"The Ink Fades on a Profession as India Modernizes"

Globalization creates winners and losers, sometimes in the same family. Here is the story of a professional letter writer in India:

G. P. Sawant never charged the prostitutes for his letter-writing services.

Not long after the women would descend on this swarming, chaotic city, they would find him at his stall near the post office, this letter writer for the unlettered. They often came hungry, battered and lonely, needing someone to convert their spoken words into handwritten letters to mail back to their home villages.

The letters ferried false reassurances. The women claimed they had steady jobs as shopkeepers and Bollywood stagehands. Saying nothing of the brothels, beatings and rapes they endured, they enclosed money orders to remit rupees agonizingly acquired. Many called Mr. Sawant “brother” and tied a string on his wrist each year in the Hindu tradition.

Sometimes, suspicious parents boarded a train to Mumbai and turned up at Mr. Sawant’s stall, which a daughter had listed as her address. Mr. Sawant greeted them kindly but disclosed nothing about the woman’s work or whereabouts...

Read the rest of his story here (it has a happy ending).

What is shopdropping?

Shopdropping, also known as reverse shoplifiting, is the act of "surreptitiously putting things in stores, rather than illegally taking them out". Here are some shopdropping stories:

...Anti-consumerist artists slip replica products packaged with political messages onto shelves while religious proselytizers insert pamphlets between the pages of gay-and-lesbian readings at book stores.

Self-published authors sneak their works into the “new releases” section, while personal trainers put their business cards into weight-loss books, and aspiring professional photographers make homemade cards — their Web site address included, of course — and covertly plant them into stationery-store racks.

“Everyone else is pushing their product, so why shouldn’t we?” said Jeff Eyrich, a producer for several independent bands, who puts stacks of his bands’ CDs — marked “free” — on music racks at Starbucks whenever the cashiers look away.

Though not new, shopdropping has grown in popularity in recent years, especially as artists have gathered to swap tactics at Web sites like Shopdropping.net, and groups like the Anti-Advertising Agency, a political art collective, do training workshops open to the public...

Read the rest of the article here.

Maintaining respect and approachability in university

With the increased technology and email accessibility, many university professors feel overwhelmed with student requests. Here are some excerpts from Jonathan Glater's report:

One student skipped class and then sent the professor an e-mail message asking for copies of her teaching notes. Another did not like her grade, and wrote a petulant message to the professor. Another explained that she was late for a Monday class because she was recovering from drinking too much at a wild weekend party.

Jennifer Schultens, an associate professor of mathematics at the University of California, Davis, received this e-mail message last September from a student in her calculus course: "Should I buy a binder or a subject notebook? Since I'm a freshman, I'm not sure how to shop for school supplies. Would you let me know your recommendations? Thank you!"

At colleges and universities nationwide, e-mail has made professors much more approachable. But many say it has made them too accessible, erasing boundaries that traditionally kept students at a healthy distance.

These days, they say, students seem to view them as available around the clock, sending a steady stream of e-mail messages — from 10 a week to 10 after every class — that are too informal or downright inappropriate...

Here is a helpful tip from a professor at Pomona:

...Meg Worley, an assistant professor of English at Pomona College in California, said she told students that they must say thank you after receiving a professor's response to an e-mail message.

"One of the rules that I teach my students is, the less powerful person always has to write back," Professor Worley said.

Read the rest of the story here. If anything, there are some fascinating stories from professors at MIT, UC Davis, Harvard, and others.

"2 Candidates, 2 Fortunes, 2 Views of Wealth"

David Leonhardt wrote a fascinating piece comparing two top presidential candidates: John Edwards and Mitt Romney. They are both part of America's new rich, but they made their wealth in two completely different ways. Here are some excerpts of the piece:

...Mr. Edwards, as he often reminds audiences, is the son of a mill worker. His father, Wallace Edwards, recalled in an interview being paid 75 cents an hour when he was hired by Milliken & Company in 1951. That was the federal minimum wage then translates to about $6 an hour today. In a full year, Wallace Edwards made as much money as George Romney (Mitt'Romney's father) did in a few days.

The careers their sons chose reflect that fact: Mr. Romney became rich investing in corporate America, and Mr. Edwards became rich doing battle with it. Yet they also have benefited from the some of the same broad forces that have created the new rich — including a cultural change in how Americans view money...

The piece also covers how each candidate highlights their wealth during the campaign:

...In the final days before voting begins, neither Mr. Romney nor Mr. Edwards is emphasizing his own finances, for obvious political reasons. Instead, the two candidates talk about the work that led to their wealth.

Mr. Romney speaks about his managerial skills and notes that not one of the leading Democrats has ever run a large organization. Mr. Edwards talks about his record as a lawyer who fought for ordinary people against the rich and powerful...

Read the entire article here.

Wooden toy makers hit with an unusually high demand

After the lead paint China recall, some American based businesses are seeing increases in demand. Here are some excerpts from the NY Times special:

Ron Voake has spent the last few months in a blur of wood, wagons and widgets, trying to keep up with demand for the toys he makes in his home here.

Mr. Voake, the owner of Vermont Wooden Toys, has been deluged with orders from customers leery of buying toys made in China after millions of toys manufactured there were recalled this year because they have lead paint.

“Every time there was a story about a toy recall, I got flooded with orders,” Mr. Voake said. “This year stacks up as preposterous. I’ve never had a year like this, and I hope I don’t have another one...”

Read the rest of the story here.

Tree Faces

Have you ever seen these? Check them out here.

VistaPrint is a Scam

As I looked through my credit card statements, I realized that I was getting charged monthly for $14.95 by a company called "Passport to Fun." I never purchased anything from that company, and I looked into the matter further. I ordered some business cards two months ago from Vista Print, and they gave my information to "Passport to Fun." Vista Print might be a legitimate company (I did get my business cards), but they are partnered with some unscrupulous affiliates. This is a huge scam!

I'm not the only person getting scammed. Check out other claims here. Now I have to call my bank and Vista Print and remove these fraudulent charges! Click here to find out how to get your money back.

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