Genetic engineering and gene alterations are a very rich and complex issue that have been the talk of many ethical debates. Somatic and germline genetic engineering technologies are becoming more prevalent in the scientific community and could be provided for public use in a matter of time. These technologies raise bioethical concerns as society recognizes the challenges behind where to draw the line in use of this relatively new science. The basis of this paper is focused around a meta-analysis and systematic assessment of previous publications of major ethical debates to show the complex interests and ideas that need to be reflected and contemplated upon when deciding to genetically alter our species. A short description of background literature takes place first to show the ideas of major philosophers and bioethic figures to introduce these topics. This analysis will then continue with discussion from a religious point of view and the concerns that they have on these technologies. Next, there is a discussion regarding violation of consent, rights, and autonomy. A discussion of the potential consequential grounds of these enhancements on our species and what they could mean for our future takes ensues after this. At the end of this paper, there is a last discussion about the injustice and inequity that could form from these technologies becoming available to the public. These technologies could affect the future of our entire species and drastically shape our society, medicine, and science in ways we could never imagine.

The paper reviews some of the models of consequentialist justice, the nature of social contracts, and the social coordination of behaviors through social norms.

The challenge with actualizing justice in many contemporary societies is the broad and often conflicting individual beliefs on rights and responsibilities that each member of a society maintains to describe the opportunities and compensations they attribute to themselves and others. This obscurity is compounded through a lack of academic or political alignment on the definition and tenets of justice.

The result of the deficiency of commonality of the definition and tenants of justice often result in myopic decisions by individuals and discontinuity within a society that reduce the available rights, obligations, opportunities, and/or compensations that could be available through alternative modalities.

The paper begins by assessing the challenge of establishing mutual trust in order to achieve cooperation. I then examine utility enhancement strategies available through cooperation. Next, I turn to models that describe natural and artificial sources of social contacts, game theory, and evolutionary fitness to produce beneficial results. I then examine social norms, including the dual inheritance theory, as models which can selectively reinforce certain cooperative behaviors and reduce others. In conclusion, a possible connection among these models to improve the overall fitness of society as defined by the net average increase in available utility, rights, opportunities, and compensations is offered.

Through an examination of concepts that inform individual choice and coordination with others, concepts within social coordination, the nature of social contracts, and consequentialist justice to coordinate behaviors through social norms may illustrate an integrated perspective and, through additional examination, produce a comprehensive model to describe how societies could identify and foster just human coordination.

The following paper is a comparison between the Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio (Sant’Ambrogio Market) in Florence, Italy and the Open Air Farmers’ Market in Phoenix, Arizona. Farmers’ markets, such as these, serve to rekindle a relationship with food that over time has been lost, particularly due to the green revolution, globalisation, and the mechanization of agriculture. In addition, farmers’ markets serve to foster relationships between community members and farmers, and they are an important element of a movement to create food sovereignty within local communities. Food sovereignty gives people the right to decide their food choices. In our modern system where many agricultural decisions are made by the government or large corporations, reclaiming food sovereignty is a larger effort to take back control of personal rights, individual health and the health of the environment.
Using Sant’Ambrogio and Open Air as case studies for the research, this paper provides insight on the degree of impact that local farmers’ markets can have on creating food sovereignty within communities; and how pre-existing factors and negative forces diminish the benefits of farmers’ markets and local food movements. Among many, some of these negative forces include the effects of social and cultural pressures that promote fast food and convenience; a broken agricultural system controlled by monopoly companies; industrial food items priced cheaper than small farmers can compete with; and an underscore of unethical behavior across all sectors (including organic and local) that inhibit honest farmers from making enough profit to survive.
The comparison between Sant’Ambrogio and Open Air Market indicates that big agriculture undermines the success of local farming movements in both countries, but Phoenix can still learn from the movement in Florence, which is rooted in a deep history of outdoor markets and rich food culture. Italy is fortunate in terms of their agriculture capacity because their climate allows for a diverse variety of crops; while Arizona does not have the same agricultural capacity as the Mediterranean climate of Italy, it is still valuable to mimic the network of local food systems that Italy has. In order to do so, Phoenician consumers should take advantage of the food that grows locally and then supplement it with more diverse crops from other areas of Arizona or the southwest.
The Open Air Market in Phoenix currently does not play an important role in the food system except for helping people to relate community and socialization to food. Transparency, communication and education are required to actually increase the success of small local farmers and to help the Open Air Market play a real role in the local food movement and the establishment of food sovereignty.

The concept of when human death occurs had for most of history been determined by criteria for cardiac death, defined as the cessation of a heartbeat and respiration. However, in the mid-1900's, a new definition of death emerged in the form of brain death, characterized by an irreversible cessation of brain and brainstem function. This definition was needed after resuscitation of the heart was made possible and a growing number of patients were in a state of ventilatory support but had undetectable brain function. The success of organ transplantation and the growing need for more organ procurements further reinforced the advantage of using neurological criteria to declare death. These advancements in medicine have created a need for a definition of death other than cardiac death and have led to the acceptance of brain death, though it is still the subject of controversy. It has been attacked as a concept with weak scientific foundations and ethical justifications, since the brain itself is not well understood and the definition is used to the advantage of the organ donation system. Those in opposition to the use of neurological criteria to pronounce death argue that it is not always correctly detected and is conceptually incoherent. It would help to resolve this point of controversy if accurate methods to detect brain death were standardized for all physicians to use when declaring death, so that no declarations could be termed inaccurate or incomplete. The definition of brain death needs more rigorous and updated scientific backing in its ability to be detected if it is to be imposed upon individuals by law, as it is in the United States. It is also possible that new research and developments in medical treatments will make the current definition of death subject to change, and understanding the underlying problems of the current definition of brain death will help eliminate issues in a new definition of death.

