Campus Campus Chronicle Chronicle
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a publication of the Pacific Union College Student Association
vol. LXXXIX
THURSDAY, 14 March 2013
Yahoo Demands A Physically Present Workforce
12
no. 8
Special Issue
Ben Speegle
Alex Blum Malaysian Troops Attack Occupied Borneo Monday, March 4, 2013
In an age when technology trumps all,
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has turned the tables. Her employees must be physically present in the office rather than telecommuting (working from home via e-mail, phone, etc.) during work hours. Beginning June 1, 2013, all staff will be heavily discouraged from office absenteeism. A recent Yahoo memo states that “to become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we [Yahoo employees] need to be working side-by-side.” Mayer’s actions have stirred debate among workers, researchers and the public. According to studies conducted by Stanford University in 2011, telecommuting has a positive effect on the workforce. In a collaboration between Stanford and a Chinese travel agency, those who telecommuted were about 15 percent more efficient in quantity and quality of work performed. In addition to overall worker performance, other studies have been conducted in order to gauge practical factors that affect productivity in the workplace. Texas A&M Transportation Institute released a study on Feb. 5, 2012 that linked commuting to excessive fuel and time wastage. Despite these findings, Mayer has steadfast supporters. After all, meeting in person with fellow employees creates a sense of camaraderie impossible if the office is divided between living rooms and cubicles. Author Bill Davidow, a former Hewlett Packard manager,
Photo by Kimberly White
commends Mayer for her strong stance on employee presence in the office. He believes that “Mayer’s challenge is to create a winning culture at Yahoo … we know how to create winning cultures when people work remotely in virtual worlds but not in physical ones.” Opinions may differ regarding Mayer’s policy, but one fact is incontrovertible: the 37-year-old CEO’s impression on Yahoo is an impressive one. Mayer joined Yahoo in July 2012. At the end of that fiscal year, the company reported a profit boost of 35 percent, to which Mayer replied, “I’m proud of Yahoo’s 2012 and fourth quarter results [up two percent].” Following a famously brief two-month maternity leave, Mayer said, “Children shouldn’t impact time spent at work any more than a bad case of the flu.” The high-profile CEO applies the “work comes first” philosophy to all aspects of company life at Yahoo; whether she will gain support and be successful in her campaign against telecommunication has yet to be determined.
The Malaysian military launched airstrikes and mortar attacks against members of a Philippine Muslim clan in a seaside village in Borneo. The assault, which took place on Tuesday, was Malaysia’s response to a surprise invasion of the fishing village by nearly 200 Filipino militants in February. Since the invasion, firefights in Malaysia’s eastern Sabah state have left at least 27 dead, eight of which were Malaysian police officers. The clansmen, who maintained they had an ancestral claim to Sabah, refused the Malaysian government’s request to leave peaceably from the tiny village after sneaking past boat patrols. No Malaysian security forces were killed in Tuesday’s incursion. No information has been released about the Filipinos.
Dennis Rodman Visits North Korea amid New Sanctions Monday, March 4, 2013
BottleRock Music Festival Comes to the Napa Valley By Alex Blum
Napa Valley’s first major music festival, BottleRock, will
be held May 8-12, 2013. BottleRock’s venue is the Napa Expo and will feature popular bands, including The Shins, The Black Keys, Kings of Leon, Iron & Wine, the Grateful Dead, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Train, Cake and more. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis will kick off the event on May 8 with a highly anticipated performance. Saturday boasts an unprecedented lineup of 16 artists. Daily comedic performances will feature newly announced talent such as Jim Gaffigan and Demetri Martin. In addition to experiencing the live music, those who attend are encouraged to sample the culinary offerings from a variety of famous local businesses. The event will feature 60 Napa Valley wineries. Restaurants like Gott’s Roadside, C Casa, Morimoto and Farmstead are featured on BottleRock’s website as a few of the many eateries that will be serving up food over the course of the event. The website states, “BottleRock injects the ultimate fusion
Photo by Karl Walter/Getty Images
of music, food and wine straight to the heart of the Napa Valley. Throw in some of comedy’s most guffaw-inducing headliners…and you have a feast for the senses only Napa could conceive.” Three-day festival passes are on sale for $299. Four-day passes are listed at $399, and the four-day VIP pass is priced at $599. The latter includes admission for all four days in addition to Wednesday’s opening show. BottleRock has partnered with WillPower Entertainment and founded Autism ARC, a charitable endeavor established to aid the children and families effected by autism. The music festival will also donate proceeds to other not-for-profit organizations in the Napa Valley and surrounding areas. To learn more, visit http://bottlerocknapavalley.com or visit BottleRock Napa Valley’s FB page at www.facebook. com/BottleRockNapaValley.
Dennis Rodman, in a bizarre interview with George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s This Week, described his strange “friendship” with Kim Jong Eun, the 28-year-old North Korean leader, following Rodman’s twoday trip through the secretive Asian nation. Rod ma n traveled w ith several members of the Harlem Globetrotters to shoot an episode of an HBO TV show in North Korea. While there, Rodman became close to Kim, even carrying back a message from him for President Obama, saying that the North Korean dictator just wanted Obama to call him. All this came just before the United States and China reached an agreement on new sanctions against North Korea as punishment for its latest nuclear test. The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a press statement denouncing North Korea’s continued nuclear tests following the country’s Feb. 12 test.