text:
Carolina Next
Tar Heel Bus Tour
Economic First Responders: How Government Stepped in to Help
Ashley Brown
Federal, state and local governments worked hard to sustain entrepreneurial ecosystems, and especially small businesses, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these programs were successful in helping businesses stay open during desperate times.
Federal Government & PPP
The Trump administration and Congress acted swiftly to support small businesses amid widespread shutdowns, launching the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) in April 2020. Although the program ran through its funding in just 13 days, PPP was reinvigorated with a second wave of funding within two weeks. Additionally, many state and local governments made emergency funds available to provide support to their struggling small businesses. In fact, North Carolina introduced several programs including RETOOLNC, a grant program aimed to Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUB) and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) firms impacted by COVID-19.
These lifelines were maintained and expanded as the initial shutdowns ended, but the pandemic pain continued. A year into the pandemic, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan – a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package offering an extension of PPP – along with several hard hit industry-focused relief efforts including $28.6 billion in grants focused on revitalizing restaurants and $3 billion to support aviation manufacturers, among others.
The first round of PPP received scrutiny since some large and public firms were eligible to receive funds, even though program was geared toward small business. Additionally, research shows that banks played an important role determining where the money flowed, which partially explains why some funds initially went to regions that were less adversely affected by the pandemic – leaving underbanked regions, including many communities in North Carolina, more likely to experience lower levels of PPP lending as compared to areas with greater bank competition. Compounding the challenges, research indicates that Black-owned businesses received loans that were approximately 50% lower than observationally similar white-owned businesses. However, this effect was marginally smaller in areas with more bank competition and disappeared over time as the government made changes to the PPP program.
The challenges the federal government faced when funneling dollars to those most in need speaks to the disconnection that can occur between those who develop policy and the agents in charge of overseeing implementation – in this case, most notably, the banks. However, policymakers worked to address these access issues, and by the time program sunset in May 2021, the data indicates that rural-owned, minority-owned, and women-owned small businesses were able to access more of the funding. However, it is important to note that PPP demographic data has been limited. Some of the notable changes to PPP included prioritizing businesses with 20 or fewer employees, and allowing sole proprietors and contractors to be eligible. Now the government is tasked with determining an equitable and straightforward path toward loan forgiveness.
Local Response
The government at both the state and local levels played an integral role in the pandemic response for small businesses. In particular, many state and local governments provided emergency funding, often more quickly than some larger federal programs could. Additionally, many municipalities created loan and grant programs that specifically targeted support for small businesses.
Throughout the pandemic, local governments were on the front lines trying to keep their main street businesses afloat. Beyond funding, they had other policy and programmatic mechanisms at their disposal including offering relief by deferring payment deadlines for utilities, taxes and licensing fees, as well as helping businesses navigate the evolving array of programs and resources available to them. Some of the most successful local-level programs included targeted efforts to reach the hardest hit groups, and paired loans with programming and events that encouraged residents to support local businesses. For example, many local governments created marketing campaigns that promoted local businesses and made zoning changes to allow more outdoor dining. To make these programs successful, government leaders had to work across departments and alongside community partners and businesses.
To see case studies of how North Carolina communities supported their small businesses during the pandemic, see Homegrown Tools.
Mary Parry2022-01-12T20:17:44+00:00
Prioritizing Mental Health: Efforts to Support Youth in Western North Carolina
Reimagining Food Systems: A conversation with Community Food Lab
The State of Food Insecurity in North Carolina During the Pandemic
slice2021-12-14T18:04:42+00:00
Listening and Learning: New Data Will Inform Carolina Across 100 Program Launch
#CarolinaAcross100
© All rights reserved. • Carolina Across 100

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


First of all, I'd like to remind some people that I'm not stupid.
Second, I am in desperate need of a forum name for a forum I'm starting on Dehlu to host various TCG-related things (like for my TCGs, other TCGs if they wish, etc.).
I had Aijou (love in Japanese…right?) already; I want a different one.
However, I want something more memorable/stand out-ish.
The subdomain name and the site title don't have to match. For example, many forums are put into a subdirectory called 'forums' and are then just called something else. community.dehlu.org sounds fine to me! You can always change the name of the site to "Aijou" or something else later.


text:
NY Knicks clinch Atlantic Division title as Carmelo Anthony continues historic tear, but Kenyon Martin injured in win
By Peter Botte
It's hard to tell who is happier about a division crown, Carmelo Anthony (r.) or Spike Lee. (Andrew Theodorakis/New York Daily News)
NY KNICKS 120, WIZARDS 99
It started out as the Knicks' primary goal for this season, but who can blame them if reaching it has only caused them to readjust their sights higher?
Despite another big man going down in Kenyon Martin, the sizzling Knicks tied a franchise record with 20 three-pointers to easily extend their winning streak to a baker's dozen. That barrage cemented their first Atlantic Division crown since 1994 for their 13th consecutive victory, a 120-99 rout of the Wizards at the Garden.
"We win a division, that's accomplished. But the big picture is winning a title," Mike Woodson said. "I'm only in it for one thing, man. The division is great, because that's what we set out to do as a team, but the big picture is trying to win a championship. We're headed in the right direction, but we still have a ways to go."
J.R. Smith hugs Raymond Felton as the Knicks can celebrate a division crown for the first time in 19 years. (Andrew Theodorakis/New York Daily News)
Indeed, the Knicks (51-26) also lead Indiana, which defeated Cleveland on Tuesday, by 2½ games for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Securing that next goal over the final five games would ensure home-court advantage for the first two rounds of the playoffs and put off a potential showdown with the Heat until the conference finals.
"There's no reason not to have a smile on your face," Carmelo Anthony said. "We definitely accomplished one of the goals that we set for ourselves before the season. It's a steppingstone for us. We took care of that, we took care of the division and now it's about making this run, finishing out the regular season strong and trying to make a push in the playoffs."
Of course, the downside was another injury for Martin, who had missed the previous two games with a sore left knee. Martin was helped to the locker room with what Woodson termed a "severe sprain" of his left ankle after the veteran forward stepped on Chris Singleton's foot while going for a defensive rebound with 10:35 left in the fourth quarter. Still, already without big men Amar'e Stoudemire, Rasheed Wallace, Kurt Thomas, Marcus Camby — and, once again, Tyson Chandler (neck) — Woodson said only "I hope so" when asked if he expects Martin to be ready for the playoffs.
It's not all good news as Kenyon Martin (r.) sprains his ankle. X-rays are negative, however. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
"At this point, we have to get him right, get our guys right and get them back," Anthony said. "If (sitting out) is what it's going to take for him to be ready and full-strength coming into the playoffs, I'd rather not see him."
Anthony, who tied Hall of Famer Bernard King's franchise record of three straight games of at least 40 points last week, erupted for 21 of his 36 points in the third quarter to also match King's 1984-85 team mark of five consecutive 35-plus point efforts. Anthony, who again heard MVP chants, added eight rebounds and six assists despite not playing in the fourth.
"I know what Melo was thinking: He was thinking about winning that division tonight," Woodson said. "He wasn't going to leave any doubt in anybody's mind."
The next step for Anthony? Pointing the Knicks toward an NBA title. (ADREES LATIF/REUTERS)
The Knicks came out firing from long range and barely looked back, nailing nine of 12 threes in the first quarter alone, including two apiece from Anthony, Raymond Felton (eight assists), Iman Shumpert (18 points) and Chris Copeland (17).
Anthony took over with 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the third, and J.R. Smith (17 points) put some icing on the division-clinching cakewalk with an alley-oop flush.
"If I didn't have players that could make 'em, trust me, we wouldn't be shooting them," Woodson said.
With T-shirts depicting the divisional achievement hanging from each locker room stall, Steve Novak described the scene as "very normal." As Smith put it, pointing to shots of the Larry O'Brien Trophy atop each locker, "Now it's time to go get that gold ball."
"We know this is a goal we set (out) early to accomplish, but it's definitely not our ultimate goal," Novak said. "This is not something we're going to feel like we really achieved something. We understand the championship is our goal."
Latest Knicks
The highlight of the Knicks preseason will be Zion Williamson's visit


text:
All Issue Areas Children's Rights (49) Criminal Justice Reform (31) Economic Justice (19) Guest Worker Rights (1) Hate & Extremism (9) Immigrant Justice (71) LGBTQ Rights (14) News (1) Voting Rights (5) Voting Rights - AL (1) Voting Rights - FL (1) Voting Rights - LA (1) Voting Rights - MS (2)
Wilhen Hill Barrientos, et al., v. CoreCivic, Inc.
Detained immigrants were forced to work for as little as $1 a day to clean, cook and maintain a privately operated immigrant detention center in Stewart County, Georgia, as part of a scheme to maximize its profits, according to a class action lawsuit the SPLC filed against the private prison...
Southern Poverty Law Center v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, et al.
After the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) violated the Constitution by blocking immigrants in isolated civil immigration prisons from accessing lawyers, the SPLC filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against the agency and other high-level federal officials.
The federal lawsuit...
Peter Sean Brown v. Richard A. "Rick" Ramsay
Peter Sean Brown was illegally detained in Florida's Monroe County jail for deportation despite his repeated pleas to authorities that he was a U.S. citizen and the county's own jail file showing that he was born in Philadelphia. The SPLC filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Brown, whose Fourth...
Nehemy Antoine (formerly Lesly Methelus), et al. v. The District School Board of Collier County, Florida, et al.
Officials with Florida's Collier County schools effectively barred immigrant children with limited English skills from enrolling in high school and pushed them into an adult English program that offered no opportunity to earn credit toward a high school diploma – a violation of state and federal...
M.V. vs. Jefferson Parish Public School System
Louisiana's Jefferson Parish Public School System failed to provide adequate translation and interpretation services for Spanish-speaking parents with limited English proficiency and created an environment hostile to Latino students. The school system provided school notices in English to English-speaking parents but failed to provide this information to Spanish-speaking parents in Spanish – discriminating against these students and violating state and federal law. The SPLC filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice, resulting in a settlement agreement between the school system and federal authorities.


