Psychobiology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Psychobiology - Essay Example Many researchers use both these terms interchangeably. Bio psychologists use empirical experiments to study changes in the nervous system activation in response to a stimulus. There are various techniques/ methods used to measure this activation (Abraham, F. D, 1992): The main essence of this approach is to emphasize on the assessment of person. Although mind is contingent on the brain, the central therapeutic concern should be the life story of the individual patient interacting with others in the context of society and culture (Adler, N. E, Matthews, K. A, 1994) In this theory the rather vibrant nature of psychiatric infirmity is more highlighted, and is considered that was opposed to the idea that a hypothetical underlying lesion should be postulated just because mental disorders may seem unintelligible (CYNTHIA SCHUPAK, 2000). According to this assumption there is an absolute differentiation between normality and mental illness. As an alternative the relative nature of the range between mental illness and normality is emphasised. Psychosocial factors dominate in the understanding of the functions mental illness. For example schizophrenia is explained as a mal-adaptation that could be understood in terms of the patient's life experiences (Meyer 1906). A difficulty in explaining a mental illness in the psychological context does not necessarily means a brain abnormality. (iv) The mechanisms by which mental illness emerges in an individual are psychologically mediated Mental illness is not a single word analysis. The main emphasis is on a detailed human action analysis rather than a reductive analysis of physical cause (Bonnes, M Gianfranco, 1995). Advantages of Human Behaviour On Genetic Constitution Migration from traditional lifestyles and environments to more sedentary lifestyles and calorie-dense environments has, therefore, been posited to increase the likelihood of obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and

Training circuit Essay Example for Free

Training circuit Essay The graph below shows my heartrate from week 1-3 of my training circuit. As you can see the first thing I did was to take my resting pulse rate, this was to act as a baseline so I could work out how quickly my heart rate recovers after I complete the circuit. As you can see the resting pulse is inconsistent throughout this is because some weeks I did some exercise before I took my pulse rate. I am pleased with the results of my heart rate as it shows that I have become fitter over the time I have been doing my circuits. I know this because each week I have a faster recovery rate Week 4-6 results are different to week 1-3 as in week 4-6 we were doing the circuit twice so this meant my heart beat was obviously higher after I completed the circuit as I had worked harder. A good thing about theses results is that it shows my fitness has improved from week 4-6 and it shows my circuit was a success  After each training session I recorded how I thought the circuit went. I recorded the way I felt after each session and what I thought I could improve on the next time I did the circuit. Below are the results: Week 1  On the whole taking into consideration it was the first time I had done the circuit, I thought week one went well. I was pleased with my sprint start results but I thought I could have done better on the ladders. The good thing that came out of this session was that it highlighted that there was room for improvement. I was overall pleased with my general performance. Week 2  I felt I had improved from last week and this was evident from my results. The one thing I was disappointed with was my press ups, as my score had lowered by 5 from the previous week. The thing I thought Id done the best on was the Illinois test as I knocked a second of my previous result. I was also pleased that I managed to improve on the ladders as I got 31 compared to 22 last week. Next week I hope to improve on press ups. Week 3  I wasnt too pleased with my performance as I felt I hadnt really improved from the last time I did the circuit. Although I managed to improve my score on the sit ups and skipping I failed to improve on the other stations. Next week I hope to improve my performance on all the stations although I realise I will have to pace myself as I have to do the circuit twice next week. Week 4  This week I did my circuit twice this meant that my results might not have been as good as the previous weeks because of the extra exercise involved , it also meant that I had to pace myself. The first time around I was pleased with how I performed and I actually managed to improve on my results from the previous week in the majority of stations. The only problem was that after the first time round I was very tired so I new this would effect my performance on the second circuit lap. The second time around I thought I performed well on certain stations which didnt involve much physical exercise such as the co-ordination test but not so good on physically demanding station. Next week I will try to improve my results on the second time I do the circuit. Week 5  I felt this week went well and I thought it was my best performance as I managed to get some of my best results so far on the majority of the stations. I was especially pleased with my results on the skipping as I beat my previous scores .The second time I did the circuit I felt it went well as I managed to get better results than the previous week. This showed that I have improved over the weeks and my stamina has improved. Next week will be my last week of doing the circuit therefore I will try my hardest to better all my previous results. Week 6  I was pleased in the way I performed in this week and it highlighted how much I had improved over the past 6 weeks. In all the stations I did ,I had improved on the results from the first week. After completing the circuit I was pleased with the level of effort I had put in and also how much I had improved. Evaluation I applied overload and progression into my circuit by increasing the time and intensity of which I did each station. Overload is a key thing needed in the training circuit, as when you are in your threshold you are working at your best so you are most likely to improve. By applying progression it makes my body work to its full potential, I will apply progression by extending the amount of times I do the circuit starting with once a week then progressing to twice a week. This will improve my fitness by making my body work harder. I believe I chose the right stations in order to improve my football skills and fitness. I believe I balanced my stations well as some were designed to improve my fitness and others were designed to improve my skill. I feel I could have perhaps put more stations into my circuit and this would have helped to improve my fitness further, as I only had 10 stations, where I could have had 12. I felt however that the stations chosen were the right ones and were the best to help me achieve my goal. If I was to change anything I would have done without the Stalk Stand , as I didnt feel it helped and also my results on this station didnt improve throughout the 6 weeks. A good thing about my circuit was that it was easy to manage in the way that it was easy to set up, record and to perform .This was because I had done lots of planning before I began my circuit so I new exactly what I was doing step by step. Recording my results wasnt really a problem as I had already planned how I was going to record each station and even made predictions as to how I was going to perform on each station . One of the main criticisms of my circuit was that I do not believe it was in the correct order and I wish I had taken more time to design it before hand. A problem with not having stations in the right order was that I got tired quickly as I had ladders before step ups and in practise this was a bad decision as these were two physically demanding tasks. What I should have done was to put a less physically demanding station between the two and by doing this I would have given myself more of a rest. I would also have been able to pace myself better making sure I got the best scores possible on each station. On the whole I believe my circuit went well, as I thought it was at the right level in comparison to my fitness. It was important to make my circuit at the right level as if it had been too easy then it wouldnt have made me work in my threshold, therefore it would have been unlikely that I would have improved my fitness. Also if I had made my circuit too hard it would have meant that I would have been a lot more likely to pick up an injury and also I wouldnt have been able to perform as well at each station. I did enjoy completing my training circuit as I enjoy keeping fit. I believe this was one of the main reasons my training circuit was successful as when you enjoy doing something you put more effort into it. I felt I did push myself to the limit on each station of my circuit. I know this because of how I felt physically and my results proved it as they show my fitness has improved over the 6 week period. Overall I am very pleased with the way I completed the training circuit and I am pleased with my results.

