Biography and Profile of Susan Rice

Biography and Profile of Susan Rice Name: Susan Elizabeth Rice Position: Nominated as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations by then President-elect Barack Obama on December 1, 2008 Born: November 17, 1964 in Washington, DC Education: Graduated National Cathedral School in Washington, DC in 1982 Undergraduate: Stanford University, B.A. in History, 1986. Graduate: Rhodes Scholar, New College, Oxford University, M.Phil., 1988 Oxford University, D.Phil. (Ph.D) in International Relations, 1990 Family Background Influences: Susan was born to Emmett J. Rice, Senior VP at the National Bank of Washington and Lois Dickson Rice, Senior VP for Government Affairs at Control Data Corporation. A Fulbright Scholar who served with the Tuskegee Airmen in WWII, Emmett integrated the Berkeley Fire Department as its first black fireman while earning a Ph.D. at the University of California; taught economics at Cornell as the only black assistant professor; and was a governor of the Federal Reserve from 1979-1986. A Radcliffe graduate, Lois was a former VP of the College Board and chaired an advisory council of the National Science Foundation. High School College Years: At the elite private girls school that Rice attended, she was nicknamed Spo (short for Sportin); she played three sports, was student council president and valedictorian. At home, the family entertained distinguished friends such as Madeleine Albright, who would later become the first female Secretary of State. At Stanford, Rice studied hard yet made her mark via political activism. To protest apartheid, she established a fund for alumni gifts with a catch - the funds could only be accessed if the university divested from companies conducting business with South Africa, or if apartheid were abolished. Professional Career: Senior foreign policy adviser to Senator Obama, 2005-08 Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy, Global Economy Development, Brookings Institution, 2002-present Senior adviser for National Security Affairs, Kerry-Edwards campaign, 2004 Managing Director Principal of Intellibridge International, 2001-02 Management consultant, McKinsey Company, 1991-93 Clinton Administration: Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, 1997-2001 Special Assistant to the President Senior Director for African Affairs, National Security Council (NSC), 1995-97 Director for International Organizations Peacekeeping, NSC, 1993-95 Political Career: While working on the presidential campaign of Michael Dukakis, an aide encouraged Rice to consider the National Security Council as a future career path. She began her stint with the NSC in peacekeeping and was soon promoted to senior director for African affairs. When she was named Assistant Secretary of State for Africa by President Bill Clinton at age 32, she became one of the youngest ever to hold that position. Her responsibilities included overseeing the actions of more than 40 nations and 5000 foreign service officials. Her appointment was regarded with skepticism by some US bureaucrats who cited her youth and inexperience; in Africa, concerns over cultural differences and her ability to deal effectively with traditional African male heads of state were raised. Yet Rices skill as a charming but firm negotiator and her unflagging determination have aided her in difficult situations. Even critics acknowledge her strengths; one prominent Africa scholar has called her dynamic, a quick study, and good on her feet. If confirmed as US ambassador, Susan Rice will be the second-youngest ambassador to the UN. Honors Awards: Co-recipient of the White House’s 2000 Samuel Nelson Drew Memorial Award for distinguished contributions to the formation of peaceful, cooperative relationships between states. Awarded the Chatham House-British International Studies Association Prize for the most distinguished doctoral dissertation in the UK in the field of International Relations. Personal Life: Susan Rice married Ian Cameron on September 12, 1992 in Washington, DC; the two met while at Stanford. Cameron is executive producer of ABC Newss This Week with George Stephanopoulos. The couple have two young children. Sources: Berman, Russell. Meet Obamas Tenacious, Take Charge Dr. Rice. NYSun.com, 28 January 2008.Brant, Martha. Into Africa. Stanford Magazine at Stanfordalumni.org, January/February 2000.Brookings Experts: Senior Fellow Susan E. Rice. Brookings.edu, retrieved 1 December 2008.Emmett J. Rice, Education of an Economist: From Fulbright Scholar to the Federal Reserve Board, 1951-1979. University of California Black Alumni Series, transcript of an interview conducted 18 May 1984.Stanford Alumni: Black Community Services Center Hall of Fame. Stanfordalumni.org, retrieved 1 December 2008.Times Topics: Susan E. Rice. NYTimes.com, retrieved 1 December 2008.WEDDINGS; Susan E. Rice, Ian Cameron.  New York Times, 13 September 1992.

Angels Demons Chapter 3235

â€Å"Sorry for the slow flight,† the pilot apologized, emerging from the cockpit. â€Å"Had to trim her back. Noise regulations over populated areas.† Langdon checked his watch. They had been airborne thirty-seven minutes. The pilot popped the outer door. â€Å"Anybody want to tell me what’s going on?† Neither Vittoria nor Langdon responded. â€Å"Fine,† he said, stretching. â€Å"I’ll be in the cockpit with the air-conditioning and my music. Just me and Garth.† The late-afternoon sun blazed outside the hangar. Langdon carried his tweed jacket over his shoulder. Vittoria turned her face skyward and inhaled deeply, as if the sun’s rays somehow transferred to her some mystical replenishing energy. Mediterraneans, Langdon mused, already sweating. â€Å"Little old for cartoons, aren’t you?† Vittoria asked, without opening her eyes. â€Å"I’m sorry?† â€Å"Your wristwatch. I saw it on the plane.† Langdon flushed slightly. He was accustomed to having to defend his timepiece. The collector’s edition Mickey Mouse watch had been a childhood gift from his parents. Despite the contorted foolishness of Mickey’s outstretched arms designating the hour, it was the only watch Langdon had ever worn. Waterproof and glow-in-the-dark, it was perfect for swimming laps or walking unlit college paths at night. When Langdon’s students questioned his fashion sense, he told them he wore Mickey as a daily reminder to stay young at heart. â€Å"It’s six o’clock,† he said. Vittoria nodded, eyes still closed. â€Å"I think our ride’s here.† Langdon heard the distant whine, looked up, and felt a sinking feeling. Approaching from the north was a helicopter, slicing low across the runway. Langdon had been on a helicopter once in the Andean Palpa Valley looking at the Nazca sand drawings and had not enjoyed it one bit. A flying shoebox. After a morning of space plane rides, Langdon had hoped the Vatican would send a car. Apparently not. The chopper slowed overhead, hovered a moment, and dropped toward the runway in front of them. The craft was white and carried a coat of arms emblazoned on the side – two skeleton keys crossing a shield and papal crown. He knew the symbol well. It was the traditional seal of the Vatican – the sacred symbol of the Holy See or â€Å"holy seat† of government, the seat being literally the ancient throne of St. Peter. The Holy Chopper, Langdon groaned, watching the craft land. He’d forgotten the Vatican owned one of these things, used for transporting the Pope to the airport, to meetings, or to his summer palace in Gandolfo. Langdon definitely would have preferred a car. The pilot jumped from the cockpit and strode toward them across the tarmac. Now it was Vittoria who looked uneasy. â€Å"That’s our pilot?† Langdon shared her concern. â€Å"To fly, or not to fly. That is the question.† The pilot looked like he was festooned for a Shakespearean melodrama. His puffy tunic was vertically striped in brilliant blue and gold. He wore matching pantaloons and spats. On his feet were black flats that looked like slippers. On top of it all, he wore a black felt beret. â€Å"Traditional Swiss Guard uniforms,† Langdon explained. â€Å"Designed by Michelangelo himself.† As the man drew closer, Langdon winced. â€Å"I admit, not one of Michelangelo’s better efforts.† Despite the man’s garish attire, Langdon could tell the pilot meant business. He moved toward them with all the rigidity and dignity of a U.S. Marine. Langdon had read many times about the rigorous requirements for becoming one of the elite Swiss Guard. Recruited from one of Switzerland’s four Catholic cantons, applicants had to be Swiss males between nineteen and thirty years old, at least 5 feet 6 inches, trained by the Swiss Army, and unmarried. This imperial corps was envied by world governments as the most allegiant and deadly security force in the world. â€Å"You are from CERN?† the guard asked, arriving before them. His voice was steely. â€Å"Yes, sir,† Langdon replied. â€Å"You made remarkable time,† he said, giving the X-33 a mystified stare. He turned to Vittoria. â€Å"Ma’am, do you have any other clothing?† â€Å"I beg your pardon?† He motioned to her legs. â€Å"Short pants are not permitted inside Vatican City.† Langdon glanced down at Vittoria’s legs and frowned. He had forgotten. Vatican City had a strict ban on visible legs above the knee – both male and female. The regulation was a way of showing respect for the sanctity of God’s city. â€Å"This is all I have,† she said. â€Å"We came in a hurry.† The guard nodded, clearly displeased. He turned next to Langdon. â€Å"Are you carrying any weapons?† Weapons? Langdon thought. I’m not even carrying a change of underwear! He shook his head. The officer crouched at Langdon’s feet and began patting him down, starting at his socks. Trusting guy, Langdon thought. The guard’s strong hands moved up Langdon’s legs, coming uncomfortably close to his groin. Finally they moved up to his chest and shoulders. Apparently content Langdon was clean, the guard turned to Vittoria. He ran his eyes up her legs and torso. Vittoria glared. â€Å"Don’t even think about it.† The guard fixed Vittoria with a gaze clearly intended to intimidate. Vittoria did not flinch. â€Å"What’s that?† the guard said, pointing to a faint square bulge in the front pocket of her shorts. Vittoria removed an ultrathin cell phone. The guard took it, clicked it on, waited for a dial tone, and then, apparently satisfied that it was indeed nothing more than a phone, returned it to her. Vittoria slid it back into her pocket. â€Å"Turn around, please,† the guard said. Vittoria obliged, holding her arms out and rotating a full 360 degrees. The guard carefully studied her. Langdon had already decided that Vittoria’s form-fitting shorts and blouse were not bulging anywhere they shouldn’t have been. Apparently the guard came to the same conclusion. â€Å"Thank you. This way please.† The Swiss Guard chopper churned in neutral as Langdon and Vittoria approached. Vittoria boarded first, like a seasoned pro, barely even stooping as she passed beneath the whirling rotors. Langdon held back a moment. â€Å"No chance of a car?