Murder Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Murder Report - Essay Example Ryan had been drinking lager all night, topping up the beer up with a few shots as the evening wore on. In the night club Ryan happened to see Sukhdev an Asian engaging in loud discourse with Laura in an intimate position. Under the influence of alcohol, Ryan used dirty language against Sukhdev humiliating his Asian identity. Sukhdev’s friends separated him from the scene, ignoring Ryan. The outraged Ryan shifted his anger over her and tried to pull her out when she quitted saying her day with him was over. Ryan never stopped taking liquor and met a friend of him in another club. During exchange of his experience at ‘Gas’ club, the friend fuelled his animosity on Sukhdev and returned back to ‘Gas’ club to meet Sukhdev again who was just leaving ‘Gas’ with a few friend and two young white girls. Ryan dragged them into altercation and began to attack Sukhdev. Sukhdev’s friend too retaliated in the same coin terming Ryan a white scum. Ryan’s friend joined him and showed his muscle power against Sukhdev, by when the door staff of ‘Gas’ called the police to intervene. However, the police caught hold Ryan and brought Sukhdev to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead before arrival. Background: - Ryan was aged 22 at the time of the incident. He had grown up in the north Midlands town where the incident took place in a terraced house close to the mine where his father had worked as a young man. The mine had closed in the early 1980s along with many of the town’s other heavy industries. After losing his mining job Ryan’s father had struggled to find work, eventually finding work as a long distance lorry driver. During the 1950s and 1960s when the local economy was booming, people had been attracted to the town from both Pakistan and the West Indies, often to work in the health service, transport and on night shifts in local factories. More recent migrants from sub-Saharan Afric a, the Middle East and south-eastern Europe had found it harder to get work – often because they were prevented from doing so as asylum-seekers. Despite this inward migration, the town remained overwhelmingly white and many families had lived in the area for generations. Ryan’s father and mother split up when Ryan was four leaving his mother to bring him up along with his elder brother, Damian, and younger sister, Charlotte. During Ryan’s childhood, his mother had a succession of relationships with men, two of whom had, like Ryan’s father, been violent towards her. One of them, a man called Dave, who didn’t work and spent most of the time drinking at home in front of the television, had taken a strong dislike to Ryan and gave him regular beatings, including on one occasion with a baseball bat he kept behind the door, ostensibly to deal with burglars. Ryan had spent some time in hospital as a result of this beating. Ryan also suspected that Dave had been sexually abusing his younger sister but his mother had threatened to throw him out if he didn’t ‘stop making things up’. From the age of nine Ryan had tried to spend as little time as possible at home. Hanging out on the streets, he came into contact with a group of older boys who were amused by his fearless, devil-may-care attitude and adopted him as a kind of mascot. Through his contacts with this group, Ryan began drinking alcohol and then got into taking drugs. By the age of 13, Ryan was a hardened drinker and a regular truant. On the rare occasions

Agroforestry Research Essay Example for Free

Agroforestry Research Essay Agroforestry is an integrated approach of using the interactive benefits from combining trees and shrubs with crops and/or livestock. It combines agricultural and forestry technologies to create more diverse, productive, profitable, healthy, and sustainable land-use systems.[1] A narrow definition of agroforestry is trees on farms. As a science The theoretical base for agroforestry comes from ecology, via agroecology.[3] From this perspective, agroforestry is one of the three principal land-use sciences. The other two are agriculture and forestry.[4] The efficiency of photosynthesis drops off with increasing light intensity, and the rate of photosynthesis hardly increases once the light intensity is over about one tenth that of direct overhead sun. This means that plants under trees can still grow well even though they get less light. By having more than one level of vegetation, it is possible to get more photosynthesis than with a single layer. Agroforestry has a lot in common with intercropping. Both have two or more plant species (such as nitrogen-fixing plants) in close interaction, both provide multiple outputs, as a consequence, higher overall yields and, because a single application or input is shared, costs are reduced. Beyond these, there are gains specific to agroforestry. Benefits Further information: Ecoscaping Agroforestry systems can be advantageous over conventional agricultural and forest production methods. They can offer increased productivity, economic benefits, and more diversity in the ecological goods and services provided.[5] Biodiversity in agroforestry systems is typically higher than in conventional agricultural systems. With two or more interacting plant species in a given land area, it creates a more complex habitat that can support a wider variety of birds, insects, and other animals. Depending upon the application, potential impacts of agroforestry can include: †¢Reducing poverty through increased production of wood and other tree products for home consumption and sale †¢Contributing to food security by restoring the soil fertility for food crops †¢Cleaner water through reduced nutrient and soil runoff †¢Countering global warming and the risk of hunger by increasing the number of drought-resistant trees and the subsequent production of fruits, nuts and edible oils †¢Reducing deforestation and pressure on woodlands by providing farm-grown fuelwood †¢Reducing or eliminating the need for toxic chemicals (insecticides, herbicides, etc.) †¢Through more diverse farm outputs, improved human nutrition †¢In situations where people have limited access to mainstream medicines, providing growing space for medicinal plants Agroforestry practices may also realize a number of other associated environmental goals, such as: †¢Carbon sequestration †¢Odour, dust, and noise reduction †¢Green space and visual aesthetics †¢Enhancement or maintenance of wildlife habitat Adaptation to Climate Change There is some evidence that, especially in recent years, poor smallholder farmers are turning to agroforestry as a mean to adapt to the impacts of climate change. A study from the CGIAR research program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) found from a survey of over 700 households in East Africa that at least 50% of those households had begun planting trees on their farms in a change from their practices 10 years ago.[6] The trees ameliorate the effects of climate change by helping to stabilize erosion, improving water and soil quality and providing yields of fruit, tea, coffee, oil, fodder and medicinal products in addition to their usual harvest. Agroforestry was one of the most widely adopted adaptation strategies in the study, along with the use of improved crop varieties and intercropping.