+8 millions en un an, le marché francais en ce domaine se releve être, malgré son retard au départ (merci le minitel), l'un des plus juteux d'europe. Deja 3éme d'europe alors que son taux de decouvrement reste très faible par rapport au tenant du titre : le royaume uni. Les francais netrunners dans l'âme ? je pense plutot que c'est une grosse grosse farce. Non internet ne revolutionnera pas le mode de vie des gens en france. Il simplifiera des procédures plus pénibles, un point c'est tout. Oui bien sur il y aura internet dans chaque foyer de classe moyenne et même dans la rue (surtout grace aux offres a longueurs illimitées). Mais une fois pour toute ce n'est pas un nouveau monde de communication, de liberté, de bonheur, de n'importe quoi (tant que ca fait vendre les publicitaires sont près a tout) qui s'ouvre a nous. Non les gens ne se mettront pas à "chatter" en masse avec leur multiples correspondants étrangers. Et ce pour une bonne raison : avoir une conversation avec une personne en face de soit reste infiniment plus agréable qu'une conversation a distance. Nous vivons dans l'espace. Internet "annule" cette distance ou plutot tend a vouloir nous fournir un service de plus grande qualité que la simple conversation telephonique. Cependant cela reste un artifice en regard du véritable contact humain. Personne n'est dupe sauf les accros a demi ravagés du cerveau et consumés de complexes : Internet ne créera qu'une possibilité supplémentaire pour permettre au prochain siecle d'être un peu plus ce que furent tous les siecles passés : un bon vieux siècle de consommation. Ce qu'il y a de bien avec internet c'est qu'on va pouvoir faire des sous en polluant moins qu'en exploitant une mine de charbon. Les spéculations et les angoisses de l'auteur quand a la révolution des moeurs via internet (le nouveau diable moderne) sont la preuve que ce soir la il avait vraiment autre chose a faire que de rédiger un article sur internet. Tout cela sent le réchauffé...
Je suis vraiment désolé car je crainds fort de ne pas pouvoir apporter mon point de vue sur les sondages. En tout cas il y a une comparaison à faire: les sites des instituts de sondages sont aussi mal fait en France et aux USA. Franchement il faut avouer que de nombreux thèmes sont abordés : politique, économie, société... D'ailleurs il est intéressant de constater que ces thèmes sont les mêmes des deux côtés de l'atlantique. Mais les sujets abordés dans ces thèmes sont si nombreux et si mals répertoriés qu'il est difficile de trouver précisément celui que nous recherchons. En fait les instituts de sondages nous montrent qu'une seule chose au travers de leur site : l'esprit humain est si complet et puissant qu'il fini par devenir un vrai brouillon.
Je voudrais parler dans ce message du probleme des jeunes et du racisme.
Je voudrais d'abord dire que j'ai étudié seulement les données fournis, du coté francais par www.sofres.fr et du coté américain par www.gallop.com.
D'abord,le simple fait que sur Sofres il y a un sondage entier sur le racisme montre que de ce coté de l'Atlantique, on se sent plus concernés par ce problème. Dans le site gallop.com, il faut chercher dans d'autres types de sondages pour voir une allusion au problème.
Et les réponses que j'ai vues confirment ce point de vue. 61 % des jeunes disent que le racisme est un plutot répandue . Ainsi, le racisme est un facteur essentiel dans la recherche d'un travail (82 % des répones). Et les jeunes d'origine étrangère sont controlés plus souvent que les autres jeunes selon 70% des personnes ...
Je pensais auparavant qu'aux Etats-Unis le racisme peut etre un probleme important puisque comme chacun sait,ce pays est comme la France un pays d'immigration. Les réponses fournies m'ont laissées un peu perplexes: le racisme est un des problèmes les plus importants pour seulement 3% des gens là-bas, avant le manque de ressources énéergetiques par exemple . Je n'aurais jamais imaginé trouver une réponse comme celle-là. En comparant avec la France, il y a vraiment un décalage.
Quoi dire?
Soit les Francais se sentent plus concérnés, puisque pour 60% des jeunes les gens d'origine différente se mélangeront dans une seule communauté dans une vingtaine d'années soit il y a beaucoup plus de racisme en France.
J'ai donc une question:
Comment est réalisé l'intégration aux Etats-Unis? Est -ce que le racisme vous parait important aux Etats-Uniis? ou est-ce que chacun évite au maximum les relations avec les personnes de communautés diférentes et prend contact seulement quand ils sont forcés?
J'aimerais avoir votre opinion là-dessus, au niveau quotidien.
There was a poll taken about the Euro and how it affected people's lives. I personally think that having the Euro replace other currency is a bad idea. I like the fact that going to a different country requires usinf different money. It contributes to the experience of a country. The poll said that there was a good split, about half half, of people who said the Euro made life more difficult for them or not. That shows that changing to the Euro was not in the interest or benefit of all the people. What are your opinions on the Euro??
I was reading one of the polls that talks about the election of the US President and how the legitimacy of his presidency has come into question. I just wanted to ask the French what do you think about the entire election problem we had. How the ballots were counted again and again in Florida and how a person that did not get the majority of votes is actually now in control of the country. What would have happened if this had occurred in France? What are your reactions?
Bonjour. Heri, to answer your question about racism, I can't really speak for the majority of Americans, since my background is a bit strange. My father came to the US from Pakistan, and my mother's family is from Puerto Rico. I don't see racism as a problem in large part because I've never experienced it. My father was in the US Air Force for many years, and I'velived in many different places in the US, and I have never had anyone treat me any differently because of my ethnic background. While racism is horrible, i think few people are concerned about it because it's not a big part of the average person's daily life. My question to the INT students is about the prevalence of internet access in France. In the US, there is often a huge difference between how many homes in the suburbs have internet access as compared to homes in inner cities. Someone who is in a minority ethnic gorup here is usually less likely to have a computer or internet conneciton. According to www.canalipsos.com, the number of people with internet access in France is growing rapidly, and I am curious ot know whether there is a similar phenomenon in France.
Subject: racism (in response to Henri, message #3)
As Benazeer mentioned, I would agree that on a daily basis we do not encounter racism, and that it is far less prevalent here than it was several years ago. It does, however, exist in the U.S. and is in my opinion still a problem here. Perhaps not in larger cities like Boston, but certainly in more rural areas of the U.S. I'm originally from the Midwest where racial intolerance is more common. There were many students at my high school who had transferred from a nearby public school, attended almost exclusively by wealthy Caucasians, because of the racism they encountered there. And while my high school was comparatively diverse, there was still some racial tension within the student body. I was wondering if there is this difference in acceptance of different races between urban and rural areas of France as well?
A more discrete way in which racism manifests itself in the U.S. is through our heated debates over affirmative action. In a case that will soon go to the Supreme Court, two white students filed a lawsuit against the University of Michigan Law School, attesting that they were denied admission because of the admission board's racial quotas for minority students. In my high school there were many white students who felt a great deal of resentment because there weren't any racial quotas for them. Is there such a thing as Affirmative Action in France? or any mention of racial quotas in the admission of students to universities?
I have to agree with Allison. I was born here but am ethnically 100% Vietnamese. In the university settings and in my field (biology research) I feel pretty isolated from racism, but I still deal with its subtler forms when I go to the grocery store, take the subway, etcetera... yes, even in Boston.
I don't encounter it every day, and usually when I do, it's just in the form of a strange, unfriendly look, gesture, or comment. When I was in high school, it was worse. There were many minorities in our school, and each group was very separated from the other. There was a lot of ungrounded animosity between each racial group.
Whenever some of my Vietnamese friends in high school spoke Vietnamese to each other in the hallways at my high school, a bunch of American students would walk by and sneer and say, "Speak American, you _____" (expletive left out). (It is interesting that they don't even know that they speak English, not "American."
Once when I had received a good grade for an essay in English class, some American students complained to the teacher and accused me of cheating, saying I probably got help from my parents at home. This made absolutely no sense (my parents are not native speakers of English but I am, so I would not ask them to write my English essays for me). Without any reason or evidence, the teacher asked me to do all of my work for the next essay in class and in front of him, while everyone else was allowed to continue working on their essays at home, as normal.
I'm sorry for the long posting. I just want to make it clear that racism is still a problem here in America, and not just in small towns. The things I've experienced are very insignificant compared to the things my parents and others have encountered.
I don't feel at all that America is a big melting pot. It is a big pot of things that don't blend together or mix very well. Ethnic groups tend to stay isolated and have their own communities. For a place that is supposed to be so welcoming to people of all walks of life, it is so concerned with the ethnic makeup of its populace.
Since grade school I have had to fill out forms again and again and mark "Asian" on the ethnicity section. My European friend commented to me the other day that all his life he has never been asked or made to think about what ethnicity he was, until he had to fill out a form here in America and he marked "Caucasian." I don't feel like I'll ever be treated 100% like an "American."
subject: influence of American culture on French cinema
In a survey of the influence of American culture on France 57% of the French people polled thought that there was an "excessive" influence on French cinema. I'm not sure what age group was polled here, but would you say that this holds true for college students as well? Do most people prefer American movies over French movies? If this is true, do French directors try to imitate the style of American movies? Are there any other countries that make films which are popular in France?
Foreign films really aren't too popular here. People joke that it's because we don't like to have to read when we go to the movies, but I think that might actually be true. I think foreign movies get a bad rap here because they're considered "art films" which have a reputation for being weird and difficult to understand. As a result they aren't very widely distributed in theaters, which makes it difficult for Americans to watch foreign movies even if they really want to. Of the foreign movies that make it into the states, I would say that recently Spanish movies are the most popular. A lot of Alomdovar's movies (All About My Mother, Women on the Verge of Nervous Breakdown) have done pretty well here. Is he popular in France as well?
I read an article at www.Sofres.fr on what the French think of doctors. I just wanted to comment that the results of this poll are consistent with what I believe Americans think of doctors: A good doctor is one who is trustworthy (able to keep a patient's privacy) as well as heal, of course. Madame Levet (our French teacher) showed us a copy of old responses by INT students to "Un Bon Médecin..." In this old questionnaire, a couple of French students wrote that a good doctor is one who doesn't like money. The article says that 71% of the French believe that the price of consultation is justified and 12% said it wasn't high enough!
I was wondering about your opinions on the topic of gay couples raising children and gay marriage. It seems that in both France and America the majorities are against gay marriage and child rearing, but that majority is smaller in France.
How do you feel about this? I read a French poll that claimed that 38% of French people believed that a gay couple could raise a child as well as a heterosexual couple, while the rest did not agree.
I also read another poll stating that 47% of French adults believed that fidelity between partners in a marriage was most important to a successful family. This precentage was higher than that for love, which came in second at 37%. For French adults, most prefered the choice of marriage (66%) over not marrying. Please feel free to comment on these polls. I am curious to know if you feel this way, as well.
Yet another poll that I read claimed that 9 in 10 Americans believe that adultery is terrible for the family. I suppose this is similar to the French poll response: fidelity between partners. I did notice, however, that more Americans were concerned with violence on television than with divorce, or child care. America has a very high divorce rate. I am wondering if this is similar in France. I noticed that parental leave time from employment is much higher in France than in America. I do wish that America had similar values. I believe parents should spend a great deal of time with their children.
I really must strongly agree with Arnaud on the difficulty of using the statistical web sites. In particular, I have found that other than INSEE, the French sites are particularly useless for finding information, both by being badly organized and by not working properly. I thought my browser was not working properly, but I tried on different computers, and any time that I submit a search to quid, it returns a completely blank white page. Perhaps it is improper to voice my annoyance on this forum, but I am wondering if other students are having this problem as well? And also, if there are particularly good links to look at, I would love some helpful hints on places to look.
Subject: sexual orientation I have found some extremely interesting data on family life(I found much more data on the French poll/opinion sites than the statistic/data sites =) ). The area in particular that I was able to find somewhat comparative data for both France and the US is on homosexuality vs. heterosexuality. According to IFOP: 38% of the French public believe that a child can grow up equally successfully and healthily with both heterosexual and homosexual parents; 58% believe that a child will
not
be brought up in the same way with homosexual parents. I couldn't find exact data to compare this to in the US, but did find a
similar
piece of information: 33% of the US feels that homosexuality should be
accepted
, while 37% feel that homosexuality should be
discouraged
. Now, I my impression was that France was significantly more liberal in this matter than we are in the US, but this does not appear to be the case. Do the French students feel that there is more acceptance of gays in general in France than there is in the US? I would also be curious to hear the American students' opinions on this matter.
