Provinces of the Philippines and Kara David Essay Example for Free

Provinces of the Philippines and Kara David Essay Ang Huling Prinsesa† (The Last Princess) is a documentary from Kara David shown in I-Witness back in 2004. It is a challenging feat for anyone who wants to see and explore a mysterious tradition preserved for decades among some of the mountains isolated communities. I-Witness travels to the Tapaz Mountain, considered the farthest in Capiz, located in the central Philippines island of Panay. Reporter Kara David reaches the community of Rizal Sur, a village that looks just like any other isolated community, where the people living in traditional huts and survive on whatever nature provides them. In the midst of this community, she meets one of the last remaining binukots, 73-year-old Lola (grandmother). This old woman lives in an old hut, just like everybody else in the community. However, she has stayed inside a room in the house ever since she was five years old, living in isolation as the family chosen binukot. Since being chosen the binukot of her tribe, the old woman has worn a veil so that no one can see her face. She is lifted onto a hammock every day so her feet never touch the ground. She is bathed, combed and served only the best food like an ancient princess. Her work is to learn the traditional dances and memorize the tribe’s hours-long epics. Only the binukots learn the epics, which are taught to them orally. Thus, they are also the only ones who may pass the long stories of their ancestors to the next generation. Personal insight Stories of princess were part of our childhood memories. We dream of becoming one during those times. But in Tumandok tribe in Tapaz, Capiz, Philippines, there were women, who were treated like a princess. They are known to be the binukot.

The Birth Of Singapore Airlines Tourism Essay

The Birth Of Singapore Airlines Tourism Essay Strategic Management is a term that is not new, first used in the 1970s it was conceived that a team of strategic planners would come up with strategic ideas to sell to decision makers. It is all about identification and guideline used by the managers in order for the company to have a competitive edge over the competition. Joel Ross Michael Kami(Fred 2011, 35) mentioned that; Without Strategy, an organization is like a ship without a rudder, going round in circles. Its like a tramp; it has no place to go. According to Wheelen and Hunger(2006,3) A set of decisions and actions that are used to charter the performance of a corporation can be defined as Strategic management. The process of this would take into account the scanning of external and internal environmental factors, long term and strategic planning for strategy formulation as well as the implementation and evaluation and control process. Wheelen Hunger(2006,3) strongly focused on the analyzing and evaluating of external opportunities and threats compared to the companys strengths and weaknesses. A SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) analysis is an ideal tool for strategic managers to plan for both predictable and unfeasible contingencies. In the point of Dess and Miller(1993), the combination of three major interrelated activities; strategic analysis, strategic formulation and strategy implementation can be called strategic management. These activities are a continuous process that helps evaluates and controls the company and the industry it is in, benchmarks the competition and set realistic targets and strategies to meet its existing and potential competition. Lamb(1984) states that strategic management is a continuous process that evaluates and controls the business and industries the company is in; it also assesses the competitors to set goals and strategies then reevaluates them every quarterly or annually to decide on the implementation of the strategy is successful. It then reevaluates the if there is any new factors such as technology, competition, economic market, social, financial and even political environment that can be used to create a new strategy. As a summary, Strategic Management and Planning is the understanding of the process of strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation. For company an organization to gain the edge over its competition regardless of size, scale; each organization needs to have a well planned strategic management in order to strive and compete in the market while optimizing its potential for tomorrows trends of today. Background of company The birth of Singapore Airlines was from Malaysian Air Limited where it first started in 1947, because of political reasons, the company was renamed to Malaysia-Singapore Airlines and finally the company split its shares to Malaysian Airlines System and Singapore Airlines in 1972 on which Singapore Airlines is owned by Singapore state owned investment house; Tamasek Holdings Singapore Airlines was forced to focus on the international market that was subjected to intense competition because there was no domestic route available to after the separation. The difficult start of was one of the factors that drove Singapore Airlines driving spirit to compete and dedication to branding. It started the branding strategy by engaging a French haute-couture designer in 1972 to come up with a special version of the Malay Sarong Kebaya for the airline stewardess uniform and adopting a branding Singapore Girls that provide top quality in-flight hospitality. This feature became one of the most recognized signatures for Singapore Airlines. The human resource management area was given a booster with an investment of 20million for its training facilities. With a good marketing strategy and sound backing, the return was shown at 1973 when SA was ranked 3rd for the Asian region. But in 1973 to 1977 period was forced to cut cost due to the surging oil prices. Singapore Airlines joined its operations with British Airways to provide its Concorde services but was terminated in 1980. Even though the collaboration was a failure, it took advantage of the marketing campaign to made itself known around the globe. At the same time, Changi Airport was constructed thus leading the industry to higher service standards. With all that in place Singapore Airlines became the top preferred Airlines for the Asia Pacific region in 1981. Singapore Airlines experienced a steady growth rate in the 1980s with expansion of its fleet and routes, it was privatized in 1985 and listed in the stock exchange with Tamasek Holdings owning a 63% of the company and was gradually reduced to 54% in 2008. SA underwent changes in the 1990s with changes made to cater for the lower cost market segmentation as well as the SA engineering focus on increasing productivity and pursuit of better opportunities for business. The globalization in 1990 also made the airline expand overseas as well as investing on other companies. With its strong financial backing, it spend to renovate its fleet, thus giving benefit to the airlines during crisis allowing the airlines to have more bargaining power over its supplier (Scott, 2008) To date, SA group has provided a wide variety of services for the aviation industry from passenger, cargo, terminal, enginnering, training and even tour services as a whole. The airlines operates over 36 countries with week ly flights to them. Organizational Structure The organization is divided by function and its disadvantages as the low responsibility of the bottom staff as well as the compartmentalization on its mangers. In order to tackle this, SIA have made their organization chart more flattened with fewer levels of hierarchy in the organization, thus allowing empowerment and creation of a flexible and yet dynamic business that allows its employees to make decisions to leads to job enrichment. SIA also encourages independence and encourages its senior staff to train and low its junior employees to make decisions. To overcome the job compartmentalization, non technical mangers are rotated on the job and thus allow them to have a better view of the organization for a better picture. The SIA management also stresses for the importance of maintaining a healthy and good work culture. Teamwork and collaboration is placed high on importance by the company. With the growth of the company and expansion of sales office to over 80 countries, the sales operations have been divided to geographical areas. To overcome the problem of control, the company focuses on the end result objective empowering its site managers to have flexibility and to make adjustments based on the situation. Full power is given to the overseas regional general manager to make decisions and to respond promptly in order to deal with local problems and to customize the operations to suit the local scene. In general, SIA is slowly decentralizing its organizational structure and it encourages autonomy allowing faster response to the business thus creating opportunities that are vital in the fast and dynamic airline industry. 4.0 Analysis of External Environment 4.1 Political The political environment of Singapore is stable with its dominant political party Peoples Action Party (PAP) controlling the government since the independence. Singapore government has allowed the freedom in corporate governance and has little set restrictions to the industry. Singapore Airlines make 90% of the decision on its own and has only influence the appointment of the director over the company (Sikorski, 1995). Singapore Airlines was allowed to stress on profit in comparison with public or social responsibility and was even backed by the government during its retrenchment practice during the economical crisis. (Sikorski, 1995) With a strong foreign policy that maintains good relationship with 175 countries, Singapore has a particular good relationship with huge economical countries such as France, United Kingdom, and Germany. It also has a mutual free trade agreement between Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, India, United States of America and recently with China in 2008. With Singapore signing the Gulf Cooperation Council-Singapore Free Trade Agreement in December 2008, it embarks to build strong ties with the middle east countries as well. Singapore is a stable base for the operations for SIA comparing itself to other regions in the Asia Pacific that have seen unrest over the recent years. Terrorism alerts affected some countries in the Asia region with India(2008) and Pakistan(2009) hit with the lost of hundreds of life. The tourism industry for Thailand was affected in 2008 during the protest and heavy floods as well as the Tsunami event that happened in Langkawi, Malaysia as well as Thailand that affected the influx of tourist there. There was also the riots in China and the Korean Missile crisis that effect the Singapore Airlines to re-route its flight to other locations. 