[6] Applications Agroforestry represents a wide diversity in application and in practice. One listing includes over 40 distinct uses.[3] The 40 or so applications can be roughly classified under a few broad headings. There are visual similarities between practices in different categories. This is expected as categorization is based around the problems addressed (countering winds, high rainfall, harmful insects, etc.) and the overall economic constraints and objectives (labor and other inputs costs, yield requirements, etc.). The categories include : †¢Parklands †¢Shade systems †¢Crop-over-tree systems †¢Alley cropping †¢Strip cropping †¢Fauna-based systems †¢Boundary systems †¢Taungyas †¢Physical support systems †¢Agroforests. Parkland Parklands are visually defined by the presence of trees widely scattered over a large agricultural plot or pasture. The trees are usually of a single species with clear regional favorites. Among the benefits, the trees offer shade to grazing animals, protect crops against strong wind bursts, provide tree prunings for firewood, and are a roost for insect or rodent-eating birds. There are other gains. Research with Faidherbia albida in Zambia showed that mature trees can sustain maize yields of 4.1 tonnes per hectare compared to 1.3 tonnes per hectare without these trees. Unlike other trees, Faidherbia sheds its nitrogen-rich leaves during the rainy crop growing season so it does not compete with the crop for light, nutrients and water. The leaves then regrow during the dry season and provide land cover and shade for crops.[7] Shade systems With shade applications, crops are purposely raised under tree canopies and within the resulting shady environment. For most uses, the understory crops are shade tolerant or the overstory trees have fairly open canopies. A conspicuous example is shade-grown coffee. This practice reduces weeding costs and increases the quality and taste of the coffee.[8][9] Crop-over-tree systems Not commonly encountered, crop-over-tree systems employ woody perennials in the role of a cover crop. For this, small shrubs or trees pruned to near ground level are utilized. The purpose, as with any cover crop, is to increase in-soil nutrients and/or to reduce soil erosion. Alley cropping With alley cropping, crop strips alternate with rows of closely spaced tree or hedge species. Normally, the trees are pruned before planting the crop. The cut leafy material is spread over the crop area to provide nutrients for the crop. In addition to nutrients, the hedges serve as windbreaks and eliminate soil erosion. Alley cropping has been shown to be advantagous in Africa, particularly in relation to improving maize yields in the sub-Saharan region. Use here relies upon the nitrogen fixing tree species Sesbania sesban, Tephrosia vogelii, Gliricidia sepium and Faidherbia albida. In one example, a ten-year experiment in Malawi showed that, by using fertilizer trees such as Tephrosia vogelii and Gliricidia sepium, maize yields averaged 3.7 tonnes per hectare as compared to one tonne per hectare in plots without fertilizer trees or mineral fertilizer.[10] Strip cropping Strip cropping is similar to alley cropping in that trees alternate with crops. The difference is that, with alley cropping, the trees are in single row. With strip cropping, the trees or shrubs are planted in wide strip. The purpose can be, as with alley cropping, to provide nutrients, in leaf form, to the crop. With strip cropping, the trees can have a purely productive role, providing fruits, nuts, etc. while, at the same time, protecting nearby crops from soil erosion and harmful winds. Fauna-based systems Silvopasture over the years (Australia). There are situations where trees benefit fauna. The most common examples are the silvopasture where cattle, goats, or sheep browse on grasses grown under trees.[11] In hot climates, the animals are less stressed and put on weight faster when grazing in a cooler, shaded environment. Other variations have these animals directly eating the leaves of trees or shrubs. There are similar systems for other types of fauna. Deer and hogs gain when living and feeding in a forest ecosystem, especially when the tree forage suits their dietary needs. Another variation, aquaforestry, is where trees shade fish ponds. In many cases, the fish eat the leaves or fruit from the trees. Boundary systems A riparian buffer bordering a river in Iowa. The are a number of applications that fall under the heading of a boundary system. These include the living fences, the riparian buffer, and windbreaks. †¢A living fence can be a thick hedge or fencing wire strung on living trees. In addition to restricting the movement of people and animals, living fences offer habitat to insect-eating birds and, in the case of a boundary hedge, slow soil erosion. †¢Riparian buffers are strips of permanent vegetation located along or near active watercourses or in ditches where water runoff concentrates. The purpose is to keep nutrients and soil from contaminating surface water. †¢Windbreaks reduce the velocity of the winds over and around crops. This increases yields through reduced drying of the crop and/or by preventing the crop from toppling in strong wind gusts. Taungyas Taungya is a system originating in Burma. In the initial stages of an orchard or tree plantation, the trees are small and widely spaced. The free space between the newly planted trees can accommodate a seasonal crop. Instead of costly weeding, the underutilized area provides an additional output and income. More complex taungyas use the between-tree space for a series of crops. The crops become more shade resistant as the tree canopies grow and the amount of sunlight reaching the ground declines. If a plantation is thinned in the latter stages, this opens further the between-tree cropping opportunities. Physical support systems In the long history of agriculture, trellises are comparatively recent. Before this, grapes and other vine crops were raised atop pruned trees. Variations of the physical support theme depend upon the type of vine. The advantages come through greater in-field biodiversity. In many cases, the control of weeds, diseases, and insect pests are a primary motive. Agroforests These are widely found in the humid tropics and are referenced by different names (forest gardening, forest farming, tropical home gardens and, where short-statured trees or shrubs dominate, shrub gardens). Agroforests, in many ways, epitomize agroforestry. Through a complex, disarrayed mix of trees, shrubs, vines, and seasonal crops, these systems, through their high levels of biodiversity, achieve the ecological dynamics of a forest ecosystem. Because of the internal ecology, they tend to be less susceptible to harmful insects, plant diseases, drought, and wind damage. Although they can be high yielding, complex systems tend to produce a large number of outputs. These are not utilized when a large volume of a single crop or output is required.

