The external factors of up market Waitrose

The external factors of up market Waitrose This essay is going to analyze the external factors of up market Waitrose by competitive advantage (CA) of corporate strategy. it will particularly explain how Waitrose achieve integrate all the resources and competitive advantages into products achieve services value in external forces, according Waitrose recent strategies and explain how and why it will do so them from external forces. The Waitrose external forces include: Political, Economic, Socio Cultural and Technology. Background Waitrose Limited is an up market chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom and is the food division of the British retailer and worker co-operative the John Lewis Partnership. Its head office is in Bracknell, Berkshire, England as of June 2010, Waitrose had 228 branches across the United Kingdom and a 4.3% share of the market ¼Ã…’making it the 6th largest grocery retailer in the UK (Wikipedia 20110) Food sales are the core business of this supermarket, following the social and economy developing, more and more grocery markets have been set in the UK, Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsburys and ASDA, Together with Iceland, Somerfield and Waitrose these companies cost lots of money to get a great market share. Waitrose is operating supermarket in UK, it was founded in 1904 and owned by the John Lewis Partnership, it has operates 137 stores today, mostly sale foods in south-east of the UK, which in 2001 was estimated at  £103.4bn profit and currently employs more than 27.000 staff. It was a small to medium size and conveniently located supermarket. The 2001 turnover amounted to  £1.98bn, it was increase 13% than before, and pre-tax profits to 25.7 million expect decrease 15.7%, due to the purchase of 11 Kwik Save stores in 2000. Waitrose is recognized for its focused differentiation strategy targeting the up market with a wide range of quality and fresh products. (Prepared by andidas.com December 2002) When we looked back to the Political, Economic, Socio Cultural and Technology of Waitrose, they are all supporting by external strengths and opportunities, in the same time; it will achieve its benefit through the whole external value. Waitrose has specialized of wines, fresh food and delicatessen in the sales; they can be bought from special other counters. Waitrose has a high profit margin due to specially luxury goods. But some other products have positioned their own brand labels sell in the Supercenters, and it was bigger than the existing Waitrose stores, thus it was the threat comes from competing chain, but it will diversify the risk and increase the potential target market. Therefore this activity can offer their products at lower prices for economies of scale (Prepared by andidas.com December 2002) Discussion PEST Analysis Political Political was a key force to determined a company successful or not, Waitrose as a successful supermarket enter the peoples life. It will to make a peoples group often to buy some products from only one supermarket, it was a Trademark effects and is key point for the company. However, Waitrose was successful could not leave the result of stability of government. It could prove dangerous ground for politicians in the long term. Picking one supermarket brand over another could be an issue. Supermarket buyers tend to be tribal. People say they are Tesco people or Sainsburys shoppers. (08 April 2010 | By Ruth Mortimer) Therefore, most people who often buy the products from Waitrose; they would call themselves the Waitrose people in the future. In the political have four parts; they are GM-food, planning policy guidance (PPG), Competition Commission and EU Competition Law. GM-food was named genetically modified foods, they are foods derived from genetically modified organisms. Waitrose brand food has not permit use of GM food, or ingredients or additives. But Waitrose often use obtain food and food ingredients as the conventional brand, it was better than GM food. Waitrose never sell any GM food or food ingredients derived from GM crops under Waitrose brand. So any GM-food must be clearly labeled as required by law and products produced should be print material manufacturers brand Secondly; it is planning policy guidance (PPG). Waitrose was hard to get planning permission by shops for outside of city. Thus Waitrose was to unveiling plans for new shops. It was need an operative control of their ownership; Thus Waitrose always set more small stores in the same place. For example, Waitrose set out more than 13 stores in the London; they have large numbers convenience stores, in which to get a high market share; it was a great strategy in the market. The Government remains firmly committed to the objectives of PPG6, which seeks to sustain and enhance the vitality and viability of our existing city, town, district and local centers and to make them the focus for retail investment(*The Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) (2000) Waitrose is to buy 13 stores from the Co-operative Group and plans to open nine more stores in 2009, in a move that will create 4,000 new jobs.