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Scores of workers from MTV Networks walked off the job yesterday afternoon, filling the sidewalk outside the headquarters of its corporate parent, Viacom, to protest recent changes in benefits. The walkout highlighted the concerns of a category of workers who are sometimes called permalancers: permanent freelancers who work like full-time employees but do not receive the same benefits. Waving signs that read "Shame on Viacom," the workers, most of them in their 20s, demanded that MTV Networks reverse a plan to reduce health and dental benefits for freelancers beginning On Jan. 1st. In a statement, MTV Networks noted that its benefits program for full-time employees had also undergone changes, and it emphasized that the plan for freelancers was still highly competitive within the industry. Many freelancers receive no corporate benefits. But some of the protesters asserted that corporations were competing to see which could provide the most mediocre health care coverage. Matthew Yonda, who works at Nickelodeon, held a sign that labeled the network "Sick-elodeon. " "I’ve worked here every day for three years-I’m not a freelancer," Mr. Yonda said. "They just call us freelancers in order to bar us from getting the same benefits as employees. " The changes to the benefits package were announced last Tuesday. Freelancers were told that they would become eligible for benefits after 160 days of work, beginning in January. While that eased previous eligibility rules, which required freelancers to work for 52 weeks before becoming eligible, it would have required all freelancers not yet eligible for benefits to start the waiting period over again on Jan. 1st. The 401 (k) plan was also removed. On Thursday, acknowledging the complaints, MTV Networks reinstated the 401 (k) plan and said freelancers who had worked consistently since March would be eligible. Fueled by a series of blog posts on the media Web site Gawker-the first post was headlined "The Viacom Permalance Slave System"-a loose cohort of freelancers created protest stickers and distributed walkout fliers last week. Caroline O’Hare, a unit manager who has worked for MTV for more than two years, said the new health care plan-with higher deductibles and a $ 2,000 cap on hospital expenses each year-had provoked outrage. "They think they can treat us like children that don’t have families, mortgages or dreams of retirement," she said. Outside Viacom’s headquarters, several workers held posters with the words, "There’s too many of us to ignore. " It was unclear how many freelancers are on the company’s payroll; an MTV Networks’ spokeswoman said the figure was not known because it rises and falls throughout the year. The company has 5,500 full-time employees, excluding freelancers, around the world. Two freelancers and one full-time employee, who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution, estimated that the percentage of freelancers in some departments exceeded 75 percent. Another labor action is expected to take place outside Viacom later this week. Members of the Writers Guild of America, who have been on strike for five weeks, are expected to picket there on Thursday. Which of the following is NOT true according to the text
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Remember Second Life, the virtual world that was supposed to become almost as important as the first one Now populated by no more than 84,000 avatars at a time, it has turned out to be a prime example of how short-lived Internet fads can be. Yet if many adults seem to have given up on virtual worlds, those that cater to children and teenagers are thriving. Several have even found a way to make money. In America, nearly 10 million children and teenagers visit virtual worlds regularly, estimates eMarketer, a market researcher-a number the firm expects to increase to 15 million by 2013．As in January, there were 112 virtual worlds designed for under-18s with another 81 in development, according to Engage Digital Media, a market research firm. All cater to different age groups and tastes. In Club Penguin, the market leader, which was bought by Disney in 2007 for a whopping $ 700 million, primary-school children can take on a penguin persona, fit out their own igloo and play games. Habbo Hotel, a service run from Finland, is a global hangout for teenagers who want to customise their own rooms and meet in public places to attend events. Gala Online, based in Silicon Valley, offers similar activities, but is visited mostly by older teens who are into Manga comics. Not a hit with advertisers, these online worlds earn most of their money from the sale of virtual goods, such as items to spruce up an avatar or a private room. They are paid for in a private currency, which members earn by participating in various activities, trading items or buying them with real dollars. This sort of stealth tax seems to work. At Gala Online, users spend more than $1 million per month on virtual items, says Craig Sherman, the firm’s chief executive. Running such a virtual economy is not easy, which is why Gaia has hired a full-time economist to grapple with problems that are well known in the real world, such as inflation and an unequal distribution of wealth. There are other barriers that could limit the growth of virtual worlds for the young, but the main one is parents. Many do not want their offspring roaming virtual worlds, either because they are too commercial or are thought to be too dangerous. Keeping them safe is one of the biggest running costs, because their sponsors have to employ real people to police their realms. Youngsters are also a fickle bunch, says Simon Levene of Accel Partners, a venture- capital firm. Just as children move from one toy to another, they readily switch worlds or social networks, often without saying goodbye. Even so, Debra Aho Williamson, an analyst at eMarketer, believes "these worlds are a training ground for the three-dimensional web". If virtual worlds for adults, which so far have been able to retain only hardcore users, manage to hang on for a few years, they may yet have a second life. In the first paragraph it says that "Several have even found a way to make money" Which of the following could possibly be the "way"
Where did Sue spend the nights iu the country
在一个容量为25的循环队列中，若头指针front=16，尾指针rear=9，则该循环队列中共有上 【1】 个元素。
Weak dollar or no, $ 46,000-the price for a single year of undergraduate instruction amid the red brick of Harvard Yard-is (1) But nowadays cost is (2) barrier to entry at many of America’s best universities. Formidable financial-assistance policies have (3) fees or slashed them deeply for needy students. And last month Harvard announced a new plan designed to (4) the sticker-shock for undergraduates from middle and even upper-income families too.Since then, other rich American universities have unveiled (5) initiatives. Yale, Harvard’s bitterest (6) , revealed its plans on January 14th. Students whose families make (7) than $60,000 a year will pay nothing at all. Families earning up to $ 200,000 a year will have to pay an average of 10% of their incomes. The university will (8) its financial- assistance budget by 43%, to over $ 80m.Harvard will have a similar arrangement for families making up to $180,000. That makes the price of going to Harvard or Yale (9) to attending a state-run university for middle-and upper-income students. The universities will also not require any student to take out (10) to pay for their (11) , a policy introduced by Princeton in 2001 and by the University of Pennsylvania just after Harvard’s (12) . No applicant who gains admission, officials say, should feel (13) to go elsewhere because he or she can’t afford the fees.None of that is quite as altruistic as it sounds. Harvard and Yale are, after all, now likely to lure more students away from previously (14) options, particularly state-run universities, (15) their already impressive admissions figures and reputations.The schemes also provide a (16) for structuring university fees in which high prices for rich students help offset modest prices for poorer ones and families are less (17) on federal grants and government-backed loans.Less wealthy private colleges whose fees are high will not be able to (18) Harvard or Yale easily. But America’s state-run universities, which have traditionally kept their fees low and stable, might well try a differentiated (19) scheme as they raise cash to compete academically with their private (20) . Indeed, the University of California system has already started to implement a sliding-fee scale. 9（）
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