Website Proposal For Holiday Inn Hotel Tourism Essay

Website Proposal For Holiday Inn Hotel Tourism Essay The shrinking world is expanding the outreach of tourists. No more do hotels have a fully staffed reservation department with managers, assistant managers, supervisors and agents. The internet has conveniently replaced numerous phone calls, faxes and payment issues. Now potential guests just dial a toll-free number or book directly on the internet. According to Forrester Research 32% of hotels revenues come through online bookings. They include both direct reservations and those made through third party websites. The travel industry allocates 29% of its marketing budget to online marketing. (Cullen)This is so because the importance of integration of E-Commerce with business strategies is realized. This is also because the nature of the traveler and travelling is changing. Present day travelers are hyper-interactive, who are texting, tweeting, emailing, communicating with friends via face book and commenting on their current or previous travels. The advent of social media and mobile Web means that potential guests for the hospitality industry have continuous access to multi-channel interaction and sharing opinions. Thus hotel websites have to be designed in order to handle this hyper-interactive user. Thus hotel websites can no longer be static brochures with stale and boring context. (Max Starkov). Back ground The Holiday Inn hotel is a subsidiary of the IHG group of companies. It is a brand which remains consistent towards the board. Guests at the 1874 Holiday Inn hotels around the world know that they will be treated well and have certain level of expectations regarding the service. In fact the idea for the Holiday Inn hotels came into the mind of its founder, Kemmons Wilson, when he was disappointed with the consistency of road side motels during a trip to Washington DC. Consistency is a great advantage when it comes to providing services. The art of total quality management lies with the hospitality greats like Marriott, Hilton and of course Holiday Inn but when it comes to social media policies and the ever changing world of the internet consistency has a huge down side. Consistency is not the only key feature of the Holiday Inn hotels and resorts. Innovation goes side by side with consistency. Holiday Inn hotels were the first ones to introduce the Holidex reservation system giving its competitors a run for money. Holiday Inn hotels also initiated the idea for indoor pools, termed Holidromes, turning its hotels into resorts. This innovation and comfort, which is the landmark of the Holiday Inn hotels, should be made evident in the hotel website. With the advent of time, Holiday Inn is now an established name in midscale provision of hospitality. This midscale travel market consists of 43% of travelers worldwide. (Hospital and tourism industry report:Q2 2010) and is the sector of the tourism industry which faces the highest competition. With the tourism industry recovering from the economic depression of 2009, the number of tourists is increasing, but at the same time the new tourist is more cost conscious and e-savvy. With social medias burgeoning levels and websites like tripadvisor advising tourists on the wide range of living options available, the tourist might not fall for the reliability of brand names as the previous guests were. The increasing travel trend resulting from economic recovery also means that the internet is bombarded with tourism information. This is so because due to economic conditions many hotel websites were abandoned during the past two years. The waking up of hoteliers means that new websites are profoundly different as they now cater to a different inventory distribution system, social media and cross channel marketing. Almost all new websites cater to mobile web applications and so does the Holiday Inn website. With increased globalization of the economy and increased competition hotels cannot rely on their past successes. Holiday Inn and IHG are bound to know this well as the hotel chain lost considerable market share in the 1980s. it is only after its re launch in 2007 that the hotel has again captured some part of its market segment. At the time of the re launch, the new hotel website was also launched. Consumers that visit the hotel website find a user friendly environment. The site provides availability details, locations, room features and descriptions of the surrounding area. But provision of these details is not enough for the highly competitive hospitality industry. Holiday Inn hotels needs to develop a website which highlights its core competencies, tackles competition from market rivals and eliminates the bargaining power of buyers. During the pre recession times, visitors were more satisfied with the Holiday Inn website than the industry average. This data was deployed from studies based on 31 websites of leading hospitality brands. It checked data based on the five most crucial dimensions of a visitors online experience. They were navigation, content, interactivity, motivation and adoption. The customer satisfaction was generally higher ranking in the 92nd percentile. (Website Satisfaction Soars at InterContinental Hotels Group) In the year 2007, the content dimension was an area of strength for the website. The amount of details provided covered a vast range of aspects of visitor concern. Coupled with this was the fact that the data was very well structured and easy to navigate. This led to an adoption rating higher than the industry average, pointing to future site referrals and a strong likelihood to return. The website also fostered brand loyalty. According to Sasha Paine, an analyst at iperceptions, There is no clearer indicator of a sites effectiveness than its ability to build loyalty among its visitors.