† he yelled, half-joking to the Swiss Guard, who was climbing in the pilot’s seat. The man did not answer. Langdon knew that with Rome’s maniacal drivers, flying was probably safer anyway. He took a deep breath and boarded, stooping cautiously as he passed beneath the spinning rotors. As the guard fired up the engines, Vittoria called out, â€Å"Have you located the canister?† The guard glanced over his shoulder, looking confused. â€Å"The what?† â€Å"The canister. You called CERN about a canister?† The man shrugged. â€Å"No idea what you’re talking about. We’ve been very busy today. My commander told me to pick you up. That’s all I know.† Vittoria gave Langdon an unsettled look. â€Å"Buckle up, please,† the pilot said as the engine revved. Langdon reached for his seat belt and strapped himself in. The tiny fuselage seemed to shrink around him. Then with a roar, the craft shot up and banked sharply north toward Rome. Rome†¦ the caput mundi, where Caesar once ruled, where St. Peter was crucified. The cradle of modern civilization. And at its core†¦ a ticking bomb. 33 Rome from the air is a labyrinth – an indecipherable maze of ancient roadways winding around buildings, fountains, and crumbling ruins. The Vatican chopper stayed low in the sky as it sliced northwest through the permanent smog layer coughed up by the congestion below. Langdon gazed down at the mopeds, sight-seeing buses, and armies of miniature Fiat sedans buzzing around rotaries in all directions. Koyaanisqatsi, he thought, recalling the Hopi term for â€Å"life out of balance.† Vittoria sat in silent determination in the seat beside him. The chopper banked hard. His stomach dropping, Langdon gazed farther into the distance. His eyes found the crumbling ruins of the Roman Coliseum. The Coliseum, Langdon had always thought, was one of history’s greatest ironies. Now a dignified symbol for the rise of human culture and civilization, the stadium had been built to host centuries of barbaric events – hungry lions shredding prisoners, armies of slaves battling to the death, gang rapes of exotic women captured from far-off lands, as well as public beheadings and castrations. It was ironic, Langdon thought, or perhaps fitting, that the Coliseum had served as the architectural blueprint for Harvard’s Soldier Field – the football stadium where the ancient traditions of savagery were reenacted every fall†¦ crazed fans screaming for bloodshed as Harvard battled Yale. As the chopper headed north, Langdon spied the Roman Forum – the heart of pre-Christian Rome. The decaying columns looked like toppled gravestones in a cemetery that had somehow avoided being swallowed by the metropolis surrounding it. To the west the wide basin of the Tiber River wound enormous arcs across the city. Even from the air Langdon could tell the water was deep. The churning currents were brown, filled with silt and foam from heavy rains. â€Å"Straight ahead,† the pilot said, climbing higher. Langdon and Vittoria looked out and saw it. Like a mountain parting the morning fog, the colossal dome rose out of the haze before them: St. Peter’s Basilica. â€Å"Now that,† Langdon said to Vittoria, â€Å"is something Michelangelo got right.† Langdon had never seen St. Peter’s from the air. The marble faà §ade blazed like fire in the afternoon sun. Adorned with 140 statues of saints, martyrs, and angels, the Herculean edifice stretched two football fields wide and a staggering six long. The cavernous interior of the basilica had room for over 60,000 worshipers†¦ over one hundred times the population of Vatican City, the smallest country in the world. Incredibly, though, not even a citadel of this magnitude could dwarf the piazza before it. A sprawling expanse of granite, St. Peter’s Square was a staggering open space in the congestion of Rome, like a classical Central Park. In front of the basilica, bordering the vast oval common, 284 columns swept outward in four concentric arcs of diminishing size†¦ an architectural trompe de l’oiel used to heighten the piazza’s sense of grandeur. As he stared at the magnificent shrine before him, Langdon wondered what St. Peter would think if he were here now. The Saint had died a gruesome death, crucified upside down on this very spot. Now he rested in the most sacred of tombs, buried five stories down, directly beneath the central cupola of the basilica. â€Å"Vatican City,† the pilot said, sounding anything but welcoming. Langdon looked out at the towering stone bastions that loomed ahead – impenetrable fortifications surrounding the complex†¦ a strangely earthly defense for a spiritual world of secrets, power, and mystery. â€Å"Look!† Vittoria said suddenly, grabbing Langdon’s arm. She motioned frantically downward toward St. Peter’s Square directly beneath them. Langdon put his face to the window and looked. â€Å"Over there,† she said, pointing. Langdon looked. The rear of the piazza looked like a parking lot crowded with a dozen or so trailer trucks. Huge satellite dishes pointed skyward from the roof of every truck. The dishes were emblazoned with familiar names: Televisor Europea Video Italia BBC United Press International Langdon felt suddenly confused, wondering if the news of the antimatter had already leaked out. Vittoria seemed suddenly tense. â€Å"Why is the press here? What’s going on?† The pilot turned and gave her an odd look over his shoulder. â€Å"What’s going on? You don’t know?† â€Å"No,† she fired back, her accent husky and strong. â€Å"Il Conclavo,† he said. â€Å"It is to be sealed in about an hour. The whole world is watching.† Il Conclavo. The word rang a long moment in Langdon’s ears before dropping like a brick to the pit of his stomach. Il Conclavo. The Vatican Conclave. How could he have forgotten? It had been in the news recently. Fifteen days ago, the Pope, after a tremendously popular twelve-year reign, had passed away. Every paper in the world had carried the story about the Pope’s fatal stroke while sleeping – a sudden and unexpected death many whispered was suspicious. But now, in keeping with the sacred tradition, fifteen days after the death of a Pope, the Vatican was holding Il Conclavo – the sacred ceremony in which the 165 cardinals of the world – the most powerful men in Christendom – gathered in Vatican City to elect the new Pope. Every cardinal on the planet is here today, Langdon thought as the chopper passed over St. Peter’s Basilica. The expansive inner world of Vatican City spread out beneath him. The entire power structure of the Roman Catholic Church is sitting on a time bomb. 34 Cardinal Mortati gazed up at the lavish ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and tried to find a moment of quiet reflection. The frescoed walls echoed with the voices of cardinals from nations around the globe. The men jostled in the candlelit tabernacle, whispering excitedly and consulting with one another in numerous languages, the universal tongues being English, Italian, and Spanish. The light in the chapel was usually sublime – long rays of tinted sun slicing through the darkness like rays from heaven – but not today. As was the custom, all of the chapel’s windows had been covered in black velvet in the name of secrecy. This ensured that no one on the inside could send signals or communicate in any way with the outside world. The result was a profound darkness lit only by candles†¦ a shimmering radiance that seemed to purify everyone it touched, making them all ghostly†¦ like saints. What privilege, Mortati thought, that I am to oversee this sanctified event. Cardinals over eighty years of age were too old to be eligible for election and did not attend conclave, but at seventy-nine years old, Mortati was the most senior cardinal here and had been appointed to oversee the proceedings. Following tradition, the cardinals gathered here two hours before conclave to catch up with friends and engage in last-minute discussion. At 7 P.M., the late Pope’s chamberlain would arrive, give opening prayer, and then leave. Then the Swiss Guard would seal the doors and lock all the cardinals inside. It was then that the oldest and most secretive political ritual in the world would begin. The cardinals would not be released until they decided who among them would be the next Pope. Conclave. Even the name was secretive. â€Å"Con clave† literally meant â€Å"locked with a key.† The cardinals were permitted no contact whatsoever with the outside world. No phone calls. No messages. No whispers through doorways. Conclave was a vacuum, not to be influenced by anything in the outside world. This would ensure that the cardinals kept Solum Dum prae oculis†¦ only God before their eyes. Outside the walls of the chapel, of course, the media watched and waited, speculating as to which of the cardinals would become the ruler of one billion Catholics worldwide. Conclaves created an intense, politically charged atmosphere, and over the centuries they had turned deadly: poisonings, fist fights, and even murder had erupted within the sacred walls. Ancient history, Mortati thought. Tonight’s conclave will be unified, blissful, and above all†¦ brief. Or at least that had been his speculation. Now, however, an unexpected development had emerged. Mystifyingly, four cardinals were absent from the chapel. Mortati knew that all the exits to Vatican City were guarded, and the missing cardinals could not have gone far, but still, with less than an hour before opening prayer, he was feeling disconcerted. After all, the four missing men were no ordinary cardinals. They were the cardinals. The chosen four. As overseer of the conclave, Mortati had already sent word through the proper channels to the Swiss Guard alerting them to the cardinals’ absence. He had yet to hear back. Other cardinals had now noticed the puzzling absence. The anxious whispers had begun. Of all cardinals, these four should be on time! Cardinal Mortati was starting to fear it might be a long evening after all. He had no idea. 35 The Vatican’s helipad, for reasons of safety and noise control, is located in the northwest tip of Vatican City, as far from St. Peter’s Basilica as possible. â€Å"Terra firma,† the pilot announced as they touched down. He exited and opened the sliding door for Langdon and Vittoria. Langdon descended from the craft and turned to help Vittoria, but she had already dropped effortlessly to the ground. Every muscle in her body seemed tuned to one objective – finding the antimatter before it left a horrific legacy. After stretching a reflective sun tarp across the cockpit window, the pilot ushered them to an oversized electric golf cart waiting near the helipad. The cart whisked them silently alongside the country’s western border – a fifty-foot-tall cement bulwark thick enough to ward off attacks even by tanks. Lining the interior of the wall, posted at fifty-meter intervals, Swiss Guards stood at attention, surveying the interior of the grounds. The cart turned sharply right onto Via della Osservatorio. Signs pointed in all directions: Palazzio Governatorio Collegio Ethiopiana Basilica San Pietro Capella Sistina They accelerated up the manicured road past a squat building marked Radio Vaticana. This, Langdon realized to his amazement, was the hub of the world’s most listened-to radio programming – Radio Vaticana – spreading the word of God to millions of listeners around the globe. â€Å"Attenzione,† the pilot said, turning sharply into a rotary. As the cart wound round, Langdon could barely believe the sight now coming into view. Giardini Vaticani, he thought. The heart of Vatican City. Directly ahead rose the rear of St. Peter’s Basilica, a view, Langdon realized, most people never saw. To the right loomed the Palace of the Tribunal, the lush papal residence rivaled only by Versailles in its baroque embellishment. The severe-looking Governatorato building was now behind them, housing Vatican City’s administration. And up ahead on the left, the massive rectangular edifice of the Vatican Museum. Langdon knew there would be no time for a museum visit this trip. â€Å"Where is everyone?