Alone, by Lisa Gardner :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Alone, by Lisa Gardner, is a story about a police sniper, Bobby, who was called to a hostage situation and ends up taking actions he will later regret. What you see at first glance is not always what it really is. Bobby thought he saw one thing happening in the house on that night, but the truth was something he could never imagine. In November 1998 Catherine Gagnon had reached her final string. Lives were about to change with just the pull of a trigger. Bobby didn’t know that when he pulled that trigger he was going to be pulled into a whole tangle of lies and secrets. Bobby and Catherine’s lives are about to collide and become their worst nightmare.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Bobby Dodge had been out for another night on the job when they got the call from Catherine Gagnon. Bobby was a very well respected member of the Massachusetts State Police Special Tactics and Operations (STOP) Team for six years. He was good at his job and this call was just another routine night for him, or so he thought. Catherine Gagnon had a very disturbing childhood. She was kidnapped and kept in a man-made four-by-six prison built just for her. She stayed in the silence and in the dark for twenty-eight days wondering when her keeper would come back and she would be tossed around and played with like a rag doll. She was rescued on November 18, by hunters, and was dubbed the Thanksgiving Miracle. Catherine grew up but keeping this deep secret with her all along. She married Jimmy Gagnon, the son of a very powerful judge in Boston. Their marriage had not been all it was made out to be. When Bobby arrived at their house it appeared that Jimmy had been holding C atherine and their son, Nathan, hostage in their house and had a gun. Bobby was good at his job; he saw the signs of danger and fired. The threat was over. But for Bobby, the trouble was just beginning. Judge Gagnon was not very happy with the news of his son being shot and was going to try to press charges on Bobby for murder. He did not like his daughter-in-law and was convinced she was hurting his grandchild, Nathan. Nathan always seemed to be sick. Bobby had no idea who he was shooting when he pulled that trigger, he just knew he was saving a life.

The Current Marketing Environment of the Airline

This report will evaluate the current marketing environment of the airline industry in Europe. This will involve looking into different area of the airline industry such as deregulation and open skies, current economic conditions, distribution channels, pricing and revenue management. It has been proved that the airline industry is probably one of the most competitive and complex industry in the world. According to Mintel report (2009) in the past decade, air travel has grown by 7% per year. Travel for both business and leisure purposes grew strongly worldwide. Scheduled airlines carried 1.5 billion passengers last year. In the leisure market, the availability of large aircraft such as the Boeing 747 made it convenient and affordable for people to travel further to new and exotic destinations. Distribution channels In all areas of marketing links must be made between the customer and the product. These links are known as distribution channels. Airlines use a variety of these channels. All of them are giving rise to particularly intense debate at the present time, because the different channels result in different costs, and because they vary in the extent to which they allow airline to exercise proper and necessary control of the channel. S, Shaw (Airline Marketing & Management, Fifth Edition, Page 194). Global Distribution Systems (GDSs) It’s impossible to talk about distribution channel in the airline industry without mentioning GDSs. For nearly twenty years, the subject of Global Distribution Systems has been a controversial one in the airline industry, and it remains so today. S, Shaw (Airline Marketing & Management, Fifth Edition, Page 204). Until the early 1970s, contact between airlines and their distribution outlets was mainly by telephone, this was both time consuming and costly and became unsustainable as the industry grew. As the 1970s preceded, the first, pioneering carries set out to automate airline/travel agency contact. In order to do so, direct links were provided from each agency location into the airline’s reservations computer. Instead of phoning, agents could use the keyboard of Visual Display Unit to make bookings direct with the airline concerned. Besides saving a great deal of time, this also gave agent visual confirmation that required reservation had been made. Airline today In the old, regulated environment, European airlines relied on external channels (travel agents, consolidators, tour operators) to distribute up to 90 percent of tickets. Distribution via these channels typically cost an airline 17 to 20 percent of the ticket price, accounted for by travel agency commissions (including bonus â€Å"overrides†), computer reservation company booking fees, credit card fees, and the airline’s own costs (such as its salesforce). Since then, CRS technology and economics have changed a lot: thanks to the development of alternative distribution channels, such as the airlines' Internet websites or their call centres, consumers have nowadays access to a multiplicity of information and booking channels for air transport services. About 40% of all airline tickets in the EU are booked via alternative channels and about 60% via travel agents and CRSs. Bookings made via the major global distribution systems (GDS) accounted for 64% of all airline passenger revenue in the U.S. in 2008 for U.S. point-of-sale transactions, but the figure has dropped below 50% in Europe, according to (Mintel report realised 2008) in the size, role and value of GDSs in travel distribution. The decline in Europe has been sharper, falling from 56% in 2006 and 51% in 2007 to 47% in 2008.The decline is attributable, in large part, to the rapid growth of low-cost carriers, such as Ryanair, that rely exclusively or primarily on direct bookings. 