text:
Transferred Quotes
Constantine declared his own will equivalent to a canon of the Church. According to Justinian, the Roman people had formally transferred to the emperors the entire plenitude of its authority, and, therefore, the emperor's pleasure, expressed by edict or by letter, had force of law. Even in the fervent age of its conversion the empire employed its refined civilization, the accumulated wisdom of ancient sages, the reasonableness and subtlety of Roman law, and the entire inheritance of the Jewish, the pagan, and the Christian world, to make the Church serve as a gilded crutch of absolutism.
Dalberg-Acton, John, 1st Baron Acton
More Transferred Quotes
What then is truth? A movable host of metaphors, metonymies, and; anthropomorphisms: in short, a sum of human relations which have been poetically and rhetorically intensified, transferred, and embellished, and which, after long usage, seem to a people to be fixed, canonical, and binding.
— Friedrich Nietzsche, On truth and Lies in a Nonmoral Sense.
Tags: What, then, truth, movable, host, metaphors, short, sum, human
If I had resigned on my own accord, to whom would I have transferred the reigns of power?
mengistu haile mariam
— As quoted in "Mengistu blames Meles for helping Eritrea at UN to split Ethiopia: Mengistu Haile-Mariam speaks", in Jimma Times (30 July 2010)
Tags: resigned, own, accord, reigns, power
The work . . . is steadily growing and spreading – especially in that most important department, native help. . . . The future hope of China doubtless lies in them. I look on all us foreign missionaries as platform work round a rising building; the sooner it can be dispensed with the better; or rather, the sooner it can be transferred to other places, to serve the same temporary purpose, the better for the work sufficiently forward to dispense with it, and the better for the places yet to be evangelized.
— (A.J. Broomhall. Hudson Taylor and China's Open Century, Book Five: Refiner's Fire. London: Hodder and Stoughton and Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 1985, 373.)
Tags: work, steadily, growing, spreading, most, important, department, native, help
Jesus...is the final priest who makes all priesthood obsolete not merely the performance of ritual sacrifice, but the office, pomp and circumstance of priestly authority and hierarchy itself. Instead of deferring to any caste of religious hierarchs, followers of the Way are thus now summoned to collectively be a "royal priesthood," a "chosen race" or "holy nation" built not upon offices of any kind but upon transferred allegiance to God's in-breaking "kingdom."
— Ronald E. Osborn, Anarchy and Apocalypse : Essays on Faith, Violence, and Theodicy (2010), pp.35–36.
Tags: Jesusis, final, priest, who, makes, priesthood, obsolete, performance, ritual
And still she slept an azure-lidded sleep, In blanched linen, smooth, and lavendered, While he from forth the closet brought a heap Of candied apple, quince, and plum, and gourd; With jellies soother than the creamy curd, And lucent syrops, tinct with cinnamon; Manna and dates, in argosy transferred From Fez; and spiced dainties, every one, From silken Samarcand to cedared Lebanon.
— "The Eve of St. Agnes", stanza 30 (1820)
Tags: slept, azurelidded, sleep, blanched, linen, smooth, While, closet, heap
Sober perseverance is more effective than enthusiastic emotions, which are all too capable of being transferred, with little difficulty, to something different each day.
— Ch. 5 : The Politics of Hope, p. 111
Tags: Sober, perseverance, more, effective, enthusiastic, emotions, capable, little, difficulty
If one fourth of the capital of a country were suddenly destroyed, or entirely transferred to a different part of the world, without any other cause occurring of a diminished demand for commodities, this scantiness of capital would certainly occasion great inconvenience to consumers, and great distress among the working classes; but it would be attended with great advantages to the remaining capitalists.
thomas malthus
— Book II, Chapter I, On The Progress of Wealth, Section X, p. 414 (See also: Karl Marx, Capital Volume I, Chapter 25, Section 4(e), p. 742
Tags: one, fourth, capital, country, suddenly, destroyed, different, world, without
It is confirmed that the Armenians should be transferred to the indicated region as communicated in the February 13th telegram. As the situation has been evaluated by the state, the probability of rebellion and protest indicates the need to take action. The increasing possibility of Armenian uprisings requires that every effective means of suppression needs to be applied.
mehmed talat
— March 2. Quoted in "A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Turkish Responsibility" - by Taner Akçam, Paul Bessemer - History - 2006 - Page 159
Tags: confirmed, Armenians, indicated, region, communicated, February, 13th, telegram, situation
It has been observed before that images, however beautiful, though faithfully copied from nature, and as accurately represented in words, do not of themselves characterize the poet. They become proofs of original genius only as far as they are modified by a predominant passion; or by associated thoughts or images awakened by that passion; or when they have the effect of reducing multitude to unity, or succession to an instant; or lastly, when a human and intellectual life is transferred to them from the poet's spirit.
— Ch. XV (Biographia Literaria (1817))
Tags: been, observed, before, images, beautiful, faithfully, copied, nature, accurately
Common wealth is in the process of being transferred from the public domain to the private sector.
david mcnally
— Chapter 3, The Invisible Hand Is A Closed Fist, p. 70
Tags: Common, wealth, process, public, domain, private, sector
The criminal law has, from the point of view of thwarted virtue, the merit of allowing an outlet for those impulses of aggression which cowardice, disguised as morality, restrains in their more spontaneous forms. War has the same merit. You must not kill you neighbor, whom perhaps you genuinely hate, but by a little propaganda this hate can be transferred to some foreign nation, against whom all your murderous impulses become patriotic heroism.
— Part III: Man and Himself, Ch. 17: Fear, p. 175.
Tags: criminal, law, point, view, thwarted, virtue, merit, allowing, outlet
In periods of economic upheaval, in periods of economic crisis, wealth is not destroyed, it is merely transferred.
— Larry Bates, in The Money Masters: How International Bankers Gained Control of America (1998)
Tags: periods, economic, upheaval, crisis, wealth, destroyed
Home and heaven are not so far separated as we sometimes think. Nay, they are not separated at all, for they are both in the same great building. Home is the lower story, and is located down here on the ground floor; heaven is above stairs, in the second and third stories; and, as one after another the family is called to come up higher, that which seemed to be such a strange place begins to wear a familiar aspect; and, when at last not one is left below, the home is transferred to heaven, and heaven is home.
— Alexander Dickson, p. 326. (Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895))
Tags: Home, heaven, far, separated, we, sometimes, think, Nay, both
The prisoners [transferred to labor camps] would have been spared a great deal of misery if they had been taken straight into the gas chambers at Auschwitz.
— Rudolf Höss, commandant of Auschwitz. Awake! magazine, The Holocaust—Yes, It Really Happened!, April 8, 1989.
Tags: prisoners, labor, camps, been, spared, great, deal, misery, taken
Mysore was the capital of Mysore state from about 1800 to 1973. After India re-organized the states, Mysore state was expanded to include Kannada-speaking districts that were part of neighbouring states. It was renamed Karnataka, and the capital was transferred to Bangalore
— G.N.Ramu, in "Brothers and Sisters in India: A Study of Urban Adult Siblings", p.42
Tags: Mysore, capital, state, After, India, reorganized, states, expanded, include
— Thomas Malthus (1836) Principles of Political Economy. Book II, Chapter I, On The Progress of Wealth, Section X, p. 414
The terms for the Phocians were mild by Greek Standards (one Greek state proposed the execution of all the men) disarmament, division into village-settlements, payment of all indemnity to Apollo and expulsion from the Amphictiony. In their place the Macedonians were elected members. The two votes of Phocis on the council were transferred to the Macedonian state.
— Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond, "The Genius of Alexander the Great", p.18, Gerald Duckworth & Co Ltd (November 26, 2004)
Tags: terms, Phocians, mild, Greek, Standards, one, state, proposed, execution
You can't manage knowledge – nobody can. What you can do is to manage the environment in which knowledge can be created, discovered, captured, shared, distilled, validated, transferred, adopted, adapted and applied.
— Chris Collison and Geoff Parcell, Learning to Fly - Practical Knowledge Management from Leading and Learning Organizations (2005), Chapter 2, pages 24-25.
Tags: You, can't, manage, knowledge, nobody, can, What, environment, created
Our own unresolved authority problems from our youth sometimes get transferred to our youthful patients, because we are still "covert adolescent rebels." In subtle ways, we encourage the adolescent patient to rebel towards parents, school authorities, and society in general.
virgil miller newton
— Miller Newton (1995). Adolescence: Guiding Youth Through the Perilous Ordeal. W.W. Norton and Company, NY, NY, pg 67.
Tags: Our, own, unresolved, authority, problems, youth, sometimes, youthful, patients
Yul had simply launched himself at the guy from some distance away, and body-checked him at full speed, stopping on a dime in midair as he transferred all of his energy into the target. "Conservation of momentum," he announced, "it's not just a good idea it's the law !"
— Yulassetar Crade removes a TV reporter in zero gravity, Part 12, "Requiem"
Tags: simply, launched, himself, guy, distance, away, him, full, speed
Until 2003, Bomis, in effect, owned Wikipedia, but in June of that year, all the assets were transferred to the nonprofit Wikimedia Foundation.
— Roy Rosenzweig (2013). Clio Wired: The Future of the Past in the Digital Age. Columbia University Press. pp. 54, 81, 258, 261. ISBN 0231521715.
Tags: Bomis, effect, owned, Wikipedia, June, year, assets, nonprofit, Wikimedia
Jesus … is the final priest who makes all priesthood obsolete – not merely the performance of ritual sacrifice, but the office, pomp and circumstance of priestly authority and hierarchy itself. Instead of deferring to any caste of religious hierarchs, followers of the Way are thus now summoned to collectively be a "royal priesthood," a "chosen race" or "holy nation" built not upon offices of any kind but upon transferred allegiance to God's in-breaking "kingdom."
— Ronald E. Osborn, Anarchy and Apocalypse : Essays on Faith, Violence, and Theodicy (2010), p. 35
Tags: Jesus, final, priest, who, makes, priesthood, obsolete, performance, ritual
Jesus…is the final priest who makes all priesthood obsolete – not merely the performance of ritual sacrifice, but the office, pomp and circumstance of priestly authority and hierarchy itself. Instead of deferring to any caste of religious hierarchs, followers of the Way are thus now summoned to collectively be a "royal priesthood," a "chosen race" or "holy nation" built not upon offices of any kind but upon transferred allegiance to God's in-breaking "kingdom."
— Ronald E. Osborn, Anarchy and Apocalypse: Essays on Faith, Violence, and Theodicy (2010), pp.35-36


