactaron su vida y aquà ­ donde se convirtieron en la base de sus enseà ±anzas. Durantela Segunda GuerraMundial, Deming de dedico a enseà ±ar a los tà ©cnicos e ingenieros americanos estadà ­sticas para que pudieran mejorar la calidad de los materiales de guerra. Fue e n este trabajo en donde atrajo la atencià ³n de los japoneses. Luego de la guerra,la Unià ³n Japonesade Cientà ­ficos e Ingenieros buscà ³ a Deming. Y en julio de 1950, Deming se reunià ³ conla Unià ³nquien fue presentado con los administradores principales de las compaà ±Ãƒ ­as japonesas. Durante los treinta aà ±os siguientes, Deming dedicarà ­a todo su tiempo y esfuerzo a la enseà ±anza de los japoneses y de esta forma transformo su reputacià ³n en la produccià ³n de un motivo de risa a un motivo de admiracià ³n y elogio por las corporaciones. Es por esto que nos hacemos la siguiente pregunta  ¿Por quà © Deming fue todo un à ©xito en Japà ³n y desconocido por las corporaciones en Amà ©rica? Cuando Japà ³n estaba sumergido en una crisis en su economà ­a y en sus industrias le hicieron la invitacià ³n a Deming. Los Japoneses escucharon y cambiaron su forma de pensar, su estilo de como administrar, su trato a los empleados y se tomaron su tiempo. Tan solo c on seguir la filosofà ­a de Deming, los japoneses giraron al lado positivo su economà ­a y productividad por completo para dar paso y poder convertirse en los là ­deres del mercado mundial. Deming fue condecorado por el emperador Horohito con la medalla del Tesoro Sagrado de Japà ³n en su Segundo Grado por tan impresionante cambio que realizo. La mencià ³n decà ­a El pueblo de Japà ³n atribuyen el renacimiento de la industria Japonesa y su à ©xito mundial a Edward Deming No fue hasta la transmisià ³n del documental por NBC en Junio de 1980 donde se destaca el à ©xito industrial de Japà ³n que las corporaciones Americanas inician a prestar atencià ³n. Enfrentados por una produccià ³n decadente y costos increà ­blemente altos, los Presidentes de las corporaciones Americana iniciaron a consultar con Deming acerca de negocios. Se dieron cuanta que las tà ­picas soluciones rà ¡pidas y fà ¡ciles de las corporaciones Americanas ya no funcionaban. Los principios de Deming establecà ­an que mediante el uso de mediciones estadà ­sticas, una compaà ±Ãƒ ­a podrà ­a ser capaz de graficar como un sistema en particular estaba funcionando para luego desarrollar maneras para mejorar dicho sistema. A travà ©s de un proceso de transformacià ³n en avance, y siguiendo los Catorce Puntos y Siete Pecados Mortales, las compaà ±Ãƒ ­as estarà ­an en posicià ³n de mantenerse a la par con los constantes cambios del entorno econà ³mico. Obviamente, esto era mu cho mas largo, incluà ­a mas procesos de los que estaban acostumbrados las corporaciones Americanas; de aquà ­, la resistencia a las ideas de Deming. El Dr. Edward Deming estuvo disponible parala Amà ©rica corporativa para tà ©rminos de consulta y a individuales a travà ©s de sus escritos y tours de seminarios por los prà ³ximos trece aà ±os de su vida. En el 1993 murià ³, pero aun vive su trabajo. Sus Slogans de misià ³n, tales como el de Ford Calidad es el primer trabajo, son aun reconocidos en la industria; sus cursos empresariales son dictados aun usando sus principios como partes integrales del curriculum; y la abreviacià ³n TQM (Total Quality Management) es ampliamente conocido y comà ºnmente utilizado a travà ©s dela Amà ©rica corporativa. Kaoru Ishikawa Conocido como el gurà º de la calidad Kaoru Ishikawa, nacià ³ en la ciudad de Tokio, Japà ³n en el aà ±o de 1915, fue graduado dela Universidadde Tokio. Ishikawa y es hoy conocido como uno de los mà ¡s famosos gurà ºs de la calidad mundial. La teorà ­a de Ishikawa era manufacturar a bajo costo. Podemos encontrar dentro de su filosofà ­a de calidad que la calidad debe ser una revolucià ³n de la gerencia. El control de calidad es prà ¡cticamente desarrollar, diseà ±ar, manufacturar y mantener un producto de calidad. Algunos efectos dentro de empresas que se logran implementando el control de calidad son la reduccià ³n de precios, bajan los costos, se establece y mejora la tà ©cnica, entre otros. Kaoru Ishikawa tambià ©n dio a conocer al mundo sus siete herramientas bà ¡sicas para la calidad la cuales son: la grafica de pareto, el diagrama de causa efecto, la estratificacià ³n, la hoja de verificacià ³n, el histograma, el diagrama de dispersià ³n y la grafica de control de Schewhart. Podemos hacer mencià ³n de algunos de sus libros mà ¡s conocidos los cuales son: Que es el CTC, Guia de Control de calidad Herramientas de Control de Calidad. Kaoru Ishikawa en el Desarrollo dela Calidadnos dice que practicar el Control de Calidad (CTC) es desarrollar, diseà ±ar manufacturar y mantener un producto de calidad que sea el mà ¡s econà ³mico, el mà ¡s à ºtil y sobre todo el mà ¡s satisfactorio para el consumidor. En la Universidadde Tokio Ishikawa fue pedagogo y precursor de la Unià ³nof Japanese Scientists and Engineers (UJSE), la cual se ocupaba de promover la calidad dentro de Japà ³n mientras el ciclo de la post-guerra. Ishikawa inclusive durante gran parte de su vida originà ³ ideas revolucionarias de calidad. En el 1962, Ishikawa dio apertura a los ambientes de calidad en la Nippon Telegraph and Cable. Dando definicià ³n a los clientes como internos y externos de las organizaciones. Se puede decir que la carrera de Kaoru Ishikawa en algunas formas u otras es afà ­n a la historia econà ³mica del Japà ³n contemporà ¡neo. Ishikawa, en Japà ³n entero aprendieron sobre las bases del control de calidad estadà ­stico que los Americanos desplegaron. Pero como los logros econà ³micos del Japà ³n no son limitados a imitar productos extranjeros, los logros de calidad del Japà ³n e Ishikawa en particular van mas allà ¡ de la aplicacià ³n eficiente de ideas importadas. Es posible que la contribucià ³n mà ¡s importante de Ishikawa haya sido su rol en el desarrollo de una estrategia de calidad japonesa. La calidad para los Japoneses es parte de sus propias vidas, no solo la aplican de arriba a abajo en una empresa, sino que tambià ©n al producto, dentro del proceso de produccià ³n, tanto bajo el uso del cliente. Podemos decir que uno de los logros mà ¡s importantes de la vida de Kaoru Ishikawa fue contribuir al à ©xito de los ambientes de calidad. El diagrama de causa-efecto, habitualmente citado el diagrama de Ishikawa, posiblemente es el diagrama que lo hizo fundamentalmente conocido. Este diagrama ha manifestado ser una herramienta muy fuerte que