Surcharges and extra fees: how some companies prop up the bottom line

There exists a platitude: if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck--it's a duck.

Companies like Century Plaza Hotel and Spa in Los Angeles, which charges "guests who order room service a $3 delivery fee, a 15 percent gratuity and a 5 percent administrative fee," are beginning to add fees on top of surcharges on top of fees in order to generate more revenues in a sputtering economy filled with price conscience consumers.

Jennifer Bayot reports in The New York Times today how companies are using the dastardly Ticketmaster fee-model as a way to blacken their bottom lines.

Fertility rates and the future of industrialized nations

"Italian men," says Teresa Ginori, 41, a fashion magazine consultant who lives outside Milan, "live with their mothers into their 30's. When they marry, they are not prepared to help out at home in ways that take pressure off women, especially if those women want to have children."

Here's a New York Times article on declining fertility rates in Europe.

The consequences for countries with low fertility rates according to Frank Bruni's article are "now coming into starker relief, as more West European countries acknowledge and take new steps to address the specter of sharply winnowed and less competitive work forces, surfeits of retirees and pension systems that will need to be cut back deeply."

seasoned meanings

"I know that I am not going to satisfy everybody.
I know there are so many people who are going to say
negative things about me. But every time I hear something
like that, it makes me that much stronger. I really love
myself. Whatever else happens out there, I don't have
control over."


read article

"I'm happy because I know what I am coming from.
I know that everything I earn in my life, I enjoy with my
friends and my family. Some people don't understand
my culture, but there is a big difference when they can
see what I can do here. I know how to be happy."

--Sammy Sosa, Chicago Cub, 2002

Here is an essay from a transplanted Chicagoan now living and working in Las Vegas. The topic: a snowless Christmas.



I look outside my car window and I speed hastily down the freeway. I see mountains looming ahead, some are snow-covered, some are not. I find comfort in this view because it means I have made the change of scenery I wanted so badly. But part of me misses snow on the ground.

It's hard to explain the phenomenon of liking snow to my new colleagues. I can't put into words the warm fuzzy feeling I get when I think of snow, the smell of the dampness in the air, the way it makes children laugh. The sliding of the car down a city street. The sweat that lingers under your scarf after you are done shoveling where your landlord should have. The brown slushy stuff you avoid sloshing through on your way into the office or to the local bar. Trying to look fantastic despite the layers of clothes and winter cap.

Once you've arrived, you find yourselves amongst your comrades of snow, all nestled in with a favorite cocktail. Colorful lights a glow. Cheer in the air. It's Christmastime.

I don't find that here. But I will when I airline to my sweet hometown. Family and friends waiting in anticipation. Bearing gifts. Wishing for snow.

My grandma's house all toasty warm, fires lit and tree adorned with reminders of years past, sitting lovingly amidst the white covered pine trees.

My mother's cookies and the pathetic attempt of a snowman out front.

The city lights, the lake's temperament. The drifts of the fields nearby. A true winter wonderland.

So I say, give it to me - white, yellow or gray with car grime. --Joanna Basile, Christmas 2002

The Associated Press reports that "the two fans who claimed ownership of Barry Bonds' record 73rd home run ball were ordered by a judge Wednesday to sell the ball and split the money."

In San Francisco, Judge Kevin McCarthy said the individual claims to the ball were "of equal quality and they are equally entitled to the ball."

The judge deliberated for one month before announcing his decision today.

The ball is estimated to be worth well over one million dollars.

The Academy for Urban School Leadership is a Chicago-based organization with a mission to attract, train and retain teachers for public schools in Chicago. All prospective candidates for the resident class of 2003 must submit an essay with their application.

Here's is my essay on the topic of: how have you arrived at identifying yourself as a teacher? What experiences have prepared you for this step? What challenges do you anticipate as an urban school teacher and how would you meet them?

Describe a challenging experience and how you handled it? What did you learn from it?

Start essay

Teaching has been something I've done since fifth grade when I began to read books about baseball. I took information about pitching to the park and taught my playground pals the finer points of throwing curve balls. A few years and several more baseball books later, while a sophomore in high school, I coached Tim's Pharmacy, a little league baseball team consisting of eight and nine year olds from my small hometown in Central Illinois. We didn't win many games; however, we did learn sportsmanship, our individual obligations to the team and our most important lesson: regardless of outcome, playing should be fun. What Tim's Pharmacy lacked in talent, we made up with laughter, sipping root beer after a game at the local A&W.

