Dna Synopsis

DNA, RNA, PROTEINS STARTS WITH ? Name _______________________________ 1. DNA that is spread out in the nucleus of a non-dividing cell so it can be read is called _C_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ . 2. The group of 3 nitrogen bases in the mRNA message that is read together is called a _C_ __ __ __ __. 3. In dividing cells, the DNA is scrunched into _C_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ so it can be moved. 4. The mRNA message tells the ribosomes which _A_ __ __ __ __ _A_ __ __ __ to put in next when it makes a _P_ __ __ __ __ __ __. 5. Adenine, thymine, guanine, cytosine, and uracil are all _N_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ _B_ __ __ __ __. . Chromosomes are made when DNA wraps around _H_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ to make bead-like structures called _N_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __. 7. M_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ RNA is copied from DNA in the _N_ __ __ __ __ __ __, edited, and transferred to _R_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ in the cytoplasm to be translated into a protein 8. The process of making a DNA copy is cal led _R_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __. 9. _N_ __ __ __ __ __ __ _A_ __ __ __ __ (like DNA and RNA) are made by joining _N_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ subunits together in a chain. 10. T_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ RNA has an _A_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ region that matches the codon on an m-RNA message. 11. The process of making an RNA message from DNA is called _T_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ and it happens in the _N_ __ __ __ __ __ __. 12. _R_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ RNA is made by the _N_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ and joins with _P_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ to make ribosomes. 13. Another name for protein synthesis is _T_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __. 14. _R_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ molecules attach to the _O_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ to turn off the lac operon when _L_ __ __ __ __ __ __ is NOT present. 5. _H_ __ __ genes are found in EUKARYOTIC cells and control growth and differentiation in developing embryos. 16. _S_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ are chromosomal mutations in whic h one nitrogen base replaces another in the gene code. 17. _F_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ mutations that happen at the beginning of the code are more harmful than those at the end because they change more of the message. 18. Small pieces of code called _I_ __ __ __ __ __ __ are cut out of the RNA message before it is read; while _E_ __ __ __ __ stay in the message and are expressed. 9. 3n or 4n plants with _P_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ are bigger and stronger, but humans with this condition don’t survive. 20. _T_ __ __ __ boxes help position the _R_ __ __ _P_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ enzyme. 21. _U_ __ __ __ __ __ is the nitrogen base NOT found in _D_ __ __ and _T_ __ __ __ __ __ __ is the nitrogen base NOT found in _R_ __ __. 22. Nitrogen bases made with _O_ __ __ ring are called _P_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ and nitrogen bases made with _T_ __ __ rings are called _P_ __ __ __ __ __ __. 23.In prokaryotic cells, a group of genes that work together is called an _O_ __ _ _ __ __ __. 24. James _W_ __ __ __ __ __ and Francis _C_ __ __ __ __ are the scientists who used Rosalind _F_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __’s X-ray images to figure out that DNA is shaped like a â€Å"twisted ladder† with _P_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ and _S_ __ __ __ __ __ forming the sides of the ladder, _N_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ bases forming the rungs, and _H_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ bonds acting as â€Å"glue† to hold the two sides together. (OVER) 25. I_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ are mutations in which a piece of code breaks, flips, and reattaches backwards; while _T_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ move a piece of DNA to another non-homologous chromosome. 26. In _G_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __’s mice-pneumonia experiment, lethal bacteria passed genetic material to harmless bacteria in a process called _T_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __. 27. According to _C_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __‘s rules when making DNA, _A_ __ __ __ __ __ __ always bonds with _T_ __ __ __ __ __ __ and _C_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ always bonds with _G_ __ __ __ __ __ __. 8. Viruses that infect bacteria (like the one used in _H_ __ __ __ __ __ __- _C_ __ __ __ __ ‘s blender experiment which proved DNA was the genetic material) are called _B_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __. 29. _T_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ are sequences of DNA that can jump from one location to another and are thought to be involved in increasing mutations in cells; they are sometimes called â€Å"_J_ __ __ __ __ __† genes. 30. A DNA molecule is said to be _A_ __ __ __- _P_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ because the two complementary strands run in opposite directions.

Customs Broker

A BUSINESS PLAN AND ROLE OF A U. S. CUSTOMS BROKER TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I – BUSINESS PLAN: Executive Summary General Company Description Services Market Analysis Summary Management and Organization Financial Plan PART II – U. S. CUSTOMS BROKER ROLE: Role and Purpose of a Customs Broker Preparing for the Customs Broker License Exam Harmonized Tariff Schedule Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) Importer Security Filing/10+2 Entry Process Automated Brokerage Interface Automated Commercial System Sample Import/Export Frequently Used Documents EXECUTIVE SUMMARYCustoms Broker Experts, LLC is a certified woman-owned customs broker firm located in Chicago, IL. The company has been set up as an LLC company by the owner and licensed customs broker, A. The company’s goal is to become the preferred customs broker in the Chicagoland area, increasing profitability upward of 15% annually. Customs Broker Experts will process entry clearance of merchandise bein g imported through all major U. S. ports and comply with U. S. Customs clearance procedures, laws and regulations. The company will provide the services and filing procedures to customers so hey spend less time pouring over paperwork, and more time concentrating on their business. A, an experienced Supply Chain professional, will manage and operate the company as the licensed broker and general manager. With over ten years of import experience managing substantial volume from Mexico, Germany, China, and more recently Canada, A has the knowledge, commitment, and experience to lead a successful customs brokerage organization. GENERAL COMPANY DESCRIPTION: Customs Broker Experts, LLC offers customs clearance expertise to those in the business of importing goods from all over the world.The organization offers importers its thorough understanding of the rules and regulations of the United States Customs Border Patrol to ensure goods are in compliance and abide by government regulations. T he company will process all customs-required documentation, declare the value of the merchandise, classify the merchandise, rate and pay all applicable duties on behalf of the importer prior to releasing the goods to the customer. The company has secured a two-year contract with ABC Imports, LLC and will act as the customs broker for the company for said period of time. Contract renewal will take place 18 months into the contract.ABC Imports handles merchandise shipping from Mexico, Germany, and China. Based on forecasted projections, Customs Broker Experts will generate a profit by the end of the first year with a 15% increase the second year. The projected imports are expected to vary throughout the year with May through September serving as peak season. During peak season, the company projects to import about 800 trucks and railcars a month from Mexico through the port of Laredo, Texas; Eagle Pass, Texas; and Nogales, AZ. During off season, the company projects to clear approxima tely 575 shipments. SERVICES:Customs Broker Experts will provide prompt personalized service acting as an agent between the shipper and US Customs and other government agencies. It will be our job to be sure that the importer of record is in compliance with all Federal and State laws. All customs brokerage firms are required to have a Power of Attorney on file prior to transacting any Customs business on the behalf of the importer of record. This instrument allows the broker to transact Customs business only. The document indicates the US tax reporting number, and specifies if the importer is a corporation, partnership, sole proprietor or an individual.The following is a list of commodities the company will manage, to name a few: †¢ Artifacts †¢ Furniture †¢ Household Goods †¢ Manufactured Goods †¢ Perishables There is virtually no commodity Customs Broker Experts cannot clear. Customs Broker Experts’ fully automated processes will allow for error-fre e entry presentations as well as electronic payment of duties to U. S. Customs. The company will be certified by U. S. Customs to process entries nationwide acting as liaisons with the U. S. Government preparing and processing the required documentation and paying applicable duties.MARKET ANALYSIS SUMMARY During the first year, Customs Broker Experts will concentrate on clearing shipments originating in Mexico on behalf of ABC Imports, LLC. Customs Broker Exports will concentrate on importing from Mexico during its first year because: 1. Customs Broker Experts has extensive experience importing from this NAFTA partner. 2. This industry continues to grow as the Latino population increases in the United States. 3. Customs Brokers’ extensive experience and knowledge of the importing process adds value to its clientele.Classifying merchandise to identify a product for importing can be quite complex. This type of complexity requires collaboration and coordination between a credibl e and experienced customs broker, the importer of record, and U. S. Customs. Customs Broker Experts will be marketing the business in a number of ways. First and foremost will be the company’s website. The website will allow for potential customers to request a rate quote online. It will also serve as tool for existing customers by providing links to relevant government websites as well as status of their merchandise during the importation process.Customs Broker Experts will advertise in supply chain and transportation journals. The ads in these journals will provide visibility of Customs Broker Experts to manufacturers and buyers as well as importers and exporters. The company will extend their services to other importers in the following years by bidding in Request for Proposals (RFP’s) starting in the third quarter of the first year. MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION The founder of the company, A, has 10+ years of experience in the Supply Chain industry importing goods fr om Mexico, Germany, and China.More than eight of those years were in the area of Purchasing & Inventory Management with the last two years focused in Logistics and Distribution. Having conducted business with a wide array of brokers, both foreign and domestic, over the last ten years has given Gina Gonzalez the opportunity to understand the importation process. Gina Gonzalez will lead the company as President and licensed broker. Two part-time employees and two part-time interns will be focused on the administrative process of entering and clearing entries with U. S. Customs.The part-time employees will be junior and senior-level college students while the interns are in their freshman or sophomore year. Both the employees’ and interns’ area of study will be in International Business, Operations Management, or Supply Chain Management. A third full-time employee and part owner, C, will handle the IT operations of the business maintaining the company’s website, ED I (electronic data transmission), and ABI (Automated Broker Interface) service up to date. A fourth full-time employee will manage the account payables and receivables.Gina Gonzalez will oversee and be very much involved in the day-to-day operations with primary focus in marketing the company. As the company prepares to expand their services into the second year, an additional part-time employee will be added as well as an additional licensed individual. Although the company can operate with one sole licensed broker, the additional licensed professional will add value to the company and act as assistant manager in the absence of A. The company will also offer current employees the opportunity to take the customs broker exam with all exam fees sponsored by the company upon successful completion of the exam.This fringe benefit will be extended to employees who have been with the company for a minimum of 12 months. In the event of termination of employment within 12 months after reimbu rsement, the employee will be responsible for reimbursing the company. FINANCIAL PLAN The company will charge a per entry fee. In order to streamline charges, each entry will have a flat fee regardless of the mode of transportation—rail, truck, or intermodal. The average industry charge ranges between $30 to $60 depending on length and volume stipulated within the contract.By securing a two-year contract with ABC Imports, LLC, the company is able to offer a highly competitive rate of $45 per entry. Considering the projected entries for the first year, the company expects to generate a net profit by the end of the calendar year. A portion of the profit will be allocated to bring on additional staff as new contracts are acquired. The start-up funds will be drawn from a personal investment from A, $30,000, an investor and co-owner B, $15,000, and second investor and co-owner C, $5,000. A owns 75% of the company, with B owning 20%, and C 5%. [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic]

