The Lost Symbol Chapter 44-47

CHAPTER 44 New York editor Jonas Faukman was just turning off the lights in his Manhattan office when his phone rang. He had no intention of picking up at this hour–that is, until he glimpsed the caller- ID display. This ought to be good, he thought, reaching for the receiver. â€Å"Do we still publish you?† Faukman asked, half serious. â€Å"Jonas!† Robert Langdon's voice sounded anxious. â€Å"Thank God you're there. I need your help.† Faukman's spirits lifted. â€Å"You've got pages for me to edit, Robert?† Finally? â€Å"No, I need information. Last year, I connected you with a scientist named Katherine Solomon, the sister of Peter Solomon?† Faukman frowned. No pages. â€Å"She was looking for a publisher for a book on Noetic Science? Do you remember her?† Faukman rolled his eyes. â€Å"Sure. I remember. And thanks a million for that introduction. Not only did she refuse to let me read the results of her research, she didn't want to publish anything until some magical date in the future.† â€Å"Jonas, listen to me, I don't have time. I need Katherine's phone number. Right now. Do you have it?† â€Å"I've got to warn you . . . you're acting a little desperate. She's great looking, but you're not going to impress her by–â€Å" â€Å"This is no joke, Jonas, I need her number now.† â€Å"All right . . . hold on.† Faukman and Langdon had been close friends for enough years that Faukman knew when Langdon was serious. Jonas typed the name Katherine Solomon into a search window and began scanning the company's e-mail server. â€Å"I'm looking now,† Faukman said. â€Å"And for what it's worth, when you call her, you may not want to call from the Harvard Pool. It sounds like you're in an asylum.† â€Å"I'm not at the pool. I'm in a tunnel under the U.S. Capitol.† Faukman sensed from Langdon's voice that he was not joking. What is it with this guy? â€Å"Robert, why can't you just stay home and write?† His computer pinged. â€Å"Okay, hold on . . . I got it.† He moused through the old e-mail thread. â€Å"It looks like all I have is her cell.† â€Å"I'll take it.† Faukman gave him the number. â€Å"Thanks, Jonas,† Langdon said, sounding grateful. â€Å"I owe you one.† â€Å"You owe me a manuscript, Robert. Do you have any idea how long–â€Å" The line went dead. Faukman stared at the receiver and shook his head. Book publishing would be so much easier without the authors. CHAPTER 45 Katherine Solomon did a double take when she saw the name on her caller ID. She had imagined the incoming call was from Trish, checking in to explain why she and Christopher Abaddon were taking so long. But the caller was not Trish. Far from it. Katherine felt a blushing smile cross her lips. Could tonight get any stranger? She flipped open her phone. â€Å"Don't tell me,† she said playfully. â€Å"Bookish bachelor seeking single Noetic Scientist?† â€Å"Katherine!† The deep voice belonged to Robert Langdon. â€Å"Thank God you're okay.† â€Å"Of course I'm okay,† she replied, puzzled. â€Å"Other than the fact that you never called me after that party at Peter's house last summer.† â€Å"Something has happened tonight. Please listen.† His normally smooth voice sounded ragged. â€Å"I'm so sorry to have to tell you this . . . but Peter is in serious trouble.† Katherine's smile disappeared. â€Å"What are you talking about?† â€Å"Peter . . .† Langdon hesitated as if searching for words. â€Å"I don't know how to say it, but he's been . . . taken. I'm not sure how or by whom, but–â€Å" â€Å"Taken?† Katherine demanded. â€Å"Robert, you're scaring me. Taken . . . where?† â€Å"Taken captive.† Langdon's voice cracked as if he were overwhelmed. â€Å"It must have happened earlier today or maybe yesterday.† â€Å"This isn't funny,† she said angrily. â€Å"My brother is fine. I just spoke to him fifteen minutes ago!† â€Å"You did?!† Langdon sounded stunned. â€Å"Yes! He just texted me to say he was coming to the lab.† â€Å"He texted you . . .† Langdon thought out loud. â€Å"But you didn't actually hear his voice?† â€Å"No, but–â€Å" â€Å"Listen to me. The text you received was not from your brother. Someone has Peter's phone. He's dangerous. Whoever it is tricked me into coming to Washington tonight.† â€Å"Tricked you? You're not making any sense!† â€Å"I know, I'm so sorry.† Langdon seemed uncharacteristically disorientated. â€Å"Katherine, I think you could be in danger.† Katherine Solomon was sure that Langdon would never joke about something like this, and yet he sounded like he had lost his mind. â€Å"I'm fine,† she said. â€Å"I'm locked inside a secure building!† â€Å"Read me the message you got from Peter's phone. Please.† Bewildered, Katherine pulled up the text message and read it to Langdon, feeling a chill as she came to the final part referencing Dr. Abaddon. â€Å"`If available, have Dr. Abaddon join us inside. I trust him fully . . .' â€Å" â€Å"Oh God . . .† Langdon's voice was laced with fear. â€Å"Did you invite this man inside?† â€Å"Yes! My assistant just went out to the lobby to get him. I expect them back any–â€Å" â€Å"Katherine, get out!† Langdon yelled. â€Å"Now!† At the other side of the SMSC, inside the security room, a phone began ringing, drowning out the Redskins game. The guard reluctantly pulled out his earbuds one more time. â€Å"Lobby,† he answered. â€Å"This is Kyle.† â€Å"Kyle, it's Katherine Solomon!† Her voice sounded anxious, out of breath. â€Å"Ma'am, your brother has not yet–â€Å" â€Å"Where's Trish?!† she demanded. â€Å"Can you see her on the monitors?† The guard rolled his chair over to look at the screens. â€Å"She hasn't gotten back to the Cube yet?† â€Å"No!† Katherine shouted, sounding alarmed. The guard now realized that Katherine Solomon was out of breath, as if she were running. What's going on back there? The guard quickly worked the video joystick, skimming through frames of digital video at rapid speed. â€Å"Okay, hold on, scrolling through playback . . . I've got Trish with your guest leaving the lobby . . . they move down the Street . . . fast-forwarding . . . okay, they're going into Wet Pod . . . Trish uses her key card to unlock the door . . . both of them step into Wet Pod . . . fast- forwarding . . . okay, here they are coming out of Wet Pod just a minute ago . . . heading down . . .† He cocked his head, slowing the playback. â€Å"Wait a minute. That's odd.† â€Å"What?† â€Å"The gentleman came out of Wet Pod alone.† â€Å"Trish stayed inside?† â€Å"Yes, it looks that way. I'm watching your guest now . . . he's in the hall on his own.† â€Å"Where is Trish?† Katherine asked more frantically. â€Å"I don't see her on the video feed,† he replied, an edge of anxiety creeping into his voice. He looked back at the screen and noticed that the man's jacket sleeves appeared to be wet . . . all the way up to his elbows. What in the world did he do in Wet Pod? The guard watched as the man began to move purposefully down the main hallway toward Pod 5, clutching in his hand what looked like . . . a key card. The guard felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. â€Å"Ms. Solomon, we've got a serious problem.† Tonight was a night of firsts for Katherine Solomon. In two years, she had never used her cell phone inside the void. Nor had she ever crossed the void at a dead run. At the moment, however, Katherine had a cell phone pressed to her ear while she was dashing blindly along the endless length of carpet. Each time she felt a foot stray from the carpet, she corrected back to center, racing on through the sheer darkness. â€Å"Where is he now?† Katherine asked the guard, breathless. â€Å"Checking now,† the guard replied. â€Å"Fast-forwarding . . . okay, here he is walking down the hall . . . moving toward Pod Five . . .† Katherine ran harder, hoping to reach the exit before she got trapped back here. â€Å"How long until he gets to the Pod Five entrance?† The guard paused. â€Å"Ma'am, you don't understand. I'm still fast-forwarding. This is recorded playback. This already happened.† He paused. â€Å"Hold on, let me check the entry event monitor.† He paused and then said, â€Å"Ma'am, Ms. Dunne's key card shows a Pod Five entry event about a minute ago.† Katherine slammed on the brakes, sliding to a halt in the middle of the abyss. â€Å"He already unlocked Pod Five?† she whispered into the phone. The guard was typing frantically. â€Å"Yes, it looks like he entered . . . ninety seconds ago.† Katherine's body went rigid. She stopped breathing. The darkness felt suddenly alive all around her. He's in here with me. In an instant, Katherine realized that the only light in the entire space was coming from her cell phone, illuminating the side of her face. â€Å"Send help,† she whispered to the guard. â€Å"And get to Wet Pod to help Trish.† Then she quietly closed her phone, extinguishing the light. Absolute darkness settled around her. She stood stock-still and breathed as quietly as possible. After a few seconds, the pungent scent of ethanol wafted out of the darkness in front of her. The smell got stronger. She could sense a presence, only a few feet in front of her on the carpet. In the silence, the pounding of Katherine's heart seemed loud enough to give her away. Silently, she stepped out of her shoes and inched to her left, sidestepping off the carpet. The cement felt cold under her feet. She took one more step to clear the carpet. One of her toes cracked. It sounded like a gunshot in the stillness. Only a few yards away, a rustle of clothing suddenly came at her out of the darkness. Katherine bolted an instant too late and a powerful arm snagged her, groping in the darkness, hands violently attempting to gain purchase. She spun away as a viselike grip caught her lab coat, yanking her backward, reeling her in. Katherine threw her arms backward, slithering out of her lab coat and slipping free. Suddenly, with no idea anymore which way was out, Katherine Solomon found herself dashing, dead blind, across an endless black abyss. CHAPTER 46 Despite containing what many have called â€Å"the most beautiful room in the world,† the Library of Congress is known less for its breathtaking splendor than for its vast collections. With over five hundred miles of shelves–enough to stretch from Washington, D.C., to Boston–it easily claims the title of largest library on earth. And yet still it expands, at a rate of over ten thousand items per day. As an early repository for Thomas Jefferson's personal collection of books on science and philosophy, the library stood as a symbol of America's commitment to the dissemination of knowledge. One of the first buildings in Washington to have electric lights, it literally shone like a beacon in the darkness of the New World. As its name implies, the Library of Congress was established to serve Congress, whose venerated members worked across the street in the Capitol Building. This age-old bond between library and Capitol had been fortified recently by the construction of a physical connection–a long tunnel beneath Independence Avenue that linked the two buildings. Tonight, inside this dimly lit tunnel, Robert Langdon followed Warren Bellamy through a construction zone, trying to quell his own deepening concern for Katherine. This lunatic is at her lab?! Langdon didn't even want to imagine why. When he had called to warn her, Langdon had told Katherine exactly where to meet him before they hung up. How much longer is this damned tunnel? His head ached now, a roiling torrent of interconnected thoughts: Katherine, Peter, the Masons, Bellamy, pyramids, ancient prophecy . . . and a map. Langdon shook it all off and pressed on. Bellamy promised me answers. When the two men finally reached the end of the passage, Bellamy guided Langdon through a set of double doors that were still under construction. Finding no way to lock the unfinished doors behind them, Bellamy improvised, grabbing an aluminum ladder from the construction supplies and leaning it precariously against the outside of the door. Then he balanced a metal bucket on top. If anyone opened the door, the bucket would crash loudly to the floor. That's our alarm system? Langdon eyed the perched bucket, hoping Bellamy had a more comprehensive plan for their safety tonight. Everything had happened so fast, and Langdon was only now starting to process the repercussions of his fleeing with Bellamy. I'm a fugitive from the CIA. Bellamy led the way around a corner, where the two men began ascending a wide staircase that was cordoned off with orange pylons. Langdon's daybag weighed him down as he climbed. â€Å"The stone pyramid,† he said, â€Å"I still don't understand–â€Å" â€Å"Not here,† Bellamy interrupted. â€Å"We'll examine it in the light. I know a safe place.† Langdon doubted such a place existed for anyone who had just physically assaulted the director of the CIA's Office of Security. As the two men reached the top of the stairs, they entered a wide hallway of Italian marble, stucco, and gold leaf. The hall was lined with eight pairs of statues–all depicting the goddess Minerva. Bellamy pressed on, leading Langdon eastward, through a vaulted archway, into a far grander space. Even in the dim, after-hours lighting, the library's great hall shone with the classical grandeur of an opulent European palace. Seventy-five feet overhead, stained-glass skylights glistened between paneled beams adorned with rare â€Å"aluminum leaf†Ã¢â‚¬â€œa metal that was considered to be more precious than gold at one time. Beneath that, a stately course of paired pillars lined the second-floor balcony, accessible by two magnificent curling staircases whose newel posts supported giant bronze female figures raising torches of enlightenment. In a bizarre attempt to reflect this theme of modern enlightenment and yet stay within the decorative register of Renaissance architecture, the stairway banisters had been carved with cupidlike putti portrayed as modern scientists. An angelic electrician holding a telephone? A cherubic entomologist with a specimen box? Langdon wondered what Bernini would have thought. â€Å"We'll talk over here,† Bellamy said, leading Langdon past the bulletproof display cases that contained the library's two most valuable books–the Giant Bible of Mainz, handwritten in the 1450s, and America's copy of the Gutenberg Bible, one of only three perfect vellum copies in the world. Fittingly, the vaulted ceiling overhead bore John White Alexander's six-panel painting titled The Evolution of the Book. Bellamy strode directly to a pair of elegant double doors at the center rear of the east-corridor wall. Langdon knew what room lay beyond those doors, but it seemed a strange choice for a conversation. Notwithstanding the irony of talking in a space filled with â€Å"Silence Please† signs, this room hardly seemed like a â€Å"safe place.† Located dead center of the library's cruciform- shaped floor plan, this chamber served as the heart of the building. Hiding in here was like breaking into a cathedral and hiding on the altar. Nonetheless, Bellamy unlocked the doors, stepped into the darkness beyond, and groped for the lights. When he flipped the switch, one of America's great architectural masterpieces seemed to materialize out of thin air. The famous reading room was a feast for the senses. A voluminous octagon rose 160 feet at its center, its eight sides finished in chocolate-brown Tennessee marble, cream-colored Siena marble, and apple-red Algerian marble. Because it was lit from eight angles, no shadows fell anywhere, creating the effect that the room itself was glowing. â€Å"Some say it's the most striking room in Washington,† Bellamy said, ushering Langdon inside. Maybe in the whole world, Langdon thought as he stepped across the threshold. As always, his gaze first ascended straight up to the towering central collar, where rays of arabesque coffers curled down the dome to an upper balcony. Encircling the room, sixteen bronze â€Å"portrait† statues peered down from the balustrade. Beneath them, a stunning arcade of archways formed a lower balcony. Down at floor level, three concentric circles of burnished wood desks radiated out from the massive octagonal circulation desk. Langdon returned his focus to Bellamy, who was now propping the room's double doors wide open. â€Å"I thought we were hiding,† Langdon said, confused. â€Å"If anyone enters the building,† Bellamy said, â€Å"I want to hear them coming.