text:
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27 September 2004: Opening of the Torino Campus
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At the end of 90's, EAP was planning to set up in Italy and the hypothesis of a number of Italian cities such as Venice, Rome, Milan, and Turin was examined.
After the merger with ESCP, Turin was selected in 2002, because of the strong partnership with the University of Turin and the Chamber of Commerce of Turin, institutional structures (Compagnia di San Paolo, Fondazione CRT, ITP Invest in Turin and Piedmont, the Municipality of Turin, the Employers' Association of Turin and the Polytechnic of Turin) and prestigious firms (such as Lavazza, Martini & Rossi, Accenture, FNAC Italia, Lazard & Co, Hutchinson and Fiditalia,) that immediately supported the establishment of the Italian campus.
At that time, in Italy
At that time, in Italy, Universities had little connections with the business world, and it was a peculiarity of the Turin Campus to be supported by the major local companies. Their interest was driven by the idea of fertilizing the Italian economy with international talents (students and professors) and training Italian talents for international careers.
So, in the Fall of 2004 the first academic year at the ESCP Turin Campus started at Skillab, a company lab hosted by the Unione Industriale di Torino (the Employers' Association of Turin).
Students and Collaborators
There were only 37 students: 20 in the Master in Management and 17 in the Master in European Business programme (now the MBA in Master in Management).
Six collaborators, including the Dean, Associate Professor Roberto Quaglia, staffed the Campus which was chaired by Prof. Daniele Ciravegna of the University of Turin.
In 2005, besides the existing dual degree agreement with the University of Turin, a new partnership was signed between ESCP and the Politecnico di Torino. The agreement provided for the awarding by the Turin Polytechnic of the Master's Degree in Management Engineering to students from Italian Engineering Faculties enrolled in the Master in Management programme, and since that academic year, the courses in Turin take place on the premises of the Economics Department of Turin University.
In 2018, after a long accreditation process started in April 2017, ESCP obtained its recognition as a foreign University by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research. At the beginning of the 2018-2019 academic year, the Turin Campus became the third academic centre of the Piedmontese capital, and was allowed to award Bachelor and Master's degrees.
>The growth of the Turin Campus
The growth of the Turin Campus, in terms of numbers of students and of staff, has been exponential in the last few years. As ESCP in Turin aims to welcome a cohort of 800 students within the next 5-6 years, a new building will be rented and renovated for a total surface of roughly 5,500 sqm.
And Jean-Joseph Garnier
As history sometimes has stunning detours, in 1850, Jean-Joseph Garnier, a graduate and professor of the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris, already made history in Turin: supported by Adolphe Blanqui, he founded in Turin… the first business school in Italy.
News 09/10/2019
1988 : The Madrid Campus opened
At the outset, in 1973, the EAP school was present in 3 countries: France, England and Germany, to meet the needs expressed by companies for managers able to develop their business activities in the European Union.
Annie Médina, 41 years of commitment to ESCP
Annie Médina joined the school in 1976 as an assistant in the Law Department, after starting teaching as an assistant at the Faculty of Law of Paris XI University. She was also a Member of the Paris Bar.
1985: Opening of the Berlin campus
When it was founded in 1973, the EAP established the core principle of "three years of studies, in three languages, in three countries" on its campuses in Paris, London (and later Oxford) and Dusseldorf.
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The east west line here, sec 26, is the old boundary between Cherokee and Seneca nations, the land north of this line was owned under patent by the Seneca of Sandusky, Ohio, by treaty of 1831. The land here south of the line was owned by the Cherokee by treaty of 1828.
North of Grove, Oklahoma on west side of U.S. Highway 59 before you get to the bridge. Just south of 98th St NW.


text:
Q: Find a differential equation whose solutions are the circles $x^2+y^2=2ay$ I had to find differential equation of the family of circles which touch the $x$-axis at origin. Centering the variable circle at $(0,a)$, its equation will be
$$x^2+y^2=2ay .$$
Solving conventionally by differentiating once and substituting the value of a in the equation of circle, the differential equation is
$$(x^2-y^2)y_1=2xy$$
Now I might be missing some concept because I've just started with ODE, but what is wrong with the following process? Differentiating the circle equation
$$x+yy_1=ay_1 ,$$ dividing both sides by $y_1$, and differentiating both sides gives the equation
$$y_1-xy_2+{y_1}^3=0 .$$
Does this not represent the family of circles? In that case the differential equations are of different orders.

A: Differentiating an equation in general discards information.
A first-order differential equation
$$\phantom{(\ast)} \qquad F(x, y, y_1) = 0 \qquad (\ast)$$
(with nice $F$) has a $1$-parameter family of solutions. And in the example in the question, this is exactly what we want to produce---a first-order differential equation whose solutions are precisely the given family of curves. This is exactly what we achieve when isolating $a$ as $$\frac{x^2}{2 y} + \frac{y}{2} = a$$ and differentiating w.r.t. $x$ to produce (after clearing denominators) a first-order o.d.e.
$$(x^2 - y^2) y_1 = 2 x y $$
that does not depend on $a$, that is, for which every equation $$x^2 + y^2 = 2 a y$$ is a solution.
Regardless of whether $F$ in $(\ast)$ depends on a parameter like $a$, however, differentiating $(\ast)$ gives a second-order o.d.e., $$\frac{d}{dx}F(x, y, y_1) = 0,$$ that is,
$$\phantom{(\ast\ast)} \qquad \frac{\partial F}{\partial x} + \frac{\partial F}{\partial y} y_1 + \frac{\partial F}{\partial y_1} y_2 =0 \qquad (\ast\ast)$$
which (again under nice conditions) has a $2$-parameter family of solutions. So, many---in a sense that can be made precise, most---solutions of $(\ast\ast)$ are not solutions of $(\ast)$. So, in general producing a second-order equation---if you like, differentiating twice---means we have produced a differential equation with too many solutions to satisfy our original prescription.
As a toy example if we want to find a differential equation whose solutions are (all) the horizontal lines $$y = c ,$$ the parameter $c$ is already isolated, and differentiating gives the desired equation $(\ast)$: $$y_1 = 0 .$$ But differentiating again gives $y_2 = 0$ (our $(\ast\ast)$), whose solutions are precisely the affine functions, $$y(x) = a x + b .$$ In particular, the solutions of $(\ast\ast)$ with $a \neq 0$ are not solutions of the original differential equation $(\ast)$.

A: It's not so much that the two equations are of different orders.  We could differentiate both sides of the first equation and get a second-order equation.  The difference is that you have treated $a$ differently in the two processes.
In the first, $a$ is a parameter which depends on $x$ and $y$ (Each point on the plane, other than the origin, is on exactly one circle tangent to the $x$-axis at the origin).  In the second, you're treating $a$ like a constant.
If you solve the second equation (before you differentiate a second time) by separating variables, you get
\begin{align*}
    \frac{x}{y'} + y &= a \\
\implies
    x &= (a-y) y' \\
\implies
    x \,dx &= (a-y)\,dy \\
\implies
    x^2 &= -(a-y)^2 + C \\
\implies
    x^2 + (a-y)^2 &= C
\end{align*}
So for each $a$, the family of solutions is the set of circles centered at $(0,a)$.  That's quite different from the family of circles tangent to the $x$-axis at $(0,0)$.

A: An ODE of order $n$ has a solution with $n$ independent parameters. So your second equation represents a double family of circles, not just the given one (you might differentiate once again, and describe a triple family…).

For a quick solution, write
$$\frac{x^2+y^2}{2x}=a$$ and differentiate, giving
$$(2x+2yy')2x-(x^2+y^2)2=0$$ (denominator omitted).

A: $$
x^2+y^2 = 2ay
$$
Take the derivative wrt. $x$
$$
2x + 2yy' = 2ay' \implies y' = \frac{x}{a-y}
$$
This will have one constant too many; eliminate that by eliminating $a$ using
$$
x^2+y^2 = 2ay \implies a = \frac{x^2+y^2}{2y}
$$
So
$$
y' = \frac{x}{a-y} = \frac{x}{\frac{x^2+y^2}{2y}-y} = \frac{2xy}{(x^2+y^2)-2y^2}
$$

$$
y' =\frac{2xy}{x^2-y^2}
$$

As a check, note that when $y = \pm x$ the slope $y'$ is infinite, as woould be expected since a $45^\circ$ line from the origin intersects the circle at a place where the tangent is vertical.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Setting goals is important in business and in life, but chances are, most of the "helpful" stuff you've read about actually doing so is little better than useless. Hundreds of thousands of people read that same fluff every day – "set attainable goals," "make sure success is measurable," "stay motivated." But how many of them do you see repeatedly failing?
Keeping things neat and tidy around the office is one of the keys to running a productive business. But, unfortunately, in many cases, this same sense of pride in place doesn't seem to extend to email inboxes. Messages pile up endlessly – especially when you get hundreds each day – and they just seem to never go away.
With all of the recent interest in Yahoo's much-publicized decision to revoke remote working privileges, we thought it'd be a good idea to take a look at who these mobile workers are and how they work in today's modern business climate.
The results might surprise you. For example, did you know that over 75% of employees who work from home earn more than $65,000 per year? Or that the world's mobile workforce is estimated to represent as much as 37% of the world's total population by the year 2015?
Making the most out of what you have is one of the best things a business owner can learn to do – and, unsurprisingly, increasing the productivity of current employees falls under these words of wisdom.
Are you struggling to find your focus within your field? Having trouble determining how to best move up the corporate ladder within your organization? No matter what your unique needs are, a business mentor may be able to help!
Anyone who's ever tried to accomplish a goal – whether to grow a business, lose weight or achieve some other purpose – knows how difficult it can be to stay motivated. While you might start out excited, the struggle of working towards a larger goal day-in and day-out can take a serious toll on your mood and energy levels.