The Ministers Black Veil Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Ministers Black Veil - Essay Example Milton Stewart’s comment is remarkable in this regard, â€Å"Evil will forever reign over good, for the peccable, weak souls of todays youth are for more intelligent than any of us will ever be.† Nathaniel Hawthorne has incorporated this theme in some of his works of great significance, for instance, ‘The Scarlet Letter’ and ‘Young Goodman Brown’. Hawthorne through his work ‘The Minister’s Black Veil’ tends to identify individual flaw with universal character of mankind using a symbol, which hides the physical but reveals the abstract. The short story of Hawthorne uses the black veil as a symbol, which gains prominence in the very title of the story. The black veil predominates the very plot and theme of the story. The story initiates in front of the church where the funeral ceremony of a young maiden is being held and the minister appears with a black veil covering more than half of his face. Only his mouth and chin were visible and the onlookers search for the reason behind it. When he bends over the maiden the veil hangs such that if the corpse’s eyes are open she can see his face. This again raises a question about the reason why he is hiding his face and what his â€Å"secret sin† is. He immediately catches the veil with his hand to keep the face covered. Even his wife cannot get a definite answer and the minister declares that he is going to wear the veil throughout his life. Many critics have questioned the purpose of using the veil but according to Carnochan, the black veil serves more as a à ¢â‚¬Å"symbol of symbols† than simply a â€Å"parable of guilt†. The purpose of the veil is to reflect a meaning on one hand and on the other, hide it – â€Å"inviting speculation and resisting it† (Freedman, 354). Once the face is revealed the significance of the veil will be lost. The purpose of using the veil in the story is to initiate emotions of an individual. The plot tactfully reveals the curiosity of the townspeople,

Vision Statement Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Vision Statement - Research Paper Example I have been reading Charles Bukowski’s book and found that he has a different way of expressing himself. I have decided to explore his unique character by ensuring that I read one of his books every year. I love engaging in activities that assist me in acquiring new skills and helping others. I love travelling to new places and meeting new people as this activity opens up my mind to new things. Every year I ensure that I visit three new towns. I have always thought about travelling to the famous cities located in the different continents. In the next five years I will ensure that I travel to two countries in Europe and experience the environment and their different cultures (Heathfield). I also love challenges because at the end, I learn something new. Since elementary school, the ever changing business environment and its challenges intrigued me and it became apparent that I was comfortable in this field. In the business world, an individual must keep on learning new things and developing concepts that will help him or her wade through the murky business waters. This field suits me because I love reading and I view challenges as stepping stones towards achieving my goals. However, many people who engage in businesses are motivated by self-interests. Since I have always wanted to help people out, I have decided to take up a course that will encompass the different things I love to do and the fact my main goal in this career will be to assist others. I have figured out that the ultimate challenge would be managing a hospital. In five years I will ensure that I get a Master’s degree in Business Administration with a specialization in Healthcare Management and a Project Management Professional Certification. This will assist me in helping out people, expanding my knowledge in the healthcare system and since I have never ventured into the healthcare field, the challenges that come therein will provide me with learning experiences

G Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

G - Research Paper Example Its first product was the Toyota AA and ever since, it has grown and incorporated other brands in its production. Such brands include Scion, Ranz, Lexus, as well as Hino. The company has also invested heavily in other automobile industry such as Isuzu, Daihatsu, Tesla, Sichuan FAW Toyota, and Fuji Corporation. Toyota Corporation was first incepted in the year 1933. During this year, the corporation was a subsidiary of the Toyoda Automatic Corporation. The Toyoda Corporation was run by Toyoda Kiichiro. The company’s first automobiles were the A1 and G1 that were manufactured in 1935. It was after the first production of the Automobiles that Toyota Corporation moved to establish an independent company that would allow total control of the production activities of its automobiles. This establishment took place in the year 1937 under the leadership of Toyoda Kiichiro. During this time, the immediate competitors of the company were Ford and GM motors. However, in order to provide an incentive to the customers and boost sales, the company decided to sell its automobiles at a cheaper price than its immediate competitors. The sale price of the model AA was only 3,350 yens. Ford sold their first car at a more expensive price that involved paying 400 yens more. Since then, Toyota Corporation has established more than one hundred subsidiaries. The company recognizes five principles. They include teamwork, kaizen, challenge, respect, and ‘go and see’. The company has general guidelines called the ‘Toyota Way 2001’ that lay out various policies and guidelines in which every employee in the organization ought to follow. Liker (21) suggests that Toyota Corporation focuses its efforts more on addressing the importance as well as the positive experiences of owning private quality vehicles. Its mission is to provide high quality and affordable automobiles on a global scale. In its corporate strategy to mitigate risks, Toyota has always been upfront

Job Selection Process Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Job Selection Process - Assignment Example So, we need to ponder on the different meanings regarding "validity". One renowned and cited one is: "An account is valid or true if it represents accurately those features of the phenomena, that it is intended to describe, explain or theories" (Hamersley in 1987) (1) It means that what we are trying to measure is accurate or not. And the other is that whether the means of assessment is actually measuring what it needs to measure. Face validity, part of validity, is seeing to it that a particular test really measuring the criteria and phenomena. For the selection of an employee, there is a process which includes Job Analysis, Recruitment and Selection. Job analysis is the analysis of the job and to see what the job needs, Ability, skills, work experience that a job needs and the nature of the job. The job analysis is there to make job description list and job specification list so that a perfect employee could be found for the organization. So the question is how to find a good employee. Well, there are different procedures and ways to test the ability of the person regarding the job. Now these tests are very important but we don't know that do these tests really give you of what you looking for So to check the test's ability to measure is done b y validity. We will discuss this more after discussing reliability so that both are clear in your mind. Now coming to the definition of the "Reliability", we talk in our ... Now coming to the definition of the "Reliability", we talk in our every day life that this is reliable and that is reliable. Isn't it We say that is this source of the news is reliable or not We say that my friend is a reliable person or that thing is reliable, meaning that some thing is dependable, reliable or trustworthy. But this meaning can not fit into the research meaning of reliability. So in research the word reliability means to be consistent and repeated like if you are giving a test than you would get same answer again and again. Let's take an example of a non reliable measuring device. The measuring of the characteristics of the people is needed in the personnel selection to determine that who will be accepted for the job openings and who will be not. For instance we might be interested in knowing the physical characteristics of the applicant. For example we want to measure the height of the applicant; we might start of with a 12 inch ruler. The first applicant turns out to be 6feet and 1 inch tall. It would not be shocking to see that another person who measures the same applicant's height gives the result of 6 feet 1 and 12/16 inches an hour later. Than the same candidate when measured the other day comes out to be 6 feet 1 and 14/16 inches tall. Now although the person's height is stable but we are getting different answers. Why This is because the measurement device is not perfectly reliable. And there are slight errors in the results. (Writer: William M.K. Trochim. Last revised on: 10/20/2006) We can now achieve a formal definition: "the variance of the measure" (William M.K. Trochim, last revised on 20th October 2006). (3) Here we can also look at different definition cited by different writes around the world. For instance Black and

How to Write the Best Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

How to Write the Best - Essay Example The structure of an essay depends on what type of essay it is, but most essays follow a general pattern that includes an introduction, two or three main body paragraphs, and then a conclusion to wrap everything up. The outline does not need to be very detailed because it only provides a guide for how the essay will look when finished. Each paragraph in the essay should only have a couple of sentences to explain the key points and supporting evidence if any. Part of the process of forming an outline usually involves some kind of research. There are many sources available for students to find information about their topic. Many students make the fatal mistake of including information from sites such as Wikipedia. The vast majority of lecturers do not approve of the use of such sources because they are not reliable. Any Internet user can change a Wikipedia page, so the information contained on a Wikipedia page may be untrustworthy. The types of sources that should be used in an essay mu st be reliable sources. This means that the information should invariably come from a book, a peer-review journal, or newspaper article. Any source that has been professionally published by an expert in a particular field of study counts as a legitimate source. Â   Â   Â   Â   The next step in producing a high-quality research paper is to write a rough draft. This stage is all about getting down thoughts on paper rather than trying to come up with the perfect essay. If an outline has already been completed, then this stage can be concluded at a faster pace than without one. The introduction of an essay should be designed to introduce the reader to the topic without giving too much key information away. The most common way to do this is through the use of a hook, which is designed to catch the reader’s attention. After the hook, a thesis statement should tell the reader what the student’s view on a particular issue is. This part is extremely important because it will set the tone for the rest of the paper. It will also tell the reader what reasons the student is giving for justifying their position on a topic.