† Vittoria asked, surveying the deserted lawns and walkways. The guard checked his black, military-style chronograph – an odd anachronism beneath his puffy sleeve. â€Å"The cardinals are convened in the Sistine Chapel. Conclave begins in a little under an hour.† Langdon nodded, vaguely recalling that before conclave the cardinals spent two hours inside the Sistine Chapel in quiet reflection and visitations with their fellow cardinals from around the globe. The time was meant to renew old friendships among the cardinals and facilitate a less heated election process. â€Å"And the rest of the residents and staff?† â€Å"Banned from the city for secrecy and security until the conclave concludes.† â€Å"And when does it conclude?† The guard shrugged. â€Å"God only knows.† The words sounded oddly literal. After parking the cart on the wide lawn directly behind St. Peter’s Basilica, the guard escorted Langdon and Vittoria up a stone escarpment to a marble plaza off the back of the basilica. Crossing the plaza, they approached the rear wall of the basilica and followed it through a triangular courtyard, across Via Belvedere, and into a series of buildings closely huddled together. Langdon’s art history had taught him enough Italian to pick out signs for the Vatican Printing Office, the Tapestry Restoration Lab, Post Office Management, and the Church of St. Ann. They crossed another small square and arrived at their destination. The Office of the Swiss Guard is housed adjacent to Il Corpo di Vigilanza, directly northeast of St. Peter’s Basilica. The office is a squat, stone building. On either side of the entrance, like two stone statues, stood a pair of guards. Langdon had to admit, these guards did not look quite so comical. Although they also wore the blue and gold uniform, each wielded the traditional â€Å"Vatican long sword† – an eight-foot spear with a razor-sharp scythe – rumored to have decapitated countless Muslims while defending the Christian crusaders in the fifteenth century. As Langdon and Vittoria approached, the two guards stepped forward, crossing their long swords, blocking the entrance. One looked up at the pilot in confusion. â€Å"I pantaloni,† he said, motioning to Vittoria’s shorts. The pilot waved them off. â€Å"Il comandante vuole vederli subito.† The guards frowned. Reluctantly they stepped aside. Inside, the air was cool. It looked nothing like the administrative security offices Langdon would have imagined. Ornate and impeccably furnished, the hallways contained paintings Langdon was certain any museum worldwide would gladly have featured in its main gallery. The pilot pointed down a steep set of stairs. â€Å"Down, please.† Langdon and Vittoria followed the white marble treads as they descended between a gauntlet of nude male sculptures. Each statue wore a fig leaf that was lighter in color than the rest of the body. The Great Castration, Langdon thought. It was one of the most horrific tragedies in Renaissance art. In 1857, Pope Pius IX decided that the accurate representation of the male form might incite lust inside the Vatican. So he got a chisel and mallet and hacked off the genitalia of every single male statue inside Vatican City. He defaced works by Michelangelo, Bramante, and Bernini. Plaster fig leaves were used to patch the damage. Hundreds of sculptures had been emasculated. Langdon had often wondered if there was a huge crate of stone penises someplace. â€Å"Here,† the guard announced. They reached the bottom of the stairs and dead-ended at a heavy, steel door. The guard typed an entry code, and the door slid open. Langdon and Vittoria entered. Beyond the threshold was absolute mayhem. Angels Demons Chapter 3235 â€Å"Sorry for the slow flight,† the pilot apologized, emerging from the cockpit. â€Å"Had to trim her back. Noise regulations over populated areas.† Langdon checked his watch. They had been airborne thirty-seven minutes. The pilot popped the outer door. â€Å"Anybody want to tell me what’s going on?† Neither Vittoria nor Langdon responded. â€Å"Fine,† he said, stretching. â€Å"I’ll be in the cockpit with the air-conditioning and my music. Just me and Garth.† The late-afternoon sun blazed outside the hangar. Langdon carried his tweed jacket over his shoulder. Vittoria turned her face skyward and inhaled deeply, as if the sun’s rays somehow transferred to her some mystical replenishing energy. Mediterraneans, Langdon mused, already sweating. â€Å"Little old for cartoons, aren’t you?† Vittoria asked, without opening her eyes. â€Å"I’m sorry?† â€Å"Your wristwatch. I saw it on the plane.† Langdon flushed slightly. He was accustomed to having to defend his timepiece. The collector’s edition Mickey Mouse watch had been a childhood gift from his parents. Despite the contorted foolishness of Mickey’s outstretched arms designating the hour, it was the only watch Langdon had ever worn. Waterproof and glow-in-the-dark, it was perfect for swimming laps or walking unlit college paths at night. When Langdon’s students questioned his fashion sense, he told them he wore Mickey as a daily reminder to stay young at heart. â€Å"It’s six o’clock,† he said. Vittoria nodded, eyes still closed. â€Å"I think our ride’s here.† Langdon heard the distant whine, looked up, and felt a sinking feeling. Approaching from the north was a helicopter, slicing low across the runway. Langdon had been on a helicopter once in the Andean Palpa Valley looking at the Nazca sand drawings and had not enjoyed it one bit. A flying shoebox. After a morning of space plane rides, Langdon had hoped the Vatican would send a car. Apparently not. The chopper slowed overhead, hovered a moment, and dropped toward the runway in front of them. The craft was white and carried a coat of arms emblazoned on the side – two skeleton keys crossing a shield and papal crown. He knew the symbol well. It was the traditional seal of the Vatican – the sacred symbol of the Holy See or â€Å"holy seat† of government, the seat being literally the ancient throne of St. Peter. The Holy Chopper, Langdon groaned, watching the craft land. He’d forgotten the Vatican owned one of these things, used for transporting the Pope to the airport, to meetings, or to his summer palace in Gandolfo. Langdon definitely would have preferred a car. The pilot jumped from the cockpit and strode toward them across the tarmac. Now it was Vittoria who looked uneasy. â€Å"That’s our pilot?† Langdon shared her concern. â€Å"To fly, or not to fly. That is the question.† The pilot looked like he was festooned for a Shakespearean melodrama. His puffy tunic was vertically striped in brilliant blue and gold. He wore matching pantaloons and spats. On his feet were black flats that looked like slippers. On top of it all, he wore a black felt beret. â€Å"Traditional Swiss Guard uniforms,† Langdon explained. â€Å"Designed by Michelangelo himself.† As the man drew closer, Langdon winced. â€Å"I admit, not one of Michelangelo’s better efforts.† Despite the man’s garish attire, Langdon could tell the pilot meant business. He moved toward them with all the rigidity and dignity of a U.S. Marine. Langdon had read many times about the rigorous requirements for becoming one of the elite Swiss Guard. Recruited from one of Switzerland’s four Catholic cantons, applicants had to be Swiss males between nineteen and thirty years old, at least 5 feet 6 inches, trained by the Swiss Army, and unmarried. This imperial corps was envied by world governments as the most allegiant and deadly security force in the world. â€Å"You are from CERN?† the guard asked, arriving before them. His voice was steely. â€Å"Yes, sir,† Langdon replied. â€Å"You made remarkable time,† he said, giving the X-33 a mystified stare. He turned to Vittoria. â€Å"Ma’am, do you have any other clothing?† â€Å"I beg your pardon?† He motioned to her legs. â€Å"Short pants are not permitted inside Vatican City.† Langdon glanced down at Vittoria’s legs and frowned. He had forgotten. Vatican City had a strict ban on visible legs above the knee – both male and female. The regulation was a way of showing respect for the sanctity of God’s city. â€Å"This is all I have,† she said. â€Å"We came in a hurry.† The guard nodded, clearly displeased. He turned next to Langdon. â€Å"Are you carrying any weapons?† Weapons? Langdon thought. I’m not even carrying a change of underwear! He shook his head. The officer crouched at Langdon’s feet and began patting him down, starting at his socks. Trusting guy, Langdon thought. The guard’s strong hands moved up Langdon’s legs, coming uncomfortably close to his groin. Finally they moved up to his chest and shoulders. Apparently content Langdon was clean, the guard turned to Vittoria. He ran his eyes up her legs and torso. Vittoria glared. â€Å"Don’t even think about it.† The guard fixed Vittoria with a gaze clearly intended to intimidate. Vittoria did not flinch. â€Å"What’s that?† the guard said, pointing to a faint square bulge in the front pocket of her shorts. Vittoria removed an ultrathin cell phone. The guard took it, clicked it on, waited for a dial tone, and then, apparently satisfied that it was indeed nothing more than a phone, returned it to her. Vittoria slid it back into her pocket. â€Å"Turn around, please,† the guard said. Vittoria obliged, holding her arms out and rotating a full 360 degrees. The guard carefully studied her. Langdon had already decided that Vittoria’s form-fitting shorts and blouse were not bulging anywhere they shouldn’t have been. Apparently the guard came to the same conclusion. â€Å"Thank you. This way please.† The Swiss Guard chopper churned in neutral as Langdon and Vittoria approached. Vittoria boarded first, like a seasoned pro, barely even stooping as she passed beneath the whirling rotors. Langdon held back a moment. â€Å"No chance of a car?