I found an interesting poll. Out of the things that worry French employees most are first, unemployment and second, racism. 36% of French employees worry about racism while 38% of French employees worry about unemployment. I think these are high percentages. I think you would find similar racism numbers if this survey was conducted in the US. I am not sure, however, what would the unemployment response be during the collapsing economy of today in the US.
I find it interesting that unemployment is a major concern of French people everywhere. I am linking this with the questionaire of "my greatest fears", where many of the French students mentioned unemployment as their greatest fear.
How bad is unemployment at the moment in France? How major is the racism issue in France? Is it as major as you what you might hear about in the US? Do you have the concept of affirmative action where companies or universities asign set percentages of minorities that they have to hire or admit?
I was reading the opinion of the general public about organizing the 2008 Olympics in France. Basically 80% of the population is in favor of organizing the Games, and the majority of those expect economic improvement as a result of hosting it. My question is how much France is really striving for obtaining the right to organize the Games and whether it is also taken into consideration that several of the Olympic Games in the past were not profitable at all.
Subject: How are trade unions a nuissance to employers in France?
Hi,
I was looking at results from a survey about discrimination in job places. The result showed that older and handicapped people are most likely to be discriminated against during recruitment. 58% for person aged beyond 50; 49% for handicapped.
The interesting obeservation was that 41% would discriminate against persons who belong to the trade union or have the intention of joining one. I don't think trade unions are currently an issue in America.
How effective are trade unions in France? Do most employees find it necessary to join one? Is there a law that specifically prohibits discrimination on grounds of association?
I also wanted to make a note about racism. For some reason as Suzanne was saying, even though the US prides itself as being a melting pot, it goes to great lengths to discriminate between different ethnic groups. I'm from Costa Rica and we have people from multiple ethnic backgrounds over there and people simply don't take ethnicity as such a big issue over here . There are no "what is your ethnicity check boxes". Here in the states however, it's something that you always have to go through
And one more thing, I think it's totally terrible terrible that Suzanne had to write her essay in front of the teacher while the whities were allowed to do it back home. Make sure that teacher knows where you are now!! ;-)
I just came across an intersting survey about the reaction of French people to a program like Temptation Island. The program is on the American television network. I don't think it's very popular (I've heard only one person mention it). Anyway, 4 couples and 26 singles (men and women) are put on an (isolated) island for 2 weeks. I haven't watched it before but I think there's a lot of nudity. The idea is to see whether the couples will be able to resist the temptation to cheat on their partners.
I was surprised that 53% of french people didn't find this program controversial. In particular, 63% of people under 25 don't think it's controversial. I've always thought of France to be highly protective of its culture.
Are there similar programs on the French television networks? What is the greatest threat (if any) that this program will cause if shown in France? Who (mothers, schools, religious groups, private groups etc) is most likely to protest? Thanks
Because I am absolutely fascinated by the phenomenon of "real-life" TV, I'd like to add to Regina's comments. First I'd like to help clear up a little about the program, there is _no_ nudity on the American version as it is aired on Network tv. Any (very small amount, I might add) nudity that does happen is censored. That is not to say the bikinis and general amount of clothing is not very little, but the show is not explicit in that manner. I would guess that the French version uses the same footage?
It does however, deal with aspects of relationships that are considered by many Americans to be quite personal. Most middle-aged people and older that I know are also apalled by the show here in America, as it appeals to a younger, more liberal (and open) crowd.
In addition to answering Regina's questions, I'd also like to inquire the French students on their opinions of the phenonmenon of shows like "Survivor" and "Boot Camp" (Boot camp is coming out next season, I believe) where people audition to be on the show, and their entire lives are videotaped for the time they are on the show?
I was reading polls about which health problems people fear the most. AIDS (le SIDA) and cancer were both very high on the list for both the French and the Americans, however the most popular response from the French side was cancer (60% vs 30% for the Americans).
I was wondering if you might be able to shed light on why cancer is so prevalent a fear in France. Is the incidence of cancer really really high? Also do you think the fact that more people smoke in France contributes to the awareness of cancer as a life threat?
My personal feeling is, although I am not sure, cancer cases are probably more common than incidences of HIV infection, but in the US AIDS gets a lot more publicity than many other diseases that affect more people (Hepatitis B) so AIDS ends up getting as much attention as cancer in the US, maybe even more.
This is true in terms of funding for biology research. A lot of biology research here in the US is funded by our National Institutes of Health, a government agency that is subject to public pressures. So, it is easier to get a research project funded on a disease the public thinks is more threatening than on a less well publicized disease that affects more people. Awareness and publicity are golden.
(In case you can't tell I'm a biologist, so I find these questions interesting.)
From what I read in Sofres, Frech people want to have access to the internet but have trouble doing so. I understood that the cost of an ISP is very high. I have some questions for the French about this. Do a lot of people have computers in France? Do your schools have internet access? How important would you concider computers to be in France?
I asked during our teleconference about the consumption of beef, because I was curious about how the outbreak was affecting one's behavior in Europe. In the French opinion polls a vast majority (70%) of those polled were very concerned about the disease, but the majority (about 50%) also said they were not changing their eating habits.
1) Is beef a large part of the French diet? Would cutting down on beef consumption be difficult for the average person? (I know in Germany beef is typically the #1 consumed food product, but since the outbreak beef consumption has gone down dramatically.)
I also noticed that among the diseases the French feared the most, Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (the human form of nad cow disease) and meningitis garnered a significant percentage of the responses (about 20% each), not at all concerns for the average American. I don't think most Americans are aware of Creutzfeld Jakob disease.
2) I was wondering if the awareness of this disease in France is due mostly to the recent outbreak of mad cow disease, or if people in France are more aware of it for some other reason.
it seems to me that the French really value their vacations. Most of the French either want to simply be with their family and spend time with them, or visit new places or both. Many also want to just relax and get a tan. It's interesting how most of the French (as the polls suggest) would want to spend their vacations by the water, like beaches and stuff like that. Americans tend to favor the same thing. The polls show that most of them would want to spend their vacation in Hawaii.
Hi ! i was looking at polls regarding the presidential race in 2002. Are the only two candidates running Chirac and Juspin ? Or is it that the other candidates are small that no one bothers trying to get information about them ? Are there only two main political parties in France ? Have there ever been many candidates from neither party that has won an election ?
in a poll of young people and cars, 98% (which is a very large percentage!!!) said that air pollution is a serious problem, but that the solution is not to forbid cars in cities. how is pollution noticable in france? and what are measures that have been taken to fix the problem? here in the us, i don't think people think of pollution as such a big problem as in france, though we probably should be more award of it.
I think the results posted on those polls must be taken with a grain of salt. I would agree with Arnaud that they are not that reliable, we don't know from what ethnicity is the people who participated, from what state, etc.
For me, the first evidence that there's still racism in this country, is the whole story about the quotas in schools...why let somebody in because they have to have a certain amount of chinese, latins, etc? If what really matters is your skills and intelligence, people in admissions should be looking only at the results, and not the box you checked. Probably discrimination is not as explicit as it was when black people had to sit back in the buses, but it still exist under the umbrella of "political correctness".
And in terms of culture assimilation, right now I am so infuriated with an event that happened in my school, that I could only say that is not happening at all: we hold cultural parties weekly in the school of managemente, and this week's turn was Brazil. Every year we have samba dancers coming, and it's part of the objective of showing the culture in that country, just as it is the food that is served, and some other attractions. Some people complained about the dancers wearing the traditional bikini, and there was a whole debate around this issue. Finally the dance was cancelled. For me is really insulting, that some people can't see the dance as what it is: an art and a part of the folklore of the country, but they see it with their biased eyes and with their own tabues.
A question for the INT students: when the french say that they sense that there is discrimination looking for a job, what do you think they base this perception on? Could it be an auto-bias?
these are the 2 polls that i found interesting: are out of wed-lock births morally acceptable? US 47%no, 50%yes FR 8% no, 91%yes is having a child necessary in order for your life to be fulfilled? US 51%no, 46%yes FR 26%no, 73%yes
it's possible to relate the results of these 2 polls. it seems that because the french value children in their lives so much, that it doesn't matter whether the child is born within or without a marriage. do you guys know many people who have parents who never married? i personally don't know of any. i think in the US out-of-wedlock births are usually associated with teenage moms and that's definitely a negative association. besides those, you hear about many hollywood couples not marrying but having kids. however, many things that happen in hollywood don't happen in "real" life. also, i was wondering why do the french think that one must have a child sometime in his/her life in order for it to be fulfilled?
Bonjour à tous! Rassurez-vous, je ne suis pas la seule survivante d'une catastrophe qui a décimée toute la population de l'INT! IL semble que la plupart des étudiants ont pris des vacances anticipées!
Je vais essayer de répondre à quelques questions, en y intégrant des thèmes qui ont été aussi évqués sur le forum statistiques. Tout d'abord, les médecins et la santé en général en France. On estime que notre système est satisfaisant, et les médecins ont bonne réputation. Je voudrais dire à Allan qu'il est dommage qu'il ne voit cela que d'un point de vue économique. On parle ici de la santé et de la vie des gens, pas d'un éventuel gaspillage de ressources. Tout d'abord, il n'y a jamais eu en France de morts dans les hopitaux faute de soins ou de personnel. Les contrôle sont très stricts et en cas de moindre doute, il y a une enquête. Ensuite, les gens n'abusent pas du système de couverture médicale. On ne va pas chez le médecin pour un simple rhume car d'abord on sait que son temps est précieux et qu'il a surement des cas plus urgents, et ensuite car les pharmacies sont là pour ça. Les pharmaciens sont très compétents, et savent écouter les gens, tous en ayant de bonnes notions de biologie. Donc en cas de problème bénin, ils peuvent conseiller des médicaments sans ordonnance. Les impôts sont peut-être élevés, mais sur ce point (je ne parle pas des indemnités chômage) personne ne se plaint. Il y a toujours un médecin de garde la nuit et le dimanche, qui se déplace à domicile même à trois heures du matin, sans que le malade ait à débourser. Il y a de même des pharmacies de garde, ce qui fait qu'on peut se procurer des médicaments à n'importe quel moment. Comme l'a fait remarquer Gary, l'argent en France ne doit pas interferer avec la santé, et ce n'est pas parce qu'on est pauvre qu'on a droit à de moins bon soins.
Salut, Je vais aborder un thème évoqué par Jennifer et Ashley, l'homosexualité. Les Français sont plutôt tolérants, comme le montre les sondages. Des manifestation comme la Gay Pride à Paris (des défilés de chars décorés avec de la musique techno, comme la Love Parade de Berlin)sont très populaires surtout auprès des jeunes. Pour ce qui est du mariage, on adopte plutôt le PACS en France, c'est un contrat qui relie deux personnes et leur fait profiter d'avantages fiscaux et financiers. Des frères et soeurs peuvent passer un pacs, il n'y a pas de connotation sexuelle. Mais cela donne par exemple droit à des réductions pour les transports en commun. Les homosexuels désirant bénéficier d'avantages, ou tout simplement se faire reconnaitre comme couple passent un PACS. Mais la législation est incomplète en cas de décès d'un des partenaires. L'autre n'a pas de droit sur son héritage, même s'ils ont passé leur vie ensemble. 75% des Français ne trouvent pas cela normal.
Un tiers des français pensent que les homosexuels peuvent adopter un enfant. je suis pour aussi, il y a beaucoup d'enfants qui sont élevés uniquement par leur mère ou leur père sans que cela choque. Le seul problème serait de préparer l'enfant aux questions et remarques de ses amis, mais je n'y voit rien de répréensible.
Enfin, je voulait parler de la façon dont on voit l'homosexualité à l'INT. Nous avons une association "gay friendly" qui organise des sortieset qui parfois rappelle les élèves à l'ordre quand lors de discutions sur les forums de l'école, ils utilisent l'homosexualité comme une injure. Certains couples ne se cachent pas lors des soirées, d'autres se font plus discrets, mais les élèves ne les mettent pas à l'écart pour ça.
Hi dear MIT students! Tout d'aord j'aimerais vous dire que j'ai beaucoup aimé vous parler et enfin vous voir pendant la visioconférence.