4.2 Economic Financial Crisis in 2007 affected many countries over the world that brought recessions to most of the affected countries. This slum lasted through 2008 that made the global financial institutions very cautions on its loans of money and many companies had to underwent a cost cutting measure to stay afloat. The IMF predicted the regeneration of the world wide economy by 2009 and it the up market trend has steadily grown from there. The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) also contributed to promote Singapore as a destination for MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions). In SGD 90 Million BOOST (Building on Opportunity to Strengthen Tourism) program was launched in February 2009 and was followed up in October with an announcement for a new Tourism Compass 2020 roadmap to grow tourism 2015, with the goal to set Singapore as the leading city for MICE (STB,12 Oct2009). The growth was further spurred by the building of two integrated resort projects, Marina Bay Sand and Resort World at Sentosa. Singapore has also continued to host the Formula One Night Race and with all this factors surely has a positive impact for the travel and tourism sector for the country. 4.3 Social Cultural Singapores population comprises of more then 75% Chinese, followed by Malay and Indian; the main religion of the country is Buddhism, Islam, Christian, Taoism and Hinduism. Having a rich Asian culture in the country, Singapore is one of the most westernized countries within Asia. With the growing China economy and its open door policy; Singapore has landed a great pool of foreign labor arriving from China. This in return has created a cultural conflict among many Singaporeans. With a highly diversified culture with close to 35% of its population is non citizen residing in the country, (25% of is foreigner and 10% are permanent resident); Singapore can be considered as an immigrant country. Although having high non-citizen to citizen ratio, the country never stops to promote foreign talent and believes that if the immigrant policy were to be stopped, Singapore would face a shortage of quality labor. Having a strong Chinese influence over its working culture that has made it a culture of high in power distance with the lower employees accepting the subordinates positions that seldom questions the managements decisions. The working culture also stresses on good team work and maintaining group harmonies. (Warnstam,2007). This has made Singapore to become a very cooperative employee to employer relationship and its labor union is in good terms with companies throughout. 4.4 Technology The growth in the usage if Internet around the globe has prompted the growth of customized web addresses to be used around the world. This has also given the potential for the usage of Chinese characters to form the web address (Choe,Oct 2009). With the emergence of such technological advancement, the electronic devices has also evolved to become more portable with increased performance and now almost every household in Singapore would have a portable laptop, hand phone and digital cameras loaded with personalized music, games , photo and video. The growth of such technology has prompt an expansion of innovation over the past decade. The development of high speed networks and compression has allowed faster transfer of data and transfer rate, resulting in the availability to have high quality real time video conferencing with people around the globe from the office or even without leaving the house. This has made it a very good substitute for companies to use instead of having to send its employees for business travelling. (Yu, 23 Jun 2009). 5.0 Evaluate Current Strategic choice and implications 5.1 Analysis of Current Strategic Position 5.1.1 Financial position Singapore Airlines has maintained its profit over the years, the group has maintained its profit even through the 2008 financial crisis. After the growth in 2009 the group assets are worth SGD 22.04 million and debt of SGD 1.077million with an equity debt ratio of 0.08. With a general reserve of SGD 11.264 million the company is poised to be able to sustain its operations in any case of crisis. (SIA, Annual report 2012) 5.1.2 Product position Carrier RPK (Million) SIA 90,128 Cathay Pacific 90,975 Qantas 99,176 Total of   AAPA member 550,014 Table 1 Comparison of RPK Airlines market size can be measure by Revenue Passenger-Kilometer (RPK). Having based in Asia Pacific region, SIA, Cathay Pacific and Qantas all falls into the same category of medium cost, developed airlines. These airlines have similar offering and price level. It can be seen that SIA, Cathay and Qantas have market share of similar size [AAPA, 2009]. The company is ranked number two in Skytrax Best airline award; the airline is in the top five ranking for 10 out of the 12 award Skytrax have. The airline has the Best 1st Class and best in-flight catering award in 2009. The only part the company dont have a ranking is on the airport lounge service [Skytrax, 2009]. 5.1.3 Marketing capability The initial distribution of SIA is mainly by the travel agents or through internet bookings, SIA has come a long way by providing a ticketless system for its passengers that even allows boarding as well even for connecting flights with its partner airlines (SIA,2009). SIA also engages social networking website in Facebook though quite limited in its presence. This is a drawback with the current trend of younger generation who associates more with social networking sites. Another factor that is a slight disadvantages for Singapore Airlines is that the domain www.sia.com and www.sia.com.sg is not owned by Singapore Airlines, but to counteract this, they company has engaged to actively publish itself as the preferred search referee if anyone searches for SIA online. SIA has also made good placement in the search engine for using the key world Singapore airlines and Air Ticket Singapore which prompts SIA at the top of the search list. 5.1.4 Organizational structure The organization is divided by function and the disadvantages of low responsibility for the employees at the bottom as well as the compartmentalization on the managers. To overcome this, SIA has flat organization chart with few hierarchical levels for its organizations, this enables autonomy and create a more flexible but yet dynamic business that empowers its people to make decisions and lead to better job satisfaction. The promotion of independence and encouraging its senior employees to train and give chances to the junior personnel to make decisions are a key factor for SIA. Non technical management personnel are rotated on jobs and this gives them to have a broader perspective for the job. This is further strengthening by the stress on the importance of having a good and healthy work culture for the company. Great importance is stressed on having good team spirit. To overcome sales operation issue, SIA has focused on end results while giving its site managers to exercise flexibility to make necessary changes based on the situations. The full power is given to its overseas regional general manager to ensure fast response time for local issues and a more localized business operation to site the climate. The company focuses on the growth strategy that focuses more on profitability rather than size, thus allowing slow and steady growth with chances for leaders to be groomed properly. In general, the organisational structure of SIA is decentralise encourages autonomy allowing quick response to business treat and opportunity which is crucial in the airline industry which are very fast and dynamics. 5.1.5 Human Resources SIA has a strong emphasis on human resources. The requirements for entry level to the company is only for diploma holders are accepted, these employee would then go through the recruitment process. After the appointment, these cabin crew is trained for 15 weeks, 2 times longer the industrial standards. The SIA employees have a 6 month probation that needs to be reported continuously by their supervisor with a confirmation rate of 75% while 20% will be on extension. These trainings are changed periodically to adjust to show the customers expectations. While on the job, the employees are also required to engage in various voluntary community services, arts and cultural activities. Refresher courses will be available for employees allowing 3 to 4 days per year, this is a form of motivation for the employees to engage in self learning and the employees will be accountable for their own growth and development. Results from these stringent training has been obvious by producing Stewardess that have high esteem, motivated and capable in handling the customers in the companys best interest (Heracleous and Wirtz. 2009). The focus on talent form within the company, the company focuses on development of the human capita given training spending of SGD100million for its employees. The company also offers scholarship programs for recruiting management trainees from the universities. 