† he yelled, half-joking to the Swiss Guard, who was climbing in the pilot’s seat. The man did not answer. Langdon knew that with Rome’s maniacal drivers, flying was probably safer anyway. He took a deep breath and boarded, stooping cautiously as he passed beneath the spinning rotors. As the guard fired up the engines, Vittoria called out, â€Å"Have you located the canister?† The guard glanced over his shoulder, looking confused. â€Å"The what?† â€Å"The canister. You called CERN about a canister?† The man shrugged. â€Å"No idea what you’re talking about. We’ve been very busy today. My commander told me to pick you up. That’s all I know.† Vittoria gave Langdon an unsettled look. â€Å"Buckle up, please,† the pilot said as the engine revved. Langdon reached for his seat belt and strapped himself in. The tiny fuselage seemed to shrink around him. Then with a roar, the craft shot up and banked sharply north toward Rome. Rome†¦ the caput mundi, where Caesar once ruled, where St. Peter was crucified. The cradle of modern civilization. And at its core†¦ a ticking bomb. 33 Rome from the air is a labyrinth – an indecipherable maze of ancient roadways winding around buildings, fountains, and crumbling ruins. The Vatican chopper stayed low in the sky as it sliced northwest through the permanent smog layer coughed up by the congestion below. Langdon gazed down at the mopeds, sight-seeing buses, and armies of miniature Fiat sedans buzzing around rotaries in all directions. Koyaanisqatsi, he thought, recalling the Hopi term for â€Å"life out of balance.† Vittoria sat in silent determination in the seat beside him. The chopper banked hard. His stomach dropping, Langdon gazed farther into the distance. His eyes found the crumbling ruins of the Roman Coliseum. The Coliseum, Langdon had always thought, was one of history’s greatest ironies. Now a dignified symbol for the rise of human culture and civilization, the stadium had been built to host centuries of barbaric events – hungry lions shredding prisoners, armies of slaves battling to the death, gang rapes of exotic women captured from far-off lands, as well as public beheadings and castrations. It was ironic, Langdon thought, or perhaps fitting, that the Coliseum had served as the architectural blueprint for Harvard’s Soldier Field – the football stadium where the ancient traditions of savagery were reenacted every fall†¦ crazed fans screaming for bloodshed as Harvard battled Yale. As the chopper headed north, Langdon spied the Roman Forum – the heart of pre-Christian Rome. The decaying columns looked like toppled gravestones in a cemetery that had somehow avoided being swallowed by the metropolis surrounding it. To the west the wide basin of the Tiber River wound enormous arcs across the city. Even from the air Langdon could tell the water was deep. The churning currents were brown, filled with silt and foam from heavy rains. â€Å"Straight ahead,† the pilot said, climbing higher. Langdon and Vittoria looked out and saw it. Like a mountain parting the morning fog, the colossal dome rose out of the haze before them: St. Peter’s Basilica. â€Å"Now that,† Langdon said to Vittoria, â€Å"is something Michelangelo got right.† Langdon had never seen St. Peter’s from the air. The marble faà §ade blazed like fire in the afternoon sun. Adorned with 140 statues of saints, martyrs, and angels, the Herculean edifice stretched two football fields wide and a staggering six long. The cavernous interior of the basilica had room for over 60,000 worshipers†¦ over one hundred times the population of Vatican City, the smallest country in the world. Incredibly, though, not even a citadel of this magnitude could dwarf the piazza before it. A sprawling expanse of granite, St. Peter’s Square was a staggering open space in the congestion of Rome, like a classical Central Park. In front of the basilica, bordering the vast oval common, 284 columns swept outward in four concentric arcs of diminishing size†¦ an architectural trompe de l’oiel used to heighten the piazza’s sense of grandeur. As he stared at the magnificent shrine before him, Langdon wondered what St. Peter would think if he were here now. The Saint had died a gruesome death, crucified upside down on this very spot. Now he rested in the most sacred of tombs, buried five stories down, directly beneath the central cupola of the basilica. â€Å"Vatican City,† the pilot said, sounding anything but welcoming. Langdon looked out at the towering stone bastions that loomed ahead – impenetrable fortifications surrounding the complex†¦ a strangely earthly defense for a spiritual world of secrets, power, and mystery. â€Å"Look!† Vittoria said suddenly, grabbing Langdon’s arm. She motioned frantically downward toward St. Peter’s Square directly beneath them. Langdon put his face to the window and looked. â€Å"Over there,† she said, pointing. Langdon looked. The rear of the piazza looked like a parking lot crowded with a dozen or so trailer trucks. Huge satellite dishes pointed skyward from the roof of every truck. The dishes were emblazoned with familiar names: Televisor Europea Video Italia BBC United Press International Langdon felt suddenly confused, wondering if the news of the antimatter had already leaked out. Vittoria seemed suddenly tense. â€Å"Why is the press here? What’s going on?† The pilot turned and gave her an odd look over his shoulder. â€Å"What’s going on? You don’t know?† â€Å"No,† she fired back, her accent husky and strong. â€Å"Il Conclavo,† he said. â€Å"It is to be sealed in about an hour. The whole world is watching.† Il Conclavo. The word rang a long moment in Langdon’s ears before dropping like a brick to the pit of his stomach. Il Conclavo. The Vatican Conclave. How could he have forgotten? It had been in the news recently. Fifteen days ago, the Pope, after a tremendously popular twelve-year reign, had passed away. Every paper in the world had carried the story about the Pope’s fatal stroke while sleeping – a sudden and unexpected death many whispered was suspicious. But now, in keeping with the sacred tradition, fifteen days after the death of a Pope, the Vatican was holding Il Conclavo – the sacred ceremony in which the 165 cardinals of the world – the most powerful men in Christendom – gathered in Vatican City to elect the new Pope. Every cardinal on the planet is here today, Langdon thought as the chopper passed over St. Peter’s Basilica. The expansive inner world of Vatican City spread out beneath him. The entire power structure of the Roman Catholic Church is sitting on a time bomb. 34 Cardinal Mortati gazed up at the lavish ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and tried to find a moment of quiet reflection. The frescoed walls echoed with the voices of cardinals from nations around the globe. The men jostled in the candlelit tabernacle, whispering excitedly and consulting with one another in numerous languages, the universal tongues being English, Italian, and Spanish. The light in the chapel was usually sublime – long rays of tinted sun slicing through the darkness like rays from heaven – but not today. As was the custom, all of the chapel’s windows had been covered in black velvet in the name of secrecy. This ensured that no one on the inside could send signals or communicate in any way with the outside world. The result was a profound darkness lit only by candles†¦ a shimmering radiance that seemed to purify everyone it touched, making them all ghostly†¦ like saints. What privilege, Mortati thought, that I am to oversee this sanctified event. Cardinals over eighty years of age were too old to be eligible for election and did not attend conclave, but at seventy-nine years old, Mortati was the most senior cardinal here and had been appointed to oversee the proceedings. Following tradition, the cardinals gathered here two hours before conclave to catch up with friends and engage in last-minute discussion. At 7 P.M., the late Pope’s chamberlain would arrive, give opening prayer, and then leave. Then the Swiss Guard would seal the doors and lock all the cardinals inside. It was then that the oldest and most secretive political ritual in the world would begin. The cardinals would not be released until they decided who among them would be the next Pope. Conclave. Even the name was secretive. â€Å"Con clave† literally meant â€Å"locked with a key.† The cardinals were permitted no contact whatsoever with the outside world. No phone calls. No messages. No whispers through doorways. Conclave was a vacuum, not to be influenced by anything in the outside world. This would ensure that the cardinals kept Solum Dum prae oculis†¦ only God before their eyes. Outside the walls of the chapel, of course, the media watched and waited, speculating as to which of the cardinals would become the ruler of one billion Catholics worldwide. Conclaves created an intense, politically charged atmosphere, and over the centuries they had turned deadly: poisonings, fist fights, and even murder had erupted within the sacred walls. Ancient history, Mortati thought. Tonight’s conclave will be unified, blissful, and above all†¦ brief. Or at least that had been his speculation. Now, however, an unexpected development had emerged. Mystifyingly, four cardinals were absent from the chapel. Mortati knew that all the exits to Vatican City were guarded, and the missing cardinals could not have gone far, but still, with less than an hour before opening prayer, he was feeling disconcerted. After all, the four missing men were no ordinary cardinals. They were the cardinals. The chosen four. As overseer of the conclave, Mortati had already sent word through the proper channels to the Swiss Guard alerting them to the cardinals’ absence. He had yet to hear back. Other cardinals had now noticed the puzzling absence. The anxious whispers had begun. Of all cardinals, these four should be on time! Cardinal Mortati was starting to fear it might be a long evening after all. He had no idea. 35 The Vatican’s helipad, for reasons of safety and noise control, is located in the northwest tip of Vatican City, as far from St. Peter’s Basilica as possible. â€Å"Terra firma,† the pilot announced as they touched down. He exited and opened the sliding door for Langdon and Vittoria. Langdon descended from the craft and turned to help Vittoria, but she had already dropped effortlessly to the ground. Every muscle in her body seemed tuned to one objective – finding the antimatter before it left a horrific legacy. After stretching a reflective sun tarp across the cockpit window, the pilot ushered them to an oversized electric golf cart waiting near the helipad. The cart whisked them silently alongside the country’s western border – a fifty-foot-tall cement bulwark thick enough to ward off attacks even by tanks. Lining the interior of the wall, posted at fifty-meter intervals, Swiss Guards stood at attention, surveying the interior of the grounds. The cart turned sharply right onto Via della Osservatorio. Signs pointed in all directions: Palazzio Governatorio Collegio Ethiopiana Basilica San Pietro Capella Sistina They accelerated up the manicured road past a squat building marked Radio Vaticana. This, Langdon realized to his amazement, was the hub of the world’s most listened-to radio programming – Radio Vaticana – spreading the word of God to millions of listeners around the globe. â€Å"Attenzione,† the pilot said, turning sharply into a rotary. As the cart wound round, Langdon could barely believe the sight now coming into view. Giardini Vaticani, he thought. The heart of Vatican City. Directly ahead rose the rear of St. Peter’s Basilica, a view, Langdon realized, most people never saw. To the right loomed the Palace of the Tribunal, the lush papal residence rivaled only by Versailles in its baroque embellishment. The severe-looking Governatorato building was now behind them, housing Vatican City’s administration. And up ahead on the left, the massive rectangular edifice of the Vatican Museum. Langdon knew there would be no time for a museum visit this trip. â€Å"Where is everyone?