Gas Agency Managment

Software Requirements Specification for Version 1. 0 approved Prepared by Table of Contents Table of Contentsii Revision Historyii 1. Introduction1 1. 1Purpose1 1. 2Document Conventions1 1. 3Intended Audience and Reading Suggestions1 1. 4Product Scope1 1. 5References1 2. Overall Description2 2. 1Product Perspective2 2. 2Product Functions2 2. 3User Classes and Characteristics2 2. 4Operating Environment2 2. 5Design and Implementation Constraints2 2. 6User Documentation2 2. 7Assumptions and Dependencies3 3. External Interface Requirements3 3. User Interfaces3 3. 2Hardware Interfaces3 3. 3Software Interfaces3 3. 4Communications Interfaces3 4. System Features4 4. 1System Feature 14 4. 2System Feature 2 (and so on)4 5. Other Nonfunctional Requirements4 5. 1Performance Requirements4 5. 2Safety Requirements5 5. 3Security Requirements5 5. 4Software Quality Attributes5 6. Other Requirements5 Appendix A: Glossary5 Introduction 1 Purpose 2 Document Conventions 3 Intended Audience and Reading Sug gestions 4 Product Scope 5 References Overall Description 1 Product Perspective 2 Product Functions User Classes and Characteristics 4 Operating Environment 5 Design and Implementation Constraints 6 User Documentation 7 Assumptions and Dependencies External Interface Requirements 1 User Interfaces 2 Hardware Interfaces 3 Software Interfaces 4 Communications Interfaces System Features 1 System Feature 1 4. 1. 1Functional Requirements REQ-1: REQ-2: 2 System Feature 2 (and so on) Other Nonfunctional Requirements 1 Performance Requirements 2 Safety Requirements 3 Security Requirements 4 Software Quality Attributes Other Requirements Appendix A: Glossary

Comparison of Common Law and Civil Law Essay

COMMON LAW (characteristics)for comparing or contrast purpose Common law systems are mostly found in former british colony and protectorate including US, it is less prescriptive than civil law system,citizens are benefited by enactment and legislation in specific fields.more often are the implied terms usage. 1)represents the law of courts as expressed in judicial decision 2)based on precedents provided by past judicial decisions,no written statues or prescribed texts 3)trial by the jury and the doctrine of the supremacy of the law(originally meant king above law,now means acts of governmentall agencies are subject to scruting in ordinary legal proceedings) 4)everything is permitted which is not prohibited by law 5)binding ,overruling through same court or legislation Judicial precedents derive their force from the doctrine of stare decisions[lat=stand by the decided matter]i.e that the previous decisions of the highest court in the jurisdiction are binding on all other courts in the jurisdiction changing conditions,however soon make most decisions inapplicable except as a basis for analogy, and a court must therefore often look to the judicial experience of the rest of the English speaking world.This gives the system flexibility while general acceptance of cetain authoritative materials provides a degree of stability.Neverthless,in many instances, courts have failed to keep pace with social developments and it has become necessary to enact statues to bring about needed changes.In recent years ,statutes have superseded much of common law,notablyin the fields of commercial administrative and criminal law,typically however in statutory interpretation the courts have recourse to the doctrines of common law. Thus increased legislation is limited but has not ended judicial supremacy. A common law system is generally less prescriptive than a civil law system. A government may therefore wish to enshrine protections of its citizens in specific legislation related to the infrastructure program being contemplated. For example, it may wish to prohibit the service provider from cutting off the water or electricity supply of bad payers. Please go to Legislation and Regulationsections for more information on this. There are few provisions implied into a contract under the common law system – it is therefore important to set out ALL the terms governing the relationship between the parties to a contract in the contract itself. This will often result in a contract being longer than one in a civil law country. CIVIL LAW(CHARACTERISITICS) 1)based on statues and prescribed texts. 2)available in written form, specific codes covering mostly 3)corporate,tax,constitution with basic rights and duties 4)only legislative enactments are binding 5)precedents are to be followed Countries following a civil law system are typically those that were former French, Dutch, German, Spanish or Portuguese colonies or protectorates, including much of Central and South America. Also, most of the Central and Eastern European and East Asian countries follow a civil law structure. The civil law system is a codified system of law. It takes its origins from Roman law. Features of a civil law system include: * There is generally a written constitution based on specific codes (e.g., civil code, codes covering corporate law, administrative law, tax law and constitutional law) enshrining basic rights and duties; administrative law is however usually less codified and administrative court judges tend to behave more like common law judges; * Only legislative enactments are considered binding for all. There is little scope for judge-made law in civil, criminal and commercial courts, although in practice judges tend to follow previous judicial decisions; consitutional and administrative courts can nullify laws and regulations and their decisions in such cases are binding for all. * In some civil law systems, e.g., Germany, writings of legal scholars have significant influence on the courts; * Courts specific to the underlying codes – there are therefore usually separate constitutional court, administrative court and civil court systems that opine on consistency of legislation and administrative acts with and interpret that specific code; * Less freedom of contract – many provisions are implied into the contract by law and parties cannot contract out of certain provisions. A civil law system is generally more prescriptive than a common law system. However, a government will still need to consider whether specific legislation is required to either limit the scope of a certain restriction to allow a successful infrastructure project, or may require specific legislation for a sector. Please go to Legislation and Regulation and â€Å"Organizing Government to think PPP† sections for more information on this. There are a number of provisions implied into a contract under the civil law system – less importance is generally placed on setting out ALL the terms governing the relationship between the parties to a contract in the contract itself as inadequacies or ambiguities can be remedied or resolved by operation of law. This will often result in a contract being shorter than one in a common law country. It is also important to note in the area of infrastructure that certain forms of infrastructure projects are referred to by well-defined legal concepts in civil law jurisdictions. Concessions and Affermage have a definite technical meaning and structure to them that may not be understood or applied in a common law country. Care should be taken, therefore, in applying these terms loosely. This is further considered under Agreements.

Compare and Contrast parent-child relationships in ‘Follower’, ‘Catrin’ Essay

In the following poems we see various interesting examples of parent-child relationships. Some are easier to relate to than others but most communicate the stages of parenthood and the challenges posed by becoming responsible for another person. The poets each take different lines on how they perceive/d parenthood and the each in which their children reacted. In ‘Catrin’ a metaphor of an umbilical cord is used to symbolise the relationship between mother and daughter. It seems that Gillian Clarke feels that this relationship is one that can be â€Å"neither won nor lost† and a â€Å"struggle†. She goes on to describe their everlasting attachment despite this temporary separation in terms of childbirth. She also says â€Å"from the heart’s pool that old rope, tightening around my life† her she is trying to reinforce her belief that her relationship with her daughter is everlasting as she discusses the implications of childbirth on her life. After evaluating the struggle she experiences she finally questions whether mother hood is right for her at this moment in her life. This compares to ‘On my first Sonne'(OM)where the father experiences extreme grief on account of the broken connection between him and his Son. Ben Jonson describes his son as â€Å"[his] right hand and joy† and is evidently proud of his heir. However the poet makes what he feels is a fundamental realisation that his Son infact belongs to God. He actually feels that it was wrong of him to put â€Å"too much hope in thee[his son].† In this case the connection was in fact temporary and says that the son does not belong to him but God. Jonson struggles with this idea and momentarily accuses God of being unfair. He at one stage feels that he would have preferred to have had no connection/attachment to his son that have it cut short or disrupted. â€Å"O, could I loose all father, now.† In this poem Ben Jonson ends this poem with realisation of his mistake whereby Gillian Clarke ends Catrin in temporary confusion. She takes the parenting if her daughter as her responsibility while Ben Jonson admits that it isn’t his child and so the child’s fate is God’s matter but he insists that he will still do his paternal duty and love his son unconditionally. In Follower and The Affliction of Margaret (AM) the connection between parent and child is slightly different. In AM the parent is lonely, isolated woman who has been left by her son. Like OM the mother feels that perhaps her overbearing nature is the reason for the disaster. We get the general feeling form the mother that she would like to re-establish a connection with her son.†No tiding of an only child† Margaret apologises and is willing to reconcile. She is one of the only parents in the four poems to admit her faults she is however not alone to worry about her son and fear for his development in the outside world. In Follower the son is connected to his father when he is young doing such activities as â€Å"[he]rode me on his back†. It is important to understand that the child is in awe of his father’s strength and the use of various metaphors show the father portrayed as â€Å"globed.†

Qualitative VS Quantitative Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Qualitative VS Quantitative Research - Essay Example When we think about research, things that come to our mind are e.g. facts & figures, science, observation, logic, evaluation, etc. etc. Adopting the scientific approach and adhering to a focused approach to come-up with certain findings do not contain values, passions, politics and ideology of the researcher. Using this kind of research methodology is called a â€Å"positivistic† approach and it is the most commonly used approach in general public. In short, the qualitative research refers to the existence of reality which is analyzed and understood with less rigorous methods and procedures while the quantitative research is aimed to reach to an objective (quantified) solution on the basis of cause & effect and examining theoretical relationship into a practical scenario. However, the emerging social changes and globalization are posing ineffectiveness of traditional deductive approach and forcing social researchers to opt for the inductive approach. Assessing qualitative research through a social constructionist lens, however, is premised upon the belief that research findings are always already partial and situated; that they actively construct the social world which is itself an interpretation and in need of interpretation. If we reject the very notion of an empirical world untouched by the social and the political, how are we to assess the research claims we make? If we concede that â€Å"truth† and â€Å"objective knowledge† cannot be invoked unproblematically, upon what grounds are we to say one research claim is better (i.e., valid) than another?. It is a kind of cold war between the old and new generation qualitative researchers. The latter reject the quantitative, positivist methods and assumptions. Having poststructural and/or postmodern sensibilities, they argue that positivist methods are nothing but all about telling stories about societies. Many new qualitative researchers are of the opinion that these methods do

How Walmart is becoming a monopoly Research Paper

How Walmart is becoming a monopoly - Research Paper Example The company operates each store from the products it stocks to front end equipment in order to speed check out. Wal-Mart invested heavily on cross docking inventory technique in order to achieve and fully realize economies of scale in cost. Wal-Mart Company was launched in 1962 by Cornerstone Walton. Walton had a strategy on the business to expand its stores in order to achieve higher sales volume at prices in comparison with other competitors. Due to discounts gained from department stores Walton initiated chains in Rogers, Arkansas in that year. By the year 1967, the company opened 24 stores across the state of Arkansas and recorded a high volume of sales. The company has continued to expand to major parts of the world in its quest for new markets. By 1978, Wal-Mart expanded into Illinois. It penetrated new markets such as pharmacy, auto service and jewellery divisions. Currently, it is arguably the most emulated retailer. Economies of scale: Currently, Wal-Mart enjoys many monopolies. Everywhere in the county there’s a Wal-Mart. Based on the economic concept it has a large size as well as a huge market share in their existing market. The economic theory of monopoly arises through the smaller the number of firms in the industry and large share Wal-Mart has; therefore, monopoly is deemed to exist. Monopolies arise due to free market (Rand, 1982). Economist considers that monopoly existed due to the existence of one supplier of a good. Its net sales increased by 5 % to 466.1 Billion (Rand, 1982). It has no close substitute within a given geographical location. In most regions, Wal-Mart has created a monopoly up to an extent that no small business can survive alone. Wal-Mart has acquired its dominant position in the retail sector by being relentlessly competitive. It has done everything to keep its cost price as low as possible. It utilises extremely efficient inventory

Compare and contrast Marx idea of Class and Durkheims Division of Essay

Compare and contrast Marx idea of Class and Durkheims Division of Labour - Essay Example Those who accepted it became modern societies or Capitalist societies. Many theorists in the sociology have tried to explain or simplify the complexities of these societies, among the greatest of them Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim. Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim are considered as the fathers of sociology. Both of them had a deep power on the development of sociological theories. Karl Marx (1818-1883) wrote the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts in 1844, and one of these documents, titled Estranged Labor, includes his debate of alienation - the experience of isolation resulting from powerlessness. Marx’s main concern was with the formations of capitalism that result this alienation. He gave a theory of alienation deep-rooted in social composition. In his theory he wanted to get across two vital and foremost ideas. Firstly, that mankind make society, and at some point society is a natural extension of their nature and their being, and secondly, as modern society develops, human beings begin to feels that society is not of their making, and no longer reflects their being or their nature, but instead appears to be alien. Marx argued that laboring was the primary way by which human kind exposed themselves in nature and history. According to Marx, alienation breaks fundamental association individuals have to the self-defining aspect of laboring activity. He identified four characteristics of alienation: Product alienation takes place when workers become alienated from the objects they produce. The product of their labor belongs to the capitalists not to the workers. The capitalists may utilize it however they wish mostly to sell the product to get profit. Furthermore, workers often do not have information of the features of production they are not involved in, and have no sense of their job in the entire production process. Alienation from productive activity refers that workers do not work their own satisfaction to fulfil their needs but capitalism makes

Punk in Fashion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Punk in Fashion - Essay Example The essay "Punk in Fashion" concerns the punk style. Punk culture laid stress on being creative and trying out new things. It involved colouring hair, and wearing clothes that were the hallmark of punk movement. Punk culture had a great influence on the contemporary fashion. Some of the essential staples of punk fashion included leather jackets most often accessorized with pictures and embossments of punk band logos, pins, studs and innovative patches. Other quintessential accoutrements of punk fashion were tight fitting stretchable jeans and shorts, heavy denim jackets most often adorned with patches, studs, pins and band logos, creepers, bondage pants, doc martens, etc. The whole objective of the punk fashion was to mock the established conventions and stereotypes of modesty and to accentuate the intention of not being able to adapt to or fit in the mainstream society. Punk fashion also adopted certain specific and peculiar hairstyles like buzzcuts, short and spiky, liberty spikes and mowhawks. Though the punk fatigue represented a tough and hard persona, the punk culture was on the contrary was very accommodating and open minded. Punk culture had a distinct impact on the fashion in the 20th century. The earlier punk fashion trends were distinctly anti materialistic. The primary focus of the punk fashion was on rebutting the excesses and pretensions inherent in the mainstream fashion by affiliating to peculiar clothing, body modifications, hairstyles, jewellery and cosmetics.