5.1.6 Condition of facilities and equipment Having one of the newest fleets in the world, with an average age of 6 years, Singapore Airlines is one of the most updated planes compared to the worldwide average of 15 years (Prystay, 28 Aug 2009). By adopting the newest planes and technology this impacts in the reduction of maintenance and petrol cost. Other than that, SIA also went through an upgrading of its plane cabins to provide customers with the most updated entertainment systems and a better seating arrangement. Training equipment for its pilots is also provided from the SGD 1 million flight simulator that is capable of simulating the high altitude scenario. SIA also updated its training center in 1999 to ensure the recruitment is capable to facilitate a better and efficient training environment. Overall the airlines does have a great training faclilities for its personnel as well as their commitment to bringing top quality service with a strong financial background but because of the financial crisis in 2008 and the lack of demand over supply, SIA is laden with excess aircraft that has not been utilized. 5.1.7 Past objective and strategies SIA corporate level uses a diversified strategy whereby it expands its business to airline catering, airport terminal services as well as into aircraft maintenance. These dual strategy in cost leadership and differentiation enables SIA to have excellent cost efficient service through high business efficiency. SIA has secured its high business competence through the execution of five organizational systems. The first is the structured service development and design that allocates dedicated departments for its enhancement of service and thorough testing to ensure that there will be a quality service that will be able to meet the latest customers expectations. Second is the focus on consumer trends over the years, with a specific department that monitors closely to ensure that innovation is tailor to focus on improving and enabling a cost effective and highly productive service innovation. The focus will also be on the companys weak point, adapting the best practices from other successful developments while reducing the cost and risk involved for the innovation. The third set is the focus on a profit conscious culture, with the education of its personnel on the priority of profit and customer satisfaction. SIA also focuses on a reward based system that gives proper recognition to employees based on their performance to encourage team work and productivity while reducing wastage. The fourth is the goal for the organization to achieve success through the diversification and infrastructure of its subsidiaries. These integration allows the focus and control that will enhance the knowledge while reduction of cost at the same time. The management of its subsidiaries is based on a clear expectation that enables the subsidiaries to be subjected to market discipline. The last focus for the company is the development of its personnel through training and development while encouraging the development of a direct self continuous learning system to boost their self esteem. The overall strategies that SIA has adopted has made the company to have a high competence core with the overall ability to achieve a differential offering through exceptional levels of efficiency (Heracleous et al 2009) 6.0 Strategic Potential Justifications Choices for strategy for SIA should be based on the logical elements for the process and have a central role. The company should focus their choices of strategy through based on the internal and external factors while taking into account its core competency to strive for profitability and service excellence of its personnel. Strategic Choices for Singapore Airlines Business Level Strategy Corporate Level Strategy Direction and Method of Development Strategy for competitive advantage Adhere to government regulation and satisfaction Internal training and development Profit measurable success for strategies Diversification in market Creation of value added services to gain competitive advantage 6.1 Business Level Strategy Price Based Strategy This strategy takes into consideration of the product to price to gain a competitive advantage. There are many low cost airlines company as of this moment that is conducting business in the Asia region. This causes the market to be very competitive and Singapore Airlines is one of such company that faces challenges. Low cost airline companies such as Air Asia is one of the competitors that are focusing on the usage of price based strategy to capture a market share in the current market. Justification: Acceptable and feasible pricing strategy: The focus for the price based strategy is important as the current completion from the low cost airlines also focuses on the same routes of travel while providing a lower air fare. One of such routes traveled is from Singapore to Bangkok, from this example, Air Asia is selling its seats for a round trip for a price of $150 while compared to SIA that cost $500. Because of this the company is losing money as customer trends are now slowly switching over the low cost seats. http://htmlimg1.scribdassets.com/4abs74bzsw9yk25/images/16-b0f782e011.jpg 4.2 Corporate Strategy Direction Policy Matrix Used to measure the health of the industry for the Asian regions and the capabilities of Singapore Airlines. Below is the representation of Singapore Airlines in comparative to Air Asia ad MAS in the Asian Region. http://htmlimg1.scribdassets.com/4abs74bzsw9yk25/images/17-978ec5a00e.jpg Source: Johnson G, Scholes K. 2005. P 320 Justification: Acceptability Feasibility of Directional Policy Matrix From the analysis it can be seen that the market positing of Singapore Airlines is aimed towards the middle business class strength that offers a highly attractive market. The bargaining power, threats for substitute and competitive rivalry is high for the Singapore Airlines. In the event of a cost increase for jet fuel to USD 115/barrel, the supplier has the upper hand the the treat of substitute is potentially high for the market. For this the feasibility and acceptance of a directional policy matrix for Singapore Airlines is High. 6.3 Directional and Method of Development TOWS Matrix Through the analysis of the internal and external environment, the generation of a TOWS based matrix. This will enable Singapore Airlines to focus on the strategic options available to cater for any potential changes or adapt strategies to further strengthen its market share while limiting its weakness. http://htmlimg2.scribdassets.com/4abs74bzsw9yk25/images/18-6f7d0e3282.jpg Suing the strength and opportunity for Singapore Airlines, there is potential for market diversification. To overcome the potential treats, SIA can have a merger or acquisition with certain airline companies. Avoidance of weakness for Singapore Airlines can adopt a cost leadership strategy. The airlines can develop their internal factors to avoid the treats and weaknesses. Justification Diversification: The current airline industry for the Asian region is highly competitive. There are many airline operations in the region and one of such competition comes from the low cost airline Air Asia. Air Asia flies twice daily from Malaysia to Guangzhou. Currently Air Asia has 86 routes that offers no frills service and has garnered wide recognition from the china market comparing to Singapore Airlines which has 88 destinations in 38 countries. Singapore Airlines would need to strengthen and diversify its market by planning out more feasible routes to high business locations and take a competitive advantage though expansion of the Asian market. Merger and Acquisition: Singapore Airlines needs to have a strong understanding on its competition and to avoid the treats they possess. With their strong financial background, the potential for merger and acquisition is a great choice for Singapore Airlines. Currently there are two national carriers that are seeking to limit Singapore Airlines to access their home market thus slowing down the growth for the airline. Because of this Singapore airlines joined the Star Alliance to take advantage of its international strategy. This is also boosted by the investment of SIA groups into China and India to ensure strategic alliances with the local organizations for their cargo divisions, airport services, enginnering and catering. Internal Development During the previous years, Singapore Airlines recorded a low asset turnover ration in comparison with its competitors. Because of this, the weaker asset turnover ratio has a potential to show that the companies ineffectiveness to utilize the assets to generate profit and will eventually lead to the decline in the groups growth. Singapore Airlines can adapt to this by using better use of information technology to enhance its services to the customers and gain back better response and efficiency. Singapore Airlines website is now one of the most advance and user friendly in the industry that offers the customers to check their schedules, buy tickets, check in and manage their accounts as well as even choosing the meal for their flights. Because of this value added service, the company is able to further maintain its market share and slowly cover up the losses by creating a portal for customers and potential clients to interact with Singapore Airlines. The efficient use of IT has proven to significantly reduce the cost and enhance service levels for Singapore Airlines. Conclusion Singapore Airlines is the national carrier for Singapore and is one of the industry leaders in Asia. Currently the operations route carries Singapore Airlines to South East Asia, East Asia, Europe, Middle East and the Australia. The analysis for the external factors indicates that Singapore Airlines does face some barriers due to the international economic and political sector. The prices of oil over the years have been very volatile and would play a major impact on the profitability of the airline industry. Other than that with some ups and downs in the economy and the growth of high speed networks through the usage of information technology has played an impact for the overall performance in the airline industry in general with people become less mobile while still being able to work with their counterparts across the globe. The internal factors with the successful branding of Singapore Airlines is one of the drawing factors that is able to sustain its competitive edge as well as with strong management background that ensure a quality of service for its customers gives the company its core competencies. For Singapore Airlines to keep evolving towards the new market trends, the company should take into account the internal and external surroundings.