( By James Thompson Friday 16 January 2009) Thirty, the Competition Commission, more and more different companies supermarket enter the market; it was the competition by each others. It was not only to decrease price for products to get a high market share. Waitrose always control the products price and have good benefits for themselves, sometimes cooperation been necessary in the competition market, it was to increase the Comprehensive Strength by themselves; therefore, Waitrose add some more jobs with the cooperation deal was very good; Waitrose is to buy 13 stores from the Co-operative Group and plans to open nine more stores in 2009, in a move that will create 4,000 new jobs. The John Lewis Partnership-owned grocer said the conditional agreement to buy the Co-op stores, made possible by the latters acquisition of Somerfield, cleared by competition authorities yesterday will deliver 1,500 jobs. It then plans to open nine stores organically in 2009 will create another 2,500. (By James Thompson Friday 16 January 2009) Finally, Waitrose set a suitable policy should accommodate UK competition law. Economic Economic is an important force to decide companies development. Waitrose created a good market value before. The shoppers loved Waitrose because Waitrose have many prefect products enter the market. As the successful supermarket, Waitrose had prefect profits following development. The 2001, Waitrose have turnover amounted to ¿Ã‚ ¡1.98bn(+13%), pre-tax profits to 25.7bn(-15.7%, due to the purchase of 11Kwik Save store in 2000). Waitrose is recognized for its focused differentiation strategy targeting the up market with a wide range of quality and fresh products. (Environment fit analysis Waitrose report. December 2002) Recession-proof Following the economic crisis appears; most customers worry about the recession appears to be on the wane, more and more discount products enter the Waitrose. It was a method to make the customers back into Waitrose. And then Waitrose made the profit recovery or increase the profit to sales more seasonal food and drinks. Waitrose saw sales grow 10.2% in the 12 weeks to 9 August, according to the latest TNS World panel figures almost twice as fast as the grocery sectors average of 5.6%. The performance of Waitrose, part of John Lewis, was boosted by its Essentials range, aimed at luring value-conscious consumers away from the discount sector. (Waitrose sales grow as recession fears  fade. Recession 2009) Socio Cultural Waitrose was very carefully choice every food, because Waitrose objective was to achieve the products were healthy, and then Waitrose had special cultural pay an attention to the customers in the market. They are include suggest kind of recipes, healthy eating and weight lost for customers. Therefore, more and more customers love to buy products from Waitrose. And another important was Waitrose always to keep their food, drink and fresh, frozen food in every store. Waitrose had healthier choices offer delicious healthier alternatives to your favorite foods, being either lower in fat, saturated fat, sugar or calories. You can choose from warming meals such as chicken korma to everyday ingredients such as cream and cheese (Waitrose website) Waitrose be good at to understand customers need, and often to add their business module; for example Waitrose set up the website and free delivery to make the customer easy to buy anything in the home if they want. Waitrose often to consider direction for environment development, therefore Waitrose have a good conscious for environment. For example, Waitrose cross the marketing research, 70% staff will go shopping by car, so Waitrose always build a large and a good parking for the customers, in the parking fee part, Waitrose use a 1.5 hours parking for free if customers want to buy products in the Waitrose. it will increase the customers

Purpose And Importance Of Tertiary Treatment Environmental Sciences Essay

Purpose And Importance Of Tertiary Treatment Environmental Sciences Essay The main purpose of the tertiary treatment is to ensure that the treated water which is to be released on to the environment is biologically accepted by all other fresh water organisms such as weeds and algae. This part of the treatment includes processes like physical water treatment, lagooning, and excessive nutrient removal processes.to ensure that the discharged water is raised in effluent quality before proceeding to the final stages. In physical water treatment, much of the residual suspended matters are removed using only physical processes such as sedimentation  method and the infamous filtration method. In the sedimentation  method, the water is place in a certain tank to allow all the remaining heaver objects to sink down to the bottom of the container. After few hours went most of the dense object are separated from the water, the cleared effluent or waste stream is removed. Sedimentation is one of the most common methods, quite often used at the beginning and the end of many water treating processes. Another physical method that is commonly used in the sewage water treatment system is the filtration method. In filtration, the water is allowed to pass through filters to separate the contaminating solids from the water. Sand filter is a common filter used in this process. In a number of wastewater treatment methods, semi-solid contaminants like grease and oil are allowed to float on the surface of the wat er, and then they are physically removed. Besides the in lagooning where lagoon is a stationary system having a continuous flow: several ponds working in parallel in which the inlet flow and the outlet flow are equals form lagoon plants. The lagooning technique is a natural and very efficient technique that consists in the accumulation of wastewater in ponds or basins, known as biological or stabilization ponds, where a series of biological, biochemical and physical processes take place. In these ponds or lagoons, certain types of the microorganism are actually supported as these biological agents help in treating the water further by removing the fine particulates. These types of biological ponds are usually classified as anaerobic ponds or oxidation ponds