Compulsory civil admission Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Compulsory civil admission - Essay Example New Mental Health Act will put the importance on better community treatment. This paper sketches some of the themes that emerge from Mental Health research, explains how such themes can update Mental Health legislation and some impediments to Mental Health plans. Through keen experiment of relevant British legislation, this study argues that mental health policy at a national level lacks a defined role which the new legislation may provide, thereby enhancing the profession's voice in overall mental health legislation enactment. Moreover, the inherent complexity of the relationship means that the modification of one point in either the mental health or legal system or policy has an enourmous impact on the criminal justice system as a whole. By abandoning its plans for a new Mental Health Act the government has limited its scope for innovation. As a result of the increasing points of contact in mental health policy and legislations processing, the systems have become particularly evide nt from the proposed NR (nearest relative) provisions. In spite of the obtainable debate about the mental illness and incapability in mental health legislation, there is surprisingly little systematic link between criminal justice and mental health issues dates back to common law and has long been a somewhat problematic relationship. The legal meaning of incapacity, though, remained in vague. There are some legal rulings on the moderation of those with illness under common law in near future. A person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease or defect he lacks substantial capacity either to appropriate the criminality (wrong fullness) of his conduct or to conform his conduct to the requirements of law. "Health or safety" is interpreted in practice to include the mental health of the person, essentially embodying a "need for treatment" approach to commitment criteria (Code of Practice). The enactment of only legislative scheme administrating nonconsensual treatment of both 'phys ical' and 'mental' illnesses, founded on incapacity principles, has been unsettled in recent law reform debates in the UK. In 1995 recommendations from the Law Commission for a 'Mental Incapacity Act' were published (Law Commission, 1995).1 The legislation proposes a definition of incapacity as being 'unable by reason of mental disability to make or communicate a decision' (where mental disability includes 'any disability or disorder of mind or brain, permanent or temporary, resulting in an impairment or disturbance of mental functioning') (Lord Chancellor's Department, 1999: p. 8). The definition of incapacity includes the presence of mental disability (rather than mental disorder, as required by the Mental Health Act 1983) means those with transient states of impaired judgement caused by pain may be included. The propose of legislation that combines the strengths of both incapacity and civil obligation designs can be enthusiastically anticipated, based on the criteria for interfer ence in England and Wales found in the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Such legislation would diminish inexcusable legal discrimination against mentally disordered persons and pertain to reliable moral or ethical principles athwart the medical

Professionals in each the three areas of education, biomedical, and Research Paper

Professionals in each the three areas of education, biomedical, and sensory integration interventions - Research Paper Example This is the current role of biomedical engineers as stipulated by many job markets. The performance of such professions can be improved through provision of a platform for research and innovation as well as provision of motivating factors such as proper remuneration and appropriate working environments. Lesson learned is that biomedical engineers apply a combination of knowledge from various disciplines. They basically guide intervention processes for children with substantial challenges in processing and interpreting information that may hinder their efforts to participate in daily life activities (http://atcnts.com/wp n.d). They act as therapists and perform duties ascribed to cognitive challenges. Their performance can be improved through research and innovation and improving their working conditions. This profession deals more with psycho-social challenges. Directors of Occupational Therapy in Sensory Integration Intervention. (n.d.). Directors of Occupational Therapy in Sensory Integration Intervention. Retrieved February 27, 2014, from

Total Quality Management at Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Total Quality Management at Work - Essay Example On the way to achieving Business Excellence firms' attempt to attain competitive advantage (Porter 1980) and organizations adopt various techniques to realize efficiency and effectiveness. Industries struggle to gain this competitiveness through shorter production cycles, improved quality and by responding with speed and efficiency to meet customer requirements (Ahmed and Abdalla 2000a, 2000b). To reach excellence it is critical to develop internal quality consciousness and the ability to respond quickly as per schedules (Clausing 1994). Usually profits and returns are considered to be a measure of accomplishment, but, in its widest sense, quality is perceived as the vital element for both national and global success (Dale 1999, Feigenbaum 1999). A number of organizations also implement Total Quality Management (TQM) practices to guide them through to becoming competent and successful as TQM is a preventive approach and not a detective approach to work (Walton, 1986). According to Zairi and Youssef (1998) in the global context today competition cannot be met with cost efficiency alone. Quality plays an equally important role in assessing competitiveness. Quality is a function of TQM is but it is focused on quality improvement alone and in the broader sense does not cover the entire activities of the organization and therefore the Business Excellence has replaced both Quality and TQM as the final measure of performance that effects all stakeholders. (Dale, Zairi, Van der Weile and Williams 2000). Amaratunga and Baldry (2003) state that it is a process of ascertaining and assessing progress and achievement of pre-determined goals and includes information on the efficiency that has been shown in conversion of resources into goods and services. The quality of these outputs and outcomes has a great bearing on the organization's effectiveness and its objectives leading to Business Excellence. The real measure of Business Excellence or Performance according to Evans and Lindsay (1999) is found in five key categories; customer satisfaction; financial and market performance measure; human resource measure; supplier and partner performance; and company strategy measures. Each of these segments plays a vital role in determining the actual value of performance in the context of performance measurements. Benchmarking is essentially a cost reduction method (McDougall and Hinks 2000). Its exercise results in pre-determined and pre-arranged costs. Deviations are the measures that performance management seeks to locate and redress. Managers depend upon it for performance measurement in the TQM context (Camp 1989) and it is considered as the most powerful technique for gaining and maintaining competitive advantage (Codling 1992). Benchmarking has also been defined as the continuous, systematic process for evaluating the products, services and work processes of organisations for the purposes of organisations improvement (Sarkis 2001). Theories of TQM One of the earliest theorists on quality management, Edward Deming, is regarded as not only a pioneer of the quality movement but also a prolific thinker who has inspired and influenced other academicians and practitioners of quality management. According to Deming, quality is not just an external aspect of a product or service that can be measured or controlled. Instead, quality is inherent in the form of people's attitudes and knowledge

Relationship and School Community Essay Example for Free

Relationship and School Community Essay Method While keeping in mind Mai’s method for determining subjects, I read the article â€Å"Care, Concern, and Communication† by Susan Pickford. I chose Mai’s conception because Wilson leaves out one major method of indexing that could be named user-oriented method (Mai, 2000). The basic idea of user-oriented method is that the indexer needs to have the user’s information needs and terminology in mind when determining the subject matter of the document as well as when selecting index terms for the document. It suggests that the indexer should have knowledge about the user’s needs to determine the subject matter. Mai argues 5 methods in indexing. First one is a simplistic conception similar to Wilson’s (1968) constantly referred to method. This method determines the subject by counting frequencies of occurrences of words in the document so it could be the most objective method. The problem is that there is not necessarily any correlation between occurrences of words in a document and its content. Second method is a document-oriented conception. The basic idea is that the indexer should establish the subject matter solely based on an analysis of the document itself; the goal is to represent the document as truthfully as possible and ensure the subject representation is valid for a long time. Third method is a content-oriented conception attempts to describe the content of the document as fully as possible. This conception shows historical and cultural circumstances that determine the subject matter of the documents. Fourth one is a user-oriented conception mentioned in above paragraph. Last one is a requirement-oriented conception. In this method, the indexers have knowledge about the users’ individual information needs and work tasks. It is only useful in smaller organizations and indexing done by this method, like a user-oriented conception, changes over time. Subject Description The article is about Jane Roland Martin’s argument for the SchoolHome, an idea of making the school home away from home. In this system, school children would be taught the three C’s: care, concern and communication and thus their education would be inclusive, merging intellectual with the heart. The result: the epidemic of violence would be reduced and the domestic vacuum in children’s lives filled for good. Derived Indexing Children of the ‘90s are a content-oriented concept that describes historical and cultural context in which the document is produced. Without using Children of the ‘90s in the subjects of the document one would lose context for the article, so it is important to include the article for understanding. It is possible to find documents like children’ education influenced by social conditions or changes of ‘90s. Domestic Vacuum in Children’s Lives is a user-oriented concept that is the foundation of the article and would be accessible from this common phrase or variations thereof (e. g. , â€Å"domestic vacuum†, â€Å"live* vacuum†, and â€Å"child* live*† using wildcards for the greatest number of matches for the concept). Schoolhome is essentially a simplistic and document-oriented concept that serves an identifier for the article in the most general way while it does not describe the content of the article. This term would be especially useful in finding such things as case studies or curriculum examples for Schoolhome. Rethinking Schools for Changing Families is an excellent term that touches slightly on all of Mai’s conceptions. While it is the book title of Jane Ronald Martin, in its various wildcard combinations is a simple general term, reflects the article’s content, and speaks to the more specialized non-expert and expert subject areas that are brought up with School, Changing, and Families. Transforming American Education is a document-oriented term that helps to focus the search to the overarching concepts that are touched on in Children of the ‘90s, Domestic Vacuum in Children’ Lives, Schoolhome, and Rethinking Schools for Changing Families. The document types that American Education points to vary from the basic to the expert, making it a very good lynch pin-term. Free Indexing Although the derived terms above do a good job in reflecting the ideas in the article, some additional terms may include: Social Context for Children Education, which brings in Education and children, but Social Context is a broader, less expert phrase than containing ‘90s and domestic vacuum terms. Philosophy of Children Education, which gives as sense of the article, but the word Philosophy may not be an obvious children education search term. School and Home in United States, which is akin to schoolhome. Schoolhome would also be a good derived term, but this is slightly more nominative than descriptive. Moreover, using United States as an example gives geographical criteria to indexing term. Family School Relationship expands on Children Education with relationship between Family and School. It also broadens the scope by detailing what the school reform would be about. School Reform is a good term that points the search in the direction of planning and results for Transforming American Education. These 5 free- indexed terms would all be in Mai’s user and requirement areas, since some of the terms might be meaningful to those experts enough to think of using jargon as search terms. Assigned Indexing (ERIC) Educational Change: I found that â€Å"education† was a better term over â€Å"school† for â€Å"reform†, but feel that my subject terms School Reform and Rethinking Schools for Changing Families are still appropriate in that they speak to individual schools (as in a study), although in the grand schema of the database it does not help to split hairs. In ERIC, education reform was educational change (as of 1996, although â€Å"reform† is still commonly used in society) and the contents regarded modification of things such as curriculum and teaching methods, which matches the article. Educational Philosophy: It is a good match, in that reflects the article’s context and themes. Social Environment: It means â€Å"social factors or conditions that influence individuals or groups†. It is a broader phrase than Social Context for Children Education. Family School Relationship: It has a placeholder for it but no information (i. e. , no related terms, but I take it to be a viable indexing entry). It is also used for school home relationship. School Community Relationship: It means â€Å"formal or informal interactions between an educational institution and the surrounding community†, which matches the article. I believe â€Å"brand names† like Domestic Vacuum in Children’s Live, Children of the ‘90s, Schoolhome, and Rethinking Schools for Changing Families do not have much use in the thesaurus, but the variations of Social Environment, Educational Philosophy, Family School Relationship, and School Community do an excellent job in representing the subject, derived and free terms above. Although I see where my subject analysis was too narrow in some places I am leaving the term â€Å"as-is† (except for â€Å"education reform† for â€Å"school reform†, which is not much of a trade seeing how it is actually â€Å"change†) to show the evolution of the indexing process in the assignment and in my mind. To revise my analysis would be like looking in the back of the textbook to do my homework. 6. 7. Compare, Contrast and Justification When I compared the derived and free indexing terms I selected with the descriptors in the ERIC thesaurus I was surprised by the number of them that were not in the ERIC thesaurus. In a few cases there was a close term, but for most there was nothing. This furthered my understanding of not only how challenging it is to select subjects for indexing, but how much harder it would be when faced with a controlled vocabulary. For the most part only the very narrow generic subjects were listed in the thesaurus, the more descriptive terms were not. In two cases terms I selected actually has a better term in the thesaurus, such as my choice of School Reform compared to the ERIC thesaurus descriptor Educational Change. The thesaurus does a service to the search process by training the indexer to be as strategic as possible in boiling down the essential terms or concepts of an article. My derived and free terms were no less accurate than the assigned terms, because author Susan B. Pickford was writing with an audience in mind and used the â€Å"brand names† to illustrate her article. ERIC is invaluable in not only framing the terminology commonly used for subjects, but also gives the searcher context, such as what the current term used to be, along with a date of the change. This makes research interesting as an historical concept, and seeing how improvements have been made over the years, it helps to sharpen the indexer’s ear for the best possible match (e. g. , â€Å"education† in lieu of â€Å"school,† â€Å"change† instead of â€Å"reform†). As author Stephen Nachmanovich wrote, â€Å"Creativity exists more in the searching than in the finding. † However, in being creative as an indexer, you help the searcher in finding things where he wouldn’t normally have considered looking.