† â€Å"But won't they find us instantly in here?† â€Å"No matter where we hide, they'll find us. But if anyone corners us in this building, you'll be very glad I chose this room.† Langdon had no idea why, but Bellamy apparently wasn't looking to discuss it. He was already on the move toward the center of the room, where he selected one of the available reading desks, pulled up two chairs, and flipped on the reading light. Then he motioned to Langdon's bag. â€Å"Okay, Professor, let's have a closer look.† Not wanting to risk scratching its polished surface with a rough piece of granite, Langdon hoisted his entire bag onto the desk and unzipped it, folding the sides all the way down to reveal the pyramid inside. Warren Bellamy adjusted the reading lamp and studied the pyramid carefully. He ran his fingers over the unusual engraving. â€Å"I assume you recognize this language?† Bellamy asked. â€Å"Of course,† Langdon replied, eyeing the sixteen symbols. Known as the Freemason's Cipher, this encoded language had been used for private communication among early Masonic brothers. The encryption method had been abandoned long ago for one simple reason–it was much too easy to break. Most of the students in Langdon's senior symbology seminar could break this code in about five minutes. Langdon, with a pencil and paper, could do it in under sixty seconds. The notorious breakability of this centuries-old encryption scheme now presented a couple of paradoxes. First, the claim that Langdon was the only person on earth who could break it was absurd. Second, for Sato to suggest that a Masonic cipher was an issue of national security was like her suggesting our nuclear launch codes were encrypted with a Cracker Jack decoder ring. Langdon was still struggling to believe any of it. This pyramid is a map? Pointing to the lost wisdom of the ages? â€Å"Robert,† Bellamy said, his tone grave. â€Å"Did Director Sato tell you why she is so interested in this?† Langdon shook his head. â€Å"Not specifically. She just kept saying it was an issue of national security. I assume she's lying.† â€Å"Perhaps,† Bellamy said, rubbing the back of his neck. He seemed to be struggling with something. â€Å"But there is a far more troubling possibility.† He turned to look Langdon in the eye. â€Å"It's possible that Director Sato has discovered this pyramid's true potential.† CHAPTER 47 The blackness engulfing Katherine Solomon felt absolute. Having fled the familiar safety of the carpet, she was now groping blindly forward, her outstretched hands touching only empty space as she staggered deeper into the desolate void. Beneath her stockinged feet, the endless expanse of cold cement felt like a frozen lake . . . a hostile environment from which she now needed to escape. No longer smelling ethanol, she stopped and waited in darkness. Standing dead still, she listened, willing her heart to stop pounding so loudly. The heavy footsteps behind her seemed to have stopped. Did I lose him? Katherine closed her eyes and tried to imagine where she was. Which direction did I run? Where is the door? It was no use. She was so turned around now that the exit could be anywhere. Fear, Katherine had once heard, acted as a stimulant, sharpening the mind's ability to think. Right now, however, her fear had turned her mind into a tumbling torrent of panic and confusion. Even if I find the exit, I can't get out. Her key card had been lost when she'd shed her lab coat. Her only hope seemed to be that she was now a needle in a haystack–a single point on a thirty- thousand-square-foot grid. Despite the overwhelming urge to flee, Katherine's analytical mind told her instead to make the only logical move–no move at all. Stay still. Don't make a sound. The security guard was on his way, and for some unknown reason, her attacker smelled strongly of ethanol. If he gets too close, I'll know it. As Katherine stood in silence, her mind raced over what Langdon had said. Your brother . . . he's been taken. She felt a bead of cold sweat materialize on her arm and trickle down, toward the cell phone still clenched in her right hand. It was a danger she had forgotten to consider. If the phone rang, it would give away her position, and she could not turn it off without opening it and illuminating the display. Set down the phone . . . and move away from it. But it was too late. The smell of ethanol approached on her right. And now it grew stronger. Katherine struggled to stay calm, forcing herself to override the instinct to run. Carefully, slowly, she took one step to her left. The faint rustle of her clothing was apparently all her attacker needed. She heard him lunge, and the smell of ethanol washed over her as a powerful hand grabbed at her shoulder. She twisted away, raw terror gripping her. Mathematical probability went out the window, and Katherine broke into a blind sprint. She veered hard to the left, changing course, dashing blindly now into the void. The wall materialized out of nowhere. Katherine hit it hard, knocking the wind from her lungs. Pain blossomed in her arm and shoulder, but she managed to stay on her feet. The oblique angle at which she had collided with the wall had spared her the full force of the blow, but it was little comfort now. The sound had echoed everywhere. He knows where I am. Doubled over in pain, she turned her head and stared out into the blackness of the pod and sensed him staring back at her. Change your location. Now! Still struggling to catch her breath, she began moving down the wall, touching her left hand quietly to each exposed steel stud as she passed. Stay along the wall. Slip past him before he corners you. In her right hand, Katherine still clutched her cell phone, ready to hurl it as a projectile if need be. Katherine was in no way prepared for the sound she heard next–the clear rustle of clothing directly in front of her . . . against the wall. She froze, stock-still, and stopped breathing. How could he be on the wall already? She felt a faint puff of air, laced with the stench of ethanol. He's moving down the wall toward me! Katherine backed up several steps. Then, turning silently 180 degrees, she began moving quickly in the opposite direction down the wall. She moved twenty feet or so when the impossible happened. Once again, directly in front of her, along the wall, she heard the rustling sound of clothing. Then came the same puff of air and the smell of ethanol. Katherine Solomon froze in place. My God, he's everywhere! Bare-chested, Mal'akh stared into the darkness. The smell of ethanol on his sleeves had proven a liability, and so he had transformed it into an asset, stripping off his shirt and jacket and using them to help corner his prey. Throwing his jacket against the wall to the right, he had heard Katherine stop short and change direction. Now, having thrown his shirt ahead to the left, Mal'akh had heard her stop again. He had effectively corralled Katherine against the wall by establishing points beyond which she dared not pass. Now he waited, ears straining in the silence. She has only one direction she can move–directly toward me. Even so, Mal'akh heard nothing. Either Katherine was paralyzed with fear, or she had decided to stand still and wait for help to enter Pod 5. Either way she loses. Nobody would be entering Pod 5 anytime soon; Mal'akh had disabled the outer keypad with a very crude, yet very effective, technique. After using Trish's key card, he had rammed a single dime deep into the key-card slot to prevent any other key-card use without first dismantling the entire mechanism. You and I are alone, Katherine . . . for as long as this takes. Mal'akh inched silently forward, listening for any movement. Katherine Solomon would die tonight in the darkness of her brother's museum. A poetic end. Mal'akh looked forward to sharing the news of Katherine's death with her brother. The old man's anguish would be long- awaited revenge. Suddenly in the darkness, to Mal'akh's great surprise, he saw a tiny glow in the distance and realized Katherine had just made a deadly error in judgment. She's phoning for help?! The electronic display that had just flickered to life was hovering waist high, about twenty yards ahead, like a shining beacon on a vast ocean of black. Mal'akh had been prepared to wait Katherine out, but now he wouldn't have to. Mal'akh sprang into motion, racing toward the hovering light, knowing he had to reach her before she could complete her call for help. He was there in a matter of seconds, and he lunged, arms outstretched on either side of her glowing cell phone, preparing to engulf her. Mal'akh's fingers jammed into a solid wall, bending backward and almost breaking. His head collided next, crashing into a steel beam. He cried out in pain as he crumpled beside the wall. Cursing, he clambered back to his feet, pulling himself up by the waist-high, horizontal strut on which Katherine Solomon had cleverly placed her open cell phone. Katherine was running again, this time with no concern for the noise her hand was making as it bounced rhythmically off the evenly spaced metal studs of Pod 5. Run! If she followed the wall all the way around the pod, she knew that sooner or later she would feel the exit door. Where the hell is the guard? The even spacing of the studs continued as she ran with her left hand on the sidewall and her right out in front of her for protection. When will I reach the corner? The sidewall seemed to go on and on, but suddenly the rhythm of the studs was broken. Her left hand hit empty space for several long strides, and then the studs began again. Katherine slammed on the brakes and backed up, feeling her way across the smooth metal panel. Why are there no studs here? She could hear her attacker lumbering loudly after her now, groping his way down the wall in her direction. Even so, it was a different sound that scared Katherine even more–the distant rhythmic banging of a security guard pounding his flashlight against the Pod 5 door. The guard can't get in? While the thought was terrifying, the location of his banging–diagonally to her right–instantly oriented Katherine. She could now picture where in Pod 5 she was located. The visual flash brought with it an unexpected realization. She now knew what this flat panel on the wall was. Every pod was equipped with a specimen bay–a giant movable wall that could be retracted for transporting oversize specimens in and out of the pods. Like those of an airplane hangar, this door was mammoth, and Katherine in her wildest dreams had never imagined needing to open it. At the moment, though, it seemed like her only hope. Is it even operable? Katherine fumbled blindly in the blackness, searching the bay door until she found the large metal handle. Grasping it, she threw her weight backward, trying to slide open the door. Nothing. She tried again. It didn't budge. She could hear her attacker closing faster now, homing in on the sounds of her efforts. The bay door is locked! Wild with panic, she slid her hands all over the door, feeling the surface for any latch or lever. She suddenly hit what felt like a vertical pole. She followed it down to the floor, crouching, and could feel it was inserted into a hole in the cement. A security rod! She stood up, grabbed the pole, and, lifting with her legs, slid the rod up and out of the hole. He's almost here! Katherine groped now for the handle, found it again, and heaved back on it with all her might. The massive panel seemed barely to move, and yet a sliver of moonlight now sliced into Pod 5. Katherine pulled again. The shaft of light from outside the building grew wider. A little more! She pulled one last time, sensing her attacker was now only a few feet away. Leaping toward the light, Katherine wriggled her slender body sideways into the opening. A hand materialized in the darkness, clawing at her, trying to pull her back inside. She heaved herself through the opening, pursued by a massive bare arm that was covered with tattooed scales. The terrifying arm writhed like an angry snake trying to seize her. Katherine spun and fled down the long, pale outer wall of Pod 5. The bed of loose stones that surrounded the entire perimeter of the SMSC cut into her stockinged feet as she ran, but she pressed on, heading for the main entrance. The night was dark, but with her eyes fully dilated from the utter blackness of Pod 5, she could see perfectly–almost as if it were daylight. Behind her, the heavy bay door ground open, and she heard heavy footsteps accelerating in pursuit down the side of the building. The footsteps seemed impossibly fast. I'll never outrun him to the main entrance. She knew her Volvo was closer, but even that would be too far. I'm not going to make it. Then Katherine realized she had one final card to play. As she neared the corner of Pod 5, she could hear his footsteps quickly overtaking her in the darkness. Now or never. Instead of rounding the corner, Katherine suddenly cut hard to her left, away from the building, out onto the grass. As she did so, she closed her eyes tightly, placed both hands over her face, and began running totally blind across the lawn. The motion-activated security lighting that blazed to life around Pod 5 transformed night into day instantly. Katherine heard a scream of pain behind her as the brilliant floodlights seared into her assailant's hyper dilated pupils with over twenty-five-million candlepower of light. She could hear him stumbling on the loose stones. Katherine kept her eyes tightly closed, trusting herself on the open lawn. When she sensed she was far enough away from the building and the lights, she opened her eyes, corrected her course, and ran like hell through the dark. Her Volvo's keys were exactly where she always left them, in the center console. Breathless, she seized the keys in her trembling hands and found the ignition. The engine roared to life, and her headlights flipped on, illuminating a terrifying sight. A hideous form raced toward her. Katherine froze for an instant. The creature caught in her headlights was a bald and bare-chested animal, its skin covered with tattooed scales, symbols, and text. He bellowed as he ran into the glare, raising his hands before his eyes like a cave-dwelling beast seeing sunlight for the first time. She reached for the gearshift but suddenly he was there, hurling his elbow through her side window, sending a shower of safety glass into her lap. A massive scale-covered arm burst through her window, groping half blind, finding her neck. She threw the car in reverse, but her attacker had latched on to her throat, squeezing with unimaginable force. She turned her head in an attempt to escape his grasp, and suddenly she was staring at his face. Three dark stripes, like fingernail scratches, had torn through his face makeup to reveal the tattoos beneath. His eyes were wild and ruthless. â€Å"I should have killed you ten years ago,† he growled. â€Å"The night I killed your mother.† As his words registered, Katherine was seized by a horrifying memory: that feral look in his eyes–she had seen it before. It's him. She would have screamed had it not been for the viselike grip around her neck. She smashed her foot onto the accelerator, and the car lurched backward, almost snapping her neck as he was dragged beside her car. The Volvo careened up an inclined median, and Katherine could feel her neck about to give way beneath his weight. Suddenly tree branches were scraping the side of her car, slapping through the side windows, and the weight was gone. The car burst through the evergreens and out into the upper parking lot, where Katherine slammed on the brakes. Below her, the half-naked man clambered to his feet, staring into her headlights. With a terrifying calm, he raised a menacing scale-covered arm and pointed directly at her. Katherine's blood coursed with raw fear and hatred as she spun the wheel and hit the gas. Seconds later, she was fishtailing out onto Silver Hill Road.