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Talk:2597: Salary Negotiation
The second panel is me every time I haggle for something, and I have to make sure I don't end up haggling the wrong way. Or starting above my desired price when I mean to start below so that I can meet in the middle at my desired price.
172.70.91.36 23:06, 23 March 2022 (UTC)
It's not a one-time negotiation, anyway. During an annual review I'd have to suggest any pay adjustments. Was useless at it, too self-effacing. I left one job after ten years and later on found my exact same old position (which I had felt now wasn't adding much to the team, part of the reason I left) readvertised with a suggested salary range starting at twice that of what I had actually departed with. Seems they needed me (or someone quite like me) more than any of us knew. That experience didn't improve my assertiveness, though. 172.70.90.211 10:25, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
They should offer him $61,333.33 plus a penny extra once every three years.162.158.107.198 23:31, 23 March 2022 (UTC)
The way a friend solved it was to cut a penny into six pieces (like a pizza), and then give me two of them. Ruffy314 (talk) 09:42, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
This raises more questions than it answers. Why was your friend giving you 1/3 of a penny? Why two sixths rather than one third? How did they cut it? --192·168·0·1 (talk) 13:34, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
I would imagine that it is significantly easier to slice a coin all the way through than it is to cut it halfway through. But I'm still wondering how: after making the first cut (presumably relatively easy given the right tools), the subsequent cuts would be against *parts* of a penny, not the entire thing (thereby decreasing the utility of making full slices). Once a penny is cut in half, the two parts won't stay together anymore, unlike a pizza where the entire thing retains its same shape the entire time. I also wonder about the utility: a fraction of a penny under 50% of the total volume is completely worthless. When someone has more than 50%, then it is worth the entire value of the penny. Cwallenpoole (talk) 14:16, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
You can clamp down the two parts of a now discected coin, for a further cut across-tye-cut almost as easily as you can clamp down the original. Harder to do the two ⅙ths and two ⅓rds (or just the latter two) to get the final four ⅙ths. Or overlay the cut halves (or thirds), perhaps, then cut through both with a powerful enough slicer.
But the way I'd do it (assuming 6 ⅙s is the target) is to make the cut across all but a sliver of one edge, realign, make a similar cut (liberating ⅙, having ⅓+⅙+⅓ still joined) then clean through at the third angle (two more ⅙s loosed), after which you just need to snip through the two cut-ends that you left to make the slotted ½ into 3 separate ⅙s.
Just snipping from edge to centre, three times, can mess up at the meeting point. Though it involves the same angles, getting them to meet (non-messily) in the exact centre is awkward, and it's easier to visually map six equilateral triangles with an edge-length equal to the radius (to execute three cross-cuts, fairly) than the three obtuse triangles (or one equilateral triangle with edges ≠2r) in planning where on the edge to start. Well, from my regular experience in actual pizza-cutting into three equal portions, before we get to the difficulty in cleanly cutting a much smaller coin made of metal. 141.101.99.154 14:44, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
Any idea how Cueball arrived at the figure of $61 1/3 thousand?--Troy0 (talk) 03:33, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
Arbitrarily non-round numbers are a really good idea as per [1] (which I just added), and Cueball's is one of the simplest in terms of algebraic fractional expression at the bottom of the 110-120% widely-accepted counter-offer range already mentioned (with which I agree and have heard repeatedly from associates, but rather uncomfortably is in the explanation without a source.) I would sincerely say he's being quite shrewd at that point, except for the haggling over cents and fractional cents. 172.70.214.185 03:20, 25 March 2022 (UTC)
Interesting. In the UK, I was taught to call them recurring decimals. Never heard of repeating decimals. --141.101.99.20 08:46, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
I just assumed the usual trans-Atlantic difference in terminology. In general I'd also say "point three three three recurring" to establish the (unvarying) pattern, or something like "point one nine one nine recurring" for a bistable pattern, etc, so that it doesn't look like all-nines to infinity. But, to be honest, I'd be glad if people didn't use "point thirty-three" or the like. ;) 172.70.90.211 10:25, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
I don't think the 15% is meaning a 15% cut in the (offered) salary, as the current explanation has it. I think this is referencing agent-type negotiations, where the agent might take 15% of the salary negotiated for the person they're representing.172.69.79.209 09:15, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
Fixed. Justhalf (talk) 10:51, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
Also inappropriately used/ill-formed, in this negotiation, but "15% of the gross" might be a given film-star's deal for appearing/cameoing in a movie, i.e. variable according to the success, tying directly into the money it earns the studio - potentially quite lucrative, without scaring off the studio by risking it (excessive) debts in the event of a flop or other failure to cash in. So long as the total percentages are not excessive!
A salary that is a set percentage (other than 100%) of one's own salary is, of course, nonsensicle and paradoxical (though one could suggest an introductive percentage 'discount' for the first year, as a wary employer's inducement/guarantee, perhaps in direct exchange for a corresponding bonus against the measure of productivity that is expected/hoped to be massively increased by being hired), but muddled Cueball seems to be grasping at apt-sounding fragments of such 'business language' yet mashing them together in various wrong ways. 172.70.162.147 12:47, 24 March 2022 (UTC)
Summary is way too long and overdetailed. It's more like a play-by-play of the comic than an explanation 172.69.248.145 02:06, 25 March 2022 (UTC)
Seconded. Apologies to whoever wrote the existing description, but you worked too hard. -mezimm 172.70.130.91 19:37, 25 March 2022 (UTC)
As others have pointed out, $61,333.33 1/3 is not an irrational number; however calling it a rational number (and linking the page for that term) seems pointless. Could we change it to say "irrational amount" to indicate Cueball's mindset and eliminate the link?
Retrieved from "https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=Talk:2597:_Salary_Negotiation&oldid=276716"