The New Jim Crow Essay Example for Free

The New Jim Crow Essay In the book â€Å"The New Jim Crow† author Michelle Alexander talks about numerous issues of racial inequality in our criminal justice system. Alexander’s book is something every person who even has an interest in the criminal justice field should read, as it really looks beyond the color of a person’s skin. Alexander points out the vast majority of the problems our criminal justice system faces in racial inequality and discrimination. These problems have really formed our country to what it is to this day. Most people feel that society as a whole is past discrimination and that it is no longer a problem anymore. In reality, it is still a major problem in many aspects of our criminal justice system as well as the everyday lives of Americans. In all honesty I was one of them, but â€Å"The New Jim Crow† really opened my eyes on the discrimination that occurs within minorities in the United States. Reflecting back on this issue I had realized that I have witnessed this first hand with one of my close friends who is an African American male. I will get into more detail about this later on in my paper, but for now I am going to address some of the issues of racial inequality in the criminal justice system that Alexander mentioned. First of all going back to the late 1800’s with slavery in the United States. This time period really set the tone for discrimination in the future of our country. At this point in time African American’s were much like Peasants back in pre-colonial times. This led to slaves literally walking off their plantations and causing chaos among plantation owners. This not only caused problems for plantation owners, but it also caused problems for the economy in the United States. After this was done black codes were created due to the African Americans unwillingness to work. Ultimately these codes were reversed due to several pieces of civil rights legislation that started the Reconstruction Era. During this era African Americans who were former slaves were allowed their first opportunity to learn how to read and write. Another form of racial inequality was during the Reconstruction Era. There were more laws set in place that were mainly enforced against African Americans. These laws were set in place to protect against things such as mischief and insulting gestures. This was possible in my opinion due to the federal government not aking an effort at the time to enforce civil rights legislation. Along with this death rates were extremely high due to private contractors did not care about the well being of the slaves. Like I said previously all these things set the tone for the future of our country. Looking forward to the 1950’s to the 1960’s crime rates were dramatically rising with many people believing that the Civil Rights Movement was the main cause of the raise in crime. Another reason that Alexander stated cause this boost in crime was the â€Å"baby boom† generation entering their early twenties. With the rise of the young men it created the rise in crime. With that being said many people felt that the Civil Rights Movement was the main cause of this sudden outbreak in crime. Another event that did not help the cause of African Americans in the 1960’s was the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. This led to an outrage in the African American Community in which it gave white Americans more reason’s to think that African Americans were harmful to society. One issue of racial inequality that Alexander mentioned was how the courts place higher standards on African Americans than they do on white Americans. Along with that Alexander Talked about how white Americans are still more likely to do drugs than African Americans are. Even in â€Å"ghetto† neighborhoods African Americans are less like to sell and use drugs than white Americans are. Along with that though, African Americans are sent to prison on drug charges at a rate of twenty to almost sixty times greater than a white. Alexander also talked about a survey in the 1980’s that found out that ninety percent of white believed that black and whit children should attend the same schools, and that seventy-one percent disagreed that whites have a right to keep blacks out of white neighborhoods. Also eighty percent of the people that took the survey said that they would support an African American candidate for president, and sixty-six percent said that they opposed laws prohibiting intermarriage. After reading this it really kind of troubled me because I feel that segregation was still a little bit of a problem in the early 1980’s. In my opinion the problem with surveys are that a lot of the time people do not tell the truth and I feel like that is the case in this survey. I feel that those numbers would probably be around the same if not a little better today than it was back then. One reason I feel this way is partially to how my grandparents act towards African Americans. My grandpa who was born in Eastern Tennessee has never really been a big supporter of African Americans due to how he was raised by his dad who was actually a preacher. Also I feel that the results that the survey got would depend on what kind of area the survey was taken in. In a town like the one that I grew up in I feel that the results would definitely be lower especially since it is not a very diverse town. Now back to the story where I had witnessed discrimination in the criminal justice system. When I was in high school me and some friends one of which was a African American male was driving home from the bowling alley at around Eleven ‘O Clock in the evening got pulled over on our way back to my house. When the officer came up to the car he asked me for my driver’s license like you would expect the officer to do. The officer caught my friends and I off guard when he asked my African American friend for his license, but not anyone else in the car. Until I read Alexander’s book I never really thought about the situation since I was so young, but now I understand the magnitude of it all and how ridiculous it is that something like that happened and me not even realize it. Also I have been pulled over seven times by the police and this incident is the only time an officer has asked to see any identification of any of the passengers that I had with me. The next thing that I will talk about is how racism in criminal justice grew out of earlier historical periods. Earlier I mention how in the 1800’s there was a Reconstruction Era. The first Reconstruction Era was brief According to Alexander it stretched from 1863to when the Northern states freed the slaves in 1877. With this reconstruction it gave African Americans their first opportunity to read and write, but it also forced the government to help support the African Americans by providing things like food, clothing, and fuel. This period also gave the African Americans their first opportunity to vote although they had to be protected by federal troops from organizations like the Ku Klux Klan. At the end of the first Reconstruction Era the Civil Rights Movement that is also known as the Second Reconstruction started. During the Civil Rights Movement African Americans played a bigger part in the United States government due to African Americans gaining political power as well as the growing population of the NAACP. With the rise of the NAACP the Ku Klux Klan also grew as a terrorists program killing many officers of the NAACP. Along with Dr. Martin Luther King Junior who had probably the biggest impact on the Civil Rights Movement, President Kennedy presented a strong civil rights bill to the United States Congress. Although he was not able to see this through due to his assassination, his successor President Johnson made sure that this bill went through. This gave most African Americans a chance to go to schools with white students as well as giving them a chance to drinking from water fountains that they were banned from drinking out of before this bill. Recently I watched an ESPN 30 for 30 film about the University of Mississippi otherwise known â€Å"Ole Miss†. A young African American, by the name of James Meredith, attending the university outraged the state of Mississippi. President Kennedy sent troops down to Oxford, Mississippi on the campus of Ole Miss to help protect Meredith and other students from being injured due to riots. Even with the troops, the riots were too much to handle which ultimately led to several students getting killed and many others injured. Before this film I had never heard of the tragedy that occurred within the university. Perhaps this twisted event was swept beneath the rug as if it never even occurred. Maybe it’s the fact that society is too embarrassed to own up to the sickening deeds done onto our own kind? Now how does our criminal justice system, which is based on equality for all develop such discriminatory practices? It is not necessarily the system as a whole, but the actions of so many individuals who believe that discrimination is perfectly acceptable. Some regions of our beautiful country continue to believe that live a discriminating lifestyle and pass these beliefs onto their children. Mississippi is a prime example of location still considered to be very discriminatory. The university itself proudly flies the rebel flag to the tune of â€Å"Dixie† unaware of the pain and suffering associated to both. What is a caste? A caste is a way of diving a society into classes based on race, wealth, religion, and social status. With the most common example of caste is race and wealth. With that be said though Whit Americans are not the only one’s who can discriminate. African Americans or really anyone can discriminate against anyone person, race or social status. The criminal justice system is a caste system, because those at the bottom of the system can commit the same crime as a wealthy citizen and have more of a punishment than someone who can afford better lawyers and are well known. Also the discrimination between whites and minorities is probably the main reason why the criminal justice system is a caste system. Alexander talks a lot about this in chapter three of â€Å"The New Jim Crow†. Alexander talked about how long it could take public defenders to get to a case due to the overload of cases that he or she would be assigned to. One example of this is the O. J. Simpson murder case. There was so much evidence and motive for O. J. to commit the crime yet he was still found not guilty of the murder. Does discrimination end when people are released from prison? Absolutely not! After being released from prison, convicts will face more discrimination than before they were ever charged with whatever crime they have committed. The people who are released from prison will always have to face the fact that they will have the label of being convicted felon for the rest of their lives. After being convicted they typically do not have the same job opportunities as someone that has never been convicted, as well as not ever being allowed to get food stamps of public housing if they needed it. Basically, convicted felons might as well have a stamp on their forehead saying, â€Å"I am a convicted felon†. In conclusion, I feel that Alexander raises many good points on discrimination and racial inequality. Anyone entering the criminal justice field really needs to read this book and reflect on what needs to change to make our system an equality based system like it is supposed to be. I know it has me thinking about what needs to be done. I feel that is the only way we can make our criminal justice system a well-rounded system.

