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First-time jobless claims at highest level in two years (Thursday, 11/30/00)
The number of Americans seeking first-time unemployment benefits has increased for two weeks in a row, hitting its highest level in two years last week. Also, personal incomes were down in October, according to new Commerce Department data, in part because of diminished farm subsidy payments. Ron Scherer of the Christian Science Monitor has more on the sharp downturn in overall economic growth during the third quarter, suggesting that the manufacturing sector is likely to begin hurting a bit, among others. Martin Crutsinger says that experts are hoping for a soft landing, not a recession. How recent it was that we were all worrying that the American economy was too hot and growing too fast. Is an interest rate decrease under consideration at the Federal Reserve?

Japan tries to help its homeless (Thursday, 11/30/00)
One of the consequences of Japan's sluggish economy over the past decade has been an increase in its homeless population, J. L. Hazelton reports from Tokyo on plans for building homeless shelters.

Settlement reached in World War II slavery case (Thursday, 11/30/00)
During the past several years, much attention has been focused on issues relating to the compensation of Nazi-era slaves in Europe. Another case in Japan brought on behalf of nearly a thousand Chinese persons who were forced to work as slaves has reached a settlement and it could establish precedent for dozens of similar cases.

Papers begin to hire replacement workers (Thursday, 11/30/00)
Seattle's two big dailies are beginning to hire replacements for its striking workers in an effort to keep the presses rolling.

No, no, no, we don't go slow (Thursday, 11/30/00)
Northwest Airlines has accused its mechanics of engaging in work slowdown in order to put pressure on the company, but the mechancis are denying it.

The state of higher education, by state (Thursday, 11/30/00)
State-by-state comparisons were made in a new study conducted by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

Clinton sets out to boost trade with Chile (Thursday, 11/30/00)
Yesterday, President Clinton announced that the U.S. intends to conduct free-trade talks with Chile. Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that there appears to be a growing exodus from some Latin American countries, and it isn't just the poor who are trying to get out and move elsewhere.

Commission expected to call for continued farm subsidies (Thursday, 11/30/00)
Many people, including many who work in Congress, seemed to be a bit too optimistic about what it would take to keep the American agricultural sector functioning when agriculture was deregulated in 1996 with the Freedom to Farm Act. Subsidies are costing twice as much as expected then, and a commission charged with the task of advising future farm policy is expected to call for "more of the same" deep into the 21st century.

More on what's legal in civilian life but illegal in the military (Thursday, 11/30/00)
Consensual affairs between U.S. military officers may be against the law. Here's more from today's Washington Post.

Some headhunters change their job descriptions (Thursday, 11/30/00)
Two firms that have been in the business of finding executives for technology companies are also intending to offer venture capital services, according to CNET News.

CNN employees think about the value of their jobs (Thursday, 11/30/00)
...Their value to CNN, that is. The company has announced that there will be some "aggressive" changes at the big 24-hour cable television news operation. Ratings have been suffering, at least before electoral mess hit Florida, and CNN's parent company is preparing to merge with American Online. Possible layoffs are on the minds of many.

More Internet layoffs (Thursday, 11/30/00)
Gary Gentile reports from Los Angeles on job cuts at a major entertainment web site, while columnist Diane Stafford reports that, even though workers are still moving from more traditional companies to Internet companies, they're meeting a lot of people who are trying to find their way back. Also, Matt Beer of Agence France-Presse reports on the growing labor movement in dot-com companies.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Theory X and Theory Y (Thursday, 11/30/00)
Forty years ago, famed MIT professor Douglas McGregor introduced his "theory X and theory Y" ideas to the practice of management. These represent different sets of attitudes or assumptions on which managers can base their approach to dealing with their employees. McGregor's thinking was much influenced by Abraham Maslow's "hierarchy of needs," probably the best-known and most influential model of human motivation, at least in business settings. Here's more about Douglas McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y from Brunel University in London.

American economy grows at slowest rate in four years (Wednesday, 11/29/00)
The United States Department of Commerce reports that the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 2.4 percent during the third quarter.

No news isn't good news (Wednesday, 11/29/00)
There's not much new to report in the Seattle newspaper strike and no new talks are scheduled, according to a federal mediator. Also from Seattle, Dean Paton of the Christian Science Monitor reports on a feature of the new economy that isn't talked about a great deal. Even large numbers of working people are homeless, he says, and he explains why. A new study also finds a widening of the rich-poor gap in the District of Columbia area.

Fox promises a million new jobs each year (Wednesday, 11/29/00)
Mexico's economy is in somewhat better shape than usual, but there are still enormous numbers of people living in poverty who have largely given up on the idea of finding good jobs in their own country. However, Vicente Fox has different expectations, according to this story from Trace Carl. He has very ambitious plans for his country's economy. He takes office on Friday.

Hot Irish economy threatened (Wednesday, 11/29/00)
Strikes have spread across Ireland, and, as Keith Weir reports from Dublin, people who want to benefit more from the strong Irish economy could be putting the breaks on.

Improved disability benefits in India (Wednesday, 11/29/00)
India's Parliament has passed the new Workmen Compensation bill which would increase compensation in case of permanent disability or death on the job. Here's from from New Dehli in The Hindu.

New report casts doubt on Australia's "work-for-the-dole" program (Wednesday, 11/29/00)
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that research from the Australian Council of Social Service finds that the program is doing more poorly in getting people into jobs than the program it replaced.

Union vote may set precedent (Wednesday, 11/29/00)
Troy Wolverton of CNET News reports that a likely union vote at Etown.com will be one of the first at an Internet company, and could set an important precedent for the Internet sector.

Hair salon work hazards (Wednesday, 11/29/00)
Workers in hair salons are exposed to chemicals on a daily basis that could put their health at risk, according to new research from Boston University. Hospital workers face hazards too, according to Canadian researchers. Because of ventilation problems, your hospital could be a good place to pick up tuberculosis if you work there every day.

Big Internet consulting firm won't be quite as big from now on (Wednesday, 11/29/00)
iXL Enterprises needs a turnaround, and cutting 850 jobs is part of their plan.

U.S. government bans import of clothing from a Chinese-owned factory (Wednesday, 11/29/00)
The reason is that the Mongolian factory uses child labor under conditions of near-slavery. Here's more from the New York Times story coming to you this time in the Houston Chronicle. However, it appears that there is abuse of workers in the U.S. too. Deborah Frazier of the Rocky Mountain News reports that court documents show that foreign sheepherders have been abused on a Colorado ranch.

Can employers be sued for misrepresenting a worker's job status? (Wednesday, 11/29/00)
The Wisconsin Supreme Court is considering what has come to be known as the "Seinfeld case."

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: CyberU (Wednesday, 11/29/00)
CyberU offers access to corporate education programs online.

Will Fox be able to speed up the Mexican economy? (Tuesday, 11/28/00)
Vicente Fox already has made Mexican political history. Will he be able to make economic history too? There are few countries in the world that share a common border where the economic contrast is so great as that between Mexico and the United States. Mexico's new president has vowed to fix that. He would also like to see open borders between the U.S. and Mexico. If the Mexican standard of living were more similar to that in the United States and jobs were plentiful below the border, many Mexicans would prefer to stay home, rather than seeking opportunity in the U.S. However, the American economy needs Mexican workers, and many American employers secretly prefer that the workers on whom they depend remain illegal immigrants, because it saves them money in a variety of ways, including taxes they would otherwise have to pay for legal workers. Fox regards this as an example of corruption. Incidentally, Vicente Fox is fully fluent in English and used to be a top Coca Cola executive. In related news, Brian Melley reports that California farm workers, many of whom are Mexican, are in poor health and lack access to medical or dental care, according to a new study sponsored by the California Endowment.

More workplace violence (Tuesday, 11/28/00)
A Mississippi factor worker has killed two persons in addition to himself.

Quite a lot about one of the Clinton administration's favorite Republicans (Tuesday, 11/28/00)
Here are reviews from Business Week of two new books about Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

Cuts at Kellogg (Tuesday, 11/28/00)
Kellogg, perhaps most famous for its cereals, is restructuring and will cut between 200 and 300 jobs. Also, ReplayTV is also cutting jobs, in this case, about half of its workforce. ReplayTV and TiVo have been offering their versions of a new use of computer technology which could eventually largely supplant the home VCR. However, competition will be heating up, so ReplayTV has decided to shift to an alternative business model.

Switzerland's richest have gotten richer (Tuesday, 11/28/00)
The 300 wealthiest persons Switzerland have seen their collective wealth increase by $25 billion this year, according to Agence France-Presse.

Are Delta pilots less reluctant to work overtime now? (Tuesday, 11/28/00)
Following a major drop in pilot overtime presumably related to edgy contract negotiations, Delta Airlines says that overtime requests have increased again.

If you know how to drill for oil, somebody's looking for you (Tuesday, 11/28/00)
Kris Axtman of the Christian Science Monitor tells about another worker shortage--this time in the American oil industry.

Cyncism may be about to go out of fashion (Tuesday, 11/28/00)
In order for society to work, somebody probably has to be able to trust somebody. A new Gallup poll finds that many Americans really do seem to want to be able to trust others, and most admire persons in those professions that appear to put the interests of others ahead of their own.