(Website Satisfaction Soars at InterContinental Hotels Group) The new virtual market place allows small companies to compete with industry giants. This means that Holiday Inn faces competition not just from hotel chains like Ramada and Hilton but also from small hotels. By looking at the hotel website we can easily find out that the website is high in content. The most critical section, which is the reservations section, is right in front for customer ease. The reservations section helps finds locations and provide all details regarding the Holiday Inn hotel in the area to be visited. On the downside it is known that only 32% of visitors visit a hotels website to make reservations. (Hospital and tourism industry report:Q2 2010) The rest visit either to find information or to compare rates. For visitors who are not lured by the brand into booking, the website should be appealing and catchy enough to ensure adoption or at least a revisit. But what the website lacks is targeting new customer strategies. It seems that unlike other websites which appeal to new guests by providing reasons for staying at their hotels, the Holiday Inn relies on its brand name and preconceived notions about its excellence to get potential guests to make reservations. What is not realized is that website design is an illustrative art and making correct use of this art might ensure that visitors will not have to change pages or scroll down for the required information. A look at the key competitor Ramadas website demonstrates this very well. Though the reservation section is still on the main page of the site, the opening window encompasses much more than only the reservation section. It eyes potential customers and not just visitors by ensuring that new deals are right under the visitors nose. The slideshow of the Holiday Inn website is not very creative and is short with only 4 slides. Though it instantly appeal to the comfort factor and attracts business travelers immediately. The family and friends factor and fun travelling and living is excluded from the slide show. In contrast other websites have wider navigation menus and longer, swifter slideshows. Websites are using rich media foreg the Pueblo Bonito website and the Atlantis hotel in Dubai. Websites foreg theurbansuites.com are also trying to split visitors by demographics and visitor types to provide custom services. Websites have an increasing number of testimonials, blog links and some even have the press singing their praises. (Mackenzie) This you attitude employed by the website and marketing strategy appeals to visitors. This paper looks at the need for developing a new website for the Holiday Inn hotels. It observes the changing trends in both website designs of the hospitality industry and nature of travelers. Data is collected from visitors to the website and their satisfaction is analyzed. Satisfaction is measured using variables which include content of the website, ease of navigation, interactivity, motivation and adoption. This is done by e-surveys and observing visitor behavior on the website. Conclusions are then drawn regarding visitor satisfaction. Since online reservations make up a chunk of all hotel reservations, it will be very important to pay due attention to either reconstructing or renovating the website if needed. The new website can be developed by outsourcing the development of the website to some leading website developers specially related to the hospitality industry. Budgetary allocations will have to be made. They include consultancy costs, advertisement of the new website, Search Engine optimization costs and website development and mantainence. Research will have to be made on the percentage of revenues generated by the website, the potential for development and the amount competitors allocate towards online marketing and website development. Budget allocation and trends in the hospitality website industry along with weaknesses in the current website will provide guidelines for the new website. Rationale The hotel marketing industry is a booming industry which caters exclusively to hospitality providers. Surveys are done and researches made to find out about visitor and guest behaviors. These researches aid hotel marketing advisors in development of new websites and to target customers. Special online surveys are designed to get visitor opinions and rate their satisfaction. Some of the works done in this regard are The Iperceptions satisfaction index It is the only metric device to measure exclusively customer satisfaction with an online channel. It provides advice to hoteliers on data mining and analyzes that data to provide results and draw conclusions. The hospitality and tourism industry report This caters to timely changes in the hospitality and tourism industry providing hoteliers with the current trends and predicting the future condition of the market. Best practices in Hotel website design by Hospitality e-business strategies. A report prepared by hospitality e-business industries which looks at the importance of websites for hotels and outlines ways to do so. Best Practices for Maximizing Your Hotels Online Revenue ROI by Kathreen Cullen. This white paper is a survey which as the name suggests helps hotels maximize their online revenue. Although the content of these reports and many others which try to integrate E-Commerce with hospitality are industry specific but they provide broad guidelines for the Holiday Inn hotels. This paper will focus on how the Holiday Inn hotels should conduct its research? what would be the methodology of research and what strategies would be involved. The limitations of the research and the potential for advanced features on the Holiday Inn website will also be discussed. As Del Ross, vice president of Americas Distribution marketing for IHG, claims We truly believe in the paramount value of knowing our customers and capturing their opinions in the context of their actual online experiences by implementing improvements research for the new website will be centered around customer opinion and satisfaction. Data collection and methodology. Advanced research methods will have to be employed to gather data from website visitors. According to Cooper and Schindler (Methods) qualitative studies may be combined with quantitative ones to increase the perceived quality of the research, especially when a quantitative study follows a qualitative one and provides validation for the qualitative findings. There is a strong suggestion within the research community that research, both quantitative and qualitative, is best thought of as complementary (Malhotra) and should therefore be mixed in research of many kinds. There is a strong suggestion within the research community that