Bangle Sellers

The poem â€Å"Bangle Sellers† was first published in the year 1912 by Sarojini Naidu in her collection of poems called â€Å"The Bird of Time. † A group of bangle sellers is on its way to the temple fair to sell their bangles. One of them is the narrator of this poem. They are an impoverished and marginalized group of people whose income from the sales of their bangles is at the best of times uncertain and very meagre. However the bangles they sell are of religious and symbolic importance: no Indian widow is permitted to wear bangles. Hence the wearing of bangles is considered to be very auspicious and of symbolic value bordering on the religious. What is of great significance in the poem is that the bangle seller does not say a word about his/her poverty, nor does he/she say anything about the profit that he/she intends to make by selling his/her bangles at the temple fair where he/she will certainly do roaring sales. On the contrary he/she only concentrates on the human element of the product he/she is going to sell at the temple fair: Who will buy these delicate, bright Rainbow-tinted circles of light? Lustrous tokens of radiant lives, For happy daughters and happy wives. Sarojini Naidu has foregrounded the auspiciousness and the symbolic value of the custom of wearing bangles by repeating â€Å"happy. † The ‘happy' daughters look forward to their marital bliss while the ‘happy' wives are content and glory in the fulfillment which is a result of their marital status. Each of the next three stanzas deal with the three stages in the life of of an average Indian woman – a virgin maiden, an expectant bride and finally a mature matriarch. The bangles are of many colors. However, each stage in an Indian woman's life s described lyrically and appropriately according to the colour of the bangle suitable to that stage:for the maiden virgin who is always dreaming of a happily married life it is a misty silver and blue, for the expectant and passionate bride it is a golden yellow, and for the mature matriarch it is a â€Å"purple and gold flecked grey. † Simil arly Sarojini Naidu very poetically describes the longings of an Indian woman according to each stage of her life: the virgin maiden is carrying in her heart countless dreams of her future married life and she is compared to a â€Å"bud that dreams. The young bride is described as brimming over with passionate desire although she is nervous about what the future holds for her as she leaves her parental home – â€Å"bridal laughter and bridal tear. † Finally, she describes the proud and faithful matriarch who has attained fulfillment by successfully rearing her sons – â€Å"serves her house in fruitful pride -† and hence is permitted to take her rightful place by the side of her husband in all the domestic religious rituals.