Beginning Of Basketball Essay -- History Basketball

The Beginning of Basketball Have you ever had an interest in how something was invented? An interest in how your favorite activity or hobby came about? Ever since I was introduced to sports and how competitive it was, I became hooked. I enjoy playing football, basketball, and baseball. Of the three main sports that I play, basketball seems to be my favorite. It challenges endurance, speed, accuracy, agility, and strength. I feel guilty not knowing who created the game that takes up most of my free-time. It is time for me to learn about the inventor and the games past. Basketball is one of the most popular games in the United States. There are many different versions of it based on where one has grown up. In the less fortunate areas of the United States, a type of basketball originated called And 1. It is all about stunning the crowd with tricks. This form originated a league of amazing basketball players that are sponsored by And 1. And 1 is a brand of basketball accessories, and the name of a team that travel from city to city. The And 1 team takes on other teams, with the same playing styles, that think they are worthy enough of playing them. This form of basketball throws out some of the rules, such as traveling and carrying, in order to broaden up the ability to achieve tricks. Although there are different versions of the game, the original game is one of the largest played world-wide. He was born on November 6, 1861 in Almonte, Ontario, Canada, where he later attended high school. The man of average height, and weighing about one-hundred eighty pounds, lead an amazing life. His name was James Nasmith. After James graduated high school, he accomplished many incredible things. Nasmith started in 1887 with getting his phi... ...y of such accomplishments would be responsible for creating the game of basketball. It amazes me that not only did he invent basketball, he achieved getting 4 degrees, served in the military, won awards for being best rounded athlete, was a professor, a minister, a basketball coach at the University of Kentucky, a director, and a doctor. James Naismith was also "the first to introduce the use of a helmet in American football" (James Naismith). It makes me wonder if there is a man in the whole world that has ever accomplished more than the great James Naismith. Works Cited "Hall of Famers-James Naismith" Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. 2000. 27 Feb. 2007 "James Naismith." Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia. 24 Feb. 2007. 27 Feb. 2007 Petersen, Mary "The Basketball Man (Dr. James A. Naismith)" Highlights for Children. November 1, 2005.27 Feb. 2007.

College Admissions Essay: My Days as a Gardener :: College Admissions Essays

My Days as a Gardener    'Mom, how do you make a garden?'    'You plant seeds. You can buy them at the nursery.'    'Can I plant a garden?'    Now this is the kind of question a mother wants to hear from her children. Not 'Can I play on the interstate?' or 'If I eat this will I die?' Something, instead, wholesome and good. An activity that not only teaches, but puts fresh produce on her table.    It was decided, then, that planting a garden would be my summer project. My mother and I planned for it to be located behind our garage, in a sunny area of our otherwise shady backyard. With my mom's help, I planted an assortment of vegetables: tomatoes, onions, potatoes ('A potato is a tuber.' 'It's a what?'), and green beans.    I later understood that gardening is generally associated with a life of leisure, with relaxation. For me, it was a competition. I'd ask my seedlings, 'Who's growing the fastest?' 'Who's the tallest?' Fearing bad karma, I tried to stay impartial, lest a subconscious preference for green beans would cause me to water them more often, while dumping bleach on the onions. Every night I'd give my parents an update on rates of growth, any signs of produce, and my never-realized irrigation plans.    One day my mother told me that some of the tomatoes were ready to be picked. We went out back, snagged a few of the plumper offerings, and that evening had salads.    Every other bite earned an accolade. 'Mmm. These tomatoes really are delicious.' 'There's just nothing like fresh tomatoes. Mmm.' 'I think we can quit saving for his college; he's a natural migrant worker.' Whatever that meant, it sounded promising. I told my family that they needn't worry: the garden was in full-swing, and that meant more fresh produce was on the way.       About a week later a tornado razed a better part of North Houston. It brought rain. It brought hail. It upended cars; it flooded houses. And in its trail it left fallen branches and trees, and removed, in whole, one tiny tomato-onion-potato-and-green-bean garden located behind my garage.

Bioremediation

BIOREMEDIATION Bioremediation is such type of technology in which microorganism, fungi, bacteria, plant and there is use to convert polluted condition in to original condition. Through bioremediation process microorganism act on pollutant or on chemicals due to which pollution occur and help that thing to come back in its original condition. Bioremediation is an option to offers the possibility to destroy or renders various harmful thing through natural biological activity. PRINCIPLES OF BIOREMEDIATION Bioremediation is the field of environmental biotechnology . y definition bioremediation is the use of microorganism, to degrade environment pollutant in to less toxic form. in this microorganism may be indigenous to a contaminant area or may be isolated from different area and brought to that area. Microorganisms start utilizing toxic substance and convert in to non toxic form from toxic form. In bioremediation metabolic process is also involved through which different enzyme release and act on toxic substances or on contaminants due to this biodegradation occur. When microorganism bought to contaminated or polluted site to enhance degradation that process is called bioaugmentation. For bioremediation to be effective, microorganism must enzymatically attack the pollutants and converts them in to non toxic form. n Bioremediation has its limitation, some contaminants such as chlorinated organic compound and aromatic hydrocarbon are resistant to microbial attack . bioremediation techniques are typically more economical than traditional method. FACTORS OF BIOREMEDIATION These factors include the existence of a microbial population capable of degrading the pollutants, the availability of contaminants to the microbial population, the environment factor (soil,temperature,pH,the presence of oxygen or other electron acceptor, and nutrients. ) MICROBIAL POPULATION FOR BIOREMEDIATION PROCESS Microorganism isolated from from any environment condition. microbes adapt nd grow at subzero temperatures ,as well as extreme heat, in water with excess of oxygen and in anaerobic condition,with the presence of hazardous condition or hazardous compound or any waste stream. the main requirements are an energy source and a carbon source. because of microbes and other biological system ,these can be used to degrade or remediate environmental hazards. Microbes can be divide in to groups according to their activity and condition. Anaerobic- in the absence of oxygen. naerobic bacteria cannot used frequently as a aerobic bacteria. There is an increa sing interest in anaerobic bacteria use for bioremediation of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)in river sediment,ination of dechlorination of solvent trichloroethylene(TCE),and chloroform Lingninolytic fungi-fungi such as the white rot fungus phanaerochaete chrysosporium have the ablity to degrade an extremely diverse range of persistent or toxic environmental pollutants. Common substrate used include starw,sawdust,or corn cobs. Methylotrophs-aerobic bacteria that grow utilizing methane for carbon and energy. the initialenzyme in the pathway for aerobic degradation,methane monooxygenase,has a broad substrate range and active against a wide range of compounds ,including the chlorinated aliphatics trichloroethylene and 1,2-dichloroethane For degradationnit is necessary that bacteria and contaminant in proper contact and in proper amount. Class of contaminants |Specific examples |Aerobic |Anaerobic |More potential sources | |Chlorinated solvents |Trichloroethylene | |+ |Drycleaners | | |Perchloroethylene | | |Chemical manufacture Electrical | |Polychlorinated biphenyls |4-Chlorobiphenyl | |+ |manufacturing Power station | | |4,4-Dichlorobiphenyl | | |Railway yards Timber treatment | | | | | |Landfills | |Chlorinated phenol |Pentachlorophenol | |+ | | |â€Å"BTEX† Benzene Toluene |+ |+ |Oil production and storage | | |Ethylbenzene Xylene | | |Gas w ork sites | | | | | |Airports | | | | | |Paint manufacture Port | | | | | |facilities Railway yards | | | | | |Chemical manufacture | |Polyaromatic hydrocarbons |Naphthalene Antracene |+ | |Oil production and storage | |(PAHs) |Fluorene Pyrene | | |Gas work sites Coke plants | | |Benzo(a)pyrene | | |Engine works Landfills | | | | | |Tar production and storage | | | | | |Boiler ash dump sites Power | | | | | |stations | | |Atrazine Carbaryl | | |Agriculture | | |Carbofuran Coumphos | | |Timber treatment plants | | |Diazinon Glycophosphate | | |Pesticide manufacture | |Pesticides |Parathion Propham |+ |+ |Recreational areas Landfills | | |2,4-D | | | | ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS Nutrients Although the microorganisms are present in contaminated soil, they cannot necessarily be there in the numbers required for bioremediation of the site. Their growth and activity must be stimulated. Biostimulation usually involves the addition of nutrients and oxygen to help indigenous microorgan- isms. These nutrients are the basic building blocks of life and allow microbes to create the necessary enzymes to break down the contaminants. All of them will need nitrogen, phosphorous, and carbon (e. g. , see Table 