The Awareness Of Point Of Sale Information Technology Essay

The Awareness Of Point Of Sale Information Technology Essay Point of sale is a place where transaction occurs in exchange for services and goods. The point of sale refers to the physical electronic cash register or dedicated Point of Sale hardware used during checkout, but the POS is simply the location where the sale is conducted, money changes hands and a receipt a is given, which can also occur on a smart-phones, tablets, laptops or mobile POS device when the right hardware and POS software is combined with the mobile devices. It is a system allowing business transaction to be monitored, and also facilitating tasks that would otherwise be time-consuming when they are done manually such as monitoring stock, inventory managing, etc. POS also refers to the capturing of data and customer payment information at counter when goods or services are bought and sold. The POS transaction are captured using a variety of devices which include computers, cash registers, optical and bar code scanners, magnetic card readers, or any combination of these devices. This is the physical location from where  goods  are  sold  to  the customers. Point of  sale  is often more specific than a  general  building or  store  where goods are sold, typically indicating the piece of  technology  which is used to finalize the  transaction. They are seen as a  standard  cash register  at the  front  of the store; such as, at a restaurant, grocery store, shopping malls, etc. The point of sale can also be an electronic  system  which are used by the staff for  multiple  purposes, such as ringing up  orders  as well as generating the  receipt  and finalizing purchases. Devices Used The computer software and the register are not the only devices used in POS systems. Devices such as bar code scanners are as important to use the POS system effectively. Magnetic card readers are used for debit and credit cards and optical scanners that examine the object itself for signatures and images. All these provide different sets of data to the computer which can be used to track sales more accurately. POS systems can be very expensive. Small businesses will need to invest several thousand of dollars for the system, legal bar code system, scanner and software needed to run the POS system. Even when a POS system is set up, the data it produces does no good unless managers and marketers know how to use it effectively and efficiently. Literature Review POS (Point of Sale) systems are commonly used in retail stores, restaurants, stadiums, hotels and casinos, etc. The basic use of these systems is to scan items for purchase, place in order and calculate the bills. They are usually industry specific. What can Point Of Sales System do? * Track all elements of each order, from payment, design details, delivery date and months in advance. * Customer Information: It automatically records the customers name, credit card information, address and what they bought and when. * Customer Relations: Everything regarding the customers purchases can be immediately called upon from the system. This makes handling returns, payments and other transactions easier even if the customer has misplaced the paperwork. In a multi-store environment it does not matter which store the customer goes to. All the information are available at all the stores. * Inventory Control: The computer keeps record of the stores inventory. This makes the POS terminals attached to it, automatically update the inventory with every sale or return. This helps the person in multi-inventories keep track of any stock is going to get over. The central office knows at all times how much stock each store has. * Inventory Analysis: The system is able to calculate at what rate each item is selling at all times, making it easy to decide what quantity has to be purchased. * Reduce Out of Stock: In case there is low stock, Low stock reports and purchase orders are generated automatically with enough lead time to receive goods. * Bar code Integration: Various bar-code reading devices can be used in conjunction with shelf stocking, warehousing and at the sales terminal. This will create a speedy entry and reduce human error. * Warranty Tracking: The time and date of purchase are automatically recorded. This information can be easily retrieved from the system within seconds. Warranty issues can be easily handled by stores other than the one where the purchase was made. * Special Pricing: Sales and specials discounts are easily controlled. Starting and end dates can be assigned to the products or product groups and the system will automatically handle them. * Sales Commissions: The commissions are automatically calculated and reported by the system. Different product lines can carry different commissions. Later commissions can be automatically reduced if the sales-person discounts an item. * Profit Center / Product Line Control: It is very easy to set up both profit centers and product lines. This makes tracking performance of individual sales managers and product line profitability easy. * Accounting: The Point of Sale system is completely integrated with full function accounting (Inventory, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and General Ledger) thus making the books always up-to-date. No hand entries by book-keeping staff are required. In a multi-store environment the central office always has the accounts for each individual store in real time and can produce consolidated accounting reports as well. * Data Export: The Data files and reports can be exported from the POS system for use with other software when there is need. * Data Import: Part number lists, customer lists and other bulk information from outside sources can be imported into the POS system without resorting to hand entry. * Manager Control: The manager has complete access and control to the store or chain of stores at any time of day or night. He can even do store transactions locally. * Security Levels: The Employees are only allowed the access assigned to their password only. * Loss Prevention: Record keeping is so thorough and clear that any employee theft of inventory or received cash, even if cleverly disguised can be detected and traced. Need of the study To know the level of use of POS system among the students of Amity University, Noida. To know the awareness of POS among the students. To know the amount of use of POS system among the students of Amity. Objective of the study: The objective of the study here is to know the use and awareness of the POS system among the students. The amount of use of POS transactions by the students during different courses of purchases. To increase the level of knowledge of POS system among the students. To find out the reasons why POS system is not used in case of both awareness and non-awareness. Rationale behind the study: The presence of POS system in various Malls or stores has become a common sight in todays market. People make their purchases mainly using debit/credit cards in place if paper cash. How does this POS system work? The person making the payment through his card is debited an amount which is the value of the price of the product he is purchasing from the store. This amount is directly credited into the account of the store, form which ever bank it has opened its account with. Since there is no exchange of paper money, transactions takes place in a few seconds, making it