Food message s a junior Minister in a Department which relies heavily on scientific information in the development of its policies I am only too well A aware of the valuable contribution that is made by the independent advice we receive from the various advisory bodies which MAFF sponsors and also from the information we receive from the research undertaken or funded by some of its executive bodies.The quality of this advice is very dependent on the knowledge and specialist expertise of those appointed t o serve on these bodies.To maintain the high standard we require and also t o get different perspectives so that we can achieve a balanced opinion we need a constant flow of new people willing t o put themselves forward for consideration.Many of you reading this article may never have considered public service and I hope that by sparing a few moments t o read on you will be sufficiently interested t o seek more information. Membership of a NonDepartmental Public Body (NDPB) can give a valuable insight into the practice and process of government. Often the time commitment is small but the experience gained can be of considerable benefit. Many of the appointments are unpaid but expenses, including childcare allowances where appropriate, may be claimed. I am particularly keen t o get expressions of interest from women and people from ethnic minority backgrounds as we have relatively few potential candidates from these groups on our list at present. An NDPB is a body which has a role in the processes of national government, but is not a government department, nor is it part of one.Accordingly, it operates at arms length from Ministers. 78

This research was focused on how minority characters are constructed in school-based readings of literature. Using microethnographic discourse analyses of a post-reading discussion, we examined how a small group of high-school students characterized a minority protagonist in a short story. We focused on the intercontextual processes for reading literature, the recognition work done in the group, and the themes that emerged as students described the character. We found that students drew on patterns and processes Johnieruth PACE & BROWNING