Identifying myself as an educator was more an evolutionary process which lead to an eventual "ah ha" moment. In 1998, while working as a trainer at Amoco's Marketing University, I realized teaching was almost like playing baseball. It wasn't the actual activity of teaching that was joyous however, but the creative challenge of feeling-out and finding a particular groove that allowed a certain group to learn. Just like the Tim's Pharmacy days, I incorporated learning games (styled after Jeopardy, Family Feud and Trivial Pursuit) to help build camaraderie and to add some fun into what can be very sleepy subject matter: convenience store management.

The great fortune of having wonderful teachers was helpful in determining my future as an educator. Many teachers have inspired me to continue the rewarding tradition of inspiring others in the field of education. I cannot think of anything nobler as inspiring a young person to follow their aspirations. The chance to have one student approach me later in life to say thanks for inspiring is one which I cannot let pass.

I believe it's human nature for one to feel a need to leave some sort of long-lasting legacy. That belief for me, which I have held since my baseball coaching days, translates to helping young people. Since then, I have dedicated years of my life collecting a diverse array of valuable experiences in the service of young people.

As an infant care volunteer at Children's Memorial Hospital, I held babies born addicted to crack cocaine; changed the diapers of toddlers diagnosed with HIV; laughed with infants who were connected to a plethora of feeding tubes. That experience exposed me to some of the more troubling problems young people face within high-risk families.

I saw first-hand the importance of dedicated educators as an Associate Board volunteer with Chicago-based Merit School of Music, an organization whose goal is to give economically disadvantaged young people a sense of purpose through music education. I worked with former Merit students who are now doctors, lawyers, consultants and teachers to raise awareness and funds for the school. Former Merit students told me if not for the music training, and the college scholarships they received from it, they could not have attended college.

I realize that an urban educator can be one of the most difficult and frustrating professions I can choose because of my want to touch or connect with every student who comes through my classroom door. I am not blind to the challenges associated with mandatory testing, funding shortages and teachers using personal funds to purchase necessary tools to teach. I know it's a challenge; however, if I can positively connect with one more student who would otherwise have fallen through the system, and into the clutches of gang life, the challenge is well worth the cost of frustration.

Challenging experiences and their outcomes are the cornerstones from which I learn the most about myself. One such experience occurred with a fire that burned my apartment and its contents. I was forced into the Chicago winter with no home to call my own. The fire was arson related and initially I was shocked and angered as to who would do such a deed. Almost immediately, I came to realize that if the fire had started two hours earlier, I would not be alive to even attempt to get my life back. With that in-mind, my thoughts were beginning to be more positive. The realization that regardless of how well I tried to be a good person, at times, bad things do happen. That was a spiritual turning point for me. I became thankful for my wonderful and caring friends who all held out a helping hand for me. I became more aware that personal belongings are just "things" which can be replaced.

The power of positive thinking in the face of adversity cannot be underestimated as I continue to lead my life or if given the opportunity to lead a classroom.

Twenty-seven percent of 6-to-19-year-olds in California are overweight according to the Center for Public Health Advocacy, a nonpartisan organization that conducted the review based on state data.

"Childhood overweight and physical inactivity have reached epidemic levels in California, dooming our children to serious health problems now and in the future, and saddling the state's economy with exorbitant and preventable long-term costs," according to the study which is published on the Center's web site.

There are two main causes for fatter kids: over the years there has been an increase in the amount of junk foods available to students enrolled in our public and private schools. Cheetos and Pepsi lunches from vending machines are more the norm as compared to past generations of school children. Physical inactivity is the second reason. Kids are more likely to recreate with video games or sit in front of a television than they are likely to have physically active outdoor games or sports.

The whole world is getting fatter. The information society has led to more of us leading sedintary lifestyles; couple that with effective advertising for cars, fast food and immediate results, it's no wonder we're getting bigger.

The Chicago-based Pritzker family are the private owners of the Hyatt Hotel chain.
The above image is of the architechtually gorgeous Park Hyatt which overlooks Chicago's Water Tower Park.

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that the heirs of the Pritzker family's $15 billion fortune are taking their personal battles public with a lawsuit to split the fortune after Jay Pritzker, the family matriarch, died in 1999.

The Pritzkers, reknown for their generous philanthropic contributions, award architecture's most prestigious award, The Pritzker Architecture Prize. It has often been described as "the Nobel of architecture."

After Mr. Pritzker's death, a triumverate was appointed to distribute the family fortune according to the agreed framework; however,

a cousin who was left out of that pact, Liesel Pritzker, an 18-year-old freshman at Columbia University, has sued the family, bringing unwanted attention to the underlying dispute and threatening the agreement. In her lawsuit, Liesel contends that her trust funds were emptied to benefit the other members of the family's fourth generation, who are decades older. It contends they are treating her and her 20-year-old brother, Matthew, like members of the fifth generation who are closer to their ages.