2). Carbon is the most basic element of living forms and is needed in greater quantities than other elements. In addition to hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen it constitutes about 95% of the weight of cells. Table 2 Composition of a microbial cell. ElementPercentageElementPercentage |Carbon |50 |Sodium |1 | |Nitrogen |14 |Calcium |0,5 | |Oxygen |20 |Magnesium |0,5 | |Hydrogen |8 |Chloride |0,5 | |Phosphorous |3 |Iron |0,2 | |Sulfur |1 |All others |0,3 | |Potassium |1 | | | ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS Nutrients Although the microorganisms are present in contaminated soil, they cannot necessarily be there in the numbers required for bioremediation of the site. Their growth and activity must be stimulated. Biostimulation usually involves the addition of nutrients and oxygen to help indigenous microorgan- isms. These nutrients are the basic building blocks of life and allow microbes to create the necessary enzymes to break down the contaminants. All of them will need nitrogen, phosphorous, and carbon (e. g. , see Table 2). Carbon is the most basic element of living forms and is needed in greater quantities than other elements. In addition to hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen it constitutes about 95% of the weight of cells. Table 2 Composition of a microbial cell. ElementPercentageElementPercentage Carbon |50 |Sodium |1 | |Nitrogen |14 |Calcium |0,5 | |Oxygen |20 |Magnesium |0,5 | |Hydrogen |8 |Chloride |0,5 | |Phosphorous |3 |Iron |0,2 | |Sulfur |1 |All others |0,3 | |Potassium |1 | | | Microbial growth and activity are readily affected by pH, temperature, and moisture. Although microorganisms have been also isolated in extreme conditions, most of them grow optimally over a nar- row range, so that it is important to achieve optimal conditions. If the soil has too much acid it is possible to rinse the pH by adding lime. Temperature affects bio- chemical reactions rates, and the rates of many of them double for each 10  °C rise in temperature. Above a certain temperature, however, the cells die. Plastic covering can be used to enhance solar warming in late spring, summer, and autumn. Available water is essential for all the living organisms, and irrigation is needed to achieve the optimal moisture level. The amount of available oxygen will determine whether the system is aerobic or anaerobic. Hydrocarbons are readily degraded under aerobic conditions, whereas chlorurate compounds are degraded only in anaerobic ones. To increase the oxygen amount in the soil it is possible to till or sparge air. In some cases, hydrogen peroxide or magnesium peroxide can be introduced in the environment. Soil structure controls the effective delivery of air, water, and nutrients. To improve soil structure, materials such as gypsum or organic matter can be applied. Low soil permeability can impede move- ment of water, nutrients, and oxygen; hence, soils with low permeability may not be appropriate for in situ clean-up techniques. BIOREMEDIATION STRATEGIES Different techniques are employed depending on the degree of saturation and aeration of an area. In situ techniques are defined as those that are applied to soil and groundwater at the site with minimal distur- bance. Ex situ techniques are those that are applied to soil and groundwater at the site which has been removed from the site via excavation (soil) or pumping (water). Bioaugmentation techniques involve the addition of microorganisms with the ability to degrade pollutants. In situ bioremediation These techniques [11,12] are generally the most desirable options due to lower cost and less disturbance since they provide the treatment in place avoiding excavation and transport of contaminants. In situ treatment is limited by the depth of the soil that can be effectively treated. In many soils effective oxy- gen diffusion for desirable rates of bioremediation extend to a range of only a few centimeters to about 30 cm into the soil, although depths of 60 cm and greater have been effectively treated in some cases. The most important land treatments are: Bioventing is the most common in situ treatment and involves supplying air and nutrients through wells to contaminated soil to stimulate the indigenous bacteria. Bioventing employs low air flow rates and provides only the amount of oxygen necessary for the biodegradation while minimizing volatiliza- tion and release of contaminants to the atmosphere. It works for simple hydrocarbons and can be used where the contamination is deep under the surface. In situ biodegradation involves supplying oxygen and nutrients by circulating aqueous solutions through contaminated soils to stimulate naturally occurring bacteria to degrade organic contaminants. It can be used for soil and groundwater. Generally, this technique includes conditions such as the infil- tration of water-containing nutrients and oxygen or other electron acceptors for groundwater treatment. Biosparging. Biosparging involves the injection of air under pressure below the water table to increase groundwater oxygen concentrations and enhance the rate of biological degradation of contam- inants by naturally occurring bacteria. Biosparging increases the mixing in the saturated zone and there- by increases the contact between soil and groundwater. The ease and low cost of installing small-diam- eter air injection points allows considerable flexibility in the design and construction of the system. Bioaugmentation. Bioremediation frequently involves the addition of microorganisms indigenous or exogenous to the contaminated sites. Two factors limit the use of added microbial cultures in a land treatment unit: 1) nonindigenous cultures rarely compete well enough with an indigenous population to develop and sustain useful population levels and 2) most soils with long-term exposure to biodegrad- able waste have indigenous microorganisms that are effective degrades if the land treatment unit is well managed. Ex situ bioremediation Ex situ bioremediation These techniques involve the excavation or removal of contaminated soil from ground. Landfarming is a simple technique in which contaminated soil is excavated and spread over a pre- pared bed and periodically tilled until pollutants are degraded. The goal is to stimulate indigenous biodegradative microorganisms and facilitate their aerobic degradation of contaminants. In general, the practice is limited to the treatment of superficial 10–35 cm of soil. Since landfarming has the potential to reduce monitoring and maintenance costs, as well as clean-up liabilities, it has received much atten – leum hydrocarbons they are a refined version of landfarming that tend to control physical losses of the contaminants by leaching and volatilization. Biopiles provide a favorable environment for indigenous aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms. Bioreactors. Slurry reactors or aqueous reactors are used for ex situ treatment of contaminated soil and water pumped up from a contaminated plume. Bioremediation in reactors involves the pro- cessing of contaminated solid material (soil, sediment, sludge) or water through an engineered con- tainment system. A slurry bioreactor may be defined as a containment vessel and apparatus used to cre- ate a three-phase (solid, liquid, and gas) mixing condition to increase the bioremediation rate of soil- bound and water-soluble pollutants as a water slurry of the contaminated soil and biomass (usually indigenous microorganisms) capable of degrading target contaminants. In general, the rate and extent of biodegradation are greater in a bioreactor system than in situ or in solid-phase systems because the contained environment is more manageable and hence more controllable and predictable. Despite the advantages of reactor systems, there are some disadvantages. The contaminated soil requires pre treat- ment (e. g. , excavation) or alternatively the contaminant can be stripped from the soil via soil washing or physical extraction (e. g. , vacuum extraction) before being placed in a bioreactor. Table 4 summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of bioremediation. Table 4 Summary of bioremediation str ategies. Technology |Examples |Benefits |Limitations |Factors to consider | |In situ |In situ bioremediation |Most cost efficient |Environmental constraints |Biodegradative abilities of | | |Biosparging Bioventing |Noninvasive Relatively |Extended treatment time |indigenous microorganisms | | |Bioaugmentation |passive Natural attenuation |Monitoring difficulties |Presence of metals and | | | |processes | |other inorganics Environmental| | | |Treats soil and water | |parameters Biodegradability of| | | | | |pollutants Chemical solubility| | | | | |Geological factors | | | | | |Distribution of pollutants | |Ex situ |Landfarming Composting |Cost efficient |Space requirements |See above | | |Biopiles |Low cost |Extended treatment time | | | | |Can be done on site |Need to control abiotic | | | | | |loss | | | | |Mass transfer problem | | | | | |Bioavailability limitation| | |Bioreactors |Slurry reactors |Rapid degradation kinetic |Soil requires excavation |See above Bioaugmentation | | |Aqueous reactors |Optimized environmental |Relatively high cost |Toxicity of amendments Toxic | | | |parameters |capital |concentrations of contaminants| | | |Enhances mass transfer |Relatively high operating | | | | |Effective use of inoculants |cost | | | | |and surfactants | | | Advantages of bioremediation †¢Bioremediation is a natural process and is therefore perceived by the public as an acceptable waste treatment process for contaminated material such as soil. Microbes able to degrade the con- taminant increase in numbers when the contaminant is present; when the contaminant is degrad- ed, the biodegradative population declines. The residues for the treatment are usually harmless products and include carbon dioxide, water, and cell biomass. †¢Theoretically, bioremediation is useful for the complete destruction of a