Issues of business ethics and social responsibility

Issues of business ethics and social responsibility The achievement of the intentions or set objectives of the business organization requires the establishment of the management structure that ensures proper definition of role and responsibilities to provide the basis for the development of effective selection systems that aid the recruitment and engagement of suitable personnel to occupy positions created within the context of the business enterprise to discharge the assigned roles and responsible forward the achievement of the set goals and objective of the business concern Indeed, the set objectives of the business organization cannot be achieved unless the employees of the business enterprise demonstrate the appropriate ethical behaviours in the execution of assigned duties, ultimately enhancing the corporate image of the business outfit in the environment where it operates. This becomes essential to stralegies developed to stimulated the patronage of the goods and service produced and provided by the business concern According Dr. B. Odusina, Managing Partner of Upman Ltd in a lecture paper delivered titled: Business Ethics and Corporate Governance on 16 June 2001 at a Seminar Organized for Mobil Oil Producing at Ogere Training Centre; There is the need to stress that employees who demonstrate unethical behaviour do not promote the fortunes and the area being of the business organization, and thus, unless such negative behaviours are abandoned it becomes impossible for them to make the desired contribution towards the success of the business enterprise Odusina went further to say that management science, today has made available range of attributes, and traits that form the basis for the development of the appropriate business ethical behaviour that should should characterize the disposition and action of the individuals discussed in the latter part of this seminar paper. THE CONCEPT OF ETHICS What are Ethics? Ethics are mural laws that involve: A high Sense of self Awareness Manage tin: Time Management Life Goals Programming Personal Grooming Consciousness Human Relations Striving for Excellence Self Discipline A High sense of Responsibility and loyalty towards: Ones Own Roles Towards Superiors and Subordinates Towards Company Customers and Suppliers Towards the acquisition and use of other resources Towards ones own family, community and nation Nigeria 3. A high sense of Probity in: (a) Dealing with Confidential matters (b) Handling Companys Finances (c) In very different situations A high sense of Accountability For authority and roles played For resources utilized For the life spent HISRORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF BUSINESS ETHICS We start by looking at some causes in recent years of public concern about organizational behaviour. It would, of course be doing a great injustice to past generations to imagine that only our own taken this topic seriously. The 19th century, while giving rise to some highly undesirable business practices, was notable also for its pioneering work in area such as antislavery child labour reforms, and the development legislative framework to curb abuses in company financing. A society which deniers credit to the ethical pioneers of the past, just because they did not address all of today prominent themes, begins to undermine its own foundation. According to David Munay (1997) the ethics of business and organizational life have acquired a considerably higher public as well as professional profile during the past fifteen years Managers and top captains of industrial concerns now receive numerous invitations to conferences, seminars and workshops on topics such as corporate values, corp orate governance and other ethical aspects of management. The books falls carry an increasing number of specialist titles and no self respecting management text can now omit at least some discussion of organizational values or corporate social responsibility. The 1970s in Nigeria saw a focus on rapid wealth creation because of oil boom; a get -rich -quick syndrome and the widespread ignoring of moral imperatives beyond profit loss and cash flow statements. In Nigeria particularly we are now well into a decade of moral reflection Business if far from being the only spare in which this is happening, but it is particularly noticeable arguably because of the widespread neglect of such matters for so long To some extent, this increased interest may be a consequence of a relatively high number of widely publicized scandals as it includes bank frauds, failed contracts, tax evasing by corporate multinationals, swindles in hard currencies by top government functionaries, scandalous advance fee fraud popularly called 419 that is affecting our image abroad to mention a few About three consecutive times last year 2004, most of our popular dailies reported Nigeria to be the second most corrupt country in the world, after Cameroon. This was on the good authority of Transparency International These and other phenomenal unethical practice are giving the government and private sector operators a serious concern. The recent collapse of Arthur Anderson and other much respected international concerns are a case in point EVEYDAY ETHICS The key business ethics concern is the way that the business conducts itself in its ordinary, every day routline activities The way the firm deals with its staff and its customers, the way it designs and supports its products, the way it awards contract and apportions blameà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ these are the key determines of whether a business is ethical, and are as important as the way it deals with crises. According to Elaire Sternberg (2000) the events that attract attention major frauds, for example may not represent ethical dilemmas for business: in such cases business people often agree on what is right. The problems that such events pose are real ones, but often concern practical difficulties; how to implement agreed moral standard, how to deal with the villains who sadly exist in business as in elsewhere: Sternberg opined further that the really thorny business ethics issues in contrast, are those where there a genuine disagreement about what is right or wrong. THE TOOLS OF ETHICS VALUES It is useful in this text to recognize that business ethics can refer to several different things most commonly, it refers to ethical conduct in and by business. In this sense, in benefits to business include doing the right typically promotes achievement of business goals. While doing the wrong things hinders the successive pursuit of those goals. To recognize things are the right things however, it is helpful to understand the principles that underlie ethical conduct in business. Accordingly business ethics as the knowledge and study of such principles can also be of value to business. According to sternbery (2000), an ethical decision that clearly sets out the principle of business ethic can help business both to identify and actually resolve business ethics problems. A model is theà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦equivalent of a map it can help guide business through the ethical issues that it inevitably must handle A model is not, however a panacea just as a Map does not physically smooth out the human. What an ethical decision model can do is extremely valuable. Most fundamentally, I can help to eliminate conceptual issues, it can help a business avoid wasting its resource on spurious problems and unwarranted guilt. An ethical decision model can indicate when and how ethical discussion is appropriate in a business context. When all within the business share a common vocabulary for ethical matter, they can articulate moral standards and moral questions easily By reducing moral muteness and promoting the early detection and resolution of ethical issues, an ethical decision model therefore enables the business to benefit from the vigilance its staff. Accordingly, an ethical decision model can do much to reduce the costs and adverse consequence of ethical problems. By illuminating what is at stake in any situation, and what the alternate course of action might be an ethical decision can indicate what information is relevant and what can be ignored. CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE TO VALUES In a given culture, at a given time, there is broad agreement on major values. Mos people agree on what is good (e.g. the right vole), and what is bad (corruption in government). Not all people or groups of people hold the same value, but the value o of those in majority will affect beliefs and behaviours of society. According to Yalokwu (2002), The action of managers are affected largely by then personal beliefs (Guth and Jaguini, 1965). For examples manager who are motivated by economic value will tend to stress the importance of growth for their companies. Managers who are motivated by social values on the other hand, might be willing to sacrifice some company growth to improve the conditions of service of the employees. But however, values are not only factors, that influence managers decision. The specific situation a manager faces will have great influence on or even dominate how a manager behaves. RIGHTS: Ethical concerns penneate every aspect of business activity Ethical issues arise obviously in connection with core ethical values; when there are question of, for example honesty or justice. They also are potentially at issue whenever action or decision affect other people, either by helping or by harming them. But ethical issues can even arise when other peoples right and interests are not directly at stake. Whenever there is a chose to be made between values or a better and a worse way of doing something or a thing is deemed to be a good one of its kind, an ethical judgment is involved. In this broad sense, most judgments and choices and decision about goals standard, quality and priorities are ethical. Accordingly, most business action and choices, decision and judgments have ethical aspects; they involve specifically ethical values or help or harm people or indicate character, or all of the above. Sternberg (2000) opined that, hiring and firing, choosing suppliers, setting prices establishing objectives, allocating resources, determining dividends; disciplining workers, planning schedules, awarding contracts à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ all involve ethical choices. Even the most trivial decision and ones that appear to be made on purely technical or economic groups typically have ethical aspects, it is not, just in the fringe areas of do gooding that ethical issue occur, but through out all of business ethic is inescapable in business as in life In order, therefore, to know which ethical issues should concern business as business, and to resolve ethical problems in ways that are appropriate for business a clear understanding of business ethics is essential If it is a companys responsibility to be concerned with advancing the interests of its employees, then it will be essential to consider the issue of stability of employment as it is quit apparent that this constitutes one of the paramount interest of most employees. At the very least, losing his job is likely to cause grave in convenience loan employee: he will go through a period of uncertainty and anxiety, will face a period more or less long without stable income, will incur search cost looking for a new job, and at the end of the day may be forced to move to different locally (Elegilo 1996) A firm seen to be truly committed to do its best to provide stability on employment will be sending a very powerful message to its employees that is really concerned about their welfare. The firm is thereby laving the foundation for a two-may commitment. It is well known that guarantee of the life time employee constitutes one of the bases of the extra ordinary loyally that Jepanese employees traditionally exhibit toward their companies. However, what is clear is that the foundation of employee loyalty, in any cas can easily be destroyed by policies that seem to be based on a consideration of the employees so many cost to be cut. Still, it is important to keep a sense of perspective and make it clear that there is no question of auguring that terminating an employee is intrinsically immoral will not be so if the objective by germinating an employee is something good in itself. As would be the case in situations in which management seeks to preserve on enhance the long term viability of the firm, improve the cost structure of the company or (in the case of an unproductive or disruptive employee) remove cause of lower morale or a potential source of danger to other employees. As a matter of fact, terminating some employees may not be unethical but I source cases a may well be a definite ethical duty We may find it emotionally repugnant to dismiss an employee who has a large family; yet managers are not paid to follow the courses of action that they personality fund congenial, but to protect the common good of the company (Elegilo 1996). When preserving the jobs of some employee becomes incompatible with the health or even the survival of the whole organization as it eventually happened in the case of intel. Then failing to take the necessary measure can easily amount to gross irresponsibility. This will be much more so in the case of individual employees who through presistent misconduct erode the standard of the company Other tools of Ethics: 1. Loyalty Steadfastness in allegiance to the management of the business enterprise. The implies the commitment on the part of the set objectives of the business organization 2. Fairness The avoidance of discriminating tendencies in dealing with people of diverse background, endeavouring to treat all human beings as equal, and then give each person equal opportunities 3. Principled Behaviour: The demonstration of a consistent behaviour in similar situations that makes ones behavour predictable, and ensuring the same decision being made in similar situations 4. Confidentiality Being discreet in dealing with the publics in a manner that makes the employee to refuse to divulge official information even in the face of financial inducernent or inspite of threats to his life. MORAL RULES IN HUMAN RELATIONS AND COMMON MORALITY Human Relations Concept The concept of human relations is so vast and encompassing that it touches every aspect of our lives .it is true that whatever we are are doing involves human relation and in interactions in one form or the other Human relations encompass a body of knowledge through which workers and management get things done through each other. Ack Halloran (1978) defines human relation relations as all the interactions that occur among people, whether they are conflicts or cooperative behaviours. The study of how people in work effectively in groups in order to satisfy both organizational goals and personal Kosson Stan (1978) observes that human relations are concerned with the of the people and their groups. It also learns the what that can be done to anticipate, prevent or resolve conflict among organization members The field of human relations is action -oriented emphasizing the analysis presentation and resolution of behavioural problems within organization. Philosophy of Human Relations Dougleas, McGregor (1960) gave the following as the basis of Human relations:- The loyalty and cooperation of the individual in the organization must be earned, won and described. the individual employee in respect of his status, right, prospects for advancement, and his economic well-being, is inescapably linked with the success of the enterprise by which he is employed. The basic relationship of the individual should not be jeopardized by government or union and management activities Personal policies and practices must be designed implemented in such a manner as to promote and safeguard the rights and well-being of the workers. The organisation stays for the individual and not the individual for their organisation Organisation must to provide for the economic and social security of their employees. The society must be free and ready to safeguard their rights and privileges Steps Managers Should Take in Maintaining Human Relations According to William Scolt (1962) managers can create a good human relations environment if they do the following they should lead as they want to be led They should know their personnel they should be genuinely interested in their subordinate They should be afraid to share responsibilities they should tell their people why thins are to be done They should treat subordinates with dignity and respect They should help the people in performing the tasks assigned to them 8. They should praise their people even in public. Human Relations Effectiveness: Use of words The use of words in human relation is the key to it success. Good words in communication, motivation and leadership is essential in any human relations exercise. Good words can do miracles whereas bad words bad words can pollute the atmosphere. It can also cause enormous pain. Stan, Kossen, (1978) gave the following rules: The least important word is l The two most important words is we The two must important words Thank you The three most important words if you please The four most important works: What is your opinion? The five most important words you did a good job The six most important words: ladmit l made a mistake From the foregoing exposition of moral rules in human relations, it can now well be established that the principle of reciprocity will play a big dual-role of keeping strictly to ethical standards on the part of employee and ensuring that their (employee) welfare is not jeopardized by management. Every partly involved (employer/employee) will see themselves as stakeholder that must ensure the sustenance of achieving corporate goals. No side will feel a sense of insecurity or unfairly treated. Differently put, common morality will now say; Respect begets respects Therefore no party will want to jottion the contractual relationship of ensuring the human success through honesty by employees; on the one hand, and treasuring the human resource (employees) by management by seeing to their welfare on the other hand RE -ESTABLISHING LONG-TERM BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONS AND EMPLOYEES Step one: Re- establish Code and Policies for Sustainability Step Two: Re-establish Justice Step three: Re-establish Fairness Step Four: Re-establish Practices of honesty COMMON MORALITY 1. Dignity * Apologize for immorality delay * Extend personal à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. 2. Honesty * Stop the spiral of denials * Implement full and immediate disclosure * Facilitate access and respond openly to all queries 3 Fairness * Ensure compensation is commensurate with loss * Accelerate reconciliation to serve as many as possible, and as quickly as Possible Encode and practice lessons to benefit future transactions 4. Sustainability * Use the humiliation of this experience to lead a worldwide effort to standardize global practices 5. Auditing * Establish formal framework for monitoring ethical orientation * Report ethical progress alongside financial progress * Organize think tank ethical group to supervise compliance 6 Updating * Begin planning for ethical mandate beyond resolution of the Holocust issue * Report progress and plans to the world community, employees and industry association. All of us can give many example of ethical rules. Some which readily come to mind are: One should not tell lies, One should keep ones promises' one should respect ones parents, One should help people in distress etc. Many ethical rules are controversial at least to some extent. Thus, for example, while a large majority of people would agree that in most situation, one should not tell lies, there is far less agreement if one proceeds to ask whether exception is to this rule are allowed in some more or less extreme cases. Assume for instance that a mad man carrying cutlass in his hand, asked you whether your sister is in the house. You reasonably fear that he wants to attack her. Your sister is actually in the house. Does the rule that you should not lie cover this situation? When the proper scope and meaning of an ethical rule is called into question, one should refer it to the more ultimate principle and purpose that justify the rule. Thus for example, in the case of the mad man with cutlass, one could reason that one should fell no lie, because (i) telling lies is a way of harming the people one deceive and (ii), it tends to undermine mutual trust among people. If that were the complete justification of the rule against telling lie, which is not the case), it could follow that the rule did not apply in this case. By telling the madman that your sister is not at home, you would not be harming him in any way. One the contrary, you would be preventing him from doing him from doing something that, once he recovers his sanity, he would greatly regret harming alone, nor would you be undermining trust among people by acting in this way. According to Elegido (1996) the following constitute a reasonably complete list of independent and ultimate principle of business ethics. Principle of Solidarity: We must be concerned with promoting the well being of all human beings, not only our own. In so far as we fail to do so, we undermine our own fulfillment. Principle of Rationality: One should always strive to act intelligently Principle of Fairness or Impartiality: One should apply the same standards in judging ones own actions, those who are dear to one, and those of strangers Principle of Efficiency: In trying to promote human fulfillment good intentions are not enough: one must endeavour to use effective means. Principle of Refrain from willing harm to a human being: One should never choose directly to harm a human being. Principle of Role Responsibility: One does not have responsibility for all the aspects of the well-being of all human beings. Ones special circumstance, roles and commitments give one a priority responsibility for certain aspect of the well being of certain people. ETHICS AND SITUATIONAL FACTIRS IN ETHICAL BEHAVIOURS IN BUSINESS As noted by Gary Edward, President of the Ethics Resource Centre in the U.S, two-thirds of companies seeking ethical programmes came off the front page as a result of serious wrong-doing. This suggests that ethic are largely a tactical response to a serious problem, rather than a strategic commitment to a more enduring opportunity and obligation. From this perspective, most ethical initiatives aim to avoid repeating the mistakes that caused that particular crisis. The Federal Government established various agencies to curb a series of unethical practices in our national life. These include ICPC and EFCC Acts and the rest of it. The aim of these agencies among other reasons include overhauling the national and national image of Nigerians both at home and abroad. But this ethical renewal is one situation where the rifle short or fire brigade approach is clearly not enough. Codes and procedures, targeted to an impropriety may highlight the specific of the problem, and usually assign blame to one individual or a group of people, but without addressing the wider cultural competitive and personal factors that contribute to it. The Nigerian society is originally poverty-driven. Probably because of our low technology/agrarian nature or because of our leadership problem and/or total depending on oil, 90% of the national wealth us being controlled by less than 10% of our people. We operate crude capitalism in which the rich is getting richer and the poor, getting poorer. There is highly level insecurity felt by both the private and public sector workers especially about what tomorrow has in stock for them. It is everybody to himself, God for us all; who ever is slow, may the devil take him. In such circumstance, individual is desperately looking for the opportunity to grab and secure his tomorrow and that of his family. Therefore, a feel of patriotism or national consciousness is secondary in the minds of most Nigerians. Unfortunately or incidentally, we worship those who have been privileged to occupy the seat of power, not minding the fact that these people amassed their wealth by crucked means. We roll out chieftaincy titles, and national honours for the celebrated thieves According to John, Dalta Costa (2000) ethics as a reflex action are never as comprehensive or as motivational as the thinking and commitment applied to ethics as pre-eruption. That so many companies and notable corporate bodies and individuals in Nigerian are repeat offenders is directly due to the narrowness of seeing ethics in relation to a one time problem rather than in the context of the national psyche. Companies hire sonant people but do not leave them only to their wits to manage. Organisations expect strategies to be planted, analyses to precede decisions, and measure, to be put in place to monitor progress and results. Sonant companies, as learning organizations as Shell Petroleum, Mobile Producing to mention a few also invest consistently in training and skills development. An ethical orientation involves the same discipline. In addition to understanding the dynamics, that contributed to an error of ethical judgment, organizations need to explore the keeper tensions and contradictions that may put ethics at risk in future. Just as strategies require a situation analysis, ethics requires a temptation analysis. In other words, any individual or groups of people who are put into positions of responsible accountability must have their red alert threshold tests conducted. Retrogression analysis test or other psycho-analytical tests could be administered on them. Differently put, what moral and legal issues have raised ethical concerns in the past? How are these changing and testing the behaviour of the business organisation and its individual employees? What are new pressure points created by changes in technology or competition or globalization? How do corporate behaviours and policies influence the perception of those ethical conundrums? The process here is one of scanning the horizon with an ethical perspective, of expecting new confusions and temptations and anticipating risk. Central to the exercise is understanding not only the scope and scale of temptation but to the moral strengths and weakness of the business organisation for withstanding and overcoming them. This may involve and audit of past ethical performance an analysis of transgressions or an evaluation of the ethical concerns of the employees. The internent, as an example provides much more intimate access to customers, but it also à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. new issues of privacy and respect. So, in using this new medium, are the companys ethical skills maturing in concert with its, technical competence? How well equipped is the company for dealing constructively with new temptation afforded by the new technology? According to Dalla Costa, (2002) a strategic assessment sets the course for what must be done. An ethical assessment investigates the how. As we have learned from total quality and other programmes of corporate renewal, the what and how can no longer be separated. THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY People often speak of the responsibilities of the firm of the firm or in a more common phrase, the social responsibility of companies These expressions are often used very loosely and are given different meanings be different speakers. Some people assert that business organizations have responsibilities which go beyond making profits. Often, what they have in mind is that it is proper for companies to support worthy community initiatives like universities, museums, hospitals, to reduce a minimum pollution: going voluntarily beyond the standard, set by the law. To employ the physically handicapped; to refuse to invest in certain places (e.g apartheid south Africa) in order to hasten desirable political objectives: and generally to use their activities in a way which is not calculated to maximize their profits but which will contribute to the common goal/good of the communities in which they operate. Other people reject outright the above position and argue that the only responsibilities of a business company are to obey the law and make profits for its shareholders. Still other think that companies can legitimately concern themselves with some of the causes listed above but not with others. It is not easy to find ones bearing in this jungle of conflicting opinions. It is often said that it is the duty of a companys managers to maximize their companys profits. Now whether or not managers have such duty will be a debatable topic. Fundamentally, maximizing profit does not just mean making an effort to generate greater profit. It means making every efforts to make profits as large as possible, subordinating literally everything (including loyalty, compassion the environment social welfare and other such considerations) to the increase of profits. According to Elegido, there is no argument or at least, there outght not to be, that profit is externally important for all business organizations but before one agrees that firms ought to maximize their profits, one ought to ask whether one agrees that profit is ultimately the only thing that matters in business and that in case of conflict, every other consideration ought way before it. PROF. FRIENDMANS POSITION Prof. Friedman, the famous monetary economist has consistently argued in favour of the thesis that an organistion has only one responsibility: maximizing profits for its shareholders while operating within the limits set by the law. He set out his main arguments for this position in a famous and other quoted articles entitled: The Social Responsibility of Business is to increase its profits. In Friedmans view, it is certainly a responsibility of organizations to respect all the laws which protect the public interest. But going beyond this would amount to having socially responsible executives functioning as redistributors who would take other peoples money and spend it on what these executives themselves defined as the general social interest, as if they were some sort of self appointed tax collectors. It is Friedmans contention that it will be better for everybody if business executives concentrate on maximizing profit for in this way, they will more effectively be led by and invisible hand to promise the good of the society. In fairness to Friedman, it sho