Outsourcing continues to be a major trend in the new economy (Tuesday, 11/28/00)
Columnist Diane Stafford reports that many companies prefer to contract out work that used to be done in-house.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: On the future "just-in-time" workforce (Tuesday, 11/28/00)
Bruce Tulgan writes a lot about his generation, which is Generation X. Here's what he has to say about the just-in-time workforce of the future.

New reports expected to help confirm the slowing of the American economy (Monday, 11/27/00)
Columnist Jerry Heaster tells what to expect Thursday's government reports to say and what they will mean.

High court to clarify some healthcare rules (Monday, 11/27/00)
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that is likely to clarify the conditions under which health plans can sue to enforce its rules. A company claims it can sue an injured workers to recover benefits because he was paid from another source. Speaking of recovering funds, Israel's Defense Ministry has discovered that hundreds of employees have been overpaid for many years, and the Ministry wants the money back. Here's more from Haim Bior of Ha'aretz.

Seattle paper requests more police (Monday, 11/27/00)
The Seattle Times says more police protection is required in order to maintain the calm at one of its printing plants. Workers are on strike at the two big Seattle dailies.

Economic distress returns to South Korea (Monday, 11/27/00)
South Korea's economy seemed to be recovering quite nicely from the "Asian contagion" of a few years ago. But, as Paul Shin reports from Seoul, there are multiple disquieting signs of more economic distress.

How to find flexibility (Monday, 11/27/00)
Flexibility is valued in the new economy. Employers want it, and workers want it. Husband-wife team Tara Parker-Pope and Kyle Pope of the Wall Street Journal have some suggestions on how to get it. Also, today's edition of the Journal contains of the those special sections. This time it's about the Internet and how to use it to do many of the things you want to do, such as paying bills, getting advice, planning a vacation, and so on.

Top-ten list in South Africa (Monday, 11/27/00)
Sasha Planting of the Financial Mail has one firm's list of the best companies to work for in South Africa and what makes them so great.

'Tis the season to search for workers, fa-la-la, la-la-la-la (Monday, 11/27/00)
Melissa Levy reports that the scramble is on for holiday retail workers, and you may be able to be a Santa if you want. Employers are having to be quite generous if they want to move the merchandise off the shelves.

A special school intends to help people get off the streets (Monday, 11/27/00)
Once you're homeless, it's hard to get a foothold again. For instance, even if you can get a job interview, where do you clean up? What do you use for an address? Also, even if you were a worker before falling on hard times, your skills may have become obsolete. Daniel Wood of the Christian Science Monitor tells about an effort to help with the last of these problems.

Entrepreneurial skills and management skills are often quite different (Monday, 11/27/00)
Frequently, it takes one kind of person to create a new business and a different kind to keep it going once it's established. Terri Baumgardner of the Kansas City Star tells about entrepreneurs who are trying to become competent managers and the courses they're taking to help with the transition.

A woman's place is in the home...office (Monday, 11/27/00)
Women have managed to make some gains in corporate executive suites, but, according to a new study from Catalyst, few are sent to overseas positions.

Who's looking through the ceiling? (Monday, 11/27/00)
Much has been written about "glass ceilings" limiting women in business. However, as Hideki Tokieda reports in Asahi Shimbun, older workers are also bumping up against a glass ceiling in Japan when it comes to pay.

"Wild horses couldn't tear me away from this job" (Monday, 11/27/00)
Some prison inmates are preparing for a future on the other side of the bars by learning how to train wild horses. If you're intrigued about the connection...as well as the interesting possibilities for the inmates as well as other people, and the horses of course...here's the Washington Post story.

Corporate culture czars and czarinas (Monday, 11/27/00)
Some companies have a full-time person whose job it is to help workers fit in and get along, because, in an information economy, human resources are particularly important, and, in the current labor market, not necessarily easy to attract and hold.

The bottom line: get higher-level skills if you can (Monday, 11/27/00)
Joel Dresang of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writes that a new survey conducted by a nonprofit organization shows that the poorly skilled and inexperienced have benefited from the strong Wisconsin economy, but their long-term future remains fairly bleak. The things that the new economy most wants done and wants to pay well for require skills that require preparation and development, so, if you're only able to do the things that just about anybody can do, you're not going to be in much demand. In Australia, a strong economy has included productivity increases, but, as Tom Allard reports for the Sydney Morning Herald, the payoffs, as one might expect, have been distributed unevenly.

Less would be better (Monday, 11/27/00)
On average, Europeans work fewer hours than Americans, but many would like to reduce their work weeks even further, according to a new report from the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. Padraig Yeates has the story for the Irish Times.

Pittsburgh paper favors new ergonomics rules (Monday, 11/27/00)
Here's what the editorial writers at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about the Clinton administration's new rules intended to help prevent repetitive-stress injuries on the job.

Hopping may no longer be held against you (Monday, 11/27/00)
Charlene Oldham of the Dallas Morning News says a tight labor market is meaning that many employers are having to change their attitude about "job hoppers." Some of the same forces are driving pay for internships up too, according to Bob Weinstein of the Chicago Sun-Times, particularly in technical fields.

What to do about employee theft? (Monday, 11/27/00)
Dan Rafter of the Chicago Tribune says that internal pilferage costs American business billions of dollars each year. Workers are stealing time as well as money.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Gotajob.com (Monday, 11/27/00)
Gotajob.com is one of hundreds if not thousands of job sites on the Internet, but it may be of particular interest to young workers seeking part-time or entry-level positions. Almost 140,000 jobs are listed.

Major airlines canceling holiday flights because of labor conflicts (Wednesday, 11/22/00)
Even restraining orders have not enabled three of the largest airlines in the U.S. to maintain regular flight schedules. United and Northwest are in conflict with their mechanics, while Delta is still getting resistance from some of its pilots.

Ford and the UAW to establish "family centers" (Wednesday, 11/22/00)
The joint project is intended to help Ford employees cope with their family responsibilities, including the care of their children. Columnist Susan Tompor of one of Detroit's big hometown papers has more about what it will all mean to working parents and their families.

Seattle papers still publishing, but... (Wednesday, 11/22/00)
Hundreds of people needed to keep Seattle's two big dailies operating normally have gone out on strike, and the papers are trying to cope without shutting down entirely. Here's more from Janie McCauley. Far to the south, the San Francisco Examiner ends a 113-year run and hundreds of its employees are trying to get used to the idea of working on the long-time rival San Francisco Chronicle.

UFW ends 16-year boycott of California grapes (Wednesday, 11/22/00)
Cesar Chavez, who co-founded the United Farm Workers, called the boycott in 1984.

Teacher mentoring is a good idea that can be hard to pull off effectively (Wednesday, 11/22/00)
Anemona Hartocollis of the New York Times writes about efforts to bridge the generation gap in the Big City's schools so that younger teachers can benefit from the experience of the older ones.

Attracting California teens, or, at least, trying to (Wednesday, 11/22/00)
California's fast-food establishments are jumping through hoops in an effort to attract and hold a sufficient number of young workers, and these are not the only types of businesses that are having this problem. Even California's huge entertainment industry is struggling to find enough teens, according to Jennifer Pendleton of the Los Angeles Times. One reason might be a program that helps young people learn how to become entrepreneurs, rather than working for somebody else, and Karen Robinson-Jacobs has more about that.

Canadian province moves to reform how its Workers' Compensation Board works (Wednesday, 11/22/00)
However, despite assurances from Premier Ralph Klein, injured workers are skeptical, according to Ashley Geddes of the Edmonton Journal.

First-time jobless claims up (Wednesday, 11/22/00)
Here's more from the Washington Post on the latest employment data from the Labor Department.

When's a good time to tell your boss that you're pregnant? (Wednesday, 11/22/00)
Experts say that you're under no legal obligation to tell your boss at all. The only relevant question is whether or not you'll be able to continue doing your job, and, for many, pregnancy doesn't affect availability or performance. Columnist Kenneth Bredemeier passes on some advice to a correspondent who seems to be troubled by the question.

Better to have workers part of the time than none of the time (Wednesday, 11/22/00)
Among the non-traditional incentives being offered by employers in a very tight labor market is generous time off, according to Stephanie Armour of USA Today. In South Korea, many people are having to agonize over whether it's better to lose some jobs or lose them all. South Korea's President is trying to help in the effort to persuade Daewoo Motor Company's labor union to accept some layoffs, claiming the company cannot survive without them.

The importance of people skills, even in Silicon Valley (Wednesday, 11/22/00)
The new hi-tech information economy greatly values technical skills and seems to be short of them. However, there may be an even greater shortage of the non-technical work skills, particularly those necessary for working effectively with other people. Margaret Steen has the whole story in the San Jose Mercury News.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Employee Benefits Survey (Wednesday, 11/22/00)
Here's a great deal of data on employee benefit plans from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, United States Department of Labor.

Newspaper strike in Seattle (Tuesday, 11/21/00)
As feared, Seattle's two big dailies have been hit by a walkout.

Northwest attempts to head off its mechanics (Tuesday, 11/21/00)
Company management has indicated that it feels that its mechanics already have engaged in a deliberate work slowdown, and fear that more actions will come during the holiday travel season in order to put pressure on the company during negotiations. Northwest has requested and received a restraining order from a U.S. District Court.

