The Twilight Saga 4: Breaking Dawn 21. First Hunt

â€Å"The window?† I asked, staring two stories down. I'd never really been afraid of heights per se, but being able to see all the details with such clarity made the prospect less appealing. The angles of the rocks below were sharper than I would have imagined them. Edward smiled. â€Å"It's the most convenient exit. If you're frightened, I can carry you.† â€Å"We have all eternity, and you're worried about the time it would take to walk to the back door?† He frowned slightly. â€Å"Renesmee and Jacob are downstairs___† â€Å"Oh.† Right. I was the monster now. I had to keep away from scents that might trigger my wild side. From the people that I loved in particular. Even the ones I didn't really know yet. â€Å"Is Renesmee†¦ okay†¦ with Jacob there?† I whispered. I realized belatedly that it must havebeen Jacob's heart I'd heard below. I listened hard again, but I could only hear the one steady pulse. â€Å"He doesn't like her much.† Edward's lips tightened in an odd way. â€Å"Trust me, she is perfectly safe. I know exactly what Jacob is thinking.† â€Å"Of course,† I murmured, and looked at the ground again. â€Å"Stalling?† he challenged. â€Å"A little. I don't know how†¦.† And I was very conscious of my family behind me, watching silently. Mostly silently. Emmett had already chuckled under his breath once. One mistake, and he'd be rolling on the floor. Then the jokes about the world's only clumsy vampire would start†¦. Also, this dress – that Alice must have put me in sometime when I was too lost in the burning to notice – was not what I would have picked out for either jumping or hunting. Tightly fitted ice-blue silk? What did she think I would need it for? Was there a cocktail party later? â€Å"Watch me,† Edward said. And then, very casually, he stepped out of the tall, open window and fell. I watched carefully, analyzing the angle at which he bent his knees to absorb the impact. The sound of his landing was very low – a muted thud that could have been a door softly closed, or a book gently laid on a table. It didn't look hard. Clenching my teeth as I concentrated, I tried to copy his casual step into empty air. Ha! The ground seemed to move toward me so slowly that it was nothing at all to place my feet – what shoes had Alice put me in? Stilettos? She'd lost her mind – to place mysilly shoes exactly right so that landing was no different than stepping one foot forward on a flat surface. I absorbed the impact in the balls of my feet, not wanting to snap off the thin heels. My landing seemed just as quiet as his. I grinned at him. â€Å"Right. Easy.† He smiled back. â€Å"Bella?† â€Å"Yes?† â€Å"That was quite graceful – even for a vampire.† I considered that for a moment, and then I beamed. If he'd just been saying that, then Emmett would have laughed. No one found his remark humorous, so it must have been true. It was the first time anyone had ever applied the word graceful ‘to me in my entire life†¦ or, well, existence anyway. â€Å"T/?an/cyou,†i told him. And then I hooked the silver satin shoes off my feet one by one and lobbed them together back through the open window. A little too hard, maybe, but I heard someone catch them before they could damage the paneling. Alice grumbled, â€Å"Her fashion sense hasn't improved as much as her balance.† Edward took my hand – I couldn't stop marveling at the smoothness, the comfortable temperature of his skin – and darted through the backyard to the edge of the river. I went along with him effortlessly. Everything physical seemed very simple. â€Å"Are we swimming?† I asked him when we stopped beside the water. â€Å"And ruin your pretty dress? No. We're jumping.† I pursed my lips, considering. The river was about fifty yards wide here. â€Å"You first,† I said. He touched my cheek, took two quick backward strides, and then ran back those two steps, launching himself from a flat stone firmly embedded in the riverbank. I studied the flash of movement as he arced over the water, finally turning a somersault just before he disappeared into the thick trees on the other side of the river. â€Å"Show-off,† I muttered, and heard his invisible laugh. I backed up five paces, just in case, and took a deep breath. Suddenly, I was anxious again. Not about falling or getting hurt – I was more worried about the forest getting hurt. It had come on slowly, but I could feel it now – the raw, massive strength thrilling in my limbs. I was suddenly sure that if I wanted to tunnel under the river, to claw or beat my way straight through the bedrock, it wouldn't take me very long. The objects around me – the trees, the shrubs, the rocks†¦ the house – had all begun to look very fragile. Hoping very much that Esme was not particularly fond of any specific trees across the river, I began my first stride. And then stopped when the tight satin split six inches up my thigh. Alice! Well, Alice always seemed to treat clothes as if they were disposable and meant for one-time usage, so she shouldn't mind this. I bent to carefully grasp the hem at the undamaged right seam between my fingers and, exerting the tiniest amount of pressure possible, I ripped the dress open to the top of my thigh. Then I fixed the other side to match. Much better. I could hear the muffled laughter in the house, and even the sound of someone gritting her teeth. The laughter came from upstairs and down, and I very easily recognized the much different, rough, throaty chuckle from the firstfloor. So Jacob was watching, too? I couldn't imagine what he was thinking now, or what he was still doing here. I'd envisioned our reunion – if he could ever forgive me – taking place far in the future, when I was more stable, and time had healed the wounds I'd inflicted in his heart. I didn't turn to look at him now, wary of my mood swings. It wouldn't be good to let any emotion take too strong a hold on my frame of mind. Jasper's fears had me on edge, too. I had to hunt before I dealt with anything else. I tried to forget everything else so I could concentrate. â€Å"Bella?† Edward called from the woods, his voice moving closer. â€Å"Do you want to watch again?† But I remembered everything perfectly, of course, and I didn't want to give Emmett a reason to find more humor in my education. This was physical – it should be instinctive. So I took a deep breath and ran for the river. Unhindered by my skirt, it took only one long bound to reach the water's edge. Just an eighty-fourth of a second, and yet it was plenty of time – my eyes and my mind moved so quickly that one step was enough. It was simple to position my right foot just so against the flat stone and exert the adequate pressure to send my body wheeling up into the air. I was paying more attention to aim than force, and I erred on the amount of power necessary – but at least I didn't err on the side that would have gotten me wet. The fifty yard width was slightly too easy a distance___ It was a strange, giddy, electrifying thing, but a short thing. An entire second had yet to pass, and I was across. I was expecting the close-packed trees to be a problem, but they were surprisingly helpful. It was a simple matter to reach out with one sure hand as I fell back toward the earth again deep inside the forest and catch myself on a convenient branch; I swung lightly from the limb and landed on my toes, still fifteen feet from the ground on the wide bough of a Sitka spruce. It was fabulous. Over the sound of my peals of delighted laughter, I could hear Edward racing to find me. My jump had been twice as long as his. When he reached my tree, his eyes were wide. I leaped nimbly from the branch to his side, soundlessly landing again on the balls of my feet. â€Å"Was that good?† I wondered, my breathing accelerated with excitement. â€Å"Very good.† He smiled approvingly, but his casual tone didn't match the surprised expression in his eyes. â€Å"Can we do it again?† â€Å"Focus, Bella – we're on a hunting trip.† â€Å"Oh, right.† I nodded. â€Å"Hunting.† â€Å"Follow me†¦ if you can.† He grinned, his expression suddenly taunting, and broke into a run. He was faster than me. I couldn't imagine how he moved his legs with such blinding speed, but it was beyond me. However, I was stronger, and every stride of mine matched the length of three of his. And so I flew with him through the living green web, by his side, not following at all. As I ran, I couldn't help laughing quietly at the thrill of it; the laughter neither slowed me nor upset my focus. I could finally understand why Edward never hit the trees when he ran – a question that had always been a mystery to me. It was a peculiar sensation, the balance between the speed and the clarity. For, while I rocketed over, under, and through the thick jade maze at a rate that should have reduced everything around me to a streaky green blur, I could plainly see each tiny leaf on all the small branches of every insignificant shrub that I passed. The wind of my speed blew my hair and my torn dress out behind me, and, though I knew it shouldn't, it felt warm against my skin. Just as the rough forest floor shouldn't feel like velvet beneath my bare soles, and the limbs that whipped against my skin shouldn't feel like caressing feathers. The forest was much more alive than I'd ever known – small creatures whose existence I'd never guessed at teemed in the leaves around me. They all grew silent after we passed, their breath quickening in fear. The animals had a much wiser reaction to our scent than humans seemed to. Certainly, it'd had the opposite effect on me. I kept waiting to feel winded, but my breath came effortlessly. I waited for the burn to begin in my muscles, but my strength only seemed to increase as I grew accustomed to my stride. My leaping bounds stretched longer, and soon he was trying to keep up with me. I laughed again, exultant, when I heard him falling behind. My naked feet touched the ground so infrequently now it felt more like flying than running. â€Å"Belial he called dryly, his voice even, lazy. I could hear nothing else; he had stopped. I briefly considered mutiny. But, with a sigh, I whirled and skipped lightly to his side, some hundred yards back. I looked at him expectantly. He was smiling, with one eyebrow raised. He was so beautiful that I could only stare. â€Å"Did you want to stay in the country?† he asked, amused. â€Å"Or were you planning to continue on to Canada this afternoon?† â€Å"This is fine,† I agreed, concentrating less on what he was saying and more on the mesmerizing way his lips moved when he spoke. It was hard not to become sidetracked with everything fresh in my strong new eyes. â€Å"What are we hunting?† â€Å"Elk. I thought something easy for your first time †¦Ã¢â‚¬  He trailed off when my eyes narrowed at the word easy. But I wasn't going to argue; I was too thirsty. As soon as I'd started to think about the dry burn in my throat, it was all I could think about. Definitely getting worse. My mouth felt like four o'clock on a June afternoon in Death Valley. â€Å"Where?† I asked, scanning the trees impatiently. Now that I had given the thirst my attention, it seemed to taint every other thought in my head, leaking into the more pleasant thoughts of running and Edward's lips and kissing and†¦ scorching thirst. I couldn't get away from it. â€Å"Hold still for a minute,† he said, putting his hands lightly on my shoulders. The urgency of my thirst receded momentarily at his touch. â€Å"Now close your eyes,† he murmured. When I obeyed, he raised his hands to my face, stroking my cheekbones. I felt my breathing speed and waited briefly again for the blush that wouldn't come. â€Å"Listen,† Edward instructed. â€Å"What do you hear?† Everything,I could have said; his perfect voice, his breath, his lips brushing together as he spoke, the whisper of birds preening their feathers in the treetops, their fluttering heartbeats, the maple leaves scraping together, the faint clicking of ants following each other in a long line up the bark of the nearest tree. But I knew he meant something specific, so I let my ears range outward, seeking something different than the small hum of life that surrounded me. There was an open space near us – the wind had a different sound across the exposed grass – and a small creek, with a rocky bed. And there, near the noise of the water, was the splash of lapping tongues, the loud thudding of heavy hearts, pumping thick streams of blood___ It felt like the sides of my throat had sucked closed. â€Å"By the creek, to the northeast?† I asked, my eyes still shut. â€Å"Yes.† His tone was approving. â€Å"Now†¦ wait for the breeze again and†¦ what do you smell?† Mostly him – his strange honey-lilac-and-sun perfume. But also the rich, earthy smell of rot and moss, the resin in the evergreens, the warm, almost nutty aroma of the small rodents cowering beneath the tree roots. And then, reaching out again, the clean smell of the water, which was surprisingly unappealing despite my thirst. I focused toward the water and found the scent that must have gone with the lapping noise and the pounding heart. Another warm smell, rich and tangy, stronger than the others. And yet nearly as unappealing as the brook. I wrinkled my nose. He chuckled. â€Å"I know – it takes some getting used to.† â€Å"Three?† I guessed. â€Å"Five. There are two more in the trees behind them.† â€Å"What do I do now?† His voice sounded like he was smiling. â€Å"What do you feel like doing?† I thought about that, my eyes still shut as I listened and breathed in the scent. Another bout of baking thirst intruded on my awareness, and suddenly the warm, tangy odor wasn't quite so objectionable. At least it would be something hot and wet in my desiccated mouth. My eyes snapped open. â€Å"Don't think about it,† he suggested as he lifted his hands off my face and took a step back. â€Å"Just follow your instincts.† I let myself drift with the scent, barely aware of my movement as I ghosted down the incline to the narrow meadow where the stream flowed. My body shifted forward automatically into a low crouch as I hesitated at the fern-fringed edge of the trees. I could see a big buck, two dozen antler points crowning his head, at the stream's edge, and the shadow-spotted shapes of the four others heading eastward into forest at a leisurely pace. I centered myself around the scent of the male, the hot spot in his shaggy neck where the warmth pulsed strongest. Only thirty yards – two or three bounds – between us. i tensed myself for the first leap. But as my muscles bunched in preparation, the wind shifted, blowing stronger now, and from the south. I didn't stop to think, hurtling out of the trees in a path perpendicular to my original plan, scaring the elk into the forest, racing after a new fragrance so attractive that there wasn't a choice. It was compulsory. The scent ruled completely. I was single-minded as I traced it, aware only of the thirst and the smell that promised to quench it. The thirst got worse, so painful now that it confused all my other thoughts and began to remind me of the burn of venom in my veins. There was only one thing that had any chance of penetrating my focus now, an instinct more powerful, more basic than the need to quench the fire – it was the instinct to protect myself from danger. Self-preservation. I was suddenly alert to the fact that I was being followed. The pull of the irresistible scent warred with the impulse to turn and defend my hunt. A bubble of sound built in my chest, my lips pulled back of their own accord to expose my teeth in warning. My feet slowed, the need to protect my back struggling against the desire to quench my thirst. And then I could hear my pursuer gaining, and defense won. As I spun, the rising sound ripped its way up my throat and out. The feral snarl, coming from my own mouth, was so unexpected that it brought me up short. It unsettled me, and it cleared my head for a second – the thirst-driven haze receded, though the thirst burned on. The wind shifted, blowing the smell of wet earth and coming rain across my face, further freeing me from the other scent's fiery grip – a scent so delicious it could only be human. Edward hesitated a few feet away, his arms raised as if to embrace me – or restrain me. His face was intent and cautious as I froze, horrified. I realized that I had been about to attack him. With a hard jerk, I straightened out of my defensive crouch. I held my breath as I refocused, fearing the power of the fragrance swirling up from the south. He could see reason return to my face, and he took a step toward me, lowering his arms. â€Å"I have to get away from here,† I spit through my teeth, using the breath I had. Shock crossed his face. â€Å"Can you leave?