鍾庭耀（英語：CHUNG Ting Yiu Robert），現職香港大學民意研究計劃總監，香港社會學學者、大學教授、香港大學利銘澤堂舍監，畢業於拔萃男書院、香港大學社會科學系（社會學）。是2000年的港大民調風波中的主角之一。
1987年，香港大學成立隸屬社會科學學院的社會科學研究中心(Social Sciences Research Centre)，鍾庭耀便加入研究中心任助理研究主任。1991年6月，中心成立「民意研究計劃」負責透過民意調查收集數據，並研究和分析香港的民意發展，鍾庭耀出任民意研究計劃研究主任。
2000年7月7日，鍾庭耀分別於《南華早報》和《信報》撰文，指行政長官董建華過去一年多次透過特別渠道向他施壓，要求他停止對政府及行政長官的民望進行民意調查。其後，鍾庭耀公開傳話人身份是當時的港大校長鄭耀宗，並透過副校長兼鍾氏的博士論文老師黃紹倫傳達。港大校務委員其後委任一個獨立調查小組，最後查明鍾庭耀的指控屬實，行政長官辦公室高級特別助理路祥安透過會面鄭耀宗，希望阻止不利政府的民調結果。同年9月6日，事件在鄭耀宗及黃紹倫宣佈請辭告終。
圖片來源：黃明堂 他是新加坡天空最耀眼的政治新星。
二○一一年五月新加坡國會大選，台裔新加坡律師陳碩茂，代表在野黨工人黨參選，標榜「打造世界第一國會」的理想。
他和工人黨其他候選人，一起在八十七席的國會中，攻下向來被視為執政黨鐵票區、由前外交部長楊榮文坐鎮的阿裕尼選區，拿下六席。
正是這區區六席，讓許多新加坡人徹夜難眠。
人民行動黨苦澀地吞下建國以來最低得票率（六成）。總理李顯龍閉門檢討，內閣大幅換血。
陳碩茂的學、經歷，讓奉行菁英主義的新加坡人，心服口服。
屏東林邊出生的陳碩茂，十一歲時隨父母移民新加坡，之後成為哈佛、史丹佛、牛津的法學博士，美國知名的達維律師事務所（Davis Polk & Wardwell）合夥人。
二○一○年，陳碩茂幫助中國農民銀行完成史上籌資額最大的IPO，金額達二○二億美元，被《美國律師》選為二○一○年「年度最佳交易律師」之一。
但攀上事業頂峰後，陳碩茂卻選擇投入新加坡國會大選，拒絕執政黨的網羅，代表工人黨出征。
他演講時魅力四射。
五月大選前，阿裕尼選區的大操場，五萬人站在毛毛雨中，無聲傾聽陳碩茂演講。
別讓下一代唯唯諾諾
二○一一年十月，陳碩茂發表他的首次國會演說。他一說話，總理李顯龍馬上放下手邊的文件，專心聆聽。
「在這國會任期裡，希望執政黨能做唐太宗，我們來做魏徵，開出太平盛世，而不是一個政者獨斷，小人唯唯諾諾的世代，」陳碩茂用中文，溫和而堅定地闡述。
「真正完整的人格、獨立的精神，是不可能在一個凡事聽從獨大的執政黨、凡事唯唯諾諾的環境下生成。我們要我們的下一代有創新、有獨立自主精神，就不能不在政治上、精神上，給他一個自由競爭的環境。這要求，及這深深的憂慮不安，其實是隱藏在許多新加坡人心中，」他說。
他的崛起，代表了新加坡開始從全能政府，邁向公民社會的轉型。
《天下雜誌》專訪這位政治明星，聽他傾吐從政理念：
新加坡獨立後發展最大的特色，就是一黨獨大。但我們向前看，希望塑造一個更成功的國會，讓政策更加反映民意，改善民生。
我記得今年總理李顯龍在國慶日演講中，提到美國國會辯論政府預算的僵局，他這麼形容這僵局：一黨希望永遠不加稅；另外一黨則希望永遠不砍福利支出。
如果真如李總理所說，這預算僵局映證了多黨政治的不足，那請問：在一黨獨大的理想國度裡，這場僵局會如何收場？是不再加稅，還是不再砍福利支出？任何一個方案都不盡完善，因為兩者雙雙反映了民間不同的價值觀。
雙方如何把這兩個有衝突的價值充分、公開地討論及協調，這就是國會該扮演的角色，也是我們民主政治正當的程序。
第一世界的國會，就是要能夠反映民意，幫助我們社會做出一個盡量完善的選擇，減低選錯整體方向的風險。並不只求愈快愈好。長遠來看，這是最有效率的安排。
舉我們近幾年的人口政策為例，這其實也是我們的經濟政策。
為了追求更高的經濟成長，引進了更多的外勞。人多了，經濟體大了，自然就會成長。可是，這是一種粗糙的成長，因為它沒有帶來相應的生產力的提高。這政策雖影響重大，卻並非是在國會裡有全面的討論後才落實的。
這政策帶來什麼結果？第一，新加坡人的就業及薪酬受到了壓力。第二，配套的公共運輸、住房、生活空間及其他方面的建設沒跟上人口的增長。這些是誰在買單？主要還是普通新加坡人，包括低收入的新加坡人。可是經濟成長他沒有充分地分享到。
兩個月前，人力部出了一份報告。過去十年，我們收入最下層二○％的國民，調整了通貨膨脹後，薪資成長是零。五○％，即是過半的新加坡人，每年薪資成長一．二％，這比經濟成長是少得多。
我有朋友在執政黨內，他們短期內能制定、執行政策，對民生做出直接的貢獻。不要忘了，我們爭取民主主要也是為了改善民生。
可是，我相信我選擇走這條路，幫助反對黨茁壯成長，讓民主政治的體系能夠好好運作，讓政策更加反映民意，長遠來講，對政策、民生能起更大、更好的作用。