less time consuming and less energy involved. On the customers side he does not have the pain of carrying ready cash with him. This wide use of POS system brings us to a study of whether this facility is aware to the young minds of the future leaders and entrepreneurs. The research topic will study how much are the students aware about the POS system that are available in the market. With both the mode of cash and card purchases available, it will see what is used more often and why. It will study the positive as well as the negative impacts in the minds of the students using the system and also who dont use it. The level of awareness of both the group of people who use and who dont will be required to obtain, which will provide the researcher to obtain the final result. Research Methodology: Research method: Descriptive research Sampling method: Convenience Sampling Sampling size: 200 Sampling Universe: Student of Amity University, Noida Sector 125. Data collected: Primary Statistical tool Analysis: Microsoft Excel. Data Collection Method: Data will be collected through the distribution of questionnaires and interaction with the students. After the questionnaires are filled up as required and obtaining the required number of responses, it will be analyzed to reach the necessary findings. Primary Data: The data will be collected by the means of survey which will be done on the basis of various interactions with the students. A questionnaire prepared by the researcher will also be given to the responder who will be filling up the necessary questions. This set of questions will later be analyzed to obtain the required result. Hypothesis: Null: H0: the students are aware about the Point of Sales system Alternative: H1: The students are not aware about the Point of Sales system. Null H0: The students use the POS system Alternative: H1: The students do not use the POS system. Data Analysis and Interpretation Period of using a bank account: Respond Frequency Percentage Less than 6 months 117 58.5% Between 6 months to 1 year 35 17.5% 1 to 2 years 27 13.5% More than 2 years 21 10.5% According to the data collected from the survey, it was found that most of the students had their accounts operating from two years and above. The others had accounts opened just a few months back or a year. Mode of Purchases more frequently used: Response Frequency Percentage Cash Purchase 52 26% Card Purchase 148 74% The research Survey shows that majority of the students used the mode of cash payment. Card payment was also used but at a lower scale. When asked why, their reply would be because they felt more comfortable using cash other than cards. Their main reason for not using card payments was lack of security and confidence. Awareness on Point of Sale system: Response Percentage Good 36 Average 38 Poor 10 It has been found that the level of awareness of Point of Sale system among the students were good. Majority of them had an idea or knowledge what exactly a point of sale could do and also were aware about its benefits as well as its short-comings. There were very less percentage of students who had less or no knowledge a all of the POS systems. Frequency of using Debit/Credit Card Response Frequency Percentage Always 32 16% Very Frequently 60 30% Occasionally 42 21% Rarely 20 10% Very rarely Never 10 5% The survey shows us that the use of POS is very frequently used. This frequency is mostly among the students who are aware about the POS systems and use both cash as well as card purchases. Rank of POS system according to preferences Ticketing 3 Entertainment 4 Online Shopping 2 Shopping 1 Cash Transfers 5 The survey shows that majority of the students who use the POS systems are using them mainly for the purpose of shopping and online purchases. The facility o cash transfers are the least used. Satisfaction of using Point of Sale system: Response Frequency Percentage Strongly Agree 20 10% Agree 60 30% Neutral 30 15% Disagree 5 2.5% Strongly disagree The level of satisfaction among the students using POS system has been agreed by a majority. A neutral feeling is followed by the students who has been aware and using this service. Also a strong level of satisfaction is also found among the sampled sized. Reason for not using Point of Sale system Lack of advertisement 5 Lack of interest 15 No use 4 Lack of security 10 Lack of confidence 10 Any other 2 The survey studied the various reasons why some of the students were not using this POS system when it made transactions so much easier. The main reason for this was due to the Lack of interest in the minds of the students. This was followed lack of security and interest. Lack of advertisement was another reason for causing a low awareness among the students. Findings: The level of awareness about the POS system among the students is good. The use of this system is also found at a good scale among the students who are aware about the POS system. Though the level of awareness is good, some students still do not use as frequently as expected due to different reasons. The use of POS system is more among the group of students who have opened their bank accounts from 2 years and above. Students using accounts below a year have lesser use. Reason for lack of awareness is mainly because of not having a account for themselves. Another reason for not using this system is the lack of proper advertisements, lack of confidence and security. The POS system is mainly used for the purpose of shopping and online purchases by the students. They are more comfortable with these simple transactions that the POS offers. Suggestions: Banks and any other financial institutions providing this facility should make the effort of educating the POS system to its customers. Effective advertisements should be made in order to make the customers more aware of the system available. The Lack of security and confidence among the customers can be eradicated by using effective softwares that are immune to hackers and other flaws. Proper education should be implanted in the minds of the consumers in order to make them aware as well as use this facility. Adequate on sight experience from frequent users can also be done to motivate the individuals who do not use due to various reasons. Conclusion: The study of the topic Study on Awareness of Point of Sale system among the students of Amity University, Sector 125 found that a large number of students are aware about the presence of POS systems around them. Many use them because they are convenient and easy. Others though they have the knowledge and awareness are still hesitated to use them for various reasons. The Point of Sale system has made transactions operating in various stores very fast and efficient. They not only provide the benefit of cash less transactions but also keep track of every product or product group in the stores. This information helps the store manger to keep track of his products in his store and make necessary purchases before they run out of stock. Countries like USA mostly use this facility on a very large scale. Thus the final conclusion to this study was that the level of awareness of the POS system among the students is above average. In order to promote it more, a good amount of work in the field of advertisements and security has to be done. The above few reasons were the most prominent for its non use by certain people. It is only when they use the system they will realize the benefits of it.