† I didn't have time to ask him what he meant by that. I knew the ability to think clearly would last only as long as I could stop myself from thinking of – I burst into a run again, a flat-out sprint straight north, concentrating solely on the uncomfortable feeling of sensory deprivation that seemed to be my body's only response to the lack of air. My one goal was to run far enough away that the scent behind me would be completely lost. Impossible to find, even if I changed my mind†¦ Once again, I was aware of being followed, but I was sane this time. I fought the instinct to breathe – to use the flavors in the air to be sure it was Edward. I didn't have to fight long; though I was running faster than I ever had before, shooting like a comet through the straightest path I could find in the trees; Edward caught up with me after a short minute. A new thought occurred to me, and I stopped dead, my feet planted. I was sure it must be safe here, but I held my breath just in case. Edward blew past me, surprised by my sudden freeze. He wheeled around and was at my side in a second. He put his hands on my shoulders and stared into my eyes, shock still the dominant emotion on his face. â€Å"How did you do that?† he demanded. â€Å"You let me beat you before, didn't you?† I demanded back, ignoring his question. And I'd thought I'd been doing sowell! When I opened my mouth, I could taste the air – it was unpolluted now, with no trace of the compelling perfume to torment my thirst. I took a cautious breath. He shrugged and shook his head, refusing to be deflected. â€Å"Bella, how did you do it?† â€Å"Run away? I held my breath.† â€Å"But how did you stop hunting?† â€Å"When you came up behind me†¦ I'm so sorry about that.† â€Å"Why are you apologizing to me? I'm the one who was horribly careless. I assumed no one would be so far from the trails, but I should have checked first. Such a stupid mistake! You have nothing to apologize for.† â€Å"But I growled at you!† I was still horrified that I was physically capable of such blasphemy. â€Å"Of course you did. That's only natural. But I can't understand how you ran away.† â€Å"What else could I do?† I asked. His attitude confused me – what did he want to have happened? â€Å"It might have been someone I know!† He startled me, suddenly bursting into a spasm of loud laughter, throwing his head back and letting the sound echo off the trees. â€Å"Why are you laughing at me?† He stopped at once, and I could see he was wary again. Keep it under control,I thought to myself. I had to watch my temper. Just like I was a young werewolf rather than a vampire. â€Å"I'm not laughing at you,Bella. I'm laughing because I am in shock. And I am in shock because I am completely amazed.† â€Å"Why?† â€Å"You shouldn't be able to do any of this. You shouldn't be so†¦ so rational. You shouldn't be able to stand here discussing this with me calmly and coolly. And, much more than any of that, you should not have been able to break off mid-hunt with the scent of human blood in the air. Even mature vampires have difficulty with that – we're always very careful of where we hunt so as not to put ourselves in the path of temptation. Bella, you're behaving like you're decades rather than days old.† â€Å"Oh.† But I'd known it was going to be hard. That was why I'd been so on guard. I'd been expecting it to be difficult. He put his hands on my face again, and his eyes were full of wonder. â€Å"What wouldn't I give to be able to see into your mind for just this one moment.† Such powerful emotions. I'd been prepared for the thirst part, but not this. I'd been so sure it wouldn't be the same when he touched me. Well, truthfully, it wasn't the same. It was stronger. I reached up to trace the planes of his face; my fingers lingered on his lips. â€Å"I thought I wouldn't feel this way for a long time?† My uncertainty made the words a question. â€Å"But I stillwant you.† He blinked in shock. â€Å"How can you even concentrate on that? Aren't you unbearably thirsty?† Of course I was now, now that he'd brought it up again! I tried to swallow and then sighed, closing my eyes like I had before to help me concentrate. I let my senses range out around me, tensed this time in case of another onslaught of the delicious taboo scent. Edward dropped his hands, not even breathing while I listened farther and farther out into the web of green life, sifting through the scents and sounds for something not totally repellant to my thirst. There was a hint of something different, a faint trail to the east___ My eyes flashed open, but my focus was still on sharper senses as I turned and darted silently eastward. The ground sloped steeply upward almost at once, and I ran in a hunting crouch, close to the ground, taking to the trees when that was easier. I sensed rather than heard Edward with me, flowing quietly through the woods, letting me lead. The vegetation thinned as we climbed higher; the scent of pitch and resin grew more powerful, as did the trail I followed – it was a warm scent, sharper than the smell of the elk and more appealing. A few seconds more and I could hear the muted padding of immense feet, so much subtler than the crunch of hooves. The sound was up – in the branches rather than on the ground. Automatically I darted into the boughs as well, gaining the strategic higher position, halfway up a towering silver fir. The soft thud of paws continued stealthily beneath me now; the rich scent was very close. My eyes pinpointed the movement linked with the sound, and I saw the tawny hide of the great cat slinking along the wide branch of a spruce just down and to the left of my perch. He was big – easily four times my mass. His eyes were intent on the ground beneath; the cat hunted, too. I caught the smell of something smaller, bland next to the aroma of my prey, cowering in brush below the tree. The lion's tail twitched spasmodically as he prepared to spring. With a light bound, I sailed through the air and landed on the lion's branch. He felt the shiver of the wood and whirled, shrieking surprise and defiance. He clawed the space between us, his eyes bright with fury. Half-crazed with thirst, I ignored the exposed fangs and the hooked claws and launched myself at him, knocking us both to the forest floor. It wasn't much of a fight. His raking claws could have been caressing fingers for all the impact they had on my skin. His teeth could find no purchase against my shoulder or my throat. His weight was nothing. My teeth unerringly sought his throat, and his instinctive resistance was pitifully feeble against my strength. My jaws locked easily over the precise point where the heat flow concentrated. It was effortless as biting into butter. My teeth were steel razors; they cut through the fur and fat and sinews like they weren't there. The flavor was wrong, but the blood was hot and wet and it soothed the ragged, itching thirst as I drank in an eager rush. The cat's struggles grew more and more feeble, and his screams choked off with a gurgle. The warmth of the blood radiated throughout my whole body, heating even my fingertips and toes. The lion was finished before I was. The thirst flared again when he ran dry, and I shoved his carcass off my body in disgust. How could I still be thirsty after all that? I wrenched myself erect in one quick move. Standing, I realized I was a bit of a mess. I wiped my face off on the back of my arm and tried to fix the dress. The claws that had been so ineffectual against my skin had had more success with the thin satin. â€Å"Hmm,† Edward said. I looked up to see him leaning casually against a tree trunk, watching me with a thoughtful look on his face. â€Å"I guess I could have done that better.† I was covered in dirt, my hair knotted, my dress bloodstained and hanging in tatters. Edward didn't come home from hunting trips looking like this. â€Å"You did perfectly fine,† he assured me. â€Å"It's just that†¦ it was much more difficult for me to watch than it should have been.† I raised my eyebrows, confused. â€Å"It goes against the grain,† he explained, â€Å"letting you wrestle with lions. I was having an anxiety attack the whole time.† â€Å"Silly.† â€Å"I know. Old habits die hard. I like the improvements to your dress, though.† If I could have blushed, I would have. I changed the subject. â€Å"Why am I still thirsty?† â€Å"Because you're young.† I sighed. â€Å"And I don't suppose there are any other mountain lions nearby.† â€Å"Plenty of deer, though.† I made a face. â€Å"They don't smell as good.† â€Å"Herbivores. The meat-eaters smell more like humans,† he explained. â€Å"Not that much like humans,† I disagreed, trying not to remember. â€Å"We could go back,† he said solemnly, but there was a teasing light in his eye. â€Å"Whoever it was out there, if they were men, they probably wouldn't even mind death if you were the one delivering it.† His gaze ran over my ravaged dress again. â€Å"In fact, they would think they were already dead and gone to heaven the moment they saw you.† I rolled my eyes and snorted. â€Å"Let's go hunt some stinking herbivores.† We found a large herd of mule deer as we ran back toward home. He hunted with me this time, now that I'd gotten the hang of it. I brought down a large buck, making nearly as much of a mess as I had with the lion. He'd finished with two before I was done with the first, not a hair ruffled, not a spot on his white shirt. We chased the scattered and terrified herd, but instead of feeding again, this time I watched carefully to see how he was able to hunt so neatly. All the times that I had wished that Edward would not have to leave me behind when he hunted, I had secretly been just a little relieved. Because I was sure that seeing this would be frightening. Horrifying. That seeing him hunt would finally make him look like a vampire to me. Of course, it was much different from this perspective, as a vampire myself. But I doubted that even my human eyes would have missed the beauty here. It was a surprisingly sensual experience to observe Edward hunting. His smooth spring was like the sinuous strike of a snake; his hands were so sure, so strong, so completely inescapable; his full lips were perfect as they parted gracefully over his gleaming teeth. He was glorious. I felt a sudden jolt of both pride and desire. He was mine. Nothing could ever separate him from me now. I was too strong to be torn from his side. He was very quick. He turned to me and gazed curiously at my gloating expression. â€Å"No longer thirsty?† he asked. I shrugged. â€Å"You distracted me. You're much better at it than I am.† â€Å"Centuries of practice.† He smiled. His eyes were a disconcertingly lovely shade of honey gold now. â€Å"Just one,† I corrected him. He laughed. â€Å"Are you done for today? Or did you want to continue?† â€Å"Done, I think.† I felt very full, sort of sloshy, even. I wasn't sure how much more liquid would fit into my body. But the burn in my throat was only muted. Then again, I'd known that thirst was just an inescapable part of this life. And worth it. I felt in control. Perhaps my sense of security was false, but I did feel pretty good about not killing anyone today. If I could resist totally human strangers, wouldn't I be able to handle the werewolf and a half-vampire child that I loved? â€Å"I want to see Renesmee,† I said. Now that my thirst was tamed (if nothing close to erased), my earlier worries were hard to forget. I wanted to reconcile the stranger who was my daughter with the creature I'd loved three days ago. It was so odd, so wrong not to have her inside me still. Abruptly, I felt empty and uneasy. He held out his hand to me. I took it, and his skin felt warmer than before. His cheek was faintly flushed, the shadows under his eyes all but vanished. I was unable to resist stroking his face again. And again. I sort of forgot that I was waiting for a response to my request as I stared into his shimmering gold eyes. It was almost as hard as it had been to turn away from the scent of human blood, but I somehow kept the need to be careful firmly in my head as I stretched up on my toes and wrapped my arms around him. Gently. He was not so hesitant in his movements; his arms locked around my waist and pulled me tight against his body. His lips crushed down on mine, but they felt soft. My lips no longer shaped themselves around his; they held their own. Like before, it was as if the touch of his skin, his lips, his hands, was sinking right through my smooth, hard skin and into my new bones. To the very core of my body. I hadn't imagined that I could love him more than I had. My old mind hadn't been capable of holding this much love. My old heart had not been strong enough to bear it. Maybe this was the part of me that I'd brought forward to be intensified in my new life. Like Carlisle's compassion and Esme's devotion. I would probably never be able to do anything interesting or special like Edward, Alice, and Jasper could do. Maybe I would just love Edward more than anyone in the history of the world had ever loved anyone else. I could live with that. I remembered parts of this – twisting my fingers in his hair, tracing the planes of his chest – but other parts were so new. He was new. It was an entirely different experience with Edward kissing me so fearlessly, so forcefully. I responded to his intensity, and then suddenly we were falling. â€Å"Oops,† I said, and he laughed underneath me. â€Å"I didn't mean to tackle you like that. Are you okay?† He stroked my face. â€Å"Slightly better than okay† And then a perplexed expression crossed his face. â€Å"Renesmee?† he asked uncertainly, trying to ascertain what I wanted most in this moment. A very difficult question to answer, because I wanted so many things at the same time. I could tell that he wasn't exactly averse to procrastinating our return trip, and it was hard to think about much besides his skin on mine – there really wasn't that much left of the dress. But my memory of Renesmee, before and after her birth, was becoming more and more dreamlike to me. More unlikely. All my memories of her were human memories; an aura of artificiality clung to them. Nothing seemed real that I hadn't seen with these eyes, touched with these hands. Every minute, the reality of that little stranger slipped further away. â€Å"Renesmee,† I agreed, rueful, and I whipped back up onto my feet, pulling him with me.