Want to Sell a Website? The Process :: Sell Website

Selling a Website - The Process Initial Seller meetings are conducted by the Seller's Broker (a professionally trained Business Broker, holding a Real Estate Agent license where necessary), and the Seller is educated on the process of selling a business. A Representation Agreement is filled out by the Seller's Broker & signed by the Seller. Immediately after signing the representation Agreement, the Seller provides the Broker the following: Complete lists of all equipment and other assets to be included or excluded in the sale; Profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and tax returns of the Business covering the last three years; The most recent interim profit and loss statement, balance sheet, and sales tax returns; Real and personal property leases; Copies of all patents, licensees, loan documents, contracts or agreements; All agreements relating to employee benefits; Any environmental reports; and Copies of all other documents needed to present a fair and accurate description of the Business to prospective buyers. During the representation period, seller will provide monthly updates of each such document during the period of this agreement where any material change has occurred. Seller consents to Broker publishing, advertising or distributing information about the Business to prospective purchasers and to cooperating brokers, and contacting landlords and any others regarding any of the information about the Business. Seller's Broker writes a narrative on the Business; the Representation Agreement is entered into the Sunbelt proprietary database, and a Business Profile is created. Seller's Broker introduces the Business to all of our other brokers during weekly office meetings. All other brokers match the Seller's Business Data (SBD) against Buyers in their respective queues (Buyers who have previously been interviewed, signed a Confidentiality Agreement and filled out a detailed Buyer's Profile); Seller's Broker plans an advertising strategy; and the SBD is added to web sites in such a manner so the general public cannot identify the business. Buyers in queue and Buyers who have responded from the advertisements will have their backgrounds and finances evaluated to see if they are qualified Buyers. If qualified Buyers are interested, they will be shown a Business Profile. If further interest is shown, the Seller's Broker will arrange a meeting with the Seller. If a Buyer wants to make an offer at a fair price, the Buyer's Brokerwill write the offer and secure a deposit. The Seller's Broker will present all offers to the Seller.

Mistakes of Mankind Exposed in Quinns Ishmael :: Quinn Ishmael Essays

Mistakes of Mankind Exposed in Quinn's Ishmael Most humans are confused. Some know what the problem is, but most haven't even realized something is wrong. The novel Ishmael by Daniel Quinn is an attempt to bring about awareness of the mistakes that people have made and have continued to repeat through the course of human history. At its core, the story has two main characters: a teacher and a student. The teacher represents a solution to the destructive road that mankind has been traveling down and the student represents us: eager to mend our ways but apprehensive about the changes that will occur. The lesson of this book is that each one of us can make changes that will directly enhance our personal lives, and begin the great task of changing how all humans view and live out their lives. The wise and almost omnipotent teacher that had the task of changing the course of human history is, as one might imagine, a very special person. He had been watching us for a long time and was ready to share his knowledge of the human race and its inherent flaws. This "savior" just happened to be a gorilla named Ishmael. It was for that reason that a very special student was required to learn his lessons. "Teacher seeks pupil. Must have an earnest desire to save the world. Apply in person"(4). This rather awkward request appeared in the personals section of the newspaper. Because the bulk of the novel is narrated through the first- person perspective of the man who answers this ad and becomes the enlightened student, the reader never learns his name. However, he/she is exposed to many important aspects of the student and his motivations. One learns that decades ago he had actually been looking for such a teacher during the children's revolt of the sixties and seventies but finally concluded that no ne existed and that the new era was never going to begin. This realization had embittered him to the point that seeing such a blatant ad (in the newspaper of all places!) after he had given up hope outraged him. His motivation for answering the ad was actually a simple desire to find out what crook was behind the outrageous request so that he could put

Irans Past and Future :: Iran Social Change History Essays

Iran's Past and Future â€Å"Does this look like love?!† Janet yelled at her mother-in-law, shoving the dented gold bracelet towards her. Her mother in law didn’t notice; she was talking as well, â€Å"He even threatened me, saying that if I or anyone else asked him about his personal life, they wouldn’t be allowed to come to his house any more.† Neither woman was listening; Janet just kept talking, â€Å"Last week, I caught him burning his hand with a cigarette in the basement.† Both women were talking about Ben, Janet’s husband. A few minutes before, he had left their six thousand square foot home in the foothills outside Tehran, Iran while Janet lay unconscious on the floor, bruised from the latest of his beatings. While Janet continued yelling about her husband to her in-laws who lived next door, he was headed to her parent’s house for reasons that would take her years to understand. Janet wasn’t actually at the scene of the crime, but she remembers the stories and the court testimonies later. She knows what happened. She knows that her parents got in the car with Ben after he drove to their house. She knows that he told them that he had beaten their daughter to death with his bare hands and she knows that her father reacted as most fathers would, he was angry beyond words. He pulled his knife and let it fly. She knows that her mother tried to stop him; her hand was sliced and bandaged later. And she knows that the car wrecked and that it was her father that called the police. She knows all of this because she spent too much time living it and too much time thinking about it. But what she doesn’t know is why it all had to happen to her. A lithe, middle aged Armenian woman whose smile overshadows her worry lines, Janet Lelham was unable to handle her story, her nightmare, until just a few years ago. Now she can tell you as much as you’d like to know. She can tell you the five minute, abbreviated version, focused on the horrors of running from her home and hiding in foreign countries as a refugee. Or, if you have the time, she can tell you a little bit more of the story, this time replete with images of the death of both her husband and her father.