† Vittoria asked, surveying the deserted lawns and walkways. The guard checked his black, military-style chronograph – an odd anachronism beneath his puffy sleeve. â€Å"The cardinals are convened in the Sistine Chapel. Conclave begins in a little under an hour.† Langdon nodded, vaguely recalling that before conclave the cardinals spent two hours inside the Sistine Chapel in quiet reflection and visitations with their fellow cardinals from around the globe. The time was meant to renew old friendships among the cardinals and facilitate a less heated election process. â€Å"And the rest of the residents and staff?† â€Å"Banned from the city for secrecy and security until the conclave concludes.† â€Å"And when does it conclude?† The guard shrugged. â€Å"God only knows.† The words sounded oddly literal. After parking the cart on the wide lawn directly behind St. Peter’s Basilica, the guard escorted Langdon and Vittoria up a stone escarpment to a marble plaza off the back of the basilica. Crossing the plaza, they approached the rear wall of the basilica and followed it through a triangular courtyard, across Via Belvedere, and into a series of buildings closely huddled together. Langdon’s art history had taught him enough Italian to pick out signs for the Vatican Printing Office, the Tapestry Restoration Lab, Post Office Management, and the Church of St. Ann. They crossed another small square and arrived at their destination. The Office of the Swiss Guard is housed adjacent to Il Corpo di Vigilanza, directly northeast of St. Peter’s Basilica. The office is a squat, stone building. On either side of the entrance, like two stone statues, stood a pair of guards. Langdon had to admit, these guards did not look quite so comical. Although they also wore the blue and gold uniform, each wielded the traditional â€Å"Vatican long sword† – an eight-foot spear with a razor-sharp scythe – rumored to have decapitated countless Muslims while defending the Christian crusaders in the fifteenth century. As Langdon and Vittoria approached, the two guards stepped forward, crossing their long swords, blocking the entrance. One looked up at the pilot in confusion. â€Å"I pantaloni,† he said, motioning to Vittoria’s shorts. The pilot waved them off. â€Å"Il comandante vuole vederli subito.† The guards frowned. Reluctantly they stepped aside. Inside, the air was cool. It looked nothing like the administrative security offices Langdon would have imagined. Ornate and impeccably furnished, the hallways contained paintings Langdon was certain any museum worldwide would gladly have featured in its main gallery. The pilot pointed down a steep set of stairs. â€Å"Down, please.† Langdon and Vittoria followed the white marble treads as they descended between a gauntlet of nude male sculptures. Each statue wore a fig leaf that was lighter in color than the rest of the body. The Great Castration, Langdon thought. It was one of the most horrific tragedies in Renaissance art. In 1857, Pope Pius IX decided that the accurate representation of the male form might incite lust inside the Vatican. So he got a chisel and mallet and hacked off the genitalia of every single male statue inside Vatican City. He defaced works by Michelangelo, Bramante, and Bernini. Plaster fig leaves were used to patch the damage. Hundreds of sculptures had been emasculated. Langdon had often wondered if there was a huge crate of stone penises someplace. â€Å"Here,† the guard announced. They reached the bottom of the stairs and dead-ended at a heavy, steel door. The guard typed an entry code, and the door slid open. Langdon and Vittoria entered. Beyond the threshold was absolute mayhem.

Athletes drug use Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Athletes drug use - Essay Example Covered in the subsequent paragraphs are types of drugs abused by athletes, reasons as to why they abuse drugs, associated effects, policies and punishments and finally, possible solutions to the problem. The sole aim of one taking part in a sporting completion, just like is the case with any other kind of completion is to emerge victorious. However, sometimes the prediction of the outcome may leave the competitor feel like he/she has already lost to his/her opponents even before the real competition. This is the main drive behind use of drugs by some athletes, just to ensure that they emerge winners and land their hands on the gold medal for their country while at the same time ensuring personal accomplishment satisfaction. . The former refers to the kinds of drugs which are usually taken with the aim of one getting the ability to perform better especially in athletics. With respect to Examples of PEDs include stimulants, human growth hormone (HGH), anabolic steroids, erythropoietin and diuretics (Audran et al, 1999). The second type of drugs (recreational drugs) comprise of those drugs, usually narcotic which are taken for the purpose of helping an individual alter his/her mood. In other words, these are drugs which are taken non-medically for the purpose of enjoyment and not because one is sick. Examples of drugs other this category include psychedelic mushrooms, cannabis, barbiturates, opium, amphetamines and heroin. An athlete will feel satisfied if at the completion of the game it turns out that he/she emerged the winner. However, as it is obvious, one cannot be said to have won the race if he/she has not yet taken part in a given completion. It is both the victorious feeling associated with winning and the intense feeling of competition that leaves some athletes with no option but to abuse some certain drugs. When an athlete wins a race, he/she is sure of taking home (to his/her home country) a medal, getting a good

Customer Focus Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Customer Focus - Assignment Example Second, failure to focus on customers may be caused by poor marketing segmentation. Proper market segmentation highlights the needs of each customer and enables organizations to focus on those specific needs (Fader, 2012). Customer-focus, therefore, is impossible in instances characterized by poor market segmentation. Third, poor approaches to data mining limits the possibility of meeting customer needs. Inaccurate data affects the effectiveness of market segmentation, constraining the possibility of customer focus. The fourth cause of failure in customer focus is poor product development. Product development should focus on specific customer requirements and aim at meeting those wants at no extra cost (Fader, 2012). Organizations fail in customer focus if new product development does not take into account market trends, competitors’ actions, and user-requirements. Serving internal and external customers are similar because both need quality services and must access these services for them to continue fair dealings with the organization. However, external customers can easily give up from the organization if they do not receive excellent treatment. Internal customers may sometimes bear with the speed of operation of internal employees. Inspiring customer trust requires effective service delivery; therefore, individuals and organizations should ensure customer focus all the time by avoiding acting in ways that constrain the ability to focus on

Badrs A Balcony over the Fakihani, Pillars of Salt, by Fadia Faqir, and Al-Atrashs A Woman of Five Seasons :: Badr Fakihani Faqir Pillars Five Seasons Essays

Badr's A Balcony over the Fakihani, Pillars of Salt, by Fadia Faqir, and Al-Atrash's A Woman of Five Seasons Struggles for independence from foreign conquerors, civil tyrants, and the hands of the oppressive have long been the backdrop for life in the Arab World. This struggle is compounded for Arab women, who have the added worries of societal and cultural constraints. The 20th century was a notably gory one, particularly in the Middle East. There have been numerous, almost continuous aggressive confrontations in the region since the dawn of the 20th century, beginning with Ibn Saud?s campaign against the Ottoman Empire (Diller 384) and concluding with the suicide bombings of contemporary daily news. Typically, the actors of this violence have been predominantly men, yet such far reaching, and pervading circumstances of violence have inevitably had an impact on the daily lives and consciousness of countless generations of Arab women. This impact has also saturated the minds of many Arab women writers, and the depth of this effect comes across very well in the works of Liyana Badr, Leila Al -Atrash, and Fadia Faqir. The political and historical contexts of each novel are extremely telling. This ever-present aggressive backdrop influences settings and personal storylines of characters in Badr?s A Balcony over the Fakihani, Faqir?s Pillars of Salt, and Al-Atrash?s A Woman of Five Seasons overwhelmingly. Pillars of Salt, which is set in the early 20s in Jordan, has the earliest setting of all three novels and happens to be one of the more violent. In 1920, Transjordan was p! laced under British mandate. The British left in May of 1923, and then Emir Abdullah attempted to appease and unite various Bedouin groups and form a unit of men able to protect the land from invaders (Diller 261). It is with this historical context that we happen upon the story of Maha and her struggle for survival and independence. The novel begins with the storyteller?s muddy mixture of fact and fable. The storyteller recounts his first encounter with the English, and describes the way ?their cars exhaled black smoke into the clear blue sky? (Faqir 3). The storyteller is somewhat removed from the political context because he is ?half-Arab? (Faqir 3), yet it is still evident that there is some ill feeling towards the English. Later on, we are presented with another political opinion of the storyteller. He describes the story of the Balfour Declaration, and portrays it in a very negative manner, calling i! t the result of Lord Balfour?