Linguistic History And Affiliations Of Southeast Asia Essay

Linguistic History And Affiliations Of Southeast Asia - Essay Example In light of the fact that in this part of the world, languages are known to be used as ‘language cultures’, it is imperative to define the broad area we will be studying. Moving South from North, the countries may be grouped as follows: (Goddard, 2005; p. 53) In this context, let us discuss how many languages there are in this broad geographical area. While most people would not be able to come up a number more than twelve, the fact is that this would hold true if we're to talk only about national languages. These languages being the official medium of communication for spheres concerning governance, education, and media, may be divided into Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Melayu, Tetum, and Portuguese in East Timor, Philipino or Tagalog, Burmese, Thai, Lao, Khmer, Vietnamese, Chinese (Modern Standard Chinese), Korean and Japanese. But the truth is that, if we are to delve deeper into the matter, we will find that the total number of languages is a lot greater than most of us can imagine. This is owing to the inclusion of hundreds of minority languages spoken in the hills and jungles, as well as the languages of the same figure spoken in China, the Philippines, Indonesia, and various other countries of this area. From a genetic point of view, the languages of East and Southeast Asia are much more varied than those of Europe or America. To determine how many language families there are in this area, we would have to set aside various complications and say that there are basically six broad families. These are Austronesian, Mon – Khmer, Tai – Kadai, Tibeto – Burman, Sinitic, and Hmong Mein. Apart from these, there are several major languages whose ancestry is unclear like Japanese and Korean. Further, loan words also form an integral part of these languages as linguistic echoes of past cultural contact, where the nature of the loan words can speak volumes of the kind of contact enjoyed.

Examine jungs understanding of religeon Essay Example for Free

Examine jungs understanding of religeon Essay Carl Gustav Jung a Swiss psychiatrist and a contemporary to the most controversial minds: Freud, who of which Jung’s theories to begin with were influenced by, but later grew opposition towards his ideas and started pursuing his own. Simply Viewing religion as a natural process and considered it as something that was ultimately good for our mental well being. Jung’s understanding of religion is solemnly based on his individual perception of psychology, in order for one to understand his theory it is essential to acknowledge key features. To begin with Jung argued the libido which is said to be the main cause of neuroses is where psychic energy is produced, the energy is needed for the work of our personality to be performed efficiently, opposing to what Freud defines as a sexual drive essential to be released. This indicates Jung views religion as something of a deeper meaning and holds a lot more value to be classed as something created due to our supposedly guilty sexual desires. Jung’s work with patients with a range of different beliefs lead to him forming a link between different types of religions. Jung identified the similarities found in a number of religions for example in Islam Muslim’s refer to god as light ‘nur’ correspondingly in Christianity â€Å"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. (John 8:12) therefore Christians describe his as the ‘Light of the World’. Such comparisons that are too complex to be classed as a consequence caused Jung to declare not only do we all as humans have a un-conscious part and conscious part split in our brain, we also all have a collective un-conscious in our un conscious which we are all born with and is the oldest part of our brain. Due to everybody having the same collective unconscious results to us creating the same images, therefore explaining why everyone shares a similar idea of god, shared by all of humanity. These images are formed in the archetype, Jung stated the archetype is categorized into five different parts: the persona, shadow, animus, anima and God and self. Jung thought the self was the most vital part of our psyche; in order for us to ensure we stay healthy it seeks the integration of all of the parts of our characters â€Å"Individuation means becoming an ‘in-dividual’, and in so far as ‘individuality’ embraces our innermost, last, and incomparable uniqueness, it also implies becoming one’s own self. We could therefore translate individuation as ‘coming to self-hood’ or ‘self-realisation. † Jung states are un-conscious mind which is split in 5 parts is set of sometime during our life and results to becoming un-balanced along with the imbalance of the conscious and unconscious part of our brain, the failure of maintaining harmony leads to a cause of mental disorder in order for us to prevent this we turn to religion to make us a whole individual, we need answers and a belief in god, religion is used as a cure. The images created in the god category of our archetype supply us to successfully integrate the conscious and un-conscious parts of our personality. Jung’s theory explains why we as human beings value religion; if one of us were to oppose it we would be disturbing our natural individuation process. Therefore accepting religion is beneficial for the sake of our sanity and mental health, Jung viewed religion from a positive perspective although he did not personally believe that god exists his approach on the topic was respective â€Å"nothing positive or negative has been asserted about the possible existence of any god† Jung stated although the likelihood of god existing is slim yet he may exist. Furthermore removing religion would potentially cause psychological problems, as opposed to Freud who felt religion is an illness everyone should strive to overcome. Jung states religion stabilizes you and makes you whole.

Effects of Population Density and Noise Essay Example for Free

Effects of Population Density and Noise Essay Effects of Population Density and Noise Density and noise is able to effect people differently, a person’s personal space; territory and privacy can be disrupted by other people, chronic noise, and short-term noise. The different effects can be from an annoying noise to a more strong intrusive and anxiety forming illness. When population density increases the personal space, privacy and territory are approached a person may demand the acknowledgment to help stop or prevent crowding, and to help maintain the anxiety and frustration levels that a person could reach. Personal space is defined as â€Å"a physical distance that people choose to keep in interpersonal relationships† (Hutchinson Kowalski, 1999). Personal space can also be defined as a invisible space or boundaries that surrounds a person’s body and where other people would be considered an intruder if the individual gets to close to that person. Territorial space is when a person uses durable but preventative behaviors such as a defense of a home, place, person, objects, etc. This could also be done by verbal, signs, self-markers, this can imply to a person the one in or on that property or near the property will react in a manner that will help keep that space safe. People are not the only one’s or things that use territory. Animals use territory to show ownership. Privacy is defined as â€Å"a control over information about a person and have control over interaction with others† (Hutchinson Kowalski, 1999). Privacy is a major concern especially with tec hnology today, people have information that is suppose to stay private where some information can be made very public, the individuals place the values and needs of this information through technology can cause a huge risk on privacy. According to Straub (2007), a study done by John Calhoun experimented with a population density with living conditions of rats. Through his study the  rats would behave as normal and were given ample living space and as the rats population increased the rats social environment starts to deteriorate. The rats would kill the young, reproduction would decrease, the rats would fight, and some even became cannibals. Although the study does not completely compare to people, the behavior of people can have certain affects as the population starts to get denser. Population density can start to affect crowding, which can ultimately lead to people feeling confined and very limited to the surroundings. In crowding a person can â€Å"start to feel aggression, inappropriate social interaction, social withdraws, and sometimes even criminal actions† (Stokols, 1972). If crowding becomes a factor but is able to be decreased the personal space, territory and privacy could be restored. This be comes a high demand and needs to be acknowledged so that others do not feel controlled or start to react to such annoyances. Having the perception of population density gives components, one being ample space provided to that person, and two having crowding diminish. This giving the perception of space an influences to give more space if needed. Since crowding is inevitable a person psychological mindset is to change with the space that is given. If the person is able to get the space they need the likelihood of the person not having high anxiety and stress could look into a positive spectrum. Natural settings are typically managed, such as zoos, green spaces, even parks, this can create a social context as well as a support, this leading to interaction, and nurturing the environment, especially in urban living situations. People who are able to live in urban settings and are able to encourage the perception to live with nature are more influenced that people were to believe that nature would reduce disease, it would increase health and would reduce crime, although most theories are able to support this evidence. Urban parks can play a significant role in not only physical activity but some evidence even support fewer health issues. Some studies found that people who live in green spaces have a â€Å"lower mortality rate then those who do not live in green spaces, this study was shown through the culture of the Japanese, and has also shown that the stress from urban  settings can be reduced with green spaces† (Gidlofgunnarsson Ohstrom, 2007). Having a neighborhoo d with more green space is also known to cause closer interpersonal relationships, less aggression and violence, more positive social interaction with in the community, and even better school performance. Noisy environments have also shown to be a cause in negative health issues. Through, studies of people and animals the noise in an environment can cause an â€Å"increase in cortisol levels, and blood pressure† (Staub, 2007). Studies show even chronic exposure to noise can even cause risk of cardiovascular disease, and even a decrease in learning. This can become an issue for children as well, as children grow they learn maladaptive skills and how to block certain stimuli. Having to much noise in the environment can have them learn to block the wrong stimuli’s which can have the child lack verbal skills. Due to some studies in â€Å"chronic noise effects the louder noise can start to disrupt the short term memory as decrease the ability to be able to perform even the simplest tasksâ€Å" (Straub, 2007). Although noise can not be directly responsible for stress, it does however relate to sleep disturbance, it provokes anxiety, and can affect a person’s attitude. People may not have access to control the noise outside the homes, but the ways of decreasing the noise would be putting drapes up, objects on the wall, more objects within the home such as furniture. Being able to trap the sound waves from outside to the windows by layering things like blinds, and curtains, having carpet instead of wood floors would help muffle the noise that would have a tendency to bounce off the walls. There is a perception of noise that one sound will affect a presence of another sound, natural sounds like water running, is considered a white noise this ultimately effects the sound waves in an environment that are typically used in a home setting live a bath or vacuum. This can help reduce stress levels especially in young children. Some people are known to purchase sound machines, which can be inexpensive and take only a small portion of electricity. Auditory Masking is what creates this noise on top  of noise. This does not change the noise that is around but it will be able to decrease the awareness of such noises. Infants seem to be the ones who adjust more to auditory masking, if a mother/father is vacuuming as the child is crying to constant noise of the vacuum starts to soothe the child into a sleep (in most cases). Looking back, privacy, territoriality, and personal space are involved in a personal choice and is that person’s individual perceptions of how the space is used for a normal functioning day. Privacy can be subjected by technology, which in some cases cause the privacy to be leaked to the public. There are some psychological effects that the perceptions of the choices that person has made, does vary individual to individual, however limited space has a toll on every person. In urban, environments having limited space can increase aggression, and even violent behavior. The average academic performance decreases, and there is more negative reactions that is observed between the community. Intrusive noise, can cause a large amount that can cause annoyance, and depending on the individual this could lead to an interpretation of an intrusion. The access of a noise reduction can help strategies from complex to even simple annoyance. When the outside noise can not be controlled a pers on may look at internally controlling the situation which then decreases the anxiety and stress that noise can make. Having objects such as fans, or running ponds, can help reduce levels of stress due what is called â€Å"white noises†. Many people can have their personal space intruded by outside noises, especially when a person has state or county construction going on in the area. There are laws that help prevent certain times that are allowed to start and finish, just as a homeowners community does for daily noises such as mowing a lawn. Reference: Hutchison, E. D., Kowalski, S. (1999). Dimensions of human behavior: person and environment. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press. Stokols, D. (1972). On the distinction between density and crowding: Some implications for future research. Psychological Review, 79(3), 275-277. doi: 10.1037/h0032706 Straub, R. O. (2007). Health psychology (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Worth.