Foundation’s Edge CHAPTER TWELVE AGENT

AGENT Munn Li Compor, councilman of Terminus, looked uncertain as he extended his right hand to Trevize. Trevize looked at the hand sternly and did not take it. He said, apparently to open air, â€Å"I am in no position to create a situation in which I may find myself arrested for disturbing the peace on a foreign planet, but I will do so anyway if this individual comes a step closer.† Compor stopped abruptly, hesitated, and finally said in a low voice after glancing uncertainly at Pelorat, â€Å"Am I to have a chance to talk? To explain? Will you listen?† Pelorat looked from one to the other with a slight frown on his long face. He said, â€Å"What's all this, Golan? Have we come to this far world and at once met someone you know?† Trevize's eyes remained firmly fixed on Compor, but he twisted his body slightly to make it clear that he was talking to Pelorat. Trevize said, â€Å"This – human being – we would judge that much from his shape – was once a friend of mine on Terminus. As is my habit with my friends, I trusted him. I told him my views, which were perhaps not the kind that should have received a general airing. He told them to the authorities in great detail, apparently, and did not take the trouble to tell me he had done so. For that reason, I walked neatly into a trap and now I find myself in exile. And now this – human being – wishes to be recognized as a friend.† He turned to Compor full on and brushed his fingers through his hair, succeeding only in disarranging the curls further. â€Å"See here, you. I do have a question for you. What are you doing here? Of all the worlds in the Galaxy on which you could be, why are you on this one? And why now?† Compor's hand, which had remained outstretched throughout Trevize's speech, now fell to his side and the smile left his face. The air of self-confidence, which was ordinarily so much a part of him, was gone and in its absence he looked younger than his thirty-four years and a bit woebegone. â€Å"I'll explain,† he said, â€Å"but only from the start!† Trevize looked about briefly. â€Å"Here? You really want to talk about it here? In a public place? You want me to knock you down here after I've listened to enough of your lies?† Compor lifted both hands now, palms facing each other. â€Å"It's the safest place, believe me.† And then, checking himself and realizing what the other was about to say, added hurriedly, â€Å"Or don't believe me, it doesn't matter. I'm telling the truth. I've been on the planet several hours longer than you and I've checked it out. This is some particular day they have here on Sayshell. It's a day for meditation, for some reason. Almost everyone is at home – or should be. – You see how empty this place is. You don't suppose it's like this every day.† Pelorat nodded and said, â€Å"I was wondering why it was so empty, at that.† He leaned toward Trevize's ear and whispered, â€Å"Why not let him talk, Golan? He looks miserable, poor chap, and he may be trying to apologize. It seems unfair not to give him the chance to do so. ‘, Trevize said, â€Å"Dr. Pelorat seems anxious to hear you. I'm willing to oblige him, but you'll oblige me if you're brief about it. This may be a good day on which to lose my temper. If everyone is meditating, any disturbance I cause may not produce the guardians of the law. I may not be so lucky tomorrow. Why waste an opportunity?† Compor said in a strained voice, â€Å"Look, if you want to take a poke at me, do so. I won't even defend myself, see? Go ahead, hit me – but listen!† â€Å"Go ahead and talk, then. I'll listen for a while.† â€Å"In the first place, Golan†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Address me as Trevize, please. I am not on first-name terms with you.† â€Å"In the first place, Trevize, you did too good a job convincing me of your views†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"You hid that well. I could have sworn you were amused by me.† â€Å"I tried to be amused to hide from myself the fact that you were being extremely disturbing. – Look, let us sit down up against the wall. Even if the place is empty, some few may come in and I don't think we ought to be needlessly conspicuous.† Slowly the three men walked most of the length of the large room. Compor was smiling tentatively again, but remained carefully at more than arm's length from Trevize. They sat each on a seat that gave as their weight was placed upon it and molded itself into the shape of their hips and buttocks. Pelorat looked surprised and made as though to stand up. â€Å"Relax, Professor,† said Compor. â€Å"I've been through this already. They're in advance of us in some ways. It's a world that believes in small comforts.† He turned to Trevize, placing one arm over the back of his chair and speaking easily now. â€Å"You disturbed me. You made me feel the Second Foundation did exist, and that was deeply upsetting. Consider the consequences if they did. Wasn't it likely that they might take care of you somehow? Remove you as a menace? And if I behaved as though I believed you, I might be removed as well. Do you see my point?† â€Å"I see a coward.† â€Å"What good would it do to be storybook brave?† said Compor warmly, his blue eyes widening in indignation. â€Å"Can you or I stand up to an organization capable of molding our minds and emotions? The only way we could fight effectively would be to hide our knowledge to begin with.† â€Å"So you hid it and were safe? – Yet you didn't hide it from Mayor Branno, did you? Quite a risk there.† â€Å"Yes! But I thought that was worth it. Just talking between ourselves might do nothing more than get ourselves mentally controlled – or our memories erased altogether. If I told the Mayor, on the other hand. – She knew my father well, you know. My father and I were immigrants from Smyrno and the Mayor had a grandmother who†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Yes yes,† said Trevize impatiently, â€Å"and several generations farther back you can trace ancestry to the Sirius Sector. You've told all that to everyone you know. Get on with it, Compor!† â€Å"Well, I had her ear. If I could convince the Mayor that there was danger, using your arguments, the Federation might take some action. We're not as helpless as we were in the days of the Mule and – at the worst – this dangerous knowledge would be spread more widely and we ourselves would not be in as much specific danger.† Trevize said sardonically, â€Å"Endanger the Foundation, but keep ourselves safe. That's good patriotic stuff.† â€Å"That would be at the worst. I was counting on the best.† His forehead had become a little damp. He seemed to be straining against Trevize's immovable contempt. â€Å"And you didn't tell me of this clever plan of yours, did you?† â€Å"No, I didn't and I'm sorry about that, Trevize. The Mayor ordered me not to. She said she wanted to know everything you knew but that you were the sort of person who would freeze if you knew that your remarks were being passed on.† â€Å"How right she was!† â€Å"I didn't know – I couldn't guess – I had no way of conceiving that she was planning to arrest you and throw you off the planet.† â€Å"She was waiting for the right political moment, when my status as Councilman would not protect me. You didn't foresee that?† â€Å"How could I? You yourself did not.† â€Å"Had I known that she knew my views, I would have.† Compor said with a sudden trace of insolence, â€Å"That's easy enough to say – in hindsight.† â€Å"And what is it you want of me here? Now that you have a bit of hindsight, too.† â€Å"To make up for all this. To make up for the harm I unwittingly – unwittingly – did you.† â€Å"Goodness,† said Trevize dryly. â€Å"How kind of you! But you haven't answered my original question. How did you come to be here? How do you happen to be on the very planet I am on?† Compor said, â€Å"There's no complicated answer necessary for that. I followed you!† â€Å"Through hyperspace? With my ship making Jumps in series?† Compor shook his head. â€Å"No mystery. I have the same kind of a ship you do, with the same kind of computer. You know I've always had this trick of being able to guess in which direction through hyperspace a ship would go. It's not usually a very good guess and I'm wrong two times out of three, but with the computer I'm much better. And you hesitated quite a bit at the start and gave me a chance to evaluate the direction and speed in which you were going before entering hyperspace. I fed the data – together with my own intuitive extrapolations – into the computer and it did the rest.† â€Å"And you actually got to the city ahead of me?† â€Å"Yes. You didn't use gravitics and I did. I guessed you would come to the capital city, so I went straight down, while you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Compor made a short spiral motion with his finger as though it were a ship riding a directional beam. â€Å"You took a chance on a run-in with Sayshellian officialdom.† â€Å"Well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Compor's face broke into a smile that lent it an undeniable charm and Trevize felt himself almost warming to him. Compor said, â€Å"I'm not a coward at all times and in all things.† Trevize steeled himself. â€Å"How did you happen to get a ship like mine?† â€Å"In precisely the same way you got a ship like yours. The old lady – Mayor Branno – assigned it to me.† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"I'm being entirely frank with you. My assignment was to follow you. The Mayor wanted to know where you were going and what you would be doing.† â€Å"And you've been reporting faithfully to her, I suppose. – Or have you been faithless to the Mayor also?† â€Å"I reported to her. I had no choice, actually. She placed a hyperrelay on board ship, which I wasn't supposed to find, but which I did find.† â€Å"Well?† â€Å"Unfortunately it's hooked up so that I can't remove it without immobilizing the vessel. At least, there's no way I can remove it. Consequently she knows where I am – and she knows where you are.† â€Å"Suppose you hadn't been able to follow me. Then she wouldn't have known where I was. Had you thought of that?† â€Å"Of course I did. I thought of just reporting I had lost you – but she wouldn't have believed me, would she? And I wouldn't have been able to get back to Terminus for who knows how long. And I'm not like you, Trevize. I'm not a carefree person without attachments. I have a wife on Terminus – a pregnant wife – and I want to get back to her. You can afford to think only of yourself. I can't. – Besides, I've come to warn you. By Seldon, I'm trying to do that and you won't listen. You keep talking about other things.† â€Å"I'm not impressed by your sudden concern for me. What can you warn me against? It seems to me that you are the only thing I need be warned about. You betray me, and now you follow me in order to betray me again. No one else is doing me any harm.† Compor said earnestly, â€Å"Forget the dramatics, man. Trevize, you're a lightning rod! You've been sent out to draw Second Foundation response – if there is such a thing as the Second Foundation. I have an intuitive sense for things other than hyperspatial pursuit and I'm sure that's what she's planning. If you try to find the Second Foundation, they'll become aware of it and they'll act against you. If they do, they are very likely to tip their hand. And when they do, Mayor Branno will go for them.† â€Å"A pity your famous intuition wasn't working when Branno was planning my arrest.† Compor flushed and muttered, â€Å"You know it doesn't always work.† â€Å"And now it tells you she's planning to attack the Second Foundation. She wouldn't dare.† â€Å"I think she would. But that's not the point. The point is that right now she is throwing you out as bait.† â€Å"So?† â€Å"So by all the black holes in space, don't search for the Second Foundation. She won't care if you're killed in the search, but I care. I feel responsible for this and I care.† â€Å"I'm touched,† said Trevize coldly, â€Å"but as it happens I have another task on hand at the moment.† â€Å"You have?† â€Å"Pelorat and I are on the track of Earth, the planet that some think was the original home of the human race. Aren't we, Janov?† Pelorat nodded his head. â€Å"Yes, it's a purely scientific matter and a long-standing interest of mine.† Compor looked blank for a moment. Then, â€Å"Looking for Earth? But why?† â€Å"To study it,† said Pelorat. â€Å"As the one world on which human beings developed – presumably from lower forms of life, instead of, as on all others, merely arriving ready-made – it should be a fascinating study in uniqueness.† â€Å"And,† said Trevize, â€Å"as a world where, just possibly, I may learn more of the Second Foundation. – Just possibly.† Compor said, â€Å"But there isn't any Earth. Didn't you know that?† â€Å"No Earth?† Pelorat looked utterly blank, as he always did when he was preparing to be stubborn. â€Å"Are you saying there was no planet on which the human species originated?† â€Å"Oh no. Of course, there was an Earth. There's no question of that! But there isn't any Earth now. No inhabited Earth. It's gone!† Pelorat said, unmoved, â€Å"There are tales†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Hold on, Janov,† said Trevize. â€Å"Tell me, Compor, how do you know this?† â€Å"What do you mean, how? It's my heritage. I trace my ancestry from the Sirius Sector, if I may repeat that fact without boring you. We know all about Earth out there. It exists in that sector, which means it's not part of the Foundation Federation, so apparently no one on Terminus bothers with it. But that's where Earth is, just the same.† â€Å"That is one suggestion, yes,† said Pelorat. â€Å"There was considerable enthusiasm for that ‘Sirius Alternative,' as they called it, in the days of the Empire.† Compor said vehemently. â€Å"It's not an alternative. It's a fact.† Pelorat said, â€Å"What would you say if I told you I know of many different places in the Galaxy that are called Earth – or were called Earth – by the people who lived in its stellar neighborhood?† â€Å"But this is the real thing,† said Compor. â€Å"The Sirius Sector is the longest-inhabited portion of the Galaxy. Everyone knows that.† â€Å"The Sirians claim it, certainly,† said Pelorat, unmoved. Compor looked frustrated. â€Å"I tell you†¦Ã¢â‚¬  But Trevize said, â€Å"Tell us what happened to Earth. You say it's not inhabited any longer. Why not?† â€Å"Radioactivity. The whole planetary surface is radioactive because of nuclear reactions that went out of control, or nuclear explosions – I'm not sure – and now no life is possible there.† The three stared at each other for a while and then Compor felt it necessary to repeat. He said, â€Å"I tell you, there's no Earth. There's no use looking for it.† Janov Pelorat's face was, for once, not expressionless. It was not that there was passion in it – or any of the more unstable emotions. It was that his eyes had narrowed – and that a kind of fierce intensity had filled every plane of his face. He said, and his voice lacked any trace of its usual tentative quality, â€Å"How did you say you know all this?† â€Å"I told you,† said Compor. â€Å"It's my heritage.† â€Å"Don't be silly, young man. You are a Councilman. That means you must be born on one of the Federation worlds – Smyrno, I think you said earlier.† â€Å"That's right.† â€Å"Well then, what heritage are you talking about? Are you telling me that you possess Sirian genes that fill you with inborn knowledge of the Sirian myths concerning Earth.† Compor looked taken aback. â€Å"No, of course not.† â€Å"Then what are you talking about?† Compor paused and seemed to gather his thoughts. He said quietly, â€Å"My family has old books of Sirian history. An external heritage, not an internal one. It's not something we talk about outside, especially if one is intent on political advancement. Trevize seems to think I am, but, believe me, I mention it only to good friends.† There was a trace of bitterness in his voice. â€Å"Theoretically all Foundation citizens are alike, but those from the old worlds of the Federation are more alike than those from the newer ones – and those that trace from worlds outside the Federation are least alike of all. But, never mind that. Aside from the books, I once visited the old worlds. Trevize – hey, there†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Trevize had wandered off toward one end of the room, looking out a triangular window. It served to let in a view of the sky and to diminish the view of the city – more light and more privacy. Trevize stretched upward to look down. He returned through the empty room. â€Å"Interesting window design,† he said. â€Å"You called me, Councilman?† â€Å"Yes. Remember the postcollegiate tour I took?† â€Å"After graduation? I remember very well. We were pals. Pals forever. Foundation of trust. Two against the world. You went off on your tour. I joined the Navy, full of patriotism. Somehow I didn't think I wanted to tour with you – some instinct told me not to. I wish the instinct had stayed with me.† Compor did not rise to the bait. He said, â€Å"I visited Comporellon. Family tradition said that my ancestors had come from there – at least on my father's side. We were of the ruling family in ancient times before the Empire absorbed us, and my name is derived from the world – or so the family tradition has it. We had an old, poetic name for the star Comporellon circled – Epsilon Eridani.† â€Å"What does that mean?† asked Pelorat. Compor shook his head. â€Å"I don't know that it has any meaning. Just tradition. They live with a great deal of tradition. It's an old world. They have long, detailed records of Earth's history, but no one talks about it much. They're superstitious about it. Every time they mention the word, they lift up both hands with first and second fingers crossed to ward off misfortune.† â€Å"Did you tell this to anyone when you came back?† â€Å"Of course not. Who would be interested? And I wasn't going to force the tale on anyone. No, thank you! I had a political career to develop and the last thing I want is to stress my foreign origin.† â€Å"What about the satellite? Describe Earth's satellite,† said Pelorat sharply. Compor looked astonished. â€Å"I don't know anything about that.† â€Å"Does it have one?† â€Å"I don't recall reading or hearing about it. But I'm sure if you'll consult the Comporellonian records, you can find out.† â€Å"But you know nothing?† â€Å"Not about the satellite. Not that I recall.† â€Å"Huh! How did Earth come to be radioactive?† Compor shook his head and said nothing. Pelorat said, â€Å"Think! You must have heard something.† â€Å"It was seven years ago, Professor. I didn't know then you'd be questioning me about it now. There was some sort of legend – they considered it history†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"What was the legend?† â€Å"Earth was radioactive-ostracized and mistreated by the Empire, its population dwindling – and it was going to destroy the Empire somehow.† â€Å"One dying world was going to destroy the whole Empire?