Slavery in Europe (Tuesday, 11/21/00)
The more innocent among us might be willing to assume that slavery, which supported economies from classical times, is only of historical interest now. For instance, race-based slavery finally disappeared during the 19th century, didn't it? The protracted haggling over terms for compensating Nazi-era slaves is enough to remind us that involuntary servitude was also a prominent feature of the 20th century, and it threatens to be one of the world's most agonizing problems during the 21st century as well. For instance, many Europeans are just now becoming aware of the excruciating conditions under which many people work in European sweatshops.

Obstacles to Asia's intended great leap into the new information economy (Tuesday, 11/21/00)
Asian leaders know what needs to be done in order to carve out secure niches in the new global tech-driven economy, but there are problems to overcome before it can happen.

Not only becoming president, but also being president may be a little less fun for the next one (Tuesday, 11/21/00)
Business Week examines the implications of a slowing economic expansion for the next President of the United States. Not a recession, necessarily, although four years is quite a long time, so that cannot be ruled out. Far more certain is an American economy that is likely to expand at a reduced rate.

The "thin blue line" has gotten thinner (Tuesday, 11/21/00)
A tight labor market has meant too few police recruits, and, as Kevin Johnson of USA Today reports, many of the people who are available are ones police departments would prefer not to have don the uniform.

Poverty is a known risk factor for many of life's ills. Is affluence a risk factor too? (Tuesday, 11/21/00)
If you assume that prosperity is the solution for all of life's important problems, you might want to read Dinesh D'Souza's new book, The Virtue of Prosperity: Finding Values in an Age of Techno-Affluence. Here's a review.

Now that you've gotten used to the new industrial revolution, get ready for the NEWER industrial revolution, and, then, for the one after that (Tuesday, 11/21/00)
Economic transformations of truly historic proportions used to happen every several thousand years, then every several hundred. Are we down to decades now, and how long before there will be only a few years between the economic and technological tidal waves? It's time to get ready for the impact of nanotechnology coming very soon to a world near you.

Why organized labor may benefit from D. C. gridlock (Tuesday, 11/21/00)
A while back, if you told Labor that a Republican-dominated Congress might be accompanied by a Republican administration, there might have been quite a lot of moaning among organized labor's leaders. Not so much now, though, and here's why.

Which state is almost number 1 in factory jobs? (Tuesday, 11/21/00)
Not Michigan, not Ohio, not any of the other old industrial states. According to the latest data from the Labor Department, Texas is number two in factory employment.

Save for college and get a break on your taxes (Tuesday, 11/21/00)
Detroit Free Press columnist Susan Tompor tells about Michigan's new Education Savings Program.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Development Assistance (Tuesday, 11/21/00)
Japan has been the focus of much attention in recent years, because its role as "post-war miracle" has receded ever more deeply into history. The Japanese economy is still struggling to recover from its worst recession since the devastation of World War II. Nonetheless, the issues are relative. Japan still has the world's third-largest economy, and is more than twice as large as all of the other Asian economies combined. So, despite its own troubles, Japan provides considerable assistance to developing countries. Here's information about developmental assistance from the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Truckers protest fuel prices in Australia (Monday, 11/20/00)
What has happened recently in Britain as well as various continental European countries is happening in Australia. Fuel prices have truckers upset to the point of setting up blockades.

The increasingly gloomy world of low tech (Monday, 11/20/00)
People who lack hi-tech skills are at a particular disadvantage in Silicon Valley where the cost of living has gone sky-high, but the skills gap is making things hard for a lot of people in other regions too. Here's some of what's happening in the Seattle area, according to Susan Gilmore and David Heath.

Another American industry that depends on foreign workers (Monday, 11/20/00)
In this case, a lot of people have to get used to winter which, to them, should be summer. Carlos Alcala of the Sacramento Bee writes about workers from the southern hemisphere who work at American ski resorts.

Manpower survey finds labor market still tight (Monday, 11/20/00)
The American economy has been slowing a bit, but workers are still in great demand. A new Manpower, Inc. survey finds that many employers expect to be hiring through the next quarter, at least. Joel Dresang of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has additional details.

The hard job of getting Japanese workers to stay home (Monday, 11/20/00)
Some changes appear to have occurred in the Japanese work culture during recent years, but it's still difficult to get Japanese workers to take the time off that they have coming. Here's more from Chikako Mogi who reports from Tokyo. Americans tend to have less resistance along these lines, but are still working longer hours than only a few years ago. The big push now is to find ways to balance work with other life responsibilities, and Margaret Steen reports that more and more employers are finding that it can be good business to make it easier for employees to do that.

Financial advice for the little ones (Monday, 11/20/00)
Steve Rosen tells about a grandfather's new booklet called Minding Your Money: Advice for Tots and Teens.

Workers in the benefits squeeze (Monday, 11/20/00)
Many Arizona workers will find their share of the cost of benefits will go up quite a lot during the next year, something that is happening in other regions as well. Here's more from Della de Lafuente of the Arizona Republic.

Not your typical community college major (Monday, 11/20/00)
Here's Edward Wong's story about Mercer County Community College's program that trains students to provide funeral services.

Whoops! Job applicants' confidential information compromised (Monday, 11/20/00)
A jobs site accidentally included information on how to access confidential information provided by job applicants. The site has been shut down, according to Tokyo's Asahi Shimbun.

Woodward and Greenspan (Monday, 11/20/00)
No, it's not a new team. Instead, the famed journalist has written a book about the famed saxophone player and Fed head. Bob Woodward isn't the only one who is impressed with the job that Alan Greenspan has done in helping to create America's longest economic expansion, but he may be the only one who has written a new book about it. Woodward is Assistant Managing Editor of the Washington Post. Given his thousand-feet-high stature at the paper, why is he an "assistant?" Because, if he were Managing Editor, he'd really have to spend his time each day actually being managing editor. Instead, his current title means that he can do whatever he wants with his time, which means being a regular on all the big-time talk shows and writing excellent books. His latest about Alan Greenspan is being serialized in his paper. Here are Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

Getting good at the "salary poker" game (Monday, 11/20/00)
Like regular poker, it can involve bluffing and other tricks. Interviewers tend to be proficient at it, and here's how you can level the playing field a bit in relation to salary issues.

What will it take to pump up Lebanon's economy? (Monday, 11/20/00)
Tech training will have to be given high priority, according to a new government report. Here's more from Lebanon's Daily Star.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Principles of Health Economics for Developing Countries (Monday, 11/20/00)
Given the new global economy's growing have vs. have not gap, many underdeveloped countries can use some good news. The World Bank Institute reports that there have been significant improvements in health during the past half-century. Here's their textbook on such topics, Principles of Health Economics for Developing Countries.

Yet another sign of an evaporating American core consensus? (Sunday, 11/19/00)
David Cay Johnston of the New York Times reports that a growing number of American businesses are no longer withholding taxes for their employees and are telling workers that only a few Americans are required to pay income taxes, and it doesn't include them. Similar ideas have arisen on the fringes of American society in past years, but now they may be moving into the mainstream.

Along somewhat similar lines, if you believe that, given the current electoral mess in Florida, the most important issue is which of those two guys becomes president, you're not using your imagination. The Constitution "works," not because it is written on a piece of parchment in the National Archives, but because large numbers of Americans carry critical parts of it around in their heads and allow these parts to influence their interpretations of things. Political stability depends, in large part, on a shared sense of legitimacy, and, in politics, to a very large extent, perceived legitimacy IS legitimacy.

In our view, the fundamental core consensus that has given America political stability that has been the envy of the world for two centuries is in jeopardy. The stakes have been raised enormously, and we may very well be entering a destabilizing period, unique in American history, which could make virtually all things possible. To defuse a very dangerous situation and give us time to fix things may require either that Gore win because of the absentee ballots (highly unlikely at this point) or that Bush win because of the hand-counted ballots in the contested counties.

Hassassment suit settled at Ford (Sunday, 11/19/00)
Ford Motor Company will pay $9 million to settle two class-action suits brought against the company by female workers at two Chicago-area plants, according to a report from the Chicago Tribune.

Child poverty addressed at Panama City summit (Sunday, 11/19/00)
Nearly two-thirds of the 200 million children across a region occupied by 21 countries represented at the 10th Ibero-American in Panama City live in poverty, according to presentations at the meeting. Tim Gaynor reports that delegates hope to reach agreement on what to do about it. Another international conference has been going on in Cincinnati, and protesters have been arrested.

Private university presidents get a raise (Sunday, 11/19/00)
Salaries are up among the people who head privately-funded universities, according to a new survey published in the Chronicle of Higher Education. However, the highest-paid university chief executive does not lead a private school. She is Judith Rodin, president of the University of Pennsylvania, the first woman to head an "Ivy-League" institution, and she was paid $655,557 for the 1998-1999 year.

There may be strikes at the big Seattle newspapers very soon (Sunday, 11/19/00)
Negotiations are underway again following rejection of a contract proposal Friday by a Teamsters local and talks are scheduled for today between representatives of the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild. Picketing by one union could begin late tonight and another has set Tuesday as its strike deadline. Optimism that strikes can be averted is only guarded.

Thousands of steel workers laid off (Sunday, 11/19/00)
Weirton Steel Corporation has temporarily laid off 3,200 people in a community of 22,124 in West Virginia for the Thanksgiving week.

Chrysler braces for layoffs (Sunday, 11/19/00)
Chrysler has a new boss, and, as Jeffrey McCracken of the Detroit Free Press reports, his intentions are fairly clear: cut costs, and that means cutting jobs.