Comparing Character in Child by Tiger and Most Dangerous Game Essay exa

Difference in Character in Child by Tiger and Most Dangerous Game In Thomas Wolfe's "The Child by Tiger," the character Dick Prosser is clearly more credible than General Zaroff in Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game." This plausibility is due to each character's lifestyle, murder motives, and personal morals. The difference in the characters is very dramatic. Foremost, how and where one lives tell much about a person. General Zaroff appears to be living in an almost make-believe world. He has bought an island and made his home there. When Rainsford, another character in the short story, reaches the island, he begins looking for lights. Connell describes, "He came upon them as he turned a crook in the coast line, and his first thought was that he had come upon a village, for there were many lights" (11). Today, it would be ludicrous for a man to own an island all by himself. Conversely, Dick Prosser lives more realistically. He lives in a basement room of a home belonging to a white family. Wolfe explains, "The bare board floor was always cleanly swept, a plain bare ... Comparing Character in Child by Tiger and Most Dangerous Game Essay exa Difference in Character in Child by Tiger and Most Dangerous Game In Thomas Wolfe's "The Child by Tiger," the character Dick Prosser is clearly more credible than General Zaroff in Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game." This plausibility is due to each character's lifestyle, murder motives, and personal morals. The difference in the characters is very dramatic. Foremost, how and where one lives tell much about a person. General Zaroff appears to be living in an almost make-believe world. He has bought an island and made his home there. When Rainsford, another character in the short story, reaches the island, he begins looking for lights. Connell describes, "He came upon them as he turned a crook in the coast line, and his first thought was that he had come upon a village, for there were many lights" (11). Today, it would be ludicrous for a man to own an island all by himself. Conversely, Dick Prosser lives more realistically. He lives in a basement room of a home belonging to a white family. Wolfe explains, "The bare board floor was always cleanly swept, a plain bare ...

Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings Chapter 5~6

CHAPTER FIVE Hey, Buddy, Why the Big Brain? The next morning the four of them stood in a row on the front of the old Pioneer Hotel, looking across the Lahaina Harbor at the whitecaps in the channel. Wind was whipping the palm trees. Down by the breakwater two little girls were trying to surf waves whose faces were bumpy with wind chop and whose curls blew back over the crests like the hair of a sprinter. â€Å"It could calm down,† Amy said. She was standing next to Kona, thinking, This guy's pecs are so cut you could stick business cards under them and they'd stay. And my, is he tan. Where Amy came from, no one was tan, and she hadn't been in Hawaii long enough to realize that a good tan was just a function of showing up. â€Å"Supposed to stay like this for the next three days,† Nate said. As disappointed as he appeared to be, he was extraordinarily relieved that they wouldn't be going out this morning. He had a rogue hangover, and his eyes were bloodred behind his sunglasses. Self-loathing had set in, and he thought, My life's work is shit, and if we went out there today and I didn't spend the morning retching over the side, I'd be tempted to drown myself. He would rather have been thinking about whales, which is what he usually thought about. Then he noticed Amy sneaking glances at Kona's bare chest and felt even worse. â€Å"Ya, mon. Kona can spark up a spliff and calm down that bumpy brine for all me new science dreadies. We can take the boat no matter what the wind be,† Kona said. He was thinking, I have no idea what the hell I'm talking about, but I really want to get out there with the whales. â€Å"Breakfast at Longee's, and then we'll see how it looks,† Clay said. He was thinking, We'll have breakfast at Longee's, and then we'll see how it looks. None of them moved. They just stood there, looking out at the blowout channel. Occasionally a whale would blow, and the mist would run over the water like a frightened ghost. â€Å"I'm buying,† Clay said. And they all headed up Front Street to Longee's restaurant, a two-story gray-and-white building, done in a New England architecture with shiplap siding and huge open windows that looked across Front Street, over the stone seawall, and out onto the Au' au Channel. By way of a shirt, Kona slipped on a tattered Nautica windbreaker he'd had knotted around his waist. â€Å"You do a lot of sailing?† Amy asked, nodding to the Nautica logo. She intended the remark as dig, a return for Kona's saying, â€Å"And who be this snowy biscuit?† when they'd first met. At the time Amy had just introduced herself, but in retrospect she realized that she should probably have taken some offense to being called both snowy and a biscuit – those things were objectifying, right? â€Å"Shark bait kit, me Snowy Biscuit,† Kona answered, meaning that the windbreaker had come from a tourist. The Paia surfing community on the North Shore, from which Kona had recently come, had an economy based entirely on petty theft, mostly smash-and-grabs from rental cars. As the host led them through the crowded dining room to a table by the windows, Clay leaned over Amy's shoulder and whispered, â€Å"A biscuit is a good thing.† â€Å"I knew that,† Amy whispered back. â€Å"Like a tomato, right?