Understanding Corporate social responsibility and its effects

Understanding Corporate social responsibility and its effects What is the Corporate Social Responsibility? business encompass the economic, legal ethical and discretionary expectations that society has of organisation at given point in time. [Carroll A B 1979 (497-505) a three dimensional conceptual model of corporate performance; a academy of management review]  ²societal expectation of corporate behaviour, a behaviour that is alleged by a stakeholder to be expected by society or morally required and is therefore justifiably demand of a business ². [ Whetten D.A.Rands, G. Godfrey P {2002} what are the responsibility of business to society]. To be a socially responsible corporation, a company must be more than legal and ethical person also. CSR is not always a legal necessity; increasingly it is an obligation. However a company has to be socially responsible even though it is not a legal obligation The corporate behaviour pyramid: [Aras G Crowther D (2008); The social obligation of corporation; Journal of Knowledge Globalisation1 (1), 43-59] The shareholder view: The social responsibility of a business is to make profit. (Friedman) The justification for this are: Pursuing profit will result in increase employment, generate economic growth, stimulate innovation, increase the tax take and generally raise living standards. Making profit is therefore itself a public good and is a sufficient purpose of business. Directors should be acting on behalf of shareholders. CSR too often means that directors are being charitable with other people money. Shareholders are free to use their dividends to contribute towards CSR if they wish. Business is not competent to deicide moral and ethical matters. Where is the domestic connection between what a business decides to spend money and efforts on and where that money and efforts are actually needed or wanted by society? Are CSR projects chosen simply because they are areas where directors, or their spouses, are personally interested? (ACCA study text-Business Analysis) The longer-term self-interest view: It is in the long-term economic self-interest of business to act in a reasonably responsible manner. (Drucker) Failure to do so will prompt legislation. Failure to do so will damage the business and even the industry. The public relations and enhancement of reputation arising from CSR will increase profit in the long term. CSR is therefore seen and justified as expenditure that helps to generate long term profits. (ACCA study text-Business Analysis) The stakeholder view: This view assumes that shareholders are simply one stakeholder among many, and that their interests are not necessarily paramount. There may be circumstances where shareholder interest has to be sacrificed for the greater good of other stakeholders. Quite how it is decided which stakeholders deserve generosity at any particular time is not clear. There is a danger that the stakeholders that benefit are those with most power which is not necessarily the same as the stakeholders who might deserve attention. (ACCA study text-Business Analysis) Workplace: The British Airways develop to supply a working environment that motivates, engages, supports and develops their colleagues. The intend of airline workplace is to encourage their colleagues to be committed to corporate responsibility and all colleagues onboard one destination. The airline is trying to work with new way. The airline aspiration to be the best is by safety of the people and functioning excellence with culture values. Equality and Diversity: Legislation, voluntary codes of practice and equality initiatives have resulted in some progress towards equality of treatment for minority groups at work, but there remains inescapable evidence of continuing discrimination. More recent approaches under the banner of management of diversity include the economic and business case for equality, the valuing and managing of diversity in organisations, culture change and mainstreaming of equality initiatives. (Torrington, Hall and Taylor, 2005 p.529) The British Airways is committed equal opportunity. Their policies aims to that no job applicant or employee receives less favorable treatment on the basis of their age, sex, creed, disability, full or part time status, nationality, or ethnic origin, race, religion or sexual orientation. Dignity and respect is at the hub of British airways diversity initiatives, focusing on the relationship between colleagues and customer, irrespective of their background, religion or culture. The airline ran a diversity week, holding a series of events to raise awareness of differences to help create a more positive and productive work environment. (International Air Transport Association (IATA) Airline employees 2008. City Business Library London) (http://www.iata.org/membership/airline_members_list?All=true) Employee retirement age: It is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against someone on the grounds of age, i.e. against someone of a particular age or someone in any age band. The age discrimination legislation provides for a default retirement age of 65. Compulsory retirement ages below 65 are unlawful unless objectively justified. In addition, employees have the right to request to work beyond that age. Employers have a duty to consider such requests. (www.businesslink.gov.uk) The airline make an effort to fulfill new Age Decimation Act, The airline were operating crew and pilot retire age 55 but now are 60 and in future it will be exceed to 65. Training programmes: The airline deliver 211 to 215 days of training during the year, including 4,500 training days to cabin crew to enable them to deliver the very highest level of services to our customer travelling in premium cabin and 2,248 days to ground staff. Online mandatory training course for all colleagues was introduced this year. The premium services training programme allows approximately 11,000 cabin crew to receive expert training on services and the food and beverages offered on First, Club World and Club Europe. Development programmes: Strategy of airline is to develop workplace at level which leads the business through on current challenging operating environment. High Performance Leadership (HLP) is embedding a high performance culture amongst airline leader. The leadership capabilities that are needed to lead the business were defined and communicated and individuals performance against measured during the year. The capabilities are communicating a common vision, agreeing accountabilities and motivating and inspiring other. Employee induction: The purpose of induction in organisation to settle the new employee as quickly and efficiently as possible. The airline is trying to achieve the objective of induction and have introduced a new process to ensure that this happens. Employee relation: The airline is working with total of three trade unions demonstrating colleagues across the business. The new Human Resources (HR) model has been implemented. HR business partner now focus on good people management and employee relation and are responsible for day to day industrial relation matters. In addition, 15 effective IR (Interpersonal Relation) skills workshops were provided throughout the year, with 118 delegates presence. Line manager and trade union representatives were able to come together at these workshops to focus on joint problem solving. A further 75 manager attended our new introduction to industrial relation courses. Reward: The carriers cabin crew could see their pay docked by up to  £5,000 each as part of proposals put forward by the airline to cut costs. BA wants to cap the amount its 14,000 crew members can claim in allowances for working long haul flights. The proposal is in addition to changes to working practices that BA will impose from next month (Time online 28 October 2009) The British Airways is claiming in Corporate Responsibility report 2008-2009 that the airline developing good salary structure in the organisation help to create an environment that encourages sustainable high performance. The airline developed salary structure not only that salary costs can be managed more effectively, but also that salaries are internally equitable across roles and differences in roles and differences in responsibility, skill and performance can be recognised and reward. The airline is also functioning bonus scheme using a of financial and non financial performance indicator. Since 2005 airline Employees Reward Plan (ERP) has allowed non management employees to share in the success of the business based on achievement of corporate measures and targets. However, due to unfavourable trading condition, the scheme did not manage in 2008/2009. (Source: www.britishairways.com) Marketplace: Market is human activity directed at satisfying need and wants through exchange processes (Kotler, 1986, p-6) There are two main pillars of marketplace customer and supplier. The airline is encouraging commitment to corporate responsibility and to build sustainable business. The airline is operating over 33 million customers and 2000 supplier. The airline is focusing on customer and supplier to secure the position as a global premium airline. 1-Supplier Its social responsibility for the airline to pay its supplier according to term. In reference that the airline paid their supplier on average, 91 per cent were on time in the UK for the year ended March 31, 2009.The airline aim to exceed in next year. The airlines are party to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) code of practise on supplier payment and are dedicated to paying the supplier on agreed term. The number of days purchases in creditors at March 31, 2009 is calculated in accordance with the provision of the companies Act 1985 and was 32 days (2008: 33 days). The airline carry on to reduce the carbon footprint with the acquirer of environmentally capable aircraft (A380) and airline will have taken delivery of its first three by the end of June with a further 36 aircraft on order. Particular concern has been given to ensuring environmentally efficient and lightweight materials will be used in the construction of both. The airline also working in long term with Grundon, using their energy from waste plant to produce electricity for the National Grid 2-Customer In the market place customer are broken down into group with different ideas of what they want. The largest group is the one looking for a low-price, no frills services- but of course low prices often go hand in hand with low profits. The group who are prepared to pay for exceptional quality small, but probably more profitable as individual. The company has to decide where its own strengths lie in terms of meeting customer expectation, and then decide whether it is able to meet the needs of its chosen target group better than the competition can do it (Jim Blythe, Principle Practice of Marketing, 2005, p-178) In these different groups of customer the British airways lies in the group D, which customer are willing to pay more for exceptional quality, because the airline are operating at premium services. Premium customer also wants reliability and consistency in the services and customer also like the increased flexibility and the wider choice of movie, TV programmes, audio and interactive games. The main problem is that the airline failure to achieve the profit in the particular segment. British Airways World Cargo continues to focus on providing premium products. The airline people play a crucial role in providing the upgrade travel experience. They are committed to excellent services and are investing heavily in training customer facing colleagues. Some of customers are unhappy because the British Airways will start charging passengers up to  £60 to reserve a seat as part of the airlines plans to cut costs and increase revenues. (Time online, 25 September 2009) British Airways focuses on offering online services to retain old customers and to attract new customers. It has made several upgrades to the e-services offered on its website, www.ba.com.The online portal is helping British Airways to drive down costs and increase revenues. Almost a third of all the companys bookings are made on ba.com, with almost half of all European leisure fares sold via the UK site, as a testimony to its popularity with customers. The customers are also provided with the option to book hotels and hire cars through the website. In FY2009, the company introduced a new feature allowing customers to upgrade their booking at any time between buying a ticket and checking-in online. British Airways had launched a new service, allowing customers to check-in or access real time arrivals and departures information through their mobiles. Therefore e-services help the company to attract more customers, enabling it to generate more revenues its allows airline customer to offset the carbon emissions of their journey with all proceeds going towards UN-certified emission reduction projects. (Source: www.britishairways.com) Community welfare programmes: Philanthropy encompasses those corporate actions that are in response to societys expectation that businesses be good corporate citizens. This includes actively engaging in acts or programs to promote human welfare or goodwill. Examples of philanthropy include business contributions to local communities, building education centre and charitable donations (Carrols model, ACCA text book P1 Professional Accountant) The airline continues to promote the community which one of the stepped to build a Community Learning Centre (CLC). Around 50,000 young people and adult learners on range of education programmes since its opening in 1999.The course are run in the Community Learning Centre with partnership of the United Nation International childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF) focus on information and communication, Technology and the environment. The airline staff including (retired 3,500 and current) donated over  £630,000 ,their chosen charities through the airline giving Scheme directly from their payroll and airline also supported Children in Need and Red Nose Day across the airline raising over  £13,000 for charities in the UK and Overseas. Preceding years BA fun run raised in excess of  £55,000 for Cancer Research UK; during 2008/09 the airline World Cargo team collected and delivers over 95 tonnes of high quality gift, donated by employees from across the airline. The airline working with partnership United Nation International childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has raised over  £26 million since in 1994 and has changed the lives of helpless children across the world. The a (Source: www.britishairways.com) Environment programmes British Airways impact on the environment involves the following: Climate Change The Climate Change Programme is CSR because it is about taking actions to reduce its impact on the environment. Climate change is a growing threat to the environment and to societies everywhere. British Airways actions on climate change go beyond compliance, demonstrating that it is taking voluntary actions to reduce its contribution to carbon emissions and better understand its impact on climate change. The British Airways climate change programme is focused on the following main areas: 1-Long term CO2 target: The airline develop long term plan to reduce CO2 by require the improvements in operational efficiency, investments in new aircraft technology, development of sustainable aviation fuels and investments in low emission technology in other sector of the economy through carbon trading. This trading is illustrates in figure below 2-EU and UK Emission Trading System (EU ETS): Airline will be fully sheltered by the EUs Emission Trading System from January 2012.The British Airways emission target has been set at 97 per cent of average annual emission in the reference period from 2004 to 2006. From 2013 the target is tightened to 95 per cent. British Airways set a target of total reductions in annual emissions of 125,000 tonnes of CO2, to be achieved over the five years 2002-2006. In 2004 the company agreed with the UK government to increase the voluntary target. 