wide variety of contam- inants. Many compounds that are legally considered to be hazardous can be transformed to harm- less products. This eliminates the chance of future liability associated with treatment and dispos- al of contaminated material. †¢Instead of transferring contaminants from one environmental medium to another, for example, from land to water or air, the complete destruction of target pollutants is possible. †¢Bioremediation can often be carried out on site, often without causing a major disruption of nor- mal activities. This also eliminates the need to transport quantities of waste off site and the poten- tial threats to human health and the environment that can arise during transportation. Bioremediation can prove less expensive than other technologies that are used for clean-up of hazardous waste. Disadvantages of bioremediation †¢Bioremediation is limited to those compounds that are biodegradable. Not all compounds are sus- ceptible to rapid and complete degradation. †¢There are some concerns that the products of biodegradation may be more persistent or toxic than the parent compound. †¢Biological processes are often highly specific. Important site factors required for success include the presence of metabolically capable microbial populations, suitable environmental growth con- ditions, and appropriate levels of nutrients and contaminants. It is difficult to extrapolate from bench and pilot-scale studies to full-scale field operations. †¢Research is needed to develop and engineer bioremediation technologies that are appropriate for sites with complex mixtures of contaminants that are not evenly dispersed in the environment. Contaminants may be present as solids, liquids, and gases. †¢Bioremediation often takes longer than other treatment options, such as excavation and removal of soil or incineration. †¢Regulatory uncertainty remains regarding acceptable performance criteria for bioremediation. There is no accepted definition of â €Å"clean†, evaluating performance of bioremediation is difficult, and there are no acceptable endpoints for bioremediation treatments. PHYTOREMEDIATION Although the application of microbe biotechnology has been successful with petroleum-based con- stituents, microbial digestion has met limited success for widespread residual organic and metals pol- lutants. Vegetation- based remediation shows potential for accumulating, immobilizing, and transform- ing a low level of persistent contaminants. In natural ecosystems, plants act as filters and metabolize substances generated by nature. Phytoremediation is an emerging technology that uses plants to remove contaminants from soil and water [14–16]. The term â€Å"phytoremediation† is relatively new, coined in 1991. Its potential for encouraging the biodegradation of organic contaminants requires further research, although it may be a promising area for the future. We can find five types of phytoremediation techniques, classified based on the contaminant fate: phytoextraction, phytotransformation, phytostabilization, phytodegradation, rhizofiltration, even if a combination of these can be found in nature. Phytoextraction or phytoaccumulation is the process used by the plants to accumulate contami- nants into the roots and aboveground shoots or leaves. This technique saves tremendous remediation cost by accumulating low levels of contaminants from a widespread area. Unlike the degradation mech- anisms, this process produces a mass of plants and contaminants (usually metals) that can be transport- ed for disposal or recycling. Phytotransformation or phytodegradation refers to the uptake of organic contaminants from soil, sediments, or water and, subsequently, their transformation to more stable, less toxic, or less mobile form. Metal chromium can be reduced from hexavalent to trivalent chromium, which is a less mobile and noncarcinogenic form. Phytostabilization is a technique in which plants reduce the mobility and migration of contami- nated soil. Leachable constituents are adsorbed and bound into the plant structure so that they form a stable mass of plant from which the contaminants will not reenter the environment. Phytodegradation or rhizodegradation is the breakdown of contaminants through the activity existing in the rhizosphere. This activity is due to the presence of proteins and enzymes produced by the plants or by soil organisms such as bacteria, yeast, and fungi. Rhizodegradation is a symbiotic rela- tionship that has evolved between plants and microbes. Plants provide nutrients necessary for the microbes to thrive, while microbes provide a healthier soil environment. Rhizofiltration is a water remediation technique that involves the uptake of contaminants by plant roots. Rhizofiltration is used to reduce contamination in natural wetlands and estuary areas. In Table 5, we can see an overview of phytoremediation applications. Table 5 Overview of phytoremediation applications. TechniquePlant mechanismSurface medium PhytoextractionUptake and concentration of metal viaSoils direct uptake into the plant tissue with subsequent removal of the plants PhytotransformationPlant uptake and degradation of organicSurface water, groundwater compounds PhytostabilizationRoot exudates cause metal to precipitateSoils, groundwater, mine tailing and become less available PhytodegradationEnhances microbial degradation inSoils, groundwater within rhizosphere rhizosphere RhizofiltrationUptake of metals into plant rootsSurface water and water pumped PhytovolatilizationPlants evaportranspirate selenium, mercury,Soils and groundwater and volatile hydrocarbons Vegetative capRainwater is evaportranspirated by plantsSoils to prevent leaching contaminants from disposal sites Phytoremediation is well suited for use at very large field sites where other methods of remedia- tion are not cost effective or practicable; at sites with a low concentration of contaminants where only polish treatment is required over long periods of time; and in conjunction with other technologies where vegetation is used as a final cap and closure of the site. There are some limitations to the technology that it is necessary to consider carefully before it is selected for site remediation: long duration of time for remediation, potential contamination of the vegetation and food chain, and difficulty establishing and maintaining vegetation at some sites with high toxic levels. .

Night World : The Chosen Chapter 9

How long since he'd identified with humans? That had all stopped the day he stopped being human himself. Not at the moment he'd stopped being human, though. At first all his anger had been for Hunter Redfern†¦. Waking up from the dead was an experience you don't forget. For Quinn, it happened in the Redfern cabin on a husk mattress in front of the fire. He opened his eyes to see three beautiful girls leaning over him. Garnet, with her wine-colored hair shining in the ruby light, Lily with her black hair and her eyes like topaz, and Dove, his own Dove, brown-haired and gentle, with anxious love in her face. That was when Hunter informed him that he'd been dead for three days. â€Å"I told your father you'd gone to Plymouth; don't tell him otherwise. And don't try to move yet; you're too weak. We'll bring in something soon and you can feed.† He stood behind his daughters, his arms around them, all of them looking down at Quinn. â€Å"Be happy. You're one of us now.† But all Quinn felt was horror-and pain. When he put his thumbs to his teeth, he found the source of the pain. His canine teeth were as long as a wildcat's and they throbbed at the slightest touch. He was a monster. An unholy creature who needed blood to survive. Hunter Redfern had been telling the truth about his family, and he'd changed Quinn into one of them. Insane with fury, Quinn jumped up and tried to get his hands around Hunter's throat. And Hunter just laughed, fending off the attack easily. The next thing Quinn knew, he was running down the blazed trail in the forest, heading for his father's house. Staggering and stumbling down the trail, rather. He was almost too weak to walk. Then suddenly Dove was beside him. Little Dove who looked as if she couldn't outrun a flower. She steadied him, held him up, and tried to convince him to go back. But Quinn could only think of one thing: getting to his father. His father was a minister; his father would know what to do. His father would help. And Dove, at last, agreed to go with him. Later Quinn would realize that of course he should have known better. They reached Quinn's home. At that point, if Quinn was afraid of anything, it was that his father wouldn't believe this wild story of bloodthirst and death. But one look at Quinn's new teeth convinced his father of everything. He could recognize a devil when he saw one, he said. And he knew his duty. Like every Puritan's, it was to cast out sin and evil wherever he found it. With that, his father picked up a brand from the fire-a good piece of seasoned pine-and then grabbed Dove by the hair. It was around this time that the screaming started, the screaming Quinn would be able to hear forever after if he listened. Dove was too gentle to put up much of a fight. And Quinn himself was too weak to save her. He tried. He threw himself on top of Dove to shield her from the stake. He would always have the scar on his side to prove it. But the wood that nicked him pierced Dove to the heart. She died looking up at him, the light in her brown eyes going out. Then everything was confusion, with his father chasing him, crying, brandishing the bloody stake pulled from Dove's body. It ended when Hunter Red-fern appeared at the door with Lily and Garnet. They took Quinn and Dove home with them, while Quinn's father went running to the neighbors for help. He wanted help burning the Redfern cabin down. That was when Hunter said it, the thing that severed Quinn's ties with his old world. He looked down at his dead daughter and said, â€Å"She was too gentle to live in a world full of humans. Do you think you can do any better?