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Turkey donates emergency food for 3,000 Bangladeshis
Turkiye, World, Asia - Pacific
Turkish government, foundations provide food, hygiene products for low-income people in capital city amid COVID-19 outbreak
Md. Kamruzzaman | 23.04.2020
Turkey on Thursday donated emergency food aid for 3,000 poor households in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka on the eve of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
"We stand by our brothers and sisters in Bangladesh, who are the most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic consequences," said Mustafa Osman Turan, Turkish Ambassador in Bangladesh, in an address to the recipient families at a ceremony.
The South Asian nation of more than 165 million has so far reported 127 deaths from COVID-19 so far, with 4,186 confirmed cases and 108 recoveries.
The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency, Turkish Red Crescent and Turkiye Diyanet Foundation donated the items on behalf of the Turkish government.
The food items include rice, cooking oil and antiseptic soap.
At the ceremony, Turan said: "Today's food assistance before the start of the holy month of Ramadan should be considered as a token of the deep-rooted close ties between our countries."
Referring to the Turkish National Sovereignty and Children's Day that also marks the centenary of the establishment of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, he added: "We believe that our future belongs to our children and we should do our utmost to prepare a better future for them."
Out of the 3,000 food packages, at least one-third will go to feed the children of poor families, as well as homeless children and those with special needs, he added.
TIKA Bangladesh Coordinator Ismail Gundogdu said the organization had been working in Bangladesh since 2014.
"TIKA has been carrying out many activities, not only in Rohingya camps but also in different regions of Bangladesh," he said.
Gundogdu noted that the food aid was a sign of friendly ties between Turkey and Bangladesh, adding: "We are also planning to provide medical equipment to the [Bangladesh] Ministry of Health as part of TIKA's support to fight against COVID-19."
To stem the spread of the virus, Bangladesh has been observing a nationwide lockdown since March 26 that will continue till May 5. A total of 35,989 tests have been conducted since the first coronavirus case reported in the country on March 8.
The country has already declared various assistance schemes and launched an affordable food distribution initiative for low-income households amid the lockdown.
Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Atiqul Islam received the Turkish donations on behalf of Bangladesh.
He expressed his gratitude to Turkey for its long-time assistance to Bangladesh in different fields.
"I hope the bilateral ties between our two brotherly countries will be strengthened through such welfare activities of Turkey," Islam said.
After originating in Wuhan, China last December, COVID-19 has spread to at least 185 countries and regions worldwide, with Europe and the U.S. the worst-hit regions.
Worldwide cases have exceeded 2.63 million with more than 183,000 coronavirus-related deaths. Over 715,000 have recovered from the virus, according to data compiled by U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.
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Editors Choice Woman pushed back by Greece says what masked group did was humiliating...
Woman pushed back by Greece says what masked group did was humiliating and disappointing
A woman who was among five Turks pushed back to Turkey by Greek authorities a week ago Friday says they experienced humiliation and disappointment in Greece.
The asylum seekers, who crossed the Evros River, the land border between Turkey and Greece, to flee President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's relentless crackdown on dissent, were immediately apprehended by Turkish soldiers following the pushback. Turkish authorities detained four people and inexplicably released one of them.
Speaking to the Stockholm Center for Freedom, the woman, who wanted to remain anonymous and was the only one released from the group, said they were harassed in Greece by an armed and masked group that confiscated their belongings and pushed them back to Turkey, where the authorities imprisoned them on bogus terrorism charges.
She was a former high school teacher who was dismissed from her job in September 2016 and was sentenced to two years in prison in 2021 due to her alleged links to the faith-based Gülen movement. She was released pending appeal and banned from travel.
Erdoğan has been targeting followers of the Gülen movement, inspired by Turkish Muslim cleric Fethullah Gülen, since the corruption investigations of December 17-25, 2013, which implicated then-prime minister Erdoğan, his family members and his inner circle.
Following a coup attempt on July 15, 2016, the Turkish government declared a state of emergency and carried out a massive purge of state institutions under the pretext of an anti-coup fight. More than 130,000 public servants, including 4,156 judges and prosecutors, as well as 24,706 members of the armed forces, were summarily removed from their jobs for alleged membership in or relationships with "terrorist organizations" by emergency decree-laws subject to neither judicial nor parliamentary scrutiny.
Thousands of post-coup crackdown victims had to leave the country illegally because the government had revoked their passports.
The woman could not find a job following her dismissal and was isolated within the society as a person who was labelled a member of the Gülen movement. After she was sentenced in 2021, she decided to leave Turkey and reunite with her husband and children, who had already found shelter in Germany.
Former public servants were not only fired from their jobs; they were also banned from working again in the public sector and getting a passport. The government also made it difficult for them to work formally in the private sector. Notes were put on the social security database about dismissed public servants to deter potential employers.
The woman had also tried to flee Turkey in June 2021 but was pushed back then as well, experiencing mistreatment in Greece at that time, too.
She said the group spent a day on an island on the Greek side of the river. They weren't able to leave the island since it was not close enough to the shore. They had to wait for help from "Greek security people."
"When a boat arrived at the island in the evening, everyone was very happy to see Greek security people on board. We got on the boat and reached land," she said.
According to the woman, a black vehicle was waiting for them when they arrived. Three masked and armed men got out of the vehicle. They summoned the men and searched them first and left the women for later. During the search, they took all their belongings and threw away the medication of a man who had diabetes.
Stating that what they experienced was shocking and embarrassing, she said, "These people were very harsh and angry. They harassed us while they searched us. They grabbed my genitals and squeezed my breasts very hard several times. They laughed and sang while doing this. They treated the other woman in the group the same way. This was really harassment."
After a while they were brought to the riverbank and were sent back to Turkey in a boat with other refugees.
After walking for hours in cold and mud in Turkey, a gendarmerie vehicle stopped them. "When we arrived at the gendarmerie station, we asked for blankets or dry clothes since we were totally soaked. 'Nothing for the FETÖ terrorists!' they told us," she said.
FETÖ is a derogatory term coined by the Turkish government to refer to the faith-based Gülen movement as a terrorist organization.
Two men in the group were severely beaten at the station, and later four people except her were detained, she said.
"I was expecting to reunite with my family. But I cannot describe my disappointment over the things we experienced in Greece," she said.
In a previous interview with the Stockholm Center for Freedom, pushback victims said most people who were pushed back from Greece were arrested and subjected to poor prison conditions, or they have to live in fear until they are arrested again.
The United Nations Refugee Agency, members of the European Parliament and human rights watchdogs have repeatedly demanded that Greek authorities investigate such incidents of pushback.
According to Amnesty International, the practice of migrant pushbacks in Greece has become so bad that even people who have applied for asylum and have been in the country for some time are being picked up and deported.
Refugee and volunteer reports compiled by the Aegean Boat Report show that between January 1, 2017 and September 27, 2022, 1,624 boats with 43,476 people on board were forced back from Greek islands into Turkish waters.
EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson during a visit to Greece in March called on the country to "do more" to investigate the allegations. However, Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi denied Greek authorities' involvement in any kind of pushback.
All those pushback victims fleeing persecution in Turkey made it to Greece by crossing the land or sea border. They shared their locations with lawyers or family members via messaging apps, or sent pictures and videos of themselves in Greece, in a bid to prove that they had arrived in Greek territory and to avoid being returned to Turkey.
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What would the Vanderpump Rules gang blast for a night on the town? What's the perfect jam to hear while watching an epic Housewives showdown?
Bravo is thrilled to announce we've partnered with one of the world's leading music-streaming services, Spotify, to deliver curated playlists for four of our biggest shows: The Real Housewives of Atlanta, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Vanderpump Rules, and Thicker Than Water.
Each week, check out our playlist for new tracks from the past and present—each perfectly suited for the vibe of that week's episode. Our debut playlists are killer: featuring smash singles by Rihanna, Lorde, Miley Cyrus and Kanye West as well as old-school faves by Sister Sledge, the O'Jays, Mariah Carey and more.
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You are here: Home / Healthcare & Wellness / Healthcare in Today's Workplace
Healthcare & Wellness | Cover Story | April 2017
Healthcare in Today's Workplace
Whatever may happen on the government front, healthcare remains an important concern of doing business for employers.
Competitive benefits — which includes a good health plan — is a key tool in recruiting and retaining talent, says Brian Cassidy, managing principal of Phoenix-based CCBG Architects. In fact, he says, for architecture firms and similarly licensed professionals, "the expectation is, if you're an employee, you get excellent health benefits." CCBG offers coverage to every full-time employee, paying 90 percent of the premium, and makes it also available to the employee's family but at the employee's expense.
Valuing healthcare as an employee benefit is an attitude echoed across the business spectrum, from startup to established business giant.
Says Scott Salkin, CEO of Allbound, "It's tough as a startup, especially with limited funds and a limited number of employees, often resulting in fewer options and higher premiums. But I've always looked at health benefits as a huge competitive advantage, and something you can't overlook even at an early stage."
And Jason Riggs, Salt River Project's director of Total Rewards, shares, "SRP recognizes that our people are one of the biggest reasons we've been as successful as we have been. With that said, a top priority for the company is to ensure that we provide a benefits package that is attractive, responsive, sustainable and beneficial to our employees."
Arrowhead Health Centers, whose success in creating a healthcare program for its employees that improved care outcomes while cutting costs spawned Redirect Health as a separate entity that helps other businesses also achieve those results, offers free healthcare to its employees and their families. CEO Ken Levin explains Arrowhead's leadership "came to the realization that we could reframe healthcare as being an expense of being in business, to become an asset to recruit and attract the best employees in the marketplace."
What Workers Want
It follows that companies using healthcare benefits as a recruitment and retention tool consider their employees' healthcare concerns and needs in putting together their healthcare benefits offerings.
Noting, "Happy employees tend to be less stressed and, as a result, physically healthier as well," Salkin says, "We've managed to offer pretty decent coverage options through one of the larger PEOs, and hope to improve coverage and the amount we're able to cover as we grow. But we also look at other contributors to overall health — like unlimited PTO, flexible work hours, teamwork, a good culture and pleasant work environment."
SRP's medical, dental and vision plans provide broad coverage for employees and their families, including preventive screenings, a Health-Savings Account option and a large network of providers. It also offers a wellness program intended to help employees address health concerns in a proactive manner — from annual health screenings to educational luncheons on health-related topics to providing healthy-choice meals in the company's cafeterias and even to a financial planning benefit. "This benefit provides employees with a professional resource to help them get a better understanding of their personal finances, which we think can help reduce their stress," Riggs says.
Law firm Fennemore Craig has found that employees' healthcare concerns include affordability and quality of coverage. "Our firm's healthcare concerns include managing cost while helping to protect employees' personal and financial well-being," says Steve Good, director and managing partner. "In many ways, these objectives align. However, like most employers, controlling healthcare costs and future increases are a priority. We routinely address aspects of the health plans that deliver the maximum return on investment for both employees and the firm, including network accessibility and discounts, preventive care, wellness, disease management, education, care outcomes and fee transparency."
When an employee utilizes a network provider, Good explains, the savings is often 30 percent or greater for both the employee and the plan. The firm, therefore, tries to ensure plan participants have access to high-quality, in-network providers in all six of its locations. But the firm also focuses on encouraging plan participants to be compliant with preventive care guidelines for their gender and age. "Where we see shortfalls in utilization of these tools, we increase participation around the importance of the tests in our wellness communications.