3-Carbon Efficiency: The airline is continuous try to reduce carbon by removing unwanted items from the aircraft to reduce the fuel burn, by developing light weight aircraft and modifications and simple changes such as the IFE spares pack removal, modifications to the World Traveller seats and the removal of the air stairs on 737 aircraft have already generated savings in excess of 6,500 tonnes of CO2. Carbon efficiency shows in following from 2006 to 2008. Airline is also developing procedure for the aircraft to taxi-out to the runway with an engine shout down wherever possible. This reduces fuel burn, CO2 and NOx emission. As comparison with Virgin Atlantic airline, on 24 February 2008 its become the first airline in the world to operate a commercial aircraft on bio fuel blend. The Boeing 747 flew a short flight from London to Amsterdam, using a 20% bio fuel and 80% kerosene blend in one of its four engines. Carbon Footprint: The airline is using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol corporate standard to measure the carbon footprint. The GHG (Greenhouse Gas) Protocol Corporate Standard provides standard and guidance for companies and other organizations preparing a GHG emissions inventory. It covers the accounting and reporting of the six greenhouse gases covered by the Kyoto Protocol- carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydro fluorocarbons (HFCs), per fluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) (http://www.ghgprotocol.org/standards/corporate-standard) The below graphs represent how the airline manage its carbon footprint year by year. Global ground emission footprint: The airline global ground operation generated a footprint of 164,535 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, arising from our building, vehicles and ground equipment. Global ground emission footprint (tonnes of CO2) (Source: www.britishairways.com) British Airways producing 8% (1,626,262/ 20,670,517) CO2 emission of the total airlines. Virgin Atlantic Airways producing 1.8% (372,552/20,670,517) CO2 emissions of the total airlines in world. C02 emission by sector aviation is second highest CO2 emission producing in the world and most one energy industries. 5-Noise and Air Quality: Quota count is a system used by Londons Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted airports to limit the amount of noise generated by night-time aircraft movements Noise restrictions for a plane during take-off: 94 decibels (Maximum level) during the day. (Add times) 7am 11pm 89 decibels (Maximum level) in the shoulder period. (Add times) 6am -7am and 11pm to 11.30pm 87 decibels (Maximum level) at night. (Add times) 11.30pm to 6am These limits set by the Department of Transport (DfT) apply at 6.5km from the start of the roll, i.e. the point on the runway where the plane starts to move in order to take off. Planes that break the noise limits on departure at specific locations are fined by BAA:  £500 for the first 3 decibels over the limit and  £1,000 above that. (Source: BAA website 2008) EPNdB over 101.9 = 16 Quota Count EPNdB 99 101.9 = 8 Quota Count EPNdB 96 98.9 = 4 Quota Count EPNdB 93 95-9 = 2 Quota Count EPNdB 90 92.9 = 1 Quota Count EPNdB less than 90= 0.5 Quota Count EPNdB less than 87 is exempt =0 Quota Count (^ National Air Traffic Services (2007-02-02) (PDF). London Heathrow, London Gatwick and London Stansted Airports Noise Restrictions Notice 2007. http://www.boeing.com/commercial/noise/notamfeb2007.pdf. Retrieved 2007-10-28) The airline noise energy has remained the same over the last three years regardless of an increase in the use of our aircraft fleet. The airline continuous achieved noise level of Department of Transport (DFT) which is Quota Count 0.5(EPNdb90-87=0.5 Quota Count) and also the airline has objective is to reduce the average noise per flight by 15 per cent by 2015. Airline already achieved a reduction in NOx emission through the adaption of Boeing 747 (RB211) engines and Boeing 777 (GE90) engines. Its plan to further modify Boeing 737 engines delivering a 20 per cent reduction in NOx. For all routines take off airline use reduced take off thrust which significantly reduce NOx emission. 7-Waste: Currently the airline is developing the procedure to recycling paper, cardboard, plastics, pallets, carpets, batteries, drinks cans and have removed general waste bins in many office areas to encourage recycling and with transporting components, the airlinehave reduced or replaced non recyclable packaging material with recyclable material. A paper crusher is used to produce packaging, which is used to protect aircraft components during transportation. In 2007 airline recycled 35% of its waste at Heathrow and Gatwick (up from 30% last year). (Source: www.britishairways.com) Airline target is the recycling 50% of its waste by 2010 and the amount of annual waste managed through its contracts at Heathrow and Gatwick disposed to landfill reduced by 7.2% from 3,688 tonnes to 3,424 tonnes. At Virgin Atlantic also aim to achieve the recycle or reuse level 50% by 2012. To do this airline are choosing more items that are reusable recyclable or biodegradable and sourcing that use fewer materials. Business ethics What is ethics? Ethics is the set of rule prescribing what is good or evil, or what is right or wrong for people. What is business ethics? Business ethics means honesty, confidence, respect and fair acting in all circumstance. However, such values as honesty, respect and confidence are rather general concepts without definite boundaries. Ethics can also be define as overall fundamental principle and practices for improving the level of wellbeing of humanity. [David Crowther Guler Aras 2008 corporate social responsibility,p54] Ethical stances: The extent to which an organization will exceed its minimum obligations to stakeholder (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington) British Airways is committed to the highest standard of corporate behaviour from its Directors and employees. British Airways requires its entire people to perform their duties with efficiency and diligence and to always behave to customers and other people alike with courtesy and decorum. British Airways procurement process has strong controls to ensure that any dealings are open and transparent, avoids any suspicion of conflicts of interest, misuse of information and opportunity, confidentiality, fair dealing with customer and suppliers, proper use of company asset, compliance with laws and regulation. Conflict of Interest: A conflict of interest occurs when an individuals private interest interferes or appears to interfere with the interest of the airline. As a matter of airline policy, employees must not leave conflict of interest unresolved unless approved by airline. In particular employees must never use or attempt to use their position at the airline to obtain any improper personal benefit for themselves, for their families, or for any person. Confidentiality: The airline has strict policy that all employees to maintain the confidentiality information about the airline, its customer, suppliers, or joint venture parties. Employees must maintain the confidentiality of all information so entrusted to them, except when disclosure is authorised or legally mandated. Confidential or proprietary information of our Company, and of other companies, includes any non-public information that would be harmful to the relevant company or useful or helpful to competitors if disclosed. Fair Dealing: The airline does not seek competitive advantages through illegal or unethical business practices. Each employee should endeavour to deal fairly with the companys customers, service providers, suppliers, competitors and employees. No employee should take unfair advantage of anyone through manipulation, concealment, abuse of privileged information, misrepresentation of material facts, or any unfair dealing practice. Protection and Proper Use of Company Assets: All employees should protect the airline assets and ensure their efficient use. All airline assets should be used only for legitimate business purposes. (source:www.bashares.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=69499p=irol-govconduct) Benefit of become good citizen The British Airways can obtain great number of benefit by fulfill the corporate social responsibility policies to the entire stakeholder, including the enhanced airline image (this in itself can lead to increase sales), health and safety benefit, ease of attracting investments and lowered cost of such investments, better community relationship (this can lead to easier and quicker approval of plans through the planning process), improved relationship with regulator, improved morale among workers (leading to higher productivity, lower staff turnover and consequently lower recruitment and training cost), general improved and relationship with customer. In particularly which include; 2009 2008 Goodwill  £m 4  £m 4 No of employees 42098 42121 Passenger revenue  £m 7836  £m 7600 [www.bashares.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=69499p=irol-reportsannual] Impact on key stakeholder What is a stakeholder? Any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organisation objective [ACCA course book P1 Professional Accountants] The classification of stakeholder There are two main way to classify the stakeholder, Internal v external: Internal stakeholder are those include within organisation such as employees, manager and director etc and where as external stakeholder are such group customer or suppliers who are generally not be of part of the organisation. Voluntary v involuntary: Voluntary those who have choice to engages with the organisation (employees, most customer, suppliers and shareholder) and involuntary those who have not choice to engages with organisation (local communities, neighbours, the nature world, future generation). [David Crowther Guler Aras 2008 (p30) corporate social responsibility] The corporate and social responsibility policies of British Airways greatly affect the stakeholders. The stakeholders of British Airways are the key customers, shareholders, employees, trade unions, lenders, Central Government, media, local community, pressure groups, local government and individual householders. I used Mendelowss Matrix for mapping the impact British Airways corporate and social responsibility policies on the stakeholders listed above. High Power Low Key Players E.g. key customer, active major shareholders, trade unions, employees, secured lenders. Involve Keep Informed E.g. Local Government, pressure groups, local media, local community, individual shareholders, individual customers. Consult / Inform Keep Satisfied E.g. Central Government, passive major shareholders, national media. Consider impact of action / inform Minimal Effort E.g. Individual shareholders living nearby. Ignore High Interest Low (ACCA study text-P1 Professional Accountants) Key Players: Key players are those stakeholders who have high interest and have high powers. The organisations strategy must be acceptable to them. Many business customers fly the same route on a regular basis. They want BA to do well so they can continue to use their service. Due to excellence of Terminal 5 the customer recommendations increase 61% to 65% But the shareholder little worried about the company performance because last two years the company was in loss. Keep Satisfied: Keep satisfied are those stakeholders who have low interest and high power to influence the policies of the company. The British Airways behaving these stakeholders are very well because the airline fulfill the requirements, like government and local community need good environment and less carbon emission which the airline successful are reducing carbon by 50% at end of 2050 years. Keep Informed: This group has high interest and low powers in company, but this group can be move to key player Colum. The British Airways ensure before every investment that laws and policy is full fill. Minimal Effort: This group has low power and low interest in the company. As British Airways can ignore them. These are individual shareholder or living near to airports. Conclusion It was a great idea to analysis the corporate and social responsibility policies of a division who is greatly involved in the production CO2 emissions and highly responsible for the climate change. During my research, I came crossways a number of facts, which I believe will help me to give a conclusion of my report. The facts are as under: The company started the operation in 1974 with the name of British Airways. During this period British Airways has build up an image as premium airline through its policies and positive image of its brand in the public. FY2009, Europe, the companys largest geographic market, accounted for 62.5% of the total revenues. I realise that the British Airways are more focus on Corporate Social Responsibility it might be effect on the company financial performance because its made loss in last two years. It is unethically for the sum of shareholder who wants profits from the company. British Airways is well behaving with their employees; who include the Induction, training, health and safety, promotion, high performance leadership, good salary structure and reward (ERP). At market place the British Airways failed to get reasonable profit from customer segment (premium customer), due to the airline did not report profit in last two years. Although the airline maintain good relationship with supplier through follow the code of practise (CBI). The airline maintain the position as Philanthropy (Carroll model), due to the airline continuously support poor world, people and working with UNICEF, UK Cancer and Research. The real fact is that the airline only make plan for reduction of 50% Carbon Emission (CO2) in 2050.But currently the CO2 more than last years. To achieving this objective the airline is need to invest in new aircraft technology, low emission trading project. For this objective the airline have good capita