† And Quinn, dazed and starving, so frightened and full of horror that he couldn't talk, decided then that he would. Humans were the enemy. No matter what he did, they would never accept him. He had become something they could only hate-so he might as well become it thoroughly. â€Å"You see, you don't have a family anymore,† Hunter mused. â€Å"Unless it's the Redferns.† Since then, Quinn had thought of himself only as a vampire. He shook his head, feeling clearer than he had for days. The girl had disturbed him. The girl in the cellar, the girl whose face he had never seen. For two days after that night, all he could think of was somehow finding her. What had happened between them†¦ well, he still didn't understand that. If she had been a witch, he'd have thought she bewitched him. But she was human. And she'd made him doubt everything he knew about humans. She'd awakened feelings that had been sleeping since Dove died in his arms. But now†¦ now he thought it was just as well he hadn't been able to find her. Because the cellar girl wasn't just human, she was a vampire hunter. Like his father. His father, who, wild-eyed and sobbing, had driven the stake through Dove's heart. As always, Quinn felt himself losing his grip on sanity as he remembered it. What a pity that he'd have to kill the cellar girl the next time he saw her. But there was no help for it. Vampire hunters were worse than the ordinary human vermin, who were just stupid. Vampire hunters were the sin and the evil that had to be cast out. The Night World was the only world. And I haven't been to the dub in a week, Quinn thought, showing his teeth. He laughed out loud, a strange and brittle sound. Well, I guess I'd better go tonight. It's all part of the great dance, you see, he thought to the cellar girl, who of course couldn't hear him. The dance of life and death. The dance that's going on right this minute all over the world, in African savannas and Arctic snowfields and the bushes in Boston Common. Killing and eating. Hunting and dying. A spider snags a bluebottle fly; a polar bear grabs a seal. A coyote springs on a rabbit. It's the way the world has always been. Humans were part of it, too, except that they let slaughterhouses do the killing for them and received their prey in the form of McDonald's hamburgers. There was an order to things. The dance required that someone be the hunter and someone else be the hunted. With all those young girls longing to offer themselves to the darkness, it would be cruel of Quinn not to provide a darkness to oblige them. They were all only playing their parts. Quinn headed for the club, laughing in a way that scared even him. The club was only a few streets away from the warehouse, Rashel noted. Made sense. Everything about this operation had the stamp of efficiency, and she sensed Quinn's hand in that. I wonder what he's getting paid to provide the girls for sale? she thought. She'd heard that Quinn liked money. â€Å"Remember, once we get inside, you don't know me,† she said to Daphne. â€Å"It's safer for both of us that way. They might suspect something if they knew that first you escaped and now you're turning up with a stranger.† â€Å"Got it.† Daphne looked excited and a little scared. Under her coat, she was wearing a slinky black top and a brief skirt, and her black-stockinged legs twinkled as she ran toward the club door. Under Rashel's coat, hidden in the lining, was a knife. Like her sword, it was made of lignum vitae, the hardest wood on earth. The sheath had several interesting secret compartments. It was the knife of a ninja, and Sensei, who had taught Rashel the martial arts, wouldn't have approved at all. He wouldn't have approved of Rashel made it in, too, her story must have passed inspection. That was a relief. Inside, the place looked like hell. Not a shambles. It literally looked like Hell. Hades. The Underworld. The lights turned it into a place of infernal fire and twisting purple shadows. The music was weird and dissonant and sounded to Rashel as if it were being played backward. She caught scraps of conversation as she walked across the floor. â€Å"†¦ going out Dumpster diving later†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"†¦ no money. So I gotta jack somebody†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"†¦ told Mummy I'd be at the key-dub meeting†¦Ã¢â‚¬  You get a real cross section here, she thought dryly. Everybody had one thing in common, though; they were young. Kids. The oldest looked about eighteen. The youngest-well, there were a few girls Rashel would put at twelve. She had an impulse to go back and insert something wooden into Ivan. A slow fire that had started in her chest when she first heard about the Crypt was burning hotter and hotter with everything she saw here. This entire place is a snare, a gigantic Venus' flytrap, she thought as she took off her coat and added it to a pile on the floor. But if she wanted to shut it down, she had to stay cool, stick to her plan. Standing by a cast-iron column, she scanned the room for vampires. And there, standing with a little group that in-duded Daphne, was Quinn. It gave Rashel an odd shock to see him, and she wanted to look away. She couldn't. He was laughing, and somehow that caught hold of her like a fishhook. For a moment the morbid lighting of the room seemed rainbow-colored in the radiance shed by that laughter. Appalled, Rashel realized that her face had flushed and her heart was beating fast. I hate him, she thought, and this was true. She did hate him for what he was doing to her. He made her feel unmoored and adrift. Confused. Helpless. She understood why those girls were clustered around him, longing to fling themselves into his darkness like a bunch of virgin sacrifices jumping into a volcano. I mean, what else do you do with a guy like that? she thought. Kill him. It would be the only solution even if he weren't a vampire, she decided with sudden insane cheer. Because prolonged contact with that smile was obviously going to annihilate her. Rashel blinked rapidly, getting a grip on herself. All right. Concentrate on that, on the job to be done. She was going to have to kill him, but not now; right now she had to get herself chosen. Walking carefully on her heels, she went over to join Quinn's group. He didn't see her at first. He was facing Daphne and a couple of other girls, laughing frequently- too frequently. He looked wild and a little feverish to Rashel. A sort of devilish Mad Hatter at an insane tea party. â€Å"†¦ and I just felt so totally awful that I didn't get to meet you,† Daphne was saying, â€Å"and I just wish I knew what happened, because it was just so seriously weird†¦Ã¢â‚¬  She was telling her story, Rashel realized. At least none of the people listening seemed openly suspicious. â€Å"I haven't seen you here before,† came a voice behind her. It belonged to a striking girl with dark hair, very pale skin, and eyes like amber or topaz†¦ or a hawk's. Rashel froze, every muscle tensing, trying to keep her face expressionless. Another vampire. She was sure of it. The camellia-petal skin, the light in the eyes†¦ this must be the girl vampire who'd brought Daphne food in the warehouse. â€Å"No, this is my first time,† Rashel said, making her voice light and eager. â€Å"My name's Shelly.† It was close enough to her own name that she would turn automatically if anyone said it. â€Å"I'm Lily.† The girl said it without warmth, and those hawklike eyes continued to bore straight into Rashel's. Rashel had to struggle to stay on her feet. It's Lily Redfern, she thought, working desperately to keep an idiot smile plastered on her face. I know it is. How many Lily's can there be who'd be working with Quinn? I've got a Redfern right here in front of me. I've got Hunter Redfern's daughter here. For an instant she was tempted to simply make a dash for her knife. Killing a celebrity like Lily seemed almost worth giving up the enclave. But on the other hand, Hunter Redfern was a moderate sort of vampire, with a lot of influence on the Night World Council. He helped keep other vampires in line. Striking at him through his daughter would just make him mad, and then he might start listening to the Councilors who wanted to slaughter humans in droves. And Rashel would lose any hope of getting at the heart of the slave trade, where the real scum were. I hate politics, Rashel thought. But she was already beaming at Lily, prattling for all she was worth. â€Å"It was my friend Marnie who told me about this place, and I'm really glad I came because it's even better than I thought, and I've got this poem I wrote-â€Å" â€Å"Really. Well, I'm dying not to hear it,† Lily said. Her hawklike eyes had lost interest. Her face was filled with open contempt-she'd dismissed Rashel as a hopeless fawning idiot. She walked away without glancing back. Two tests passed. One to go. â€Å"That's what I like about Lily. She's just so absolutely cold,† a girl beside Rashel said. She had wavy bronze hair and bee-stung lips. â€Å"Hi, I'm Juanita,† she added. And she's serious, Rashel thought as she introduced herself. Quinn's group had noticed her at last, and they all seemed to agree with Juanita. They were fascinated by Lily's cold personality, her lack of feeling. They saw it as strength. Yeah, because feeling hurts. Maybe I should worship her, too, Rashel thought. She was finding too many things in common with these girls. â€Å"Lily the ice princess,† another girl murmured. â€Å"It's like she's not even really from earth at all. It's like she's from another planet.† â€Å"Hold that thought,† a new voice said, a crisp, laughing, slightly insane voice. The effect it had on Rashel was remarkable. It made her back stiffen and sent tingles up her palms. It closed her throat. Okay, test number three, she thought, drawing on every ounce of discipline she'd learned in the martial arts. Don't lose zanshin. Stay loose, stay frosty, and go with it. You can do this. She turned to meet Quinn's eyes.