Beowulf’s Fame, Fate and Destiny in His Life

Beowulf was really a man who wanted to achieve a long lasting fame. The last words of the Anglo Saxon epic showed much tribute to his fame as it stated that he was the most enthusiastic man for praise. This is evidence that Beowulf did not only want to achieve fame but also he ensured that the fame is of adulatory kind. He struggled to achieve fame by engaging himself in extraordinary exploits which were much daring in contest and other heroic deeds. Hrothgar beheld the enormous arm of Grendel hanging from the steep roof of his great wall and praised Beowulf. Through this action, Beowulf earned fame throughout his kinship.Beowulf did everything that was possible to achieve fame. For instance, Beowulf was only looking for fame as he leaped into battle. He engaged himself in risk moments such as battles with the dragon with an aim of only gaining fame. He continually fought to gain more fame in his life. Despite the fact that Beowulf had fame, he kept fighting fruitfully in order to pr otect and keep his fame. He gave up his life only to receive fame for that particular minute. Nevertheless, during the fight with the dragon, Beowulf’s men ran away but he does not give up fighting and he remains alone (Breeden, 1).However, Beowulf died but his fame still remains up to date. Fame was highly desired and valued for the needs of the Anglo-Saxon’s crave to live forever. Beowulf was known as a very famous warrior and he achieved his fame when he sailed to the Danes to kill a monster who was murdering their people. During his fight with the dragon, he managed to kill Grendal, Grendal’s mother and a dragon. Every moment, he receives more fame and more glory. Fate in a person’s life occurs when that particular individual is often involved in a series of events that can lead to predictable death at some point or another.The main character in the poem Beowulf is very much moved by fate and it is this drive that they acknowledge his mortality as hum an a being. Despite the fact that the people had Christian or Pagans beliefs that may have been related to their individual view on fate, Beowulf seemed not to have any comportment on his conviction in fate. It is evidenced throughout the poem that, Beowulf fought evil demons with an aim of protecting his people (Breeden, 2). This generates a form of safety that would not have existed were it not for his great potency and audacity.In struggle to achieve fate as one main purpose in his life, Beowulf is involved in villainous dragon fight . This hero identified the fact that many of his actions are strongly ruled by his belief in fate and whatever might happen was meant to happen in his life. He controlled every move throughout his subjugations and victories. Beowulf predicted a likeness of himself in the warriors who have died in the wrath of the dragons. This is clearly evidenced during his speech with Hrothgar where he says that it is better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in b ereavement.He says that although his time may come to an end someday, his life will have been spent wisely fighting in battles, proclaiming his courage and living each day to his fullest latent. Beowulf achieved his fate when in a great fight is killed by the dragon and remained to be one of the greatest heroes. He dedicated his last breadth with an aim of saving his people from the ravages of a deadly monster. Beowulf lived in a feudal society as a warrior-king figure and he valued loyalty, strength and courage.Despite the fact that Beowulf never new the outcome of the fight with Grendel, he stated that fate goes ever fate and he had to fight with full strength to see the outcome. Additionally, he believed in the inevitability of fate. Beowulf’s society was ruled by kings and noblemen and therefore destiny was the most common indication of greatness in the society. It was mainly measured by investigating the heritage of a young man or a soldier. Beowulf’s fight with t he dragons and his dying words demonstrates his desire and much effort to achieve destiny as one of his main purpose in life.Beowulf was destined to take part in great acts of heroic magnitudes. The King Hrothgar recognized him as a man who was destined to be a great warrior in Denmark by the fact that the king knew his father (Breeden, 4). Therefore, Beowulf’s destiny is partly determined by his father’s accomplishment and bequest. The songs in the poem literally foreshadowed Beowulf’s predestined fate in life and battle. His dying words and wishes, for instance â€Å"fate swept us away, / sent my whole brave high-born clan/to their final doom/ now I must follow them† clearly show and explain how he was committed in the battle to achieve his destiny.His participation in the fight with the dragons shows how he believed his life is destined and fated to die during the fight so as to leave the terrestrial world and join the monarchy of the eternal. The grea t warrior always spoke of his death as his destiny. In the final moments of Beowulf’s life, there is a transition between the livings and finally eternal worlds transpire in the conqueror. Works Cited Breeden D. Beowulf. nd. Viewed, August 13 2010 from

Philosopher’s Argument from Contingency

The Argument from Contingency in the world of Philosophy falls from asking the question â€Å"is the Universe Contingent?†Ã‚   But how can we say that the universe does appear to be contingent?In layman’s term, contingent means when a particular thing exists for the basic reason of chance and possibilities. Some things are created and formulated by people for the necessity’s sake. It can or can not exist.However in philosophy, contingent things are being categorize exclusively from the creation of people, planet, galaxy and the universe as a whole where humans can not possibly create them. Contingent things are caused to exist by something or someone else. Something must have produced them. The argument from contingency is used by some philosophers as an attempt to discuss and prove the existence of God.In philosophy, the argument of contingency is correlated to the existence of God and whether the existence of the universe is caused by God. There are three premi ses in this argument.First premise says that everything exists has an explanation of its existence either in the necessity of its own nature or in an external cause. Relating to the first premise, the universe then has an explanation of its existence and that reason is God. Therefore the explanation of the universe’s existence is God which means God exists (William 2007).Philosophy also started from the journey of seeking whether the existence of the Universe had a beginning or a caused. In Aquinas attempt to explain the existence of God, he formulated the Quinque viae or five proofs for the existence of God.The basic premise of these five arguments is that something caused the universe to exist. One of the arguments created that will be discussed on this paper is the argument from contingency. In this argument, it simply says that the world must have a beginning and God is the first cause so He therefore exists. Ordinary people who have weak foundation and curiosity when it comes to faith may just easily believe in this kind of conclusion.However thinkers and believers will definitely see flaws from this argument which allotted some philosophers to discuss and dig deeper the concept of this argument. In the end, it was concluded by some philosophers that the argument from contingency is invalid proof for God’s existence.To better understand the Argument from Contingency of Aquinas, it is important to critically discuss it. Aquinas observed that in nature there are things whose existence is contingent, it can or can not exist. Since it is possible for such things not to exist, there must be some time at which such things did not in fact exist.Thus, on probabilistic grounds, there must have been a time when nothing existed. If that is so, there would exist nothing that could bring anything into existence. Thus contingent beings are insufficient to account for the existence of contingent beings, meaning there must exist a Necessary Being for which it is impossible not to exist, and from which the existence of all contingent beings is derived (Argument from Contingency†).In general, the first cause in this argument should not require a cause since the chain of cause and effects can not be of infinite length. Therefore, there must be a cause which is God that doesn’t necessarily have to be an effect.Hume treatment on the argument from the contingency is reflected on his â€Å"Dialogue Concerning Natural Religion, Part IX† through the dialogue of Demea and Cleanthes. Hume contended that when we speak of cause we mean an explanation for an event. If that is so, surely at best it remains an assumption that every event must have a cause; for no one has ever provided explanations for every event that has occurred (Tobin 2000).  Hume claimed that even if it can be proved that a necessary being existed, it still fell short of showing that God as traditionally conceived and described existed. All it shows is that there is a necessary being of some sort. Why, Hume asked, couldn’t the universe itself be the necessary being that the argument seeks to demonstrate? (â€Å"An Argument for the Contingency of the Universe†).The idea of Kant about the caused or the existence of God can be explored too. Kant pointed out that the principle of there being a cause for every event applies, especially the existence of the universe, is only known to us through the world of our sense experience. People are not even sure whether the rational way of humans’ thinking actually has reached the origins of causes and explanations. What we assume to be the first cause may just as well be due to our ignorance of the cause and explanation for it (Tobin 2000).In other words, even great thinkers can not be sure whether their sense of experience and reason already reach the idea of the caused. For Kant and Hume, the argument from Contingency is obviously invalid to prove the existence of God.Philosop her Samuel Clarke also had a version related to argument from Contingency of Aquinas. There are three premises in Samuel Clarke’s version of the cosmological argument.Clarke states that every being that exists or ever did exist is either a dependent being or a self- existent being. Like the argument from contingency, Clarke also believes that not every being can be a dependent being. Therefore, there must exist a self existent being that may or may have a cause. God exists according to Clarke but He exists as an independent being that has no cause.F.C. Copleston and Bertrand Russell’s debate on the existence of a ‘cause’ is one of the most famous and substantial argument from contingency in the contemporary world.Their debate about God’s existence in 1948 is the most enduring version and analysis about the existence of God. Copleston argues on behalf of the existence of God by reviewing and reweaving Aquinas’ argument of contingency.Russell o n the other hand gave three principal objections to the argument of contingency namely: the unreality of modality, the unreality of causation and the unreality of the world as a totality (Koons, 2000).F.C. Copleston starts out by saying that all beings and circumstances are contingent. These contingent beings must have a beginning and this beginning exists and is necessary for the existence of all other contingent beings. Copleston says, â€Å"Something does exist; therefore, there must be something which accounts for this fact, a being which is outside the series of contingent beings.†It means that contingent beings do not have a reason to exist without some beginning.   This leads to the concept of God being there who exist for the universe’s existence. In the debate, he also says that He is His own sufficient reason; and he is not a cause for Himself.Only contingent beings needs a cause but God as not contingent doesn’t need a cause. Copleston also conclude d that the existence of God is the only rational explanation to the people’s moral order of thinking. Thus, a person who loves goodness and who acknowledges moral rightness loves and acknowledges God (â€Å"A Debate on the Argument from Contingency 1948†).Bertrand Russell on the other hand, opposes Copleston on his view of the existence of God. He states that he does not agree with the suggestion of the word contingent and said it is a useless word unless it will be deeply analyzed.So the concept of a necessary being is even more senseless to him. He also does not think that the word universe has any in depth meaning of its own. Russell’s strongly claims that there is no overall cause for the things of this world just like the whole human race cannot have one mother.Russell’s overall claim as oppose to the argument from contingency is that â€Å"there is no overall cause for the things of this world. He claims that there is no overall reason or cause for the existence of the universe. The world exists in its own sake and its just there and no particular meaning or purpose of its own. In answering Copleston idea of moral code imposed to human beings, Russell said that the human judgment of right and wrong is just brought about by experience.Classic and contemporary philosophers gave different point of views on the Aquinas’s argument from contingency but until now despite the liberation of thoughts, no great thinker can fully prove the existence of God.One, either believer or non believer, will always ask the question if God exists where did God came from. This is the Kant’s idea that something beyond the universe can not be fully grasp by any kind of human thinking. As long as God does not revealed Himself personally and literally in this world, there will always be agnostic and sceptics about His existence.Works Cited Page:Craig, William. Subject 2007: Argument from Contingency. Reasonable Faithwith William Lane Craig .http://www.reasonablefaith.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5847Tobin Paul 2000, Thomas Aquinas and the Five Ways. The Rejection of  Pascal's Wager, A Skeptics Guide to Chistianityhttp://www.geocities.com/paulntobin/aquinas.html#2wayâ€Å"An Argument for the Contingency of the Universe† 2007. Undetached Rabbit  Parts. Western Michigan University. 2007http://wmuphilosophy.blogspot.com/â€Å"Argument from Contingency†. Encyclopedia.http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Argument- from-contingency#The_argument_from_contingencyTeuberr, Andreas 2008. â€Å"Four of Aquinas' Five Ways and Samuel Clarke'sVersion†. Cosmological Argument. Brandeis University. The President and Fellows of Harvard College.http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/philcosmo.htmlKoons, Robert 2000. Defeasible Reasoning, Special Pleading and the  Cosmological Argument. University of Texas.http://www.arn.org/docs/koons/rk_defeasible.htmâ€Å"A Debate on the Argument from Contingency of Fat her F.C. Copleston andBertrand Russell† 1948. Third Program of the British Broadcasting Corporation.http://www.catholicapologetics.info/catholicteaching/philosophy/conting.htm