depending on the shape, depth, organic rate, level of treatment of that particular lagoon itself. The excessive nutrient removal is the most viral step in the last stages of the water treatment before the water is released to the environment. When the previously treated water comes to this area of the system, the nutrients level mainly nitrogen and phosphorus in the water is checked. Where if found in excess, the excessive nutrient removal step is carried out. This is because if the unchecked water supply is to be released into the natural water system (river, pond, etc.) it will cause a sudden increase in the native microorganism population of that certain water system. Some of the native microorganisms which are commonly found in ponds today are usually weeds, algae, and cyanobacteria. Therefore, after the sudden rapid grown in the population of these microorganisms, the number of algae for example, becomes unsustainable which causes most of them to die and eventually decay. The following decay process would substantially increase the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in that par ticular pond, which would cause the other fresh water living organism such as fishes to die as well. Firstly, the nitrogen removal process is carried out. There are various methods of removing nitrogen, each with advantages and disadvantages. However, the biological treatment method is used most commonly. With this method, organic nitrogen and ammonia nitrogen is converted into nitrous and nitrate nitrogen in an aerobic environment, and is dispersed into the atmosphere as anaerobic nitrogen gas. Therefore the gas is removed from the water and released to the atmosphere. And as there is no secondary pollution, this can be called an effective method. In the removal of phosphorus is usually carried out using a method called enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR). The first process in EBPR is the mainstream biological treatment process. Where the utilizing of aerobic and solids separation zones and the provision of return activated sludge are carried out. The next is a first side stream process for anoxic/anaerobic selection of desirable BPR organisms such as the polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs). Finally, a second side stream process serves to ferment organic material in some of the return activated sludge to produce food utilized in the first side stream selection process. The system permits the three processes to be separated from each other by creating two side streams, allowing all three processes to be controlled separately and optimized in satisfying their own specific goals. Besides this biological method, the removal of phosphorus can also be done via chemical precipitation, usually with salts of iron, alu minum, or lime. Chemical precipitation is usually more reliable, easier to operate, and requires smaller equipment footprint than biological removal. But the main back draws of this chemical method is that it may form excessive sludge production as hydroxides precipitates and the chemical used in this method might be considered expensive. The importance of Wastewater Treatment in our society Water scarcity is the major problem that is faced all across the world. Although 2/3rd of the earths crust is made up of water but all this water is not available for drinking and for other human activities as either it is locked in the form of ice or present in the form of vast saline oceans and seas. It has been found out that 97% of the total water is salty that is of no use to human and animals (except marine animal) and the remaining three percent is available as freshwater. More than half of this three percent is locked in glacier and less than 0.01% is available as fresh water. So water resources are less as compare to human demand for water. Above this, the major part of water that can be consumed is getting polluted because of human activities. This polluted and untreated water is causing abundant water borne diseases. Then the world is facing a huge climatic change which is further aggravating the water problem. Some of the regions are getting more rain water than earlier and some are getting almost negligible. Experts even believe that the next World War would not be for oil or land but it will be for water. Also because of improper use of water and lack of water treatment, the problem of water crisis will further increase where 884 million people are already not getting easy access to safe drinking water. And a further 2.5 billion people are getting difficult access to water for disposable and sanitation. Agriculture is also overusing and polluting the ground water thus depleting the natural source of water. So here water treatment plants will play important role. Water crisis at present is the biggest problem according to the United Nations. Almost 25 countries of Africa, parts of China, Peru and Brazil in Latin America, some parts of Middle East like Iran, Chile, Mexico, and Paraguay are some of the countries that are facing the water crisis. Even other parts of the world are facing the varied levels of the water crisis. Because of acute shortage of water, the food problems are getting aggravated. About 40 million people in Africa are facing the problem of food shortage. It is expected that if the similar conditions will persist then there will be 500 million till 2025 who will suffer from these problems. Nature has its role but the major water problem is arising because of its increasing consumption and faulty usage. Major chunk of the problem can be solved if the wastewater treatment is taken very seriously and precautions at every step are taken to improve the water quality.