Buddhist Ideas and Practices in China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Buddhist Ideas and Practices in China - Essay Example On the other hand, the artifacts from Kushan, which were based on Pakistan Buddhist civilization, were identified in western China, during the period when China had extended their power to Central Asia, and there were cultural ties between China and Central Asia. This association offered a chance for the Chinese people to learn about the Buddhism by the mid first century, thereby making the Chinese Buddhist learn about its existence. Nevertheless, the paper will focus on the discussion of ways in which Buddhism entered China and difficulties and adaptation in the Chinese culture. One of the ways in which Buddhism entered in to China was through a translation, which involved selection of terms for explaining the Buddhist conceptions in Chinese; thus, they applied Taoist expressions to translate. Chinese people commenced to relate Buddhism with the existence of Taoist tradition, and they later understood the teachings of Buddha. Buddhist text continues despite, a period of political di sunity after the fall of Han Dynasty during the third century, which was associated by unrest caused by war. In fact, there was increased popularity in this period, whereby the Chinese monks became aggressively concerned in the establishment of monasteries and teaching Buddhist knowledge. There were rules established with a devotion to the Buddhist, which led to construction of much temples and participation in Buddhist ceremonies public talks, thereby expanding the rulers on the earlier catalogues on Buddhist texts. Entry of Buddhism was facilitated by a Chinese monk referred to as Dao-an, in the fourth century, though he shifted from one place to another due to the political instability, he wrote and lectured about Buddhist teachings. He also gathered copies of translated scriptures, prepared a catalogue, and invited translators such as Kumarajiva, from Kucha. Therefore, Kumarajiva applied Dao-an's disciples in translation of numerous texts and revised the Chinese translations. Mo reover, his translations became popular thus contributing to the spread of Buddhism in China, and some of these translations have been used even in the present days. The political instability contributed to dispersion of Kumarajiva's disciples, and this contributed to the spread of Buddhism to other parts of China. Difficulties and adaptations in Chinese culture There were difficulties related to the nature of the attacks on the Confucian side, which were aimed at eliminating Buddhist institutions, and reduce their strong hold in the Chinese society. There were several Confucian attacks against clergy and spread of Buddhist doctrines, where the entire Buddhist religion was attacked. In this case, there were other difficulties resulting from the Chinese society, which was switching to the Confucian populace, thereby making the Buddhist society face a lot of attack in their pursuit of remaining prevalent and the philosophy of Chinese civilization. Nevertheless, these attacks were stro ng enough to hinder the spread of Buddhism in China, though these religions offered brilliant ideas and compelling rhetoric during the sparring back in forth between the philosophies. There were significant points that Confucians aimed at responding to in relation to the Buddhist philosophy and this included the attacks on the land properties and the excesses of Buddhist clergymen (Cultural China, 1). On the other hand, there were benefits for the numerous clergymen in their attempts to possess a piece of land, which was luxurious. There was an allotment prize lands for the clergymen by the Buddhist follower, where there was an institution

Primary Source Focus Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Primary Source Focus Questions - Essay Example Duties that masters and mistresses expected from their servants include retaining honesty and overall morality in the house. According to Mrs. Beeton, one of the most important qualities of a good mistress is her ability to engage her servant. Another quality is informing her friends and relatives of an empty house through friendly domestics and a relatively lasting willpower (Clark 415). Beeton says some of the most typical issues that exist between masters and servants are decadence and somewhat disposed attitudes towards each other. Beeton’s instructions tell modern readers of the radical change in relationships between household owners and their house cleaners within a span of hundred and fifty years. However, the instructions do not portray any contemporary relevance since this culture was completely abandoned during the twentieth century. 1) In The Ladies Paradise, how is the department store personified (i.e. portrayed) and what do you think this says about the new culture of 19th C consumerism? What challenges and advantages did shop-girls like Denise face? The writer gives the department store the features of a monster-like apparatus and personifies it. The book portrays the department store as a â€Å"continual cascade of materials† flowing alongside the rumble of a river (Zola 36). This portrayal of the department stores paints the image of the 1800s Parisian department store by using numerous definitive pictures. These pictures allow Zola to make an unambiguous comparison between what a customer views at the store and what took place behind the curtains. Challenges Denise faced as a shop girl include supporting her orphan siblings by working at the kid’s section of the store and the store’s uninviting working conditions. However, Denise benefited from the â€Å"match of progress† and her immunity to shopping desires (Zola 41). The theory of evolution challenged conventional belief systems by crossing

Nutrition and Metabolism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Nutrition and Metabolism - Essay Example the plasma sodium concentration), is about 140 mmol/L. Sodium maintains the osmotic pressure of the extra cellular fluid and helps in retaining water in the extra cellular compartment. Along with other cations it is also majorly involved in neuromuscular irritability, acid base balance, maintenance of blood viscosity and resting membrane potential. A high plasma sodium concentration (more than 145 mmol/L) is referred to as hypernatremia. This can occur due to simple dehydration, excess sodium intake, steroid therapy and diabetic insipidus. Hyponatremia (plasma sodium concentration less than 130 mmol/L), can occur due to diuretic medication, kidney disease, excessive sweating, congestive heart failure or gastrointestinal disorder. Potassium is one of the most important intracellular cation. It is widely distributed in the body in muscle tissue, nerve tissue, blood cells and plasma. It is filtered in the glomerulus, absorbed in the proximal tubule and finally excreted by exchange for sodium in the distal tubule. Potassium influences muscular activity, cardiac function and nerve conduction process. In hyperkalemia the plasma potassium concentration exceeds 5.5 mmol/L. Acute hyperkalemia is a medical emergency. In hypokalemia the plasma potassium level will be less than 3.5 mmol/L. This can occur due to excessive loss in gastrointestinal secretions and urine, and also in renal tubular acidosis. Hyponatremia (lowered plasma [Na+]) and hypernatremia (raised plasma [Na+]) are associated with a variety of diseases and illnesses and the accurate measurement of [Na+] in body fluids is an important diagnostic aid. Potassium is the major intracellular cation. The average cell has 140 mM K+ inside but only about 10 mM Na+. K+ slowly diffuses out of cells so a membrane pump (the Na+/K+-ATPase) continually transports K+ into cells against a concentration gradient. The human body requires about 50-150 mmol/day. Hypokalemia (lowered

Management 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Management 2 - Essay Example Following Burns (2001) "entrepreneurs have become the staff of legends, "economic heroes" (Cannon 1991) increasing held in high esteem and held up as role models to be emulated" (6). The case of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs show that the main personal features of entrepreneurs are innovative ideas and creativity. For both men, new approaches to IT were innovative and resulted in economic value. Following Kamalanabhan et al (2006): "in comparison to the rest of the population, entrepreneurs tend to be more innovative in their attitude, but do not seem to have greater faith in the internal locus of control" (49). Thus, the innovations and changes have created new opportunities for Gates and Jobs, while creating challenges and threats to other companies. The established companies, Microsoft -IBM and Macintosh -Apple, have an entrepreneurial mindset based on knowledge and low cost solutions. For both companies, the real focus was on the innovation, being innovative, and the drive for indepe ndence. Their entrepreneurship was much more internally oriented in focus than marketing. All the aspects of the venture came together in order for a successful launch to occur. This aspect, as well as the other commonalities and differences, was often affected when external financing is involved. Microsoft relies on innovations when introduced new products with top priority to its standards-settings while "the history of I.B.M. is a history of failed attempts to impose standards by fiat" (Gates: Innovation, not greed, drives Internet 1998). Many entrepreneurs are afraid to obtain market input on their innovation due to their concern that the idea will be stolen and produced by someone else. Although this is indeed possible, since it rarely occurs it is much more important to assume any risks involved and interact with consumers obtaining valuable feedback throughout the new venture creation process. Similarly, smaller companies tend to have more direct interface with their customer s and potential customers than larger ones. This, in part, reflects the organizational structure and size. Small firms place more emphasis on their relationship with their customers, particularly when only a few customers account for 80 percent or more of their sales, which is frequently the case (Burns 45-46). Steve Jobs explains his life philosophy as: "too many obstacles come up in front of "ideas" that kill progress, perseverance/passion is the bridge that overcomes obstacles and brings ideas to life" (Perseverance = Entrepreneurship 2007). Great enthusiasm and energy of Gates and Jobs inspire their subordinates to introduce new changes and create innovative solutions. Their power is based on the subordinate's perception of the leader as some one who is competent and who has some special knowledge and expertise in a given area. The examples of Jobs and Gates show that entrepreneurship is usually based on customer orientation - the customer should be the focal point. Entrepreneurship has a "deal" mentality, the deal being a central factor in conceiving and developing a new venture for the entrepreneur and closing a sale for the marketing manager. Entrepreneurship involves the

If you were given a million dollars to spend how would you spend it Essay

If you were given a million dollars to spend how would you spend it you cannot use it for yourself family members or friends - Essay Example microwaves and ovens and would stock each kitchen with a basic service for four people, a pot, pan and casserole dish and silverware – all of it color coordinated and each apartment different. I would also furnish each apartment with at least one bed and linens, a couch, a table and a chair and make sure there are decent coverings on the windows for privacy. Each bathroom would have at least two sets of towels – washcloth, hand towel and bath towel – and be supplied with soap, shampoo and conditioner. On the property, I would also install a Laundromat where the washers and dryers are free to operate and each apartment would be provided with the necessary cleaning supplies to keep everything nice. I would also hire landscapers to come in and make sure the grounds looked decent. Once everything was in place, I would go down to the local food kitchen and talk with the people that work there to find out more about the homeless people that they feed. I would be careful in my selection, but I would select several homeless people who have fallen on hard times or who seem likely to be able to pull themselves out of homelessness if they were just given a stress-free month or two to get their heads together. I would take them shopping at the discount stores like Goodwill to make sure they had decent clothes to wear and food to eat and then give them one of my apartments to live in while they got themselves a new job and worked to find their own home somewhere else so that I can help another homeless person. I would ask these people who have made it out to come back and help at the complex by teaching previously homeless people how to keep things clean, help with job training, help me find jobs for people based on their skills and abilities, etc. Any extra money I h ad left over would be spent trying to encourage professionals to come in and work with my people to get them off of drugs, overcome handicaps or take care of other