Sinon j'aimerais répondre par rapport à la question sur Internet. Ici à l'INT, en tant qu'école spécialisée dans les télécommunications;), nous avons tous accès au réseau de nos chambres. De plus c'est gratuit!!! La plupart des étudiants en profitent et ont un ordinateur dans leur chambre. Mais nous avons également des salles infos, ouvertes 24/7 avec accès à Internet. Je pense que le phénomène Internet n'est pas encore autant répondu qu'aux Etats-Unis. Les gens sont encore réticents par rapport à certains aspects. Ainsi, le commerce électronique ne marche pas du tout en France. Les gens ont surtout peur de donner leur données personnels et leur numéro de carte de crédit sur Internet. Mais Internet est beacoup utilisé pour s'informer. Souvent les gens s'informent sur un produit sur Internet avant de l'acheter dans un magasin. Beaucoup de magasins en profitent et les sites qu'ils proposent ne sont donc pas (ou souvent pas) des sites de commerce électronique mais de promotion de leur magasin 'réel'. Pour ce qui est du coût, je pense que l'évolution est vers une réduction maximale de ceux-ci. On rêve encore de l'Internet gratuit ou presque comme aux Etats-Unis. Les abonnements dépendent des différents 'providers'. Pour ce qui est du choix du débit, l'ADSL reste très cher et la plupart des gens se contentent d'un modem qui rame de temps en temps.
J'ai aussi quelques questions à propos d'Internet. Est-ce que vous considérer que vous êtes surchargés d'informations ou trouvez vous qu'elles sont utiles? Pensez-vous qu'avec Internet on tend à négliger les amis, la famille par le fait de passer beaucoup de temps 'online'. Durant la visioconférence, on vait un peu parler de ça. Mais pensez-vous qu'il est possible d'avoir de vrais amis sur Internet, des personnes que l'on n'a jamais vues? A +! Maud
Il est vrai que par le fait d'abandonner leur monnaie nationale, les différentes nations de l'union européenne abandonnent une partie de leur souveraineté, une partie de ce qui est propre à chacun d'eux et qui les représente et leur permet de se différencier des autres. Mais en donnant leur 'oui' à l'UE, ils se sont dits d'accord de faire partie d'une entité plus grande, d'un ensemble de plusieurs pays qui permet entre autre la libre circulation des hommes, des biens, des capitaux. Cela apporte beaucoup d'avantages. Ainsi un Européen a par exemple le droit de travailler dans n'importe quel autre pays de l'UE sans les nombreuses démarches administratives. Les déplacements d'un pays à l'autre sont vraiment faciliter. Ainsi nous n'avons pas besoin de passport au sein de l'union, mais simplement de la carte d'identité. J'admets que moi aussi j'aimais bien découvrir la monnaie d'un pays que je visitais et garder une pièce en tant que souvenir. Mais une monnaie unique apporte également de nombruex avantages. Ainsi la comparaison des prix des biens dans les différents pays deviendra beaucoup plus facile (ainsi on aura par exemple, si on est proche d'une frontière tendance à acheter un bien dans le pays où le prix est plus bas). A long terme les différences de prix devront être éliminées. Je pense qu'au niveau des salaires dans les différents pays de l'union, les différences devraient aussi diminuées, car on montrera rapidement du doigt ceux qui divergent trop de la moyenne générale. Mais tout dépend bien sûr du niveau de développement du pays. Dans quelques mois l'EURO va être introduit et je me demande comment tout cela va se passer. Dernièrement on n'en parle plus trop et je pense que la plupart des gens ne se rendent pas vraiment compte que bientôt ils devront abandonner le franc. Au début, ça va être un peu la galère, je suppose. On va tous se ballader avec nos calculettes afin de calculer ce que ça vaut en francs, etc. Mais je crois que ceux qui auront le plus de mal seront les personnes vieilles. Les jeunes devraient s'habituer plus rapidement. Mais on verra bien. Maud
J'ai trouvé un sondage qui a été fait sur l'avortement et il paraît que les opinions 'pro-choice'/'pro-life' sont 46%/48%. Aucune des deux opinions ne domine réellement. J'ai vu des reportages ou des films sur le thème de l'avortement et il paraissait qu'il existe un grand débat à propos de ce sujet aux Etats-Unis. Est-ce toujours vrai aujourd'hui? Est-ce que cela arrive encore que des opposants défilent devant les hôpitaux et dénoncent les médecins qui sont pour le pro-choice? Est-ce que vous pensez qu'il est trop facile d'avorter un enfant aux E-U? Si oui, est-ce que cela entraîne une certaine négligence, un manque de responsabilité de la part des gens (femmes et hommes, les bébés ça se fait à deux, et ce n'est donc pas à la femme de prendre la décision toute seule), car ils vont ce dire, si jamais je suis enceinte je peux avorter facilement et sans trop de problèmes? Ou ont ils des scrupules moraux et sont conscients qu'un avortement est quelque part un meurtre? Pensez-vous que la plupart des avortements sont faits pour des raisons acceptables, p.ex.: trop jeune, pas d'argent, etc.? Et pensez-vous que la plupart des femmes avorteront même si c'était illégal? Merci de répondre. Maud
Je suis allée sur le site de 'Gallup' et j'ai trouvé un sondage sur les langues. J'avais aussi posé la questions du nombre de langues que vous parlez lors de la visioconférence.
En fait, d'après le sondage 1/4 des Américains parlent une deuxième langue, principalement l'Espagnol. Et 43% de ces personnes ont entre 18 et 29 ans. Est-ce donc vrai que la plupart parle bien une deuxième langue?
D'autre part 3/4 des Américains souhaitent que les immigrants parlent Anglais. Pensez-vous également que c'est nécessaire? Est-ce que les administrations prévoient des employés qui peuvent s'exprimer en plusieurs langues pour communiquer avec les immigrants ne parlant pas Anglais? Est-ce que d'autres mesures sont prises pour ceux qui ne parlent pas Anglais, par ex.: lettres administratives en deux langues, etc?
Je ne connais pas de chiffres exacts sur le nombre d'ordinateurs par ménage. Mais il y a eu une véritable explosion du nombre. Je pense qu'il y a un ordi dans presque chaque maison, même si la famille n'est pas très riche. Je dirais que l'ordi n'est plus un objet qui sert à différencier les aisés des moins riches (les différences se feront au niveau de la puissance des différents ordis). Cela devient plutôy une nécessité avec l'utilisation accrue d'Internet (à l'école aussi) et des e-mails.
Il y a un gros problème de pollution à Paris. Elle est mesurée régulièrement et si le taux dépasse une certaine limite, on fait un appel comme quoi il faut laisser la voiture dans les garages pendant une journée (les stationnements sont alors souvent gratuits pour ce jour-là) et prendre les transports en commun. Mais honnêtement, je ne vois pas trop l'utilité de ceci. Car interdire aux voitures de circuler pendant une journée ne réglera pas les problèmes de pollution...
Je voudrais répondre à propos de quelques-uns des problèmes que vous avez soulevés. Tout d'abord, le racisme. Chez nous aussi cela existe, et l'actualité nous en donne régulièrement des preuves. Il y a des mairies Front National (le parti d'extrême-droite) dans le Sud de la France, et les jeunes noirs et maghrébins se font souvent refouler "au faciès" à l'entrée des boîtes de nuit. En France il n'y a pas d'affirmative action, et les jeunes doivent s'en sortir uniquement grâce à leurs capacités, même si on leur met des bâtons dans les roues. Mais en matière de racisme les Français sont un peuple relativement dur à saisir, puisqu'on notera que depuis la coupe du monde un Zinedine Zidane est devenu une icône nationale, et que lorsque des réfugiés kurdes arrivent par bâteau sur les côtes du Sud, là où l'on vote beaucoup pour l'extrême droite, la mobilisation en faveur de ces boat people est massive.
Pour ce qui est de la pollution : je rejoins ce que vous a dit Maud, Paris est une ville très polluée, car durant des années il y a été mené une politique du "tout au bureau" et "tout à la bagnole". Les gens s'en rendent bien compte mais au final peu de mesures réellement satisfaisantes sont prises, on se contente de mesurer les taux de polluants dans l'air.
Pour les présidents : Chirac et Jospin sont les candidats les plus sérieux, mais il en existe bien d'autres des autres partis. Simplement, l'élection se fait en deux tours, et les sondages actuels sont tels que tout le monde pense qu'au deuxième tour, seuls subsisteront l'actuel Premier Ministre et le Président de la République.
The statistics you found sound about right. My guess is the people who fluently speak a second language other than English probably speak that language fluently because it was their native language. (That is, they or their parents came from elsewhere and they learned it in their families.)
Although the USA still does not have an official language (to my knowledge) I personally feel that one should learn English if one lives in the U.S..
A lot of offices that deal with social services and with immigrants usually have interpreters. In addition, there are bilingual programs in high schools and etcetera. Students whose native language is not English may take "English as a Second Language." Teachers and teaching assistants in such programs often speak the native language of the students in such classes. The goal of such programs though is to enable the students to learn English quickly, not to make it possible for them to get by in school without learning English.
I know a lot of people here who manage to get by without learning English. It's possible because there are a lot of closely knit ethnic communities (for example, the Vietnamese communities). I think it's sad though because it seems to me they are missing out on opportunities and interactions with the rest of the American society.
Just a silly comment: I was watching the European Championship final game (France vs. Italy) last year in a bar. There were a few French guys at a table next to me, and I really couldn't hear anything other than "Zidane!" and the French guys pounding the table over and over throughout the game. He really is a favorite!
in response to maud's questions in #31-- with the explosion of the internet, i think many students are encouraged to look up information for school papers and projects using search engines. personally, i found looking on the internet a waste of time. i would have to look through so many sites just to find a bit of information that i could possible use. so even though there's a lot of information on the internet, it's not always practical to use. i still prefer going to a library and browsing through reliable books. I wouldn't say that with the internet people tend to neglect their friends and family but I think that it definitely makes an impact on the amount of homework you get done. Many of my friends and I can't do work at our desk because we would be too busy surfing the web, shopping online, downloading music or chatting with friends.
Je suis d'accord que souvent rechercher de l'info sur Internet est une perte de temps. J'ai souvent mis beaucoup de temps à rechercher des infos pour un devoir, convaincue que j'allais trouver quelque chose d'utile, mais à la fin le temps avait passé, mais je n'avais toujours pas grand chose devant moi.
Ici je trouve qu'on est pas mal incité à passer notre temps devant l'ordi, en général. Il faut tout faire sur ordi, les infos utiles ne font circuler que par mail. Si tu ne consultes pas ta boîte régulièrement tu te retrouves avec un nombre immense de mails et tu peux être sûr d'avoir raté un truc important ou du moins utile. Il y a aussi des supports de cours en ligne, des exercices. Ceci n'est pas mauvais, mais je n'aime pas lire trop sur ordi. Un prof p.ex. nous a mis son cours de 200 pages en lignes et il fallait absolument tout imprimé car lire 200 pages sur un écran, ce n'est pas évident, du moins pour moi.
Sinon, c'est vrai que maintenant souvent pour la moindre info qu'on cherche (pas forcément scolaire) on se tourne vers Internet. Parfois c'est bon, parfois on ne fait que perdre son temps.
ICQ: Je l'ai arrêté il y a quelque temps pour des raisons déjà mentionnées. Je connais des gens qui passent des nuits entières sur icq à parler avec d'autres... Je pense que ça ne vaut pas le coup d'un commentaire.
Tu as aussi parlé du 'shopping' sur Internet. Est-ce que vous achetez souvent sur Internet? Et si oui, quels produits? Des livres, CDs, ...?
This is a bit off-topic, but I found it a bit funny that you mentioned Berlin's Love Parade. I was reading a story about how this year the parade may not happen because environmentalists who regularly protest the parade (because of the litter) reserved the park before the parade organizers could. Speaking in broad terms, this story represents Germany well, with very vocal left and right extremist groups. Could the same be said for France?
Also, what is the political party system like in France? In the US, there are only 2 strong parties. Is this the case in France as well, or are there more (like Greenpeace Party, or is that just Germany)?
Suzanne's post on "Zizu" reminded me that we haven't talked sports here really... My thoughts are on the Tour de France.
What is the French opinion of Lance Armstrong? The Tour almost never gets covered here (except back in the Greg LeMond days), but Lance's two victories after beating cancer is one of the best American sports stories in the past few years, and has been highly publicized. Does the French public hold him in the same regard, or has the continuing drug scandal surrounding him darkened his image?
I'd really like to know if there are any cyclists out there at INT, and what you think about our boy... I can't wait to watch him make it 3 straight this summer!
I was recently in Paris, and it didn't see so polluted to me, but I trust more the people who lives there. One thing that captured my attention was the boom of the smart cars, which tells me that at least French people are doing something that...is that the way is regarded in Paris?