Language change and Language contact Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Language change and Language contact - Essay Example The linguistic structure of any language is the pillar of dialect differentiation. That is vocabulary and grammar which is composed of the formation of words (morphology) and sentence structure (syntax). For instance, in Australia, Canada and US, the term corn is interpreted as maize. The same word means wheat and oats in England and Scotland respectively. A language code is a letter or a number for identifying different languages. They are useful in the organization of data for a particular language. Schemes use them to classify languages. In ISO 639‑1 for instance, the name of English is en and the name of Spanish language is es. In the 16th to 19th century, Europeans and non-Europeans interacted in other areas other than Europe. There various activities that led to these interactions such as colonization, plantation agriculture, mining and trade. Pidgin as a language, it developed as a means of communication between those groups. There were no native speakers as the users of the language used it only for their activities and they went back to their native languages for intrapersonal communication. When different cultures and languages come together, they combine their gestures, sounds and their words to form pidgin. In communication of people from different language backgrounds, there exist different gestures, different vocal patterns and speeches. For smooth communication, they have to adjust all of them according to their personal usage. Communication accommodation is practiced to reduce social differences. There are two processes that are involved in communication accommodation which are convergence and divergence accommodation (Fromkin & Hyams, 2014). Phonology is a part of language change and deals with how to sequence and structure the speech sounds. Different languages have different phonemes (speech sound). For instance, the sound ng in bang cannot be allowed to come in front of the word. In phonology

Dating in the Workplace is not Ethical Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Dating in the Workplace is not Ethical - Essay Example The reason being that â€Å"he had an affair with a female employee† which was not in agreement with the company’s Code of Conduct. The practice of dating happens much often in the workplace setting. People meet each other and get interested in each others’ lives and hobbies, and finally develop relationships. Workplaces are the offline social networks as opposed to the online social networks. Men and women get into contact and start seeing each other. Workplace happens to be a convenient place to go find a suitable person because an employee might not have extra time to spend somewhere else looking for one. However, working in a company does not necessarily mean that one is going to find his soul mate; instead, one is supposed to work toward the establishment of organizational goals and must not jump into relationships because honesty is rare. â€Å"Don’t dip your pen in the company ink!†, is an old saying Gardner quotes in his article. Experts adv ise employees not to date because there are many ethical issues related to it. There are cons of workplace dating that outweigh the pros. But the bitter reality is that employees will not stop dating each other. Let us now discuss the ethical considerations that come with the issue of workplace dating. Ethical Considerations Dr. ... But he decided to make it more than a professional relationship.† This means that although it is perfectly normal to develop a professional relationship between men and women at the workplace, yet it is not suitable by any means to make the relationship personal. Many companies even follow a Code of Conduct that all employees must have to abide by, which prohibits them to date at the workplace. Siegel further asserts that coworker relationships are not that much of an issue as hierarchical relationships like between a boss and a subordinate. When such a relationship develops, it is time for one of the two to quit the job because they are many ethical considerations that are being disturbed. Mixing of sex and power is not at all favorable for the reputation and success of the company in the long run. Sexual Harassment Although workplaces are great places for people to meet and develop relationships, yet an increase in the number of sexual harassment lawsuits warns employees not to develop hasty relationships through dating (Covey and Narvell 130). There are strict penalties for sexual harassment at work and reputed companies do not bear such employees. A male employee may be charged as a sexual harasser if, for example, he has been in a relationship with a female co-employee and after a break-up, still goes after her to patch things up. The latter may file a lawsuit against him for sexual harassment. Also, in case of hierarchical-based relationships, when a boss dates his secretary, for example, then it is not at all necessary that the relationship is mutually consented because there is element of power in it which cannot be ignored. Law will tend to protect the subordinate rather than the boss if at any point in time the former one files a

Social Marketing Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Social Marketing Plan - Essay Example So it is fair to say that the success of the company is not only in the number of customers but also in the use of social media (Drell, 2011, p. 123). Through adequate study on the impact of social media in marketing strategy, the company has formed its own guideline for controlling the interaction between the company and its customers. The Coca-Cola Company presence in social media is, therefore, incredibly vital in engaging its customers in the company’s operations and in facilitating constructive conversation between the company’s management and other stakeholders in the market (Coca-Cola, 2012, p. 37). The essay below therefore seeks to expound on the advantages and disadvantages of using social networking plan in Coca-Cola Marketing strategy. Coca-Cola brand is a highly valued brand in beverage and food industry. The brand is commonly known for its community involvement as well as its high sales in global market. On the other hand, to continue its dominance in glob al market, Coca-Cola Company has in the last two years actively involved itself in various social media platform. The company’s engagement in social media platform has as a result formed the bases for the company’s social marketing plan. ... In these two promotion strategies, the two teams were expected to use social media platforms such as YouTube Face-book and Twitter to identify what makes people happy in the world and to document the occurrences of the trip. Participants in the two activities used Face book and Twitter to express their experiences. The respondents’ comments were as posted in the Coca-Cola Face-book and Twitter pages Advantages To start with, the 2010 social marketing plans in Coca Cola Company proved to be very effective in the company’s internal and external operations. Internally, the use of social media tools triggered effective communication between the marketing team, communication department, and public relationship team (Katz, Blumler and Gurevitch, 2004, p. 509). Productive communication between the three teams led to the creation of an effective marketing strategy which has so far helped the Coca-Cola brand to be one of the most competitive products in global market. The compan y’s current marketing strategy has incorporated customers’ opinions and suggestions. The communication department has the mandate of updating the company’s social site and transferring the posted feedbacks to the department of public relation and marketing for action. Externally, the two promotion strategies were as well successful in linking the company to its customers. The two campaigns strategies helped the company contact more than 650 million customers in a span of 12 months. Most of the contacted customers created a very close link with the Coca-Cola brand thus advancing the brand reputation in global market. On the other hand, the two plans also demonstrated the involvement of

Empirical analysis of relationship between land prices and housing Research Proposal

Empirical analysis of relationship between land prices and housing prices in Shanghai - Research Proposal Example This study is therefore a relevant on study that will aim to bridge the gap in literature on the seemingly lack of empirical research on the relationship between land prices and housing prices in Shanghai. Where there is a correlation, the research will take the position that since land is non-expenditure consuming product, real estate companies can focus on reducing prices of land so that accessibility to housing can improve. Once this is done, there will be a two-way benefit whereby both housing providers and consumers will benefit because supply will increase with increasing demand. The proposed study aims to collect very credible first hand data about the relationship between land prices and prices of houses in Shanghai. In order to ensure that the data presented in the data are not merely based on speculation, a lot of emphasis will be placed on primary data collection, which will be conducted by the use of the case study research design. This means that the proposed methodology will be a quantitative research that identifies a unique case when a research setting, which will be critically studied through the collection of primary data from associated respondents. As part of the research topic, the case that will be studied during the primary data collection is the empirical relationship between prices of land and the prices of houses. The research setting shall be the Shanghai Real Estate Agency. The fact that the study will be a case study means that the data collection approach will be focused specifically on the research setting, which is real estate in Sh anghai rather than generalising data for the larger industry of real estate. Statistics from the Office of National Statistics indicates that there are over 500 registered real estate agencies in Shanghai (Eppen and Hanson, 2011). The population of the study shall however focus on the marketing officers of these estate agencies alone. But as indicated by Evan and Stabler (2005),

Administrator challenges Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Administrator challenges - Essay Example Discipline is a single word but it has lot of meanings i.e. order, control, arrangement and organization. It is a continuous process of training and educating ourselves to live under control of certain rules and regulations Gondal (1999). According to a poet (1976), life is the combination of a few elements under some ‘discipline’, and death is the indiscipline among these elements. Men live in a society which is governed by certain laws to keep the individuals in discipline. If the discipline is not maintained properly, the result will be chaos, anarchy, disturbance, and ultimately ruin. Thus a society can function peacefully only if its individuals are disciplined. Even an individual can’t make progress in life if he does not discipline himself. Law-breakers and undisciplined persons bring ruin not only to themselves but also to society Wallace (1987). The primary origin for any criminal justice system is the law of the society, and it plays an important role in a democratic society. The course of growth of law in a democratic society makes sure an evaluation of community permission for the law through approval expressed by the elected government. The whole criminal justice system in a country, thus, moves around the laws those are passed by the Union Parliament and State Legislatures. Police department comes at the phase as the main law enforcement authority available to the State. Being a police commissioner, it is my responsibility to administrate and control the discipline in the department. I faced lot of problems in this occupation. As the role of police in keeping public order have even greater restrictions especially in a democracy. Preservation of order involves a certain evaluations of peace and avoidance of violence of any kind. The typical features of the existing social structure in many countries are, inter-group disagreements on description of religions, language, caste,