research, both quantitative and qualitative, is best thought of as complementary and should therefore be mixed in research of many kinds. Both qualitative and quantitative data sets will have to be used. Since customer satisfaction regarding the website has to be measures, offline data collection can prove to be useless and mundane. Online data collection approach can be utilized in two ways and can result in both objective and subjective responses. The difficult part about this research is that though secondary data relevant to the industry is abundant, but none of this will be specific to the Holiday Inn hotel. Thus researchers will have to gather primary data from the scratch, analyze it and form conclusions about the current state of the hotel website. Sampling methods The sampling method will mostly be a non probability method as the only visitors cannot be forced to take part in the research. Probability sampling will be reserved for a small focus group. Quantitative research will depend upon visitors and visitors will only participate in qualitative research by choice. Quota method of sampling will be the most convenient. This is so because only potential travelers should be included in the research. Only people with annual income above $50000 will be sampled. Population below this income group generally is observed not to travel frequently. Similarly other characteristics of current guests can be used to find the different quotas which should be used in sampling. This kind of sampling will make it impossible to assess the sampling error as the results will not be representative of the population as a whole. Focus groups of targeted market will need to be used. Since the current website of the hotel and the general notion about the hotel chain is that it caters to mostly business travelers, business travelers can be selected randomly. They can be chosen from firms where work entails frequent travelling. These business travelers will be then asked to navigate through the website and answer relevant questions about the website content, ease of navigation, interactivity and adoption. The results can be classified and then visitor perceptions about the different aspects of the website can be rated. They will provide a clear guideline about the positive and negative aspects of the website. This focus group will be coupled with quantitative and qualitative data. The focus group technique will allow better screening of the focus group respondents to ensure that they are the people whom the hotel is most interested in and thus provides an in-depth insight. Descriptive data from the survey and the questionnaire will reveal information that could not be easily explained by the statistics from quantitative data. This survey will be limited to a very small population of potential Holiday Inn customers. It can be both biased and non-representative of the actual feelings of the general public. But this data will target the largest niche of current customers. Gathering quantitative data Quantitative data can be gathered by observing visitor behavior on the website. It can be done on a large scale on the website. The behavior observed includes number of clicks, time on site, no of visitors who made a reservation, net promoter scores and the page from where visitors are exiting. Relationships between variables can be observed. This can be done from web analytics of the website. The sample size from this kind of web analytics has to be large and therefore will have to be done over a period of time. For much of its history, web analytics has been concerned with measuring behavioral phenomena. Unique visitor counts, pages viewed/visit, time on site, bounce rates, click through rates, ad impressions, and, more recently, rich internet application events have But studying clicks alone can never tell more than a part of the visitors story and will never bring to light true engagement data. Behavioral analytics is akin to paleontology, in the sense that it presents a fossilized record of a visitors site experience, at least as much as can be captured through page tags with optimal cookie deletion rates. However much scientists study the material implements of the past, however, they will never truly be able to gauge whether people were happy and led meaningful lives. This is the primary shortcoming of behavioral research; the tracks a visitor leaves are necessarily incomplete without knowing intent, attitude, and satisfaction. Further, engagement indices will always be hollow metrics unless they can be made to account for loyalty, trust, and advocacy (iperceptions) Gathering qualitative data. Qualitative research will take more time and preparation. Different sampling methods and full time researchers will have to be employed to monitor data. The basic format will be inviting all visitors to the website for a short survey or questionnaire. It will have to be ensured that the questionnaire is short and to the point yet it is fulfilling the purpose. This is necessary because abandonment of questionnaires will lead not only to loss of data but will also cause distaste for the website in visitors. Like all qualitative and naturalistic research methods, questions will have to be developed which are clear and unambiguous but open to change as the research develops. It is necessary because both qualitative and quantitative research goes hand in hand. It is qualitative research which will give a holistic view of the complexities which the website poses to its visitors. In the course of the survey visitors will be asked to provide scores for the website attributes related to their online experience. Each of these attributes will be related to specific dimensions of the website. It can include questions such as whether the visitor likes the site enough to recommend it to another friend or colleague. The scaling can be done on a 1 to 10 scale ranging from very bad to outstanding. The attribute sets that will be selected will be in accordance with both the E-commerce and hospitality industry standards. They will be content, navigation, motivation and interactivity in this case. It might also address the most crucial section of the website which is the reservations section. Thus the questions to be addressed are Navigation Website functionality