The Hellenistic Homemaker Essay -- Marriage Athenian Women Papers

The Hellenistic Homemaker In both Xenophon’s Oeconomicus and Lysias’ defense of Euphiletus’ murder of Eratosthenes, insight into the purpose and function of Athenian marriage may be gained by examination of the speeches of two citizens about their wives and their homes. Through both texts, it becomes apparent that the citizen’s value of his wife is based upon his wife’s ability as an â€Å"oikonomikos† or â€Å"skilled household manager† (Strauss, 3). It is through filling this role as her husband’s housekeeper that an Athenian woman experienced a loss of personal freedom and found herself trapped within a marriage in which she had little contact or much in common with her husband. A woman’s role as oikonomikos is described by Euphiletus’ address of an Athenian citizen-jury and by Socrates’ discourse with Ischomachos, through which he strives to understand the best way by which a household may be managed. An Athenian marriage was formed to unite a household, or â€Å"oikos†, with an overseer to manage it. This housekeeper was responsible for maintaining the wealth of the oikos, serving as manager over the servants of the oikos, and, by providing heirs, assuring that the oikos would continue to exist and grow in the future. Socrates believed that â€Å"†¦while the possessions usually come into the house through the man’s actions, they are expended for the most part in the course of the woman’s housekeeping; and when these things turn out well, the households increase†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Xenophon, III.11). A good oikonomikos was essential for the proper function of the home. Marriage existed as a business agreement between a husband and his in-laws, who negotiated it, and between a husband and his wife, who maintained it. The marriage was first arranged bet... ...en is well described through the requirements of being a good housekeeper- they must be young, uneducated, fertile, submissive, and remain in the home. In order to fill these roles well, Xenophon, in his Oeconomicos, and Lysias, through his defense of Euphiletus, show that women must necessarily experience a loss of freedom in order to maintain the virtues of an oikonomikos, and that also as a result of filling this house-manager role, they are so far removed from their husbands mentally and in daily experience because of age and custom, that romantic love would be inhibited. Works Cited Freeman, Kathleen. The Murder of Herodes and Other Trials from the Athenian Law Courts. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. 1991. Strauss, Leo. Xenophon’s Socratic Discourse: An Interpretation of the Oeconomicus. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Negative Effects Experienced By Our Children :: essays research papers

Cause and Effect Negative Effects Experienced By Our Children   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  What have I done? What will my children have to endure today because of the mistakes I made yesterday? â€Å"†¦ but causing the negative effects of the parents’ offenses to be experienced by their children and grandchildren†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Exodus 34:7 (Complete Jewish Bible)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"And do you, MaLinda, take this man to be your lawful†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I don’t think I love this man, but what do I do? I’m four months pregnant. What would people think of me if I didn’t get married? And all these people-how would they feel-making them come here and then I say no? What do I do?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"†¦To have and to hold, so long as you both shall live?† Sigh-â€Å"I do.† Oh God, I hope I didn’t just make a mistake.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sometimes I wonder how different things would be had I not made that second mistake. The first, well that was having sex outside of marriage. I knew it was wrong, but who knew HOW wrong? I didn’t just affect me-it affected my family, his family and the lives of my two children. Sometimes I think they got hurt the worst. Eight years of marriage. How long did they suffer? How long before I realized what was going on?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My daughter was two years old when I decided that maybe another baby would help. So we had our second child, a boy. It didn’t help. There wasn’t a lot of arguing. There was no communication, just existence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It was April 1998 when I received the call. One of my former daycare children had made a complaint. There had been suspicion, but not evidence. They called me in-asked me questions. They asked my children questions. I don’t know if we helped.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It was June 1999 when he was found guilty of lewd acts with a minor-2 counts. It’s been 6 years since I’ve removed my children from that house. I still see the negative effects of the mistakes I made. My daughter suffered from emotional stress. For example, for a while we had problems with her seeing imaginary friends. She would watch her two dragons fly around the room or outside of the vehicle. It got to the point where she could even shrink them to fit into her pocket. This way she could take them to class with her. It became even more serious when she tried to get her brother and two cousins involved in playing with her imaginary dragons.

Disaster in Elizabeth Bishop’s One Art Essay -- One Art

Disaster in Elizabeth Bishop’s One Art Art is not life. More, it is a deception, mirroring experience and emotion, but never truly becoming that which it reflects. Art is attractive in that it is a controlled balance between rigid structure, which is too mundane for its purposes, and chaotic discord, which is too feral. Poetry is art. Loss is not. In her villanelle â€Å"One Art,† Elizabeth Bishop proves this to be so. The poem itself is an emotive crescendo, and while its speaker struggles to hold the pain of loss within the confines of art, its readers note the incongruity of such an effort. One word prompts them, and fuels Bishop’s crescendo with a momentum, a tone, and a coda; â€Å"disaster† impels the poem â€Å"One Art.† Fittingly, the crescendo begins softly. The poem’s opening stanza assumes a fairly impassive tone, which transpires from the speaker’s feigned indifference toward the prospect of losing. Though the immediate clash between Bishop’s title and its implication briefly upsets the mind from a logical standpoint, the speaker’s hasty assurance that loss is â€Å"no disaster† seem...