† interposed Trevize. Compor said defensively, â€Å"I said it was a legend. I don't know the details. Bel Arvardan was involved in the tale, I know.† â€Å"Who was he?† asked Trevize. â€Å"A historical character. I looked him up. He was an honest-to-Galaxy archaeologist back in the early days of the Empire and he maintained that Earth was in the Sirius Sector.† â€Å"I've heard the name,† said Pelorat. â€Å"He's a folk hero in Comporellon. Look, if you want to know these things – go to Comporellon. It's no use hanging around here.† Pelorat said, â€Å"Just how did they say Earth planned to destroy the Empire?† â€Å"Don't know.† A certain sullenness was entering Compor's voice. â€Å"Did the radiation have anything to do with it?† â€Å"Don't know. There were tales of some mind-expander developed on Earth – a Synapsifier or something.† â€Å"Did it create superminds?† said Pelorat in deepest tones of incredulity. â€Å"I don't think so. What I chiefly remember is that it didn't work. People became bright and died young.† Trevize said, â€Å"It was probably a morality myth. If you ask for too much, you lose even that which you have.† Pelorat turned on Trevize in annoyance. â€Å"What do you know of morality myths?† Trevize raised his eyebrows. â€Å"Your field may not be my field, Janov, but that doesn't mean I'm totally ignorant.† â€Å"What else do you remember about what you call the Synapsifier, Councilman Compor?† asked Pelorat. â€Å"Nothing, and I won't submit to any further cross-examination. Look, I followed you on orders from the Mayor. I was not ordered to make personal contact with you. I have done so only to warn you that you were followed and to tell you that you had been sent out to serve the Mayor's purposes, whatever those might be. There was nothing else I should have discussed with you, but you surprised me by suddenly bringing up the matter of Earth. Well, let me repeat: Whatever there has existed there in the past – Bel Arvardan, the Synapsifier, whatever – that has nothing to do with what exists now. I'll tell you again: Earth is a dead world. I strongly advise you to go to Comporellon, where you'll find out everything you want to know. Just get away from here.† â€Å"And, of course, you will dutifully tell the Mayor that we're going to Comporellon – and you'll follow us to make sure. Or maybe the Mayor knows already. I imagine she has carefully instructed and rehearsed you in every word you have spoken to us here because, for her own purposes, it's in Comporellon that she wants us. Right?† Compor's face paled. He rose to his feet and almost stuttered in his effort to control his voice. â€Å"I've tried to explain. I've tried to be helpful. I shouldn't have tried. You can drop yourself into a black hole, Trevize.† He turned on his heel and walked away briskly without looking back. Pelorat seemed a bit stunned. â€Å"That was rather tactless of you, Golan, old fellow. I could have gotten more out of him.† â€Å"No, you couldn't,† said Trevize gravely. â€Å"You could not have gotten one thing out of him that he was not ready to let you have. Janov, you don't know what he is – Until today, I didn't know what he is.† Pelorat hesitated to disturb Trevize. Trevize sat motionless in his chair, deep in thought. Finally Pelorat said, â€Å"Are we just sitting here all night, Golan?† Trevize started. â€Å"No, you're quite right. We'll be better off with people around us. Come!† Pelorat rose. He said, â€Å"There won't be people around us. Compor said this was some sort of meditation day.† â€Å"Is that what he said? Was there traffic when we came along the road in our ground-car?† â€Å"Yes, some.† â€Å"Quite a bit, I thought. And then, when we entered the city, was it empty?† â€Å"Not particularly. – Still, you've got to admit that this place has been empty.† â€Å"Yes, it has. I noticed that particularly. – But come, Janov, I'm hungry. There's got to be someplace to eat and we can afford to find something good. At any rate, we can find a place in which we can try some interesting Sayshellian novelty or, if we lose our nerve, good standard Galactic fare. – Come, once we're safely surrounded, I'll tell you what I think really happened here.† Trevize leaned back with a pleasant feeling of renewal. The restaurant was not expensive by Terminus standards, but it was certainly novel. It was heated, in part, by an open fire over which food was prepared. Meat tended to be served in bite-sized portions – in a variety of pungent sauces – which were picked up by fingers that were protected from grease and heat by smooth, green leaves that were cold, damp, and had a vaguely minty taste. It was one leaf to each meat-bit and the whole was taken into the mouth. The waiter had carefully explained how it had to be done. Apparently accustomed to off-planet guests, he had smiled paternally as Trevize and Pelorat gingerly scooped at the steaming bits of meat, and was clearly delighted at the foreigners' relief at finding that the leaves kept the fingers cool and cooled the meat, too, as one chewed. Trevize said, â€Å"Delicious!† and eventually ordered a second helping. So did Pelorat. They sat over a spongy, vaguely sweet dessert and a cup of coffee that had a caramelized flavor at which they shook dubious heads. They added syrup, at which the waiter shook his head. Pelorat said, â€Å"Well, what happened back there at the tourist center?† â€Å"You mean with Compor?† â€Å"Was there anything else there we might discuss?† Trevize looked about. They were in a deep alcove and had a certain limited privacy, but the restaurant was crowded and the natural hum of noise was a perfect cover. He said in a low voice, â€Å"Isn't it strange that he followed us to Sayshell?† â€Å"He said he had this intuitive ability.† â€Å"Yes, he was all-collegiate champion at hypertracking. I never questioned that till today. I quite see that you might be able to judge where someone was going to Jump by how he prepared for it if you had a certain developed skill at it, certain reflexes – but I don't see how a tracker can judge a Jump series. You prepare only for the first one; the computer does all the others. The tracker can judge that first one, but by what magic can he guess what's in the computer's vitals?† â€Å"But he did it, Golan.† â€Å"He certainly did,† said Trevize, â€Å"and the only possible way I can imagine him doing so is by knowing in advance where we were going to go. By knowing, not judging.† Pelorat considered that. â€Å"Quite impossible, my boy. How could he know? We didn't decide on our destination till after we were on board the Far Star.† â€Å"I know that. – And what about this day of meditation?† â€Å"Compor didn't lie to us. The waiter said it was a day of meditation when we came in here and asked him.† â€Å"Yes, he did, but he said the restaurant wasn't closed. In fact, what he said was: ‘Sayshell City isn't the backwoods. It doesn't close down. ‘ People meditate, in other words, but not in the big town, where everyone is sophisticated and there's no place for small-town piety. So there's traffic and it's busy – perhaps not quite as busy as on ordinary days – but busy.† â€Å"But, Golan, no one came into the tourist center while we were there. I was aware of that. Not one person entered.† â€Å"I noticed that, too. I even went to the window at one point and looked out and saw clearly that the streets around the center had a good scattering of people on foot and in vehicles – and yet not one person entered. The day of meditation made a good cover. We would not have questioned the fortunate privacy we had if I simply hadn't made up my mind not to trust that son of two strangers.† Pelorat said, â€Å"What is the significance of all this, then?† â€Å"I think it's simple, Janov. We have here someone who knows where we're going as soon as we do, even though he and we are in separate spaceships, and we also have here someone who can keep a public building empty when it is surrounded by people in order that we might talk in convenient privacy.† â€Å"Would you have me believe he can perform miracles?† â€Å"Certainly. If it so happens that Compor is an agent of the Second Foundation and can control minds; if he can read yours and mine in a distant spaceship; if he can influence his way through a customs station at once; if he can land gravitically, with no border patrol outraged at his defiance of the radio beams; and if he can influence minds in such a way as to keep people from entering a building he doesn't want entered. â€Å"By all the stars,† Trevize went on with a marked air of grievance, â€Å"I can even follow this back to graduation. I didn't go on the tour with him. I remember not wanting to. Wasn't that a matter of his influence? He had to be alone. Where was he really going?† Pelorat pushed away the dishes before him, as though he wanted to clear a space about himself in order to have room to think. It seemed to be a gesture that signaled the busboy – robot, a self-moving table that stopped near them and waited while they placed their dishes and cutlery upon it. When they were alone, Pelorat said, â€Å"But that's mad. Nothing has happened that could not have happened naturally. Once you get it into your head that somebody is controlling events, you can interpret everything in that light and find no reasonable certainty anywhere. Come on, old fellow, it's all circumstantial and a matter of interpretation. Don't yield to paranoia.† â€Å"I'm not going to yield to complacency, either.† â€Å"Well, let us look at this logically. Suppose he was an agent of the Second Foundation. Why would he run the risk of rousing our suspicions by keeping the tourist center empty? What did he say that was so important that a few people at a distance – who would have been wrapped in their own concerns anyway – would have made a difference?† â€Å"There's an easy answer to that, Janov. He would have to keep our minds under close observation and he wanted no interference from other minds. No static. No chance of confusion.† â€Å"Again, just your interpretation. What was so important about his conversation with us? It would make sense to suppose, as he himself insisted, that he met us only in order to explain what he had done, to apologize for it, and to warn us of the trouble that might await us. Why would we have to look further than that?† The small card-receptacle at the farther rim of the table glittered unobtrusively and the figures representing the cost of the meal flashed briefly. Trevize groped beneath his sash for his credit card which, with its Foundation imprint, was good anywhere in the Galaxy – or anywhere a Foundation citizen was likely to go. He inserted it in the appropriate slot. It took a moment to complete the transaction and Trevize (with native caution) checked on the remaining balance before returning it to its pocket. He looked about casually to make sure there was no undesirable interest in him on the faces of any of the few who still sat in the restaurant and then said, â€Å"Why look further than that? Why look further? That was not all he talked about. He talked about Earth. He told us it was dead and urged us very strongly to go to Comporellon. Shall we go?† â€Å"It's something I've been considering, Golan,† admitted Pelorat. â€Å"Just leave here?† â€Å"We can come back after we check Out the Sirius Sector.† â€Å"It doesn't occur to you that his whole purpose in seeing us was to deflect us from Sayshell and get us out of here? Get us anywhere but here?† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"I don't know. See here, they expected us to go to Trantor. That was what you wanted to do and maybe that's what they counted on us doing. I messed things up by insisting we go to Sayshell, which is the last thing they wanted, and so now they have to get us out of here.† Pelorat looked distinctly unhappy. â€Å"But Golan, you are just making statements. Why don't they want us on Sayshell?† â€Å"I don't know, Janov. But it's enough for me that they want us out. I'm staying here. I'm not going to leave.† â€Å"But†¦ but – Look, Golan, if the Second Foundation wanted us to leave, wouldn't they just influence our minds to make us want to leave? Why bother reasoning with us?† â€Å"Now that you bring up the point, haven't they done that in your case, Professor?† and Trevize's eyes narrowed in sudden suspicion. â€Å"Don't you want to leave?† Pelorat looked at Trevize in surprise. â€Å"I just think there's some sense to it.† â€Å"Of course you would, if you've been influenced.† â€Å"But I haven't been†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Of course you would swear you hadn't been if you had been.† Pelorat said, â€Å"If you box me in this way, there is no way of disproving your bare assertion. What are you going to do?† â€Å"I will remain in Sayshell. And you'll stay here, too. You can't navigate the ship without me, so if Compor has influenced you, he has influenced the wrong one.† â€Å"Very well, Golan. We'll stay in Sayshell until we have independent reasons to leave. The worst thing we can do, after all – worse than either staying or going – is to fall out with each other. Come, old chap, if I had been influenced, would I be able to change my mind and go along with you cheerfully, as I plan to do now?† Trevize thought for a moment and then, as though with an inner shake, smiled and held out his hand. â€Å"Agreed, Janov. Now let's get back to the ship and make another start tomorrow. – If we can think of one.† Munn Li Compor did not remember when he had been recruited. For one thing, he had been a child at the time; for another, the agents of the Second Foundation were meticulous in removing their traces as far as that was possible. Compor was an â€Å"Observer† and, to a Second Foundationer, he was instantly recognizable as such. It meant that Compor was acquainted with mentalics and could converse with Second Foundationers in their own fashion to a degree, but he was in the lowest rank of the hierarchy. He could catch glimpses of minds, but he could not adjust them. The education he had received had never gone that far. He was an Observer, not a Doer. It made him second-class at best, but he did not mind – much. He knew his importance in the scheme of things. During the early centuries of the Second Foundation, it had underestimated the task before it. It had imagined that its handful of members could monitor the entire Galaxy and that Seldon's Plan, to be maintained, would require only the most occasional, the lightest touch, here and there. The Mule had stripped them of these delusions. Coming from nowhere, he had caught the Second Foundation (and, of course, the First – though that didn't matter) utterly by surprise and had left them helpless. It took five years before a counterattack could be organized, and then only at the cost of a number of lives. With Palver a full recovery was made, again at a distressing cost, and he finally took the appropriate measures. The operations of the Second Foundation, he decided, must be enormously expanded without at the same time increasing the chances of detection unduly, so he instituted the corps of Observers. Compor did not know how many Observers were in the Galaxy or even how many there were on Terminus. It was not his business to know. Ideally there should be no detectable connection between any two Observers, so that the loss of one would not entail the loss of any other. All connections were with the upper echelons on Trantor. It was Compor's ambition to go to Trantor someday. Though he thought it extremely unlikely, he knew that occasionally an Observer might be brought to Trantor and promoted, but that was rare. The qualities that made for a good Observer were not those that pointed toward the Table. There was Gendibal, for instance, who was four years younger than Compor. He must have been recruited as a boy, just as Compor was, but he had been taken directly to Trantor and was now a Speaker. Compor had no illusions as to why that should be. He had been much in contact with Gendibal of late and he had experienced the power of that young man's mind. He could not have stood up against it for a second. Compor was not often conscious of a lowly status. There was almost never occasion to consider it. After all (as in the case of other Observers, he imagined) it was only lowly by the standards of Trantor. On their own non-Trantorian worlds, in their own nonmentalic societies, it was easy for Observers to obtain high status. Compor, for instance, had never had trouble getting into good schools or finding good company. He had been able to use his mentalics in a simple way to enhance his natural intuitive ability (that natural ability had been why he had been recruited in the first place, he was sure) and, in this way, to prove himself a star at hyperspatial pursuit. He became a hero at college and this set his foot on the first rung of a political career. Once this present crisis was over, there was no telling how much farther he might advance. If the crisis resolved itself successfully, as surely it would, would it not be recalled that it was Compor who had first noted Trevize – not as a human being (anyone could have done that) but as a mind? He had encountered Trevize in college and had seen him, at first, only as a jovial and quick-witted companion. One morning, however, he had stirred sluggishly out of slumber and, in the stream of consciousness that accompanied the never-never land of half-sleep, he felt what a pity it was that Trevize had never been recruited. Trevize couldn't have been recruited, of course, since he was Terminus – born and not, like Compor, a native of another world. And even with that aside, it was too late. Only the quite young are plastic enough to receive an education into mentalics; the painful introduction of that art – it was more than a science – into adult brains, set rustily in their mold, was a thing of the first two generations after Seldon only. But then, if Trevize had been ineligible for recruiting in the first place and had outlived the possibility in the second, what had roused Compor's concern over the matter? On their next meeting, Compor had penetrated Trevize's mind deeply and discovered what it was that must have initially disturbed him. Trevize's mind had characteristics that did not fit the rules he had been taught. Over and over, it eluded him. As he followed its workings, he found gaps – No, they couldn't be actual gaps – actual leaps of nonexistence. They were places where Trevize's manner of mind dove too deeply to be followed. Compor had no way of determining what this meant, but he watched Trevize's behavior in the light of what he had discovered and he began to suspect that Trevize had an uncanny ability to reach right conclusions from what would seem to be insufficient data. Did this have something to do with the gaps? Surely this was a matter for mentalism beyond his own powers – for the Table itself, perhaps. He had the uneasy feeling that Trevize's powers of decision were unknown, in their full, to the man himself, and that he might be able to†¦ To do what? Compor's knowledge did not suffice. He could almost see the meaning of what Trevize possessed – but not quite. There was only the intuitive conclusion – or perhaps just a guess – that Trevize might be, potentially, a person of the utmost importance. He had to take the chance that this might be so and to risk seeming to be less than qualified for his post. After all, if he were correct. He was not sure, looking back on it, how he had managed to find the courage to continue his efforts. He could not penetrate the administrative barriers that ringed the Table. He had all but reconciled himself to a broken reputation. He had worked himself down (despairingly) to the most junior member of the Table and, finally, Stor Gendibal had responded to his call. Gendibal had listened patiently and from that time on there had been a special relationship between them. It was on Gendibal's behalf that Compor had maintained his relationship with Trevize and on Gendibal's direction that he had carefully set up the situation that had resulted in Trevize's exile. And it was through Gendibal that Compor might yet (he was beginning to hope) achieve his dream of promotion to Trantor. All preparations, however, had been designed to send Trevize to Trantor. Trevize's refusal to do this had taken Compor entirely by surprise and (Compor thought) had been unforeseen by Gendibal as well. At any rate, Gendibal was hurrying to the spot, and to Compor, that deepened the sense of crisis. Compor sent out his hypersignal. Gendibal was roused from his sleep by the touch on his mind. It was effective and not in the least disturbing. Since it affected the arousal center directly, he simply awoke. He sat up in bed, the sheet falling from his well-shaped and smoothly muscular torso. He had recognized the touch; the differences were as distinctive to mentalists as were voices to those who communicated primarily by sound. Gendibal sent out the standard signal, asking if a small delay were possible, and the â€Å"no emergency† call returned. Without undue haste, then, Gendibal attended to the morning routine. He was still in the ship's shower – with the used water draining into the recycling mechanisms – when he made contact again. â€Å"Compor?