Project Management for construction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Project Management for construction - Essay Example Failure of the management to provide safe and healthy working environment often leads to more accidents and diminished productivity, work slippage and significant delays which often results in losses. However, quality failures are not only attributable to human resource alone but may also be a result of poor material handling, including procurement, inventory control, shop fabrication and field servicing.1( Tersine, R.J. 1982) The use or the none use of new equipment may also be a factor for poor productivity. In some cases, the failure of the construction firm to adopt recent innovations in technology removes the company from the mainstream construction activities thereby reducing its competitiveness in terms of work speed and efficiency. With a strong technological base, there is no reason why the construction industry cannot catch up and reassert itself to meet competition wherever it may be. Individual design and/or construction firms must explore new ways to improve productivity for the future.2( Peurifoy, R.L. 1970) A site subcontractor who have been contracted by my company for so many years is currently having quality failures. During the previous years, the same subcontractor serviced our company without problems. However, in the past few years, this contractor have not be performing well. Several sites on which it is currently working on have been experiencing quality failures requiring re-works and causing significant delays. Based on initial reports, the subcontractor is experiencing poor productivity and high labour turnover in its site preliminaries team. They have had four team managers in the last four years and the team has twice walked off jobs during that period. Further reports state that the preliminaries team Head Office base is in two portakabins in the Head Office car park. As Head Investigator for a main contractor, I should

Module - Human Resource Mgt in Aviation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Module - Human Resource Mgt in Aviation - Essay Example But this approach ignores other factors that influence the behaviour of workers such as design and organization of work and employee relations. The second approach attaches great importance to the factors, actions and decisions affecting the organization-employee relationship and tries to satisfy all the stakeholders (management, shareholders, society, etc.). To achieve this it is necessary to develop the following basic policies: human resource flow, reward systems that satisfy all employees, influence the employees to take responsibility and efficient working systems. In WBSM approach it is necessary to take into account both the increasing complexity of the environment and the need to define the role of the Human Resources department due to the fact that the line managers get involved in the actual actions of the HRM department. Ultimately, the new trend is to link the personnel policies with the political objectives of the company, and to deal with the impact of strategic decisions in the administration of human resources and not simply to deal with operational problems. At the same time, the executives motivate and encourage so as everybody will dedicate themselves to the company and its objectives. A feature of the new trend is also the shift of the negotiation of union workers from the national level at the enterprise level and indeed the trend is, each worker to be treated separately in terms of working conditions and not en masse, as was common until recently. THE IMPORTANCE OF HUMAN RESOURCES FUNCTION It was reported earlier that the environment in which businesses operate is highly competitive and a business in order to survive must respond to new data. (globalization, new technologies, continuous effort to innovate, the collapse of economic borders, etc.). For businesses today, human resources can play a key role and create a sustainable competitive advantage for the them, provided the new strategy of Human Resource Management is based on the flexibility of working conditions, namely: the ability of workers to take up and carry out a wide range of responsibilities (operational flexibility) the possibility of different contract types (numerical flexibility), flexibility in working hours, and remuneration based on individual performance and skills of each employee (flexible payment). Naturally, the Human Resources Management follows a specific strategy having certain goals. The primary goal is to improve productivity through the solution of personnel problems, cooperation with executives and participation of them. In parallel, an effort to improve the quality of the workplace takes place, HRM ensures the firm complies with all conditions of the requirements of the legislative framework, and special importance is given to the efficient use of employees in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. The aim therefore is to provide flexible personnel that can and will have

Case Study 3 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

3 - Case Study Example This will cover the whole incident involving Brad Hutchinson. The cause and the circumstances of the incident will be highlighted. It is necessary to protect the reputation of the esteemed TV station. Additionally, the station personnel in the security department should help in investigating the incident in order to obtain substantial information to provide to the public. The incident has compromised the integrity standard, which every media employee should comply with all the time. The effect of this mundane act to the society is that the station will be associated with drug trafficking. The station usually condemns the vice of drug trafficking. This situation will compromise the moral stand of the station. The duty of care regulation for the media station has also been compromised because Hutchinson did not care to avoid criminal activities like indulgence in cocaine trafficking. This will imply that the station will file a case against him for his misdeeds. The other issue, which the station must contend with, is the connection of the station to drug trafficking because Hutchinson works like a WWES-TV station agent. In this regard, the station must engage its lawyer in order to establish the merits of the case and the evidence, which will corroborate the evidence of the police investigators. Pat Albright should be at the forefront in defending the name of WWES-TV station. Additionally, the station should fire Hutchinson immediately and seek another qualified news anchor to replace him. According to Berkman (2008), the station can outsource the news anchor from its peer TV stations or promote its employee to the position for a news anchor. Moreover, this move should be publicized in order to show the public that the station has a good employee disciplinary system. This incident will also erode all the strides the Hutchinson had made as a new anchor at the WWES-TV station. The incident will also affect the relationship of the TV station