未來五年，大的風險，是國際的局勢，對新加坡這樣一個小而開放的經濟實體帶來的經濟衝擊。我希望我們能加強社會保障安全網，讓新加坡人更放心。
新加坡人在全球賽場上，他要參賽、要衝刺。政府跟他講了，引進外國人也是要讓新加坡人跑得更快。可是也該讓他放心，跌倒的話，不能完成賽程、退出，這個社會，也就是其他新加坡人，還能扶他一把。
American inventor (1854–1932)
Eastman, who was born in Waterville, New York, began his career in banking and insurance but turned from this to photography. In 1880 he perfected the dry-plate photographic film and began manufacturing this. He produced a transparent roll film in 1884 and in the same year founded the Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company. In 1888 he introduced the simple hand-held box camera that made popular photography possible. The Kodak camera with a roll of transparent film was cheap enough for all pockets and could be used by a child. It was followed by the Brownie camera, which cost just one dollar.
Eastman gave away a considerable part of his fortune to educational institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He committed suicide in 1932.
NEW YORK: George Eastman is best known as the inventor of photographic film and founder of Eastman Kodak Co, but his century-old legacy of entrepreneurship now rides on the lesser-known Eastman Chemical Co.
That was hardly the case in 1994, when Eastman Kodak spun off its chemicals business to help pay down debt. At that time, Kodak was still a colossus in photography whereas Eastman Chemical was a small player very much in its parent’s shadow.
But because of a sea change in digital technology and different approaches to business, Eastman Chemical’s stock market value has since increased 71 percent to $5.5 billion today, while Kodak’s has plummeted 99 percent to about $185 million.
Interviews with former executives, retirees and analysts describe two companies that were polar opposites in many ways, despite their shared heritage: where Eastman Chemical was swift to move into new markets, Kodak rested on its laurels for too long; where Chemical had a management team obsessed with the bottom line, Kodak retained cushy employee benefits even when the advent of digital cameras caused film demand to crater.