puede ser simplemente utilizada para investigar y solucionar problemas, es tan simple que cualquier persona lo puede utilizar. A pesar que los ambientes de calidad se desplegaron primero en Japà ³n, se difundieron a mà ¡s de 50 paà ­ses, una expansià ³n que Ishikawa jamà ¡s se hubiera imaginado. Inicialmente, Ishikawa entendà ­a que los cà ­rculos dependà ­an de factores à ºnicos que se encontraban en la sociedad japonesa. Pero despuà ©s de ver cà ­rculos creà ¡ndose en Taiwà ¡n y Corea del Sur, à ©l teorizà ³ que los cà ­rculos de calidad pueden desarrollarse en cualquier paà ­s del mundo siempre y cuando dicho paà ­s utilizara el alfabeto Chino. El razonamiento de Ishikawa era que el alfabeto Chino, uno de los sistemas de escritura mà ¡s difà ­ciles pueden ser aprendidos solo con mucho estudio, el trabajo duro y el deseo de la educacià ³n en ese perà ­odo se hicieron sumamente importante en esos paà ­ses. Como parte del comità © para el premio Deming, Ishikawa impulso una auditoria implacable que establece cuales compaà ±Ãƒ ­as son aspirantes para el premio Deming. Dicha auditoria pretende la colaboracià ³n de los altos ejecutivos de la empresa. De acuerdo a Ishikawa el saber de la gente que la empresa es activa y se mueve hacia el perfeccionamiento es el mejor premio que el triunfador puede recibir.   

Aravind Eye Hospital, India: Mission and Vision

Aravind Eye Hospital, India: Mission and Vision Aravind Eye Hospital:Â  Improving Lives One Eye at a Time A Brief Introduction Imagine having the world as you know it cease to exist, the things you once saw be erased, and having no hope to gain control of your life. This is how life for many people in India once was, and how it still is for some even today. A cataract, a curable infliction of the eye, has attacked men and women of every age, sparing no one, not even a child. They build up in size over time, and leave many blind. Once struck, the individual in question can no longer work, and has no way to take care of themselves, making them entirely dependent on their family for support. Living in an already impoverished area, blindness has dire consequences, resulting in many cases of premature death. There is a simple procedure that can reverse the effects of cataracts and return sight to the user. However, this surgery is too costly for some to afford. In India, a country with an extremely high poverty rate, cataracts had become a major problem for the inhabitants. Cataracts have left millions to suffer with an unnecessary disability, but one man came about to challenge its hold on the people of India. Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy revolutionized the medical field of eye care, and built a health institution that would allow everyone afflicted to get the help they needed, despite their ability to pay. This case analysis examines that institution, how it came into existence, how it operates, its creator, and the general background of the country of origination. Poverty and Healthcare in India Poverty is one of the biggest social issues in India. According to the Indian government, of its nearly 1 billion inhabitants, an estimated 260.3 million are below the poverty line. More than 75% of these poor people reside in impoverished villages (Azad, 2008). The causes of rural poverty include inadequate and ineffective implementation of anti-poverty programs, and the unavailability of irrigational facilities. The poor irrigation systems result in crop-failure and low agricultural productivity, forcing farmers into a debt-trap. Economic development since independence has been lopsided. There has been an increase in unemployment rates that have forced many people into a state of poverty, and the population continues to grow at an alarming rate (Economy, 2009). Overpopulation of an already scarce job field has kept many individuals trapped by poverty. India has a Universal Health Care System operated by the government, like many other industrialized countries. The governmental hospitals offer health care to the masses at the tax-payers expense. The Indian government set up the health care system to help people who are below the poverty line, but many people have problems using the hospitals. One reason for this is the fact that there are an extremely low number of medical practitioners available for the people. Another reason is that most public hospitals are inefficient, and provide poor quality medical services to their patients. Quality could be better, but public hospitals generally only provide basic treatment, and have lower quality equipment to perform with. Inefficiency in the system is caused by the imbalance between medical providers and the needy population. For example, although India requires more than 74,000 hospitals to satisfy demand, it just has about 37,000 health care centers (Liberty, 2009). Due to the impoverished peoples lack of resources, they cannot afford to go to a private eye hospital to get their cataracts removed. And because of the limited availability and help from government hospitals, and their inability to perform eye surgery, most individuals are left with no choice but to remain blind. This in turn adds to the increasing rate of unemployment, as it is difficult for a blind person to get or maintain a job. And that leads to having even more people below the poverty line, as it is not only the individual in question, but their entire family as well. If there was a place they could go to be treated, it would help stop the cycle of poverty, and give them a fighting chance to live. Enter the Vision, Aravind Eye Hospital Aravind Eye Hospital has risen from its humble beginnings to promote eye health not only in India, but also throughout the world. Doctor Govindappa Venkataswamy, along with his sister and brother-in-law, started Aravind in 1976 (Maurice, 2001). This eye hospital was first opened in a rented house that contained only ten beds. The three founders were the only doctors at Aravind when it first opened. Since then it has grown little by little each year. This hospital has grown into a five-story building that is located in Madurai, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This particular hospital now contains 1,900 beds. As of 2001, approximately 1.5 million blind people have left this one hospital with their sight completely restored. In addition to this, Aravind Eye Hospital has now expanded into a total of five hospitals throughout India (Maurice, 2001). The Aravind franchise includes a hospital created