Airport Security Recruitment

Airport Security Recruitment 1. Introduction The Recruitment of personnel is a very important task which in larger organizations is usually conducted by a Human Resource department or in smaller organizations by the responsible individual, either way it is very important to make the right decision in the selection process since mistakes can have catastrophic consequences for the organization. If the recruitment and selection process is poorly conducted meaning that the wrong candidate has been employed can result in long lasting damage caused by the employee. The employee could spoil relationships with customers and suppliers, negatively affect the production and the quality of service and even influence the commitment of colleges. In the extreme case mistakes in the recruitment and selection process could result in the bankruptcy of the company. (Dale, 2003) Due to the threat of criminal acts and terrorism imposed on air travel, companies in the aviation industry face many regulations which intend to regulate the effectiveness and contribute to the safety of air travel. Employees in this industry often operate very sensitive and expensive equipment therefore governments and Airport operators require employees to undergo a variety background checks to ensure, as good as possible, that the individual has no intention to misuse his privileges of employment for any criminal activity. Some countries even require background checks which include biometric data such as fingerprints and the scanning of facial features to verify the employees identity. (Wells Young 2004; Kenneth 1991) Companies are facing difficulties associated with criminal acts and terrorism. If an employee misuses his access to the secure area to commit a crime which can cost the lives of humans the employer could be sued for compensation as well negligent hire. In addition, in such a case, authorities might question the companies reliability and thoroughness and might put the company out of business. Customers might question the reliability and the quality of service provided which can easily lead to the failure of the business. not to mention ethical issues when it comes to the lives of people. Recruiters have to face such issues when searching for new employees. A mistake in the recruitment process can not only lead to the failure of the business but can also cost lives of human beings. 1.1 Research Questions This Thesis ojective is to: Examine which channels are being used for the recruitment of personnel in the secure area of airports? Find out if background checks are being conducted in excess of the Zuverlassigkeitsuberprufung required by law? And weather or not the mandatory background checks have an influence on the selection of the recruitment channels? 2 Setting the Scene 2.1 Airport Environment The airports are in many ways unique environments. Airlines transport passengers and cargo from and to nearly every part of the world. Thousands of passengers and tons of cargo need to be handled and processed as fast, effective and safe as possible. It is therefore very important to coordinate all ground handling procedures as effective as possible. Many Airlines have outsourced their ground handling to save costs. This led to the fact, that many firms offer ground services such as loading, boarding, check-in or catering as well as maintenance service and provide aircrews with briefing information and documentation needed to conduct their flights. Airports are home to not only airlines but as a result of the outsourcing of the various services airlines need, many businesses have developed, providing equal services that their customers request. Especially at major airports airlines can chose from a number of companies providing ground handling services. This leads to another special characteristic of the work at airports, since various companies provide their services and products for their customers (Airlines) working in a relatively small area. It is well possible that a companies biggest competitor is located just next door and both their employees share the same facilities such as dining rooms etc. 2.2 Different Areas at airport According to Wells Young (2004) the Airport premises can be categorized into 6 areas. The public area of an airport is freely accessible for everyone. This area usually includes parking lots, terminal lobbies, Check-in areas, Passenger pick up areas and the curb frontage. The air operations area (AOA) is defined as all areas where aircraft movement takes place including taxiways, runways and aircraft parking areas. The area where movement of passengers ,baggage or cargo between aircrafts and the Terminal building take place is referred to as the secure area. The sterile area can be accessed by passing the passenger checkpoints. Therefore this area is accessible for the public but each individual and his or hers property will be inspected by security personnel. This area includes duty free shops, restaurants etc and boarding areas. SIDA is short for security identification display area and defines the area within which all persons must display the required identification or be accompanied by an authorized individual. Usually the SIDA includes the air operation area as well as the secure area. 2.2 Threat of criminal activity and Terrorism Terrorism is defined by the US Department of Defense as the unlawful use of or threatened use of force or violence against individuals or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious, or ideological objectives (Martin 2006). Furthermore does Criminal activity include acts of assault, theft, and vandalism against passengers and their property, aircraft, and all airport facilities (Wells Young 2004). The first act associated with terrorism occurred in 1930 when Peruvian revolutionaries took over the control of an Pan American mail plane with the intention to drop propaganda leaflets over Lima (US Centennial of Flight Commission). In the five years between 1968 and 1972 acts of terrorism in the form of hijacking were at its peak. During that time the U.S. Department of Transportation recorded 364 Hijackings worldwide. In recent history terrorism has taken an even more threatening shape. On September 11th 2001 four commercial airliners were hijacked of which three were intentionally piloted into the two Towers of the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon (Security Council, 2001). The Hijackers managed to take weapons through the passenger security check points and onto the aircrafts. As a result of these horrible attacks almost 3000 people, mostly civilians lost their lives. (CNN, 2006) These attacks clearly show what effect a breach in security can have. With over a thousand flights a day transporting approximately 45 million passengers per year, JFK International Airport in New York is one of the busiest in the world. In June 2007 four individuals have been charged with conspiring to attack the JFK International Airport in New York. Their intention was to bomb the Terminal building, the jet fuel reservoirs and a fuel pipeline. The four individuals belonged to an extremist group based in Trinidad. One of them is a former JFK Airport employee who worked for a cargo Handling company with access to the secure area of the airport. Different law enforcement agencies have observed these men and seven additional individuals who they believed to be compliances for a period of 18 months. Fortunately this suspected terrorist plot was at an early stage of planning their attacks and were stopped early enough. (CBS) This case is a clear example of how legal employment and its privileges can be misused for criminal activity and terrorist acts. The Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA) was signed resulting from the attacks on September 11, 2001 which implemented the creation of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the USA. Its objective was and still is together with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to increase airport and aviation security. Their work and changes in restrictions and safety recommendation have also affected Air Transportation in many other countries such as all over Europe (Wells Young 2004). As the previous examples show, terrorism is a realistic and constantly present threat which Aviation security has to deal with. 2.4 Problems of airport regulatory policies All airport operations are subject to national, state and local laws. Since these laws can vary within countries and regions it affects the airport operations respectively (Wells Young 2004). In addition, many organisation have formed over the past decades that influence airport policies to a local and even international extend. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was born in 1967 but has existed in a different form since 1933. Its purpose is to improve the safety and efficiency of aviation primarily in the United States but its restrictions and recommendations influence Air travel on a worldwide basis (Federal Aviation Administration). The body of the Joint Aviation Authorities represents the aviation authorities of the European States and was founded in 1970, originally named Joint Airworthiness Authorities and received its current name in 1990. Its objectives are similar to those of the FAA with an emphasise on International Standardisation and a tighter co-operation with the FAA as well as the ensuring of fair and equal conduct of business in the industry (Joint Aviation Authorities). The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) was established 1944 with the objective to enhance the cooperation between member states. Its major concerns are the regulation of technical issues such as navigational rules. The ICAO currently counts 190 members (International Civil Aviation Organisation). Even though aviation including airport operations underlies the laws of each country individually the organisations mentioned above have a great influence on the day to day operations civil aviation and determine to a large degree how all aviation related processes are conducted. 3 Literature Review Definitions Recruitment is defined as the set of activities and processes used to legally obtain a  sufficient number of qualified people at the right place and time so that the people and the  organisation can select each other in their own best short and long term interests (Schuler Randall 1987). Recruitment is defined as the Process of identifying the best-qualified candidate from within or outside of an organization for a job vacancy, in a most timely and cost effective manner(Businessdictionary.com). The process of Selection which is often integrated in the Recruitment process is the action of choosing suitable candidates from among the potential candidates previously determined (The Times 100). 3.1 Range of Recruitment Channels: 3.1.1 Introduction When an organization is in need of employees it has different recruitment channels available. In general one has to differentiate between internal and external recruitment of personnel. The following describes the mostly used recruitment channels available to most organization to fill an open post. 3.2 Internal Recruitment Internal recruitment is the promotion of a job vacancy inside the organization. This channel of recruitment can take the shape of posting the job vacancy in the company or transferal of existing personnel. (Dessler 2000) There is a range of advantages associated with internal recruitment. In the case of promotion the job applicant is already known to the organization and the management is in most cases aware of his abilities and skills. Furthermore it is usually easier to train staff which has been working in the company before because of the familiarity to the companies` environment and its day to day operations. In addition, transferring existing personnel is cheaper and less time consuming than the recruitment through external sources and the transferal can increase the motivation of the employee which in return results in an increase in the quality of performance of the respective employee. Disadvantages associated with internal recruitment could be that due to a limited quantity of employees the organization might be unable to find a suitable candidate for promotion. Another problem can occur if through promotion of existing personnel the initial position becomes vacant and personnel is missing at another level in the organization. (Richardson 2006) 3.3 External Recruitment External Recruitment can either be formal or informal. Formal recruitment channels have the characteristic that the recruiting company and the applicant have no previous connection. Examples for external, formal recruitment are advertisements in newspapers Journals or magazines as well as Temporary work agencies and Recruitment Agencies along with Recruitment Fairs. (Richardson 2006) Informal Recruitment on the other hand does not reach as much potential applicants as the formal way. The employer usually has knowledge of the applicant as in the case of re-hiring former employees or in the case of a referral from a current employee.(Richardson 2006) 3.3.1 Print media: When recruiters choose print media to advertise a job vacancy they have the option to choose between local or national newspapers or Trade and Professional journals. Each of the ones mentioned above usually tend to have certain advantages and disadvantages depending on the advertised job. Ads being places in local newspapers tend to be cheaper than in the local press but on the other hand national newspapers therefore have higher circulation and cover a wider geographical area than local newspapers. Newspapers often tend to attract elderly people because of their relative unfamiliarity with the internet as an alternative resource, therefore newspapers often display advertisements for senior positions (Dale, 2003; Roberts, 2000). If a company intends to attract applicants with specific skills or knowledge placing the ad in a specialist periodical or trade journal seems appropriate since these journals are more likely to be read by individuals with the respective professional background which helps to target the intended group of people (Roberts, 2000). 3.3.2 Word of mouth recruitment According to Dale (2003) who is supported by Cook (1988) claims that many employees get into touch with other employees and after their dismissal from the company they remain in touch with their former colleagues due to same job interest or for other reasons, this gives employers the chance to recruit personal from this source. If a current employee becomes aware of a job vacancy within the company, he might forward this information to former colleagues he has worked with in the past. This applies to the recruitment of personnel for all hierarchical levels within organizations. A major advantage when using this channel is that the promoted colleague (applicant) has often worked in the industry before and matches the advertised criteria pretty well and the costs of using this channel are very low for the company compared to other channels. 3.3.3 Internet The use of the internet to recruit personnel has increased tremendously when compared to the time ten years ago. The advantages seem obvious as the recruiters can reach potential applicants almost world-wide. In addition the submission of applications via internet is faster than via mail and can save the company and the applicant money. Companies who advertise job vacancies online might on the other hand experience an excess amount of applications of people who do not match the published criteria but still submit their application because the cost of application is low (Dale, 2003). In addition companies received many applications which did not meet basic requirements and contained too many spelling mistakes or were formally unacceptable. According to a research by the IT services firm Parity has revealed that from 2001 and 2004 companies in the UK have pulled out of online advertising due to the relatively large portion of unsuitable applications while an increasing number of people is using the internet to search for job vacancies.Implementation of a certain software could overcome this problem. Companies might consider using online testing before the application is being submitted or simply use CV scanning software to filter applications that that do not meet minimum criteria posted by the advertising company (Amble 2004). 3.3.4 Recruitment Agencies Using an agency to recruit personnel can have many advantages. Recruitment agencies usually have a high competency in placing advertisements for job vacancies in different media. Due to the high frequency of placing such ads these agencies acquire higher discounts which are often passed on to the customer (companies in search for employees). Due to their technical expertise and experience in describing the vacant position along with the requirements for the job applicant, recruitment agencies are able to achieve a relatively high response rate from applicants and minimize the portion of unsuitable and unwanted applications.(Roberts 2000) 3.3.5 Head Hunting Recruitment Agencies often specialize in Head Hunting as a channel to recruit personnel for their customers. HeadHunting can be understood as the act of approaching a current employee directly and convincing him or her to work for another employer. This is a commonly used technique when companies are in need of special personnel with skills higher than average. (BNET) According to Maurice Ellett, director of Signum Executive Search International and Don Jaine, director of Swann Group, Headhunting is very useful when a company is in need of executive employees. This group of employees are relatively hard to find and very hard to access through the different ways of advertising a vacant position since currently employed executives often do not respond to ads placed in newspapers or trade journals and will most likely not be found on internet job search sites. (Prattley 2007) Campbell Hepburn, the acting general manager for Hudson Recruitments Wellington agency disagrees by claiming that companies need to consider every possibly way to advertise for a job vacancy even if a high profile candidate is needed. That would include newspapers, trade journals the internet etc. Hepburn additionally sees an ethical problem in the fact that many recruitment agencies contact individuals who are currently working for their own clients. Once an individual has been successfully recruited it is easier to keep track of his performances and re- recruit him afterwards. Therefore most search consultants in that industry do not recruit personnel from previous clients for a limited period of time. Additionally the restraint of trade clauses in many employee contracts prohibit an employee to work for a competitor for a certain period of time after his previous contract has been terminated. (Prattley 2007) Head hunting can be a very useful way to recruit appropriate personnel but as stated above, can have a downside if the head hunting agency turns toward previous clients to recruit for other clients. 3.3.6 Recruitment Fairs Recruitment Fairs are organized events intending to bring employers and job seekers together. These fairs often take place to freshly graduated college students to make initial contact with a company they are aiming to work for. Furthermore companies have a chance to present themselves in terms of their products, environment or future outlooks of the industry etc. Often these events are designed for companies of a certain industry to better match the demands for applicants and employers. Disadvantages could be the relatively expensive and time consuming set up as well as the fact that the applicant does not experience the real environment that the company is working in. But all in all Recruitment fairs offer a great opportunity for both sides, recruiters and job seekers, to arrange further meetings and interviews. 3.3.7 Temporary work agencies Making use of temporary work agencies is a way outsourcing the recruitment. The workforce usually has a contractual relationship with the agency and if a client is in need of employees the agency provides them for it. (Mehta Theodore 2003) This form of accessing workforce has grown to a huge industry in recent history as in the USA from 1993 to 2000 the demand for temporary workers has increased by over 90 %. (Brogan 2001) Van der Heijden (1995; cited in Koene et al.