Marketing Principles and Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Marketing Principles and Practice - Essay Example The company satisfies customers and gives back to the community and the environment. Also, Starbucks persists to be profitable and it is expected to do well at least in the near future. They live by a strict, slow growth policy completely dominating a market before setting its sights further abroad. This strategy has gained them the advantage of being one of the fastest growing companies in the country amidst rivals trying to compete in the market. The strategy for Starbucks is formulated based on the visions of Shultz which aims to reinforce the caring, philanthropic image of the corporation show concern for its employees and society. These values today make Starbucks a leading organization in the country. Starbucks’ core identity is the business that it does i.e. Selling Coffee. It is basically known for its fine blended premium coffee and coffee related products. This image is actually discouraging for non-coffee drinkers since they would not go to Starbucks. However by developing new and exciting products, it aims to diversify its product range to juices and other edibles to widen its customer base. The company was started by three Seattle entrepreneurs in 1971 selling of whole bean coffee in one Seattle store. A marketer, Howard Schultz, was hired to be the manager of retail and marketing who brought new ideas to the owners, but was turned down. Schultz in turn opened his own coffee bar in 1986 based on Italian coffee cafes, selling brewed Starbucks coffee. By 1987, Schultz had expanded to three coffee bars and bought Starbucks from the original owners for $4 million. His intention for the company was to grow slowly with a very solid foundation. He wanted to create a top-quality management team which he did by buying off top executives from other well-known corporations. The company suffered losses for the first two years, but Schultz stood his ground and did not surrender his long term integrity and

Strategic Human Resource Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Strategic Human Resource Development - Essay Example However, there are areas of significant importance - like training - that have been excluded from the control of Personnel Department and are organized into separate units within the organization. Due to the above phenomenon as well as to the delays in the firm's development - which have been caused by the dysfunction of the Personnel Department - the examination and the evaluation of the role of the latter has been considered as necessary especially given the extremely competitive conditions that characterize the UK market. Current Personnel Function of Highway Stores Ltd is based in the firm's head office in Midlands. Furthermore, the specific department comprises a Personnel Manager, a Personnel Officer and 3 Personnel Administrators. The main duties of the staff include the control of all issues related with the firm's human resource management except the payroll sector which has been incorporated in the Finance Department. The Personnel Function reports directly to the Legal Director. Another significant problem is created by the fact that there is not a specific provision for the training of the head offices' personnel (training programs as designed and developed by the Training function involves only the employees of the store network). On the other han On the other hand, the Personnel function has not proceeded to the design and implementation of a specific problem-solving procedure but there is a standard internal policy that whenever a problem arises, a guidance is issued. The absence of control over the training procedure as well as the failure of designing and applying an effective personnel policy can be considered as major problems for the Personnel function. Moreover, the lack of appropriate qualifications of the Personnel staff can be viewed as a severe disadvantage of the specific department while due to this fact; most of the problems arising in the human resources field have to be faced by the only qualified person of the department, its Manager. It's for this reason that Personnel Manager is not available for his managers whenever his intervention is requested by the Personnel staff. At a next level, a major weakness of the Personnel function is the procedure related with the sickness of employees. The Personnel function keeps records on employees including health certificates as well as notices on the employees' long term absence of work (six weeks or more) due to sickness. In this way, the department is not informed for the employees' short or long term absence of the work (except the above mentioned case) with all the consequences that this fact can have for the effectiveness of the firm's human resource management. Another problem involves the extension of the role of the Personnel function is the recruitment process. The specific process is designed and implemented by the Managing Director, while the responsibility for the recruitment of new staff belongs to Area managers. It should also be noticed here that

Barrack Obama’s Campaign Speech Essay Example for Free

Barrack Obama’s Campaign Speech Essay Communication can be defined as the act/art of exchanging/transmission of thoughts or information by the means of speech, signs, written means and the behavior. It was the occasion of the America’s Presidential candidates Campaign when the Illinois Senator Barrack Hussein Obama delivered the speech announcing his will of seeking the democratic nomination for presidency in 2008. It was on Saturday evening (19. 06GMT) of February 10th 2007 on the Venue of Springfield, when the Senator Barrack Obama now the Elect president of United States of America delivered the persuasive speech used on this focus paper. In this Speech it excellently exploits the elements of speech. First, The candidate Senator Obama by that time was very prepared for the occasion against the deliverance of the amazing speech towards the audience. His introduction of the speech appreciates all the audience present and recognizes their vital role they do play for that occasion. For instances He starts by thanking all the people for their coming and gives the reasons why the occasion was very important to every individual. His introduction captures the attention of the audience giving time to deliver his message. Part of introduction was â€Å"†¦it’s humbling but in my heart I know you didn’t come here just for me, you came here because you believe in what this country can be. † Secondly there is use ‘of being yourself ’ while giving the speech. The Senator gives personal and professional examples and life history precisely, possibly helping him to gain support to emphasize his own points of the campaign. The self-example messages matches with the destined purposes of the Campaign. Thirdly, Obama stayed relaxed throughout the speech delivery session, very composed and maximal prepared for the outcome. He remained focused on passing the message. He too employed other means of speech presentation such as movement/ walking, gestures. In addition, the Senator used the Natural humor and avoided depicting/ pinpointing an individual from the Audience and he didn’t over do it thus maintaining the audience on move of the speech. The other element that I figure was the Body plans and hand positions. I keenly observed the movement and gestures of the Senator. He moved within the three positions – the right, the center and the left- and the hand position was well managed and maintained throughout the session. He didn’t hide behind the lectern and he excellently maintained the eye contact with the audience throughout the speech session. Lastly of the elements of speech, the Senator was very keen and well informed about every detailed he presented. He used the environmental reference that surrounded the Venue appropriately on his speech. He understands what is the past, currently and the future happening of the immediate ground. He keenly observes the audience to an extent of identifying some schoolmates but he didn’t mention their names. â€Å"†¦friends that I see in the audience. †. Speech Accomplishment: The speech is accomplishing the real mission of the Senator while being elected as the president of United States of America. He explains out what he will accomplish for the country when he will be in power. He gives new hope the people of America; to believe that ‘yes he can’ bring peace where there is war, bring hope where there is despair, reach what is more possible and build a more perfect union. The Senator aspires to establish convergence place where the farmers, teachers, students, businessmen, laborers, young and the aged, male and female, rich and the poor’s clamoring can be heard. The speech intends to accomplish the enlightenment of the US people the existence of presumptuousness in the present government calling for the change, in the faces of the depressed he will increase the employment opportunities in order to lift the millions out of poverty, Welcome the immigrants to the shores of America and experience justice and righteousness around the globe. The Senator contemplates the currently status of the US and around the globe and promises to accomplish missions such as to quench the anxiety of the feel of rising health care costs and the illusions of the stagnant wages, to bring the war in Iraq to an end by bringing the troops back home by march next year and give Sunni and Shia to resolve the problem and bring out peace, minimize oil dependency that is threatening America’s future, instill an ethic achievements in children by setting high standards of learning providing the resources for them to succeed, recruiting the new army of teachers and giving them the batter pay and more support for the exchange of accountability, making colleges affordable and investing in the scientific researches, to reshape the economy, strengthen the communities, to cut bureaucracy by use of technology, free America from the Tyranny Oil, solve the crisis of global warming by innovation and by capping the greenhouse gases, give incentives for the businesses, and destroying the deadliest unguarded weapons. The Speech was a persuasive, since it is persuading the people of America to elect the Senator as the President of America by voting for him in the year 2008. It was evidenced in his speech as persuasive where he says â€Å" †¦If you will join me in this improbable quest, if you feel destiny calling, and see as I see, a future of endless possibility stretching before us, if you sense as I sense, that the time is now to shake of our slumber, and slough off our fear, and make good on the debt we owe the past and the future generations, then I am ready to take up the cause, and match with you and work with you to finish the work that needs to be done. † The main aim of the speech was to persuade for votes that resulted to the delivery of the speech. But on the process he enlightens the people the critically analyze and keenly make judgment for the best next US president. I can also say it is informative to some extent that it elaborates the incidences that have been taking place and the others that are likely to take place in the United States of America. Audience’s reaction towards the speech was very applauding during the speech presentation and indeed the audience was very pleased with the amazing speech, contented that Obama can make out to be the best candidate to be elected and very disappointed with the previous disguised government. The speech disclosed the factual facts to the audience, which was the quenching of the long thirst, the beginning of the new hope and the change on which the Americans can believe in. At some points the multitude nodded their heads as a sign of concession/ agreement to what was spoken, and at some point the audience was pity as a sign of how sympathetic and pathetic the situation was in as per that time. The pattern of speech was sequential, topical and spatial. The speech was sequential since it has the introduction, the body and the conclusion as the structure of the speech. Obama welcoming the audience, he presents his speech (The body) where he factually speaks of what he should do when he will be in power, he identifies what to change and or improve, what to innovate and implement, what changes he is able to bring, what was the defects the previous government, and finally he give out his conclusion of expecting the people of America to vote for him if they want the change they can believe in. The speech was also topical since Obama Generally emphasizes on the Change that that Americans can Believe in. He bases his own speech on change and frequently mentions change throughout his speech. Despite of having other minor topics such as speaking about education, the economy, war, resources and the political history his main topic was about change. To some extent but not very, the speech was descriptive. It entails what to be done, how, when and by whom. Obama described in his speech for instance that the only source for change in America is people, the only peace in war at Iraq lies between Sunn and Shia, the only way to prosper in future is by doing the present that needs to be done. Also Obama gave the vivid description on how to solve some of the long-lasting problems in America. For instance the problem of global warming can be solved by innovations that can tap the greenhouse gases, creating more job opportunities, investments can solve the problem of poverty, practice of justice and establishment of converges to listen the clamoring of each and every one in the US. In conclusion, Communication is the transmission of information from one person to another. The occasion of the speech was during the campaign of the Presidential candidate of America on Democratic Party at Springfield. The utilized elements of speech were such as being prepared for the speech presentation, being yourself when representing speech, being composed and contented when delivering speech, body plan and hands position, gestures and movements. Accomplishment of the speech was to convince the audience to vote for Him/ Change. The type of speech was persuasive as he persuades for the votes, the reactions of the audience was a sign of relieve or being relieved if Obama was to be the president and indeed he became. Finally the pattern of the speech is Sequential, topical and somehow spatial. References: 1. Public Speaking an Audience-Centered Approach By Steven A. Beebe and Susan J. Beebe. (2008) 2. http://www. guardian. co. uk/world/2007/feb/10/barackobama. 3. http://www. ljlseminars. com/elements. htm. 4. Organization Pattern Of Speech By Osborn (2000).

