UEL     

THE TIME 100

QUEEN ELIZABETH II

(By Catherine Mayer)

Helen Mirren may have scooped an Oscar for her portrayal of the Queen, head of state of Britain and 15 Commonwealth countries, but it is Elizabeth Windsor who continues to define the role. It was thrust upon her in 1952 by the premature death of her father, and she has not left the stage since. Yet unlike the celebrities and politicians with whom she regularly exchanges pleasantries, the most famous woman in the world has never given an interview.

That reserve was interpreted as indifference in the turbulent months after Princess Diana died, when Britons contemplated burying their monarchy. A decade later the institution is solid, thanks largely to Elizabeth’s steady hand. At 84, Her Majesty is still cutting ribbons, greeting dignitaries and making speeches in a voice that has resisted the temptation to seek acceptance through reinvention. That’s the secret of the Queen’s success: she understands the need for reforms, such as slimming the costs of her family to the taxpayer and opening her accounts to public scrutiny, but she has never compromised her identity. However, Iike her beloved corgis and dorgis (a dachshund cross), she occasionally slips the Ieash, says her second son, Prince Andrew. Once, on a walk, she encountered one of her subjects, who exclaimed, “You Look just Iike the Queen!” “How very reassuring,” Her Majesty replied. Many Britons feel the same  way.

LEARNING AND EARNING

New data demonstrate how graduates can expect earn much more than non-graduates, by sex and by country.

A SPELL at university offers more than the chance to indulge in a few years of debauchery. But precisely how rewarding, financially, is completing your degree? A new report from the OECD, a rich-country think-tank, attempts to measure how much more graduates can expect to earn compared with those who seek jobs without similar qualifications. In America the lifetime gross earnings of male graduates are, on average, nearly $370,000 higher than those of non-graduates, comfortably repaying the pricey investment in a university education. Female graduates earn an extra $229,000, the lower rate perhaps because women are more likely to drop out of the workforce to look after children.

On average it pays well to study: across the OECD countries studied a man can expect to make an additional $186,500 in his lifetime if he has a degree. In som places , such as South Korea and Spain, the data show that female graduates pull in more than their male counterparts. In turkey, graduates' additional wages are more modest and the financial advantages of men over women are less pronounced.

                                                                 (See and other daily charts at:

                                                                                   Economist.com/dailychart)

           UFSCAR

     AT THE WORK

FALSE FRIENDS

In the morning I attended a meeting between management and union representatives.

The discussion was very comprehensive, covering topics like working hours, days off, retirement age, etc. Both sides were interested in an agreement and ready to compromise. The secretary recorded everything in the notes. Eventually, they decided to set a new meeting to sign the final draft of the agreement.

Back at the office, a colleague of mine asked me if I had realized that the proposed agreement would be partially against the company policy not to accept workers that have already retired. I pretended to be really busy and late for an appointment, and left for the cafeteria. Actually, I didn’t want to discuss the matter at that particular moment because there were some strangers in the office.

After lunch I attended a lecture given by the mayor, who is an expert in tax legislation and has a graduate degree in Political Science. He said his government intends to assist welfare programs and senior citizens, raise funds to improve college education and build a public library, and establish tougher limits on vehicle emissions because he assumes this is what people expect from the government.

(Schütz kanamata)