(2004)) claims and is supported by Timmerhuis and De Lange (1998; cited in Koene et al (2004)) that the main reasons for companies to acquire temporary workforce are due to seasonal fluctuations, unexpected peaks, economic cycles or simply if a temporary replacement is needed for a permanent employee. According to Segall and Sullivan (1997) temporary workers in return have to suffer from certain disadvantages compared to a permanent employment. Temporary workers usually have less labor market security than permanent workers and are more prone to possible unemployment and even the wage is in average 20 % below those of permanent employees. The results is supported by an analysis conducted by the OECD in 2002 on 28 states that temporary work is most likely found in positions of rather unskilled labour as well as administrative staff and medical labour exercising rather lower skilled tasks. (OECD, 2002 cited in Koene et al (2004)) 3.4 Pre employment screening 3.4.1 Introduction Robert Woodman, president and founder of Berkeley International Intelligence Inc., a business investigation company highly recommends to conduct intensive screening of applicants before they are being employed. Referring to an example in which a Toronto based non profit organization which operated retirement and nursing homes employed a new director to raise funds for a new project. The director shortly after employment submitted false pledge certificates with forged signatures and additionally turned in numerous bills for her expenses including expensive Hotel-, restaurant- and even limousine service bills. As company investigators accused her of fraud she disappeared shortly after but was arrested and convicted for several counts of fraud and received a four-year prison sentence. Since most of the money she gained was already spend, she will not be able to pay back the full amount. Further investigation into the directors past revealed that she was not properly screened before being employed. A background check would have revealed that she has committed similar crimes and caused damage to three previous employers. (Woodman 2006) Benoff (1989) and Brennan (1997) give more example of employees without background checks, committing crimes at work where at the end the employer was being sued and found guilty of negligent hiring. Personnel is a very important asset in every company. The recruitment process is time consuming and can be very expensive. But companies can not risk to make poor decisions in this process since employing the wrong personnel can make the difference between success and failure of a business since companies can be held responsible for their employees. (Lam Kleiner 2001) Background checks can be expensive but the cost associated with bad performances, theft of assets or confidential information as well as the costs associated with possible law suits is much higher. (Norred 1993) Companies basically have two options to collect the data needed. Either they investigate an applicant by implementing their own employment security department (internal) or companies can contact professional employee screening companies to collect the date for them (externally). 3.4.2 Employer References To inquire information about a job applicant from a previous employer is a useful way of verifying the authenticity of information provided by the applicant. The problem associated with this method is that there might be a number of employers who do not give any information at all, often because of the fear of being sued for invasion of privacy by the former employee and if they do, the information might be very basic. But in general it is recommended since the new employer can learn about some ones employment dates, job titles and responsibilities of the tasks performed by the former employee as well as get information about working habits which are often very valuable. (Lam Kleiner 2001) 3.4.3 Academic References To check academic references is fairly easy, the employer can ask the applicant provide proof or just request information from the institution the applicant has stated. (Doty-Navarro Kleiner) This seems to be highly recommended especially if a company is recruiting to fill a vacancy which required certain skills and knowledge such as a special education since people tend to make more false statements about their academic references than over previous employment references. Therefore companies should be aware of the authenticity of an applicants academic background. (Kaiser-Lee 1995) 3.4.4 Credit Records If an employee is in contact with company money or other valuable goods it is recommended to run a credit history check which comes in the form of a credit report and can obtained through credit agencies. Credit Reports contain information about bankruptcies, legal judgments, tax liens, credit card balances as well as child support obligations. Credit reports can give a rough idea about the financial situation of an individual and can help to evaluate the risk of the employee committing theft (Doty-Navarro Kleiner 2000). 3.4.5 Driving Record If the employee operates a company vehicle, a driving record should be obtained in advance. The employer is obliged to verify that the person operating the vehicle is legally certified by asking to present the driver license. If the employer fails to comply, the company will be liable for all the damage the employee has caused with the company vehicle. Driving records can be requested through governmental bureaus and contain data such as traffic violations as well as other driving related offences such as if the driving privileges were suspended. (Steingold 1994) 3.4.6 Criminal Records According to (Doty-Navarro Kleiner 2000) the need for running a criminal record check is very important if the future employee will deal with sensitive and valuable assets for example driving a company car or having access to cash registers. They also emphasize on the urgency to perform a criminal record check to avoid law suits for negligent hire by customers in case the employee gets involved in criminal activity during his employment. But there are certain difficulties associated with the completeness of these records. Odom (1995) points out certain limitations such as the limited accessibility of criminal record databases. He also claims that different courts, depending on their geographic and legal jurisdiction do not report to the same databases and some courts do not have to report to a database at all. The conclusion is that criminal databases are everything but complete and investigators, internal or external, sometimes have to go through intensive investigation to get an authentic result. 3.4.7 External employee screening Companies performing background checks serving other companies from different industries have soared in the US in recent past. According to Terhune (2008) the biggest US companies in the business are Choicepoint (Alpharette, GA) serving Wal Mart and UPS among others, USIS (Falls Church, VA) serving Federal agencies along with Transportation companies, First Advantage (Powey, GA) , providing services to companies in the manufacturing and financial sectors. These companies business is to screen people in every legal way possible. (Terhune 2008) The services they provide include the checking of criminal records, driving records, credit histories (including bankruptcy filings, tax liens, legal judgments and lawsuits), as well as investigative consumer reports which contains information gathered through interviews with friends, neighbors, former co-worker and in some cases even family members with the aim to reveal data about some ones personality. (McGreevy 2007) Since the major employee screening companies conduct their background checks specialising on only few industries, providing their information to even bigger companies on a regular basis, they even maintain their own or shared databases containing information about individuals who have worked in the respective industry before. These databases include statements of previous employers about individuals such as the reason of dismissal and even accusations of criminal acts without legal proof from a court. (Terhune 2008) This practically means that individuals seeking jobs can be accused of having conducted a criminal act in the past even though they have not been convicted for a crime by a court of law. Terhune (2008) emphasises this matter with an example of Truck driver who was employed by Marten Transport based in Mondovi, Wisconsin. He was dismissed from the company after only two weeks as a result of his numerous complaints about the safety of the truck he was driving. He sued Marten Transport and was awarded with over 31.000 US Dollars in back pay. In addition, the judge ordered Marten Transport to remove any unfavourable work record information from a database named DAC which is maintained by USIS. As he shortly after his dismissal from Marten Transport re-applied for a job at J.B. Hunt Services, his application was denied due to his DAC record stating that he was dismissed due to excessive complaints. (Terhune 2008) furthermore refers to a comment to this example by Kristen Turley, the director of market development and communications at USIS who claims that their system (as used in regards to the DAC database) contains mistakes and in the case of false information being sub mitted USIS would require proof from the previous employer to undermine his accusations. USIS does not ask for proof up front since their belief is that this would hold past employers from submitting information in the first place. 3.4.8 Background checks required by law To access the secure area of an airport all individuals whom is granted access on a regular basis (excluding passengers) need to be issued an SIDA badge. Before the SIDA badge is issued the German law requires background checks. According to .7 of the German Aviation Security Act (Luftsicherheitsgesetz) the German Department of Aviation Security (Luftsicherheitsbehorde), whos purpose is to serve the safety and security of Air Transportation, has to conduct a Background check on authorized staff, the so called Zu Airport Security Recruitment Airport Security Recruitment 1. Introduction The Recruitment of personnel is a very important task which in larger organizations is usually conducted by a Human Resource department or in smaller organizations by the responsible individual, either way it is very important to make the right decision in the selection process since mistakes can have catastrophic consequences for the organization. If the recruitment and selection process is poorly conducted meaning that the wrong candidate has been employed can result in long lasting damage caused by the employee. The employee could spoil relationships with customers and suppliers, negatively affect the production and the quality of service and even influence the commitment of colleges. In the extreme case mistakes in the recruitment and selection process could result in the bankruptcy of the company. (Dale, 2003) Due to the threat of criminal acts and terrorism imposed on air travel, companies in the aviation industry face many regulations which intend to regulate the effectiveness and contribute to the safety of air travel. Employees in this industry often operate very sensitive and expensive equipment therefore governments and Airport operators require employees to undergo a variety background checks to ensure, as good as possible, that the individual has no intention to misuse his privileges of employment for any criminal activity. Some countries even require background checks which include biometric data such as fingerprints and the scanning of facial features to verify the employees identity. (Wells Young 2004; Kenneth 1991) Companies are facing difficulties associated with criminal acts and terrorism. If an employee misuses his access to the secure area to commit a crime which can cost the lives of humans the employer could be sued for compensation as well negligent hire. In addition, in such a case, authorities might question the companies reliability and thoroughness and might put the company out of business. Customers might question the reliability and the quality of service provided which can easily lead to the failure of the business. not to mention ethical issues when it comes to the lives of people. Recruiters have to face such issues when searching for new employees. A mistake in the recruitment process can not only lead to the failure of the business but can also cost lives of human beings. 1.1 Research Questions This Thesis ojective is to: Examine which channels are being used for the recruitment of personnel in the secure area of airports? Find out if background checks are being conducted in excess of the Zuverlassigkeitsuberprufung required by law? And weather or not the mandatory background checks have an influence on the selection of the recruitment channels? 2 Setting the Scene 2.1 Airport Environment The airports are in many ways unique environments. Airlines transport passengers and cargo from and to nearly every part of the world. Thousands of passengers and tons of cargo need to be handled and processed as fast, effective and safe as possible. It is therefore very important to coordinate all ground handling procedures as effective as possible. Many Airlines have outsourced their ground handling to save costs. This led to the fact, that many firms offer ground services such as loading, boarding, check-in or catering as well as maintenance service and provide aircrews with briefing information and documentation needed to conduct their flights. Airports are home to not only airlines but as a result of the outsourcing of the various services airlines need, many businesses have developed, providing equal services that their customers request. Especially at major airports airlines can chose from a number of companies providing ground handling services. This leads to another special characteristic of the work at airports, since various companies provide their services and products for their customers (Airlines) working in a relatively small area. It is well possible that a companies biggest competitor is located just next door and both their employees share the same facilities such as dining rooms etc. 2.2 Different Areas at airport According to Wells Young (2004) the Airport premises can be categorized into 6 areas. The public area of an airport is freely accessible for everyone. This area usually includes parking lots, terminal lobbies, Check-in areas, Passenger pick up areas and the curb frontage. The air operations area (AOA) is defined as all areas where aircraft movement takes place including taxiways, runways and aircraft parking areas. The area where movement of passengers ,baggage or cargo between aircrafts and the Terminal building take place is referred to as the secure area. The sterile area can be accessed by passing the passenger checkpoints. Therefore this area is accessible for the public but each individual and his or hers property will be inspected by security personnel. This area includes duty free shops, restaurants etc and boarding areas. SIDA is short for security identification display area and defines the area within which all persons must display the required identification or be accompanied by an authorized individual. Usually the SIDA includes the air operation area as well as the secure area. 2.2 Threat of criminal activity and Terrorism Terrorism is defined by the US Department of Defense as the unlawful use of or threatened use of force or violence against individuals or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious, or ideological objectives (Martin 2006). Furthermore does Criminal activity include acts of assault, theft, and vandalism against passengers and their property, aircraft, and all airport facilities (Wells Young 2004). The first act associated with terrorism occurred in 1930 when Peruvian revolutionaries took over the control of an Pan American mail plane with the intention to drop propaganda leaflets over Lima (US Centennial of Flight Commission). In the five years between 1968 and 1972 acts of terrorism in the form of hijacking were at its peak. During that time the U.S. Department of Transportation recorded 364 Hijackings worldwide. In recent history terrorism has taken an even more threatening shape. On September 11th 2001 four commercial airliners were hijacked of which three were intentionally piloted into the two Towers of the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon (Security Council, 2001). The Hijackers managed to take weapons through the passenger security check points and onto the aircrafts. As a result of these horrible attacks almost 3000 people, mostly civilians lost their lives. (CNN, 2006) These attacks clearly show what effect a breach in security can have. With over a thousand flights a day transporting approximately 45 million passengers per year, JFK International Airport in New York is one of the busiest in the world. In June 2007 four individuals have been charged with conspiring to attack the JFK International Airport in New York. Their intention was to bomb the Terminal building, the jet fuel reservoirs and a fuel pipeline. The four individuals belonged to an extremist group based in Trinidad. One of them is a former JFK Airport employee who worked for a cargo Handling company with access to the secure area of the airport. Different law enforcement agencies have observed these men and seven additional individuals who they believed to be compliances for a period of 18 months. Fortunately this suspected terrorist plot was at an early stage of planning their attacks and were stopped early enough. (CBS) This case is a clear example of how legal employment and its privileges can be misused for criminal activity and terrorist acts. The Aviation and Transportation Security Act (ATSA) was signed resulting from the attacks on September 11, 2001 which implemented the creation of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the USA. Its objective was and still is together with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to increase airport and aviation security. Their work and changes in restrictions and safety recommendation have also affected Air Transportation in many other countries such as all over Europe (Wells Young 2004). As the previous examples show, terrorism is a realistic and constantly present threat which Aviation security has to deal with. 2.4 Problems of airport regulatory policies All airport operations are subject to national, state and local laws. Since these laws can vary within countries and regions it affects the airport operations respectively (Wells Young 2004). In addition, many organisation have formed over the past decades that influence airport policies to a local and even international extend. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was born in 1967 but has existed in a different form since 1933. Its purpose is to improve the safety and efficiency of aviation primarily in the United States but its restrictions and recommendations influence Air travel on a worldwide basis (Federal Aviation Administration). The body of the Joint Aviation Authorities represents the aviation authorities of the European States and was founded in 1970, originally named Joint Airworthiness Authorities and received its current name in 1990. Its objectives are similar to those of the FAA with an emphasise on International Standardisation and a tighter co-operation with the FAA as well as the ensuring of fair and equal conduct of business in the industry (Joint Aviation Authorities). The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) was established 1944 with the objective to enhance the cooperation between member states. Its major concerns are the regulation of technical issues such as navigational rules. The ICAO currently counts 190 members (International Civil Aviation Organisation). Even though aviation including airport operations underlies the laws of each country individually the organisations mentioned above have a great influence on the day to day operations civil aviation and determine to a large degree how all aviation related processes are conducted. 