specifically to help restore sight to children (Maurice, 2001). The Internationa l Institute for Community Ophthalmology, which is a part of Aravind Eye Hospital, trains eye care workers from low-income countries. There is a medical research foundation as well as an eye bank that handles about 900 corneas a year that are associated with Aravind. Aurolab is a manufacturing facility that makes lenses, pharmaceuticals, and surgery supplies for Aravind (Maurice, 2001). Aravind Eye Hospital later branched out and opened Aurolab, despite disagreements from the Indian government, because imported intraocular lenses, IOLs, were too expensive for low-income patients to afford (Shah, 2004). Aurolab makes approximately 700,000 IOLs each year (Maurice, 2001). These IOLs are then sold, not only to Aravind but to eye care facilities in over eighty countries, for a price that is ten times less expensive than the same quality of IOLs used in western countries (Maurice, 2001). Aurolab also manufactures spectacles, sutures, and medications along with the IOLs, to sell to the hosp itals for reduced costs (Chang, 2004). The Aravind group worked with approximately 1.3 million patients in 2000 (Maurice, 2001). This is about 85-90% more than most other hospitals in India. Also, Aravind holds mobile eye camps throughout the year to raise eye care awareness in India (Maurice, 2001). These eye camps screen villagers on a Sunday, then bus the patients into Aravind in the evening (Chang, 2004). The surgeries are then performed on Monday. There are usually 300-400 cases on Mondays, with the record being 500 cases (Chang, 2004). Most eye surgeons in the world perform less than 350 surgeries each year. At Aravind, the average number of surgeries per doctor is 2000 per year. Aravind looks to multiply its benefits by hiring and training local doctors and surgeons. Even though Aravind pays slightly more than the government hospitals, seven to ten doctors leave each year. The reason is, since Aravind is nonprofit organization, it is unable to compete pay wise with private practice institutions (Maurice, 2001). The Path to Aravind As previously mentioned, Aravind was founded by Govindappa Venkataswamy, who is commonly known as Dr. V (Maurice, 2001). Dr. V does not view his job as work, but rather as something that he is excited to be able to do. According to Dr. V, if there is something you can do, you should do it. Dr. V was born in 1918 and died at the age of 87 on July 7, 2006 (Govindappa, 2009). He received a Bachelors of Arts in chemistry from American College in Madurai in 1938. Then, in 1944, he received a doctor of medicine from Stanley Medical College in Madras. Finally in his education he received a doctor of ophthalmology from the Government Ophthalmic Hospital in Madras in 1951. From 1976 until his death in 2006, Dr. V was the chairman of Aravind Eye Hospital. In 1956 he was named the head of the Department of Ophthalmology at the Government Madurai Medical College. At the same time, he was an eye surgeon at the Government Erksine Hospital. He held both of these positions for twenty years until his forced retirement from the government hospital in 1976 (Govindappa, 2009). Dr. V was partly influenced in the creation of Aravind by his mentor, the philosopher and mystic Sri Aurobindo, whom Dr. V was a disciple of for fifty years (Maurice, 2001). When Dr. V was asked about the influence of his mentor into Aravind, he made the following statement: You do your best in your job and higher ideas come to you, and then you try to realize those ideas too (Maurice, 2001). Dr. V was also motivated from his work at the government hospital (Shah, 2004). The government asked him to have four camps a year while he still worked with the government hospital in 1961. This also proved to be a part of his opportunity identification. He saw the number of patients attending rise each time the camp was held (Shah, 2004). The fact that eighteen million people are blind by curable cataracts worldwide is another part of Dr. Vs opportunity identification (Chang, 2004). This number is growing at an alarmi ng, nearly epidemic rate. Blindness causes reduced life expectancy, and productivity is lost for both for the blind as well as for those that care for them (Chang, 2004). Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy: A True Social Entrepreneur Dr. V had entrepreneurial quality, which is one of the four categories used to evaluate Ashoka nominees (Bornstein, 2004). People with entrepreneurial quality seek to change an entire field, not just get something done locally. People with this trait not only want to express their ideas, but they want to go out and be a part of solving the problems by executing their ideas (Bornstein, 2004). Dr. V has shown entrepreneurial quality through his work at standardizing the procedures for cataract surgery because this allowed the change to spread throughout the field, not just at his hospitals in India. Another way he has shown entrepreneurial quality is through the training that Aravind does for doctors in other countries. Finally, the fact that Dr. V did over 100,000 eye surgeries successfully himself shows that he was willing to be a part in executing his idea (Govindappa, 2009). The Six Qualities of Social Entrepreneurship Dr. V has also demonstrated the six qualities of a successful social entrepreneur as laid out by David Bornstein (2004). These six qualities are as follows: the willingness to self-correct, the willingness to share credit, the willingness to break free from established structures, the willingness to cross disciplinary boundaries, the willingness to work quietly, and a strong ethical impetus (Bornstein, 2004). Dr. V asked for help from business schools to on how to keep doctors from falling back into complacency at their own hospitals after completing training with Aravind (Shah, 2004). This shows his willingness to share credit because he publicly sought their help. It also shows his willingness to self-correct because when he saw the problem of doctors becoming complacent, even after receiving Aravinds training, he took active measures to fix the problem. He also shared credit with the other doctors that work with him, acknowledging the fact that Aravind could never have become such a success without the hard work put forth by everyone involved. And as mentioned earlier, the government was against the creation of Aurolab (Shah, 2004). By creating the facility anyway, Dr. V demonstrated his willingness to break free