Jurassic Park Essays -- essays papers

Jurassic Park The author is Michael Crichton, and the book is The Lost World. Many people have read this book, along with its predecessor, Jurassic Park, and many people have been enthralled with the thought of living dinosaurs in the 20th century. â€Å"What if the dinosaurs did not become extinct? What if they still exist?† (The Lost World takes off a couple years after the first book. A separate island is discovered, an island where the dinosaurs were actually created. There are two different research groups sent to the island. One to observe the dinosaurs in the wild and the other to bring them back for research purposes. The fighting starts from there. What many people don’t know, is that these books, along with countless other Crichton works, contain many of the same themes. One of these themes is that Technology will backfire if it is taken for granted. Also, he says that power corrupts those who possess it. Chaos and randomness rule the world. Nothing can be predicted, and nothing is as it seems. Last and not least, mother nature sits above all else. Technology plays a key role in many parts of society in today’s world. Computers run everything from huge assembly lines to the light switch. Some hard-core proof that technology will backfire is the Year 2000 bug (Y2K). The Y2K bug will make many computers not work properly, and in many cases, they will shut down completely. The problem stems back some 50 years, to when the first computers were being ma...

Essay --

North Korea China’s North Korean Refugee Dilemma The current state of North Korea’s economy and policy is what has led to the explosive migration of refugees to China and South Korea. The collapse of the Soviet Union as well as the death of Kim Il Sung are two of the biggest factors leading to North Korea’s downward spiral, and the rate of defection continues to increase. The leading reason for this great migration is the serious food crisis, dismal living conditions, labor exploitation, violation of human rights, and political persecution. North Korean’s seek freedom, ironically, in China, North Korea’s biggest political ally and trading partner. As a fellow communist state sharing a border, China is well known for its hostility towards refugees. The country maintains the mindset that it has the moral obligation to return all defectors back to where they came from, where they will most likely be forced to work in concentration camps or killed, along with their families. Even defectors who are successful have the difficulty of living with insecure legal status, and risk of deportat...

Performance Orientation

The degree to which a collective encourages and rewards (and should encourage and reward) group members for performance improvement and excellence. Assertiveness. The degree to which individuals are (and should be) assertive, confrontational, and aggressive in their relationships with others. Future Orientation. The extent to which individuals engage (and should engage) in future-oriented behaviors such as delaying gratification, planning, and investing in the future. Organizations in countries with high future oriented practices like Singapore and Switzerland tend to have longer term horizons and more systematic planning processes, but they tend to be averse to risk taking and opportunistic decision making. Humane Orientation. The degree to which a collective encourages and rewards ( and should encourage and reward) individuals for being fair, altruistic, generous, caring, and kind to others. Countries like Egypt and Malaysia rank very high on this cultural practice Institutional Collectivism. The degree to which organizational and societal institutional practices encourage and reward (and should encourage and reward) collective distribution of resources and collective action Organizations in collectivistic countries like Singapore and Sweden tend to emphasize group performance and rewards In-Group Collectivism. The degree to which individuals express (and should express) pride, loyalty, and cohesiveness in their organizations or families. Societies like Egypt and Russia take pride in their families and also take pride in the organizations that employ them. Gender Egalitarianism. The degree to which a collective minimizes (and should minimize) gender inequality. Egypt and South Korea were among the most male dominated societies in GLOBE. Organizations not operating in gender egalitarian societies tend to discourage tolerance for diversity of ideas and individual. Power Distance. The degree to which members of a collective expect (and should expect) power to be distributed equally. A high power distance score reflects unequal power distribution in a society. Countries that scored high on this cultural practice are more stratified economically, socially, and politically; those in positions of authority expect, and receive, obedience. Uncertainty Avoidance. The extent to which a society, organization, or group relies (and should rely) on social norms, rules, and procedures to alleviate unpredictability of future events. The greater the desire to avoid uncertainty, the more people seek orderliness, consistency, structure, formal procedures and laws to cover situations in their daily lives.