Frostbite Chapter 19

Nineteen I HATE BEING POWERLESS. AND I hate going down without a fight. What had taken place outside in the alley hadn't been a real fight. If it had- if I'd been beaten into submission †¦ well, yeah. Maybe I could accept that. Maybe. But I hadn't been beaten. I'd barely gotten my hands dirty. Instead, I'd gone quietly. Once they had us sitting on the floor of the van, they'd bound each of our hands behind our back with flex-cuffs- strips of plastic that cinched together and held just as well as anything made of metal. After that, we rode in near silence. The men occasionally murmured something to each other, speaking too softly for any of us to hear. Christian or Mia might have been able to understand the words, but they were in no position to communicate anything to the rest of us. Mia looked as terrified as she had out on the street, and while Christian's fear had rapidly given way to his typical haughty anger, even he didn't dare act out with guards nearby. I was glad for Christian's self-control. I didn't doubt any of these men would smack him if he got out of line, and neither I nor the other novices were in a position to stop them. That was what really drove me crazy. The instinct to protect Moroi was so deeply ingrained in me that I couldn't even pause to worry about myself. Christian and Mia were the focus. They were the ones I had to get out of this mess. And how had this mess started? Who were these guys? That was a mystery. They were human, but I didn't believe for an instant that a group of dhampirs and Moroi had been random kidnapping victims. We'd been targeted for a reason. Our captors made no attempts to blindfold us or conceal our route, which I didn't take as a good sign. Did they think we didn't know the city well enough to retrace our steps? Or did they figure it didn't matter since we wouldn't be leaving wherever they were taking us? All I sensed was that we were driving away from downtown, off toward a more suburban area. Spokane was as dull as I'd imagined. Unlike where pristine white snow lay in drifts, slushy gray puddles lined the streets and dirty patches dotted the lawns. There were also a lot fewer evergreen trees than I was used to. The scraggly, leafless deciduous trees here seemed skeletal by comparison. They only added to the mood of impending doom. After what felt like less than an hour, the van turned down a quiet cul-de-sac, and we drove up to a very ordinary- yet large- house. Other houses- identical in the way suburban homes often are- stood nearby, which gave me hope. Maybe we could get some help from the neighbors. We pulled inside the garage, and once the door was back down, the men ushered us into the house. It looked a lot more interesting on the inside. Antique, claw-footed sofas and chairs. A large, saltwater fish tank. Swords crossed over the fireplace. One of those stupid modern art paintings that consisted of a few lines splayed across the canvas. The part of me that enjoyed destroying things would have liked to study the swords in detail, but the main floor wasn't our destination. Instead, we were led down a narrow flight of stairs, down to a basement as large as the floor above. Only, unlike the main floor's open space, the basement was sectioned off into a series of halls and closed doors. It was like a rat's maze. Our captors led us through it without hesitation, into a small room with a concrete floor and unpainted drywall. The furniture inside consisted of several very uncomfortable-looking wooden chairs with slatted backs- backs that proved to be a convenient place for rebinding our hands. The men seated us in such a way that Mia and Christian sat on one side of the room, and the rest of us dhampirs sat on the other. One guy- the leader, apparently- watched carefully as one of his henchmen bound Eddie's hands with new flex-cuffs. â€Å"These are the ones you especially have to watch,† he warned, nodding toward us. â€Å"They'll fight back.† His eyes traveled first to Eddie's face, then Mason's, and then mine. The guy and I held each other's gaze for several moments, and I scowled. He looked back over at his associate. â€Å"Watch her in particular.† When we'd been restrained to his satisfaction, he barked out a few more orders to the others and then left the room, shutting the door loudly behind him. His steps echoed through the house as he walked upstairs. Moments later, silence fell. We sat there, staring at each other. After several minutes, Mia whimpered and started to speak. â€Å"What are you going to- â€Å" â€Å"Shut up,† growled one of the men. He took a warning step toward her. Blanching, she cringed but still looked as though she might say something else. I caught her eye and shook my head. She stayed silent, eyes wide and a slight tremble to her lip. There's nothing worse than waiting and not knowing what'll happen to you. Your own imagination can be crueler than any captor. Since our guards wouldn't talk to us or tell us what was in store, I imagined all sorts of horrible scenarios. The guns were the obvious threat, and I found myself pondering what a bullet would feel like. Painful, presumably. And where would they shoot? Through the heart or the head? Quick death. But somewhere else? Like the stomach? That would be slow and painful. I