† â€Å"Heads up,† Clay said, just as Amy plowed into a khaki package of balding ambition known as Jon Thomas Fuller, CEO of Hawaii Whale Inc., a nonprofit corporation with assets in the tens of millions that disguised itself as a research organization. Fuller had pushed his chair back to intercept Amy. â€Å"Jon Thomas!† Clay smiled and reached around the flustered Amy to shake Fuller's hand. Fuller ignored Clay and took Amy by the waist, steadying her. â€Å"Hey, hey, there,† Fuller said. â€Å"If you wanted to meet me, all you had to do was introduce yourself.† Amy grabbed his wrists and guided his hands to the table in front of him, then stepped back. â€Å"Hi, I'm Amy Earhart.† â€Å"I know who you are,† said Fuller, standing now. He was only a little taller than Arny, very tan and very lean, with a hawk nose and a receding hairline like a knife. â€Å"What I don't know is why you haven't come to see me about a job.† Meanwhile, Nate, who had been thinking about whale song, had taken his seat, opened a menu, ordered coffee, and completely missed the fact that he was alone at the table. He looked up to see Jon Thomas Fuller holding his assistant by the waist. He dropped his menu and headed back to the site of the intercept. â€Å"Well, partly† – Amy smiled at the three young women sitting at Fuller's table – â€Å"partly because I have some self-respect† – she curtsied – â€Å"and partly because you're a louse and a jamoke.† Fuller's dazzling grin dropped a level of magnitude. The women at his table, all dressed in khaki safari wear to approximate the Discovery Channel ideal of what a scientist should look like, made great shows of looking elsewhere, wiping their mouths, sipping water – not noticing their boss getting verbally bitch-slapped by a vicious research pixie. â€Å"Nate,† Fuller said, noticing that Nate had joined the group, â€Å"I heard about the break-in at your place. Nothing important missing, I hope.† â€Å"We're fine. Lost some recordings,† Nate said. â€Å"Ah, well, good. A lot of lowlifes on this island now.† Fuller looked at Kona. The surfer grinned. â€Å"Shoots, brah, you make me blush.† Fuller grinned. â€Å"How you doing, Kona?† â€Å"All cool runnings, brah. Bwana Fuller got his evil on?† There were neck-snapping double takes all around. Fuller nodded, then looked back at Quinn. â€Å"Anything we can do, Nate? There are a lot of our song recordings for sale in the shops, if those will help out. You guys get professional discount. We're all in this together.† â€Å"Thanks,† Nate said just as Fuller sat down, then turned his back on all of them and resumed eating his breakfast, dismissing them. The women at the table looked embarrassed. â€Å"Breakfast?† Clay said. He herded his team to their table. They ordered and drank coffee in silence, each looking out across the street to the ocean, avoiding eye contact until Fuller and his group had left. Nate turned to Amy. â€Å"A jamoke? What are you, living in a Cagney movie?† â€Å"Who is that guy?† Amy asked. She snapped the corner off a piece of toast with more violence than was really necessary. â€Å"What's a jamoke?† Kona asked. â€Å"It's a flavor of ice cream, right?† Clay said. Nate looked at Kona. â€Å"How do you know Fuller?† Nate held up his ringer and shot a cautionary glare, the now understood signal for no Rasta/pidgin/bullshit. â€Å"I worked the Jet Ski concession for him at Kaanapali.† Nate looked to Clay, as if to say, You knew this? â€Å"Who is that guy?† Amy asked. â€Å"He's the head of Hawaii Whale,† Clay said. â€Å"Commerce masquerading as science. They use their permit to get three sixty-five-foot tourist boats right up next to the whales.† â€Å"That guy is a scientist?† â€Å"He has a Ph.D. in biology, but I wouldn't call him a scientist. Those women he was with are his naturalists. I guess today was even too windy for them to go out. He's got shops all over the island – sells whale crap, nonprofit. Hawaii Whale was the only research group to oppose the Jet Ski ban during whale season.† â€Å"Because Fuller had money in the Jet Ski business,† Nate added. â€Å"I made six bucks an hour,† Kona said. â€Å"Nate's work was instrumental in getting the Jet Ski parasail ban done,† Clay said. â€Å"Fuller doesn't like us.† â€Å"The sanctuary may take his research permit next,† said Nate. â€Å"What science they do is bad science.† â€Å"And he blames you for that?† Amy asked. â€Å"I – we have done the most behavioral stuff as it relates to sound in these waters. The sanctuary gave us some money to find out if the high-frequency noise from Jet Skis and parasail boats affected the behavior of the whales. We concluded that it did. Fuller didn't like it. It cost him.† â€Å"He's going to build a dolphin swim park, up La Perouse Bay way,† Kona said. â€Å"What?† Nate said. â€Å"What?† said Clay. â€Å"A swim-with-the-dolphins park?† said Amy. â€Å"Ya, mon. Let you come from Ohio and get in the water with them bottlenose fellahs for two hundred dollar.† â€Å"You guys didn't know about this?† Amy was looking at Clay. He always seemed to know everything that was going on in the whale world. â€Å"First I've heard of it, but they're not going to let him do it without some studies.† He looked to Nate. â€Å"Are they?† â€Å"It'll never happen if he loses his research permit,† Nate said. â€Å"There'll be a review.† â€Å"And you'll be on the review board?† asked Amy. â€Å"Nate's name would solidify it,† Clay said. â€Å"They'll ask him.† â€Å"Not you?† Kona asked. â€Å"I'm just the photographer.† Clay looked out at the whitecaps in the channel. â€Å"Doesn't look like we'll be getting out today. Finish your breakfast, and then we'll go pay your rent.