from established structures. Dr. V was able to cross disciplinary fields from medical and into manufacturing when he opened Aurolab. Also, by working privately at creating Aurolab and making it affordable, Dr. V demonstrated his ability to work quietly (Shah, 2004). Dr. V has repeatedly demonstrated his strong ethical impetus. During an interview Dr. V said that the focus of Aravind was on honesty and respecting the patients (Shah, 2004). Also, he said he tries to choose compassion over cost. This is exemplified when they spend more than the fixed charge for a patient because they do not charge the extra cost to the patient. R.D. Thularsiraj, the executive director of Aravind, says that Dr. V instituted a system of values into the hospital that has the effect of guiding their work to wanting to help others and away from focusing too much on money (Maurice, 2001). Finally, Dr. V has capacity building programs that basically work to instill integrity and quality into new hospitals (Shah, 2004). Structuring Sustainability, the Core of Aravind Dr. V wanted to reach those who had not been reached before, and help the poverty stricken individuals, who without his help, would not be able to see. He removed barriers, promoted community involvement, and had a growing market model for healthcare. Even after his death, his dream is still living on. Aravind continues to explore new approaches to the primary eye care market, and continuously seeks new innovations to help the population. When opening the first hospital in Madurai, in Tamil Nadu, his sister and her husband, both eye surgeons, joined Dr. V in his efforts. To cut costs, all three doctors took significant pay cuts since bankers would not finance a clinic that, regardless of ability to pay, gives eye care to the rich and poor. Dr. V even mortgaged his house to get the necessary finances to start the hospital. Within a year, all the efforts paid off and the hospital quadrupled in size. There are now five Aravind Eye Hospitals, and all are self sustaining, thanks to a blueprint copying system that has allowed for easier knowledge transfusion throughout the hospital chain. Dr. V took the unusual step of asking even poor patients to pay whenever they could, believing that the volume of paying business, which amounts to approximately 30% of clients, would sustain the rest (Aravind, 2007). Two thirds of patients receive the free outpatient services, while paying patients receiving additional amenities, such as private rooms for extended recovery, and hot meals. The profit made from every one paying customer covers the costs of two patients that cannot pay. Aravind is famous for its fee structure. The consultations are free for poor patients while others pay 50 Rs (their currency, approximately $1 US). Impoverished patients can be expected to pay as little as nothing, or up to 250 Rs, which is as much as they can spare. A subsidized rate is 750 Rs (approximately $15 US). The regular patient fee, which is aimed for middle income patients, is 3,500-6,000 Rs. For a Phaco surgery, the rate is 6,500-12,000 Rs (Saravana,2002). This is a need based transparent financial system, and it is this kind of trust and care Aravind has built that attracts paying patients. The lower than market cost for even the paying patients, at least 25% lower, attracts them also. The Business Model of Aravind Aravind Eye Hospital operates with a business model unlike that of any other business in the health care industry, bearing striking similarities to the fast food industry instead. Dr. V. was impressed with how a chain like McDonalds could offer the same quality product no matter where you went, and still get it to you quickly (Health, 2007). He became adamant about the fact that a hospital could be run under the same principle, and trained his employees to treat large amounts of people without sacrificing quality. Today, Aravinds network of hospitals has the distinction of being the most productive eye care organization in the world in terms of surgical volume and the number of patients treated. The success of Aravinds business model is dependent on numbers, as it is the high-volume of low cost procedures that offsets the costs associated with delivering such a high quality service. In order to reach more patients, Aravind Eye Hospital advertises its services heavily, and is benefite d by the positive word of mouth that has quickly spread about them. They have also implemented technology that allows his staff to serve people that are not able to come to the hospital; they do this by video conferencing, instant messaging, online patient questionnaires, and through the use of web cams. One example of how they have used technology to help their business can be seen through the internet kiosks the place in remote villages. Here, they have women trained to take pictures of the patients eyes using a webcam, then they send the images to the Doctor along with the filled out patient questionnaire. The doctor then receives the file via e-mail almost instantaneously, and is able to interact with the patient through an online chat program. This is made possible because of collaboration with the University of Berkeley Information Technology center, with a low cost Wi-Fi connection. This provides access to the patient, and a remarkable cost reduction. This also allows the sta ff to provide consultations with people who would otherwise not be able to make it to the hospital, and makes it easier for the team to transfer information between each other (Aravind, 2007). What Makes Aravind Different A core part of Aravinds model is to never turn away a patient due to economic reasons. In fact, it has even been recorded that Dr. V once accepted a chicken as payment for surgery. The goal of Aravind is to help as many people as they can, not to make a profit. Their business model is formatted in a way that provides a level of self-sustainability that allows them to use all income towards expanding their processes, improving their work, and keeping services free to those who need them. Dr. V set up this model believing that people will pay when they can, even if its months after their surgery. Aravinds business model originally focused on just eye surgery and care, but after time it expanded into manufacturing in order to create low cost lenses. This change in the model was necessary because importing the lenses from the West was too expensive, and in order to comply with their vision of providing eye care to the disadvantaged, they