3 Literature Review Definitions Recruitment is defined as the set of activities and processes used to legally obtain a  sufficient number of qualified people at the right place and time so that the people and the  organisation can select each other in their own best short and long term interests (Schuler Randall 1987). Recruitment is defined as the Process of identifying the best-qualified candidate from within or outside of an organization for a job vacancy, in a most timely and cost effective manner(Businessdictionary.com). The process of Selection which is often integrated in the Recruitment process is the action of choosing suitable candidates from among the potential candidates previously determined (The Times 100). 3.1 Range of Recruitment Channels: 3.1.1 Introduction When an organization is in need of employees it has different recruitment channels available. In general one has to differentiate between internal and external recruitment of personnel. The following describes the mostly used recruitment channels available to most organization to fill an open post. 3.2 Internal Recruitment Internal recruitment is the promotion of a job vacancy inside the organization. This channel of recruitment can take the shape of posting the job vacancy in the company or transferal of existing personnel. (Dessler 2000) There is a range of advantages associated with internal recruitment. In the case of promotion the job applicant is already known to the organization and the management is in most cases aware of his abilities and skills. Furthermore it is usually easier to train staff which has been working in the company before because of the familiarity to the companies` environment and its day to day operations. In addition, transferring existing personnel is cheaper and less time consuming than the recruitment through external sources and the transferal can increase the motivation of the employee which in return results in an increase in the quality of performance of the respective employee. Disadvantages associated with internal recruitment could be that due to a limited quantity of employees the organization might be unable to find a suitable candidate for promotion. Another problem can occur if through promotion of existing personnel the initial position becomes vacant and personnel is missing at another level in the organization. (Richardson 2006) 3.3 External Recruitment External Recruitment can either be formal or informal. Formal recruitment channels have the characteristic that the recruiting company and the applicant have no previous connection. Examples for external, formal recruitment are advertisements in newspapers Journals or magazines as well as Temporary work agencies and Recruitment Agencies along with Recruitment Fairs. (Richardson 2006) Informal Recruitment on the other hand does not reach as much potential applicants as the formal way. The employer usually has knowledge of the applicant as in the case of re-hiring former employees or in the case of a referral from a current employee.(Richardson 2006) 3.3.1 Print media: When recruiters choose print media to advertise a job vacancy they have the option to choose between local or national newspapers or Trade and Professional journals. Each of the ones mentioned above usually tend to have certain advantages and disadvantages depending on the advertised job. Ads being places in local newspapers tend to be cheaper than in the local press but on the other hand national newspapers therefore have higher circulation and cover a wider geographical area than local newspapers. Newspapers often tend to attract elderly people because of their relative unfamiliarity with the internet as an alternative resource, therefore newspapers often display advertisements for senior positions (Dale, 2003; Roberts, 2000). If a company intends to attract applicants with specific skills or knowledge placing the ad in a specialist periodical or trade journal seems appropriate since these journals are more likely to be read by individuals with the respective professional background which helps to target the intended group of people (Roberts, 2000). 3.3.2 Word of mouth recruitment According to Dale (2003) who is supported by Cook (1988) claims that many employees get into touch with other employees and after their dismissal from the company they remain in touch with their former colleagues due to same job interest or for other reasons, this gives employers the chance to recruit personal from this source. If a current employee becomes aware of a job vacancy within the company, he might forward this information to former colleagues he has worked with in the past. This applies to the recruitment of personnel for all hierarchical levels within organizations. A major advantage when using this channel is that the promoted colleague (applicant) has often worked in the industry before and matches the advertised criteria pretty well and the costs of using this channel are very low for the company compared to other channels. 3.3.3 Internet The use of the internet to recruit personnel has increased tremendously when compared to the time ten years ago. The advantages seem obvious as the recruiters can reach potential applicants almost world-wide. In addition the submission of applications via internet is faster than via mail and can save the company and the applicant money. Companies who advertise job vacancies online might on the other hand experience an excess amount of applications of people who do not match the published criteria but still submit their application because the cost of application is low (Dale, 2003). In addition companies received many applications which did not meet basic requirements and contained too many spelling mistakes or were formally unacceptable. According to a research by the IT services firm Parity has revealed that from 2001 and 2004 companies in the UK have pulled out of online advertising due to the relatively large portion of unsuitable applications while an increasing number of people is using the internet to search for job vacancies.Implementation of a certain software could overcome this problem. Companies might consider using online testing before the application is being submitted or simply use CV scanning software to filter applications that that do not meet minimum criteria posted by the advertising company (Amble 2004). 3.3.4 Recruitment Agencies Using an agency to recruit personnel can have many advantages. Recruitment agencies usually have a high competency in placing advertisements for job vacancies in different media. Due to the high frequency of placing such ads these agencies acquire higher discounts which are often passed on to the customer (companies in search for employees). Due to their technical expertise and experience in describing the vacant position along with the requirements for the job applicant, recruitment agencies are able to achieve a relatively high response rate from applicants and minimize the portion of unsuitable and unwanted applications.(Roberts 2000) 3.3.5 Head Hunting Recruitment Agencies often specialize in Head Hunting as a channel to recruit personnel for their customers. HeadHunting can be understood as the act of approaching a current employee directly and convincing him or her to work for another employer. This is a commonly used technique when companies are in need of special personnel with skills higher than average. (BNET) According to Maurice Ellett, director of Signum Executive Search International and Don Jaine, director of Swann Group, Headhunting is very useful when a company is in need of executive employees. This group of employees are relatively hard to find and very hard to access through the different ways of advertising a vacant position since currently employed executives often do not respond to ads placed in newspapers or trade journals and will most likely not be found on internet job search sites. (Prattley 2007) Campbell Hepburn, the acting general manager for Hudson Recruitments Wellington agency disagrees by claiming that companies need to consider every possibly way to advertise for a job vacancy even if a high profile candidate is needed. That would include newspapers, trade journals the internet etc. Hepburn additionally sees an ethical problem in the fact that many recruitment agencies contact individuals who are currently working for their own clients. Once an individual has been successfully recruited it is easier to keep track of his performances and re- recruit him afterwards. Therefore most search consultants in that industry do not recruit personnel from previous clients for a limited period of time. Additionally the restraint of trade clauses in many employee contracts prohibit an employee to work for a competitor for a certain period of time after his previous contract has been terminated. (Prattley 2007) Head hunting can be a very useful way to recruit appropriate personnel but as stated above, can have a downside if the head hunting agency turns toward previous clients to recruit for other clients. 3.3.6 Recruitment Fairs Recruitment Fairs are organized events intending to bring employers and job seekers together. These fairs often take place to freshly graduated college students to make initial contact with a company they are aiming to work for. Furthermore companies have a chance to present themselves in terms of their products, environment or future outlooks of the industry etc. Often these events are designed for companies of a certain industry to better match the demands for applicants and employers. Disadvantages could be the relatively expensive and time consuming set up as well as the fact that the applicant does not experience the real environment that the company is working in. But all in all Recruitment fairs offer a great opportunity for both sides, recruiters and job seekers, to arrange further meetings and interviews. 3.3.7 Temporary work agencies Making use of temporary work agencies is a way outsourcing the recruitment. The workforce usually has a contractual relationship with the agency and if a client is in need of employees the agency provides them for it. (Mehta Theodore 2003) This form of accessing workforce has grown to a huge industry in recent history as in the USA from 1993 to 2000 the demand for temporary workers has increased by over 90 %. (Brogan 2001) Van der Heijden (1995; cited in Koene et al.(2004)) claims and is supported by Timmerhuis and De Lange (1998; cited in Koene et al (2004)) that the main reasons for companies to acquire temporary workforce are due to seasonal fluctuations, unexpected peaks, economic cycles or simply if a temporary replacement is needed for a permanent employee. According to Segall and Sullivan (1997) temporary workers in return have to suffer from certain disadvantages compared to a permanent employment. Temporary workers usually have less labor market security than permanent workers and are more prone to possible unemployment and even the wage is in average 20 % below those of permanent employees. The results is supported by an analysis conducted by the OECD in 2002 on 28 states that temporary work is most likely found in positions of rather unskilled labour as well as administrative staff and medical labour exercising rather lower skilled tasks. (OECD, 2002 cited in Koene et al (2004)) 3.4 Pre employment screening 3.4.1 Introduction Robert Woodman, president and founder of Berkeley International Intelligence Inc., a business investigation company highly recommends to conduct intensive screening of applicants before they are being employed. Referring to an example in which a Toronto based non profit organization which operated retirement and nursing homes employed a new director to raise funds for a new project. The director shortly after employment submitted false pledge certificates with forged signatures and additionally turned in numerous bills for her expenses including expensive Hotel-, restaurant- and even limousine service bills. As company investigators accused her of fraud she disappeared shortly after but was arrested and convicted for several counts of fraud and received a four-year prison sentence. Since most of the money she gained was already spend, she will not be able to pay back the full amount. Further investigation into the directors past revealed that she was not properly screened before being employed. A background check would have revealed that she has committed similar crimes and caused damage to three previous employers. (Woodman 2006) Benoff (1989) and Brennan (1997) give more example of employees without background checks, committing crimes at work where at the end the employer was being sued and found guilty of negligent hiring. Personnel is a very important asset in every company. The recruitment process is time consuming and can be very expensive. But companies can not risk to make poor decisions in this process since employing the wrong personnel can make the difference between success and failure of a business since companies can be held responsible for their employees. (Lam Kleiner 2001) Background checks can be expensive but the cost associated with bad performances, theft of assets or confidential information as well as the costs associated with possible law suits is much higher. (Norred 1993) Companies basically have two options to collect the data needed. Either they investigate an applicant by implementing their own employment security department (internal) or companies can contact professional employee screening companies to collect the date for them (externally). 3.4.2 Employer References To inquire information about a job applicant from a previous employer is a useful way of verifying the authenticity of information provided by the applicant. The problem associated with this method is that there might be a number of employers who do not give any information at all, often because of the fear of being sued for invasion of privacy by the former employee and if they do, the information might be very basic. But in general it is recommended since the new employer can learn about some ones employment dates, job titles and responsibilities of the tasks performed by the former employee as well as get information about working habits which are often very valuable. (Lam Kleiner 2001) 3.4.3 Academic References To check academic references is fairly easy, the employer can ask the applicant provide proof or just request information from the institution the applicant has stated. (Doty-Navarro Kleiner) This seems to be highly recommended especially if a company is recruiting to fill a vacancy which required certain skills and knowledge such as a special education since people tend to make more false statements about their academic references than over previous employment references. Therefore companies should be aware of the authenticity of an applicants academic background. (Kaiser-Lee 1995) 3.4.4 Credit Records If an employee is in contact with company money or other valuable goods it is recommended to run a credit history check which comes in the form of a credit report and can obtained through credit agencies. Credit Reports contain information about bankruptcies, legal judgments, tax liens, credit card balances as well as child support obligations. Credit reports can give a rough idea about the financial situation of an individual and can help to evaluate the risk of the employee committing theft (Doty-Navarro Kleiner 2000). 3.4.5 Driving Record If the employee operates a company vehicle, a driving record should be obtained in advance. The employer is obliged to verify that the person operating the vehicle is legally certified by asking to present the driver license. If the employer fails to comply, the company will be liable for all the damage the employee has caused with the company vehicle. Driving records can be requested through governmental bureaus and contain data such as traffic violations as well as other driving related offences such as if the driving privileges were suspended. (Steingold 1994) 3.4.6 Criminal Records According to (Doty-Navarro Kleiner 2000) the need for running a criminal record check is very important if the future employee will deal with sensitive and valuable assets for example driving a company car or having access to cash registers. They also emphasize on the urgency to perform a criminal record check to avoid law suits for negligent hire by customers in case the employee gets involved in criminal activity during his employment. But there are certain difficulties associated with the completeness of these records. Odom (1995) points out certain limitations such as the limited accessibility of criminal record databases. He also claims that different courts, depending on their geographic and legal jurisdiction do not report to the same databases and some courts do not have to report to a database at all. The conclusion is that criminal databases are everything but complete and investigators, internal or external, sometimes have to go through intensive investigation to get an authentic result. 3.4.7 External employee screening Companies performing background checks serving other companies from different industries have soared in the US in recent past. According to Terhune (2008) the biggest US companies in the business are Choicepoint (Alpharette, GA) serving Wal Mart and UPS among others, USIS (Falls Church, VA) serving Federal agencies along with Transportation companies, First Advantage (Powey, GA) , providing services to companies in the manufacturing and financial sectors. These companies business is to screen people in every legal way possible. (Terhune 2008) The services they provide include the checking of criminal records, driving records, credit histories (including bankruptcy filings, tax liens, legal judgments and lawsuits), as well as investigative consumer reports which contains information gathered through interviews with friends, neighbors, former co-worker and in some cases even family members with the aim to reveal data about some ones personality. (McGreevy 2007) Since the major employee screening companies conduct their background checks specialising on only few industries, providing their information to even bigger companies on a regular basis, they even maintain their own or shared databases containing information about individuals who have worked in the respective industry before. These databases include statements of previous employers about individuals such as the reason of dismissal and even accusations of criminal acts without legal proof from a court. (Terhune 2008) This practically means that individuals seeking jobs can be accused of having conducted a criminal act in the past even though they have not been convicted for a crime by a court of law. Terhune (2008) emphasises this matter with an example of Truck driver who was employed by Marten Transport based in Mondovi, Wisconsin. He was dismissed from the company after only two weeks as a result of his numerous complaints about the safety of the truck he was driving. He sued Marten Transport and was awarded with over 31.000 US Dollars in back pay. In addition, the judge ordered Marten Transport to remove any unfavourable work record information from a database named DAC which is maintained by USIS. As he shortly after his dismissal from Marten Transport re-applied for a job at J.B. Hunt Services, his application was denied due to his DAC record stating that he was dismissed due to excessive complaints. (Terhune 2008) furthermore refers to a comment to this example by Kristen Turley, the director of market development and communications at USIS who claims that their system (as used in regards to the DAC database) contains mistakes and in the case of false information being sub mitted USIS would require proof from the previous employer to undermine his accusations. USIS does not ask for proof up front since their belief is that this would hold past employers from submitting information in the first place. 3.4.8 Background checks required by law To access the secure area of an airport all individuals whom is granted access on a regular basis (excluding passengers) need to be issued an SIDA badge. Before the SIDA badge is issued the German law requires background checks. According to .7 of the German Aviation Security Act (Luftsicherheitsgesetz) the German Department of Aviation Security (Luftsicherheitsbehorde), whos purpose is to serve the safety and security of Air Transportation, has to conduct a Background check on authorized staff, the so called Zu