"The wellness program is crucial in encouraging our workforce to make little steps that increase their overall well-being," Good continues, noting it benefits the individual as well as the organization if the needle moves even just a little to prevent chronic lifestyle-related conditions. And when disease does affect an employee, resources within the plan help to encourage best practices and medical care compliance. "Educating employees to help them become more knowledgeable consumers of healthcare includes offering tools to evaluate costs for procedures among multiple providers and allow review of the quality and effectiveness of those providers."
The full, free healthcare Arrowhead offers its employees and their families is not free to Arrowhead, but David Berg, founder of Arrowhead Health Centers and co-founder and chairman of the board of Redirect Health, estimates the return on investment at four to one "because they're a more engaged, productive team." The core of the employee program is the same healthcare delivery system that Arrowhead provides all its patients. "We don't let the patient's or employee's conditions exacerbate to where it becomes an expensive endeavor," Levin says. And there is neither co-pay nor deductible. "Out-of-pocket expenses are a barrier to early entry to care," he notes. Removing barriers to following a health plan improves patient compliance, which "is how people get better faster," Levin says.
Demographics Differ
There is no uniform "what the employee wants" across all workforce populations. SRP's diverse workforce includes professional roles and fieldwork roles, and Riggs shares, "While our plans are designed to benefit every employee, we do see some differences amongst our employees in regard to how employees approach their benefits." For example, he says, a professional views the benefits in a different light than does a fieldworker, especially with consumer choice for medical. "We tend to see our professionals use our High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) and Health-Savings Account (HSA), whereas the fieldworker may opt for the more-certain Exclusive-Provider Organization (EPO) plan."
Cassidy finds the older employees, especially aged 60 or more, are more concerned with the quality of the plan; younger employees bring a different mindset. "They're healthier, and a lot don't have kids or are single." Common to all ages, however, seems to be a need for ease of use. Additionally, his company plan includes a flex benefit account that allows the employee to prepay some expenses as a pre-tax payroll deduction, but it takes work to understand and use it effectively, so, he says, "Not a lot participate."
Recognizing that employees' individual circumstances — and therefore healthcare needs — vary, Good says Fennemore Craig is contemplating a defined contribution approach that puts more choice in each employee's hands as to how he or she will spend the healthcare dollars provided by the firm. "For some people, that may mean certain networks. For others, a richer prescription program. For others, alternative healthcare options. The desire (and, arguably, expectation) for customization and individualization is especially prevalent among the growing number of millennials in the workforce."
New Directions in Healthcare
Dental coverage has long been included in healthcare benefits. What has been emerging lately, however, is a recognition that dental is not a compartmented issue but an integral part of a person's health. In fact, the better care a person takes of his mouth, the better his overall health. People with gum disease, for instance, are more likely to have heart disease, cardiovascular disease or suffer from a stroke, relates Delta Dental President and CEO Allan Allford, who reports nearly 65 million Americans have gum disease.
And the tie-in to overall health makes a valuable contribution to the trend for integrated healthcare. "Dentists are able to detect more than 120 diseases," Allford notes, naming cancer and diabetes among them. "Those diagnoses lead to a discussion of 'what's next' and helps the primary care physician with those diagnoses."
Although "being at work is not the primary concern; being healthy is the primary concern," Allford notes the two go hand in glove and points out, "The better condition employees' mouths are in, the better condition their overall health will be and the fewer hours they're going to miss."
Along with helping employers raise awareness of the importance of oral health, Delta Dental offers programs to incentivize employees to receive more preventive care, such as excluding the costs of preventive care services from deductions for the annual benefit maximum. It also provides employers a report to help them understand how their employees are using their dental benefits such as preventive options and upfront diagnostic measures.
Its range of benefit plans accommodates the varying needs of businesses of different sizes. This includes employers with 25 or fewer employees, long an existing client base but one that Delta Dental is giving increased attention with a small-business unit launched earlier this year. "It's an opportunity for us regarding educating and growing our market share," Allford says.
Increasing attention to wellness in the healthcare picture has put increasing attention on stress and its negative impact on a person's well-being — physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. "The No. 1 reason people are out of balance and actually are sick is stress," says Sumit Banerjee, founder of Sumits Yoga. "The ancient system of yoga gives people a tool to help with that." As a market segment, he says, yoga has been mainstream for a while and is doing really well.
Banerjee gives workshops and seminars on mindfulness and meditation on how to cope with stress at work, and also offers corporate discounts for groups to come to the studio. "We encourage people to come; it helps build teamwork," he says. He notes the workplace is a pressure environment, with stress and crises and deadlines, but there are also a lot of distractions so people have a tough time focusing on projects and goals. "Using mindfulness, principles of yoga and meditation, helps them relax and focus more — which helps increase productivity."
Ross Weisman says he and his co-founders chose to focus specifically on meditation with Current Meditation, which they opened in Phoenix's Arcadia neighborhood last year with the goal of making it easier for people to add meditation to their daily routine. The length of the class, how frequently classes are held and how they are actually structured is all designed to make it easy for people to fit meditation into their schedule, Weisman says. "Obviously, you don't sweat doing meditation."
Noting that, in addition to the individual physiological benefits of reducing stress and anxiety, benefits show up in the workplace, Weisman points out there is scientific backing that meditation boosts creativity and problem solving, as well as relationship building as people become better communicators.
Weisman sees a strong market for businesses like his. And Current Meditation has begun to expand its own focus to encourage businesses to book a private class for group meditation. To larger companies, Current Meditation will offer the option of going to them, although, having put a lot of care into the studio's ambience, "We like the idea of them coming to us."
Physical therapy is another healthcare segment with a rising profile. There is a #ChoosePT movement that is rebranding physical therapy clinics to be a first choice where patients can go without a referral. Arizona is one of the states that allows this direct access, which also helps minimize an individual's cost of copays and medical bills.
T.O.P.S. Physical Therapy and Osteopractics fits into the healthcare picture by providing injury prevention and rehabilitation services to the general population, explains owner Amy M. Brannon, PT, DPT, FAAOMPT, Cert-DN, Cert-SMT, Dip. Osteopractic. "We pride ourselves on looking at the whole picture of a person, and not just the focal injury point," Dr. Brannon says. For example, an injury in the elbow can be coming from muscle imbalances in the low back, thus it is important to look at the whole overall patient. "We also have a great ability to help prevent injury, bring patients back from an injury, and make people better than they were prior to the injury."
Sharing, "We have the honor of working with many fire and police men and women. They have become the foundation of our business and have excelled in their professions based on getting better, faster," Dr. Brannon says the practice has expanded to working with the general public but its niche is working with industrial athletes and desk jockeys. "We work with various businesses in understanding what their needs are, and helping to provide injury prevention screenings to minimize the loss of time at work from injury." They also look at the mechanics being used, and try to provide input as to where movements can be changed or improved to help minimize injury. "T.O.P.S. takes time out to go visit work locations and observe the movements being performed, which not only helps us to treat those who are attending PT, but also helps to provide input on how to make changes."
Telemedicine has become, in a short span of time, a foundational part of many healthcare programs. The innovative sector is, itself, experiencing innovation. Local company Akos is designed as a community of physicians dedicated to making healthcare better through smart technology, seamless design, a patient-centric operating model, grassroots strategy and the collective power of a preferred provider network, explains Swaraj Singh, M.D., founder of Akos who also has previous experience creating an app-based healthcare service. "Akos brings together top clinical talent, high-quality customer service, and top-notch technological resources to power a new type of telemedicine practice," he says. "This new formula of telehealth makes Akos a disruptive driver in healthcare, more specifically in the telemedicine industry."
Unlike traditional telemedicine models, Akos uses a grassroots strategy and the collective power of a preferred provider network to help patients navigate their healthcare concerns from start to finish. To access Akos, patients download the free app to their smartphone or tablet and provide a brief medical history and symptoms before speaking with a virtual care coordinator. From there, a care coordinator will assess the patient's symptoms and connect the patient to the board-certified physician, in their area, who best meets their needs. If the care coordinator determines the condition cannot be treated through virtual care, the patient will not be charged by Akos and instead, will be directed via a virtual care coordinator to an Akos preferred healthcare provider nearest to the patient for immediate care. "The structured triage enables faster healthcare delivery," Dr. Singh says.
Akos also works with employers to discover what works for them. "This personalized approach allows us to customize programs," says Dr. Singh, explaining his Return to Work Program for employers streamlines the way work-related injuries and illnesses are handled, minimizing cost of ER and Urgent Care visits and reducing claims and risks, which, in turn, helps employers lower E-MOD ratings and insurance costs.
"According to the American Medical Association, telemedicine platforms, like Akos, allow physicians to treat 70 percent of clinical encounters seen today, virtually," Dr. Singh says.
Healthcare Solutions Centers, which has been providing innovative and customizable on-site and near-site clinics to businesses with 200 or more employees since 2003, "is embracing technology to enhance the patient care experience," says company president Frances Ducar, FNP-C.
The clinics provide a comprehensive and unique approach to healthcare by integrating preventative care, biometrics, wellness, on-site lab draws, discounted radiology and access to a provider 24/7 through its patient-friendly telemedicine app. "Telemedicine also allows healthcare to reach across state lines, making the employee's physical location irrelevant. Patients are also able to access their healthcare information at all times through the patient portal app, which provides an interactive and empowering healthcare xperience," Ducar says. "These applications, as well as the convenience of the clinics, allow for the breaking down of traditional barriers to healthcare by making busy schedules a non-issue to receiving quality care."
Free for the employees, Healthcare Solutions Centers' services are designed to be convenient and comprehensive and to save the employer money, especially if the company is self-insured. Notes Ducar, "Out-of-pocket costs to the company are avoided and there is a vested interest in prevention of catastrophic health events. HCS also utilizes an innovative data analytics tool to find gaps in care and uses predictive modeling to identify potentially large claims before they happen." By using this analytics software, HCS is also able to view claims data from all health plan members — not just those using clinic services — create financial modeling that combines year-to-date trends and performance with predictive cost trends for the future, and can help identify risk and engagement opportunities within the employee population. "The businesses we serve need accurate and timely reporting, now more than ever. Analytics helps us plan, strategize, adjust and prove our value, and save our clients dollars while keeping their benefited members healthy," Ducar explains.
Redirect Health, which was spawned as a disruptor out of the concept's success with a local business, was founded in 2013 to apply those methods to other businesses, helping employers build affordable, high-quality healthcare plans using a self-insurance model. The company's healthcare-first approach focuses on eliminating what it identifies as the waste, excess and inflated pricing of traditional health insurance while providing real, quality healthcare. The model allows employers of all sizes to cut healthcare expenses, build quality benefits packages and gain a competitive edge in attracting top talent, while its concierge-style care logistics team helps members access the care they need.
With its business program expanded to 28 states, Redirect Health has identified a new market opportunity and is now piloting iEverydayCARE in Maricopa County to improve access to healthcare for individuals and families. It offers another option to employees who may be opting out of their company's plans due to what they feel are high deductibles, high co-pays and increasing monthly premiums.
Innovation in Healthcare
Strength in Numbers: How Healthcare is Evolving for Business
The Law and Your Business