needed to come up with a way to lower costs. Anoth er way they have put into their system to help them reach more clients is by using a two tiered pricing structure. Wealthy people are expected to contribute more, and for every one paid surgery, Aravind can afford to do many free surgeries. And because Aravind is the best eye hospital in the region, wealthy people choose to go there. In order to maintain maximum levels of efficiency and resource usage, the hospital staff performs just their specific specialization, and the surgery procedures themselves are standardized. And to make sure that all who want to go to Aravind are able to, the clinic provides buses that pick people up in the morning, and then drive them back to their communities after the day is over (Shah, 2009). Before the patients are brought to the hospital, they must go through an eye screening at their local community, using one of the internet kiosks as mentioned earlier. They are then evaluated, and transported to the hospital if it appears that surgery or a live consultation will be necessary. This process is promoted, organized, and financially backed by local business leaders. In keeping staffing cost low, Aravind recruits locally. The majority of the staff is from local villages. Being trained and having grown up in the same community as they will be working, they share the dream of the hospital. And since local wages expectations and cost of living are low, the hospital can pay these individuals less than individuals coming from out of the country. The medical staff is also trained, not only for a job, but a prestigious life long career. For each surgeon, the hospital has four highly trained paramedics for support. Aravind Eye Hospitals ophthalmologists are linked with video conferencing with their Vision Centers technicians for each patient. Expanding their business model, Aravind ventured into lens production. They now have a factory that can produce parts at low-cost prices. Compared to the $200 for imported lenses, they produce these for about $5 at their home factory (Dan, 2008). Now, because of outside funding they export their products to over 80 countries. Their method to production lens was branched out to produce other products such as blades, instruments, sutures, and pharmaceuticals. They can produce these products for fractions of what the western world can, and make a handsome profit. This also cuts costs on buying them from somewhere else. The income gained from the paying patients contributes to approximately 20% of the budget. The other income comes from the production of manufactured products and the provision of training and consultations. In order to retain a sustainable operation Aravind is constantly looking to improve. Since they adopted many technologies earlier than other hospitals they are remain ing high in breakthrough technology. They utilize their technology to communicate easier with fellow staff members, patients, partners, and other hospitals across the globe. Aravind has regular reviews of their system, and follows up on executive decisions to ensure they stick to their intended model. But they are always looking for new ways to better themselves, and to grow. Scalability of the Aravind Model The Aravind System has a great approach to overcoming obstacles in the cataract surgery industry. The main characteristic of the Aravind model is that they provide quality care at prices that everyone can afford. They are self sustaining, yet still able to provide their services to the poor and rich alike. Their business model stresses a maximum use of all resources. This is all achieved by their high volume quality, and a well structured system. The Aravind model can be replicated in countries with inexpensive labor. For example, the model would work well in Asia or underprivileged areas in Africa. Their model will work well if you have a large population with a social need, and if you can find doctors who are willing to operate many times daily. Also, to be financially stable there must be enough revenue to cover the free services from the paying ones. The cost of the service cannot be too high. In order for the need-based service to work, there must be incentives to paying. The people at Aravind pay because they want to have a bed in a private room with air conditioning, or the other amenities that they offer. Aravind eliminated non-beneficial activities and wait time. By having standardized protocols of clinical procedures, activities, and administrative measures, it cuts down on the error count and makes procedures more efficient. The surgeons do not do tasks such as preparing patients, taking measurements, or diagnostic s testing, this is all done by trained assistants. Letting the surgeons focus on just the surgical procedure itself. It cuts down on transition time between surgeries. The state of the art technology requires surgeons to exhibit less energy, and allows them to operate more times per day. Since surgeons average 1700 more surgeries than the national average, there are many benefits to being an Aravind surgeon. Surgeons here do not only want to make a difference in the lives of the people, but by performing many more surgeries than they would otherwise, they are also bettering themselves. Aravind has reached over 200 hospitals through their consultancy process, and they hope to reach many more in the near future. The Aravind model makes scalability in developing nations limitless through their fee system, management techniques, high aspirations, and quality of care. From the David Bornsteins book example of blueprint copying, Aravind wants to be used as an example. They want their techniques, management protocols, and philosophies to be copied by others, as well as they have in making their hospitals across India. Just as the Grameen Banks idea of Micro-credit has spread to numerous lending programs, Aravinds basic model, a 250-bed hospital was adopted in Mumbai, Kolkata and Nepal hospitals. Also, the Indian government is adopting Aravinds medical protocol doctrine for their training centers around the country. Aravinds goal is to be an example of efficient management and inexpensive care to patients, since any ophthalmologist can provide eye care, but can only sustai n affordability to the masses as long as it is managed properly. This is their new focus called Managed Eye Hospitals. In the long term, according to their website, they want to affect a larger population, by exceeding 100 eye care hospitals spreading