shuddered at the thought of my life bleeding out of me. Thinking of all that blood put me in mind of the Badica house and maybe having our throats slit. These men could have knives as well as guns. Of course, I had to wonder why we were still alive at all. Clearly they wanted something from us, but what? They weren't asking for information. And they were human. What would humans want with us? Usually the most we feared from humans was either running into crazy slayer types or those who wanted to experiment on us. These seemed like neither. So what did they want? Why were we here? Over and over, I imagined more awful, gruesome fates. The looks on my friends' faces showed I wasn't the only one who could envision creative torments. The smell of sweat and fear filled the room. I lost track of time and was suddenly jolted out of my imaginings when footsteps sounded on the stairs. The lead captor stepped into the hall. The rest of the men straightened up, tension crackling around them. Oh God. This was it, I realized. This was what we'd been waiting for. â€Å"Yes, sir,† I heard the leader say. â€Å"They're in here, just like you wanted.† Finally, I realized. The person behind our kidnapping. Panic shot through me. I had to escape. â€Å"Let us out of here!† I yelled, straining at my bindings. â€Å"Let us out of here, you son of a- â€Å" I stopped. Something inside of me shriveled up. My throat went dry. My heart wanted to stop. The guard had returned with a man and a woman I didn't recognize. I did, however, recognize that they were †¦ †¦ Strigoi. Real, live- well, figuratively speaking- Strigoi. It all suddenly clicked together. It wasn't just the Spokane reports that had been true. What we'd feared- Strigoi working with humans- had come true. This changes everything. Daylight wasn't safe anymore. None of us were safe anymore. Worse, I realized these must be the rogue Strigoi- the ones who had attacked the two Moroi families with human help. Again, those horrible memories came to me: bodies and blood everywhere. Bile rose in my throat, and I tried to shift my thoughts from the past to the present situation. Not that that was any more reassuring. Moroi had pale skin, the kind of skin that blushed and burned easily. But these vampires†¦their skin was white, chalky in a way that made it look like the result of a bad makeup job. The pupils of their eyes had a red ring around them, driving home what monsters they were. The woman, actually, reminded me of Natalie- my poor friend whose father had convinced her to turn Strigoi. It took me a few moments to figure out what the resemblance was because they looked nothing alike. This woman was short- probably human before becoming Strigoi- and had brown hair with a bad highlighting job. Then it hit me. This Strigoi was a new one, much as Natalie had been. It didn't become obvious until I compared her with the Strigoi man. The Strigoi woman's face had a little life in it. But his †¦ his was the face of death. His face was completely devoid of any sort of warmth or gentler emotion. His expression was cold and calculating, laced with malicious amusement. He was tall, as tall as Dimitri, and had a slender frame that indicated he'd been Moroi before changing over. Shoulder-length black hair framed his face and stood out against the bright scarlet of his dress shirt. His eyes were so dark and brown that without the red ring, it would have been almost impossible to tell where pupil ended and iris began. One of the guards shoved me hard, even though I'd been silent. He glanced up at the Strigoi man. â€Å"You want me to gag her?† I suddenly realized I'd been hunching into the back of my chair, unconsciously trying to get as far away from him as possible. He realized this too, and a thin, toothless smile crossed his lips. â€Å"No,† he said. His voice was silky and low. â€Å"I'd like to hear what she has to say.† He raised an eyebrow at me. â€Å"Please. Continue.† I swallowed. â€Å"No? Nothing to add? Well. Do feel free to pipe up if something else comes to mind.† â€Å"Isaiah,† exclaimed the woman. â€Å"Why are you keeping them here? Why haven't you just contacted the others?† â€Å"Elena, Elena,† Isaiah murmured to her. â€Å"Behave yourself. I'm not going to pass up the chance to enjoy myself with two Moroi and †¦Ã¢â‚¬  He walked behind my chair and lifted my hair, making me shudder. A moment later, he peered at Mason and Eddie's necks as well. â€Å"†¦three unblooded dhampirs.† He spoke those words with an almost happy sigh, and I realized he'd been looking for guardian tattoos. Strolling over to Mia and Christian, Isaiah rested a hand on his hip as he studied them. Mia could only meet his eyes for an instant before looking away. Christian's fear was palpable, but he managed to return the Strigoi's scrutiny. It made me proud. â€Å"Look at these eyes, Elena.† Elena walked over and stood beside Isaiah as he spoke. â€Å"That pale blue. Like ice. Like aquamarines. You almost never get that outside of the royal houses. Badicas. Ozeras. The occasional Zeklos.† â€Å"Ozera,† said Christian, trying very hard to sound fearless. Isaiah tilted his head. â€Å"Really? Surely not†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He leaned closer to Christian. â€Å"But the age is right†¦and that hair†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He smiled. â€Å"Lucas and Moira's son?