[385th] Workers peel off layers as firms eye lower energy bills / Teaching Kids About Money – The Wrong Way

[고윤석[미르]]

tn_20120721.pdf

토픽 준비가 조금 늦었습니다. 주중엔 역시 조금 정신이 없네요. @.@

일단 두 개 정리해서 올렸고, 금요일까지 마저 하나 더 정리해서 올리도록 하겠습니다. 죄송합니다. :D

Workers peel off layers as firms eye lower energy bills

By Lee Ho-jeong [ojlee82@joongang.co.kr]

A new fashion trend is taking hold of corporate Korea as a result of the government’s high-octane energy-saving drive - and it is slowly but surely remodeling the sartorial landscape at private companies in new colors, fabrics and better-ventilated clothing styles.

Increasingly at the nation’s top tobacco company KT&G, male employees are now turning up for work not in pinstripe suits and gaudy ties, but khaki shorts and sandals. 

“The number of people wearing shorts at the office is gradually rising,” said an employee, surnamed Lee, who works at KT&G’s real-estate department. “I figure the temptation for wearing shorts to work is very much similar to why women wear short skirts.”

KT&G last month became the first private company to allow employees to wear shorts and sandals to work as the government is now regulating indoor temperatures at major buildings and government offices to cut energy wastage. 

Although the mercury has dropped in the last few days due to the start of seasonal downpours, the peninsula was struck by a heat wave and drought in the last month. This alarmed the government due to fears that the public may overload the energy grid and precipitate another blackout like the one that idled factories and left people trapped in elevators last September. 

On Thursday, the maximum power consumption stood at 67 million kilowatts, 1.9 percent higher than during the same period last year. 

As part of its campaign, the government has asked the public to refrain from leaning too heavily on heating and cooling systems.

According to a study by the National Institute of Environmental Research, a person can lower their body temperature on warm days by 2 degrees Celsius by removing their blazer and necktie alone. And if indoor temperatures are raised by this same amount nationwide, 39 TOE (1TOE is equal to 10 million kcal) of energy can be saved each day. If this happens daily for a year, it can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by between 1.6 million and 2.9 million tons a year, the institute claims.

Such savings are equivalent to 300 billion won ($260.6 million) in monetary terms, and the planting of 700 million pine trees in terms of environmental benefits. 

Most companies in Korea allow their employees to wear short sleeves at work, but not shorts. Some, like Shinhan Bank, provide polo shirts to their employees during the summer. 

KT&G may be the only private company to be allowing shorts and sandals right now, but similar summer looks are easily spotted at local government offices, including those in Seoul.

Since last month, the Seoul city government has allowed its officials to dress in mufti in line with its “Cool-Biz” campaign. Even Mayor Park Won-soon took to the catwalk in shorts and sandals at a recent fashion show to publicize the new measures. 

Since 1996, Seoul city has been allowing officials to remove their blazers and neckties, but this marks the first year the length of their pants has fallen under the microscope. South Chungcheong provincial government subsequently followed suit. 

Japan, which suffered a major electricity shortage resulting from the tsunami that washed through its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant early last year, has been adopting a similar dress code on hot days since 2011. 

However, the new office fashion has not found a warm welcome from everyone, with some detractors dubbing it “unprofessional.” 

“Not all employees dress in shorts and sandals, as some departments have to meet clients and give the correct impression, so they dress in sharp business suits and ties,” said a KT&G employee. 

Summary

 A new fashion trend is taking hold of corporate Korea as a result of the government’s high-octane energy-saving drive. Increasingly at the nation’s top tobacco company KT&G, male employees are now turning up for work not in pinstripe suits and gaudy ties, but khaki shorts and sandals. As part of its campaign, the government has asked the public to refrain from learning too heavily on heating and cooling systems.

Questions

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.     <!--[endif]-->What do you think about this campaign? Do you agree with the campaign? What if we have enough energy to use, is it still necessary?

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.     <!--[endif]-->Few days ago, one of the National Assembly members wears short pants in their regular session. Is it acceptable? (I want to give you an unacceptable example. If it is acceptable, you can think about ultimately formal situation.). If not, what is different from that of this campaign?

Teaching Kids About Money – The Wrong Way

By Demetria Gallegos

Typically, it’s parents who put the brakes on their kids’ irresponsible spending plans.  But at our house, the roles are sometimes reversed.

Unnatural though it may seen for teenagers to stop their parents from spending on fun stuff, like the snorkeling expedition my 15-year-old nixed recently, that’s where we’ve arrived, after being open with our kids about money matters for most of their lives.

My husband John and I have always felt our girls could handle the truth, so exposing  them to the details of our monthly budget is a longstanding practice.

“You have to deal with reality because ultimately reality will catch up to your kids. If you deal with these issues early, you’re much better off,” John says.

In recent years as the recession has taken a toll on our retirement nest egg and our cash flow got squeezed by our move to New York, the sunny, comforting picture we had previously presented to the kids got a little cloudy.  That’s when I began to question how smart we’d been.  Are kids perhaps better off in a cocoon of financial ignorance, until it’s time to take baby steps toward their own financial independence?

I wanted to understand how much other people knew about their parents’ finances growing up, so I turned to Facebook. I was flooded with stories about parents who shared too much, too soon, sometimes inadvertently.

There’s the friend who was in high school when her mother went on Oprah because she had incurred so much debt. “Pretty humiliating, for sure.”

There’s the friend whose parents fought over money so much that today she can hardly bring herself to face big spending decisions.  So the recent demise of her car was not a financial crisis but instead a psychological one.

There’s the friend whose anti-establishment father saw money as evil, and certainly not to be discussed with the children.  “With my own children, I would like to do better but honestly I don’t know how,” she says. Her sons are 11 and 14.

In this last case, money is not a constant crisis in this friend’s household today. From what I am beginning to understand, that’s the key difference.  Beyond the basics of budgeting, which all of us have to learn, I believe her sons can develop a perfectly healthy and responsible attitude toward money because there’s no conflict over it and money isn’t so larded with emotions

Jugglers, what’s your advice for parents trying to teach financial responsibility without stressing kids out?  Is it truly possible to keep money separate from love and pain? What from your childhood influenced your attitude toward money?

Summary

 John’s family has shared their financial status with their children for a long time. In recent years as the recession has taken a toll on their retirement nest egg and their cash flow got squeezed by their move, the sunny, comforting picture they had previously presented to the kids got a little cloudy. That’s when they began to question how smart they’d been. Are kids perhaps better off in a cocoon of financial ignorance, until it’s time to take baby steps toward their own financial independence? What is your advice for parents trying to teach financial responsibility without stressing kids out?

Questions

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.     <!--[endif]-->Let’s share our case first. When did you know about your parent’s finances growing up?

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.     <!--[endif]-->Do you have any special tips for managing your financial status? Let’s share.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.     <!--[endif]-->What is your advice for parents trying to teach financial responsibility without stressing kids out? Is it truly possible to keep money separate from love and pain? What from your childhood influenced your attitude toward money?

[고윤석[미르]]

오오오오.. 조회수는 밤 사이에 40이 늘었는데, 어찌 댓글은 하나도 없나요. ㅠ_ㅠ

[김정훈 (Tristan)]

주제 감사합니다~ 다들 퍼가면서 답글 하나씩 남겨 주는 센스~ 를 발휘해 주시길~ 매너남 ㅎㅎ

[근아(Alice)]

ㅋ ㅋ요번주이걸루하는건가용?

[권지선(jiseon)]

퍼가요~

[지훈 [St. Paul Phoenix]]

수고 많으셨습니다.