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Letter to the editor

On the mind

By Times Wires
Published December 7, 2007

Biz tidbits from surveys

Why parents sniffle at their desks

Here's something to ponder, courtesy of a poll in Parenting.

- When asked why they go to work when they're sick, 57 percent of respondents said they saved their days to use when their children were sick or there is a child care emergency.

- 27 percent said they felt they needed to go in because of office politics.

- 10 percent said they hated to fall behind on their work.

- Our favorite answer came from the 6 percent who said they don't stay home because "my kids drive me crazy when I'm home sick."

Students give CEOs mixed grades

Asked for their impressions of CEOs, most of 383 undergraduate business students at Duquesne University and five other schools described them as smart and hardworking, but nearly half characterized CEOs as greedy. In a survey conducted by James Weber, professor of business ethics at Duquesne, students were provided with five positive and five negative attributes and asked which best describe CEOs:

- The highest percentage of respondents, 89 percent, said CEOs were "intelligent."

- The next-highest response, 79 percent, was "hardworking" followed by "competent," which generated 74 percent of all responses.

- Students also had misgivings about CEOs with 48 percent agreeing they were "greedy," 30 percent saying they were "self-centered" and 17 percent noting they were "dishonest."

What people are searching for

What's really on people's minds? Ask Yahoo Search. Yahoo compiled the top searches of 2007, filtering out company names, general topics (such as "movies" or "downloads"), X-rated content and technological terms:

-Britney Spears topped Yahoo's list of top 10 searches in 2007, propelling her past professional wrestling mecca WWE, Paris Hilton, the Japanese cartoon Naruto and Beyonce. Lindsay Lohan, the online adventure game Rune Scape, Fantasy Football, Fergie and Jessica Albamade the list, respectively.

-Saddam Hussein was the most popular news topic, up from ninth in 2006. Americans wanted to read about the Mideast: Iran (second), Iraq (third) and Afghanistan (ninth) made the list. President Bush came in fourth, while Democratic presidential contenders Barack Obama (sixth) and Hillary Clinton (seventh) jockeyed for attention.

[Last modified December 7, 2007, 01:53:24]