must be intuitive and easy-to-use. If visitors are cannot find the information they desire, they may lose interest and move on to another hotels site. It is also important to be sure that hotels provide the capability to allow customers to book via the method of their choice such as mobile and smart phone technology. Content The website must provide all necessary information. This information should not only be limited to the hotel but also about the area and activities where the hotel is located. The content of the website should be accurate, up-to-date, detailed and relevant. Interactivity This will address questions about the visitors ease of communication with the website and therefore the hoteliers. It measures functionality, collaboration, informational exchange, and the intuitiveness of transactional tools. Motivation This measures whether the online content matches with the services the hotel provides. It questions whether the customers feel that the site was trustworthy and if their time on the site was well spent. All these factors eventually answer one question and that is of adoption. This is the main factor of concern for the Holiday Inn hotels that whether the visitor will re-visit the website or refer the website to somebody else. Potential for new features New vanity websites can be added which cater to different locales. It should be ensured that the feel of the different websites remains the same but better search engine optimization can be achieved. The Holiday Inn website can be optimized in two ways. It is the need of the time to modify the contents for Search Engine optimization. The second is the renovation and restructuring of the website. New website design Visual content It has been observed that the Holiday Inn website has a subtle color appeal. It stands true to catering to business travelers as they can visualize themselves in that situation. But simultaneously excludes a large travelling class. A glimpse at the Marriott hotel website speaks loads about integrating target markets at one place. A boost of color on some place in the Holiday Inn website will provide the required energy to indicate that the hotel welcomes both fun and families. Selling travel is all about selling a vision, a dream-an intangible product. Rich media and its many formats-from photos and visual galleries, to videos and virtual tours, e-postcards, web cams, interactive maps, etc.-can truly present your travel product and make it tangible and real. Seventy-two percent of US Internet users view video online on the same scale as network television and 89% of users surveyed said video influenced their booking decision. Usability surveys about hotel websites show that the majority of users think hotel websites are lacking or need more pictures and images The website can also add more visual content as the number of slides on the main page slide show is only 4 and only targets limited audience. The website can make use of good photography which provide more details about rooms and amenities. Demand generator content. The website should add more localized content to each of its franchise content sites. This will not only aid in showing up on search engines but a description of the area and the activities of the areas helps visitors thus creating better chances of adoption. More navigation options can be introduced on the main page as even though the current website has a high content percentage but the visitor has to scroll and search for it. More tools can easily be added in the navigation tool bar without making the site look congested. Scalability The website platform should have the ability to grow with the needs of the growing Hotel Inn. Holiday Inn is launching new hotels so it should be ensured that the new website keeps pace with both the rapidly changing face of the hotel as well as the fast changing tourism industry. Thus new development should be both easy and inexpensive. It should be easy to add new pages without the returning visitor to find a change which hinders his navigation. Conclusion The rapid pace of change of tourism industry and the changing face of the traveler requires the Holiday Inn hotel to maintain a website which is intuitive and adaptative. Regarding this concern quantitative data can be analyzed from the websites web analytics. An understanding of this quantitative data can be done by a focus group survey of the target market and online questionnaires. Visitors to the website can be surveyed about their views about the website. This will be random non-probability sampling. The questions have to be short and succinct as target specific attribute. This is to ensure that the visitor does not abandon the survey midway. After the online survey, a deep understanding can be gauged by using a focus group. This can be done either online or offline. The focus group can be small but chosen by quota or snowball sampling. The target audience should be used as the part of the focus group. The sample can be small but the questionnaire has to be extremely detailed. This will address all questions which arose from the satisfaction or non-satisfaction of the online survey participants. The final data set will lead to a certain conclusion about the visitor satisfaction index. This can be used to provide guidelines about visitor expectations from the website and how and how much the website should be modified. The modified website will lead to higher revenue and return on investment. Online questionnaire Based on todays visit, how would you rate your site experience over all? Very bad Bad Fair Good Outstanding Which of the following best describes the primary purpose of your visit? Make a reservation Compare rates Find more information View/cancel reservation Other please specify Were you able to complete the task you visited the website for? Yes No What do you value most about the website? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What did you most dislike about the website? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Would you recommend the site to somebody? Yes No If you answered in negative to the previous question, why? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Would you recommend any changes to the website? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How did you arrive at the website? Typed the URL in the browser Search engine Advertisement Link on a Blog Another website Link sent by somebody Other. Please specify _______________________________________________ The offline questionnaire presented to the focus group. This will be modified according to the response generated from the online website survey. It will be more detailed so as to sound explanations of the data derived can be provided. Offline questionnaire What is your age category? 15-20 years 20-35 years 35-60 years 60 or above What is your gender? Male Female Are you single or married? Single Married Your email address? _____________________________________________________________________ How often do you travel? More than four times a year. Twice or thrice a year. Once a year Less than once a year Is your travel related to work most of the time? Yes No Do you always make your bookings online? Yes No What features of the website did you use? _____________________________________________________________________ Did each page load quickly enough? Yes No On a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is poor and 5 is excellent rate the following Reservation procedure Website speed Ease of navigation Visual appeal Information Your overall satisfaction Was the reservation process efficient? Yes No Were you tempted were you to abandon the reservation process midway? Yes No If yes then why? Choose one that is applicable Technical difficulties Rate issues Difficulty in finding Unfriendly website Other. Please specify ______________________________________________________________ Did you easily find what you were looking for? Yes No Did the website design confuse you? Yes No Was the language easy to understand? Yes No Was navigation comfortable? Yes No Was the information you were looking for easy to find Yes No Was the information useful? Yes No Was the information detailed? Yes No Was the information accurate? Yes No Was the information up-to-date? Yes No Did you like the appearance of the website? Yes No Do you think more visuals should be added to the website? Yes No If yes, do you think it will make the hotel more appealing? Yes No Will a more detailed, illustrative website, aid or hinder you in your work? Yes No Do you think the overall design of the website can be improved? Yes No If yes then how? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Can the website alone without the Holiday Inn brand name lead you to make a reservation? Yes No What did you like the most about the website? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What did you dislike most about the website? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ What problems if any did you face when navigating the website? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Was the website user friendly? Yes No If no why not? Would you recommend the website to someone you know? Yes No If no, then why not? __________________________________________________________________ Would you navigate the site from your phone? Yes No If no then why not? _____________________________________________________________________ Do you think your time on the website was well spent? Yes No If no then why not? _____________________________________________________________________ What are your overall suggestions for the website? ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Field guidelines The research survey will look at the need for developing a new website for the Holiday Inn hotels. It observes the changing trends in both website designs of the hospitality industry and nature of travelers. Data is collected from visitors to the website and their satisfaction is analyzed. Satisfaction is measured using variables which include content of the website, ease of navigation, interactivity, motivation and adoption. This is done by e-surveys and observing visitor behavior on the website. Conclusions are then drawn regarding visitor satisfaction. Since online reservations make up a chunk of all hotel reservations, it will be very important to pay due attention to

Unforgiving Rapids :: Personal Narratives Whitewater Rafting Essays

Unforgiving Rapids The unforgiving water rushes past the boat, waiting for a false move. Called a class 5, this rapid looks more like a class 6 with the water as low as it is. Six to ten foot swells come crashing down from time to time keeping the crew sharp and wet. To the right, a thousand-foot wall of stone reaches for the sky, yearning for the omnipresent. The canyon walls look as smooth as silk, yet upon contact are as coarse as sandpaper. Quartz crystals glisten in the summer sun. No storm clouds today. The skies are clear. To the left, a valley stretches into the distance, winding back and forth like a drunk driver. Weeds take over much of the bank on either side. They stretch out for miles in either direction like they are the sole owners of the canyon. It didn't used to be this way. Ten years ago you could actually see the sandy banks most of the way down the river. Now scouting is the only way to find a nice sandy beach to set up camp. Elk along the shore are a reminder of the necessity for b oiling even the cleanest water. Lawsuits loom large and safety is a priority. The speed of the water is frightening, yet exhilarating. The water's spray is cool and keeps us laughing. The captain looks anxiously about for rocks and logs. To one side, a cliff that must be four thousand feet tall looms over the raging river like an overgrown skyscraper. The canyon contrasts against the sky like black carpet in a house with white walls. Little metallic pieces of rock mirror the sun's rays and create a magical ambiance. The sky is very blue here, like the bluest water in the ocean on a clear day; not a cloud to be seen. To the other side of the river, a canyon winds into the distance like a freeway overpass. Lots of beautiful plants line the shore of the river, leaving only a few bare places where a sandy bank can be seen. Today, elk was spotted along the shore drinking from the muddy water. What a magnificent rack! It's all a great adventure. The old boat has seen better days; gray patches stick to the orange rubber of the 16 footer. Flexible yet sturdy, the boat is comfortable, like an old shoe. There are no surprises here.