The growing argument over musculoskeletal disorders (Sunday, 11/19/00)
Hal Mattern writes in today's Arizona Republic that many workers agree that repetitive stress injuries and other job-related disorders are common features of the new economy. After ten years of development, new ergonomics regulations have been issued by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and business groups have already filed suits to block them.

Use of the Internet for personal purposes can contribute to workplace productivity (Sunday, 11/19/00)
A growing number of employers are coming to believe that it is in their enlightened self-interest to allow employees to use company access to the Internet to handle personal and family tasks. It's good for productivity, they say. Here's more from the Cox New Service.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Top Ten Technical Resume Writing Tips (Sunday, 11/19/00)
TAOS is a company specializing in SysAdmin staffing, particularly in UNIX and Windows environments, and they have some suggestions for you if you're trying to write your resume. Here are their Top Ten Technical Resume Writing Tips.

Fire kills night workers in South Africa (Saturday, 11/18/00)
Hannington Osodo reports from Johannesburg that 11 workers have died in a factory fire, and officials are investigating claims that they had been locked in the factory during their night shifts.

Expect the fight to continue in the courts, and we're not talking about the vote in Florida (Saturday, 11/18/00)
Steven Greenhouse of the New York Times reports that American business is heading into court in an all-out effort to overturn the Administration's new ergonomics rules.

Workers in the UK want their bosses to stay out of their email (Saturday, 11/18/00)
A new law in Britain gives employers broad access to employee email messages, and British unions would like to work out agreements with employers to more clearly define limitations.

Slow sales lead to layoffs at Bridgestone/Firestone (Saturday, 11/18/00)
It might not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Firestone's recent troubles, but tire sales have been sluggish, so production will be cut back, and 1,100 workers will be laid off.

Unionization attempt at Amazon.com (Saturday, 11/18/00)
Organized labor grew out of the Industrial Revolution and the old industrial economy. The new information economy provides a very different set of conditions, and, so far, unions have not made great inroads. In fact, the percentage of workers belonging to unions in America's private sector is far smaller than a half-century ago. If the current move to organize workers at Amazon.com, the huge but still unprofitable Internet retailer, it could give a major boost to the unionization of workers in the new economy overall.

The latest on the "contract worker" dodge (Saturday, 11/18/00)
Corporations in the new economy prefer the efficiencies and flexibility that can come from a "just-in-time" workforce, and the heavy use of temporary and contract workers is part of this. However, many temps and contract workers look very much like permanent employees, despite benefits to the employer of classifying them as temps. A number of suits during the past few years have claimed that this may be a fiction that denies persons who are employees in fact some of the rights of employees. Here's one of the latest such cases: Time Warner has agreed to settle by paying $5.5 million to people whom the Department of Labor has claimed were illegally denied pensions and health benefits.

Michigan's economy continues to create jobs in large numbers (Saturday, 11/18/00)
Not so many years ago, Michigan was one of the states regarded by many as part of the old "rust belt" with little future in the new economy. However, Alejandro Bodipo-Memba of the Detroit Free Press reports that, once again, popular expectations have not been fulfilled. A conference conducted at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor concluded yesterday with the forecast that more than 67,000 new jobs will be added to the Michigan economy during the next two years, which would continue nearly a decade of job growth.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Bureau of Transportation Statistics: Flight Delays (Saturday, 11/18/00)
If your immediate future will include either holiday or business travel, the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics page can help you assess the likelihood of flight delays.

Record settlement in bias case (Friday, 11/17/00)
Coca-Cola will settle a racial discrimination case by paying a record $192.5 million.

U.S. economic growth expected to continue for at least another couple of years (Friday, 11/17/00)
Expect a slower rate, though. Here's more from Alejandro Bodip-Memba of the Detroit Free Press.

Where micro loans seem to be changing lives (Friday, 11/17/00)
Senator-elect Hillary Clinton is visiting Vietnam with what's-his-name, and, as Robert Birsel reports from Phu Tang, she's finding women entrepreneurs who are making a difference for themselves and their families with the help of loans that wouldn't seem worth receiving in the rich countries of the world.

Analysis of Israel's labor market problems (Friday, 11/17/00)
Jonathan Lipow of the Jeruselum Post says that the rise in Israel's unemployment tells only a part of the story. It doesn't reflect the many people who aren't participating at all and who fall through the statistical cracks.

Is this nearly everybody's future? (Friday, 11/17/00)
Hi-tech is driving the strong American economy, and, as Andrew Quinn reports from San Francisco, hi-tech is also developing its own culture, and anthropologists are researching it.

"Merit pay" idea in education is gathering momentum (Friday, 11/17/00)
Anthony Lonetree reports for the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the idea of linking teacher pay to student performance is gaining in many regions, including parts of Minnesota.

Britannica still attempts to make it on the Internet (Friday, 11/17/00)
The Encyclopedia Britannica began publication during the century of both the American and French revolutions and has been at it ever since. However, during recent years, sales of its expensive, although extremely high-quality print edition, have plummeted. After several false starts, EB went electronic by putting the complete content of the print edition plus more on their web site without cost to readers. There has been a great deal of interest, but still no profitability, so Britannica.com will cut nearly a quarter of its workforce in an effort to become profitable quickly in order to survive in the new and less generous Internet financial climate. Job cuts have become common at dot-coms. For instance, TheStreet.com is cutting about 20 percent of its workforce and shutting down its operations in the United Kingdom. Bloomberg News reports that Internet companies have been going dark at the rate of about one per day recently, with retail sites being particularly hard hit. Incidentally, BraveNewWorkWorld & NewWork News are not in jeopardy, so we expect to be here for you for a very long time.

Some good reading for your career (Friday, 11/17/00)
You might be able to fill a small stadium with career books, but some are much better than others. For one thing, some appear to have been written by people who think it's still about 1975. At the very least, you will want guidance from authors who know something about the new economy and its requirements. Columnist L. M. Sixel has some suggestions of particular interest to students who are trying to find direction for themselves. You'll find help here in choosing a college major and mapping out a career path, as well as practical hints about how to go about it effectively.

Why American retailers are worried about the upcoming holiday shopping season (Friday, 11/17/00)
This time, the principal concern is not with sluggish sales, or, at least, with too few willing customers. Sales could turn out to be fairly sluggish simply because there may be no one behind the cash register to take consumers' money. Kathy Mulady of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports on how retailers are scampering with all their might to find enough holiday retail workers. There are other worker shortages in the American economy too, and not all are a consequence of the tight labor market. Larry Keller of CNN writes about the growing problem of absenteeism, as described in a new survey from CCH Incorporated. Knowing that employers need them, some workers seem to be getting a bit more casual about showing up when they simply don't feel like it.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Office.com (Friday, 11/17/00)
Office.com says it is all about using the Internet in your work.

Status report on women in the United States (Thursday, 11/16/00)
A report released yesterday from the Institute for Women's Policy Research suggests that women are making progress in the U.S., but change is still slow in most categories, and there is considerable variability across regions. For instance, Jennifer Hoyt reports that Texas women are at or below average on the criteria used in this research, while Conrad deFiebre writes that Minnesota women are doing better than average in most ways, except that they earn less than the national average for women.

Strike ends at Univision's top TV station (Thursday, 11/16/00)
A three-week strike has ended at Los Angeles' Spanish-language Channel 34, as agreement is reached on a new four-year contract.

Why United has been canceling so many flights (Thursday, 11/16/00)
Management at United Airlines says that mechanics have been conducting a slowdown that has been disrupting the big air carrier's operations, and that is illegal, they say.

Top correlate with hi-tech success (Thursday, 11/16/00)
Joel Garreau of the Washington Post writes about new research published in the Journal of the Population Association of America showing the strong correlation between the number of gays living in a community and that community's high-technology success. What's the connection? At the moment, nobody knows, but nearly everybody is surprised. Also, it remains to be seen whether the finding is firm and will be replicated by other research.

Stressed nurses in Japan (Thursday, 11/16/00)
A new report from the Japan Federation of Medical Workers Unions claims that Japan's nurses are greatly overworked, and that the stress has been making mistakes common. Among the people we probably don't want to hear saying "whoops" too often are health care workers. Also in Japan, Stephanie Strom reports that cultural changes are creating a more congenial climate for young entrepreneurs, and perhaps just in time, given the demands of the new economy in which Japan wants to play a key role.

The increasing shortage of top management talent (Thursday, 11/16/00)
If you think it's easy to run a large corporation and that nearly anybody can do it successfully, it will soon be your favorite time of year, because you must believe in Santa Claus too. Reed Abelson says that experts in the field are saying that really gifted top executives are few and far between, there aren't nearly enough of time to meet corporate needs, and companies aren't developing talent anywhere near fast enough. How can they speed of this process to better meet the challenges of the new economy?

Want a job for which there isn't much demand most of the year? (Thursday, 11/16/00)
The Denver Post's Andy Vuong writes about one of the most specialized schools anybody may be able to think of. It's the Professional Santa Claus School, and it's where you can learn to go "ho-ho-ho" and much more.

