The number of flowers produced by Asclepias quadrifolia, a perennial, woodland milkweed of the Ozarks, is significantly correlated (P < .001) with both aboveground and belowground structural energy at time of flowering. About 3—5% of the total structural energy was devoted to flowers by plants of all sizes. In the year following the production of a pod or major herbivore damage by Rhyssematus lineaticollis or Danaus plexippus, a plant produced a significantly smaller stem with fewer flowers. Individual flowers are relatively inexpensive to produce (63.6 J, equalling 0.2% of the total structural energy of an average plant at time of flowering), but a single seed pod is expensive (10.40 kJ, equalling 21%). Most small flowering individuals lack sufficient resources to mature a pod. A typical seedling passes through a juvenile nonflowering period and a flowering period when it functions solely as a male (all initiated pods are aborted) before it accumulates enough reserves to become functionally hermaphroditic. Since flower production appears to be limited by available energetic reserves, a plant would have a selective advantage if those limited flowers (x = 29.6 flowers per flowering plant) were grouped to maximize genetic contribution to the next generation. Total pollinarium removal increased with increasing umbel size, but pollinarium removal per flower peaked within the natural range of umbel sizes (10—25 flowers). Although mean umbel size in the field was 15—17 flowers, only 5 flowers were necessary to achieve maximal pod initiation per flower. The "extra" flowers cannot be explained adequately in terms of seed production, but are better understood in terms of enhancing pollen contribution through the donation of pollinaria. A cost—benefit analysis suggested that the optimal umbel size for plants growing in typical woods habitat was °12 flowers.

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University language students, writing in the essay portion of a recent departmental opinion questionnaire, clearly indicate that they wish more speaking practice and less ritualized grammar in their language training. Rather than studying language as if it were a museum exhibit under glass, they prefer experiencing its live, practical aspects in such a way that they can gain mastery over a central core of high‐frequency usage for their daily use. They also want professors who are willing to teach living language and who are enough interested in their students to use many different media in conducting this exploration of knowledge with them. The students themselves devise a list of good language‐teaching ideas for the resourceful teacher. These opinions are not frivolous; they are honest attempts at communication between student and teacher and provide clues to the language‐training needs of today's students.

2009),"Effect of service provider's communication style on customer satisfaction in professional services setting: the moderating role of criticality and service nature"If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.

It is an honour for us to be invited to deliver this oration dedicated to Bill Walker. The previous, more esteemed, professionals who have delivered this address over the years have framed their talks in terms of Bill's work and professional influence on educational administration in Australia. For us, the influence is obviously very different: it is personal. As children and adolescents, we knew little of his work but shared excitement as we travelled the world and met endless streams of fascinating people from all corners of the globe. In our upbringing, Bill Walker imbued a respect for diversity, a desire for learning from others, a dedication to education and a willingness to go our own way. He taught us throughout our young lives not to be satisfied with the way things had always been done and to search with others for the value in difference. It is natural then that these deep personal influences, rather than his scholarly work or academic achievements, are part of what we stand for and it is from these that we draw inspiration for this address.Throughout his personal and professional life, Bill Walker spoke often of unpredictable futures and the necessity of adaptability through people. In an address given over ten years ago (Walker, 1986) he predicted that although technology would be a significant force for future change, it would be the human or "people" issues and dilemmas which would seriously challenge the leaders and decision-makers of the future. This, of course, is very much an issue of today and challenges us as professionals to be adaptable enough to face the future through the exercise of meaningful leadership.Bill Walker believed passionately in the idea of leadership and had huge respect for educational leaders at all levels. He advocated the rigorous preparation of leaders and managers. He argued strenuously for a rich tapestry of academic disciplines which should be available to the professional manager. He believed in learning how societies and organisations work and, in turn, transferring this to improved practice; of developing leaders with a range of flexible options with which to improve schools. One of his most popular observations was "there is nothing more practical than theory".