† Christian said nothing, but the confirmation on his face was obvious. â€Å"I knew your parents. Great people. Unparalleled. Their deaths were a shame†¦ but, well†¦ I daresay they brought that on themselves. I told them they shouldn't have gone back for you. Would have been wasteful to awaken you so young. They claimed they were going to just keep you around and waken you when you were older. I warned them that that would be a disaster, but, well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  He gave a delicate shrug. â€Å"Awaken† was the term Strigoi used among themselves when they changed over. It sounded like a religious experience. â€Å"They wouldn't listen, and disaster met them in a different way.† Hatred, deep and dark, boiled behind Christian's eyes. Isaiah smiled again. â€Å"It's quite touching that you should find your way to me after all this time. Perhaps I can realize their dream after all.† â€Å"Isaiah,† said the woman- Elena- again. Every word out of her mouth seemed like a whine. â€Å"Call the others- â€Å" â€Å"Stop giving me orders!† Isaiah grabbed her shoulder and shoved her away- except that the push knocked her across the room and almost through the wall. She just barely threw her hand out in time to stop the impact. Strigoi had better reflexes than dhampirs or even Moroi; her lack of grace meant he'd completely caught her off guard. And really, he'd barely touched her. The push had been light- yet it had packed the force of a small car. This further enforced my belief that he was in another class altogether. His strength beat hers by magnitudes. She was like a fly he could swat away. Strigoi power increased with age- as well as through the consumption of Moroi blood and, to a lesser extent, dhampir blood. This guy wasn't just old, I realized. He was ancient. And he'd drunk a lot of blood over the years. Terror filled Elena's features, and I could understand her fear. Strigoi turned against each other all the time. He could have ripped her head off if he wanted. She cowered, averting her eyes. â€Å"I†¦ I'm sorry, Isaiah.† Isaiah smoothed his shirt- not that it had been wrinkled. His voice took on the cold pleasantness he'd affected earlier. â€Å"You clearly have opinions here, Elena, and I welcome you voicing them in a civilized manner. What do you think we should do with these cubs?† â€Å"You should- that is, I think we should just take them now. Especially the Moroi.† She was clearly working hard not to whine again and annoy him. â€Å"Unless†¦you aren't going to throw another dinner party, are you? It's a complete waste. We'll have to share, and you know the others won't be grateful. They never are.† â€Å"I'm not making a dinner party out of them,† he declared loftily. Dinner party? â€Å"But I'm not killing them yet either. You're young, Elena. You only think about immediate gratification. When you're as old as me, you won't be so †¦ impatient.† She rolled her eyes when he wasn't looking. Turning, he swept his gaze over me, Mason, and Eddie. â€Å"You three, I'm afraid, are going to die. There's no avoiding it. I'd like to say I'm sorry, but, well, I'm not. Such is the way of the world. You do have a choice in how you die, however, and that will be dictated by your behavior.† His eyes lingered on me. I didn't really get why everyone seemed to be singling me out as the troublemaker here. Well, maybe I did. â€Å"Some of you will die more painfully than others.† I didn't need to see Mason and Eddie to know their fear mirrored mine. I was pretty sure I even heard Eddie whimper. Isaiah abruptly turned on his heels, military-style, and faced Mia and Christian. â€Å"You two, fortunately, have options. Only one of you will die. The other will live on in glorious immortality. I'll even be kind enough to take you under my wing until you're a little older. Such is my charity.† I couldn't help it. I choked on a laugh. Isaiah spun around and stared at me. I fell silent and waited for him to throw me across the room like he had Elena, but he did nothing else but stare. It was enough. My heart raced, and I felt tears brim in my eyes. My fear shamed me. I wanted to be like Dimitri. Maybe even like my mother. After several long, agonizing moments, Isaiah turned back to the Moroi. â€Å"Now. As I was saying, one of you will be awakened and live forever. But it will not be me who wakens you. You will choose to be awakened willingly.† â€Å"Not likely,† said Christian. He packed as much snarky defiance as he could manage into those two words, but it was still obvious to everyone else in the room that he was scared out of his mind. â€Å"Ah, how I love the Ozera spirit,† mused Isaiah. He glanced at Mia, his red eyes gleaming. She shrank back in fear. â€Å"But don't let him upstage you, my dear. There's strength in common blood, too. And here's how it will be decided.† He pointed at us dhampirs. His gazed chilled me all over, and I imagined I could smell the stink of decay. â€Å"If you want to live, all you have to do is kill one of these three.† He turned back to the Moroi. â€Å"That's it. Not unpleasant at all. Just tell one of these gentlemen here you want to do it. They'll release you. Then you drink from them and are awakened as one of us. Whoever does this first walks free. The other will be dinner for Elena and me.