The opposite of a homogeneous workplace within the opposite of a homogeneous society (Thursday, 11/16/00)
Columnist Diane Stafford examines the impact of increased diversity on what may have been an old core consensus about what is proper behavior at work. As she points out, the American workplace has it all: hypersensitivity to the possibility of giving offense as well as plenty of behavior that gives offense. Meanwhile, in the larger society during recent years, we have been observing an uneasy coexistence of extreme vulgarity, on the one hand, and a new Puritanism, on the other. Satirist and mathematician Tom Lehrer is credited with wise-cracking that, when he was in college, there were certain words you couldn't say around a girl. Now, you can say those words, but you can't say "girl."

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Progress of Nations 2000 (Thursday, 11/16/00)
The concept of "progress" in human affairs is relatively new historically, and naive assumptions about progress, let alone "inevitable progress," have been abandoned by most thoughtful people in the world in favor of more realistic assessments of the complexity of things. At any particular time, things are getting better for some people and worse for others, and in various ways. Here's UNICEF's Progress of Nations Report for the year 2000.

Pacific rim summit begins (Wednesday, 11/15/00)
Top leaders from 21 countries, including the American president, have gathered in Brunei to discuss economic and other issues of common interest, and agendas are diverse, according to Dirk Beveridge who reports from the scene. David Sanger of the New York Times reports that President Clinton warns against conditions which could result in a new Asian economic crisis of the sort that paralyzed the region a few years ago.

Israeli economy experiences big growth spurt (Wednesday, 11/15/00)
Moti Bassok of Ha'aretz writes that new data from Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics shows that country's economy grew at an annualized rate of 9.1 percent the third quarter.

Fed likely to sit tight until the dust settles over the presidential election (Wednesday, 11/15/00)
Martin Crutsinger writes that the Federal Reserve isn't likely to raise interest rates because of the unresolved presidential election and the chaos that it could eventually produce in the financial markets. In fact, rate cuts are a possibility a bit later if the election mess spreads its effects. Meanwhile, the Washington Post has been running excerpts from the new book by its famed assistant managing editor, Bob Woodward. It's called Maestro: Greenspan's Fed and the American Boom. Among other things, Woodward says that Chairman Greenspan has learned a lot from the work of Albert Einstein about why the new economy may be so new. Among other things, Einstein pointed described some of the dramatic consequences that can occur when new conditions arise or are produced in nature.

New ergonomics rules: favorable environment for suits? (Wednesday, 11/15/00)
Columnist Jerry Heaster expects the Administration's new ergonomics regulations to be very costly indeed.

Jobs go better with Coke, and a lot of them have been going (Wednesday, 11/15/00)
Coca-Cola has been planning to cut 5,000 jobs as part of a restructuring program, and the last 600 of those are about to be sliced from the rolls in Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. The soft drink industry may be fairly low-tech, by contemporary standards, but hi-tech companies have been cutting a lot of jobs lately too. For instance, MarchFirst, and Internet consulting firm. will reduce its payroll by 10 percent, which amounts to 1,000 jobs. Finally, troubled telecommunications company, ICG, while laying off 300 workers last month, is trying to convince its employees that no further layoffs will occur, despite the company's troubles. They're trying to hang on to workers who might be inclined to go elsewhere.

Pilots at Continental want to cut a new deal before the old contract runs out (Wednesday, 11/15/00)
Their current contract expires in 14 months, but, for reasons their union leadership has explained in a letter to company management, they feel this would be a good time to begin negotiating. Part of the reason has to do with new contracts elsewhere in the airline industry.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Official U.S. Time (Wednesday, 11/15/00)
Are you suffering from a lack of time? Well, here's all the time you need. Actually, this site enables you to determine exactly the Official U.S. Time where you are or wherever anyone else might be located in the U.S. or its territories, within 9 seconds or so.

Auto workers strike in Brazil (Tuesday, 11/14/00)
At least 60,000 workers have walked off their jobs at a number of assembly plants in Sao Paulo state. A number of different automotive companies are affected.

The latest on the "glass ceiling" (Tuesday, 11/14/00)
A new study conducted by Catalyst provides a progress report on women's entry into the top echelons of Fortune 500 companies. Progress is being made, but, as columnist Jilian Mincer writes, it continues to be slow. Meanwhile, university researchers look at the gender gap among top executives and find that it's smaller that it may appear, while other research indicates that female managers seem to out-perform their male counterparts.

Settlement in Silicon Valley piecework case (Tuesday, 11/14/00)
An immigrant claims that he was fired from Top Line Electronics when he refused to do piecework at home for less than minimum wage. His unfair labor practices suit has been settled with undisclosed financial arrangements. As David Kravets writes, the practice appears to be common in America's famous hi-tech corridor.

Responses to that new OSHA rule (Tuesday, 11/14/00)
Guess who likes the new ergonomics standard and guess who doesn't. Here's more on the Administration's new rule affecting American workers and employers from today's Washington Post.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Encyclopedia of Law and Economics (Tuesday, 11/14/00)
Here's the Encyclopedia of Law and Economics from the University of Ghent.

New York City teachers contract expires Wednesday (Monday, 11/13/00)
Negotiations are stalled, and the two sides remain far apart on money and tenure issues.

The American workplace has been getting safer (Monday, 11/13/00)
According to new data from the United States Department of Labor, workplace deaths remained relatively unchanged between 1998 and 1999, despite an increase of 2 million workers, meaning that the rate of workplace fatalities declined during that period.

Special report on technology (Monday, 11/13/00)
Today's Wall Street Journal contains one of its special sections, this time on technology. Many articles, and, as usual, all worth reading. Also in today's edition, as the big international conference gets underway at The Hague, John Fialka writes that climate change is America's biggest challenge, economically or otherwise. The Journal is available on the web, but there is a subscription fee following an initial free trial period.

Dot.com-munity convenes in Detroit (Monday, 11/13/00)
Hundreds of hi-tech entrepreneurs gathered in Detroit to help each other and benefit from the experience of those who have made it. Here's more from Jeff Bennett of the Detroit Free Press.

Is there such a thing as an unadulterated "good thing?" (Monday, 11/13/00)
There appears to be an upside and downside to nearly everything. Well, actually, many things have only a downside, presumably. Nonetheless, if you're thinking that low unemployment is good for everybody, Ken Robinson could tell you about his problems attracting new business to his community. Alan Julian of the Evansville Courier and Press reports on what people like Mr. Robinson can say when asked about the available labor force. Meanwhile, here's an Idaho community that has a different kind of problem, such as a 22.1 percent unemployment rate following the closing of the Potlach Jaype Mill. A job fair has been organized to help.

The law describes what should be, not necessarily what is (Monday, 11/13/00)
It's been considerably more than a century since involuntary servitude was made illegal in all of the United States, so the nation's capital should be the last place where one would expect to find slavery at this late date. Well, if that's what you expect, prepare to be surprised or disappointed. Here's why from Douglas Pasternak of U.S. News.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: GradFinder (Monday, 11/13/00)
GradFinder claims to be able to help you regain contact with your old classmates as your school days recede into history.

Clinton sees climate emergency (Sunday, 11/12/00)
It's common to frame issues having to do with the environment and economics in terms of what really is a false dichotomy, assuming that one must choose between protection of the environment or economic growth. The fact is, as someone has said, the economy is a "wholly-owned subsidiary" of the environment. People who truly are concerned about economic well-being in the long-run should find it in their enlightened self-interest to be committed environmentalists. On the occasion of the beginning of an international climate change conference at The Hague, President Clinton has cited the results of a new three-year study in asserting that global warming threatens the U.S. economy, among other things, and requires immediate action.

New global trade talks sought (Sunday, 11/12/00)
Ranjan Roy reports from Brunei on efforts on the part of representatives of 21 Pacific Rim countries to break the deadlock on global trade talks and get them going again next year under the auspices of the World Trade Organization.

The new mercenaries (Sunday, 11/12/00)
A vast and growing mercenary force is available to help you fight your business wars, according to the Los Angeles Times' Charles Piller. The trend seemed to begin in Silicon Valley, but has been spreading throughout the American economy and on to many parts of the world. University of California professor Martin Kenney thinks it's a permanent phenomenon.

Lebanon's brain drain (Sunday, 11/12/00)
Lebanon's tech experts have been looking elsewhere for good jobs, because their own nation's economy hasn't been able to generate enough new jobs to keep them at home, and this doesn't bode well for Lebanon's future. Many countries around the world are losing the very talent they will need in order to participate in the new global information economy, given that highly developed economies, notably those in North America, are able to absorb as many technically-skilled workers as they can find. Here's more on Lebanon's situation from Lin Noueihed of the Daily Star.

Delta warns its pilots (Sunday, 11/12/00)
Delta Air Lines has told its pilots that efforts to cause flight delays in order to gain leverage in negotiations would be a violation of federal law.

Court challenges expected in response to the Administration's new ergonomics rules (Sunday, 11/12/00)
Government standards will be issued tomorrow that will intend to protect more than 100 million workers from repetitive-stress injuries, but, as Kalpana Srinivasan reports from Washington, the opposition is getting ready to send its lawyers into court.

Economic weapon cuts both ways in the Middle East (Sunday, 11/12/00)
Mazraa Al-Sharkeya reports from the West Bank on the mutually dependent economic links between the Palestinians and the Israelis and what threats to the olive harvest mean for both. In Israel, according to the Ha'aretz' Moti Bassok, the consumer price index is expected to be up for October, but interest rate cuts are expected anyway. The CPI report comes out Wednesday.