text:
"Ms."-ing the point
July 26, 2010 in abbreviations, bad arguments, disagreements, English, etymology, grammar, ipsedixitism, logic, portmanteau, Uncategorized, vowels, words, writing | Tags: feminism, honorific, miss, Mrs., Ms., QES, Queen's English Society, sexism, title
Last month, we grammar bloggers were all abuzz about the Queen's English Society and their quixotic quest for the instatement of an academy to regulate the English language. The Society have already been clobbered by Stan Carey, Mark Liberman, John E. McIntyre, and David Mitchell.
There is little I could add to this quartet of brilliant battery, so instead of a general discussion of the Society's shortcomings, I want to look at one of the things they're complaining about as an example of bad English. The QES's complaints are petty, insane, or both. Case in point: they'd like to see Ms. abolished. Why?
It's an abbreviation, but it has no long form.
It's "unpronounceable" since it lacks a vowel.
It was created by "certain" women who "suddenly became sensitive about revealing their marital status."
Regarding point 1, this is matter of being beholden to word labels. It reminds me of an objection I once received to preposition stranding; "preposition" suggests "in a position before", and therefore a preposition at the end of a sentence, where it doesn't precede anything, must be incorrect.
So it goes with abbreviations; if you want to be literal, an abbreviation is an abbreviated form of something. But Ms. doesn't need to be a literal abbreviation to exist. It does exist, as anyone can plainly see. If it's not an abbreviation, that doesn't stop it existing any more than a mannequin not being human stops it existing.
Ms. isn't an abbreviation, but rather a blend. It's a combination of the two words Miss and Mrs., and it happens to inherit the closing period of the abbreviation Mrs., making it superficially resemble an abbreviation. That's all.
And if we're doing an abbreviation witch-hunt, what is Mrs. short for? Missus, one might say, but that isn't really a word of its own as much as a spelling of the pronunciation of Mrs. Etymologically, Mrs. is an abbreviation of mistress, but the meaning of that word has changed sufficiently that you'd be stirring up a good deal of trouble if you called someone's wife a "mistress". I would argue that in modern English Mrs. itself is no longer an abbreviation, but a fully independent lexical item, much like Ms.
Regarding point 2, well, we all manage to pronounce Ms. pretty well for the lack of a vowel supposedly rendering it unpronounceable. How do we do it? Technically speaking, the standard pronunciation of Ms. doesn't have a vowel. We were told in school that all words need to have vowels, since each syllable has to have a vowel, but that's not quite right. Some consonants can function as the nucleus of a syllable, just like a vowel. This is more apparent in some non-English languages, such as Berber or Slavic languages. For instance, in Czech or Slovak, you can apparently tell someone to stick their finger through their throat by saying Strč prst skrz krk (audio), a sentence where every word has a nucleic r in lieu of a vowel.
English does this, too, albeit more rarely. We often reduce and down to a syllabic [n] or [ŋ] between words (as in the restaurants Eat 'n Park or In-N-Out), and word-final [l] and [r] are sometimes syllabic as well (as in bottle [boɾl] or pepper [pepr]). As you might have guessed, [z] is another syllabic consonant, which explains how we are able to pronounce [mz] as a stand-alone word.
Again, I don't mean to demonize Mrs., but if we're getting rid of vowel-less words, wouldn't we have to get rid of it, too? Mrs. lacks a vowel orthographically, and has to trade its r for two [ɪ]s and an extra [z] just to get pronounced (as [mɪzɪz])! Now that's unpronounceable!
Regarding point 3, this is a contentious point, and I don't want you to think that I'm caricaturing the QES, so let me quote the entirety of their paragraph on it:
"This linguistic misfit [Ms.] came about because certain — note: certain, not all — women suddenly became sensitive about revealing their marital status. Or perhaps they were annoyed that they could not identify a man as married or single by his title. We won't begrudge these women their complexes but surely there is a better solution to their problem than an unpronounceable buzz!"
Women, amiright? Well, no. Actually, the original push for Ms. was to avoid mistaking a married woman for an unmarried woman or vice versa. Ben Zimmer found the first known proposal for Ms. in a 1901 newspaper column (probably written by a man), which says:
"Every one has been put in an embarrassing position by ignorance of the status of some woman. To call a maiden Mrs is only a shade worse than to insult a matron with the inferior title Miss."
This is certainly a conundrum that I face often. Ms. is not (only) popular because women rightfully feel no need to disclose their marital status*, but because it offers a way for both males and females to address a woman whose marital status is unknown.
Of course, the QES has a counter-proposal to make Ms. unnecessary. They propose introducing an unmarried male title to complete the symmetry with Miss and Mrs. and then to make the choice of titles rely on age. Despite the QES's claim that this is "so simple and sensible", I think any reasonable person will see that this is a far inferior solution, and so I won't bother with further comment on that numbskullery.
Summary: Ms. isn't some recent feminist invention, it's pronounceable, and it's a useful addition to English. There is no reasonable reason to oppose it.
*: Not to mention that marital status isn't all or nothing. What is the right title for someone divorced, widowed, separated, etc.? Ms. is a convenient way to solve that problem of etiquette.
Levi Montgomery
The one thing that "Ms" makes me regret is the lack of a way for a man to announce his marital status simply by giving his name. Men of the world, unite! We need a way to say "Why, yes, I AM married, as a matter of fact, for thirty years and proud of it!"
Or maybe not.
Do you really pronounce Mrs. as [məzəz]? I have only ever heard [mɪsɪz].
I don't think I have ever heard the first [s] voiced as [z].
It's possible that, with the weak vowel merger, that could become [mɪsəz].
I would expect [məsəz] from a New Zealander, with the KIT-schwa merger.
For that matter, I've never heard [mz] for "Ms". I've only heard [məz].
dw: I only have a weak separation between [ɪ] and [ə] in unstressed syllables, so have trouble telling them apart. You're probably right that [ɪ] is more accurate, so I've changed it above. I think the first "s" is often voiced as a [z], since it's stuck between two vowels, and it's hard to turn off voicing for a single intervocalic consonant. And I don't hear a schwa in my own pronunciation of Ms., which is the same as the end of beams for me; if a schwa's there, I think it's a result of the temporary free-flow of air through my mouth between opening my lips at the end of [m] and getting my tongue in position for the [z]. Of course, it doesn't really matter; the point of undermining point 2 is just that even if Ms. lacks a vowel, it's still pronounceable.
Actually, unmarried men used to be called "Master", but it didn't matter much since the proper way for men to introduce themselves at the time was simply their last name. Women introduced themselves as "Mrs. whoever", and girls, I believe, by their first and last name.
Personally, I hate all of the above anyway. I don't need to be called either "Mrs." or "Miss", and I think "Ms." is both ugly and stupid. Of course in my demographic, none of them are used, but it pisses me off having to check a box with any of the above. If I have to have a "title", it should be "comrade" or "citizen". I prefer "comrade", myself.
When I was a child in Alabama, I did commonly hear 'Mrs.' with both z's voiced; what that lead to, before certain last names, was pronouncing it with no vowel between the two Zs–that is, "Mizz" Smith–no different, aurally, from 'Ms. Smith', though distinguishable from "Miss Smith" if you happened to know she was single.
That is, if somebody with an Alabama accent seems to be overdoing the 'Ms', (as Rumpole does with Mizz Liz Probert,) he might instead be saying 'Mrs.' in a nice old way.
pbrim
Another use of Ms is for those of us who do not use the same surname as our husbands, whether we retain our birth name, or use a hyphenated name that our husbands do not. To call myself Miss Brim implies I am nor married; to call myself Mrs. Brim implies my husband's name is Brim. Neither is true. So what honorific should I use if not Ms.?
Or am I expected to go back to the days when a woman was just a Mrs tacked on to a man's name or, if she was lucky, a parenthetical addition to his name, as in Mrs. John Doe (Jane)? Sorry, I decided that option was not for me about a half century ago and I'm not changing my mind now.
KellyK
Thank you so much for this. I *like* the existence of Ms. It only seems confusing and annoying because we have three ways of referring to women and only one of referring to men, but Ms. actually simplifies that. It fills a very important niche.
And I have to roll my eyes (a lot) at the bit about "certain" women and their "complexes." Because wanting to be seen as your own person rather than an extension of your husband is *so* unreasonable. I'd like to go around calling everyone who came up with this and is married Mr. [Wife's First Name] and see how long it takes them to develop a complex.
Related to CTR's comment, I've noticed that a lot of parents teach their kids to call unrelated grown-ups (like the parents' friends) Mr. or Miss First Name. (So I'm Miss Kelly to my friends' young kids.) The parents who do this seem to use "Miss" for married and unmarried women alike, so it kind of works the same way as "Ms." (As far as I can tell…it might be that they're using a southern Mizz, which is really Mrs., but it seems to be pronounced with an [s] rather than a [z].)
I *think* it's a southern thing, or southern-ish, since I've only heard it in Maryland and often from people who grew up further south (one in particular is from North Carolina).
Of course, the QES has a counter-proposal to make Ms. unnecessary. They propose introducing an unmarried male title to complete the symmetry with Miss and Mrs. and then to make the choice of titles rely on age.
So instead of making assumptions about marital status of people we meet in formal and professional situations, we're supposed to make assumptions about their *ages*? Yeah, that's going to go over real well…
Gabe: FWIW, there is definitely a vowel in my pronunciation of "Ms.", although it's not the schwa that DW mentions (I pronounce it /mɪ:z/). I don't recall ever hearing it pronounced with no vowel, and although I don't question you I must say I'm surprised to learn you or anyone else pronounces it that say. For many names starting with multiple consonants, I imagine having no vowel between the /m/ and /z/ would create quite the mouthful.
As for the issue of widows, divorcees, etc., I have seen highly convoluted etiquette rules for proper forms of address for them. Depending on the current status, a woman who was born Jane Doe and married Richard Smith could be Mrs. Richard Smith, Mrs. Jane Smith, or even Mrs. Doe Smith (the latter being one form I've seen for divorced women). However, my experience is that different sources have different rules, so the end result is that the rules which are supposed to prevent offence actually create it. (I've been in that situation myself, because what I was taught was the proper form of address for a widow is what my wife's grandmother was taught was only to be used for divorcees.) I personally think we'd all be better off abandoning "Miss" and "Mrs." and just go use "Ms." consistently for all women. There is simply no justifiable reason I can see for making the distinction, particularly since we do not make it for men. I'd also throw out the practice of using other titles (such as "Dr."); I regard these as being every bit as anachronistic as the "Miss"/"Mrs." distinction.