The Globalization of Mcdonald’s

Leading the Global Enterprise System Abstract The organization chosen is McDonald’s. McDonald’s is a multibillion dollar corporation that has concurred the fast food industry around the globe. McDonald’s has grow by expanding into new competitive spaces, attaining a complex mixture of financial knowledge, custom understanding, developing material and knowledge assets, to expand the market possibilities and replicating and standardizing their practices to be duplicated in similar markets across the globe.McDonalds as a western corporation had to make adjustments in the way they think and react to situations and customs. This paper will demonstrate how McDonald’s developed an open-mindness on the part of their leadership. Outline and Annotated Bibliography Globalization A. Introduction 1. The globalization of a multi-billion dollar corporation. 2. This paper will provide a guide through a corporation that addresses its western effect on other nations through food. B. Points of discussion 1. Anti-globalization movement against the west. . There are several reasons why leadership fails to support the organization and its goals. 3. Increasing performance through deep change. 4. The Five stage approach competency model. C. Conclusions 1. Lack of leadership coupled with cultural sensitivity can provide success or failure. 2. Further research into developing leadership styles that would support and enhance the service provided in other non western nations. Introduction McDonald’s a multi-billion dollar corporation that utilizes local employees in each community.The mega giant has developed a tier of progression of success as it has an on going development of a component of the corporation’s strategic plan to educate their managers and line level employees. This occurs by developing a nurturing and ever developing environment for its staff. As such, McDonald’s has demonstrated its dedication throughout its globalization a cross the street and around the world through the development of a university designed to teach the managers how to lead. The Hamburger University is designed to teach basic management skills with an emphasis on consumer’s behavior and leadership skills.The university also focuses on restaurant specific skills to operate a specific restaurant in a particular geographic location. The utilization of the university has lead to the development of a global leadership program. In turn it has strengthened the management staff that supports its line workers in an achievement –oriented environment. The employees can meet with their managers to be challenged and empowered to find the solutions. This paper will address the techniques and measured outcomes of the globalization of the multi-billion Dollar Corporation and how it develops the staff through the leadership and training it provides.Culture (from the Latin cultural stemming from colere, meaning â€Å"to cultivate† )[1] generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance. Cultures can be â€Å"understood as systems of symbols and meanings that even their creators contest, that lack fixed boundaries, that are constantly in flux, and that interact and compete with one another†[2] Culture can be defined as all the ways of life including arts, beliefs and institutions of a population that are passed down from generation to generation.Culture has been called â€Å"the way of life for an entire society. â€Å"[3] As such, it includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, norms of behavior such as law and morality, and systems of belief as well as the art. (Wikipedia, 2008)) Cultural diversity is explaining the differences between people, such as language, the way they dress and traditions and the way societies organize themselves, their conception of morality and religion, and the way they interact with the environment. (Wikipedia, 2008) Cultural competence refers to an ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures.Cultural competence comprises four components: (a) Awareness of one's own cultural worldview, (b) Attitude towards cultural differences, (c) Knowledge of different cultural practices and worldviews, and (d) cross-cultural Skills. Developing cultural competence results in an ability to understand, communicate with, and effectively interact with people across cultures. Globalization Globalization is defined as the process of social, political, economic, cultural, and technological integration among countries around the world. (Hodgetts, Luthans, Doh) This process has occurred in almost every nation across the globe.Globalization has influenced international interaction of various cultures in order to exchange and educated other parts of the world. This process is designed to trade the culture’s services, ideas and products. Moreover, the enc ouragement of globalization has a significant impact on the political and economic involvement throughout the world. A major influence of globalization is food. Styles of foods are easily globalized throughout the world as each of us is made up of some sort of hybrid of a different culture. It is not uncommon for a grandmother to make a dish from the â€Å"old country† during a festive holiday.The consumption and preparation of the dish in its original ethnic form is what allows the globalization to continue throughout the generations. If changes occur to the originality of the food its cultural beliefs are somewhat diminished. McDonald’s a multi-billion dollar mega corporation decided to go global with the westernized fast food industry into foreign countries. This transformation bought one of the US most beloved foods to other geographical locations and impacted a generation. Most cultures infrequently accepted such a new concept of a food so its introduction was unf amiliar and extremely different.McDonald’s was the first corporation to introduce new eating habits and changes to other nations. As the introduction occurred throughout the world Catherine Schnaubelt wrote in her study that â€Å"McDonald’s has over 1. 5 million franchises in the United States and about half of the total franchises are outside the U. S. in over 120 countries. † As a result of the widespread introduction of McDonald’s the company has demonstrated its willingness to conform to the local culture by the pervasive enhances rather than contaminate its culture.As a result of these enhances McDonald’s has permitted most of the foreign franchises to be locally owned and operated however utilizing the core values of the corporation without creating undesirable affects on the culture. This is called franchising. A franchise is a business arrangement under which one party (the franchisor) allows another (the franchisee) to operate an enterpri se using its trademark, logo, product line, and methods of operation in return for a fee. (Hodgetts, Luthans, Doh) With that said, the individual culture and norms are integrated within the menu.This includes the religious and the culture’s diversity. However, in some nations McDonald’s is viewed as the west and its global movement away from long-established culturally based foods towards the consumption of fast food. This process Americanizes the culture it infiltrates by the restructuring of the local diet at some level. This infiltration is viewed in a negative manner by some and as hip by the younger generation that is exposed to more of American development through movies, music and the internet. Anti-GlobalizationIn 1999 a French farmer named Jose Bove of Brazil ransacked a McDonald’s only to become a hero to anti-globalization. His emergence at anti-globalization gatherings across the world and even in the US has given him overnight fame for his intrepid move in destroying a McDonald’s restaurant. Bove’s aspiration came from the desire to support the local farmers and to stop the destruction of the fields by extracting the goods and mixing them with unhealthy chemicals to enhance the flavor. Eric Schlosser (2002), states that â€Å"By eating like Americans people all over the world are beginning to look more like Americans, at least in one respect.The United States has one of the highest obesity rates of any industrialized nation in the world. † (p. 240). â€Å"As people eat more meals outside the home, they consume more calories, less fiber and more fat. † (p. 241). The introduction of unhealthy foods and eating habits of foreign foods into outside cultures radically affects the traditional culture found in the nation’s foods despite McDonald’s attempt to incorporate the nation’s culture and religious beliefs in the menu. Many Europeans worry about globalization's effects on their fo od from the west.However, the prominent anti-globalization movement is actually a small minority. In fact, a clear majority of Europeans, especially the young, accepts that increasing global economic, political, and cultural exchange can enrich their country and their lives. They believe that a strong European Union can help them take advantage of globalization's benefits while shielding them from its negative effects. Despite the views of others some Europeans believe globalization is what is right for Europe. Leadership Competency ModelThe types of leadership perspectives that McDonald’s incorporates in their management is the Leadership Competency Model. The Leadership Competency Model utilizes a leadership appraisal program. Each organization has its own process and culture to nurture its employees. Some processes often fail as they do not provide ownership to the participants and fail to account for the different cultures, climates, and nuances found in every organizatio n. For effective change to take place you must involve the individuals in the development and implementation of any process.This guide uses a five stage approach for building a competency model: * Stage One – Assemble Focus team and create a list of processes. * Stage Two – Build behavioral indicators for each process. * Stage Three – Categorize the data. * Stage Four – Order each category. * Stage Five – Validate your competency model. The first stage in building a Leadership Competency Model is to assemble a Focus Team composed of a cross-functional mix of first-line leaders, middle leaders, and senior leaders.McDonald’s provides the Leadership Competency Model in conjunction with Hamburger University to develop leadership. Graduates from the university and those who participates in the Leadership Competency Model development of processes are considered the experts practitioners in their field. That is, they should be the finest in their f ields. Using interviews, surveys, observations, including information on how individuals act, think, and feel while doing their jobs and other activities, create a list of the major processes and the requirements needed y leaders to disseminate in the workplace. In Stage Two, the members of the team identify the major behavioral indicators for each competency that must be performed to produce the desired outputs. Going through each competency, list the major behavioral indicators (Skills, Knowledge, attitudes) needed for superior performance (normally two to four). These behavioral indicators need to be: *Future-focused rather than need or problem-focused. * Part of a strategic planning or organizational change process model.In Stage Three, you categorize the data to include a leadership competency list divided into three categories, Core, Leadership, and