KOREANS PROTEST PRIVATIZATION
Seoul — South Korea’s plan to sell off state-owned power and railway networks is running into fierce opposition from workers. Fearing job cuts, about 100,000 private- and public-sector workers from the manufacturing and automaker sectors to airline workers and the civil service joined in a week of walkouts last month designed to convince the government to shelve privatization.
ENRON BONUSES
Houston — Trying to hang onto staff, Enron has asked a New York bankruptcy court for permission to hand out up to (US)$130 million in retention and severance bonuses. The amount would be added to (US)$105 million already earmarked for bonuses. Enron says it needs the bonuses to keep jittery staff, but creditors object to further cash outlays.
LUNCH IN THE BATHROOM?
Tucson, Ariz. — It may be more hygienic to eat lunch in the washroom than at your desk, a study out of the University of Arizona suggests. Researchers tracked disease-causing bacteria in offices and found there were 400 times more germs present on the typical desk than on the toilet seat in the staff washroom. In the interest of keeping communications systems running, we won’t mention what they found on the fax machine.
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL
Philadelphia — When the late Joey Ramone penned the teen anthem Rock ‘n’ roll high school in the ’70s he may very well have been singing about the brainchild of Paul Green. The Pennsylvanian recently launched the Paul Green School of Rock Music, located on the second floor of an office building. Weekends and evenings find the school’s 10 teachers training budding musicians in technique, but the real focus is learning how to perform on stage. Classic rock a la the Beatles and Lynyrd Skynyrd are a mainstay, Mohawk haircuts are optional.
Seoul — South Korea’s plan to sell off state-owned power and railway networks is running into fierce opposition from workers. Fearing job cuts, about 100,000 private- and public-sector workers from the manufacturing and automaker sectors to airline workers and the civil service joined in a week of walkouts last month designed to convince the government to shelve privatization.
ENRON BONUSES
Houston — Trying to hang onto staff, Enron has asked a New York bankruptcy court for permission to hand out up to (US)$130 million in retention and severance bonuses. The amount would be added to (US)$105 million already earmarked for bonuses. Enron says it needs the bonuses to keep jittery staff, but creditors object to further cash outlays.
LUNCH IN THE BATHROOM?
Tucson, Ariz. — It may be more hygienic to eat lunch in the washroom than at your desk, a study out of the University of Arizona suggests. Researchers tracked disease-causing bacteria in offices and found there were 400 times more germs present on the typical desk than on the toilet seat in the staff washroom. In the interest of keeping communications systems running, we won’t mention what they found on the fax machine.
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL
Philadelphia — When the late Joey Ramone penned the teen anthem Rock ‘n’ roll high school in the ’70s he may very well have been singing about the brainchild of Paul Green. The Pennsylvanian recently launched the Paul Green School of Rock Music, located on the second floor of an office building. Weekends and evenings find the school’s 10 teachers training budding musicians in technique, but the real focus is learning how to perform on stage. Classic rock a la the Beatles and Lynyrd Skynyrd are a mainstay, Mohawk haircuts are optional.