Zimbabwe's land redistribution program will proceed, according to government officials (Sunday, 11/12/00)
The Zimbabwe government says there is no turning back, despite a Supreme Court ruling that the seizure of farms is unconstitutional.

Six contenders for EU membership feeling additional pressure (Sunday, 11/12/00)
Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Cyprus and Estonia want to join the European Union. The EU's administration has issued a new schedule for ratification that many see as unrealistic.

Let's hear it for standardized career testing (Sunday, 11/12/00)
Stuart Marvin describes his career and compares it to what he and his parents were led to expect from career test results long ago.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: The Truth about Interviews (Sunday, 11/12/00)
If your interview goes on for a long time and seems to range over many topics, the interviewer may simply be too polite to tell you that his/her mind has already been made up and it's time for you to get lost. According to this article, most interviews are really over after the first five minutes or so, no matter how long they seem to last. The Truth about Interviews is that they are heavily loaded toward first impressions.

Clinton to move ahead on new ergonomics requirements (Saturday, 11/11/00)
Nearly all of the employers in the United States are about to have new federal requirements to meet which are intended by the Clinton administration to help prevent repetitive stress injuries. A final rule is scheduled to be issued on Monday. The new standards have been in development for eight years and have been bitterly opposed by many employers and Republicans in Congress, and, in fact, have been a principal reason for lack of agreement on a federal budget.

Workers can expect to pay considerably more for health care (Saturday, 11/11/00)
Health care costs have been going up, and employers are reluctant to absorb most of the increases. Diane Stafford reports that workers can expect to pay more, and, in many cases, quite a lot more.

New purpose for the Ho Chi Minh Trail (Saturday, 11/11/00)
Vietnam is trying to make the old Ho Chi Minh Trail into a modern economic link between northern and southern parts of the country. Needless to say, not everybody is convinced that it is a good idea or that it will work.

Why South Africa's credit rating upgrade hasn't resulted in increased prosperity (Saturday, 11/11/00)
Henri Cauvin of the New York Times reports on South Africa's economic troubles in the midst of a lot of other troubles, including AIDS.

PSC cuts jobs and will consolidate operations (Saturday, 11/11/00)
PCS is a hi-tech company that manufactures code-scanning equipment and employs about 1,200 people throughout the world. A consolidation of operations in Oregon and New York is planned, and 140 jobs are being cut in anticipation of that restructuring. Also, if you're a Discovery Channel viewer on cable TV, you may be interested to know that, its Internet affiliate, Discover.com, is laying off 200 workers.

Many with criminal records are finding a heartier welcome in the job market (Saturday, 11/11/00)
Labor shortages have made many employers less resistant to hiring people whose pasts would have made them less employable only a few years ago.

Volunteers in charge (Saturday, 11/11/00)
Industrial/organizational psychologists have known quite a lot for a long time about the complex motivation of people at work. Work isn't just for producing livelihood. It satisfies many needs for people, and increasing diversity of needs and interests in the new economy is complicating the task of employers who are having to find ways of offering a broad range of incentives. Even when people aren't working for pay, there can be important personal payoffs. Glenn Ruffenach of the Wall Street Journal reports that retirees who were used to major responsibility and power during their careers may demand similar circumstances in their volunteer work, and, given the backgrounds and experiences, may be able to find the opportunities they want for being in charge.

Maybe Silicon Valley should turn to online shopping for the holidays (Saturday, 11/11/00)
Like many other regions of the country, America's famous hi-tech corridor may experience a major shortage of retail sales personnel which can make Christmas shopping a lot less fun for consumers. Here's more from Pat Lopes Harris of the San Jose Mercury News.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: CIA World Factbook (Saturday, 11/11/00)
If you travel internationally for purposes of work, or for any other reason, you may find the CIA World Factbook invaluable as a source of information on the countries in which you have interest.

Downsizing in the Russian military (Friday, 11/10/00)
The once-proud Red Army has been experiencing troubled times in recent years, and Russian President Putin thinks it is far larger than it needs to be. He expects to cut the Russian armed forces by 600,000 people.

Labor Department turns up the heat on government contractors (Friday, 11/10/00)
L. M. Sixel reports that the United States Department of Labor is making a more aggressive effort to be sure that companies doing business with the government are complying with equal pay laws.

Grad assistant vote tallied (Friday, 11/10/00)
Graduate assistants at New York University voted in April on whether to unionize, but, because of appeals filed by the university, the vote wasn't counted until Wednesday. The majority of those voting want to form a union.

Federal Reserve expected to leave interest rates where they are (Friday, 11/10/00)
The Fed meets next Wednesday, and no changes are expected.

Why service may not be as good as you are used to (Friday, 11/10/00)
It's likely to be because of a booming economy, and, as Dave Faries of the Dallas Observer reports, restaurant operators are feeling the heat in the kitchen and nearly every place else.

Another declaration of health from Japanese officials (Friday, 11/10/00)
Japan's government continues to insist that the Japanese economy is on its way to eventual full recovery after experiencing its worst recession since the end of World War II when Japan lay in ruins. Still, government officials aren't satisfied with the household sector.

Americans are changing careers at a furious rate (Friday, 11/10/00)
Jenice Armstrong of the Philadelphia Daily News offers examples of dramatic and frequent career changes that are becoming a bit more representative of what a larger number of Americans are doing.

America's techie elders feeling foreign competition (Friday, 11/10/00)
Hi-tech companies claim that there is a severe shortage of technically-skilled people and, as a consequence, want to hire more from overseas. But, what about older Americans who have the skills? If the severe shortage is real, shouldn't these people be besieged by employers wanting to hire them? John Balz of the St. Petersburg Times says it ain't necessarily so.

Think your commute is long? Try this (Friday, 11/10/00)
Stephanie Armour of USA Today tells about a commuting across the Atlantic and why it can make sense.

Why every day is Veteran's Day for a lot of workers (Friday, 11/10/00)
Incidentally, did you know that 98 percent of the top executives at the Veterans Health Administration will be eligible to retire soon, and that they're by no means the only ones? Here's more from Steven Barr of the Washington Post.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Social Security Retirement Benefits (Friday, 11/10/00)
Social Security Retirement Benefits is an online booklet from the Social Security Administration containing information for anyone who is planning retirement, and reflects recent changes in the law regarding earnings.

Bankruptcy follows union rejection of restructuring plan (Thursday, 11/9/00)
South Korea's Daewoo Motor Company tried to save itself by developing a restructuring plan that would have included layoffs. The country's third-largest automaker's union rejected the plan, and creditors have declared the company bankrupt.

Will the National Economic Council become institutionalized? (Thursday, 11/9/00)
President Clinton's effort to elevate economic policy to the same level as national security could pay off by becoming a permanent feature of future administrations.

They may as well have put it on a credit card (Thursday, 11/9/00)
Argentina has borrowed $1.1 billion to relieve short-term financial pressures, but the rates are, well, impressive.

Big job cuts coming at Lucent (Thursday, 11/9/00)
Lucent Technologies isn't satisfied with its profits picture, so several things will change, including the cutting of up to 10,000 jobs. Another hi-tech communications company also plans to cut workers. Taligent, which has been building a wireless telecommunications system, will eliminate 780 jobs.

Parallel universe (Thursday, 11/9/00)
A new study from the U.S. Department of Education has identified more than 300 information technology certification exams which are giving rise to a training system that is separating from traditional higher education institutions. According to the study, conventional college degrees are not necessary for some persons with IT certification.

Inheriting employee benefits (Thursday, 11/9/00)
The Supreme Court is considering a case that may decide who is entitled to inherit employee benefits.

Formal education is the new occupation of many retirees (Thursday, 11/9/00)
Heidi Perlman describes a novel retirement community on a college campus, and why it's there.

Making it as a businesswoman (Thursday, 11/9/00)
More new businesses are being started by women than by men in the United States now, but, as Joyce Rosenberg reports, obstacles remain for women who want to start a firm of their own. However, she also tells about some of the resources available.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Salary Wizard (Thursday, 11/9/00)
Vault.com's Salary Wizard helps you determine your likely salary by job title and location.

Peaceful summit (Wednesday, 11/8/00)
Dirk Beveridge reports from Hong Kong that a peaceful and busy Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit is expected in Brunei next week. The reason that this may be news is that other international economic organization meetings have been disrupted by protesters.

Against mergers? (Wednesday, 11/8/00)
Masetopa Mateme reports on the growing influence of South Africa's Competition Commission and how it answers its critics.

Goodyear is feeling rejected (Wednesday, 11/8/00)
Workers at Goodyear have rejected a three-year contract offer from their employer that would have included pay cuts and the contracting out of 168 jobs.

American corporations have been laying off fewer workers (Wednesday, 11/8/00)
The new economy is characterized by strong corporate desires for a "just-in-time" workforce, and this means a lot of continual hiring and firing for reasons hainge little to do with those that dominated in the old, far more stable, less dynamic industrial economy. However, U.S. corporate layoffs declined by eight percent between September and October of this year. In an economy defined in part by turbulence, can an decline in layoffs, as well as hiring, be a sign that the economy is slowing?

Alternative ways of benefiting from the skills of Indian hi-tech experts (Wednesday, 11/8/00)
It's easier and cheaper to move information than to move people, so if you'd like to hire some Indian programmers, say, why can't they work for you while staying in India? Greg Griffin of the Denver Post reports that many companies are benefiting from India's wealth of talent without importing workers.

