Over the past century, all kinds of unfairness and discrimination have been condemned or made illegal.【F1】But one insidious form continues to thrive: alphabetism. This, for those as yet unaware of such a disadvantage, refers to discrimination against those whose surnames begin with a letter in the lower half of the alphabet.It has long been known that a taxi firm called AAAA cars has a big advantage over Zodiac cars when customers thumb through their phone directories. Less well known is the advantage that Adam Abbott has in life over Zoe Zysman.【F2】English names are fairly evenly spread between the halves of the alphabet, yet a suspiciously large number of top people have surnames beginning with letters between A and K.【F3】Thus the American president and vice-president have surnames starting with B and C respectively; and 26 of George Bush"s predecessors(including his father)had surnames in the first half of the alphabet against just 16 in the second half.Even more striking, six of the seven heads of government of the G7 rich countries are alphabetically advantaged(Berlusconi, Blair, Bush, Chirac, Chretien and Koizumi). The world" s three top central bankers(Greenspan, Duisenberg and Hayami)are all close to the top of the alphabet, even if one of them really uses Japanese characters. As are the world "s five richest men(Gates, Buffett, Allen, Ellison and Albrecht).Can this merely be coincidence One theory, dreamt up in all the spare time enjoyed by the alphabetically disadvantaged, is that the rot sets in early.【F4】At the start of the first year in infant school, teachers seat pupils alphabetically from the front, to make it easier to remember their names.So short-sighted Zysman junior gets stuck in the back row, and is rarely asked the improving questions posed by those insensitive teachers. At the time the alphabetically disadvantaged may think they have had a lucky escape. Yet the result may be worse qualifications, because they get less individual attention, as well as less confidence in speaking publicly.The humiliation continues. At university graduation ceremonies, the ABCs proudly get their awards first; by the time they reach the Zysmans most people are literally having a ZZZ.【F5】Shortlists for job interviews, election ballot papers, lists of conference speakers and attendees: all tend to be drawn up alphabetically, and their recipients lose interest as they plough through them. 【F4】
Over the past century, all kinds of unfairness and discrimination have been condemned or made illegal.【F1】But one insidious form continues to thrive: alphabetism. This, for those as yet unaware of such a disadvantage, refers to discrimination against those whose surnames begin with a letter in the lower half of the alphabet.It has long been known that a taxi firm called AAAA cars has a big advantage over Zodiac cars when customers thumb through their phone directories. Less well known is the advantage that Adam Abbott has in life over Zoe Zysman.【F2】English names are fairly evenly spread between the halves of the alphabet, yet a suspiciously large number of top people have surnames beginning with letters between A and K.【F3】Thus the American president and vice-president have surnames starting with B and C respectively; and 26 of George Bush"s predecessors(including his father)had surnames in the first half of the alphabet against just 16 in the second half.Even more striking, six of the seven heads of government of the G7 rich countries are alphabetically advantaged(Berlusconi, Blair, Bush, Chirac, Chretien and Koizumi). The world" s three top central bankers(Greenspan, Duisenberg and Hayami)are all close to the top of the alphabet, even if one of them really uses Japanese characters. As are the world "s five richest men(Gates, Buffett, Allen, Ellison and Albrecht).Can this merely be coincidence One theory, dreamt up in all the spare time enjoyed by the alphabetically disadvantaged, is that the rot sets in early.【F4】At the start of the first year in infant school, teachers seat pupils alphabetically from the front, to make it easier to remember their names.So short-sighted Zysman junior gets stuck in the back row, and is rarely asked the improving questions posed by those insensitive teachers. At the time the alphabetically disadvantaged may think they have had a lucky escape. Yet the result may be worse qualifications, because they get less individual attention, as well as less confidence in speaking publicly.The humiliation continues. At university graduation ceremonies, the ABCs proudly get their awards first; by the time they reach the Zysmans most people are literally having a ZZZ.【F5】Shortlists for job interviews, election ballot papers, lists of conference speakers and attendees: all tend to be drawn up alphabetically, and their recipients lose interest as they plough through them. 【F3】
Rumor has it that more than 20 books on creationism/evolution are in the publisher"s pipelines. A few have already appeared.【F1】The goal of all will be to try to explain to a confused and often unenlightened citizenry that there are not two equally valid scientific theories for the origin and evolution of universe and life.Cosmology, geology, and biology have provided a consistent, unified, and constantly improving account of what happened.【F2】Scientific creationism, which is being pushed by some for equal time in the classrooms whenever the scientific accounts of evolution are given, is based on religion, not science.Virtually all scientists and the majority of non-fundamentalist religious leaders have come to regard scientific creationism as bad science and bad religion.The first four chapters of Kitcher"s book give a very brief introduction to evolution. At appropriate places, he introduces the criticisms of the creationists and provides answers. In the last three chapters, he takes off his gloves and gives the creationists a good beating.【F3】He describes their programmes and tactics, and, for those unfamiliar with the ways of creationists, the extent of their deception and distortion may come as an unpleasant surprise.When their basic motivation is religious, one might have expected more Christian behavior.Kitcher is philosopher, and this may account, in part, for the clarity and effectiveness of his arguments.【F4】The non-specialist will be able to obtain at least a notion of the sorts of data and argument that support evolutionary theory.The final chapter on the creationists will be extremely clear to all. On the dust jacket of this fine book, Stephen Jay Gould says:This book stands for reason itself.【F5】And so it does—and all would be well were reason the only judge in the creationism/evolution debate. 【F3】
No company likes to be told it is contributing to the moral decline of a nation. Is this what you intended to accomplish with your careers Senator Robert Dole asked Time Warner executives last week. You have sold your souls, but must you corrupt our nation and threaten our children as well At Time Warner, however, such questions are simply the latest manifestation of the soul-searching that has involved the company ever since the company was born in 1990.【F1】It"s a self-examination that has, at various times, involved issues of responsibility, creative freedom and the corporate bottom line.At the core of this debate is chairman Gerald Levin, 56, who took over for the late Steve Ross in 1992.【F2】On the financial front, Levin is under pressure to raise the stock price and reduce the company"s mountainous debt, which will increase to $ 17.3 billion after two new cable deals close.He has promised to sell off some of the property and restructure the company, but investors are waiting impatiently.【F3】The flap over rap is not making life any easier for him, Levin has consistently defended the company"s rap music on the grounds of expression.In 1992, when Time Warner was under fire for releasing Ice-T"s violent rap song Cop Killer, Levin described rap as lawful expression of street culture, which deserves an outlet.【F4】The test of any democratic society, he wrote in a Wall Street Journal column, lies not in how well it can control expression but in whether it gives freedom of thought and expression the widest possible latitude, however disputable or irritating the results may sometimes be.We won"t retreat in the face of any threats.Levin would not comment on the debate last week, but there were signs that the chairman was backing off his hard-line stand, at least to some extent. During the discussion of rock singing verses at last month"s stockholders"meeting. Levin asserted that music is not the cause of society"s ills and even cited his son, a teacher in the Bronx, New York, who uses rap to communicate with students.【F5】But he talked as well about the balanced struggle between creative freedom and social responsibility, and he announced that the company would launch a drive to develop standards for distribution and labeling of potentially objectionable music.The 15-member Time Warner board is generally supportive of Levin and his corporate strategy. But insiders say several of them have shown their concerns in this matter. "Some of us have known for many, many years that the freedoms under the First Amendment are not totally unlimited," says Luce. I think it is perhaps the case that some people associated with the company have only recently come to realize this. 【F2】