Professional; with the behavioral indicator listed for each process. The core competencies is required of all individuals within the organization, the leadership competencies are specialty items for managers and supervisors, while the professional competencies are specific for each position. The competency list will insure that the chosen behavioral indicators are really the required skills, knowledge, or attitudes.The method used to organize the competencies is reduced to smaller, more manageable bundles of information that can easily be identified and used throughout the organization. Stage Four provides order to each category. Stage Four allows the identification of importance for each category. This allows the opportunity to discard unnecessary or excessive categories from the list. Stage Five allows validation of the instrument. This can be completed by utilizing duplication through replicating the original results: Replicate the original research results.This is done by obtaining another sample of superior performers, conducting interviews, and deriving a competency model. Creating departmental focus gr oups to allow more people to become involved, while at the same time, giving you less information to accumulate. Structured Interviews/Observation: Perform one-on-one interviews and observations with a random number of leaders throughout the organization to determine which competencies they perform and to get their opinions of which ones are the most important for the execution of their job.In order to develop a program to achieve this goal a strategic understanding and planning need to occur. Understanding motivation, the key to success, relates to the adhered interest and involvement in a goal-oriented task by a member of the team. There are a variety of ways to view what rewards affect learning and behavior in the workplace. Two such ways are intrinsic desires and external controls. Intrinsic desire is the desire of the learner to reach mastery of a skill, as well as situational factors, based on personal desires that drive or motivate the employee.External controls are those tha t are governed by the policies and procedures of the organization. These procedures prevent and/or protect the necessity and essence of the organization. Generally, lack of having available the sources of motivation which are the primary reason to retain an employee with a corporation is divided into two categories; each containing a number of components responding to related strategies. McDonald’s has developed a university to combat poor development within the company. In 1961, Fred turner, a former senior chairman and Ray Kroc’s first grillman founded Hamburger University.The university was developed to provide training that emphasized consistent restaurant operations to include procedures, services, quality and cleanliness. It is the company’s global center for training and leadership development. Currently there are more than 5,000 employees that attend the university each year. Since 1961 more than 80,000 managers, mid-managers and owner/operators have gra duated from the university. Hamburger University was developed to foster the company mission to be the best aptitude in each of its employees.For employees who attend the university the hope is to instill Quality, Services, Cleanliness and Value (QSC;amp;V). Increasing Performance| | | | To attain excellence, an individual, group or organization must care enough about an activity to insist that it fully meets and exceeds the demands of its audience (either internal or external), and this involves a fair amount of risk. (Leslie, J. Velsor, E 1996) McDonald’s utilizes the five stage approach for building a competency model as a means to devise a road map of development for the employees within the company.The utilization of Hamburger University, the five stage approach and grasping the view of the Quality, Services, cleanliness and Value (QSC;amp;V) gives the employees the opportunity to reach for a deep change for success. Leadership and Culture Sensitivity Despite notable pro gress in the overall acceptance of globalization there continues to be continuing disparities in effects of the west emerging into other cultures. The acceptance status among the east and others compared to the U. S. opulation as a whole shows a vast difference in how corporations such as McDonalds can grow globally. In addition, the global system is becoming more challenged as the population becomes more ethnically diverse. Therefore, the future of globalization in areas such as China will be directly impacted by the influence of McDonalds to the social economical environment to provide substantial improvements. Cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and economic differences impact how individuals and groups access and use globalized products.They can also present barriers to effective communication between the leader and the employee if there is a lack of understanding of the language, culture or norms. This is especially true when leader’s stereotypes, misinterpret, make faulty ass umptions, or otherwise mishandle their encounters with employees who are viewed as different in terms of their backgrounds and experiences. The demand for culturally competent leaders in the United States is a direct result of the need for leaders to handle operations that have gone global.The term cultural competence refers to the ability to work effectively with individuals from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, or in settings where several cultures coexist. It includes the ability to understand the language, culture, and behaviors of other individuals and groups, and to make appropriate recommendations. Cultural competence exists on a continuum from incompetence to proficiency. Cultural sensitivity, which is a necessary component of cultural competence, means that leaders make a significant effort to be aware of and understand the culture in which they work.Cultural competence cannot be achieved through short workshops or classes. A long-term commitment is required to le arn a second language and become familiar with other cultures to deliver an effective service for the ethnically diverse world and the potential and actual cultural factors that affect their interactions with a client. It also means that they are willing to design programs and materials and implement those programs to make recommendations that are culturally relevant and culturally specific. The terms cultural competence and culturally effective and are sometimes used synonymously.Culturally effective training is, indeed, related to cultural competence and cultural sensitivity. However, it goes beyond these concepts in describing the dynamic relationship between leader and employee. Effective communication between leaders and employees may be even more challenging when linguistic barriers exist. Cultural competence is a developmental process that requires a long-term commitment. It is not a specific end product that occurs after a two-hour workshop, but it is an active process of le arning and practicing over time. Becoming culturally competent is discuss than to implement.Individuals working with different ethnic and cultural groups can become more culturally competent by advancing through three main stages: developing awareness, acquiring knowledge, and developing and maintaining cross-cultural skills. Developing cultural awareness includes recognizing the value of the population and its cultural diversity. It also means an honest assessment of one's biases and stereotypes to include limits of their understanding. One can never learn enough about another culture. However, acquiring knowledge about other groups is the foundation of cultural competence.In addition to understanding other cultures, it is essential to understand how different cultural groups view themselves. Knowledge of another culture includes assessments of facts to include relevant norms, values, worldviews, and the practicality of everyday life and how that reflects in the business as a whole . Even though the United States is a pluralistic society, most employers have been trained in a mono-cultural tradition. In addition to this some leaders operate as if ethnic and cultural differences are insignificant.Cross-cultural skills are developed through formal training, informal interaction and experience. Organizational Responsibilities It is important for leaders to articulate a commitment to cultural competence and to initiate cultural-competence initiatives. Many companies receive social and legal pressures to do this from different segments of the cultures they impact. The development of professional preparation programs can play a significant role in providing the knowledge and skills for culturally competent leaders.These programs can provide on the job training and other formats developed with the sole purpose of addressing cultural competence and/or cultural sensitivity. They also can provide specific educational components on cultural competence and/or cultural sen sitivity within the program. Trainings and in house development of skills is one thing but leaders need to go beyond educating their employees and providing workshops on cultural sensitivity they must also change institutional policies and procedures.This can be done by constant review and ongoing development of the skills needed. Steps to Becoming Culturally Competent Developing Awareness * Admitting personal biases, stereotypes, and prejudices * Becoming aware of cultural norms, attitudes, and beliefs * Valuing diversity * Willingness to extend oneself psychologically and physically to others * Recognizing comfort level in different situations Acquiring Knowledge * Knowing how your culture is viewed by others * Attending classes, workshops, and seminars about other cultures * Reading about other cultures Watching movies and documentaries about other cultures * Attending cultural events and festivals * Sharing knowledge and experiences with others * Visiting other countries before placement. Developing and Maintaining Cross-Cultural Skills * Making friends with people of different cultures * Establishing professional and working relationships with people of different cultures * Learning another language * Learning verbal and nonverbal cues of other cultures * Becoming more comfortable in cross-cultural situations * Assessing what works and what does not Assessing how the beliefs and behaviors of the cultural group affect the client or family * Learning to negotiate between the person's beliefs and practices and the culture of your profession * Being more flexible * Attending continuing education seminars and workshops * Learning to develop culturally relevant and appropriate programs, materials, and interventions * Learning to evaluate culturally relevant and appropriate programs, materials, and interventions * Ongoing evaluation of personal feelings and reactions Overcoming fears, personal biases, stereotypes, and prejudices *Developing and implementing a st rategy to recruit, retain, and promote qualified, diverse, and culturally competent administrative, and support staff * Promoting and supporting the necessary attitudes, behaviors, knowledge, and skills for staff to work respectfully and effectively with patients and each other in a culturally diverse work environment * Developing a comprehensive strategy to address culturally and linguistically