The benefits and joys of eye contact (Wednesday, 11/8/00)
Email or post-it notes aren't quite the same. Partners in marriage as well as in work, Tara Parker-Pope and Kyle Pope of the Wall Street Journal, write about the importance of "face time" and what some of their readers think about the issue. Another married couple has to schedule time to get together. Here's more from Lisa Belkin of the New York Times.

Reaching their dot-tage in record time (Wednesday, 11/8/00)
Things are greatly accelerated in "Internet time," and many startups go from 0 to, well, back to near 0 in no time. Carrie Johnson of the Washington Post reports that many workers who jumped on board when Internet companies were hot are jumping overboard in great numbers and swimming back to more stable and familiar shores.

What's the worst that can happen if you try something new? (Wednesday, 11/8/00)
Will you die? Will you start World War III? Will you blow up the earth? So long as you don't risk the whole farm on a new venture or career change, you can probably rule out most of the really scary things. Ireille Guiliano, who heads a company, talks about risk taking.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: National Women's Hall of Fame (Wednesday, 11/8/00)
History, as many of us learned it in school, left a lot of things out, and the result has been a highly distorted view of African cultures, Native American cultures, among others, and of women's accomplishments nearly everywhere. If you think that women haven't done anything interesting, think again, and visit the National Women's Hall of Fame right on the monitor in front of you.

Election Day in the United States of America (Tuesday, 11/7/00)
Many of America's founding fathers were not democrats or republicans (note the lower-case letters at the beginnings of these words) in the modern sense. They weren't even particularly opposed to aristocratic privilege, assuming that they could have access to it, but they were "anti-monarchical" during a time when Europe was dominated by aristocratically-based monarchies in which many powerful families maintained their positions of power over centuries. At the beginning, in America, only white, male, land-owners could vote, so it was more an oligarchy than a democracy.

However, some statements of principal ("All men are created equal" was one of these, not a description of realities at the time), combined with a Constitutional separation of powers and the First Amendment created a dynamic system that could become more and more democratic over time, and that has happened.

Election days are wonderful days, and not everybody has them. Neighbors gather in fire halls, churches, schools, and other polling places all over the country, calmly, quietly, with friendliness in the air, but the whole process is enormously powerful. Like others, we would urge you to vote, but also to cast an INFORMED vote. But, when it comes right down to it, it's YOUR VOTE. You can cast it any way you like. If you want to base it on exhaustive research, that's up to you. If you want to flip a coin, that's up to you. It's YOUR VOTE, and that's part of the beauty of it. You're in charge. Happy election day!

Occupational hazard among executives in India (Tuesday, 11/7/00)
Sumali Moitra reports from Calcutta on the apparent need for Indian executives to become more concerned with healthy lifestyles. Heart disease is on the increase among people at the top of Indian corporations.

More important than the digital divide? (Tuesday, 11/7/00)
Bill Gates has become convinced that it's a matter of first things first. The richest man in the world has said repeatedly that he intends to give away nearly all of his money eventually, and he recently established the largest, richest foundation in the United States, which his father, retired Seattle attorney Bill Gates, Sr., manages. However, Bill has changed his mind a bit about trying to get all the world's people staring at monitors and online. He's become less convinced that hi-tech will be a solution to the problems of the majority of the world's people, and believes that food, health-care, education, and human rights should take priority. James Moore believes that Gates is both right and wrong.

The whole thing reminds us of "Maslow's hierarchy of needs" from psychologist Abraham Maslow, which prioritizes human needs. For most people, for instance, physiological needs take priority, and other needs, such as the needs for security, self-esteem, or personal growth "kick in" only after the higher-priority needs become fairly well-satisfied. They're no less important to humanity, but first things first. In the 21st century world, even healthy, well-fed people who are denied access to technology, including the Internet, will have a limited future.

China attempts to construct another great wall (Tuesday, 11/7/00)
If you're in China, the Chinese government won't want you to read this, because BNWW & NWN contains tens of thousands of links to other news sources. True, many of the links to the original stories we point to go dark eventually, but, in many cases, savvy computer users can simply cut back the URLs to their roots and access the original publications' sites, and, once inside, vast amounts of information, uncensored by any totalitarian force, may become available. As we understand it, our site was among those specifically targeted for blocking in China for quite a long time.

Dictatorships have always been greatly threatened by free and open communication as much as by the idea of regularly scheduled, free and open elections, so the Internet, more than nearly any previous publishing system, has been causing a lot of sleeplessness among the world's bullies. Now, the Chinese government is making it official. From now on, news sites not owned by the state will be prohibited. And, watch what you say in chat rooms as well. Here are details from the San Jose Mercury News.

The Supremes hear arguments on arbitration case (Tuesday, 11/7/00)
The Supreme Court will decide if employees can be forced to settle disputes through arbitration rather than filing lawsuits. Arguments were heard Monday.

Whose health-care system is the sickest? (Tuesday, 11/7/00)
Many Americans agree that the U.S. health-care system is in need of a cure, although there continues to be considerable disagreement about what the treatment should be. During the early 1990s, when the Clinton administration was trying to rebuild the health-care system from the ground up, many were pointing to Canada's system as a model for what they wanted to see in the United States. However, the Canadian system is far from perfect, and there have been many complaints about it. Toronto Star columnist David Crane provides a Canadian perspective on the U.S. system's problems, and calls for politicians here and there to find solutions.

No deal at United, and "no way," say the flight attendants (Tuesday, 11/7/00)
United Airlines flight attendants failed to reach agreement with their company over the weekend, and are vowing to do all they can to prevent the planned merger of United with US Airways.

How many women general contractors are there in the U.S.? (Tuesday, 11/7/00)
We don't know either, but probably not many. However, Heather Long knows of one, and she tells her story. In related news, Jilian Mincer reports on a new survey conducted by the National Foundation for Women Business Owners that finds that women-owned firms do tend to practice gender equity.

Will more autoworkers go vote or go fishing? (Tuesday, 11/7/00)
About 400,000 autoworkers are off work today so that they can have no possible excuse for not voting. Randolph Heaster of the Kansas City Star wonders if their paid holiday may be what will determine who the next president will be, given what appears to be one of the closest presidential elections in a very long time.

Capitalism, contemporary Russian style (Tuesday, 11/7/00)
Capitalism as practiced in regions where it has succeeded so well requires a firm and rational legal structure, among other things. In Russia, much of that is still lacking, and the result is widespread lawlessness and violence as part of "business as usual."

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Embark.com (Tuesday, 11/7/00)
Embark.com has been selected by PC Magazine for its Editor's Choice Award as the best educational portal on the Internet.

Hi-tech's recovery in Japan (Monday, 11/6/00)
The Japanese economy as a whole may really be undergoing a recovery now, but slowly. However, its high-technology sector is getting hot again, and that's good news in a new economy that is largely driven by technology.

Some labor deals reached (Monday, 11/6/00)
Southwest Airlines and one of its unions have reached a tentative agreement that may help the company avoid holiday travel snarls. In Detroit, members of the union that represents press operators at Detroit newspapers have ratified their new contract. It constitutes a step toward a long-term resolution of a newspaper strike that began years ago and seemed to last forever.

What on earth is Turkey doing...and why? (Monday, 11/6/00)
Turkey is trying to limit the amount of foreign money flowing into the country that supports modern businesses to provide good jobs to a lot of Turks. Now, why would they be doing this? Louis Meixler writes that the Turkish government is concerned about Islam, and he explains why.

Wireless devices alter work patterns (Monday, 11/6/00)
Before long, the Internet will be far more than a complex network of personal computers. Instead, it will be a global system in which nearly everything is connected to nearly everything else, mostly by wireless means. Business Week has a major report on how wireless devices already are changing work, much of which can be done nearly anyplace. In a related story, Martin Moylan tells how complex and confusing the whole telecommunications scene has gotten.

Explanations for poverty's persistence (Monday, 11/6/00)
Here's a review of Peruvian writer Hernando de Soto's new book, The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else. Among those persons greatly concerned with global poverty is former presidential candidate, George McGovern. He thinks that biotechnology can make a major difference, and he doesn't understand some of the resistance, but finds historical precedent.

Coming out of retirement (Monday, 11/6/00)
Anybody who has ever tried to start a business and actually make a living doing it is in a better position to appreciate the gifts of people who are able to guide businesses that support jobs for lots of people through treacherous waters. One of the major shortages in the new economy is top managers that really can deliver the goods. They're not easy to find, and, in fact, many are being persuaded to come out of retirement when their successors don't work out.

Healthcare in Europe (Monday, 11/6/00)
At a time when some leaders in the United States want to let market forces support health care and retirement for so many of its citizens, a number of European countries take a different view, as they have for quite a long time. As an example, John-Thor Dahlbug and Richard Boudreaus write about France's attitudes toward its health-care system.

Is there a career test for this kind of job? (Monday, 11/6/00)
Nicole Ostrow of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that corporate spying is on the increase.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: OSH Answers (Monday, 11/6/00)
OSH Answers provides information in a Q&A format provided free to the public from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety.