† Nate looked at Clay quizzically. â€Å"I can't give him money,† Clay said. â€Å"He'll just smoke it. I'm going to go pay his rent.† â€Å"Truth.† Kona nodded. â€Å"You don't still work for Fuller, do you, Kona?† Nate asked. â€Å"Nate!† Amy admonished. â€Å"Well, he was there when I found the office ransacked.† â€Å"Leave him alone,† Amy said. â€Å"He's too cute to be bad.† â€Å"Truth,† said Kona. â€Å"Sistah Biscuit speak nothin' but the truth. I be massive cute.† Clay set a stack of bills on the table. â€Å"By the way, Nate, you have a lecture at the sanctuary on Tuesday. Four days. You and Amy might want to use the downtime to put something together.† Nate felt as if he'd been smacked. â€Å"Four days? There's nothing there. It was all on those hard drives.† â€Å"Like I said, you might want to use the downtime.† CHAPTER SIX Whale Wahine As a biologist, Nate had a tendency to draw analogies between human behavior and animal behavior – probably a little more often than was strictly healthy. For instance, as he considered his attraction to Amy, he wondered why it had to be so complex. Why there had to be so many subtleties to the human mating ritual. Why can't we be more like common squid? he thought. The male squid simply swims up to the female squid, hands her a neat package of sperm, she tucks it under her mantle at her leisure, and they go on their separate ways, their duty to the species done. Simple, elegant, no nuance†¦ Nate held the paper cup out to Amy. â€Å"I poured some coffee for you.† â€Å"I'm all coffeed out, thanks,† said Amy. Nate set the cup down on the desk next to his own. He sat in front of the computer. Amy was perched on a high stool to his left going through the hardbound field journals covering the last four years. â€Å"Are you going to be able to put together a lecture out of this?† she asked. Nate rubbed his temples. Despite a handful of aspirin and six cups of coffee, his head was still throbbing. â€Å"A lecture? About what?† â€Å"Well, what were you planning to do a talk on before the office was ransacked? Maybe we can reconstruct it from the field notes and memory.† â€Å"I don't have that good a memory.† â€Å"Yes you do, you just need some mnemonics, which we have here in the field notes.† Her expression was as open and hopeful as a child's. She waited for something from him, just a word to set her searching for what he needed. The problem was, what he needed right now was not going to be found in biology field notes. He needed answers of another kind. It bothered him that Fuller had known about the break-in at the compound. It was too soon for him to have found out. It also bothered him that anyone could hold him in the sort of disdain that Fuller obviously did. Nate had been born and raised in British Columbia, and Canadians hate, above all things, to offend. It was part of the national consciousness. â€Å"Be polite† was an unwritten, unspoken rule, but ingrained into the psyche of an entire country. (Of course, as with any rule, there were exceptions: parts of Quebec, where people maintained the â€Å"dismissive to the point of confrontation, with subsequent surrender† mind-set of the French; and hockey, in which any Canadian may, with impunity, slam, pummel, elbow, smack, punch, body-check, and beat the shit out of, with sticks, any other human being, punctuated by profanities, name-calling, questioning parentage, and accusations of bestiality, usually – coincidentally – in French.) Nate was neither French-Canadian nor much of a hockey player, so the idea of having invoked enmity enough in someone to have that person ruin his research†¦ He was mortified by it. â€Å"Amy,† he said, having spaced out and returned to the room in a matter of seconds, he hoped, â€Å"is there something that I'm missing about our work? Is there something in the data that I'm not seeing?† Amy assumed the pose of Rodin's The Thinker on her stool, her chin teed up on her hand, her brow furrowed into moguls of earnest contemplation. â€Å"Well, Dr. Quinn, I would be able to answer that if you had shared the data with me, but since I only know what I've collected or what I've analyzed personally, I'd have to say, scientifically speaking, beats me.† â€Å"Thanks,† Nate said. He smiled in spite of himself. â€Å"You said there was something there that you were close to finding. In the song, I mean. What is it?† â€Å"Well, if I knew that, it would be found, wouldn't it?† â€Å"You must suspect. You have to have a theory. Tell me, and let's apply the data to the theory. I'm willing to do the work, reconstruct the data, but you've got to trust me.† â€Å"No theory ever benefited by the application of data, Amy. Data kills theories. A theory has no better time than when it's lying there naked, pure, unsullied by facts. Let's just keep it that way for a while.† â€Å"So you don't really have a theory?† â€Å"Clueless.† â€Å"You lying bag of fish heads.† â€Å"I can fire you, you know. Even if Clay was the one that hired you, I'm not totally superfluous to this operation yet. I'm kind of in charge. I can fire you. Then how will you live?† â€Å"I'm not getting paid.† â€Å"See, right there. Perfectly good concept ruined by the application of fact.† â€Å"So fire me.† No longer The Thinker, Amy had taken on the aspect of a dark and evil elf. â€Å"I think they're communicating,† Nate said. â€Å"Of course they're communicating, you maroon. You think they're singing because they like the sound of their own voices?† â€Å"There's more to it than that.† â€Å"Well, tell me!† â€Å"Who calls someone a maroon? What the hell is maroon?† â€Å"It's a mook with a Ph.D. Don't change the subject.