69% of the nearly â‚ ¬18 billion in air travel sold by European LCCs in 2008 was booked via their own Web sites. Deregulation and open skies Throughout its history, the airline industry has been constrained by decisions made by politicians and governments. Government have controlled where airlines can fly, and aspects of their product planning and pricing policies.’ They have also had a major involvement in the industry through the ownership of airlines. They have always had a role in regulating airline safety standards, a role that remains important and, principle, relatively non-controversial. For many years, and in almost all aviation markets, government controlled airlines’ route entry and capacity and frequency decisions. In recent years, substantial regulatory reform has taken place, giving carries the challenge and the opportunity of responding to a free economic environment. In describing the system of economic regulation of the airline industry, a fundamental distinction has always been between the regulation of domestic services which are solely under the control of one government, and international services, which require the agreement of at least two. Until relatively recently, almost all domestic travel market were highly regulated. The Agreement replaced and superseded previous open skies agreements between the US and individual European countries. Deregulation is also stimulating competition, such as that from small, low cost carriers. The EU's final stage of deregulation took effect in April 1997, allowing an airline from one member state to fly passengers within another member's domestic market. Beyond Europe too, ‘open skies' agreements are beginning to dismantle some of the regulations governing which carriers can fly on certain routes. Low-Cost Airlines in Europe Budget airlines’ have been one of the main drivers of growth in intra-European travel, over the past decade. However, after a period of rapid expansion, it seems that the sector is now reaching maturity and that the growth is likely to slow down in the coming years. The low-cost business model is geared to short-haul routes, which allow for a quick turnaround of aircraft. As such, LCCs are increasingly in competition with other modes of travel, especially rail, which has undergone a substantial upgrading in recent years. The European Air travel today has many more cheap air travel options than a decade ago. The partial deregulation of air travel in Europe in the 1990s allowed the rise of low-cost airlines, and flying even short distances in Europe is often cheaper than taking the train. The days when national flagship carriers dominated air traffic and were regarded as national symbols are gone, and the fierce competition from low-cost airlines has led to bankruptcies and mergers of several large and reputable airlines. But with so many more airlines operating in Europe, comes the difficult choice for travellers to figure out how to get the best prices and the services they desire. Low-cost airlines have exploded onto the European market in recent years, and routes that were traditionally covered by national airlines now face the stiff competition of low-cost carriers. Current economic conditions The correct down fall of the economy has hit hard in all most every industry, but has hit even harder at the European airline industry. The air transport sector has been hit hard by the ongoing financial and economic crisis. Both demand and supply have been retreating at an almost unprecedented pace since early 2008. According to the IATA, international passenger demand fell by 5.6% in January 2009 compared to the same month in 2008, which was a full percentage point worse than the 4.6% year-on The current economic conditions cause consumers to make cutbacks. France, however, remains on a growth curve after several years of declining popularity. City and short breaks are increasingly popular as holidaymakers head for France for a quick-fix getaway. Even with the current economic conditions people are still using the air transport for quick getaway, †¢ European airlines affected The hardest hit has been the ‘flag carriers' who have suffered hugely due to the slump in premium and business travel, coupled with the sharp rise in fuel prices. British Airways Plc in November posted a larger than expected first-half loss and predicted revenue would slump by one billion pounds by the end of 2009. Germany's Deutsche Lufthansa AG in October provided a gloomy outlook for the airline industry and reported that its third quarter operating profit fell 21 percent. Air France-KLM posted a current operating loss of 543 million Euros for the six months ended in September, compared with a current operating profit of 592 million Euros for the same period a year earlier. Pricing and revenue management Pricing is a crucial activity for the air transport industry as airplane seats a perishable commodity. Before deregulation of the major air travel market, pricing were a relatively a simple matter, as carries generally enjoyed a monopoly, duopoly or at least a cartel situation with other carries on most routes. (Mintel June 2009) Since deregulation, the focus has switched towards filling the aircraft, which has led to greatly increased price discrimination (charging different customer segments different prices). The results has been rising load factors but decreasing real yield, as prices charged to marginal customers can be brought down to very low level (e.g. Ryanair) since the marginal cost of carrying one more passenger approaches zero.( Mintel 2009) Soaring fuel costs and impending EU Emissions measures spell danger for the industry. Load factors are also slipping, as a ‘golden period’ of fleet expansion threatens to cause a state of ‘over-capacity’. To maintain the cheap ticket model, carriers are going to have to drastically raise their ancillary revenues (in-flight sales, charges and add-ons) and increasingly expand into accommodation and transfer services, in order to cope with the economic and legislative storms they are flying towards.