Maud, you are right about the day of stop not solving much of the problem...it was implemented once in Venezuela, and the remedy was worse than the illness because people bought a second car for that day, increasing the consumption of gas and therefore pollution. In the other hand, as you said, good public transportation makes a better work at it, and I have to say that I was delighted by the subway in Paris, it looks so modern!! or was it just my impression?
I found a poll on the movement to give all French people a 35-hour work week. At first I thought that all French people already worked 35 hours a week, but I found from the poll that the movement is only now progressing. Are French people in general in favor of this change? In America, I think that people would say they were in favor, but they would still keep working their long hours and long weeks. Here in America, as it's been discussed in previous forums, people are very focused on money and success. If everyone only worked 35 hours a week, then people would have a harder time getting ahead. Often, the most successful business people are those who work 10 or 12 hour days. That's not to say that long days and work weeks are good for a person's health or well-being, but it's interesting to see the difference in values between working Americans and French.
A question for the French students. Would you be willing to work shorter hours and have less money if it meant that you could spend more time with your family? In America, it seems that people would choose to give their children extra money instead of extra time, and it doesn't seem to be helping the children one bit.
I'd like to contribute to the discussion on Internet. I don't trust information on the internet unless it's from well-known sources like the New York Times, IEEE etc. But sometimes even reading bogus essays gives me a better idea of what people think about the subject I have to write about. But I still trust books with ISBN's more because the information is more credible (it must be approved by some well-known professionals in the field before it's published).
Another interesting observation is that (at least here in the US) people have a higher tendency to believe ridiculous stories on the internet (or by email) than by word of mouth. It's as if being published on the internet adds to the stories' credibility.
In response to Maud's question about shoppoing on the internet, I do that quite often. I buy books, airline tickets, CDs, PC, movie tickets etc. I don't buy clothes or shoes on the internet because they may not look like what's shown in the catalog, plus I need to try them on first. I think internet banking and paying credit card bills on-line are too risky, so I don't do those online.
I have a question for INT students. Here in the US, the internet has led to an explosion of internet startups (ranging from chat sites to banking); it has become a significant economic tool for the US. Can you say the same about France?
What is the tax system in France like? Here in America, I think the average person spends about 20% of his income on taxes and that figure could go up to 50% depending on how much you make. Does France have the notion of state, social security, medicare taxes? Is the tax system so complicated that people actually make a living out of filling tax forms for others? Do you guys have to fill tax returns?
Is there a high rate of tax evasion? The American tax system is new to me and would really like to know if any other country has something similar. I look forward to your responses.
Greenpeace n'est pas un partie politique. C'est un mouvement, un groupe en faveur de l'environnement (qui est certes parfois un peu radical...). Greenpeace existe dans pratiquement tous les pays, ce n'est donc pas propre à un pays.
Le partie politique des verts en Allemagne s'appelle 'Bündnis 90 Grünen'. Et il est vrai que tout ce qui concerne la préservation de l'environnement est beaucoup plus développé en Allemagne. Cela a toujours été bcp plus le cas et surtout maintenant que les "Grünen" (avec Joschka Fischer: il était pas mal médiatisé dernièrement pour des histoires de 68) sont au pouvoir ensemble avec la SPD (les socialistes avec Gerhard Schröder).
Ayant pu observer un peu les deux côtés, il faut dire que par rapport aux Allemands les Français ne font pas trop d'efforts en ce concerne le tri des déchets. En venant en France, j'étais un peu choquée de voir les gens balancer tout dans une poubelle, alors que chez moi on tri quand même un minimum et en fait attention où on jette quoi.
Dans les supermarchés, on remarque aussi des différences pour les bouteilles. Les Allemands ont les 'Mehrwegflaschen'. Ce sont des bouteilles que tu rends aux supermarchés lorqu'elles sont vides et on te rembourse un certain pourcentage du prix que tu as payé en l'achetant. Histoire d'empêcher les gens de jeter les déchets dans la nature. Ici ça n'existe pas. C'est dommage parce que je pense que ça pourrait marcher, car les gens sont toujours d'accord pour faire un effort s'il y a das sous prendre...
I'd like to respond to a couple of your questions about abortion in the US. First of all, it is definitely, as you suggested, a subject very much in debate now. My understanding is that most Republican politicians are pro-life, and most Democratic politicians are pro-choice. The last presidential election was probably a good indicator of just how badly the US is currently politically divided, and if you wanted to make a large stretch from that, you could connect it to the division on the issue of abortion. According to your statistic, it probably isn't that big of a stretch to make.
My guess, and please note this is a guess, is that a majority of abortions are for younger (those in their teens and early twenties) women. In my junior high and high school, which were both public, there was a large movement to educate the students about contraception and sexual awareness. I think that teen sex has increased in the US, and that may have resulted in more unwanted pregnancies. I have heard through friends about this kind of thing happening to at least two people I know.
Personally, I think that
especially
for teens, it is critical to not have to bring another life into the world that they can not properly care for, or do not desire. I can't think of anything more sad than a child who is neglected and unwanted. Not that every teen would be irresponsible or without other parental guidance! I think that teens are just much too young to understand the amount of responsibility it takes to be a parent. However, I do know that there is an argument that thinks teens are taking advantage of abortion availability, and being less careful about contraception because of it; if this is in fact a large part of the problem, I think perhaps more consideration could be put into making abortions more difficult to obtain.
I hope I've helped answer some of your questions! -Jen
Thanks for writing back about homosexuality. I am curious to know a little more also. It sounds like PACS is something that gays can take advantage of, but was not necessarily targeted for them since brothers and sisters can also utilize it. Is this true? Also, this stems off of Ashley's comments, is there currently a way for gays to legally marry, in addition to utilizing PACS? It seemed from your comments that it doesn't currently exist. If not, do you think there is a possibility of a more "traditional marriage" being possible for gays in France in the next few years, one where they _do_ have rights to each other's heritage?
maud's comment in message #48 mentions the system of recycling bottles to the supermarket and getting some money back. we also have a system like that, but i don't think that many people actually bother to recycle their bottles for the 5 cents that we can get back because it is just easier to throw them away and waste 5 cents than it is to go out to recycle bottles.
both maud and pierre in messages 36 adn 37 seem to agree that pollution is a big problem. if it is the case that europeans are so worried about pollution (and it seems that you are more than us), are there more visible ways that the concern is expressed? for example, are there recycling bins where-ever there is a trash can? are there lots of compost piles to recycle natural materials?
My family buys many different things from the internet. We buy electronics, computers, clothes, books, cds, etc. I think I buy more clothes and shoes online than I do in regular stores! I usually buy from the same places so I know what sizes to get. For shoes, it usually works out pretty well also. My family has become addicted to shopping on the internet because of the great prices, the availability of the products, a broader selection of products, and the convenience. Here at MIT, I also buy personal products such as shampoo, soap, toothpaste, etc from CVS.com just because there's a discount and free shipping which is much easier than walking to the store to buy the stuff. There's always discounts and coupons floating around so it's worth it even if you do end up returning a few things (and waste money shipping it back). In class, we discussed how the french don't really shop online but simply look for what they want and go to the actual store to buy it. is it because of mistrust of the internet (credit card numbers, etc) or something else?
Yes indeed, the French prefer to go to the shop to buy there things. They mistrust the security system. Even though it has been proven that it is secure to give your credit card number online, they won't really do it. Maybe it's also that they're afraid of not getting what they wanted, not the right size or whatever.
I admit that I don't like the idea of giving the number online very much. I have bought two books online recently, but I paid by 'chèque'. I sent that by post. I think I had to wait longer because of that. But I was a bit dissappointed, because I had to wait for much longer than what was indicated on the web site... So now, I don't know if I'll do it again, maybe on a different site. But they do indeed have a large range of books online that you don't get in the shops and I like to read a lot and I'm constantly looking for new books, so...
I have another question? Do you also make appointments online? Like to go to the hairdresser's or stuff like that. There is an american site called 'appointment zone' and you can make appointment for different things online. Do you think it works or will work well in the future? They wanted to do that in France as well, but found out that it would never work, at least not right now. And that it just wasn't in the French's mentality.
Oops, I know, I'm supposed to write in french. But I typed away in English and was too lazy to start all over again. It's too early in the morning.
Have a good day!
Maud
By Maud H (INT, France) on Tue, 04/10/2001 - 01:59#
Sujet: Temptation Island, Real Life TV
Hi Jennifer!
En fait, je n'aime pas trop ce genre de programme, car je ne vois pas trop le sens. Et je doute un peu de l'authenticité de ces histoires soit disant vraies. Je ne sais pas si ça existe en France, mais j'en ai entendu parler et vu des extrait du modèle américain.
J'ai aussi du mal à croire qu'il s'agisse d'histoires 100% vraies. Il y a peut-être un certain pourcentage effectivement vrai mais le reste est totalement exagéré. Si je dis ça c'est que les histoires me paraissent tellement irréalistes et exagérées. Il est vrai qu'il arrive parfois des choses bizarres aux gens, mais il y a des limites à tout. Et s'ils rajoutent un peu à la vérité, c'est sûrement parce qu'autrement personne ne regarderait. De toute façon, tout ce qui intéresse les gens sont le spectatculaire, les 'special effects', etc. Si c'est réaliste et que ça leur rappelle leur propre vie, ça n'a plus aucun intérêt.
Comme tu dis, il y a souvent des aspects très personnels qui sont étalés et je ne vois pas l'intérêt. Pourquoi les gens iraient-ils raconter leur vie à la télé??? En fait, ces gens me font un peu pitié car, si dévoiler leur vie à la télé est la seule menière de se faire remarquer et entendre, franchement, c'est un peu triste...
En ce moment, il y a le phénomène 'Big Brother' dans plusieurs pays. Il s'agit de 10 personnes qui sont enfermées dans un container pendant 100 jours (je crois, je ne suis pas sûre). Elles ne sont qu'entre elles et n'ont pas le droit d'avoir du contact avec l'extérieur. Elles sont filmées 24/24. Franchement c'est primitif comme tout. Je me demande ce que les gens retirent de ça, pourquoi ils le regardent. En plus c'est ennuyeux. Tu t'imagines un peu passer tes journées à ne rien faire d'intelligent sinon glander et faire des commentaires à la con??? Mais ça bien sûr attire des millions de gens devant le petit écran...
I understand your hesistance about giving out credit card numbers on the net. I recently did a little research on computer security for a paper I had to write. It's amazing how negligent these e-commerce sites are with protecting their customers. Even hacker warnings about system vulnerabilities were ignored. Many credit card fraud cases are not made public because the companies want to protect their businesses. There is currently no law in the US outlining minimum security requirements for internet banking or shopping sites. But maximum customer liability in case of card fraud is limited (by law) to $50. I guess that's why we don't worry too much about card fraud.
I read on www.ifop.com that only about 35% of people aged 15 and over claimed to connect to the internet. That is surprising to me because I thought it was a much bigger deal. Maybe since it has become a part of American culture, I have gotten used to it and have a hard time imagining life without it. It would be hard to believe if people did not use the internet even if they had access to it. That is why I am guessing that those who don't use it do not have easy access.
My question is why is there such a small percentage of French people who use the internet? Does it have to do with not trusting it altogether? I know I used to be a bit skeptical about buying things over the internet for the same reasons as the French students mentioned, but now I find that it is safe. Can you describe of how big and widespread use of the internet is in France in a general sense, not just with percentages? Is it incorporated into everyday life?
En fait, le projet des 35 heures est toujours en cours et n'est pas ncore applicable dans toutes les entreprises.
Il y a eu une première loi en 1998 (appelée loi Aubry, c'était la ministre du travail à l'époque).
En fait si les 35h ont été introduits, c'est aussi pour créer de nouveaux emplois (ça reste à prouver cependant), car si les uns travaillent moins il y a besoin de monde pour le reste du temps.
On a laissé un choix aux entreprises: celles qui voulait tout de suite adopter les 35 h, pouvaient le faire avant janvier 2000. Mais dès février 2000, toutes les entreprises à plus de 20 salariés devaient obligatoirement les adopter.
Jusqu'en 2002, la durée légale est de 39 heures pour les entreprises de moins de 20 salariés, mais elle est de 35 heures pour les entreprises de plus de 20 salariés. Ca vient du fait que les petites entreprises ont plus de mal à basculer d'un système vers l'autre, et comme tu l'as dit, il y a aussi le problème pour eux de bien faire leur boulot en moins de temps et aussi de trouver les gens supplémentaires.