to other parts of the world. They want to be an example for other health care hospitals to become more efficient, and to grow and thrive. Aravinds ultimate goal is to join together with others to help eliminate treatable blindness entirely by the year 2020 (Aravind, 2009). A Bittersweet Critique It is hard to critique a social business, as we try to negate or justify the flaws in the system by contrasting it with the good it does for the public. However, a company, no matter how well intentioned, cannot grow to its full potential if not given the criticism necessary to improve their system. In this section, we will first explain the flaws we found within Aravind and how we believe they might negatively affect the company in the future. Then we will explain some of the great benefits or pros of Aravind, and how we believe they will perform in the future. The Bad The business model of Aravind, although scalable, is very reliant upon having a strong client base. In particular, it needs a constant influx of paying customers to negate the costs incurred by offering their services for free or for extremely reduced prices. The location of new ventures is also a factor of success for the model to work, as their structure involves hiring local residents to work in the hospitals. If the quality of workers is diminished in the area attempted, then the Aravind system will not run as efficiently or effectively as intended. Also, it would cost them more to bring in employees from outside the area, which would raise the overall cost level, and reduce their ability to offer their services to the impoverished people of the area. Another flaw in the Aravind system is the high turnover rate they must deal with. Doctors come from all over the globe to train in these hospitals, as they perform more surgeries in a day than they would otherwise perform in a few m onths time. But since Aravind is trying to operate on as small a cost budget as possible, they cannot afford to pay their staff rates that are high enough to compete with private practice firms. One final flaw we saw when examining Aravind, was the fact that they make staff members work even when they are sick. Although this is done to keep production up, it also makes room for errors, and contagion. The dedication seen by the employees is admirable, but when sick, you should not be performing any service in the medical field. The Good Aravind has greatly enlarged the social impact they have on society by not only providing a necessary service to meet one of their healthcare needs, but also by creating jobs and hiring locally. This is seen both with Aravind hospitals and with their manufacturing plant, Aurolab. Aravind could easily outsource to get employees and resources, but instead they choose to continue helping the social sector in their respective areas. And even though Aravind Eye Hospitals treat more patients than any other eye care facility in the world, they continue to advertise their service across the country in order to find and serve more individuals. They are actively seeking out their target market instead of waiting for them to come to them. Eye camps, kiosks, and bus runs have been created by the Aravind system to get them closer to their market, and physically bring their clients in. Their use of technology allows them to consult and share their practices with hospitals worldwide, and increases productivity among staff members, and allows them to reach the population that cannot make it into the hospitals. Aravind Eye Hospitals have created an efficient and effective service that best serves the social sector, and provides much needed help to the economically disadvantaged and blind population. And because Aravind is renowned worldwide for its innovation in the field, technical excellence, and operational efficiency, it attracts new ophthalmologists to the system. Once these new surgeons get trained in the Aravind way, it betters the surgeon himself because of the massive amount of surgeries he will complete, and it also extends the Aravind practice into even more hospitals across the globe. We believe that Aravind is doing an excellent job so far, and has a very sustainable model. They have been critical in their decision making thus far, and we feel confident that they will only become stronger as time goes by. This will hit a cap at some point though, as Aravind gets closer to reaching its vision of curing all the worlds treatable blindness, their market will start to decline. Once demand sinks low enough, the current model used by Aravind will become useless, and they will need to undergo some major revisions to their model. Overall though, it really is an excellent business model, and is doing a great deal of good for the people of India. Work Citations Azad India Foundation: http://www.azadindia.org/social-issues/poverty-in-india.html Economy Watch: http://www.economywatch.com/indianeconomy/poverty-in-india.html Reason For Liberty: http://www.reasonforliberty.com/current-affairs/indian-health-care-an-overview.html Bornstein, David. How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2004. Print. Chang, David F. Three programs offer hope. (Cover story). Ophthalmology Times 34.9 (2009): 1-43. Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition. EBSCO. Web. 27 Oct. 2009. Govindappa Venkataswamy, MD (deceased). ASCRS: The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. 2009. ASCRS. Web. 17 Nov. 2009. Maurice, J. Restoring sight to the millionsthe Aravind way. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 79.3 (2001): 270. CINAHL. EBSCO. Web. 27 Oct. 2009. Shah, Janat, and L. S. Murty. Compassionate, High Quality Health Care at Low Cost: The Aravind Model. IIMB Management Review 16.3 (2004): 31-43. Business Source Complete. EBSCO. Web. 4 Nov. 2009. Aravind Eye Hospitals: http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:-V-GZ0L9JZMJ:www.aravind.org/tribute/A%2520Man%2520Who%2520Saved%25202.4%2520Million%2520Eyes.pdf+aravind+eye+hospital+business+modelcd=7hl=enct=clnkgl=us Health Scribe Media: http://health.scribemedia.org/2007/01/03/aravind-eye-clinic/ Saravanan, S., Organisational Capacity Builting- A Model Developed by Aravind Eye Care System http://laico.org, retrieved on 11-29-2009, http://laico.org/v2020resource/files/capacity_build.pdf. Dan, Sorin A.,ARAVIND EYE HOSPITAL:Assignment Public Managementhttp://www.people.umass.edu, retrieved on 11-27-2009. http://www.people.umass.edu/sdan/projectspapers/Aravind.pdf. Last opened 11/29/2009.