† Silence hung in the room. â€Å"No,† said Christian. â€Å"No way am I killing one of my friends. I don't care what you do. I'll die first.† Isaiah waved a dismissive hand. â€Å"Easy to be brave when you aren't hungry. Go a few days without any other sustenance †¦ and yes, these three will start to look very good. And they are. Dhampirs are delicious. Some prefer them to Moroi, and while I myself have never shared such beliefs, I can certainly appreciate the variety.† Christian scowled. â€Å"Don't believe me?† asked Isaiah. â€Å"Then let me prove it.† He walked back over to my side of the room. I realized what he was going to do and spoke without fully thinking things through. â€Å"Use me,† I blurted out. â€Å"Drink from me.† Isaiah's smug look faltered for a moment, and his eyebrows rose. â€Å"You're volunteering?† â€Å"I've done it before. Let Moroi feed off me, I mean. I don't mind. I like it. Leave the rest of them alone.† â€Å"Rose!† exclaimed Mason. I ignored him and looked beseechingly at Isaiah. I didn't want him to feed off me. The thought made me sick. But I had given blood before, and I'd rather him take pints from me before he touched Eddie or Mason. I couldn't read his expression as he sized me up. For half a second, I thought he might go for it, but instead he shook his head. â€Å"No. Not you. Not yet.† He walked over and stood before Eddie. I pulled against my flex-cuffs so hard that they dug painfully into my skin. They didn't give. â€Å"No! Leave him alone!† â€Å"Quiet,† snapped Isaiah, without looking at me. He rested one hand on the side of Eddie's face. Eddie trembled and had gone so pale, I thought he would faint. â€Å"I can make this easy, or I can make it hurt. Your silence will encourage the former.† I wanted to scream, wanted to call Isaiah all sorts of names and make all sorts of threats. But I couldn't. My eyes flicked around the room, searching for exits, as I had so many times before. But there were none. Just blank, bare white walls. No windows. The one precious door, always guarded. I was helpless, just as helpless as I'd been from the moment they'd pulled us into the van. I felt like crying, more from frustration than fear. What kind of guardian would I be if I couldn't protect my friends? But I stayed quiet, and a look of satisfaction crossed Isaiah's face. The fluorescent lighting gave his skin a sickly, grayish hue, emphasizing the dark circles under his eyes. I wanted to punch him. â€Å"Good.† He smiled at Eddie and held his face so that the two made direct eye contact. â€Å"Now, you won't fight me, will you?† As I've mentioned, Lissa was good at compulsion. But she couldn't have done this. In seconds, Eddie was smiling. â€Å"No. I won't fight you.† â€Å"Good,† repeated Isaiah. â€Å"And you'll give me your neck freely, won't you?† â€Å"Of course,† replied Eddie, tilting his head back. Isaiah brought his mouth down, and I looked away, trying to focus on the threadbare carpet instead. I didn't want to see this. I heard Eddie emit a soft, happy moan. The feeding itself was relatively quiet- no slurping or anything like that. â€Å"There.† I glanced back when I heard Isaiah speak again. Blood dripped from his lips, and he ran his tongue across them. I couldn't see the wound on Eddie's neck, but I suspected it was bloody and horrible too. Mia and Christian stared wide-eyed, both with fear and fascination. Eddie gazed off in a happy, drugged haze, high from both the endorphins and the compulsion. Isaiah straightened up and smiled at the Moroi, licking the last of the blood off his lips. â€Å"You see?† he told them, moving toward the door. â€Å"It's just that easy.†

Disipline in Schools Essay

The definitions of ‘violence’, ‘bullying’ and ‘indiscipline clearly incorporate a wide range of behaviors which can alter depending on both the context within which the behaviors are enacted, and, indeed, with whom they are directed towards. Discipline in schools is now passing through an extended eclipse. The problem of indiscipline permeates all facets of our life. It has, in fact brought us down to the knees Each day there are thousands of kids who go to school and get picked on in some way or another. Those same kids will probably come home and tell nobody about the pain that they are going through inside. There are numerous causes and solutions for this problem that we are facing in our schools. One main cause is that those doing the discipline problems suffer from bad parenting. I believe that parents need to be responsible for their children. They’re the ones who raised the child and filled them with their beliefs of what’s right and wrong. When a principle calls home about a child misbehaving and the parents do nothing , that just lets the child know that it’s alright for him or her to do it again. The parents will cause the child to form the mindset that he or she can do it again because they know that they won’t get reprimanded for their actions. Even if their child doesn’t get punished at home, that will lead the child to start acting out of control at school. Therefore, parents must take responsibility for their children’s behavior. The child needs to be teached that there will be consequences not only at school but homes as well for any discipline problems to be solved.