Entre temps il y a eu une loi Aubry II, car certains points n'étaient pas bien réglés dans la première.
Il y a eu notamment pas mal de discussions sur le cas des cadres (ce sont ceux qui ont des salaires élevés, les chefs d'entreprise, etc.).
Ces personnes-là travaillent bien sûr beaucoup plus et les 35 h ne s'appliquent pas de la même façon que pour les autres. Les 35 h s'appliquent dans la mesure où ces personnes auront plus de jours de congés. C'est-à-dire, comme ils travaillent beaucoup plus que les 35h, ils auront droit à des jours de congé supplémentaires. J'espère que c'est clair ce que je raconte, sinon, n'hésite pas à reposer la question!
J'ai une question pour vous:
En fait, ça fait plus de 10 jours qu'il y a les grèves de la SNCF (chemin de fer français) en France, parce que les salariés revendiquent de meilleurs conditions de travail, plus d'argent, etc. J'aimerais savoir s'il y a souvent des grèves aux Etats-Unis? Et si oui, ont-elles un effet positif, est-ce que les salariés sont entendus? Je sais que dans certains pays faire la grève n'est pas pensable (du moins pas si souvent qu'en France), que le patronat n'accepterait jamais, et si les salariés faisaient la grève, ça aurait au contraire des effets encore plus défavorables.
didn't know you could make appointments online! that's pretty interesting. i'm not sure if it'll be popular in the usa though because sometimes it's just easier to call the salon to make an appointment. if it's online, then you can't ask the salon to squeeze you in at a certain time and things like that. i get really frustrated sometimes with online customer service. they usually take forever to respond to any questions and then they don't even answer your question directly. a lot of websites (sprintpcs.com for cell phones) don't even list a phone number on the website for people to call because they expect you to just send an email. for specific questions, i'd much rather call and speak to a real person. while we're on the topic of shopping, i was wondering what do french college students spend money on? and do many of you have part-time jobs to pay for the stuff? i'd say that in the u.s., girls spend most of their money on clothes and shoes. in general among girls and boys, people spend a lot on eating out and music.
Salut Jennifer! Après quelques recherches sur le PACS (pacte de solidarité civile) , je peux peut-être t'aider à y voir plus clair. Le PACS est un contrat qui définit des règles de vie commune. On ne peut pas le faire si on est marié ou déjà "pacsé", ou avec ses proches parents. La loi interdit donc normalement le PACS entre frères et soeurs comme je le croyais, mais j'en ai discuté autour de moi et certains amis connaissent des frères ou soeurs quiont passé un pacs.
Tu as bien compris, le pacs s'adresse à tous mais ceux sont les homosexuels qui en profitent le plus, pour légaliser leur union. Mais ce n'est pas un mariage, qui leur reste interdit encore en France. Des associations homosexuelles se plaignent de cette lacune, surtout que le mariage est possible dans d'autres pays comme les Pays-Bas. 48% des Français, surtout les jeunes, sont d'accord pour le mariage, mais les pouvoirs publics estiment que le PACS est suffisant. Il est vrai que pour 81% des Français, le Pacs a contribué à améliorer la situation des homosexuels du point de vue matériel et de leurs droits.
Le mariage est donc interdit, même si un tiers des maires ont déjà délivré des certificats de vie commune. La question de l'héritage est moins sensible et je pense que cela va être réglé à l'avantage des homosexuels. L'adoption pose plus de problème. Il est bien précisé dans le contrat du pacs que cela ne donne pas le droit aux couples de même sexe d'adopter des enfants. Et 70% des Français sont contre. Les couples de femmes rencontrent moins d'oppositions que les hommes, mais là encore la question n'est pas prête d'être réglée.
Pour ce qui est du shopping sur Internet, j'ai acheté une fois des produits de beauté, mais j'ai payé par chèque. Je regarde surtout les offres de vacances et de voyage, et les nouvelles collection des magasins de vêtement pour ensuite aller acheter dans la boutique. Mais je n'aimerais pas acheter des chaussures ou des vêtement online. Je préfère y aller avec une amie, on rigole beaucoup plus. Pour ce qui est des petits boulots des étudiants, cela sert surtout à payer le loyer ou à les nourrir. Je travaille dans l'association de INT qui fournit aux étudiants des jobs, et la plupart le font parce qu'ils en ont besoin et non pour les loisirs.
Trade Unions ARE an issue in the US. Many people are FORCED to join (or pressured until it becomes harassment) if they work in certain places (supermarkets are a big one, factories are another). Unions often organize massive strikes here (Boeing couldn't build planes for several months while all of its engineers were on strike. Pilots strike at various airlines. There are constantly school districts dealing with teacher strikes.)
The most disturbing thing about unions here is that they will pressure those who are not members and harass businesses who do not hire union workers. Many governments HAVE to hire unions (I'm not really sure why). Specifically, I remember a couple of years ago when an abandoned warehouse in a bad neighborhood got all cleaned up and opened as a nice, new, independent supermarket. It was a startup company and they could not afford to hire union workers. The supermarket unions picketed outside of the doors of the supermarket for 3 months. I do not know if that business ended up pressured into hiring union workers, but surely those three months were economically difficult for the young company.
Teachers' unions are also incredibly powerful. In Pennsylvania, they can strike whenever they want, but they cannot lose pay, and school cannot continue past june 30th, no matter how many days were cancelled during strikes. Many people believe that the PA teachers' union has become too powerful. (They feel the same way about many other unions.)
What are unions like in France? If people don't want to join them (or can't get hired if they do) who organizes the many strikes in France? -Dina
Thanks for your response! I wanted to add some comments to compare the American opinions of the things you mentioned about France.
On the subject of marriage, my understanding is that while about 50% of Americans believe homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle, less than that believe homosexuals should be able to marry (while your poll numbers showed about 50% of France believes homosexuals should be married). I think a lot of Americans are beginning to understand the homosexual lifestyle more and be more accepting of it, yet the understanding has not progressed to an absolute acceptance just yet.
Also, and even more interesting, is that in the US adoption is not nearly as large of a problem for homosexuals (which is completely the opposite of France!). On pure speculation, this may be from an abundance of orphans here who need homes, or a general feeling that children are much better taken care of in a home than in an orphanage and should be given to any homes that are willing to take them, regardless of sexual orientation or race of family. However! I do know that religiously affiliated orphanages or children's homes can be extremely discriminatory against parents who are not affiliated with the organization of their home. I don't have statistics on this as it's a difficult issue to put a number on. But as far as state homes go, I think it's pretty much the general feeling on adoption that children should go to any home where they will clearly be well-provided for.
After reading these forums, I was under the impression that affirmative action does not exist in France. When we were discussing univeristy admission, Pierre (message #37) mentioned that people who come from disadvantaged backgrounds are not given special treatment.
I was therefore surprised to read in this week's issue of The Economist that the grand ecole Sciences Po, a school which I understand is very prestigious, will start next year to use a different admission procedure to admit students from suburban slums. Instead of having to write the terrifying entrance exam, these students will be offered admission based on their high school record and a 45-minute interview.
I was wondering how the INT students feel about this decision. Is this the beginning of a movement in France towards American-style affirmative action and ethnic quotas? How has the French public responded to this idea?
La décision des dirigeants de Sciences Po a fait beaucoup de bruit dans le milieu de l'éducation, et les réactions étaient pour la plupart négatives. Les étudiants de Sciences Po sont contre, et le discours de présentation du projet a été hué et sifflé. Ils trouvent injustes que certains rentrent dans l'école plus facilement pour des raisons financières alors que eux doivent travailler très dur pour réussir. Ils ont l'impression d'être "punis" parce que leur famille est assez aisée et qu'ils n'ont pas eu de problèmes pendant leur enfance.
Le problème est aussi qu'ils ont l'impression qu'on brade le diplôme. Ces étudiants ont la réputation d'être brillants et bosseurs et valent cher sur le marché du travail, et ils ont peur que les entreprises ne valorisent plus autant leur diplôme. Enfin, certains arguent que à la place des étudiants défavorisée, ils auraient honte d'être admis de cette manière (cela sous-entend qu'ils sont moins bons que les autres puisqu'on leur évite l'examen).
Sciences Po a pris cette décision pour améliorer son image et casser sa réputation d'école élitiste (ce qui fait justement sa valeur), mais cela ne sera pas repris de sitôt par d'autres écoles, ou du moins de cette manière, vu les nombreuses réactions négatives.
c'est vrai qu'en france peu de monde est encore connecté à l'Internet même si ce nombre est en forte en croissance. Cela est dû à plusieurs facteurs:
1) Le prix des communications internet est très élevé. Nous n'avons pas de forfait illimité nous permettant de surfer autant que nous voulons. Par exemple si tu te connectes 20 h/mois tu dois payer 100F soit 15$. Combien payez-vous aux Etats Unis?
2) L'ADSL et les réseaux Hauts débits n'ont pas encore fait leurs preuves en France. Par exemple, pour l'adsl, beaucoup de régions françaises n'ont pas les infrastructures nécessaires.
3) Les personnes agées sont plutôt réticentes à surfer sur internet. Ils ont dû mal à se servir d'un ordinateur.. Ca me rappelle le président jacques Chirac n'arrivant pas se servir d'une souris il y a quelques années!!:
Salut à tous les étudiants du MIT et à Allan en particulier,
Sujets evoques : l'affirmative action et Internet
Pour ce qui est de Sciences-Po, il est vrai tout comme l'a expliqué Sophie que c'est l'exception qui confirme la règle. En fait, le système des études supérieures à la française est infiniment codifié et conservateur. Témoin l'accueil plus que frileux qui avait été fait à la réforme Allègre il y a deux ans de cela. En ce domaine aussi nous avons du retard sur les USA, et nous en sommes actuellement à la phase où les jeunes défavorisés ont l'impression que le système n'est pas leur ami et qu'ils ne peuvent compter que sur eux.
A propos d'Internet : je ne suis pas d'accord avec Joël sur deux points. Tout d'abord, les Américains âgés ne sont à mon sens pas plus cyber-dans-le-move que leurs homologues Français (évidemment, la pub AOL avec Luce et Henri est assez catastrophique...). De plus, s'il est vrai que l'Internet illimité par RTC classique fait encore figure d'arlésienne, on tient le bon bout puisque Lionel Jospin est intervenu afin de faire cesser le chantage à la boucle locale de France Telecom (pour plus d'informations je te conseille cet excellent site : www.transfert.net ) . Et le développement du Net en France, notamment par le biais du haut débit qui commence à sérieusement se réveiller, devrait par conséquent s'accélérer.
The way the selection for admission and affirmative action works (at least in MIT) is that:
First, MIT ranks all the students that apply on a scale-- usually based on academics, accomplishments and extracurricular activities.
Second, they admit the ones who may not have extra-curriculars but did something GENIUSLY remarkable, for instance: patented some software which is used by about 3 million people in the world,...
Third, they admit those who are *very* well accomplished both academically and in extra-curriculars.
Fourth, by the time MIT gets to: 1. the students who are *very* well accomplished academically and very well (note the lack of the *...*) accomplished in extra-curriculars OR 2. those who are very well accomplished academically and *very* well accomplished in extra-curriculars, The limit is probably close. Let's say there are 600 students in this category, and MIT can only take 200 more students, the question would be: "which 200?" That's when race and other factors come into play.
My point: Majority of those who are disadvantaged by affirmative action are AT MOST on the same level on the scale as those who benefit. That way, nobody who is admitted is not deserving.
I noticed during the polls that both the Americans and the French are concerned about similar issues. The only real difference I observed (apart from in the number of people who claim concern--France had a smaller percentage) is that the French were also concerned about noise pollution. Americans, in the polls expressed no concern. I wonder why this is the case. What do y'all think?