† â€Å"It doesn't matter. Without the acoustic data I can't even show you what I was thinking. Besides, I'm not sure that my cognitive powers aren't breaking down.† â€Å"Meaning what?† Meaning that I'm starting to see things, he thought. Meaning that despite the fact that you're yelling at me, I really want to grab you and kiss you, he thought. Oh, I am so fucked, he thought. â€Å"Meaning I'm still a little hungover. I'm sorry. Let's see what we can put together from the notes.† Amy slipped off the stool and gathered the field journals in her arms. â€Å"Where are you going?† Nate said. Had he somehow offended her? â€Å"We have four days to put together a lecture. I'm going to go to my cabin and do it.† â€Å"How? On what?† â€Å"I'm thinking, ‘Humpbacks: Our Wet and Wondrous Pals of the Deep –  » â€Å"There's going to be a lot of researchers there. Biologists – † Nate interrupted. † – and Why We Should Poke Them with Sticks.  » â€Å"Better,† Nate said. â€Å"I got it covered,† she said, and she walked out. For some reason he felt hopeful. Excited. Just for a second. Then, after he'd watched her walk out, a wave of melancholy swept over him and for the thirtieth time that day he regretted that he hadn't just become a pharmacist, or a charter captain, or something that made you feel more alive, like a pirate. The old broad lived on a volcano and believed that the whales talked to her. She called about noon, and Nate knew it was her before he even answered. He knew, because she always called when it was too windy to go out. â€Å"Nathan, why aren't you out in the channel?† the Old Broad said. â€Å"Hello, Elizabeth, how are you today?† â€Å"Don't change the subject. They told me that they want to talk to you. Today. Why aren't you out there?† â€Å"You know why I'm not out there, Elizabeth. It's too windy. You can see the whitecaps as well as I can.† From the slope of Haleakala, the Old Broad watched the activity in the channel with a two-hundred-power celestial telescope and a pair of â€Å"big eyes† binoculars that looked like stereo bazookas on precision mounts that were anchored into a ton of concrete. â€Å"Well, they're upset that you're not out there. That's why I called.† â€Å"And I appreciate your calling, Elizabeth, but I'm in the middle of something.† Nate hoped he didn't sound too rude. The Old Broad meant well. And they, in a way, were all at the mercy of her generosity, for although she had  «donated » the Papa Lani compound, she hadn't exactly signed it over to them. They were in a sort of permanent lease situation. Elizabeth Robinson was, however, very generous and very kindhearted indeed, even if she was a total loon. â€Å"Nathan, I am not a total loon,† she said. Oh yes you are, he thought. â€Å"I know you're not,† he said. â€Å"But I really have to get some work done today.† â€Å"What are you working on?† Elizabeth asked. Nate could hear her tapping a pencil on her desk. She took notes during their conversations. He didn't know what she did with the notes, but it bothered him. â€Å"I have a lecture at the sanctuary in four days.† Why, why had he told her? Why? Now she'd rattle down the mountain in her ancient Mercedes that looked like a Nazi staff car, sit in the audience, and ask all the questions that she knew in advance he couldn't answer. â€Å"That shouldn't be hard. You've done that before, what, twenty times?† â€Å"Yes, but someone broke in to the compound yesterday, Elizabeth. All my notes, the tapes, the analysis – it's all destroyed.† There was silence on the line for a moment. Nate could hear the Old Broad breathing. Finally, â€Å"I'm really sorry, Nathan. Is everyone all right?† â€Å"Yes, it happened while we were out working.† â€Å"Is there anything I can do? I mean, I can't send much, but if – â€Å" â€Å"No, we're all right. It's just a lot of work that I have to start over.† The Old Broad might have been loaded at one time, and she certainly would be again if she sold the land where Papa Lani stood, but Nate didn't think that she had a lot of money to spare after the last bear market. Even if she did, this wasn't a problem that could be solved with cash. â€Å"Well, then, you get back to work, but try to get out tomorrow. There's a big male out there who told me he wants you to bring him a hot pastrami on rye.† Nate grinned and almost snorted into the phone. â€Å"Elizabeth, you know they don't eat while they're in these waters.† â€Å"I'm just relaying the message, Nathan. Don't you snicker at me. He's a big male, broad, like he just came down from Alaska – frankly, I don't know why he'd be hungry, he's as big as a house. But anyway, Swiss and hot English mustard, he was very clear about that. He has very unusual markings on his flukes. I couldn't see them from here, but he says you'll know him.† Nate felt his face go numb with something approximating shock. â€Å"Elizabeth –  » â€Å"Call if you need anything, Nathan. My love to Clay. Aloha.† Nathan Quinn let the phone slip from his fingers, then zombie-stumbled out of the office and back to his own cabin, where he decided he was going to nap and keep napping until he woke up to a world that wasn't so irritatingly weird. Right on the edge of a dream where he was gleefully steering a sixty-foot cabin cruiser up Second Street in downtown Seattle, plowing aside slow-moving vehicles while Amy, clad in a silver bikini and looking uncharacteristically tan, stood in the bow and waved to people who had come to the windows of their second-story offices to marvel at the freedom and power of the Mighty Quinn – right on the edge of a perfect dream, Clay burst into the room. Talking. â€Å"Kona's moving into cabin six.