The production and use of ATP in living organisms

Adenosine Triphosphate, also known as ATP, is the molecule responsible for the energy that we, and all other organisms, need to survive. It is produced primarily in the processes of aerobic and anaerobic respiration by oxidative and substrate phosphorylation. 4 molecules of ATP are produced from 4 ADP and 4 inorganic phosphates in glycolysis in the cytoplasm of every cell, by the oxidation of a triose phosphate into two molecules of pyruvate.In anaerobic respiration these are the only 4 ATP molecules produced per molecule of glucose as there is no oxygen available for the link reaction or electron transport chain to occur in the cytoplasm, instead the pyruvate molecules are reduced into either lactate in muscles or ethanol and CO2 in yeast. However 2 ATP molecules are used in the phosphorylation of glucose at the start of glycolysis so the net product of anaerobic respiration is just 2 ATP. In aerobic respiration the pyruvate molecules move into the mitochondrial matrix where they un dergo the link reaction, releasing one CO2 molecule and one NADH each.This leaves two acetyl co-enzyme A molecules which enter the Krebs cycle to release another 2 CO2 molecules, 1 ATP, 3 NADH and 1 FADH each. So far we have a net production of 4 ATP (subtracting the 2 used in glycolysis). The electron transport chain is where the majority of ATP is produced. 10 NADH and 2 FADH (produced from glycolysis, link reaction and the Krebs cycle) are oxidised to NAD and FAD, releasing 12 hydrogens. These hydrogens are split into protons and electrons.The electrons are passed from carrier to carrier in the bilayer of the inner membrane of the mitochondrial cristae, releasing energy at each one. This energy is used to pump the protons through the carriers into the intermembrane space, creating a gradient. Due to this gradient, the protons flow from the intermembrane space back into the matrix by ATP Synthase in the inner membrane. This movement of protons allows 28 ADP and 28 inorganic phosph ates to form 28 ATP molecules, while the protons and electrons are left to react with oxygen to form H2O.Overall, respiration produces 32 ATP molecules per glucose molecule, making it a very efficient source of energy. A small amount of ATP is also produced in photosynthesis, specifically in the light dependent reactions of photosynthesis in the thylakoids of chloroplasts. Once photoexcitation has taken place, the two electrons released from a chlorophyll molecule move along the electron transport chain, losing energy at each carrier. This energy allows ADP and inorganic phosphate to form ATP in the same way as the electron transport chain in aerobic respiration.As you can see the production of ATP is not simple, but it is necessary due to its large number of uses in living organisms. I have already mentioned the use of ATP in glycolysis in the phosphorylation of glucose, but ATP is also required in the light independent reactions of photosynthesis in the stroma. RuBP is converted i nto 2 GP molecules by the fixing of CO2. These GP molecules are then reduced to two GALP by the oxidation of NADPH to NADP and the energy released by the breaking down of an ATP molecule into an ADP and an inorganic phosphate.Some of this GALP is used in the making of glucose, while most of it is recycled back into RuBP again by the energy released from the breaking of a single bond in an ATP molecule to produce ADP and inorganic phosphate, thus allowing the cycle to continue. An ATP molecule is able to provide energy due to the fact that breaking bonds releases energy. But for bonds to be made, energy is required. This is a key use of ATP in living organisms as it is essential that we can synthesise certain molecules in our bodies for growth, repair and energy stores.These synthetic reactions can also be called condensation reactions, in which two small molecules are bonded to form one larger molecule and water, for example amino acids to proteins, glycerol and fatty acids to lipid s, nucleic acids to DNA etc. Another more obvious use of ATP is in muscle contraction in animals to allow movement. The enzyme ATPase is released due to the calcium ions released in skeletal muscle tissues when an electrical impulse is received by the central nervous system.This breaks down ATP into ADP and inorganic phosphate, releasing the energy required to pull the filaments of muscle tissues and therefore for the muscles to contract. ATP is also largely used in active transport of substances against a concentration gradient. ATP binds to a carrier protein bonded to a molecule or ion in low concentration on one side of a membrane, causing it to split into ADP and inorganic phosphate and causing the protein to change shape. This change in shape opens the protein to the other side of the membrane, releasing the molecule or ion into the higher concentration on the other side.The phosphate is released from the protein, allowing it to return to its original shape and for ATP to again form from ADP and phosphate. An example of this in plants would be the active transport of mineral ions into the xylem from the endodermal cells in roots, creating a lower water potential in the xylem so water can move from the endodermal cells into the xylem to the be used in cells for processes such as photosynthesis. An example of active transport in animals is the absorption of glucose in the small intestine.A sodium potassium pump requires ATP to pump sodium out of the epithelial cells of the intestine and into the blood stream, against a concentration gradient. This creates a concentration gradient of sodium from the ileum to the epithelial cells, causing sodium ions to move into the epithelial cells by facilitated diffusion by a sodium glucose co-transport protein, bringing with it any glucose molecules in the intestine. These are not the only examples of ways in which ATP is used but they are the most common and most important ones and highlight how hugely important ATP is for all living organisms.

Held Captive as a Jewish Prisioner essays

Held Captive as a Jewish Prisioner essays Its cold and wet. I can feel those like me pressing together, shivering to keep warm. Six months today, to be exact, since my last actual meal. Oh how I earn for a full plate of warm food sliding down my throat and resting in my stomach. Instead Ive survived off of hard molded bread and disease infested water. The taste is unbearable and yet I still try to survive. I saw a woman the other day exchanging what we here call, a chance for life, with a German soldier. When the deed was done he tossed her a slice of bread. When she reached for it she was shot, a risk we, as women, must all take. I can here the sound of laughter off in the distance. Probably another soul being degraded and tortured. The woman next to me is ill with pains in the head. Her stomach is bloated and her hair infested with lice like many others. I havent showered in such a long time. I cant wait for it to rain. Tomorrow we are to be inspected. I fear for my life. If the rain comes at least I can cleanse myself. I havent seen my husband or son through the barbed fence and I fear the worst. Stanley will be twelve in a few days. Its frightening to think I may never see him again. Izzy my husband I pray for. He isnt a big man and Im afraid he may not come back to me once this is all over. Every night I crouch beneath the moon light and write. My journey is kept tucked away under a wooden plank. The pages are tattered and worn but they are my hope and sanity. Sometimes I dream about a life without being a Jew, about being a German with a gun in my hand and having the ability to play god. Who gives them the right to choose who survives or not. I wouldnt want to be one. To put a gun to anothers head, Id rather put it to my own. The pure fear of living dwells inside of me. The fear of absolute self-worthlessness overwhelms me, and yet I try to survive. ...