Discussion
Internet en france : l'explosion
+8 millions en un an, le marché francais en ce domaine se releve être, malgré son retard au départ (merci le minitel), l'un des plus juteux d'europe. Deja 3éme d'europe alors que son taux de decouvrement reste très faible par rapport au tenant du titre : le royaume uni. Les francais netrunners dans l'âme ? je pense plutot que c'est une grosse grosse farce. Non internet ne revolutionnera pas le mode de vie des gens en france. Il simplifiera des procédures plus pénibles, un point c'est tout. Oui bien sur il y aura internet dans chaque foyer de classe moyenne et même dans la rue (surtout grace aux offres a longueurs illimitées). Mais une fois pour toute ce n'est pas un nouveau monde de communication, de liberté, de bonheur, de n'importe quoi (tant que ca fait vendre les publicitaires sont près a tout) qui s'ouvre a nous. Non les gens ne se mettront pas à "chatter" en masse avec leur multiples correspondants étrangers. Et ce pour une bonne raison : avoir une conversation avec une personne en face de soit reste infiniment plus agréable qu'une conversation a distance. Nous vivons dans l'espace. Internet "annule" cette distance ou plutot tend a vouloir nous fournir un service de plus grande qualité que la simple conversation telephonique. Cependant cela reste un artifice en regard du véritable contact humain. Personne n'est dupe sauf les accros a demi ravagés du cerveau et consumés de complexes : Internet ne créera qu'une possibilité supplémentaire pour permettre au prochain siecle d'être un peu plus ce que furent tous les siecles passés : un bon vieux siècle de consommation. Ce qu'il y a de bien avec internet c'est qu'on va pouvoir faire des sous en polluant moins qu'en exploitant une mine de charbon. Les spéculations et les angoisses de l'auteur quand a la révolution des moeurs via internet (le nouveau diable moderne) sont la preuve que ce soir la il avait vraiment autre chose a faire que de rédiger un article sur internet. Tout cela sent le réchauffé...
Je suis vraiment désolé car je crainds fort de ne pas pouvoir apporter mon point de vue sur les sondages. En tout cas il y a une comparaison à faire: les sites des instituts de sondages sont aussi mal fait en France et aux USA. Franchement il faut avouer que de nombreux thèmes sont abordés : politique, économie, société... D'ailleurs il est intéressant de constater que ces thèmes sont les mêmes des deux côtés de l'atlantique. Mais les sujets abordés dans ces thèmes sont si nombreux et si mals répertoriés qu'il est difficile de trouver précisément celui que nous recherchons. En fait les instituts de sondages nous montrent qu'une seule chose au travers de leur site : l'esprit humain est si complet et puissant qu'il fini par devenir un vrai brouillon.
bonjour a tous
Je voudrais parler dans ce message du probleme des jeunes et du racisme.
Je voudrais d'abord dire que j'ai étudié seulement les données fournis, du coté francais par www.sofres.fr et du coté américain par www.gallop.com.
D'abord,le simple fait que sur Sofres il y a un sondage entier sur le racisme montre que de ce coté de l'Atlantique, on se sent plus concernés par ce problème. Dans le site gallop.com, il faut chercher dans d'autres types de sondages pour voir une allusion au problème.
Et les réponses que j'ai vues confirment ce point de vue. 61 % des jeunes disent que le racisme est un plutot répandue . Ainsi, le racisme est un facteur essentiel dans la recherche d'un travail (82 % des répones). Et les jeunes d'origine étrangère sont controlés plus souvent que les autres jeunes selon 70% des personnes ...
Je pensais auparavant qu'aux Etats-Unis le racisme peut etre un probleme important puisque comme chacun sait,ce pays est comme la France un pays d'immigration. Les réponses fournies m'ont laissées un peu perplexes: le racisme est un des problèmes les plus importants pour seulement 3% des gens là-bas, avant le manque de ressources énéergetiques par exemple . Je n'aurais jamais imaginé trouver une réponse comme celle-là. En comparant avec la France, il y a vraiment un décalage.
Quoi dire?
Soit les Francais se sentent plus concérnés, puisque pour 60% des jeunes les gens d'origine différente se mélangeront dans une seule communauté dans une vingtaine d'années soit il y a beaucoup plus de racisme en France.
J'ai donc une question:
Comment est réalisé l'intégration aux Etats-Unis? Est -ce que le racisme vous parait important aux Etats-Uniis? ou est-ce que chacun évite au maximum les relations avec les personnes de communautés diférentes et prend contact seulement quand ils sont forcés?
J'aimerais avoir votre opinion là-dessus, au niveau quotidien.
H
Salut!
There was a poll taken about the Euro and how it affected people's lives. I personally think that having the Euro replace other currency is a bad idea. I like the fact that going to a different country requires usinf different money. It contributes to the experience of a country. The poll said that there was a good split, about half half, of people who said the Euro made life more difficult for them or not. That shows that changing to the Euro was not in the interest or benefit of all the people. What are your opinions on the Euro??
Hi everyone,
I was reading one of the polls that talks about the election of the US President and how the legitimacy of his presidency has come into question. I just wanted to ask the French what do you think about the entire election problem we had. How the ballots were counted again and again in Florida and how a person that did not get the majority of votes is actually now in control of the country. What would have happened if this had occurred in France? What are your reactions?
Bonjour. Heri, to answer your question about racism, I can't really speak for the majority of Americans, since my background is a bit strange. My father came to the US from Pakistan, and my mother's family is from Puerto Rico. I don't see racism as a problem in large part because I've never experienced it. My father was in the US Air Force for many years, and I'velived in many different places in the US, and I have never had anyone treat me any differently because of my ethnic background. While racism is horrible, i think few people are concerned about it because it's not a big part of the average person's daily life. My question to the INT students is about the prevalence of internet access in France. In the US, there is often a huge difference between how many homes in the suburbs have internet access as compared to homes in inner cities. Someone who is in a minority ethnic gorup here is usually less likely to have a computer or internet conneciton. According to www.canalipsos.com, the number of people with internet access in France is growing rapidly, and I am curious ot know whether there is a similar phenomenon in France.
Subject: racism (in response to Henri, message #3)
As Benazeer mentioned, I would agree that on a daily basis we do not encounter racism, and that it is far less prevalent here than it was several years ago. It does, however, exist in the U.S. and is in my opinion still a problem here. Perhaps not in larger cities like Boston, but certainly in more rural areas of the U.S. I'm originally from the Midwest where racial intolerance is more common. There were many students at my high school who had transferred from a nearby public school, attended almost exclusively by wealthy Caucasians, because of the racism they encountered there. And while my high school was comparatively diverse, there was still some racial tension within the student body. I was wondering if there is this difference in acceptance of different races between urban and rural areas of France as well?
A more discrete way in which racism manifests itself in the U.S. is through our heated debates over affirmative action. In a case that will soon go to the Supreme Court, two white students filed a lawsuit against the University of Michigan Law School, attesting that they were denied admission because of the admission board's racial quotas for minority students. In my high school there were many white students who felt a great deal of resentment because there weren't any racial quotas for them. Is there such a thing as Affirmative Action in France? or any mention of racial quotas in the admission of students to universities?
thanks, Allison
Subject: racism in the US
Bonjour à tous!
I have to agree with Allison. I was born here but am ethnically 100% Vietnamese. In the university settings and in my field (biology research) I feel pretty isolated from racism, but I still deal with its subtler forms when I go to the grocery store, take the subway, etcetera... yes, even in Boston.
I don't encounter it every day, and usually when I do, it's just in the form of a strange, unfriendly look, gesture, or comment. When I was in high school, it was worse. There were many minorities in our school, and each group was very separated from the other. There was a lot of ungrounded animosity between each racial group.
Whenever some of my Vietnamese friends in high school spoke Vietnamese to each other in the hallways at my high school, a bunch of American students would walk by and sneer and say, "Speak American, you _____" (expletive left out). (It is interesting that they don't even know that they speak English, not "American."
Once when I had received a good grade for an essay in English class, some American students complained to the teacher and accused me of cheating, saying I probably got help from my parents at home. This made absolutely no sense (my parents are not native speakers of English but I am, so I would not ask them to write my English essays for me). Without any reason or evidence, the teacher asked me to do all of my work for the next essay in class and in front of him, while everyone else was allowed to continue working on their essays at home, as normal.
I'm sorry for the long posting. I just want to make it clear that racism is still a problem here in America, and not just in small towns. The things I've experienced are very insignificant compared to the things my parents and others have encountered.
I don't feel at all that America is a big melting pot. It is a big pot of things that don't blend together or mix very well. Ethnic groups tend to stay isolated and have their own communities. For a place that is supposed to be so welcoming to people of all walks of life, it is so concerned with the ethnic makeup of its populace.
Since grade school I have had to fill out forms again and again and mark "Asian" on the ethnicity section. My European friend commented to me the other day that all his life he has never been asked or made to think about what ethnicity he was, until he had to fill out a form here in America and he marked "Caucasian." I don't feel like I'll ever be treated 100% like an "American."
I hope I didn't depress anyone.
Suzanne
subject: influence of American culture on French cinema
In a survey of the influence of American culture on France 57% of the French people polled thought that there was an "excessive" influence on French cinema. I'm not sure what age group was polled here, but would you say that this holds true for college students as well? Do most people prefer American movies over French movies? If this is true, do French directors try to imitate the style of American movies? Are there any other countries that make films which are popular in France?
Foreign films really aren't too popular here. People joke that it's because we don't like to have to read when we go to the movies, but I think that might actually be true. I think foreign movies get a bad rap here because they're considered "art films" which have a reputation for being weird and difficult to understand. As a result they aren't very widely distributed in theaters, which makes it difficult for Americans to watch foreign movies even if they really want to. Of the foreign movies that make it into the states, I would say that recently Spanish movies are the most popular. A lot of Alomdovar's movies (All About My Mother, Women on the Verge of Nervous Breakdown) have done pretty well here. Is he popular in France as well?
Subject: Doctors
Hi INT Students:
I read an article at www.Sofres.fr on what the French think of doctors. I just wanted to comment that the results of this poll are consistent with what I believe Americans think of doctors: A good doctor is one who is trustworthy (able to keep a patient's privacy) as well as heal, of course. Madame Levet (our French teacher) showed us a copy of old responses by INT students to "Un Bon Médecin..." In this old questionnaire, a couple of French students wrote that a good doctor is one who doesn't like money. The article says that 71% of the French believe that the price of consultation is justified and 12% said it wasn't high enough!
Gary
Dear INT Students,
I was wondering about your opinions on the topic of gay couples raising children and gay marriage. It seems that in both France and America the majorities are against gay marriage and child rearing, but that majority is smaller in France.
How do you feel about this? I read a French poll that claimed that 38% of French people believed that a gay couple could raise a child as well as a heterosexual couple, while the rest did not agree.
I also read another poll stating that 47% of French adults believed that fidelity between partners in a marriage was most important to a successful family. This precentage was higher than that for love, which came in second at 37%. For French adults, most prefered the choice of marriage (66%) over not marrying. Please feel free to comment on these polls. I am curious to know if you feel this way, as well.
Yet another poll that I read claimed that 9 in 10 Americans believe that adultery is terrible for the family. I suppose this is similar to the French poll response: fidelity between partners. I did notice, however, that more Americans were concerned with violence on television than with divorce, or child care. America has a very high divorce rate. I am wondering if this is similar in France. I noticed that parental leave time from employment is much higher in France than in America. I do wish that America had similar values. I believe parents should spend a great deal of time with their children.
-Ashley
Subject:Data Sites (reply to Arnaud)
I really must strongly agree with Arnaud on the difficulty of using the statistical web sites. In particular, I have found that other than INSEE, the French sites are particularly useless for finding information, both by being badly organized and by not working properly. I thought my browser was not working properly, but I tried on different computers, and any time that I submit a search to quid, it returns a completely blank white page. Perhaps it is improper to voice my annoyance on this forum, but I am wondering if other students are having this problem as well? And also, if there are particularly good links to look at, I would love some helpful hints on places to look.
Thanks~ Jen
Subject: sexual orientation I have found some extremely interesting data on family life(I found much more data on the French poll/opinion sites than the statistic/data sites =) ). The area in particular that I was able to find somewhat comparative data for both France and the US is on homosexuality vs. heterosexuality. According to IFOP: 38% of the French public believe that a child can grow up equally successfully and healthily with both heterosexual and homosexual parents; 58% believe that a child will
not
be brought up in the same way with homosexual parents. I couldn't find exact data to compare this to in the US, but did find a
similar
piece of information: 33% of the US feels that homosexuality should be
accepted
, while 37% feel that homosexuality should be
discouraged
. Now, I my impression was that France was significantly more liberal in this matter than we are in the US, but this does not appear to be the case. Do the French students feel that there is more acceptance of gays in general in France than there is in the US? I would also be curious to hear the American students' opinions on this matter.
-Jen
Dear INT students,
I found an interesting poll. Out of the things that worry French employees most are first, unemployment and second, racism. 36% of French employees worry about racism while 38% of French employees worry about unemployment. I think these are high percentages. I think you would find similar racism numbers if this survey was conducted in the US. I am not sure, however, what would the unemployment response be during the collapsing economy of today in the US.