Speculation flared in September that Kodak was on the verge of bankruptcy, after the Rochester, New York-based company hired restructuring experts. Last month, Kodak warned that unless it could raise $500 million in new debt or sell some patents in its portfolio, it might not survive 2012.
“George Eastman’s legacy will be Eastman Chemical and not Eastman Kodak,” said Willy Shih, a Harvard Business School professor who ran Kodak’s digital imaging business from 1997 until 2005. “I am absolutely convinced of that.”
Eastman Chemical shares lagged Kodak’s until 2006:
link.reuters.com/myg75s
Eastman Chemical vs Kodak quarterly profits:
link.reuters.com/nyg75s
George Eastman, a high-school dropout from rural New York, founded Eastman Kodak Co in the late 1880s and built it into the world’s biggest photographic film supplier and camera maker. He patented roll film when he was 30 and quickly became a wealthy man. In 1919, he gifted one-third of his Kodak stock — worth roughly $10 million at the time — to employees.
Eastman established a chemicals subsidiary in 1920 to supply acetic acid and other photographic chemicals to Kodak, a business that grew strongly in the next 50 years, gaining many customers beyond its sibling.
After Eastman Chemical was spun off, it continued to expand and innovate by staking out new niche chemical markets, such as fibers for cigarette filters and plastic free of bisphenol A, a potential carcinogen.
Kodak, on the other hand, invented the digital camera in 1975 when one of its engineers developed a prototype that was as big as a toaster and captured black and white images.
But it failed to capitalize on that innovation, and it was only when Kodak’s film business began to decline a decade ago that it tried to catch up with rivals by launching mass-market digital cameras with the Easyshare line.
“We had something that was so good, but now it’s deteriorated to the current state of affairs,” said Bob Shanebrook, a former Kodak executive who ran the professional film business and retired in 2003. “We thought $40 per share was a ridiculously low stock price, but now it’s below a dollar.”
Kodak’s five-year credit default swaps were quoted at distressed levels earlier this month, reflecting a 92 percent chance of default on its debt in the next five years.
The city of Rochester itself seems resigned to Kodak’s fate. At one point, the company employed more than 60,000 people in the area — now, that number is closer to 7,000.
A PATERNAL HISTORY
To be sure, Eastman Chemical has been fortunate to be in an industry that has changed little compared to the technology sector, which has forced other American icons including International Business Machines Corp and Corning Inc to reinvent themselves. The type of chemical products may change, but the science of producing them does not.
Nonetheless, people familiar with both companies give Eastman Chemical credit for a corporate culture change that has helped it eschew the Kodak legacy.
In March 2009, for example, Eastman Chemical asked all employees from the CEO down to take a 5 percent pay cut to prevent widespread layoffs. The tactic worked, layoffs were averted, and the prior pay levels were restored later that year.
“We needed to understand that we were not a family; we were a team,” Brian Ferguson, who joined Eastman Chemical in 1977 and was chief executive from 2002 through 2009, said in an email. “We had difficulties dealing with these issues due to the paternal history of Kodak, which implied employment for life, benefits forever unchanging and general conflict avoidance.”
Kodak, in contrast, was much more generous with its employee benefits. Even after the decline in its business forced massive layoffs — it has 18,800 global workers today, down from 86,000 in 1998 — the company offered lucrative severance packages.
“They could have just said, ‘Thanks for coming, goodbye,’” said Shanebrook, the former Kodak executive. “Instead, they gave people at all levels separation packages based on how long they worked. They continue to provide medical coverage for retirees.”
Kodak’s U.S. pension plans, which cover 65,000 people, were underfunded by nearly $200 million at the end of 2010. The funds slipped into the red after a surplus of more than $2 billion as recently as 2008, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
When asked for comment, Kodak spokesman Gerard Meuchner said in an-email that the company has cut its post-employment benefits by two-thirds since 2005 and lowered its severance benefits from two weeks per year of service to 1.5 weeks.