† â€Å"Yes, Speaker.† â€Å"Have you spoken with Trevize and the other one.† â€Å"Pelorat. Janov Pelorat. Yes, Speaker.† â€Å"Good. Give me another five minutes and I'll arrange visuals.† He passed Sura Novi on his way to the controls. She looked at him questioningly and made as though to speak, but he placed a finger on his lips and she subsided at once. Gendibal still felt a bit uncomfortable at the intensity of adoration/respect in her mind, but it was coming to be a comfortingly normal part of his environment somehow. He had hooked a small tendril of his mind to hers and there would now be no way to affect his mind without affecting hers. The simplicity of her mind (and there was an enormous aesthetic plea – sure to be found in contemplating its unadorned symmetry, Gendibal couldn't help thinking) made it impossible for any extraneous mind field to exist in their neighborhood without detection. He felt a surge of gratitude for the courteous impulse that had moved him that moment they had stood together outside the University, and that had led her to come to him precisely when she could be most useful. He said, â€Å"Compor?† â€Å"Yes, Speaker.† â€Å"Relax, please. I must study your mind. No offense is intended.† â€Å"As you wish, Speaker. May I ask the purpose?† â€Å"To make certain you are untouched.† Compor said, â€Å"I know you have political adversaries at the Table, Speaker, but surely none of them†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Do not speculate, Compor. Relax. – Yes, you are untouched. Now, if you will co-operate with me, we will establish visual contact.† What followed was, in the ordinary sense of the word, an illusion, since no one but someone who was aided by the mentalic power of a well-trained Second Foundationer would have been able to detect anything at all, either by the senses or by any physical detecting device. It was the building up of a face and its appearance from the contours of a mind, and even the best mentalist could succeed in producing only a shadowy and somewhat uncertain figure. Compor's face was there in mid-space, as though it were seen through a thin but shifting curtain of gauze, and Gendibal knew that his own face appeared in an identical manner in front of Compor. By physical hyperwave, communication could have been established through images so clear that speakers who were a thousand parsecs apart might judge themselves to be face-to-face. Gendibal's ship was equipped for the purpose. There were, however, advantages to the mentalist-vision. The chief was that it could not be tapped by any device known to the First Foundation. Nor, for that matter, could one Second Foundationer tap the mentalist-vision of another. The play of mind might be followed, but not the delicate change of facial expression that gave the communication its finer points. As for the Anti-Mules – Well, the purity of Novi's mind was sufficient to assure him that none were about. He said, â€Å"Tell me precisely, Compor, the talk you had with Trevize and with this Pelorat. Precisely, to the level of mind.† â€Å"Of course, Speaker,† said Compor. It didn't take long. The combination of sound, expression, and mentalism compressed matters considerably, despite the fact that there was far more to tell at the level of mind than if there had been a mere parroting of speech. Gendibal watched intently. There was little redundancy, if any, in mentalist-vision. In true vision, or even in physical hypervision across the parsecs, one saw enormously more in the way of information bits than was absolutely necessary for comprehension and one could miss a great deal without losing anything significant. Through the gauze of mentalist-vision, however, one bought absolute security at the price of losing the luxury of being able to miss bits. Every bit was significant. There were always horror tales that passed from instructor to student on Trantor, tales that were designed to impress on the young the importance of concentration. The most often repeated was certainly the least reliable. It told of the first report on the progress of the Mule before he had taken over Kalgan – of the minor official who received the report and who had no more than the impression of a horselike animal because he did not see or understand the small flick that signified â€Å"personal name.† The official therefore decided that the whole thing was too unimportant to pass on to Trantor. By the time the next message came, it was too late to take immediate action and five more bitter years had to pass. The event had almost certainly never happened, but that didn't matter. It was a dramatic story and it served to motivate every student into the habit of intent concentration. Gendibal remembered his own student days when he made an error in reception that seemed, in his own mind, to be both insignificant and understandable. His teacher – old Kendast, a tyrant to the roots of his cerebellum – had simply sneered and said, â€Å"A horselike animal, Cub Gendibal?† and that had been enough to make him collapse in shame. Compor finished. Gendibal said, â€Å"Your estimate, please, of Trevize's reaction. You know him better than I do, better than anyone does.† Compor said, â€Å"It was clear enough. The mentalic indications were unmistakable. He thinks my words and actions represent my extreme anxiety to have him go to Trantor or to the Sirius Sector or to any place but where, in fact, he is actually going. It meant, in my opinion, that he would remain firmly where he was. The fact that I attached great importance to his shifting his position, in short, forced him to give it the same importance, and since he feels his own interests to be diametrically opposed to mine, he will deliberately act against what he interprets to be my wish.† â€Å"You are certain of that?† â€Å"Quite certain.† Gendibal considered this and decided that Compor was correct. He said, â€Å"I am satisfied. You have done well. Your tale of Earth's radioactive destruction was cleverly chosen to help produce the proper reaction without the need for direct manipulation of the mind. Commendable!† Compor seemed to struggle with himself a short moment. â€Å"Speaker,† he said, â€Å"I cannot accept your praise. I did not invent the tale. It is true. There really is a planet called Earth in the Sirius Sector and it really is considered to be the original home of humanity. It was radioactive, either to begin with or eventually, and this grew worse till the planet died. There was indeed a mind-enhancing invention that came to nothing. All this is considered history on the home planet of my ancestors.† â€Å"So? Interesting!† said Gendibal with no obvious conviction. â€Å"And better yet. To know when a truth will do is admirable, since no nontruth can be presented with the same sincerity. Palver once said, â€Å"The closer to the truth, the better the lie, and the truth itself, when it can be used, is the best lie.† Compor said, â€Å"There is one thing more to say. In following instructions to keep Trevize in the Sayshell Sector until you arrived – and to do so at all costs – I had to go so far in my efforts that it is clear that he suspects me of being under the influence of the Second Foundation.† Gendibal nodded. â€Å"That, I think, is unavoidable under the circumstances. His monomania on the subject would be sufficient to have him see Second Foundation even where it was not. We must simply take that into account.† â€Å"Speaker, if it is absolutely necessary that Trevize stay where he is until you can reach him, it would simplify matters if I came to meet you, took you aboard my ship, and brought you back. It would take less than a day†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"No, Observer,† said Gendibal sharply. â€Å"You will not do this. The people on Terminus know where you are. You have a hyper-relay on your ship which you cannot remove, have you not?† â€Å"Yes, Speaker.† â€Å"And if Terminus knows you have landed on Sayshell, their ambassador on Sayshell knows of it – and the ambassador knows also that Trevize has landed. Your hyper-relay will tell Terminus that you have left for a specific point hundreds of parsecs away and returned; and the ambassador will inform them that Trevize has, however, remained in the sector. From this, how much will the people at Terminus guess? The Mayor of Terminus is, by all accounts, a shrewd woman and the last thing we want to do is to alarm her by presenting her with an obscure puzzle. We don't want her to lead a section of her fleet here. The chances of that are, in any case, uncomfortably high.† Compor said, â€Å"With respect, Speaker. – What reason do we have to fear a fleet if we can control a commander?† â€Å"However little reason there might be, there is still less reason to fear if the fleet is not here. You stay where you are, Observer. ‘When I reach you, I will join you on your ship and then†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"And then, Speaker?† â€Å"Why, and then I will take over.† Gendibal sat in place after he dismantled the mentalist-vision – and stayed there for long minutes – considering. During this long trip to Sayshell, unavoidably long in this ship of his which could in no way match the technological advancement of the products of the First Foundation, he had gone over every single report on Trevize. The reports had stretched over nearly a decade. Seen as a whole and in the light of recent events, there was no longer any doubt Trevize would have been a marvelous recruit for the Second Foundation, if the policy of never touching the Terminus – born had not been in place since Palver's time. There was no telling how many recruits of highest quality had been lost to the Second Foundation over the centuries. There was no way of evaluating every one of the quadrillions of human beings populating the Galaxy. None of them was likely to have had more promise than Trevize, however, and certainly none could have been in a more sensitive spot. Gendibal shook his head slightly. Trevize should never have been overlooked, Terminus-born or not. – And credit to Observer Compor for seeing it, even after the years had distorted him. Trevize was of no use to them now, of course. He was too old for the molding, but he still had that inborn intuition, that ability to guess a solution on the basis of totally inadequate information, and something – something. – Old Shandess – who, despite being past his prime, was First Speaker and had, on the whole, been a good one – saw something there, even without the correlated data and the reasoning that Gendibal had worked out in the course of this trip. Trevize, Shandess had thought, was the key to the crisis. Why was Trevize here at Sayshell? What was he planning? What was he doing? And he couldn't be touched! Of that Gendibal was sure. Until it was known precisely what Trevize's role was, it would be totally wrong to try to modify him in any way. With the Anti-Mules – whoever they were – whatever they might be – in the field, a wrong move with respect to Trevize (Trevize, above all) might explode a wholly unexpected micro-sun in their faces. He felt a mind hovering about his own and absently brushed at it as he might at one of the more annoying Trantorian insects – though with mind rather than hand. He felt the instant wash of other-pain and looked up. Sura Novi had her palm to her furrowed brow. â€Å"Your pardon, Master, I be struck with sudden head-anguish.† Gendibal was instantly contrite. â€Å"I'm sorry, Novi. I wasn't thinking – or I was thinking too intently.† Instantly – and gently – he smoothed the ruffled mind tendrils. Novi smiled with sudden brightness. â€Å"It passed with sudden vanishing. The kind sound of your words, Master, works well upon me.† Gendibal said, â€Å"Coed! Is something wrong? Why are you here?† He forbore to enter her mind in greater detail in order to find out for himself. More and more, he felt a reluctance to invade her privacy. Novi hesitated. She leaned toward him slightly. â€Å"I be concerned. You were looking at nothing and making sounds and your face was twitching. I stayed there, stick-frozen, afeared you were declining – ill – and unknowing what to do.† â€Å"It was nothing, Novi. You are not to fear.† He patted her nearer hand. â€Å"There is nothing to fear. Do you understand?† Fear – or any strong emotion – twisted and spoiled the symmetry of her mind somewhat. He preferred it calm and peaceful and happy, but he hesitated at the thought of adjusting it into that position by outer influence. She had felt the previous adjustment to be the effect of his words and it seemed to him that he preferred it that way. He said, â€Å"Novi, why don't I call you Sura?† She looked up at him in sudden woe. â€Å"Oh, Master, do not do so.† â€Å"But Rufirant did so on that day that we met. I know you well enough now†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I know well he did so, Master. It be how a man speak to girl who have no man, no betrothed, who is – not complete. You say her previous. It is more honorable for me if you say ‘Novi' and I be proud that you say so. And if I have not man now, I have master and I be pleased. I hope it be not offensive to you to say ‘Novi.† â€Å"It certainly isn't, Novi.† And her mind was beautifully smooth at that and Gendibal was pleased. Too pleased. Ought he to be so pleased? A little shamefacedly, he remembered that the Mule was supposed to have been affected in this manner by that woman of the First Foundation, Bayta Darell, to his own undoing. This, of course, was different. This Hamishwoman was his defense against alien minds and he wanted her to serve that purpose most efficiently. No, that was not true. – His function as a Speaker would be compromised if he ceased to understand his own mind or, worse, if he deliberately misconstrued it to avoid the truth. The truth was that it pleased him when she was calm and peaceful and happy endogenously – without his interference – and that it pleased him simply because she pleased him; and (he thought defiantly) there was nothing wrong with that. He said, â€Å"Sit down, Novi.† She did so, balancing herself precariously at the edge of the chair and sitting as far away as the confines of the room allowed. Her mind was flooded with respect. He said, â€Å"When you saw me making sounds, Novi, I was speaking at a long distance, scholar-fashion.† Novi said sadly, her eyes cast down, â€Å"I see, Master, that there be much to scowler-fashion I understand not and imagine not. It be difficult mountain-high art. I be ashamed to have come to you to be made scowler. How is it, Master, you did not be – laugh me?† Gendibal said, â€Å"It is no shame to aspire to something even if it is beyond your reach. You are now too old to be made a scholar after my fashion, but you are never too old to learn more than you already know and to become able to do more than you already can. I will teach you something about this ship. By the time we reach our destination, you will know quite a bit about it.† He felt delighted. Why not? He was deliberately turning his back on the stereotype of the Hamish people. What right, in any case, had the heterogeneous group of the Second Foundation to set up such a stereotype? The young produced by them were only occasionally suited to become high-level Second Foundationers themselves. The children of Speakers almost never qualified to be Speakers. There were the three generations of Linguesters three centuries ago, but there was always the suspicion that the middle Speaker of that series did not really belong. And if that were true, who were the people of the University to place themselves on so high a pedestal? He watched Novi's eyes glisten and was pleased that they did. She said, â€Å"I try hard to learn all you teach me, Master.† â€Å"I'm sure you will,† he said – and then hesitated. It occurred to him that, in his conversation with Compor, he had in no way indicated at any time that he was not alone. There was no hint of a companion. A woman could be taken for granted, perhaps; at least, Compor would no doubt not be surprised. – But a Hamishwoman? For a moment, despite anything Gendibal could do, the stereotype reigned supreme and he found himself glad that Compor had never been on Trantor and would not recognize Novi as a Hamishwoman. He shook it off. It didn't matter if Compor knew or knew not – or if anyone did. Gendibal was a Speaker of the Second Foundation and he could do as he pleased within the constraints of the Seldon Plan – and no one could interfere. Novi said, â€Å"Master, once we reach our destination, will we part?† He looked at her and said, with perhaps more force than he intended, â€Å"We will not be separated, Novi.† And the Hamishwoman smiled shyly and looked for all the Galaxy as though she might have been – any woman.