Types of Traditional Chinese Dance

Types of Traditional Chinese Dance Dance is one of the oldest art of humankind, and expresses the feelings and thought of art through rhythmic, refined and organized human movements. China has one of the oldest and continuous cultures in the world, with over 5,000 years of recorded history. Dance is an inseparable part of the Chinese history. With traditional dancing in China dating back to the Zhou Dynasty, numerous transformations have befallen the practice both positively and negatively. After several dynasties, the Tang Dynasty has marked the peak of the practice with thousands of singers and artist coming up with more than sixty compositions outdoing the recorded figure at the time. However, with the onset of the foot binding custom, women dancers were restricted in their movements, and this led to the downfall of the dancing traditions. Also, at the time, social values and morals that limited the dancing of women were put in place further worsening the tradition. The Song Dynasty as the name suggests revived the tradition and to date has been through multiple evolutionary stages (Van Zile 54-55). Due to the long history of China and many minorities, there exist many different kinds of traditional dances in China, and have been grouped into three: classical dance, folk dance, and opera dance. Classical Dance Chinese classical dance has a very long history. Originated in ancient China, broad and profound, it combines a lot of martial arts, opera in the action and shape, with particular emphasis on the role of the eyes in the show. It emphasizes the coordination of breathing, full of rhythm and sense of style, unique oriental Hardness, and beauty of the dance, intoxicated. Chinese classical dance mainly includes body rhyme, shenfa, and skill. The rhyme is the connotation of Chinese classical dance, the charm of each dance is different, two people jump the same action, and the appeal is different. Shenfa is the dance and action. Rooted in the traditional Chinese culture fertile soil classical dance is much stressed that both shape and spirit, physical and mental integration, internal and external unity, the body rhyme. Charm is the soul of Chinese classical dance. God in the shape of the outside, to God collar shape, to form the gods, the feelings of the mood made the actual meaning of the body rhyme. In ancient times, classical dance belonged to court dance. The court had a dedicated dance team for the emperor. Most of the classical Chinese dance music using Chinese different folk musical instruments, such as guzheng, erhu, pipa and so on. Chinese classical dance clothing antique, according to the specific requirements of the dance also have their characteristics, most of the Han and Tang Dynasties dance traditional Chinese dress. The classical dance is characterized by the unique body movements, the intimate relationship between the body motion and the inner feelings of the dancer, and its utilization of only natural body strength and muscles. The body movements associated with the classical dancing combined with different facial expressions express different inner feelings articulately without confusion to the audience. These feelings could be love, peace, joy, anger, and disappointment among others. Also, it is the internalization of these feeling that guides the motions and movements of the dancer who in turn does not require greater than the standard muscle power obtained through various daily activities to perform the dance. Unlike in many other dances, the classical dance does not require the dancers to have built their muscles. The flip move obtained from martial arts is the most common classical dance move with almost all performers incorporating it in their dance regularly. Folk Dance Folk dance is probably the oldest of the Chinese dancing culture having been created by the fathers of long gone days in line with the different belief of the day then. Folk songs were mainly ritualistic and geared towards receiving favors from the supernatural which would have included successful hunting expeditions, good farm harvests, and are dated to as early as the fourth millennium BC from archaeological evidence recorded of hunting art scribbled on a pot. Folk dances differ in the different ethnic groups and often depict the groups religious, social and cultural customs. Performers are clothed in colorful, choreographed costumes, and the dances though different from ethnic group to the other also show some similarities. Jealousy, forgiveness, love and communal unity are some of the shared themes and play a significant role in strengthening the bond between the community members. Today, folk dances still exist and have paved its way to the Chinese formal theater. However, the j ourney has been long and has seen the transition of the dance. War and struggle for survival nearly saw its end but was revived soon after. There are three popular folk dances that have stood the test of time; lion dance, the court dance, and the dragon dance. Lion Dance The lion dance is accredited the most popular of all the folk dances. It is based on the perception of the male lion among the Chinese. In the North, the dance is performed in red and orange costumes and is full of the ferocity and agility showed by the animal. Its mostly done by acrobats. In the south, on the contrary, the dance is performed in no particular color and does not involve acrobats. Its meant to show the role of the animal which is to guard (Hays). The Court Dance This dance involves several dances all falling under the same. The common are the Prince Qins Cavalry dance performed to celebrate the imperial army.It passed a call to courage and preparedness for battle and involved a huge number of actors. Nichang Yuyi was another court dance inspired by the Tang Dynastys emperor from visions encountered in a dream he had and turned out to be an excellent piece (Jung-rock 17-55). Dragon Dance The dragon and lion dance to date are still the primary performances in any festivity among the Chinese. The Dragon symbolizes wisdom, dignity, and power. The dancers animate the huge long creature, and their number is dependent on the size of the mock dragon. Fire might also be incorporate in the dance to bring out the animals fierce breath effect on the audience (Hays). Opera Dance Just like the other dances, the opera dance can be traced to have begun long ago in China. It attained its maturity later in the Song dynasty and is characterized by the incorporation of various styles including martial arts, songs, literary art, and acrobatics all in one. The performers of the dance have their faces painted in different colors bearing different meanings to show the characters emotions, fate, and role. For example, the color white is painted on villain characters depicting their credulity, evil and craftiness. Green and red represent impulsiveness and bravery respectively. Chinese opera is categorized into several branches with the main difference being due to location variation. They include Cantonese opera, Beijing opera, kunqu Opera, Shaoxing opera and Lvju opera. Today, this dance is not as common as other dances and is only staged on the formal opera house and in some festivities but not a primary dance. The Chinese dances are a very broad form of representing, conveying and preserving their culture. Within the three most important categories of the dance, there exist several subcategories, and they differ within different ethnic groups. Performances of the dances follow different styles including acrobats and martial arts with the characters dressed in costumes to match the dance. Over the past, these dances have played a significant role not only preserving the culture but also preaching peace and unity among the communities. With time, the dances have transformed and may not portray the rich culture that was passed through generations but still hold meaning to the people. However, the communities should strive to ensure the continuity band originality of the dances.

Life in Colors :: essays research papers

How do colors depict lifestyles? I use colors in every part of life. Color is described as a property that surfaces have when light falls on them and is reflected or absorbed. Colors are the basic way that I describe my life. The colors blue, silver, and gold represent a favorite color, an event and or extracurricular activity, and the future that will be committed to after high school. The color blue which represents the time from when I came into this world up to the years before high school. The color blue started the first day of kindergarten when the teacher said lets go over our colors. As she went through them and then said, â€Å"Well, let’s use your favorite color from the one’s we have just gone over.† Of course, the color that went in my hand was the color blue. A few years down the road when I started to pick out clothes, the color blue was in every item that I bought. And to this day the color blue has been my color of choice as long as I can remember. It will always be that color blue that will be in my fancy wardrobe as long as I live. Silver as a dime, nickel, or quarter is the color that makes up the high school years since starting in the ninth grade. Silver is the color of the star on the uniform for the brigade which I serve proudly. The color silver did not become appealing to me until that night when we (the band) were in Statesboro, Georgia, at the first competition, and we (the band) marched out on the field for our performance and the crowd went crazy. That night when the awards were announced and we came in second out of twenty-two bands, that color silver was the most awesome color ever. Then, we came home and the next weekend we went to Palatka, Florida, and did the same placement. The next year came around, same results. Then it was my junior year and a moment that will never be forgotten. We left on Saturday morning around 9:00 am for Inverness, Florida, and performed the preliminary show at 1:15 pm. The scores came in and that color silver became even more meaningful: we were in first place. That ni ght around 9:30 pm, we entered the field for finals competition. We finished the show, the hats of the directors came off their heads, and the crowd went wild.

to thine own self be true: The Wise Polonius of Hamlet :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

The Wise Polonius of Hamlet      Ã‚  Ã‚   In Shakespeare’s tragedy Hamlet there is one character, besides the protagonist, who is very quotable because of the wisdom of his comments. This is the father of Laertes and Ophelia, namely Polonius. He is the subject of this essay. In â€Å"Shakespeare’s Nomenclature† Harry Levin discusses the name â€Å"Polonius’ and other names from the play: The Latinism Polonius reminds us of the Polish question, moot throughout Hamlet, where the onomastics are polyglot. If Marcellus and Claudius are Latin, Bernardo and Horatio are Italian, and Fortinbras signifies â€Å"strong arm† not in Norwegian but French (fort-en-bras). On the other hand, the son of Polonius has a Greek godfather in Laertes, the father of Odysseus. The Scandinavian names, at least the Germanic Gertrude, stand out because they are in the minority. (79) What’s in a name like Polonius? Here is a literary critic who respects his advice: Rebecca West in â€Å"A Court and World Infected by the Disease of Corruption† talks about Polonius: Polonius is interesting because he was a cunning old intriguer who, like an iceberg, only showed one-eighth of himself above the surface. The innocuous sort of worldly wisdom that rolled off his tongue in butter balls was a very small part of what he knew. It has been insufficiently noted that Shakespeare would never have held up the action in order that Polonius should give his son advice as to how to conduct himself abroad, unless the scene helped him to develop his theme. But â€Å"This above all – to thine own self be true; And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man† (I.3.78), has considerable . . . value when it is spoken by an old gentleman who is presently going to instruct a servant to spy on his son, and to profess great anxiety about his daughter’s morals, when plainly he needed to send her away into the country if he really wanted her to retain any [. . .].(108) Polonius’ entry into the play occurs at the social get-together of the royal court. Claudius has already been crowned; Queen Gertrude is there; Hamlet is present in the black clothes of mourning. When Laertes approaches Claudius to give his farewell before returning to school, the king asks Polonius: â€Å"Have you your father's leave? What says Polonius?† And the father dutifully answers:

Investigate the Cell Sap Concentration of Solute in a Potato Chip using

Investigate the Cell Sap Concentration of Solute in a Potato Chip using Osmosis Aim The aim of the experiment is to investigate the cell sap concentration of solute in a potato chip using osmosis and produce a figure informed by the investigation as to what this is. Background Information A factor that effects how much water moves into a cell is the solute concentration within it. Water moves in and out of cells by diffusion, this diffusion is called osmosis. Osmosis is the diffusion of water molecules from a place with a high water potential or high concentration of water to a low water potential or low concentration of water. If a solution has a high water potential this means it is weak or dilute solution so it only has a small solute (e.g. glucose) concentration. However, if a solution has a low water potential it is a strong more concentrated solution because it has a much higher solute concentration. Osmosis is the diffusion of water in these solutions from a high water potential to a low water potential or in terms of solute concentrations, from a dilute solution to a more concentrated solution as a more concentrated solution would have a much lower water potential that a dilute one. The water passes through what is known as a partially permeable membrane, which basically is what separates living cells from their surrounding. The membrane is called partially permeable and not fully permeable because it only allows water to diffuse through it and not solute. The cell wall is an example of a fully permeable membrane because it allows water and solute to pass through it, it does not block any of these molecules. The diffusion of water molecules by osmosis always flows down a water potential gradient, which basically means from a high to a low water potential this is how the water moves up through a plant in the xylem vessels, once one cell is full of water, the water will move all at once to the next cell. The water is moving from a place of high concentration to a place of low concentration, like the valves in our hearts stop our blood flowing back the other way, the cell membrane of the cell make sure the water only flows up the plant, this is known as the transpiration stream. When water is lost through the stomata this leaves empty cells with low water potentials therefore the water is always moving up the plant from higher water potentials to ... ...nt parts of the potato as they may have different solute concentration and it may be discovered that the point of no net movement will be different in different areas of the potato or even in different areas of the same chip. The smaller the potato slices from the different areas of the potato then the more detailed an analysis could be of which part of the potato has the highest/lowest % solute concentration. The experiment could be done again using smaller concentrations, say with a range of 5%-7% and at intervals of 0.25% this way a figure for the actual % solute concentration in a potato chip could be pin-pointed to a much more exact figure. Finally an experiment could be done using different types of potatoes to decipher whether the type of potato depends on the % solute concentration it has. The trends could be taken for many types of potato and then an average taken of them to give a figure which most represents the solute concentrations in many potatoes. This figure could then be compared or even investigated at the same time as an experiment to see if there were different solute concentrations in different parts of the potato and the links, if any, between them analysed.