Daniel: Great point about the etiquette rules. And as for the vowel-less [mz] pronunciation, I think I don't pronounce a vowel when Ms. is unstressed, in a sentence like "It's nice to see you, Ms. Doe." If it were a sentence like "Ms. Doe, it's nice to see you," I think most of the time (if not all), I'd have either a schwa or [ɪ] in there, but a short one, not a long one. All of this I must say with the caveat that I am a syntactician and not a phonetician; these are impressions not based in observation but introspection, and there is no quicker way to discover a false truth than introspection.
CaitieCat
Another data point: UK-born, Canadian since 10, and I've got a definite short i (sorry, don't have access to IPA on this machine – SAMPA /I/) in Ms ("mIz" in SAMPA), and definitely "s" rather than "z" in the middle of Mrs.
My partner, from Baltimore, has the same "Mrs" as I do, but has "mIs" for Ms.
It'd be interesting to do a poll on this; maybe I'll go do that on my own blog.
Thanks for the great discussion, and for my pleasant surprise at finding such a feminist-positive post at my favourite linguistics-related blog. Like finding chocolate in my peanut butter. :)
I'm surprised that you say /z/ is a syllabic consonant in English. (What other English words have a syllabic /z/?) This seems like a convoluted explanation for something that's quite simple: the word does have a vowel. Isn't "Ms" simply pronounced /mɪz/?
Dylan Stafne
Crap, I've been saying "Miss" when I read "Ms."
I guess I sort of thought "Miz" was how anti-feminists mocked "Ms." I didn't know they were saying it correctly.
Hopefully I've been slurring it enough so that the women don't mind. :(
goofy: Oh no, my point wasn't that [z] isn't a standard syllabic consonant in English but rather just a common syllabic consonant cross-linguistically, and that makes it reasonable to expect someone to be able to pronounce [mz]. English doesn't have a lot of syllabic consonants, especially not in standard pronunciations of words; they mostly sneak into fluent speech, as with [n] for and. If you include onomatopoeia, then you do get some syllabic [z]'s in English: a bee buzzing (bzzzz) or a buzzer ringing (bzzzt).
The reason that I bothered with the argument of vowelless [mz] being pronounceable is simply that I do, in fluent speech, usually produce the vowelless [mz], and therefore wanted to explain the more objectionable position, figuring the vowelled pronunciation of Ms. could defend itself. I am quickly learning from everyone's comments that this vowelless pronunciation is far less standard than I had thought, and I've really sowed confusion instead of clarity.
Gabe: thanks for the clarification. I wasn't think of "bzzz" but you're right about that. In my defense my dialect has /mɪz/, and if I heard it pronounced to rhyme with "bzzz", it would sound weird to me. But chacun son goût.
这周关于英文的链接 «Angry Editor
[…] American English? What's that? | Macmillan […]
The Ridger
Growing up in Tennessee we never knew if a teacher was married of not until she wrote her name on the board. "Mizz" was the way both were pronounced unless one was being very, very pre-cise with all one's sy-lla-bles. (Of course, you never knew with the men … which is sort of the point of Ms.)
I particularly liked the Cinemark site that offered me the choice of Mr, Mrs, and Ms …
Flesh-eating Dragon
The concept that "missus" "isn't really a word of its own" is new to me: I'd swear I remember it being on spelling tests when I was at school. :-)
I'm also surprised the intervocalic [z] in your pronunciation. I would say [mɪsəz], or [mɪsɪz] if I were trying to sound British.
The Queen's English Society deplores your impurities « Sentence first
[…] Gabe Doyle, at Motivated Grammar, finds the QES's complaints "petty, insane, or both", and takes a close critical look at their dislike of Ms. […]
starlingford
A friend of mine, who has more than a passing interest in stirring up trouble, argues that not only is Ms a dastardly attempt to prevent men from hitting on otherwise available women, 'Mrs' also really ought to have a possessive apostrophe – as in 'Mr's.'
He suggested this in the pub with a bunch of female postgraduate literature and linguistics scholars. One would be hard put to recall a more impressive and immediate flurry of blows and assaults in martial history than that which put my friend under the table…
When Ms(.) was new-ish and I was a copy editor on my college newspaper, we were told not to put a period at the end, because it wasn't an abbreviation. Now I'm thinking that if it had had a visible vowel in it, maybe people wouldn't have naturally added a period to the end of it so often. Anyway, it seems to work either way.
Academy of English? Ain't no sense in it. « Sentence first
[…] "culturally entrenched agenda". Lamb, by the way, approves of yummy mummy but presumably still disapproves of Ms.; the Academy calls it a "linguistic misfit" on a particularly silly page of sexist […]
AdoAnnie
@KellyK, my grown up daughter still calls the woman who cared for her Miss Deb.
And I have to go along with The Ridger on the Southern pronunciation of Mrs. One tends to slide over the s/z in the middle and right on to the z at the end, a rather drawn out Ms so that to most ears they are the same word. And the word Ms can almost have two syllables, sort of mee-usz, but slid together. But then that may be a little more Texan as many of our single written syllables can have more than one voiced syllable, "Y'all come back now, yu heeuh."
Gabe, I think even if you leave the vowel out of [miz], the syllabic consonant would be the nasal, right? ("Rhythm.")
Growing up, I was taught that Miss was for unmarried women, Mrs. was for married women, and Ms. was for divorced women.
Z: Out of curiosity, where and when were you taught that? I've never heard the distinction set up that way before, and it almost seems to me that someone was bothered by attempts to create a marital-inspecific abbreviation and was trying to derail it by creating a distinction which they felt would be off-putting to most women.
Daniel: I honestly think I learned that from my mother, and this was long enough ago (>2 decades) that I have no memory of how she actually explained it to me. Maybe in rural Indiana at the time, the only kind of woman who would want such a term would be the kind of woman who would get a divorce. I don't know.
Oh, specifically where and when? Rural Indiana, 1980s.
And Gabe, I've decided that what I said above is wrong, and there's almost no way that the /m/ could be syllabic consonant in That said, I'm still just having trouble finding a way to say that word without a vowel.
Z: We'll have to have a pronunciation party sometime and figure out exactly how it's said. I'm pretty sure that I don't put much of a vowel in if I put in any.
D/Z: I was never explicitly taught that distinction, but when I was growing up, that was pretty much the way it was, especially for my schoolteachers. I think all my "Ms." teachers (a fairly small set, 2 maybe 3?) were either widowed or divorced or separated. One even started as "Mrs. J" when I was an underclassman and switched into "Ms. F" when I was an upperclassman.
Has no-one here heard that title for an unmarried male??
I remember receiving *letters* addressed to "Master ____" as recently as the 199Xs.
I learned 'Miss', 'Master', 'Missus', and 'Mister':
…4 titles for 4 possibilities—gender equality built right in.
Adrian: That's gone from all but the most formal of Englishes, in my experience — and I say that as someone who affectedly called myself "Master Doyle" at times in my childhood. But from my experience, it's more tied to youth than bachelorhood; I'd think it odd for someone to call me "Master Doyle" now that I'm in my late 20s, even though I remain unmarried.
Kryss LaBryn
When I was young, our older British relatives used to send us parcels addressed to us kids as "Master Peter M–" and "Mistress Christina M–". It's a shame that that usage seems to have died off with that generation; we always felt that it made us sound more important than a simple, dismissive "Peter M–" or "Christina M–".
Possibly from that, I always assumed that "Miss" was short for "Mistress" (and perhaps that's where the term for a married man keeping an unmarried woman– a mistress– on the side came from? I shall have to look it up). "Mrs." was short for "Missus", and pronounced much the same way, but with more of a /z/ at the end than an /s/. That would be with a Western Canadian accent, mind you. Mind, now that I think about it, Terry Pratchett uses "Mistress Weatherwax" for the formal title for that unmarried worthy. I don't think I've ever heard that "Missus" was short for "Mistress" before, although of course one talks of the "mistress of the household". Mind you again, the masculine counterpart to that would be "master", so there again we'd have "master" and "mistress" paired up.
I first came across "Ms." in Grade Four (very early Eighties), with our teacher, Ms. Scales. She took quite a lot of time that morning to correct our pronounciation "Mzz", slurring from the M to the Z without a vowel in there; she very much didn't like us pronouncing it as "Miz" as it sounded too close to "Miss". She then had to explain to us ten-year-olds just why it even mattered whether or not a woman's title indicated whether or not she was married. I'm not sure we really grasped her argument (I certainly didn't; I was just left with a faint impression that being able to tell if a woman was married or not just from her name was somehow a Bad Thing), but it seemed to matter to her a great deal.
To this day, I think she is the only woman I have ever encountered who insisted on using "Ms."
How about we either drop all non-profession-specific titles such as Mr, Mrs., Ms., and Miss, and all just go by our names? Or perhaps make "Mister" non-gender specific and all just use it, regardless of age, gender, or marital status, if we feel we must have some kind of title there? Personally, as a married woman, I would find "Mr. Christina" far less irritating than the "Mrs. Mike" one person I know insists on using for me.
From the QES website (the front page): "Put very simply, we refuse as a nation to adopt the word 'sidewalk' when there is already a perfectly good word — pavement, nicely settled in our language."
Right. Thanks to that idiocy I almost got myself run over as a kid visiting Britain.
See, over here in Canada, we use the word "sidewalk" –the part on the side of the road where one walks– because we've already labelled the paved road itself with the perfectly servicable "pavement". So when, as a child, I borrowed a bicycle from a kid who lived on a very busy road, I was going to take it for a spin down the sidewalk, until his mum very firmly instructed me to stay on the pavement. Not wishing to disobey an adult who seemed to feel very strongly about the matter, I ignored my own instincts for self-preservation and rode on the pavement– that is, on the road itself, on a blind corner, with traffic whizzing by uncomfortably close– until, after a hundred feet or so, I said "bollocks this" and unsteadily made my way back again, only to get reamed out by the mother who was extremely ticked off that I had endangered myself by disobeying a direct order to "stay on the pavement!"
"But I DID stay on the pavement!" ten-year-old me wailed, but it befell my mother, once I had explained the injustice of not only endangering my life but then getting yelled at for it, to go and straighten the matter out. "I wanted to stay on the sidewalk, but she made me ride on the pavement," you see.
So bollocks to using "pavement" instead of "sidewalk"; we're already using pavement to mean the paved part the cars drive on (as the sidewalk may as easily be gravel as concrete, over here), and I don't see the need to endanger any other children's lives by confusing the two.
I was visiting England for the first time and as I'd arrived rather late at my destination I told my host that I didn't want to sleep too late to which he replied, "Don't worry, I'll come knock you up in the morning." My traveling companion saw the look of shock on my face and said quietly, 'knock on the door, he'll knock on the door.' What a tangled web we weave (to hack a metaphor) when we try to communicate in English.
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