The Feelings Of Falling In Love :: essays research papers fc

The Feelings of Falling in Love What is Love? Is it attraction? Is it intimacy? Is it attachment? Love, in fact, is all of these things combined together. "Love is spiritual, not physical. It is a union of souls and hearts and minds, not something you can't put under your microscope and understand!" Love is an emotion combined with a series of feelings. These feelings can be immensely powerful and wonderful. Romantic love is defined to be an intense emotional state that one person experiences in relation to another. These types of feelings appear to be among the most intense that most of us are capable of, and at least in some cases, grow rather than diminish with time. Falling in love can be one of the most unexplainable feelings a person can endure. There are two sets of feelings that are the basis of modern romantic relationships. The first is attraction. Attraction is the excitement you feel when falling in love. To better explain this feeling, attraction is what you feel when you have met someone new who really excites you and you begin to feel aroused when thinking about this person. Although this sounds very sexual, this feeling is just the first of what will most likely become a sexual passion. When in this first state of attraction, your body feels different - more bouncy, more energetic, and in need of less food and sleep. When in this state of attraction, one feels very happy and different every time that they are with this person. Frequently the presence (or sometimes merely thought) of the loved one can evoke specific physiological reactions. These physiological reactions include: erections for the male, wetness for the female, a lump in the throat, sweaty palms, weak knees, cold feet, a pounding heart. dizziness, and butterflies in the stomach. These physiological reations are completely normal when falling in love. The second type of feeling that one endures when falling in love is attachment. Attachment is a bond or a special tie between people that are attracted to one another. Attachment helps keep people together and has more to do with feelings of security than of excitement. Romantic love requires attraction plus attachment. Someone can be very strongly attracted to another person but never become attached. Without some feeling of attachment, attraction is nonspecific. Once you have begun to fall in love with someone, this process becomes more and more important and you begin to feel more attached to this person. When in this state of attachment, each person would feel as if they are one person combined together. A special bond is shared and a sense of

Eli Whitney And The Cotton Gin :: American History

Eli Whitney and the Cotton Gin Eli Whitney was the inventor of the cotton gin and a pioneer in the mass production of cotton. Whitney was born in Westboro , Massachusetts., on Dec. 8, 1765, and died on Jan. 8, 1825. He graduated from Yale College in 1792. By April 1793, Whitney had designed and constructed the cotton gin, a machine that automated the separation of cottonseed from the short-staple cotton fiber. Eli Whitney's machine could produce up to 23 kg (50 lb) of cleaned cotton daily, making southern cotton a profitable crop for the first time. Unfortunately Whitney failed to profit from his invention; imitations of his machine appeared, and his 1794 invention was not upheld until 1807. Eli Whitney and his business partner, Phineas Miller, opted to produce as many cotton gins as possible, install them throughout Georgia and the South, and charge farmers a fee for doing the ginning for them. Their charge was two-fifths of the profit, paid to them in cotton itself. And here, all their troubles began. Farmers throughout Georgia resented having to go to Eli Whitney's cotton gins where they had to pay what they regarded as an exorbitant tax. Instead planters began making their own versions of Eli Whitney's gin and claiming they were "new" inventions. Miller brought costly suits against the owners of these pirated versions but because of a loophole in the wording of the 1793 patent act, they were unable to win any suits until 1800, when the law was changed. Struggling to make a profit and mired in legal battles, the partners finally agreed to license gins at a reasonable price. In 1802, South Carolina agreed to purchase Eli Whitney's patent right for $50,000 but delayed in paying it. The partners also arranged to sell the patent rights to North Carolina and Tennessee. By the time even the Georgia courts recognized the wrongs done to Eli Whitney, only one year of his patent remained. In 1808 and again in 1812 he humbly petitioned Congress for a renewal of his patent. In 1798, Eli Whitney invented a way to manufacture muskets by machine so that the parts were interchangeable. Ironically, it was as a manufacturer of muskets that Whitney finally became rich. Background on the Cotton Gin The cotton gin is a device for removing the seeds from cotton fiber. Simple devices for that purpose have been around for centuries, an East Indian machine called a charka was used to separate the seeds from the lint when the fiber was pulled through a set of rollers.

Ideas on “Behaviour of Fish in an Egyptian Tea Garden” Essay

‘Behaviour of Fish in an Egyptian Tea Garden’, written by Keith Douglas is a poem about the connection between man and woman. Describing and interpreting the relationship between the genders sense of hierarchy, beauty and character. This could be analysed in the strange title; the fish (man) is mesmerised by the Garden’s (woman) setting, because it is metaphorically abnormal yet unusually attractive. This draws the fish in, as seen by the fish’s ‘behaviour’. Douglas makes a good example of imagery, using it to further expand the continuous metaphor in a peculiar way. By using the vastness of the sea, filled with fish of all backgrounds, Douglas makes the poem seem quite vast but also profoundly multicultural and universal. The typicality of it all is that the fish’s all have a common desire, a sexual desire to be more accurate. This accumulation of â€Å"cruel wish for love† from the flock of fish; towards a white stone which radiates beauty, makes the poem seem slightly immoral because of the way she â€Å"slyly† draws them in with their undeniable lust. The way Douglas structures each stanza adds to the connotation behind the fish, such as the idea of how universal the fish’s behaviour and thinking patterns are (lust/love). Resulting in a whole flock of fish coming over to look at her beauty. For example in some of the stanzas (such as three, four and five) we can see that Douglas introduces a new type of fish/man for each stanza showing how men are universally ‘all’ the same despite their backgrounds. The length of the stanzas being the same throughout could also represent the typicality of men, meaning it is common throughout, almost predicted. Although there are metaphors throughout this poem, the enjambment is also an important technique in this poem because in each stanza it is heavily used. In the quote â€Å"The fish swim off on business: and she sits alone at the table† there is a new line between the two clauses further adding to the unpredictability of the woman but it also shows how short lived ‘beauty’ is, either the woman has grown old or she has stopped flaunting her body. Furthermore the reason why enjambment adds to the unpredictability is because on every line Douglass uses it to delay the intention of emotion to show how surprised the fish are towards this stone/woman. In the last stanza we can see situational irony; that the escalation of attraction between all the men (thinking they would get something), gets turned down by the lady, forcing them to go back to being normal again. This is because the â€Å"ice-cream is finished†, in other words she has stopped teasing and flaunting her body. Lastly this leaves her with only the option of having a stable and tedious life with a boring rich man (â€Å"collector†), who can tend to her want/needs of money. Furthermore the woman did not find her partner for love because all the men were in a crazy lust for her body, not taking in account for her personality behind the scene. To conclude we can see that Keith Douglas main technique is by continuously comparing his ideas using metaphors throughout the poem. One figure that came to mind when writing this essay was Marilyn Monroe, because in her era she had so much attraction, maybe because society wasn’t used to such beauty, that people (men in general) hyped her ‘level’ of attraction.