I find it interesting that unemployment is a major concern of French people everywhere. I am linking this with the questionaire of "my greatest fears", where many of the French students mentioned unemployment as their greatest fear.
How bad is unemployment at the moment in France? How major is the racism issue in France? Is it as major as you what you might hear about in the US? Do you have the concept of affirmative action where companies or universities asign set percentages of minorities that they have to hire or admit?
Hi
Subject: site for Olympics 2008
I was reading the opinion of the general public about organizing the 2008 Olympics in France. Basically 80% of the population is in favor of organizing the Games, and the majority of those expect economic improvement as a result of hosting it. My question is how much France is really striving for obtaining the right to organize the Games and whether it is also taken into consideration that several of the Olympic Games in the past were not profitable at all.
Thanks,Lilla
Subject: How are trade unions a nuissance to employers in France?
Hi,
I was looking at results from a survey about discrimination in job places. The result showed that older and handicapped people are most likely to be discriminated against during recruitment. 58% for person aged beyond 50; 49% for handicapped.
The interesting obeservation was that 41% would discriminate against persons who belong to the trade union or have the intention of joining one. I don't think trade unions are currently an issue in America.
How effective are trade unions in France? Do most employees find it necessary to join one? Is there a law that specifically prohibits discrimination on grounds of association?
Thanks
Regina
I also wanted to make a note about racism. For some reason as Suzanne was saying, even though the US prides itself as being a melting pot, it goes to great lengths to discriminate between different ethnic groups. I'm from Costa Rica and we have people from multiple ethnic backgrounds over there and people simply don't take ethnicity as such a big issue over here . There are no "what is your ethnicity check boxes". Here in the states however, it's something that you always have to go through
And one more thing, I think it's totally terrible terrible that Suzanne had to write her essay in front of the teacher while the whities were allowed to do it back home. Make sure that teacher knows where you are now!! ;-)
Subject: Television programs : Temptation Island
Hi,
I just came across an intersting survey about the reaction of French people to a program like Temptation Island. The program is on the American television network. I don't think it's very popular (I've heard only one person mention it). Anyway, 4 couples and 26 singles (men and women) are put on an (isolated) island for 2 weeks. I haven't watched it before but I think there's a lot of nudity. The idea is to see whether the couples will be able to resist the temptation to cheat on their partners.
I was surprised that 53% of french people didn't find this program controversial. In particular, 63% of people under 25 don't think it's controversial. I've always thought of France to be highly protective of its culture.
Are there similar programs on the French television networks? What is the greatest threat (if any) that this program will cause if shown in France? Who (mothers, schools, religious groups, private groups etc) is most likely to protest? Thanks
Regina
Reply to: TV programs: Temptation Island
Because I am absolutely fascinated by the phenomenon of "real-life" TV, I'd like to add to Regina's comments. First I'd like to help clear up a little about the program, there is _no_ nudity on the American version as it is aired on Network tv. Any (very small amount, I might add) nudity that does happen is censored. That is not to say the bikinis and general amount of clothing is not very little, but the show is not explicit in that manner. I would guess that the French version uses the same footage?
It does however, deal with aspects of relationships that are considered by many Americans to be quite personal. Most middle-aged people and older that I know are also apalled by the show here in America, as it appeals to a younger, more liberal (and open) crowd.
In addition to answering Regina's questions, I'd also like to inquire the French students on their opinions of the phenonmenon of shows like "Survivor" and "Boot Camp" (Boot camp is coming out next season, I believe) where people audition to be on the show, and their entire lives are videotaped for the time they are on the show?
-Jen
Subject: Cancer
Hi everyone,
I was reading polls about which health problems people fear the most. AIDS (le SIDA) and cancer were both very high on the list for both the French and the Americans, however the most popular response from the French side was cancer (60% vs 30% for the Americans).
I was wondering if you might be able to shed light on why cancer is so prevalent a fear in France. Is the incidence of cancer really really high? Also do you think the fact that more people smoke in France contributes to the awareness of cancer as a life threat?
My personal feeling is, although I am not sure, cancer cases are probably more common than incidences of HIV infection, but in the US AIDS gets a lot more publicity than many other diseases that affect more people (Hepatitis B) so AIDS ends up getting as much attention as cancer in the US, maybe even more.
This is true in terms of funding for biology research. A lot of biology research here in the US is funded by our National Institutes of Health, a government agency that is subject to public pressures. So, it is easier to get a research project funded on a disease the public thinks is more threatening than on a less well publicized disease that affects more people. Awareness and publicity are golden.
(In case you can't tell I'm a biologist, so I find these questions interesting.)
Suzanne
Internet usage:
From what I read in Sofres, Frech people want to have access to the internet but have trouble doing so. I understood that the cost of an ISP is very high. I have some questions for the French about this. Do a lot of people have computers in France? Do your schools have internet access? How important would you concider computers to be in France?
carlos
Subject: la vache folle /mad cow disease
Hi everyone,
I asked during our teleconference about the consumption of beef, because I was curious about how the outbreak was affecting one's behavior in Europe. In the French opinion polls a vast majority (70%) of those polled were very concerned about the disease, but the majority (about 50%) also said they were not changing their eating habits.
1) Is beef a large part of the French diet? Would cutting down on beef consumption be difficult for the average person? (I know in Germany beef is typically the #1 consumed food product, but since the outbreak beef consumption has gone down dramatically.)
I also noticed that among the diseases the French feared the most, Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (the human form of nad cow disease) and meningitis garnered a significant percentage of the responses (about 20% each), not at all concerns for the average American. I don't think most Americans are aware of Creutzfeld Jakob disease.
2) I was wondering if the awareness of this disease in France is due mostly to the recent outbreak of mad cow disease, or if people in France are more aware of it for some other reason.
Thanks.
Suzanne
vacations --
hi.
it seems to me that the French really value their vacations. Most of the French either want to simply be with their family and spend time with them, or visit new places or both. Many also want to just relax and get a tan. It's interesting how most of the French (as the polls suggest) would want to spend their vacations by the water, like beaches and stuff like that. Americans tend to favor the same thing. The polls show that most of them would want to spend their vacation in Hawaii.
Subject : Presidential Candidates
Hi ! i was looking at polls regarding the presidential race in 2002. Are the only two candidates running Chirac and Juspin ? Or is it that the other candidates are small that no one bothers trying to get information about them ? Are there only two main political parties in France ? Have there ever been many candidates from neither party that has won an election ?
topic: automobiles and air pollution
in a poll of young people and cars, 98% (which is a very large percentage!!!) said that air pollution is a serious problem, but that the solution is not to forbid cars in cities. how is pollution noticable in france? and what are measures that have been taken to fix the problem? here in the us, i don't think people think of pollution as such a big problem as in france, though we probably should be more award of it.
Racism.
I think the results posted on those polls must be taken with a grain of salt. I would agree with Arnaud that they are not that reliable, we don't know from what ethnicity is the people who participated, from what state, etc.
For me, the first evidence that there's still racism in this country, is the whole story about the quotas in schools...why let somebody in because they have to have a certain amount of chinese, latins, etc? If what really matters is your skills and intelligence, people in admissions should be looking only at the results, and not the box you checked. Probably discrimination is not as explicit as it was when black people had to sit back in the buses, but it still exist under the umbrella of "political correctness".
And in terms of culture assimilation, right now I am so infuriated with an event that happened in my school, that I could only say that is not happening at all: we hold cultural parties weekly in the school of managemente, and this week's turn was Brazil. Every year we have samba dancers coming, and it's part of the objective of showing the culture in that country, just as it is the food that is served, and some other attractions. Some people complained about the dancers wearing the traditional bikini, and there was a whole debate around this issue. Finally the dance was cancelled. For me is really insulting, that some people can't see the dance as what it is: an art and a part of the folklore of the country, but they see it with their biased eyes and with their own tabues.
A question for the INT students: when the french say that they sense that there is discrimination looking for a job, what do you think they base this perception on? Could it be an auto-bias?
Carolina
topic: having a child
these are the 2 polls that i found interesting: are out of wed-lock births morally acceptable? US 47%no, 50%yes FR 8% no, 91%yes is having a child necessary in order for your life to be fulfilled? US 51%no, 46%yes FR 26%no, 73%yes
it's possible to relate the results of these 2 polls. it seems that because the french value children in their lives so much, that it doesn't matter whether the child is born within or without a marriage. do you guys know many people who have parents who never married? i personally don't know of any. i think in the US out-of-wedlock births are usually associated with teenage moms and that's definitely a negative association. besides those, you hear about many hollywood couples not marrying but having kids. however, many things that happen in hollywood don't happen in "real" life. also, i was wondering why do the french think that one must have a child sometime in his/her life in order for it to be fulfilled?
christine
sujet: les médecins,
Bonjour à tous! Rassurez-vous, je ne suis pas la seule survivante d'une catastrophe qui a décimée toute la population de l'INT! IL semble que la plupart des étudiants ont pris des vacances anticipées!
Je vais essayer de répondre à quelques questions, en y intégrant des thèmes qui ont été aussi évqués sur le forum statistiques. Tout d'abord, les médecins et la santé en général en France. On estime que notre système est satisfaisant, et les médecins ont bonne réputation. Je voudrais dire à Allan qu'il est dommage qu'il ne voit cela que d'un point de vue économique. On parle ici de la santé et de la vie des gens, pas d'un éventuel gaspillage de ressources. Tout d'abord, il n'y a jamais eu en France de morts dans les hopitaux faute de soins ou de personnel. Les contrôle sont très stricts et en cas de moindre doute, il y a une enquête. Ensuite, les gens n'abusent pas du système de couverture médicale. On ne va pas chez le médecin pour un simple rhume car d'abord on sait que son temps est précieux et qu'il a surement des cas plus urgents, et ensuite car les pharmacies sont là pour ça. Les pharmaciens sont très compétents, et savent écouter les gens, tous en ayant de bonnes notions de biologie. Donc en cas de problème bénin, ils peuvent conseiller des médicaments sans ordonnance. Les impôts sont peut-être élevés, mais sur ce point (je ne parle pas des indemnités chômage) personne ne se plaint. Il y a toujours un médecin de garde la nuit et le dimanche, qui se déplace à domicile même à trois heures du matin, sans que le malade ait à débourser. Il y a de même des pharmacies de garde, ce qui fait qu'on peut se procurer des médicaments à n'importe quel moment. Comme l'a fait remarquer Gary, l'argent en France ne doit pas interferer avec la santé, et ce n'est pas parce qu'on est pauvre qu'on a droit à de moins bon soins.
A bientôt, Sophie
sujet: l'homosexualité
Salut, Je vais aborder un thème évoqué par Jennifer et Ashley, l'homosexualité. Les Français sont plutôt tolérants, comme le montre les sondages. Des manifestation comme la Gay Pride à Paris (des défilés de chars décorés avec de la musique techno, comme la Love Parade de Berlin)sont très populaires surtout auprès des jeunes. Pour ce qui est du mariage, on adopte plutôt le PACS en France, c'est un contrat qui relie deux personnes et leur fait profiter d'avantages fiscaux et financiers. Des frères et soeurs peuvent passer un pacs, il n'y a pas de connotation sexuelle. Mais cela donne par exemple droit à des réductions pour les transports en commun. Les homosexuels désirant bénéficier d'avantages, ou tout simplement se faire reconnaitre comme couple passent un PACS. Mais la législation est incomplète en cas de décès d'un des partenaires. L'autre n'a pas de droit sur son héritage, même s'ils ont passé leur vie ensemble. 75% des Français ne trouvent pas cela normal.
Un tiers des français pensent que les homosexuels peuvent adopter un enfant. je suis pour aussi, il y a beaucoup d'enfants qui sont élevés uniquement par leur mère ou leur père sans que cela choque. Le seul problème serait de préparer l'enfant aux questions et remarques de ses amis, mais je n'y voit rien de répréensible.
Enfin, je voulait parler de la façon dont on voit l'homosexualité à l'INT. Nous avons une association "gay friendly" qui organise des sortieset qui parfois rappelle les élèves à l'ordre quand lors de discutions sur les forums de l'école, ils utilisent l'homosexualité comme une injure. Certains couples ne se cachent pas lors des soirées, d'autres se font plus discrets, mais les élèves ne les mettent pas à l'écart pour ça.