This paper sought to answer the question of how to improve the American healthcare system. The Affordable Care Act aimed to do this by increasing access to insurance. What this has done, however, is exacerbate the already rising rate of physician shortages. As a way to fix this problem, it is suggested that state legislatures and the federal government adopt the rising trend of expanding scope of practice to the extent of the care providers' certification. This is a movement has garnered support throughout the country and 20 states already allow for nearly autonomous practice by advanced practice nurses (APNs). This paper looked at systematic review, peer-reviewed papers, state/federal legislation and labor statistics to demonstrate how this move could increase access to healthcare providers as well as decrease cost by nearly 25%. This paper also evaluated how to formalization of nursing education has had positive impacts on the French healthcare system. Additionally, it evaluated a more specific look at Arizona and used data provided by the Arizona Board of Nursing and The Arizona Medical Board to make a compelling argument as to why this is a viable option for solving the disparity between rural and urban healthcare. The conclusion of the paper was to push policy makers to make the statutory constraints of the profession closer to the certification the people receive in their education as opposed to relying on case law. Additionally, it would be helpful to use technological innovations, like project echo, to help these professionals practice in rural areas. This will ultimately lead to a healthcare system that better serves the needs of all populations, as well as decreasing the overall cost of care.

Abstract. The term "sex trafficking" can mean many different things, depending on who uses it. To some, it may be synonymous with prostitution. To others, it may equate to slavery. And some may find that sex trafficking differs from both slavery and prostitution. But I find that the term "sex trafficking" is used improperly when referring to phenomena that may not entail the violation of rights of any individual involved. For this reason, various definitions of "sex trafficking" may inappropriately conflate sex trafficking with prostitution. In this essay, I argue against such a conflation through supporting a rights-based approach of defining "sex trafficking," in which every instance of true sex trafficking necessitates a violation of someone's rights. First, I begin by laying the foundation of my discussion with definitions and various government and non-government uses of the term "sex trafficking." Then, I argue for the rights-based approach. I proceed to explore how the rights-based approach relates to consent, force, coercion, deception, and competence. Then, I compile my findings, synthesize a definition, and elaborate on a few questions regarding my definition. Using the term "sex trafficking" correctly, as I argue, means that we necessarily use the term in a context of a violation of rights.

Understanding the connection between different forms of oppression is relevant both in the political movement for animal rights and the political movements for social justice and human equality. I argue that sexism, racism, and speciesism intersect in such a way that each form of oppression depends on and mutually reinforces the others. In the struggle for justice, inequalities cannot be compartmentalized and the approach cannot be single issue because leaving groups behind means leaving the oppressive systems intact, perpetuating all forms of oppression, and undermining the efforts of each campaign. By recognizing sexism, racism, and speciesism as inextricably linked, each movement can be made more successful by approaching inequality as a bundled political problem instead of as distinct and independent forms of injustice.

Genetic engineering has become an increasingly prevalent topic in the media today. It has raised bioethical concerns nationwide as philosophers and scientists alike realize the challenges behind where to draw the line in certain modifications. As an introduction to the topic, this paper discusses the history behind eugenics and its importance in modern society. There is a discussion on what gene alterations are and the many processes of its scientific background. This is followed by how certain procedures and the ethical issues they raise are not cut and dry. The basis of the arguments in this paper focus on two ethical approaches: Kantian and Utilitarian. These approaches exemplify the difficulty on the decision making process behind what sort of therapeutic or enhancement therapies should be legalized or denied. These approaches can be applied to the two types of gene alterations: somatic cell therapy and germline therapy. The concluding decisions made in regards to what should or should not be accepted could have an effect on future generations, altering our species subsequently, and leading to an advancement in medicine and science.

Through a brief analysis of punishment theory as well as the history of punishment in the United States, this work will focus on the current state of the punishment system that is characterized by a recent era of mass incarceration. The policies of mass incarceration coupled with economic downturns, has led to the emergence of an extremely profitable private prison industry. The prominence of this industry raises questions of legitimacy as well as questions of the interests that are being represented through apparent legislative manipulation via a powerful lobby. As with past eras of punishment, this current era that is characterized by policies of mass incarceration will presumably end in the future as the economic, political and social sensibilities shift. This project concludes with an analysis of possible strategies of reform and decarceration that may characterize the future of the punishment system in the United States.

Memory augmentation will play a vital role in the development of our future. The predicted introduction of downloadable brains will be the first of many neurocognitive technologies that will alter our lives at both the societal and individual levels. These technologies can affect everything from educational institutions to the judicial system, meanwhile raising issues such as autonomy, human psychology, and selfhood. Because of its tremendous potential, memory augmentation and its implications should thoroughly be examined.