† â€Å"Get some lines in the water, Amy,† Nate said from the drears of morpheum opus. â€Å"We're coming up on Pike's Place Market, and there's fish to be had.† Clay waited, not quite smiling, not quite not, while Nate sat up and rubbed sleep from his eyes. â€Å"Driving a boat on the street?† Clay said, nodding. All skippers had that dream. â€Å"Seattle,† said Nate. â€Å"The Zodiac lives in cabin six.† â€Å"We haven't used the Zodiac in ten years, it won't hold air.† Clay went to the closet that acted as a divider between the living/sleeping area and the kitchen. He pulled down a stack of sheets, then towels. â€Å"You wouldn't believe how they had this kid living, Nate. It was a tin industrial building, out by the airport. Twenty, thirty of them, in little stalls with cots and not enough room to swing a dead cat. The wiring was extension cords draped over the tops of the stalls. Six hundred a month for that.† Nate shrugged. â€Å"So? We lived that way the first couple of years. It's what you do. We might need cabin six for something. Storage or something.† â€Å"Nope,† said Clay. â€Å"That place was a sweat box and a fire hazard. He's not living there. He's our guy.† â€Å"But Clay, he's only been with us for a day. He's probably a criminal.† â€Å"He's our guy,† said Clay, and that was that. Clay had very strong views on loyalty. If Clay had decided that Kona was their guy, he was their guy. â€Å"Okay,† said Nate, feeling as if he had just invited the Medusa in for a sandwich. â€Å"The Old Broad called.† â€Å"How is she?† â€Å"Still nuts.† â€Å"How're you?† â€Å"Getting there.†

Free Essays on POT

For many years, the United States government has prohibited drugs such as marijuana from sale in the marketplace. Yet, with prohibition, marijuana use has decreased only minimally. Because of prohibition, the media has publicized only the bad aspects of marijuana use. What many people do not realize are the many positive aspects of marijuana legalization, including new medical cures, cleaner and more efficient industry, and reduced marijuana usage. Marijuana, as most people commonly know it, is really a plant called hemp, or 'cannabis sativa'. There are other plants called hemp, but cannabis hemp is the most useful of these plants. 'Hemp' is any durable plant used since prehistory for many purposes. Cannabis is the most durable of the hemp plants, and it produces the toughest cloth, named 'canvass'. The cannabis plant also produces three other very important products that other plants do not (in usable form): seed, pulp, and medicine. To understand why hemp is illegal, it is necessar y that we take a look at the law prohibiting hemp today. The law that prohibits hemp is called the "Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Control Act of 1970". The Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Control Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-513) overhauled the nation's drug regulation apparatus. Title II of the law, known as the Controlled Substances Act, established criteria for determining which drugs should be controlled, mechanisms for reducing the availability of controlled drugs, and a structure of penalties for illegal distribution and possession of controlled drugs. Marijuana, hashish, and THC are listed in Schedule I, the most restrictive classification. We also have to understand the reasons why marijuana, the drug, became illegal. In fact, it helps to go back to the beginning of the century and talk about two other drugs, opium (the grandfather of heroin) and cocaine. Opium, a very addictive drug (but relatively harmless by today's standards) was once widely used b... Free Essays on POT Free Essays on POT For many years, the United States government has prohibited drugs such as marijuana from sale in the marketplace. Yet, with prohibition, marijuana use has decreased only minimally. Because of prohibition, the media has publicized only the bad aspects of marijuana use. What many people do not realize are the many positive aspects of marijuana legalization, including new medical cures, cleaner and more efficient industry, and reduced marijuana usage. Marijuana, as most people commonly know it, is really a plant called hemp, or 'cannabis sativa'. There are other plants called hemp, but cannabis hemp is the most useful of these plants. 'Hemp' is any durable plant used since prehistory for many purposes. Cannabis is the most durable of the hemp plants, and it produces the toughest cloth, named 'canvass'. The cannabis plant also produces three other very important products that other plants do not (in usable form): seed, pulp, and medicine. To understand why hemp is illegal, it is necessar y that we take a look at the law prohibiting hemp today. The law that prohibits hemp is called the "Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Control Act of 1970". The Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Control Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-513) overhauled the nation's drug regulation apparatus. Title II of the law, known as the Controlled Substances Act, established criteria for determining which drugs should be controlled, mechanisms for reducing the availability of controlled drugs, and a structure of penalties for illegal distribution and possession of controlled drugs. Marijuana, hashish, and THC are listed in Schedule I, the most restrictive classification. We also have to understand the reasons why marijuana, the drug, became illegal. In fact, it helps to go back to the beginning of the century and talk about two other drugs, opium (the grandfather of heroin) and cocaine. Opium, a very addictive drug (but relatively harmless by today's standards) was once widely used b...