appropriate services, including strategic goals, plans, policies, and procedures * Hiring and training interpreters and bilingual staff Providing a bilingual staff or free interpretation services to customers and employees with limited English skills * Translating and making available commonly used educational materials in different languages * Developing structures and procedures to address cross-cultural ethical and legal conflicts, complaints, or grievances. While cultural competence has increased significantly, there is still much to be done on the personal, organizational, and societal levels. Education and training to enhance the ability of a culturally effective leader must be integrated into lifelong learning.Through these activities, current and future leaders will be prepared to meet the needs of cultures from across the street and around the world. Conclusion In conclusion, globalization through the fast food industry has allowed the west to develop in other countries. McDonalds has been a dominating force in the immergence of western culture. The globalization within the food industry is not always received warmly by everyone in other nations. The fast food industry offers food items that change or may violate religious or cultural beliefs.However, McDonald’s has taken extreme efforts to develop a corporation that offers education and training to all of the employees. This training gives each restaurant the opportunity to develop within the five stage model utilized for leadership. By allowing restaurants to be locally owned by other nations through franchising allows for community owned companies. This thus allows them to drive changes in the menu to support the traditions and religious beliefs. With local owned restaurants it’s difficult to believe that there would be any resistance through anti-globalization.Anti-globalization only impedes global progress and can cause significant economic issues. McDonalds as a global leader has been successful in the development of its staff and support in the community.References | | Kaye, B and Jordon-Evans (1997) Love’em or Lose’em: Getting Good People to Stay O’Hagan, K. (2007) â€Å"Social Work Practice: â€Å"A Practical Guide for Professionals. † Jessica Kinglsey Publishers, 15 – 19 Northouse, P. (2007) Leadership Theory and Practice Sage Publications. Hodgetts, R. , Luthans, F. Doh, J (2006) â€Å"International Management† Culture, Strategy, and Behavior. | | Quinn, R. (1996) Deep Change: Discovering the Leader Within Taylor, J. ;am p; Riess, M. (1989). A field experiment of â€Å"self-serving† attributions to valenced causal factors. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 15, 337-348. Leslie, J. Velsor, E (1996) A Center for Creative Leadership: a Look at Derailment Today: North America and Europe Mann, R. D. (1959). A review of the relationships between personality and performance in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 56, 241-270. Ekvall, G. , ;amp; Arvonen, J. (1994). Leadership profiles, situation and effectiveness. Creativity and Innovation Management, 3, 139-161. McCall, M. W.. , Jr. ;amp; Lambardo, M. M. (1983). Off the track: Why and how successful executives get derailed. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Leadership. Eric Schlosser (2002). Fast Food Nation American Academy of Pediatrics (1999). â€Å"Culturally Effective Pediatric Care: Education and Training Issues. † Pediatrics 103:167–170. Chin, Jean Lauu (2000). Culturally Competent Health Care. † Public Health Report 115:25–33 Kumanyika, Shiriki, and Morssink, Christian (1999). â€Å"Working Effectively in Cross-Cultural and Multicultural Settings. † In Nutrition and the Community, 4th edition, ed. Anita Owen, Patricia Splett, and George Owen. Boston: WCB McGraw-Hill. Internet Resource Office of Minority Health. â€Å"Assuring Cultural Competence in Health Care: Recommendations for National Standards and an Outcomes-Focused Research Agenda. † Available from <http://www. omhrc. gov/clas>

Fast Food By Eric Schlosser - 933 Words

Specter uses outside sources such as, Eric Schlosser who wrote Fast-food Nation in 2001. By including outside sources Specter is able to credit his information and make sure that he has accurate and compelling information. To provide even more accuracy, he even includes quotes from other authors such as this quote, â€Å"In 2012, companies produced enough regular soda to supply every single person in America, regardless of age, with nearly thirty gallons,’’ from Marion Nestle who the recently published book Soda Politics. He selects to express information about both classic fast food and new healthy fast food in order for the reader to understand both sides of the spectrum. As for public affairs, Specter also makes sure to incorporate important facts into this article to credit his argument that obesity is prevalent in America. Specter states that, â€Å"People throughout the world are getting fatter† (Specter, 1). This is an important issue that needs to be sto pped. By creating healthy fast food, America is working toward addressing obesity and increasing alternative options to food places such as Burger King and McDonalds. America has seen the largest rate of â€Å"globesity,† the World Health Organization refers to the epidemic as the growing obesity rate in America (Bentley, 1). In the United States, per-capita calorie consumption rose from 2,109 calories a day in 1970 to 2,568 calories in 2010, according to the Department of Agriculture. While, the average man today weighs a hundredShow MoreRelatedFast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser957 Words   |  4 PagesFast Food Nation Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser was overall an alarmingly convincing tale. Schlosser’s ability to subtly drop facts regarding the negative aspects of the fast food industry that so profoundly swayed the reader wa extremely effective. Schlosser did not come out and state his opinion bluntly at any time throughout the novel. Instead, he would incorporate the right facts here and there to persuade the reader to feel the same way about the fast food industry that he felt: negativelyRead MoreFast Food Nation By Eric Schlosser1678 Words   |  7 Pagestougher food safety laws, it should protect American workers from serious harm, it should fight against dangerous concentrations of economic power (Schlosser). People must wonder how is it that a fast food company has so much customers. Advertising is the answer. The power advertisers have to be able to influence so many people s decisions and affect people’s lives especially the lives of young children is incredible. Adver tisers know just who to target and they research how too. In Eric Schlosser’sRead MoreFast Food Nation By Eric Schlosser865 Words   |  4 Pagesspent on food to support a family. In the book Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser he talks about how fast food affects American Society. He talks about how much money is spent on fast food, which is $110 billion dollars. Eric Schlosser says that many Americans spend more money on fast food then they do on cars and education. He mentions many food companies such as McDonalds, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and how it can be â€Å"the world’s largest provider of death care services†.(Schlosser 5) In Fast Food NationRead MoreFast Food Nation By Eric Schlosser1253 Words   |  6 Pagesand shipping ports. Cattle and other livestock arrived by railroad. After the animals were slaughtered, they would be shipped to meat counters around the country and overseas. In his book Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser writes about the changes in the meatpacking industry. Among those changes, Schlosser explains, Iowa Beef Packers (IBP) changed the entire meatpacking industry by turning the business of slaughtering animals into an assembly line. Meatpacking no longer requires skilled workersRead MoreFast Food Nation By Eric Schlosser1596 Words   |  7 Pagesby consumerism and big business. Companies selling cheap food and cheap goods are scattered across the nation in every state and town. This is Eric Schlosser’s main topic in his novel Fast Food Nation. From telling the start of the first fast food restaurants in America, to explaining how the food is made, Schlosser s covers the whole history of the world wide food phenomenon. Eric Schlosser is an American journalist and Author of Fast Food Nation. He was born in Manhattan, New York, but grew upRead MoreFast Food Industry By Eric Schlosser3535 Words   |  15 PagesEstrella Introduction 1. Eric Schlosser chose the topic of fast food industry because he became quite inspired after reading an article about illegal immigrants in a strawberry field and how they a suffered in the process. The article was based on an investigation that was placed on the fields while they worked. It was also based on the immense impact that this industry had on society. Schlosser wanted to as said in his book â€Å"shed light† to the world on how successful hard working industry worksRead MoreFast Food Nation By Eric Schlosser848 Words   |  4 PagesLAST THREE DECADES, fast food has infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society†, Schlosser writes. Fast Food Nation, written by Eric Schlosser, includes topics about fast food chains impact on the community, jobs relating to fast food, and health issues. Fast Food Nation uses logic to appeal to the aspects of fast food chains by giving relatable examples from the devastating effects on the communities to the millions of jobs offered for our country. Moreover, fast food chains have contributedRead MoreFast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser Essay1928 Words   |  8 Pagesmost shocking books of the generation is Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation. The novel includes two sections, The American Way and Meat and Potatoes,† that aid him in describing the history and people who have helped shape up the basics of the â€Å"McWorld.† Fast Food Nation jumps into action at the beginning of the novel with a discussion of Carl N. Karcher and the McDonald’s brothers. He explores their roles as â€Å"Gods† of the fast-food industry. Schlosser then visits Colorado Springs and investigatesRead MoreFast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser Essay1205 Words   |  5 Pagesto make then at first glance. Eric Schlosser’s book Fast Food Nation delves deep into the intricate workings of the fast food industry to expose mistreatment and cruelty towards workers in the business, just as Upton S inclair had done in the early 1900’s regarding the meat packing industry. Schlosser is able to bring light to the darkness behind the All-American meal through extensive research and personal confrontations of which he has high regards for. Fast Food Nation is a good literary nonfictionRead MoreAs Eric Schlosser Once Stated In An Interview, â€Å"Fast Food1053 Words   |  5 PagesAs Eric Schlosser once stated in an interview, â€Å"Fast food is popular because it’s convenient, it’s cheap, and it tastes good. But the real cost of eating fast food never appears on the menu.† (Interview with Eric Schlosser, 2017, Q3). Fast food is very popular around the world and has been around for a very long time, but the question that should be asked is, is fast food hurting Americans or helping them? The history of fast food did not start at the same point in time as the history of McDonald’s