Children with Down Syndrome Plastic Surgery Essay

Children with Down Syndrome: Plastic Surgery Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Children with Down Syndrome share similar characteristics such as its effects on their facial features. The bandwagon of most children protracts such features as extra skin. As a result, these children have an epicanthi fold that is additional skin on their eyelids inner corners. In addition, they have slanted eye openings rather than the horizontal openings, a feature referred to as slant palpebral tissues. Besides, such children have flattened nasal bridge and may also have downturned lower lip and flat mid-facial zone. Notwithstanding, they may have an open mouth with a protruding tongue. Plastic surgery was proposed in the 1970s as a way to reconfigure their children’s facial features to recover from Down Syndrome. Surgery recoveries for this ailment are categorized into facial reconstruction and tongue surgery. The treatment approach has elicited mixed debate on the parenting and parenting rights. This paper argues that parents of children with Down Syndrome should not subject their children to plastic surgery to make them look more conventional.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To begin with, interventions to change the body of a child may involve use of medicines, surgery or hormones. Conventionally, such interventions inflicted some physical damage to the children and are generally optional (Ameen & Boby, 2013). The procedures to reshape the body of a child are irreversible, invasive and potentially dangerous. Nonetheless, the fact these decisions are made indifferent to therapy needs differentiates them from similar parental decisions that design the child. Indeed, current laws do not consider the difference in these decisions, and therefore, parents can decide to subject their children to various body shaping. Current laws are indifferent to children body shaping decisions although they raise concerns on child rights, parental rights as well as parent obligations.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the U.S.A for instance, it is constitutionally and in common law embalmed that competent adults decide on their personal medical decisions. These decisions go beyond lifesaving treatment, dangerous cosmetic procedures and election treatment. In this regard, children are not considered as competent adults. Ethicists argue that teenagers and young children should decide on their medical procedures. However, the law vests decision making for teenagers and children on their guardians and parents withy limited restrictions. Therefore, legally, parents are free to decide among different alternatives including plastic surgery to reshape their children.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Obviously, there is much as stake when parents are allowed to subject their children to plastic surgery even when the children have Down Syndrome. Firstly, plastic surgery inflicts physical harm as it involves piercing and cutting of the skin (Ouellette, 2010). Besides, it may entail removal of organs or tissues as well as injection or anesthetizing with hormones. Consequently, the children stand at a risk of suffering cancer, nerve damage, hypertension, diabetes or death in extreme cases. Notwithstanding, such children are likely to suffer from psychological risks associated with injury to identity and stigma. Still, the piercing, cutting and injecting the tender skin of children constitute child abuse.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   For ages, plastic surgery was a recipe for austerity and ostensible rich or a requisite recovery treatment for birth deformities and trauma sufferings. However, today, it is an optional cosmetic surgery accessible to people of all economic structures and ages (Ouellette, 2010). In spite of these, this paper is of the opinion that it should be accessible to adults only. For this reason, the researcher does not harbor ill will against plastic surgery for treatment but emphatically reserves it for adults only. Therefore, this is not a grand conceptualization to present a teenage girl for breast implants to rejuvenate her low self esteem. Neither should a teenage boy be subjected to plastic surgery for skin acne scars. Instead, parents should tally for a few more years for them to make these shaping decisions in their adulthood.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Parents of children with Down Syndrome subject their children to plastic surgery to make them look â€Å"more conventional†. To begin with, â€Å"conventional† is a relative word in Down Syndrome vocabulary because most children tend to take after other members of their family (Ameen & Boby, 2013). Therefore, there is nothing unusual. So, conventional is a term used to brandish children with Down Syndrome by their parents to refer to a â€Å"less embarrassing† look. Note that I do not use any particular term for that purpose. As a result, my son and daughter are my children, period! If they have Down Syndrome, they are not normal, weird, and conventional or anything like that like their elder siblings or not. They are my children, period!   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Coincidentally, parents subjecting their children to cosmetic surgery claim unconditional love to their children (Ameen & Boby, 2013). However, they willingly, uninfluenced and independently expose their children to pain and suffering in an effort to throw a cover over their having Down Syndrome. Most of the parents claim to mitigate humiliation, embarrassment and pain from teasing by â€Å"fitting them in†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pardon my dumbness, but I wonder how it helps a kid with learning disabilities learns that his parents were extremely embarrassed and ashamed of their outlook that they would have spent astronomically to reverse the situation (Ameen & Boby, 2013). Equally, I wonder how it helps the child when it is teased at school for being â€Å"unconventional† while the peers cannot tell that the child has Down Syndrome. For this reason, parents of children having Down Syndrome should not subject their children to plastic surgery. They should wait for the children to become of age and make personal decisions. After all, plastic surgery is an irreversible condition. References Ameen, F., & Boby, C. (2013, June 4). Parenting a Child with Down Syndrome. HubPages. Retrieved December 27, 2013, from http://society-parenting.hubpages.com/hub/Parenting-a-Child-with-Down-Syndrome Ouellette, A. (2010). Shaping P arental Authority Over Children ‘ s Bodies. Indiana Law Journal, 85(3), 956-1001. Source document