Politicians in both parties prepare to get serious (Sunday, 11/5/00)
Many voters may be praying that the two major presidential candidates are more sophisticated than their rhetoric, because, starting within the next few days, one of them is going to have to put together a highly competent team in order to deal with tough realities that won't respond well to simple-headed slogans and campaign rhetoric that tends to achieve only a bumper sticker-, comic book-level of mentality. Among the tough challenges will be keeping the American economic expansion going. Neither a President Gore nor a President Bush will want to go down in history as the man who brought the longest economic expansion in all of American history to a conclusion. Also, many economics experts are wondering if the two leading candidates have decided how to spend more money than will be available, and, as Knut Engemann reports, much of the world is keeping a close eye on the American election, because many other economies will be affected by what happens with the world's largest economy that is part of the world's most powerful nation. In fact, David Leonhardt of the New York Times contends that, despite the long expansion during which there have been strong corporate profits, there is growing chaos at the core of the global economy.

Government's role in the Israeli hi-tech industry (Sunday, 11/5/00)
Amiram Schorr believes that government support is needed to keep Israel's high-technology industry vital and to secure a long-term place for his country in the new global information economy.

Where venture capital has been going (Sunday, 11/5/00)
During the third quarter, venture capital investments increased in six U.S. regions, but declined slightly in Silicon Valley, according to a new report from Venture Economics. Investments have shifted away from pure Internet startups in favor of telecommunications and biotechnology.

Hellooooo out there...a lot of you aren't who some people think you are (Sunday, 11/5/00)
A new study from Gartner indicates that the common belief that the typical Internet user is a young male is not correct. The average age of Internet users is 41, and men and women are equally represented. Also, the average Internet user is married with children and uses a computer at work.

Acknowledging the new web realities at work (Sunday, 11/5/00)
Do you use the company computer to visit web sites having nothing to do with your work or for personal email? You're not alone, and at least one consultant believes that we have reached a point where it will be counterproductive for employers to attempt to prohibit all such activities.

Single mothers have been entering the work force in large numbers (Sunday, 11/5/00)
U.S. government statistics show that single mothers are now more likely than married mothers to be employed. Here's more from Robert Pear of the New York Times.

Obesity continues to be a handicap in the job market (Sunday, 11/5/00)
Carey Goldberg reports on how lingering bigotry toward those who are overweight is making it difficult for many qualified persons to find jobs, even during a time of labor shortages.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Stuttgart Institute of Management and Technology (Sunday, 11/5/00)
The Stuttgart Institute of Management and Technology is a new-economy institution located in Germany's hi-tech region that conducts programs in conjunction with the University of Stuttgart, the University of Hohenheim and the University of Tuebingen, as well as with global corporations. As an additional indication of its orientation to the realities of the new global economy, it conducts its programs in English.

Arrests in nurses' strike (Saturday, 11/4/00)
John Sweeny, President of the AFL-CIO, was among five union leaders arrested in the District of Columbia because they were blocking traffic as part of a demonstration in support of striking nurses.

Unemployment up in Canada (Saturday, 11/4/00)
The Canadian economy has been producing new jobs at a fairly furious rate, but, according to Madhavi Acharya, the unemployment rate went up last month anyway. Experts say that a close look at all of the data provides a pretty picture, though.

Uncle Sam prepares to pay more (Saturday, 11/4/00)
The federal government has been having difficulty competing with the private sector for technical workers, so major raises are set to be implemented, particularly for entry-level people.

Financial services merger will result in major job cuts (Saturday, 11/4/00)
First Capital Corporation is scheduled to merge with Citigroup and 2,100 Texans will lose their jobs as a consequence.

NAWBO turns 25 this year (Saturday, 11/4/00)
For a quarter century, women business owners have been receiving support, information, and more from the National Association of Women Business Owners. Here's Joyce Smith's story about why there is quite a lot to celebrate on the national organization's 25th anniversary.

Who will ring up all those presents? (Saturday, 11/4/00)
Retailers in Arizona are worried about having enough holiday workers, and their concerns are shared by others throughout the United States. It might be a very strong holiday sales season this time...if somebody is there to take your money.

Job market not so hot for persons with disabilities (Saturday, 11/4/00)
Here's Thomas Ginsburg's story in the Salt Lake Tribune about a study conducted by Cornell University that finds that unemployment among persons with disabilities rose during the 1990s, despite its being such a good economic time overall.

Labor Department book results from National Skills Summit (Saturday, 11/4/00)
The U.S. Department of Labor has published a new book to assist those interested in training for full participation in the new economy. It's called Building Skills for the New Economy: Innovative Initiatives.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: Frequently Asked Questions on the Electoral College (Saturday, 11/4/00)
Here's a college that most certainly doesn't have a football team. As this is written, we are three days from election day in the U.S. in what appears to be the closest presidential contest in decades. Experts say that there is a remote, although real possibility this time that one man could receive the most votes and that the other could become president. Recall that the United States grew out of a collection of separate colonies and, then, states (note the use of the word "state") which many felt should retain a high degree of sovereignty. To this day, technically, the national presidential election is really a collection of 48 different "winner-take-all" elections, plus Maine and Nebraska, which divide the electoral vote in proportion to the popular vote. In mosts states, the winner gets all of that state's electoral votes, the number of which is determined by the total number of that state's seats in Congress. To modern descendants of the Federalists, the continued use of the Electoral College seems to be an archaic anachronism, the reality being that America is a single country. To others, however, issues of "states' rights" are still quite current and important. Here are answers to Frequently Asked Questions on the Electoral College from the Office of the Federal Register.

Unemployment remains steady...and low (Friday, 11/3/00)
The United States Department of Labor reports that the unemployment rate remained unchanged in October compared to the previous month. It's still at 3.9 percent, which is the lowest rate in 30 years.

Priceline continues to struggle, cuts 16 percent of its workforce (Friday, 11/3/00)
Reports are that actor William Shatner has been doing Priceline's TV commercials in exchange for stock, so he's unlikely to be among those cut. Many others will be looking for other employment, though, including the company's chief financial officer who has been in that job for less than a year. Aon Corporation, a large insurance underwriter also is cutting jobs in a big way. Six-thousand workers will be cut loose, which is 6 percent of the company's work force.

The gender gap in Ireland (Friday, 11/3/00)
The gap has been narrowing, but women still earn less than men in Ireland, according to a new report. Here are details from Brendan Butler of the Irish Times.

Key attributes of the new economy (Friday, 11/3/00)
The Arizona Republic's Debra Rinard discusses what makes the new economy new and how the marketplace has been transformed.

What's at stake in the Circuit City v. Adams case (Friday, 11/3/00)
Can an employee be forced not to sue his/her employer? A case now before the Supreme Court may influence the status of workers throughout the United States. Here's more from Mary Williams Walsh.

Low-skill jobs are hard to fill too (Friday, 11/3/00)
If you have highly sophisticated technical skills, a great many employers are probably out looking for you right now. But, in many parts of the U.S., you're also in demand even if your skills are meager. Leslie Earnest of the Los Angeles Times reports that many employers are sending the "posse" out in search of people to fill jobs that require minimal education or training.

A consultant begins to take his own advice (Friday, 11/3/00)
A workplace wellness consultant changes his routine after maintaining the kind of lifestyle that he has advised against, and nearly dying.

How to compute overtime and get it right (Friday, 11/3/00)
L. M. Sixel says that many companies are not in compliance with the Fair Labor Statndards Act of 1938 and don't even know it.

Today's NewWork News Web Tip: EduFind (Friday, 11/3/00)
EduFind is an specialized search engine for those interested in finding information about education.

More indications of a slowing American economy (Thursday, 11/2/00)
By all reasonable criteria, the American economy is still the envy of the world, and the longest expansion in American history continues. However, the Conference Board's Index of Leading Economic Indicators remained unchanged in September, which is interpreted as additional evidence that the once very, very hot American economy is slowing somewhat. The Index has developed a reputation for being quite good at forecasting economic activity several months ahead of time. Also, the U.S. Department of Labor's latest numbers indicate that productivity gains have slowed as well. Knut Engelmann writes that the slowing economy will provide either a President Bush or a President Gore with some fairly difficult choices.

The U.S. gets some competition for the rest of the world's tech experts (Thursday, 11/2/00)
Third-world countries will need all of the technical help they can find if they are to be able to be part of the new global information economy. However, developed countries, the U.S. in particular, seem able to absorb as many technically-skilled workers as they can find from wherever they can find them. India has a lot of tech experts, and the U.S. has been recruiting them. Even more will be recruited now that President Clinton has signed into the law the bill that will provide a greater number of "tech visas" each year. However, competition is building, and some of the most vigorous will be coming from Britain, according to current indications.

Work and depression (Thursday, 11/2/00)
A new study from Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health shows a clear link between job stresses and vulnerability to the development or clinical depression. Depression is still widely misunderstood in American society. It's not just a matter of having a bad day, and it's not just feeling sorry for oneself. It is a clearly diagnosable medical disorder with strong organic components. The brain chemistry of depressed persons is different from that of the same persons when they are not depressed, and these chemical changes can have essentially organic origins or they can be set in motion by environmental stressors.

The academic culture takes another step toward the modern age (Thursday, 11/2/00)
The knowledge content of academe is one thing, but the academic culture's rites, rituals, and native dances are something else again. The former probably has an essentially unqualified beneficial impact on American society, but the latter, with its decaying remnants of an increasingly obsolete aristocratic culture based on fundamentally irrational assumptions, continues to mislead a lot of young people about life off the campuses, particularly in a new economy that is less credentials-oriented and more performance-ori