Comparison of Indirect Cost Multipliers for Vehicle Manufacturing Essay

Disclaimer This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor The University of Chicago, nor any of their employees or officers, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of document authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof, Argonne National Laboratory, or The University of Chicago. COMPARISON OF INDIRECT COST MULTIPLIERS FOR VEHICLE MANUFACTURING INTRODUCTION In the process of manufacturing and selling vehicles, a manufacturer incurs certain costs. Among these costs are those incurred directly as a part of manufacturing operations and those incurred indirectly in the processes of manufacturing and selling. The indirect costs may be productionrelated, such as R&D and engineering; business-related, such as corporate staff salaries and pensions; or retail-sales-related, such as dealer support and marketing. These indirect costs are recovered by allocating them to each vehicle. Under a stable, high-volume production process, the allocation of these indirect costs can be approximated as multipliers (or factors) applied to the direct cost of manufacturing. A manufacturer usually allocates indirect costs to finished vehicles according to a corporation-specific pricing strategy. Because the volumes of sales and production vary widely by model within a corporation, the internal corporate percent allocation of various accounting categories (such as profit or corporate overhead) can vary widely among individual models. Approaches also vary across corporations. For our purposes, an average value is constructed, by means of a generic representative method, for vehicle models produced at high volume. To accomplish this, staff at Argonne National Laboratory’s (ANL’s) Center for Transportation Research analyzed the conventional vehicle cost structure and developed indirect cost multipliers for passenger vehicles. This memorandum summarizes the results of an effort to compare and put on a common basis the cost multipliers used in ANL’s electric and hybrid electric vehicle cost estimation procedures with those resulting from two other methodologies. One of the two compared methodologies is derived from a 1996 presentation by Dr. Chris Borroni-Bird of Chrysler Corporation, the other is by Energy and Environmental Analysis, Inc. (EEA), as described in a 1995 report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), Congress of the United States. The cost multipliers are used for scaling the component costs to retail prices. ANL METHODOLOGY The ANL methodology described here is based on an analysis concerned with electric vehicle production and operating costs (Cuenca et al. 2000; Vyas et al. 1998). The analysis evaluated the cost structure for conventional vehicle manufacturing and retailing and assigned shares of the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) to various cost contributors. Multipliers developed from the ANL methodology are applied to the manufacturing cost of an individual component in order to scale the component cost to the retail price. Several cost contributors are included in the methodology, as summarized in Table 1. Some of the vehicle components for electric and hybrid electric vehicles would be procured from outside suppliers. This assumption is applied to electric drive components, excluding the battery; the vehicle manufacturer would produce the rest. Thus, two cost multipliers, one for the components manufactured internally and the other for outsourced components, are necessary to estimate the price of electric and hybrid electric vehicles. Outside suppliers would incur some of the costs normally borne by the vehicle manufacturer. In the ANL methodology, we assume that the costs of â€Å"Warranty,† â€Å"R&D/Engineering,† and â€Å"Depreciation and Amortization† are borne by the Page 1 suppliers of outsourced components. The outside suppliers would include these costs in their prices. The following two cost multipliers are computed by using â€Å"Cost of Manufacture† as the base: Cost multiplier for components manufactured internally = 100/50 = 2. 00. Cost multiplier for outsourced components = 100/(50 + 6. 5 + 5. 5 + 5) = 1. 50. Table 1 Contributors to Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price in ANL Methodology Cost Category Cost Contributor Relative to Share of Cost of Vehicle MSRP Manufacturing (%) Vehicle Manufacturing Cost of Manufacture 1. 00 50. 0 Production Overhead Warranty 0. 10 5. 0 R&D/Engineering 0. 13 6. 5 Depreciation and Amortization 0. 11 5. 5 Corporate Overhead Corporate Overhead, Retirement and 0. 14 7. 0 Health Selling Distribution, Marketing, Dealer 0. 47 23. 5 Support, and Dealer Discount Sum of Costs 1. 95 97. 5 Profit Profit 0. 05 2. 5 Total Contribution to 2. 00 100. 0 MSRP METHODOLOGY DERIVED FROM BORRONI-BIRD PRESENTATION In his presentation, entitled â€Å"Automotive Fuel Cell Requirements,† at the 1996 Automotive Technology Development Customers’ Coordination Meeting, Borroni-Bird included charts on the â€Å"Typical American Automobile: Price/Cost Breakdown. † The charts provided a graphical breakdown of vehicle price, showing cost contributors and profit. We used the charts to arrive at percentage shares of vehicle price by various contributors. Table 2 shows the resulting allocation. Page 2 Table 2 Price/Cost Breakdown Based on Borroni-Bird Presentation Cost Category Cost Contributor a Vehicle Manufacturing Fixed Cost Selling Sum of Costs Profit MSRP a Material Cost Assembly Labor and Other Manufacturing a Costs Transportation/Warranty Amortization and Depreciation, Engineering R&D, Pension and Health Care, Advertising, and Overhead Price Discounts Dealer Markup Automobile Profit. Relative to Cost of Vehicle Manufacturing 0. 87 0. 13 0. 09 0. 44 Share of MSRP (%) 42. 5 6. 5 4. 5 21. 5 0. 10 0. 36 1. 99 0. 06 2. 05 5. 0 17. 5 97. 5 2. 5 100. 0 These two contributors are scaled to sum to 1 in the third column, as in Table 1. In his presentation, Borroni-Bird did not evaluate the treatment of in-house or outsourced components. His methodology does not lend itself to easy computation of cost multipliers comparable with those in the ANL methodology, unless we make a few assumptions. We have assumed that â€Å"Material Cost,† taken together with â€Å"Assembly Labor and Other Manufacturing Costs,† would form the â€Å"Vehicle Manufacturing† base for the in-house components. The costs of â€Å"Transportation/Warranty,† â€Å"Amortization and Depreciation,† and â€Å"Engineering R&D† would be borne by the suppliers of outsourced components. However, â€Å"Amortization and Depreciation† and â€Å"Engineering R&D† costs were merged with â€Å"Pension and Health Care,† â€Å"Advertising,† and â€Å"Overhead† costs by Borroni-Bird. We assumed that half of the costs under this category would be borne by the suppliers of outsourced components. Our assumptions led to the following cost multipliers: Cost multiplier for components manufactured internally = 100/(42. 5 + 6. 5) = 2. 05. Cost multiplier for outsourced components = 100/(42. 5 + 6. 5 + 4. 5 + 10. 75) = 1. 56. These cost multipliers are very similar to those computed with the ANL methodology. Comparison of ANL and Borroni-Bird Methodologies The information from Tables 1 and 2 is shown in terms of cost categories in Table 3. Both methodologies use vehicle manufacturing cost as the base and add other costs to it. The share of MSRP attributable to â€Å"Vehicle Manufacturing† is 50% in the ANL methodology, compared with 49% in the Borroni-Bird Methodology. Borroni-Bird combined several cost contributors under â€Å"Fixed Cost. † These contributors include (see Table 2) â€Å"Amortization and Depreciation,† â€Å"Engineering R&D,† â€Å"Pension and Health Care,† â€Å"Advertising,† and â€Å"Overhead. † Except for the inclusion of â€Å"Advertising,† â€Å"Production Overhead† and â€Å"Corporate Overhead† in the ANL methodology can be combined to form an equivalent category. ANL’s total of 24% by production Page 3 and corporate overheads is slightly lower than the total of 26% by Borroni-Bird. The ANL category of â€Å"Selling,† which includes â€Å"Distribution,† â€Å"Marketing,† â€Å"Dealer Support,† and â€Å"Dealer Discount,† is broader than that of â€Å"Price Discounts† and â€Å"Dealer Markup† specified by BorroniBird, and this category’s contribution is understandably slightly higher in the ANL methodology. The share of MSRP by â€Å"Profit† is the same in both methodologies. The absolute differences, computed as ANL value minus Borroni-Bird value, are 1% for â€Å"Vehicle Manufacturing,† –2% for â€Å"Fixed Cost,† and 1% for â€Å"Selling† cost. Table 3 Comparison of Vehicle Price/Cost Allocation by ANL and Borroni-Bird Methodologies ANL Methodology Cost Contributor or Category Vehicle Manufacturing Production Overhead Corporate Overhead Selling Sum of Costs Profit MSRP EEA METHODOLOGY The methodology of Energy and Environmental Analysis is summarized in the OTA report OTAETI-638, entitled Advanced Automotive Technology: Visions of a Super-Efficient Family Car, published in September 1995. The values of some cost contributors are not listed in the report. Moreover, depreciation, amortization, and tooling expenses are assumed to be case-specific and therefore must be computed for each case. In order to make the EEA and ANL methodologies comparable, some assumptions were necessary. These assumptions are described in the summary below. The EEA cost equations can be simplified as follows: Cost of Manufacture = Division Cost ? [1 + Division Overhead] Manufacturer Cost = [Cost of Manufacture + Assembly Labor + Assembly Overhead] ? [1 + Manufacturing Overhead + Manufacturing Profit] + Engineering Expense + Tooling Expense + Facilities Expense Retail Price Equivalent = Manufacturer Cost ? [1 + Dealer Margin] Borroni-Bird Methodology Share of Cost Contributor or Category Share of MSRP (%) MSRP (%) 50. 0 Vehicle Manufacturing 49. 0 17. 0 Fixed Cost 26. 0 7. 0 23. 5 Selling 22. 5 97. 5 Sum of Costs 97. 5 2. 5 Automobile Profit 2. 5 100. 0 MSRP 100. 0 Page 4 The report lists the following values for overhead, profit, and dealer margin: Division Overhead = Supplier Overhead = 0. 20 (We assume that division and supplier overheads are equal; only the supplier overhead is given in the report. ) Manufacturing Overhead = 0. 25 Manufacturing Profit = 0. 20 Dealer Margin = 0. 25 Because the documentation in the OTA report does not provide values for â€Å"Assembly Labor,† â€Å"Assembly Overhead,† â€Å"Engineering Expense,† â€Å"Tooling Expense,† and â€Å"Facilities Expense,† cost multipliers cannot be computed directly from these data. The â€Å"Assembly Labor† and â€Å"Assembly Overhead† share of MSRP is 6. 5% in Borroni-Bird’s presentation. The engineering, tooling, and facilities expenses can be taken as the sum of â€Å"R&D/Engineering† and â€Å"Depreciation and Amortization† from the ANL methodology, at 12% of the MSRP. In deriving the division cost and price relationship below, we use the term Retail Price Equivalent (RPE) from the OTA report instead of MSRP. The RPE can be computed as follows: RPE = = = {[Division Cost ? 1. 2 + 0. 065 RPE] ? 1. 45 + 0. 12 RPE} ? 1. 25 Division Cost ? 2. 175 + 0. 268 RPE Division Cost ? 2. 175/(1 – 0. 268) = Division Cost ? 2. 97 Putting ANL and EEA Methodologies on a Common Basis As it was described in the OTA report, the EEA methodology did not provide enough data to compute the cost multipliers. We assumed some cost shares to be the same between the EEA, Borroni-Bird, and ANL methodologies while developing the above relationship between Division Cost and RPE. The EEA methodology is based on the material and labor costs of a division of the vehicle manufacturer, with other costs added on. The ANL methodology evaluates an assembled vehicle, using the vehicle manufacturing cost as the base cost. The ANL methodology also assigns additional costs to the outsourced components, whereas the treatment of such components is not clear in the EEA methodology. We have attempted to develop a common basis for the ANL and EEA methodologies by assigning shares of the final vehicle price, RPE in the EEA methodology, to individual cost categories similar to those listed in Table 1. Table 4 presents such a summary for the EEA methodology. Three cost contributors, â€Å"Division Cost,† â€Å"Division Overhead,† and â€Å"Assembly Labor and Overhead,† are combined under the â€Å"Vehicle Manufacturing† category. Two cost contributors, â€Å"Manufacturing Overhead† and â€Å"Engineering, Tooling, and Facilities Expenses,† combine to form the â€Å"Overhead† category. The â€Å"Dealer Margin† in the EEA methodology represents a factor applied to all manufacturer costs and profit. We assumed that this factor represents all costs of selling the vehicle. Although the profit is computed at the manufacturing level by EEA, we moved the profit to the bottom of the table to be consistent with prior tables. The cost allocation in Table 4 allows us to compute the in-house components cost multiplier as follows: Cost multiplier for in-house components = 100/(33. 7 + 6. 7 + 6. 5) = 2. 14 Page 5 To compute the cost multiplier for an outsourced component, one more assumption is necessary. In the ANL methodology, we assumed that the supplier will bear the costs of â€Å"Warranty,† â€Å"R&D Engineering,† and â€Å"Depreciation and Amortization. † However, the EEA methodology does not identify the warranty cost separately. We assumed it to be half of â€Å"Manufacturing Overhead† at 5. 05%. This, with the earlier assumption related to â€Å"Engineering, Tooling, and Facilities Expenses,† led to the following computation: Cost multiplier for outsourced components = 100/(33. 7 + 6. 7 + 6. 5 + 5. 05 + 12) = 1. 56. These multipliers, adapted from our extension of theE EA information on vehicle costs, are very close to those derived from the ANL and Borroni-Bird methodologies. Table 4 Contributors to Retail Price Equivalent in EEA Methodology Cost Category Cost Contributor a Vehicle Manufacturing Overhead Selling Sum of Costs Profit Manufacturing Profit Total Contribution to RPE a Division Cost a Division Overhead Assembly Labor and a Overhead Manufacturing Overhead Engineering, Tooling, and Facilities Expenses Dealer Margin Relative to Cost of Vehicle Manufacturing 0. 72 0. 14 0. 14 0. 22 0. 26 0. 49 1. 97 0. 17 2. 14 Share of RPE (%) 33. 7 6. 7 6. 5 10. 1 12. 0 22. 9 91. 9 8. 1 100. 0 These three cost contributors are scaled to sum to 1 in the third column, as in Table 1. Comparison of ANL and EEA Methodologies The information from Tables 1 and 4 is presented in terms of cost categories in Table 5 for easy comparison. The â€Å"Vehicle Manufacturing† cost share is 46. 9% in the EEA methodology, compared with 50% in the ANL methodology. EEA’s RPE share of 22. 1% by overhead is lower than the ANL value of 24%. The cost of selling is 22. 9% in the EEA methodology, which is close to the ANL value of 23. 5%. The largest difference is in the RPE share by profit, which is 8. 1% in the EEA methodology, more than three times the ANL value of 2. 5%. According to Economic Indicators: The Motor Vehicle’s Role in the U. S. Economy (American Automobile Manufacturers Association 1998), the average net income before taxes for the three domestic manufacturers was 3. 9% during 1994-1997. Aside from vehicle sales, this value (3. 9%) includes income from spare parts sales and vehicle financing. Thus, the profit share appears very high in the EEA methodology. The absolute differences – computed as ANL value minus EEA value – are 3. 1% for component/material cost, 1. 9% for overhead, 0. 6% for selling, and –5. 6% for profit. Page 6 Table 5 Comparison of Price Allocation by ANL and EEA Methodologies ANL Methodology Cost Contributor or Category Vehicle Manufacturing Production Overhead Corporate Overhead Selling Sum of Costs Profit MSRP SUMMARY An attempt to put three methodologies for automobile cost allocation on a common basis is presented in this technical memorandum. This comparison was carried out to verify the reasonableness of the cost multipliers used in ANL’s cost models for electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. When put into a common format, by means of certain assumptions, the three approaches yielded the cost multipliers provided in Table 6. Table 6 Summary of Cost Multipliers Computed on a Common Basis Multiplier for In-House Components Outsourced Components ACKNOWLEDGMENT Funding for the analysis presented here was provided by the Planning and Assessment function of the Office of Transportation Technologies of the U. S. Department of Energy, managed by Dr. Philip Patterson. This technical memorandum is produced under U. S. Government contract No. W-31-109-Eng-38. REFERENCES American Automobile Manufacturers Association, 1998, Economic Indicators: The Motor Vehicle’s Role in the U. S. Economy, Detroit, Mich. Borroni-Bird, C. , 1996, â€Å"Automotive Fuel Cell Requirements,† Proceedings of the 1996 Automotive Technology Development Customers’ Coordination Meeting, U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Transportation Technologies, Washington, D. C. ANL 2. 00 1. 50 Borroni-Bird 2. 05 1. 56 EEA 2. 14 1. 56 EEA Methodology Share of Cost Contributor or Category MSRP (%) 50. 0 Vehicle Manufacturing 17. 0 Overhead 7. 0 23. 5 Selling 97. 5 Sum of Costs 2. 5 Profit 100. 0 RPE Share of RPE (%) 46. 9 22. 1 22. 9 91. 9 8. 1 100. 0 Page 7 Cuenca, R. M. , L. L. Gaines, and A. D. Vyas, 2000, Evaluation of Electric Vehicle Production and Operating Costs, Argonne National Laboratory Report ANL/ESD-41, Argonne, Ill. (to be published). Vyas, A. , R. Cuenca, and L. Gaines, 1998, â€Å"An Assessment of Electric Vehicle Life Cycle Costs to Consumers,† Proceedings of the 1998 Total Life Cycle Conference, SAE International Report P339, Warrendale, Penn. , pp. 161-172.