Leadership Case Study: Steve Jobs Essay

1. Steve Jobs had an extremely high interest in being in charge, so to start off with his leader-follower element, he most definitely settles in better on the leader end of the spectrum. Jobs was so far in the leadership end of the spectrum that he had actually been removed from his CEO position in 1985 for being unmanageable. Being one of the most charismatic leaders in the industry has helped him develop his leadership traits through his time with Apple, NeXT, and Pixar. He has always been determined even when Apple took him out of the equation, where he went off to make some of our childhood staples such as Toy Story and gained an enormous share of stock with Disney, which was actually more than he ever owned with Apple. His influence spans across five different industries, which is more than almost any CEO can say that they have done in their entire life. His influence spanned across the computer industry, Hollywood and the movie industry, the wireless phone industry with the IPh one, the retailing industry, and my personal favorite being the music industry where ITunes has innovated the very distribution of music itself. To the point, Steve always seemed to get what he wanted when it came to influencing these many industries. As for organizational objectives, Jobs always wanted to create a product that the customer wanted but almost didn’t even know they wanted or conceive the product in a thought, the IPod being a prime example of this. If Jobs didn’t like the outcome of a product, he sent it back to the drawing board. Jobs and his members shared the goals to create new things they wanted, in the hopes that the customer would too. Change is a huge aspect of the way Jobs leads, all he wants to do is create technologically changing products that he and his customers really want. The constantly updating technology, yet always user friendly interface is Apples motto now a days. Steve’s people skills were apparently not the greatest, but as long as a subordinate shared in his vision of wanting to create and innovate like he did, then Apple would succeed. His people tended to respect him for the way he went about inventing new products and never wanting to fall short on anything. 2. The leadership skills that Steve Jobs possessed that made himself as well as his companies so successful were due his combination of the technical, interpersonal, and decision-making skills he possessed. Keeping up with the  latest technology in the tech industry is an absolute necessity, and Steve and Apple not only kept up with the industry but innovated it every step of the way, so his technical skills were very important. Steve’s interpersonal skills were not conventional in the regular sense of the meaning, but he had his own way of developing relationships and gaining the respect of his subordinates who wished to share in his vision of giving people products that they didn’t even know they wanted. He was sure to consistently communicate this point to his employees, and motivating was one of his key qualities, such as in his key note speeches to his customers to unveil new products every year. Lastly, and what I believe to be his most important skill that he possesses, is his decision-making skills. Jobs was able to come back to Apple and make the necessary decisions to bring it out of bankruptcy by changing the corporate culture back to an entrepreneurial environment to be the innovative company it once was. Critical thinking was a big part of his life, and Steve was known to take walks alone in an almost trance like state where he would be identifying problems and changes in the industry, know where opportunities lied, and would critically think to come up with creative ideas to be the leader and innovator in so many industries. 3. Under the interpersonal managerial leadership roles section, I believe that Steve fell under the category of figurehead and leader roles in this section. Steve was the go to speaker at the key note speeches of unveiling products, and he always had a sense of spirit about him that really made the customer believe in how much he loves the product they just unveiled, and how much Steve believed that the customer would love the product. Steve also continuously performed the leader role by giving instructions of the creation of products, why the company should head in a certain direction, or evaluating performance of research and development of new products. If Steve didn’t want to personally use it, chances are it was thrown in the trash and it was back to the drawing board. As far as the informational role category, I believe that Steve was in the monitor role as well as the spokesperson role. Steve was constantly gathering information and attending meetings in and out of the organization to create new and innovative products. As for the spokesperson role, as I have stated previously, he was the charismatic leader that was the face and spirit of what Apple was all about, and he had  the customer falling in love with a completely innovative product before they had seen anything like it before. As far as his decisional role, he was the company’s main entrepreneur as well as the main disturbance handler when Apple came to him on the verge of bankruptcy. New and improved products and services is Apple’s core belief thanks to Jobs, and his combination of these two roles saved the company single handed thanks to Steve’s enthusiasm and passion of innovation. His decisional roles that he played were by far his most important contributions since he not only saved the company from bankruptcy but also made it the innovative leader in technology for the last 20 years. 4. The primary level of analysis that this case focuses on is the organizational level of analysis. The focus is on how Steve Jobs can influence the entire organization of people to get on top of their game and to constantly be looking for change to innovate new products. He influenced the behaviors, work ethic, and productivity of all of his employees. He individually was able to completely turn the company around from bankruptcy because of the tactics he would use to influence perfection. His mind set was one way, always towards the next best product, and if he didn’t like it then the idea was scrapped. While some of his employees did not quite agree with the angry fits that Steve would have, even the employees that ended up quitting still said there was a sense of respect for what Steve was doing and his passion for it. Steve’s passion resonated throughout the entire organization, and the simple fact that his views of how the innovation culture at the workplace helpe d save it from bankruptcy shows his abilities. Saving Apple was not an easy task, but he was able to accomplish it. 5. The four leadership theory classifications that apply to this case are trait, behavior, contingency, and integrative. Steve’s trait paradigm involves how he acts in the environment of the organization, which included high energy levels at work whether it was anger or passion. It also included his appearance, which he appeared as an angry guy who wanted nothing but perfection, but also showed passion through it all. He was always able to persuade in his own ways, and he always showed his dominance in the workplace, which unfortunately ended up in his initial removal from Apple,  but proved extremely useful in his later years. The behavior paradigm applied in the way that Steve was extremely focused on certain tasks at hand, and the way he is always the biggest critic of any and all products being proposed or worked on in the company. The way that Steve Jobs contributed behaviorally in this case was by controlling his subordinates and demanding perfection every step of the way. The contingency paradigm shows that leadership style is situational, and even though people tended to dislike the way Jobs lead, he ran the organization into its most successful and profitable years, saving it from demise. The most relevant paradigm in my opinion is the integrative paradigm. Since it incorporates portions from the other three theories, I believe that it can be used to describe the charismatic, passion filled leadership qualities that Jobs possessed. He was able to inspire his employees and everyone was always enthusiastic once the levels of productivity they had put in resulted in a noteworthy product everyone will love. 6. Since the passing of Steve Jobs, this seems to be a question that is on everyone’s mind, from employee to shareholder to customer. While it is a scary thought, something tells me that the passion and vision that Jobs was able to give to the organization in the last decade he worked their contributed to the current mentality of a lot of the current top level managers still working there. It has become an atmosphere at Apple that they should only create products that would be worthy of a Jobs stamp of approval, and I personally do not think the organizational paradigm would shift after such an influential human being has put so much effort and soul into a company as Steve has done for Apple. Apple is the leading household name for so many different technologies, they have changed the music industry forever, and have an absolutely absurd amount of cash on hand to fund whatever types of projects they need to be sure they are constantly on top of the industry. While the technolo gy industry is one of the most fast paced changing industries with constant improvements in hardware and software, I do not see Apple falling behind to the point that they will not recover again.