CONTRASTING CEOS
The differences in Kodak and Eastman Chemical’s cultures are reflected in the management styles of their leaders. Eastman Chemical Chief Executive Jim Rogers, a former naval aviator and corporate treasurer, has a reputation for being pragmatic and low-key. Kodak CEO Antonio Perez is known for his charisma, but some of his spending decisions have raised eyebrows.
Perez’s liberal use of corporate jets has become a popular topic among Kodak pensioners on Internet message boards. Perez, who is on the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, flew with his wife in 2006 on a Kodak plane to a Super Bowl football game viewing party at the White House.
The plane was later destroyed when a hangar near Dulles International Airport collapsed after a snowstorm. Perez decided to lease another one.
In 2010, he racked up a $309,407 bill using Kodak’s jet for personal travel, according to regulatory filings. Starting in 2011, the company said Perez would have to pay out of pocket if his personal travel bill eclipsed $100,000.
Rogers, by contrast, used Eastman Chemical’s jet infrequently in 2010 for personal travel. The cost was so small — less than $10,000 — that Eastman Chemical said in filings it would not bother to report it.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Among the handful of Wall Street analysts who still follow Kodak, three advise selling the stock. By contrast, at least seven Wall Street analysts say the shares of Eastman Chemical are a good buy. StarMine, a Thomson Reuters data service that aggregates leading analysts’ expectations, believes the stock’s true value is nearly double current levels.
Earnest Deavenport, who was chief executive of Eastman Chemical when it first became independent, said the company would not have flourished if it had remained part of Kodak.
“The cash needs of the chemical group and the rest of Kodak were out of phase with each other,” Davenport said. “Kodak did not see the global expansion of the chemical group’s manufacturing base as strategic to the parent company.”
As an independent company, Eastman Chemical had to learn to compete with Dow Chemical, BASF and other global chemical giants. It never grew complacent the way Kodak did with its near-monopoly of the photographic sector.
Kodak has been hamstrung by Asian competitors that have experience making cheaper electronics. In 2010, Kodak held about 7 percent of the digital camera market, in seventh place behind Canon, Sony Corp, Nikon and others, according to research firm IDC. Its position has slipped since 2007, when it was No. 4 in U.S. digital camera sales with a 9.6 percent share.
Kodak’s spending on research and development fell 10 percent last year to $321 million. Eastman Chemical spent $152 million on research in 2010, up 23 percent from the previous year.
If Perez cannot find a way to revitalize Kodak, Rogers could soon find himself the only CEO of a company with “Eastman” in its name.
In 1932, sick and frail from a spinal disorder, George Eastman took his own life with a bullet to the heart, feeling that his legacy had been cemented by both the film and chemical businesses. He left a note, unaware that Kodak would one day fall on hard times.
“To my friends,” Eastman wrote. “My work is done. Why wait?”
Tony Bennett (born Anthony Dominick Benedetto; August 3, 1926) is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz.
Raised in New York City, Bennett began singing at an early age. He fought in the final stages of World War II as an infantryman with the U.S. Army in the European Theatre. Afterwards, he developed his singing technique, signed with Columbia Records, and had his first number one popular song with "Because of You" in 1951. Several top hits such as "Rags to Riches" followed in the early 1950s. Bennett then further refined his approach to encompass jazz singing. He reached an artistic peak in the late 1950s with albums such as The Beat of My Heart and Basie Swings, Bennett Sings. In 1962, Bennett recorded his signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco". His career and his personal life then suffered an extended downturn during the height of the rock music era.
Bennett staged a comeback in the late 1980s and 1990s, putting out gold record albums again and expanding his audience to the MTV Generation while keeping his musical style intact. He remains a popular and critically praised recording artist and concert performer in the 2000s. Bennett has won fifteen Grammy Awards, two Emmy Awards, been named an NEA Jazz Master and a Kennedy Center Honoree. He has sold over 50 million records worldwide. Bennett is also a serious and accomplished painter, creating works under the name Benedetto that are on permanent public display in several institutions. He is also the founder of Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Bennett