Mark Twain Is The Pen Name Used By American Writer

Melissa Izzo Professor Rachel Braaten HUM 2235 24 October 2014 Mark Twain Mark Twain is the pen name used by American writer Samuel Langhorn Clemens. Twain is an iconic American author and humorist who used both his personal struggles and gifts as a writer, to impact society from the nineteenth century into the present. He came from a large family and was born in Florida, Missouri, and lived from 1835 to 1910. Two of Mark Twain’s works which become a staple of his career were The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the sequel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Like everyone else, Mark Twain had a personal life beyond his writings which consisted of a marriage and children. Lesser known of his works, Mark Twain published a science-fiction novel along with many short stories and essays. Toward the end of his life, Mark Twain experienced both fame and personal struggle, which led to his inevitable death. Samuel Langhorn Clemens was born on November 30th, 1835 to his mother and father, Jane Lampton Clemens and John Marshall. He was the sixth born of their children, who all stayed in the small town of Florida, Missouri until Twain was four years old. Then, in 1839, the family moved not too far, to the town of Hannibal in Mississippi. Sadly, at the age of thirteen, Twain had to leave school to become a printer’s assistance after his father died of pneumonia. Few people know where the pen name â€Å"Mark Twain† comes from. When he turned seventeen, Twain moved out of Hannibal to St. LouisShow MoreRelatedSamuel Clemens : The Father Of American Literature1614 Words   |  7 PagesAmerican Literature is a literary genre that is one of the many branches formed from the much broader literary genre, English Literature. Stories such as The Great Gatsby, Of Mice and Men, The Crucible, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer are all popular examples of American Literature. Many of the most well-known written works of American Literature can be funneled back to one person, Samuel Clemens. Many people might say, who is Samuel Clem ens? However, if they are informed of his â€Å"pen† name, theyRead MoreMark Twain : A Man Beyond Color1541 Words   |  7 PagesMark Twain: A Man Beyond Color For skilled labor workers in the mid-1800’s, jobs were plentiful; however, most required an apprenticeship to hone their skills to perfection as a way to secure a job (Armstrong, 2015). Specifically, Samuel Clemens’ mother decided, upon the death of her husband in 1847, Samuel was to begin an apprenticeship with Joseph Ament, owner of the Missouri Courier (Dempsey, 2003). Just before the death of Clemens’ father, because of financial distress, his mother took a jobRead MoreEssay about Mark Twain1654 Words   |  7 PagesMark Twain Mark Twain is believed to be the father of all American literature. 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Mark Twain had a typical childhood for his time, butRead More Biography of Mark Twain Essay1429 Words   |  6 PagesBiography of Mark Twain Mark Twain was a writer whose works revolved around his childhood experiences growing up on the Mississippi River. The main source of his writing was the time he spent in Hannibal, Missouri as a young boy. He also used his childhood friends in many of his work, such as modeling the character Sid in Huck Finn after his brother Henry. Twain also used the happy times in his life to express his feeling in his writings. Twain used the trials of his life to make his works humorousRead MoreMark Twain3000 Words   |  12 Pagesï » ¿ Mark Twain’s Impact on American Literature. Multi-Genre Research Paper Table of Contents: Prologue†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦.†¦.3 Expository Research†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦.4-6 Multi-Genre Project†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7-12 Epilogue†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..13 Works Cited †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦14 Prologue. When I was thinking about the topic for my research paper I could not come up with any ideas. Then I looked through my entire English binder andRead MoreThe Secret Of Getting Ahead Is Getting Started1713 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"The secret of getting ahead is getting started.† - Mark Twain Writing imposing stories on a boy by the name of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn and the mighty Mississippi River, Mark Twain ventured the American soul with intelligence, optimism, and a keen eye for the truth. He became nothing less than a national treasure (AE Television). Early Life Samuel Langhorne Clemens was born on November 30, 1835, in a minute village of Florida, Missouri, he was the sixth child of Jane and John Clemens. AtRead MoreMark Twain Literary Devices1441 Words   |  6 Pagesher point across. A literary device is a technique used by an author to produce a special effect on his or her writing. On November 30th, 1835 a great author was born. His real name was Samuel Clemens, but went by a pen name of â€Å"Mark Twain†. For his time no one wrote like Twain because of his unique use of literary devices. His writing was hilarious and told the truth. There are three main ways that Mark Twain uses these different devices. Twain specifically uses the literary elements of tone, hyperbolesRead MoreEssay on A Brief Biography of Mark Twain1322 Words   |  6 Pagesfrom living life and experiencing the hustle and bustle of a river town. Clemens later went on to become a riverboat pilot perpetuated by displaying his yearning for travel. While on the river Samuel’s pen name became the name we all know today, Mark Twain. A term that riverboat engineers used to describe the depth of the waters the boat traveled. Twain’s humoristic writing style was influenced by his days as an editor of a local newspaper. A news paper that was saturated with jokes and tallRead MoreThe Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn By Mark Twain922 Words   |  4 PagesSamuel Langhorne Clemens went under a pen name of Mark Twain when he began his career as a writer. Born on November 30, 1835, Mark Twain went on to write a couple of novels that have become known as an American classic. One of his most famous novels is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which was published in 1884. The novel follows the journey and adventures of a boy named Huck and a runaway slave named Jim. In chapters twenty-one and twenty-two, Twain uses diction, character, and setting to establish