Humanitarian activities Essay

Humanity can be defined as quality of being human; the peculiar nature of man, by which he is distinguished from other beings. Being human does not mean that an individual possesses humanity. If you want to understand the quality of humanity in an individual take note of what he does for people who give noting back in return to the favour they have offered. One of the most outstanding examples of extra- ordinary humanity in a human being has been portrayed beautifully by Mother Teresa. Humanity means caring for and helping others whenever and wherever possible. Humanity means helping others at times when they need that help the most, humanity means forgetting your selfish interests at times when others need your help. Humanity means extending unconditional love to each and every living being on Earth. A perfect example of humanity can be demonstrated by the following story. This story can be understood as an exaggerated statement so that individuals understand the importance of humanity in their day to day lives. It is important to understand one important fact; an individual’s life is successful not by the number of degrees he or she attains but by the degree of humanitarian activities that individual is into on a day to day basis. Serving the poor and the disabled is one of the greatest humanitarian help an individual can provide in his or her lifetime. It is essential to understand the fact that we are extremely lucky to have everything we desire at any point of the time we need. Serving the needy means that you yourself think that you have more than enough resources to your disposal. People who always crib that they do not have sufficient facilities available despite having everything can never provide humanitarian services because if one has the mind set of not being self- sufficient, how can he or she help someone else. One is always remembered for his or her good deeds and it is essential to understand that there is no better deed than providing services for humanitarian causes. If eating and having fun is only what we are born to do then we should keep one thing in mind; even animals can do such activity; if God has made us humans there has to be some reason behind it. Only human beings can understand the importance of humanity and it is humanity as a result of intelligence which actually gives the core essence to human existence. You will not need a hefty bank account to contribute towards humanitarian activities. Paying your domestic help fairly is also humanity. You are willing to pay thousands of bucks for your medical check- up but when it comes to paying your employee; you want to save every penny. Humanitarian activities should never be performed in order to achieve fame or to gain a status symbol. You can easily achieve fame by the work you do. Lifting the heavy bag of an old woman is humanity, helping a disabled to cross the road is humanity, helping your mom in doing work is humanity; in fact helping anyone who is in need is humanity. As soon as we understand the importance of humanity in day to day life, the purpose for which we are on Earth is automatically fulfilled.

Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal Chapter 2

Chapter 2 The angel wants me to convey more of Joshua's grace. Grace? I'm trying to write about a six-year-old, for Christ's sakes, how much grace could he have? It's not like Joshua walked around professing that he was the Son of God every day of the week. He was a pretty normal kid, for the most part. There was the trick he did with the lizards, and once we found a dead meadowlark and he brought it back to life, and there was the time, when we were eight, when he healed his brother Judah's fractured skull after a game of â€Å"stone the adulteress† got out of hand. (Judah could never get the knack of being an adulteress. He'd stand there stiff as Lot's wife. You can't do that. An adulteress has to be wily and nimble-footed.) The miracles Joshua performed were small and quiet, as miracles tend to be, once you get used to them. But trouble came from the miracles that happened around him, without his volition, as it were. Bread and serpents come to mind. It was a few days before the Passover feast, and many of the families of Nazareth were not making the pilgrimage to Jerusalem that year. There had been little rain through our winter season, so it was going to be a hard year. Many farmers could not afford the time away from their fields to travel to and from the holy city. My father and Joshua's were both working in Sepphoris, and the Romans wouldn't give them time off work beyond the actual feast days. My mother had been making the unleavened bread when I came in from playing in the square. She held a dozen sheets of the flatbread before her and she looked as if she was going to dash it to the floor any second. â€Å"Biff, where is your friend Joshua?† My little brothers grinned at me from behind her skirts. â€Å"At home, I suppose. I just left him.† â€Å"What have you boys been doing?† â€Å"Nothing.† I tried to remember if I had done anything that should make her this angry, but nothing came to mind. It was a rare day and I'd made no trouble. Both my little brothers were unscathed as far as I knew. â€Å"What have you done to cause this?† She held out a sheet of the flatbread, and there, in crispy brown relief on the golden crust, was the image of my friend Joshua's face. She snatched up another sheet of bread, and there, again, was my friend Josh. Graven images – big sin. Josh was smiling. Mother frowned on smiling. â€Å"Well? Do I need to go to Joshua's house and ask his poor, insane mother?† â€Å"I did this. I put Joshua's face on the bread.† I just hoped that she didn't ask me how I had done it. â€Å"Your father will punish you when he comes home this evening. Now go, get out of here.† I could hear my little brother's giggling as I slunk out the door, but once outside, things worsened. Women were coming away from their baking stones, and each held a sheet of unleavened bread, and each was muttering some variation of â€Å"Hey, there's a kid on my bread.† I ran to Joshua's house and stormed in without knocking. Joshua and his brothers were at the table eating. Mary was nursing Joshua's newest little sister, Miriam. â€Å"You are in big trouble,† I whispered in Josh's ear with enough force to blow out an eardrum. Joshua held up the flatbread he was eating and grinned, just like the face on his bread. â€Å"It's a miracle.† â€Å"Tastes good too,† said James, crunching a corner off of his brother's head. â€Å"It's all over town, Joshua. Not just your house. Everyone's bread has your face on it.† â€Å"He is truly the Son of God,† Mary said with a beatific smile. â€Å"Oh, jeez, Mother,† James said. â€Å"Yeah, jeez Mom,† said Judah. â€Å"His mug is all over the Passover feast. We have to do something.† They didn't seem to get the gravity of the situation. I was already in trouble, and my mother didn't even suspect anything supernatural. â€Å"We have to cut your hair.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"We cannot cut his hair,† Mary said. She had always let Joshua wear his hair long, like an Essene, saying that he was a Nazarite like Samson. It was just another reason why many of the townspeople thought her mad. The rest of us wore our hair cut short, like the Greeks who had ruled our country since the time of Alexander, and the Romans after them. â€Å"If we cut his hair he looks like the rest of us. We can say it's someone else on the bread.† â€Å"Moses,† Mary said. â€Å"Young Moses.† â€Å"Yes!† â€Å"I'll get a knife.† â€Å"James, Judah, come with me,† I said. â€Å"We have to tell the town that the face of Moses has come to visit us for the Passover feast.† Mary pulled Miriam from her breast, bent, and kissed me on the forehead. â€Å"You are a good friend, Biff.† I almost melted in my sandals, but I caught Joshua frowning at me. â€Å"It's not the truth,† he said. â€Å"It will keep the Pharisees from judging you.† â€Å"I'm not afraid of them,† said the nine-year-old. â€Å"I didn't do this to the bread.† â€Å"Then why take the blame and the punishment for it?† â€Å"I don't know, seems like I should, doesn't it?† â€Å"Sit still so your mother can cut your hair.† I dashed out the door, Judah and James on my heels, the three of us bleating like spring lambs. â€Å"Behold! Moses has put his face on the bread for Passover! Behold!† Miracles. She kissed me. Holy Moses on a matzo! She kissed me. The miracle of the serpent? It was an omen, in a way, although I can only say that because of what happened between Joshua and the Pharisees later on. At the time, Joshua thought it was the fulfillment of a prophecy, or that's how we tried to sell it to his mother and father. It was late summer and we were playing in a wheat field outside of town when Joshua found the nest of vipers. â€Å"A nest of vipers,† Joshua shouted. The wheat was so tall I couldn't see where he was calling from. â€Å"A pox on your family,† I replied. â€Å"No, there's a nest of vipers over here. Really.† â€Å"Oh, I thought you were taunting me. Sorry, a pox off of your family.† â€Å"Come, see.† I crashed through the wheat to find Joshua standing by a pile of stones a farmer had used to mark the boundary of his field. I screamed and backpedaled so quickly that I lost my balance and fell. A knot of snakes writhed at Joshua's feet, skating over his sandals and wrapping themselves around his ankles. â€Å"Joshua, get away from there.† â€Å"They won't hurt me. It says so in Isaiah.† â€Å"Just in case they haven't read the Prophets†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Joshua stepped aside, sending the snakes scattering, and there, behind him, was the biggest cobra I had ever seen. It reared up until it was taller than my friend, spreading a hood like a cloak. â€Å"Run, Joshua.† He smiled. â€Å"I'm going to call her Sarah, after Abraham's wife. These are her children.† â€Å"No kidding? Say good-bye now, Josh.† â€Å"I want to show Mother. She loves prophecy.† With that, he was off toward the village, the giant serpent following him like a shadow. The baby snakes stayed in the nest and I backed slowly away before running after my friend. I once brought a frog home, hoping to keep him as a pet. Not a large frog, a one-handed frog, quiet and well mannered. My mother made me release him, then cleanse myself in the immersion pool (the mikveh) at the synagogue. Still she wouldn't let me in the house until after sunset because I was unclean. Joshua led a fourteen-foot-long cobra into his house and his mother squealed with joy. My mother never squealed. Mary slung the baby to her hip, kneeled in front of her son, and quoted Isaiah: â€Å"‘The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den.'† James, Judah, and Elizabeth cowered in the corner, too frightened to cry. I stood outside the doorway watching. The snake swayed behind Joshua as if preparing to strike. â€Å"Her name is Sarah.† â€Å"They were cobras, not asps,† I said. â€Å"A whole pile of cobras.† â€Å"Can we keep her?† Joshua asked. â€Å"I'll catch rats for her, and make a bed for her next to Elizabeth's.† â€Å"Definitely not asps. I'd know an asp if I saw one. Probably not a cockatrice either. I'd say a cobra.† (Actually, I didn't know an asp from a hole in the ground.) â€Å"Shush, Biff,† Mary said. My heart broke with the harshness in my love's voice. Just then Joseph rounded the corner and went through the door before I could catch him. No worry, he was back outside in an instant. â€Å"Jumpin' Jehoshaphat!† I checked to see if Joseph's heart had failed, having quickly decided that once Mary and I were married the snake would have to go, or at least sleep outside, but the burly carpenter seemed only shaken, and a little dusty from his backward dive through the door. â€Å"Not an asp, right?† I asked. â€Å"Asps are made small to fit the breasts of Egyptian queens, right?† Joseph ignored me. â€Å"Back away slowly, son. I'll get a knife from my workshop.† â€Å"She won't hurt us,† Joshua said. â€Å"Her name is Sarah. She's from Isaiah.† â€Å"It is in the prophecy, Joseph,† Mary said. I could see Joseph searching his memory for the passage. Although only a layman, he knew his scripture as well as anyone. â€Å"I don't remember the part about Sarah.† â€Å"I don't think it's prophecy,† I offered. â€Å"It says asps, and that is definitely not an asp. I'd say she's going to bite Joshua's ass off if you don't grab her, Joseph.† (A guy has to try.) â€Å"Can I keep her?† Joshua asked. Joseph had regained his composure by now. Evidently, once you accept that your wife slept with God, extraordinary events seem sort of commonplace. â€Å"Take her back where you found her, Joshua, the prophecy has been fulfilled now.† â€Å"But I want to keep her.† â€Å"No, Joshua.† â€Å"You're not the boss of me.† I suspected that Joseph had heard that before. â€Å"Just so,† he said, â€Å"please take Sarah back where you found her.† Joshua stormed out of the house, his snake following close behind. Joseph and I gave them a wide berth. â€Å"Try not to let anyone see you,† Joseph said. â€Å"They won't understand.† He was right, of course. On our way out of the village we ran into a gang of older boys, led by Jakan, the son of Iban the Pharisee. They did not understand. There were perhaps a dozen Pharisees in Nazareth: learned men, working-class teachers, who spent much of their time at the synagogue debating the Law. They were often hired as judges and scribes, and this gave them great influence over the people of the village. So much influence, in fact, that the Romans often used them as mouthpieces to our people. With influence comes power, with power, abuse. Jakan was only the son of a Pharisee. He was only two years older than Joshua and me, but he was well on his way to mastering cruelty. If there is a single joy in having everyone you have ever known two thousand years dead, it is that Jakan is one of them. May his fat crackle in the fires of hell for eternity! Joshua taught us that we should not hate – a lesson that I was never able to master, along with geometry. Blame Jakan for the former, Euclid for the latter. Joshua ran behind the houses and shops of the village, the snake behind him by ten steps, and me behind her ten steps more. As he rounded the corner by the smith's shop, Joshua ran into Jakan, knocking him to the ground. â€Å"You idiot!† Jakan shouted, rising and dusting himself off. His three friends laughed and he spun on them like an angry tiger. â€Å"This one needs to have his face washed in dung. Hold him.† The boys turned their focus on Joshua, two grabbing his arms while the third punched him in the stomach. Jakan turned to look for a pile to rub Joshua's face in. Sarah slithered around the corner and reared up behind Joshua, spreading her glorious hood wide above our heads. â€Å"Hey,† I called as I rounded the corner. â€Å"You guys think this is an asp?† My fear of the snake had changed into a sort of wary affection. She seemed to be smiling. I know I was. Sarah swayed from side to side like a wheat stalk in the wind. The boys dropped Joshua's arms and ran to Jakan, who had turned and slowly backed away. â€Å"Joshua was talking about asps,† I continued, â€Å"but I'd have to say that this here is a cobra.† Joshua was bent over, still trying to catch his breath, but he looked back at me and grinned. â€Å"Of course, I'm not the son of a Pharisee, but – â€Å" â€Å"He's in league with the serpent!† Jakan screamed. â€Å"He consorts with demons!† â€Å"Demons!† the other boys shouted, trying to crowd behind their fat friend. â€Å"I will tell my father of this and you'll be stoned.† A voice from behind Jakan said, â€Å"What is all this shouting?† And a sweet voice it was. She came out of the house by the smith's shop. Her skin shone like copper and she had the light blue eyes of the northern desert people. Wisps of reddish-brown hair showed at the edges of her purple shawl. She couldn't have been more than nine or ten, but there was something very old in her eyes. I stopped breathing when I saw her. Jakan puffed up like a toad. â€Å"Stay back. These two are consorting with a demon. I will tell the elders and they will be judged.† She spit at his feet. I had never seen a girl spit before. It was charming. â€Å"It looks like a cobra to me.† â€Å"See there, I told you.† She walked up to Sarah as if she were approaching a fig tree looking for fruit, not a hint of fear, only interest. â€Å"You think this is a demon?† she said, without looking back at Jakan. â€Å"Won't you be embarrassed when the elders find that you mistook a common snake of the field for a demon?† â€Å"It is a demon.† The girl reached her hand up, and the snake made as if to strike, then lowered its head until its forked tongue was brushing the girl's fingers. â€Å"This is definitely a cobra, little boy. And these two were probably leading it back to the fields where it would help the farmers by eating rats.† â€Å"Yep, that's what we were doing,† I said. â€Å"Absolutely,† Joshua said. The girl turned to Jakan and his friends. â€Å"A demon?† Jakan stomped like an angry donkey. â€Å"You are in league with them.† â€Å"Don't be silly, my family has only just arrived from Magdala, I've never seen these two before, but it's obvious what they were doing. We do it all the time in Magdala. But then, this is a backwater village.† â€Å"We do it here too,† Jakan said. â€Å"I was – well – these two make trouble.† â€Å"Trouble,† his friends said. â€Å"Why don't we let them get on with what they were doing.† Jakan, his eyes bouncing from the girl to the snake to the girl again, began to lead his friends away. â€Å"I will deal with you two another time.† As soon as they were around the corner, the girl jumped back from the snake and ran toward the door of her house. â€Å"Wait,† Joshua called. â€Å"I have to go.† â€Å"What is your name?† â€Å"I'm Mary of Magdala, daughter of Isaac,† she said. â€Å"Call me Maggie.† â€Å"Come with us, Maggie.† â€Å"I can't, I have to go.† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"Because I've peed myself.† She disappeared through the door. Miracles. Once we were back in the wheat field Sarah headed for her den. We watched from a distance as she slid down the hole. â€Å"Josh. How did you do that?† â€Å"I have no idea.† â€Å"Is this kind of thing going to keep happening?† â€Å"Probably.† â€Å"We are going to get into a lot of trouble, aren't we?† â€Å"What am I, a prophet?† â€Å"I asked you first.† Joshua stared into the sky like a man in a trance. â€Å"Did you see her? She's afraid of nothing.† â€Å"She's a giant snake, what's to be afraid of?† Joshua frowned. â€Å"Don't pretend to be simple, Biff. We were saved by a serpent and a girl, I don't know what to think about that.† â€Å"Why think about it at all? It just happened.† â€Å"Nothing happens but by God's will,† Joshua said. â€Å"It doesn't fit with the testament of Moses.† â€Å"Maybe it's a new testament,† I said. â€Å"You aren't pretending, are you?† Joshua said. â€Å"You really are simple.† â€Å"I think she likes you better than she likes me,† I said. â€Å"The snake?† â€Å"Right, I'm the simple one.† I don't know if now, having lived and died the life of a man, I can write about little-boy love, but remembering it now, it seems the cleanest pain I've known. Love without desire, or conditions, or limits – a pure and radiant glow in the heart that could make me giddy and sad and glorious all at once. Where does it go? Why, in all their experiments, did the Magi never try to capture that purity in a bottle? Perhaps they couldn't. Perhaps it is lost to us when we become sexual creatures, and no magic can bring it back. Perhaps I only remember it because I spent so long trying to understand the love that Joshua felt for everyone. In the East they taught us that all suffering comes from desire, and that rough beast would stalk me through my life, but on that afternoon, and for a time after, I touched grace. At night I would lie awake, listening to my brothers' breathing against the silence of the house, and in my mind's eye I could see her eyes like blue fire in the dark. Exquisite torture. I wonder now if Joshua didn't make her whole life like that. Maggie, she was the strongest of us all. After the miracle of the serpent, Joshua and I made up excuses to pass by the smith's shop where we might run into Maggie. Every morning we would rise early and go to Joseph, volunteering to run to the smith for some nails or the repair of a tool. Poor Joseph took this as enthusiasm for carpentry. â€Å"Would you boys like to come to Sepphoris with me tomorrow?† Joseph asked us one day when we were badgering him about fetching nails. â€Å"Biff, would your father let you start learning the work of a carpenter?† I was mortified. At ten a boy was expected to start learning his father's trade, but that was a year away – forever when you're nine. â€Å"I?CI am still thinking about what I will do when I grow up,† I said. My own father had made a similar offer to Joshua the day before. â€Å"So you won't become a stonecutter?† â€Å"I was thinking about becoming the village idiot, if my father will allow it.† â€Å"He has a God-given talent,† Joshua said. â€Å"I've been talking to Bartholomew the idiot,† I said. â€Å"He's going to teach me to fling my own dung and run headlong into walls.† Joseph scowled at me. â€Å"Perhaps you two are yet too young. Next year.† â€Å"Yes,† Joshua said, â€Å"next year. May we go now, Joseph? Biff is meeting Bartholomew for his lesson.† Joseph nodded and we were off before he inflicted more kindness upon us. We actually had befriended Bartholomew, the village idiot. He was foul and drooled a lot, but he was large, and offered some protection against Jakan and his bullies. Bart also spent most of his time begging near the town square, where the women came to fetch water from the well. From time to time we caught a glimpse of Maggie as she passed, a water jar balanced on her head. â€Å"You know, we are going to have to start working soon,† Joshua said. â€Å"I won't see you, once I'm working with my father.† â€Å"Joshua, look around you, do you see any trees?† â€Å"No.† â€Å"And the trees we do have, olive trees – twisted, gnarly, knotty things, right?† â€Å"Right.† â€Å"But you're going to be a carpenter like your father?† â€Å"There's a chance of it.† â€Å"One word, Josh: rocks.† â€Å"Rocks?† â€Å"Look around. Rocks as far as the eye can see. Galilee is nothing but rocks, dirt, and more rocks. Be a stonemason like me and my father. We can build cities for the Romans.† â€Å"Actually, I was thinking about saving mankind.† â€Å"Forget that nonsense, Josh. Rocks, I tell you.†