Similar to what's happening with the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund, the Pritzker family court battle will undoubtedly get ugly, and it will be in public; the Pritzker's family tradition is to keep family affairs out of the media and remain exclusively within the family. As with the 9/11 victims compensation, survivors speaking in public have said it's not about the money. This blog knows that it's all about the money. In both cases.

It's too bad for the Pritzkers. I take that back--it's too bad for the many well-meaning organizations benefitting from the unified wealth of the Pritzker family. The Pritzker members will all get something. Even Liesel, who, in the opinion of this blog, is already fortunate to have the opportunity to attend Columbia University. (Columbia ain't cheap.)

As is the history of the United States, there are some of us fortunate enough whereas they can get something for very little, if anything, they have done.

Yes, the 9/11 survivors are fortunate because the families of the Oklahoma City bombing received nothing. The surviving families of the first World Trade Center bombing received nothing. The surviving families of the U.S.S. Cole bombing received nothing.

Among the fourth-generation Pritzker cousins who agreed to the split are J.B., who ran for Congress in the Democratic primary [in Illinois] in 1998; James, who recently retired as a lieutenant colonel in the Illinois National Guard, and contributes heavily to conservative causes — and helps finance scientific exploration of Antarctica; Linda, who lives in Montana and has told friends she would like to use her inheritance to build a Buddhist temple; Daniel, who leads the alternative rock band, Sonia Dada; and John and Anthony, who run investment businesses in California.

But Liesel Pritzker's lawsuit, which names the cousins as co-defendants and demands the return of $1 billion to her trusts as well as $5 billion in punitive damages, promises to disrupt any orderly distribution of assets.

from The Chicago Tribune

Big S.U.V.s and light trucks are manufactured in more numbers than are passenger cars in the U.S.
(according to David Barclift, Ohio E.P.A.)

The Failure of the 80 MPG Supercar

The Chicago Tribune has a three-part series on Supercar, a government and industry partnership, which failed to produce a more effecient vehicle which uses less imported oil from regions like the Middle East.

According to The Tribune, "America now imports 56 percent of its oil—the highest share ever and twice the amount of 20 years ago." With war against Iraq on the horizon, why did the Supercar project fall flat on its face? Does money, politics and ego ring a bell?

Detroit automakers are making tons of money—hand over fist—selling large S.U.V.s; government's threat to raise the minimum fuel economy standards would have cost the automakers in the large truck/S.U.V. department, their most profitable category. That's why we as a country have gotten little traction on the issue of ultra effecient hybrid vehicles whereas Japan has done much. (Google Toyota Prius)

This blog has a strongly held belief that this country's addiction to foreign oil is killing more of our people than the pollution gas-guzzling S.U.V.s create. It's no coincidence, in my mind, that the administration formed their Energy Task Force then afterwards the drums of war against Iraq begin pounding. There's oil in them hills (Iraq) and the oil men in power (the Bush Administration) wants first dibs. Not France. Not Russia. America. Exxon. Chevron. Not BP. Not Royal Dutch/Shell. Texaco. Mobil. Halliburton. et. al. Instead of looking for a long-term policy solution to relieve our addiction to Middle East oil, the Oil Barons see an opportunity to shore up the supply for the short-term (with an attack on, and occupation of, Iraq) and to milk it for as long as it can be profitable. Only when the last drop of black gold is pumped from every well possible will the last drop of red American blood be shed.

The bottom line here is this: too many of you love big, gas-guzzling S.U.V.s and because of your co-dependence we can count on more of our resources being dedicated to propping-up governments like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and others in the Middle East who are slingers of the black crack and to boot, they aren't even democracies. Stop your addiction by first admitting there's a problem. If a ten-miles-to-the-gallon H2 Hummer is your idea of a badge symbolizing your social-economic ascension, I suggest you consider enlisting in the U.S. Army so you can risk your ass in the Middle East for the defense of lower gas prices and higher emissions of greenhouse gasses.

Read the first part of the Tribune series here.

Iraq

The Iraqi government submitted their declaration to the United Nations one day early. Their position is that Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction (WMD). I'm thinking two scenarios: (1) they really don't have any WMD or (2) WMD are well hidden and those who know of Iraqi WMD are few.

What if, for instance, Iraq has no WMD. It's obvious to me the Bush Administration will label Iraq a liar. If the Administration has proof of Iraqi WMD, let's see it soon. It shall be interesting as to how the Administration responds after the review of the Iraqi declaration. I think a unilateral military response is still part of the Administration's plan. Stay tuned.

Feels "like home" to be in my place again in San Diego. It's a lot warmer here. The average temperature during my week-and-a-half in Chicago was in the low 20's. Although most of the days were sunny and bright which makes cold more bearable.