A la prochaine, Sophie
Hi dear MIT students! Tout d'aord j'aimerais vous dire que j'ai beaucoup aimé vous parler et enfin vous voir pendant la visioconférence.
Sinon j'aimerais répondre par rapport à la question sur Internet. Ici à l'INT, en tant qu'école spécialisée dans les télécommunications;), nous avons tous accès au réseau de nos chambres. De plus c'est gratuit!!! La plupart des étudiants en profitent et ont un ordinateur dans leur chambre. Mais nous avons également des salles infos, ouvertes 24/7 avec accès à Internet. Je pense que le phénomène Internet n'est pas encore autant répondu qu'aux Etats-Unis. Les gens sont encore réticents par rapport à certains aspects. Ainsi, le commerce électronique ne marche pas du tout en France. Les gens ont surtout peur de donner leur données personnels et leur numéro de carte de crédit sur Internet. Mais Internet est beacoup utilisé pour s'informer. Souvent les gens s'informent sur un produit sur Internet avant de l'acheter dans un magasin. Beaucoup de magasins en profitent et les sites qu'ils proposent ne sont donc pas (ou souvent pas) des sites de commerce électronique mais de promotion de leur magasin 'réel'. Pour ce qui est du coût, je pense que l'évolution est vers une réduction maximale de ceux-ci. On rêve encore de l'Internet gratuit ou presque comme aux Etats-Unis. Les abonnements dépendent des différents 'providers'. Pour ce qui est du choix du débit, l'ADSL reste très cher et la plupart des gens se contentent d'un modem qui rame de temps en temps.
J'ai aussi quelques questions à propos d'Internet. Est-ce que vous considérer que vous êtes surchargés d'informations ou trouvez vous qu'elles sont utiles? Pensez-vous qu'avec Internet on tend à négliger les amis, la famille par le fait de passer beaucoup de temps 'online'. Durant la visioconférence, on vait un peu parler de ça. Mais pensez-vous qu'il est possible d'avoir de vrais amis sur Internet, des personnes que l'on n'a jamais vues? A +! Maud
Hi again!
Sujet: EURO
Il est vrai que par le fait d'abandonner leur monnaie nationale, les différentes nations de l'union européenne abandonnent une partie de leur souveraineté, une partie de ce qui est propre à chacun d'eux et qui les représente et leur permet de se différencier des autres. Mais en donnant leur 'oui' à l'UE, ils se sont dits d'accord de faire partie d'une entité plus grande, d'un ensemble de plusieurs pays qui permet entre autre la libre circulation des hommes, des biens, des capitaux. Cela apporte beaucoup d'avantages. Ainsi un Européen a par exemple le droit de travailler dans n'importe quel autre pays de l'UE sans les nombreuses démarches administratives. Les déplacements d'un pays à l'autre sont vraiment faciliter. Ainsi nous n'avons pas besoin de passport au sein de l'union, mais simplement de la carte d'identité. J'admets que moi aussi j'aimais bien découvrir la monnaie d'un pays que je visitais et garder une pièce en tant que souvenir. Mais une monnaie unique apporte également de nombruex avantages. Ainsi la comparaison des prix des biens dans les différents pays deviendra beaucoup plus facile (ainsi on aura par exemple, si on est proche d'une frontière tendance à acheter un bien dans le pays où le prix est plus bas). A long terme les différences de prix devront être éliminées. Je pense qu'au niveau des salaires dans les différents pays de l'union, les différences devraient aussi diminuées, car on montrera rapidement du doigt ceux qui divergent trop de la moyenne générale. Mais tout dépend bien sûr du niveau de développement du pays. Dans quelques mois l'EURO va être introduit et je me demande comment tout cela va se passer. Dernièrement on n'en parle plus trop et je pense que la plupart des gens ne se rendent pas vraiment compte que bientôt ils devront abandonner le franc. Au début, ça va être un peu la galère, je suppose. On va tous se ballader avec nos calculettes afin de calculer ce que ça vaut en francs, etc. Mais je crois que ceux qui auront le plus de mal seront les personnes vieilles. Les jeunes devraient s'habituer plus rapidement. Mais on verra bien. Maud
Coucou, c'est encore moi!!!
Sujet: avortement
J'ai trouvé un sondage qui a été fait sur l'avortement et il paraît que les opinions 'pro-choice'/'pro-life' sont 46%/48%. Aucune des deux opinions ne domine réellement. J'ai vu des reportages ou des films sur le thème de l'avortement et il paraissait qu'il existe un grand débat à propos de ce sujet aux Etats-Unis. Est-ce toujours vrai aujourd'hui? Est-ce que cela arrive encore que des opposants défilent devant les hôpitaux et dénoncent les médecins qui sont pour le pro-choice? Est-ce que vous pensez qu'il est trop facile d'avorter un enfant aux E-U? Si oui, est-ce que cela entraîne une certaine négligence, un manque de responsabilité de la part des gens (femmes et hommes, les bébés ça se fait à deux, et ce n'est donc pas à la femme de prendre la décision toute seule), car ils vont ce dire, si jamais je suis enceinte je peux avorter facilement et sans trop de problèmes? Ou ont ils des scrupules moraux et sont conscients qu'un avortement est quelque part un meurtre? Pensez-vous que la plupart des avortements sont faits pour des raisons acceptables, p.ex.: trop jeune, pas d'argent, etc.? Et pensez-vous que la plupart des femmes avorteront même si c'était illégal? Merci de répondre. Maud
Hi again!
Je suis allée sur le site de 'Gallup' et j'ai trouvé un sondage sur les langues. J'avais aussi posé la questions du nombre de langues que vous parlez lors de la visioconférence.
En fait, d'après le sondage 1/4 des Américains parlent une deuxième langue, principalement l'Espagnol. Et 43% de ces personnes ont entre 18 et 29 ans. Est-ce donc vrai que la plupart parle bien une deuxième langue?
D'autre part 3/4 des Américains souhaitent que les immigrants parlent Anglais. Pensez-vous également que c'est nécessaire? Est-ce que les administrations prévoient des employés qui peuvent s'exprimer en plusieurs langues pour communiquer avec les immigrants ne parlant pas Anglais? Est-ce que d'autres mesures sont prises pour ceux qui ne parlent pas Anglais, par ex.: lettres administratives en deux langues, etc?
Merci!
A+!
Maud
Hi!
Sujet: Internet
Je ne connais pas de chiffres exacts sur le nombre d'ordinateurs par ménage. Mais il y a eu une véritable explosion du nombre. Je pense qu'il y a un ordi dans presque chaque maison, même si la famille n'est pas très riche. Je dirais que l'ordi n'est plus un objet qui sert à différencier les aisés des moins riches (les différences se feront au niveau de la puissance des différents ordis). Cela devient plutôy une nécessité avec l'utilisation accrue d'Internet (à l'école aussi) et des e-mails.
Maud
Hi!
Sujet: Pollution
Il y a un gros problème de pollution à Paris. Elle est mesurée régulièrement et si le taux dépasse une certaine limite, on fait un appel comme quoi il faut laisser la voiture dans les garages pendant une journée (les stationnements sont alors souvent gratuits pour ce jour-là) et prendre les transports en commun. Mais honnêtement, je ne vois pas trop l'utilité de ceci. Car interdire aux voitures de circuler pendant une journée ne réglera pas les problèmes de pollution...
Maud
Salut à tous les étudiants du MIT !!!
Je voudrais répondre à propos de quelques-uns des problèmes que vous avez soulevés. Tout d'abord, le racisme. Chez nous aussi cela existe, et l'actualité nous en donne régulièrement des preuves. Il y a des mairies Front National (le parti d'extrême-droite) dans le Sud de la France, et les jeunes noirs et maghrébins se font souvent refouler "au faciès" à l'entrée des boîtes de nuit. En France il n'y a pas d'affirmative action, et les jeunes doivent s'en sortir uniquement grâce à leurs capacités, même si on leur met des bâtons dans les roues. Mais en matière de racisme les Français sont un peuple relativement dur à saisir, puisqu'on notera que depuis la coupe du monde un Zinedine Zidane est devenu une icône nationale, et que lorsque des réfugiés kurdes arrivent par bâteau sur les côtes du Sud, là où l'on vote beaucoup pour l'extrême droite, la mobilisation en faveur de ces boat people est massive.
Pour ce qui est de la pollution : je rejoins ce que vous a dit Maud, Paris est une ville très polluée, car durant des années il y a été mené une politique du "tout au bureau" et "tout à la bagnole". Les gens s'en rendent bien compte mais au final peu de mesures réellement satisfaisantes sont prises, on se contente de mesurer les taux de polluants dans l'air.
Pour les présidents : Chirac et Jospin sont les candidats les plus sérieux, mais il en existe bien d'autres des autres partis. Simplement, l'élection se fait en deux tours, et les sondages actuels sont tels que tout le monde pense qu'au deuxième tour, seuls subsisteront l'actuel Premier Ministre et le Président de la République.
Voilà , my 2 cents
-- Clad
Subject: foreign languages in America
Dear Maud,
The statistics you found sound about right. My guess is the people who fluently speak a second language other than English probably speak that language fluently because it was their native language. (That is, they or their parents came from elsewhere and they learned it in their families.)
Although the USA still does not have an official language (to my knowledge) I personally feel that one should learn English if one lives in the U.S..
A lot of offices that deal with social services and with immigrants usually have interpreters. In addition, there are bilingual programs in high schools and etcetera. Students whose native language is not English may take "English as a Second Language." Teachers and teaching assistants in such programs often speak the native language of the students in such classes. The goal of such programs though is to enable the students to learn English quickly, not to make it possible for them to get by in school without learning English.
I know a lot of people here who manage to get by without learning English. It's possible because there are a lot of closely knit ethnic communities (for example, the Vietnamese communities). I think it's sad though because it seems to me they are missing out on opportunities and interactions with the rest of the American society.
Suzanne
Subject: Zinedine Zidane
Dear Pierre,
Just a silly comment: I was watching the European Championship final game (France vs. Italy) last year in a bar. There were a few French guys at a table next to me, and I really couldn't hear anything other than "Zidane!" and the French guys pounding the table over and over throughout the game. He really is a favorite!
Suzanne
topic: internet
in response to maud's questions in #31-- with the explosion of the internet, i think many students are encouraged to look up information for school papers and projects using search engines. personally, i found looking on the internet a waste of time. i would have to look through so many sites just to find a bit of information that i could possible use. so even though there's a lot of information on the internet, it's not always practical to use. i still prefer going to a library and browsing through reliable books. I wouldn't say that with the internet people tend to neglect their friends and family but I think that it definitely makes an impact on the amount of homework you get done. Many of my friends and I can't do work at our desk because we would be too busy surfing the web, shopping online, downloading music or chatting with friends.
Sujet: Internet
Hi Christina!
Je suis d'accord que souvent rechercher de l'info sur Internet est une perte de temps. J'ai souvent mis beaucoup de temps à rechercher des infos pour un devoir, convaincue que j'allais trouver quelque chose d'utile, mais à la fin le temps avait passé, mais je n'avais toujours pas grand chose devant moi.
Ici je trouve qu'on est pas mal incité à passer notre temps devant l'ordi, en général. Il faut tout faire sur ordi, les infos utiles ne font circuler que par mail. Si tu ne consultes pas ta boîte régulièrement tu te retrouves avec un nombre immense de mails et tu peux être sûr d'avoir raté un truc important ou du moins utile. Il y a aussi des supports de cours en ligne, des exercices. Ceci n'est pas mauvais, mais je n'aime pas lire trop sur ordi. Un prof p.ex. nous a mis son cours de 200 pages en lignes et il fallait absolument tout imprimé car lire 200 pages sur un écran, ce n'est pas évident, du moins pour moi.
Sinon, c'est vrai que maintenant souvent pour la moindre info qu'on cherche (pas forcément scolaire) on se tourne vers Internet. Parfois c'est bon, parfois on ne fait que perdre son temps.
ICQ: Je l'ai arrêté il y a quelque temps pour des raisons déjà mentionnées. Je connais des gens qui passent des nuits entières sur icq à parler avec d'autres... Je pense que ça ne vaut pas le coup d'un commentaire.
Tu as aussi parlé du 'shopping' sur Internet. Est-ce que vous achetez souvent sur Internet? Et si oui, quels produits? Des livres, CDs, ...?
A bientôt!
Maud
42
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RE: #30 sujet: l'homosexualité
This is a bit off-topic, but I found it a bit funny that you mentioned Berlin's Love Parade. I was reading a story about how this year the parade may not happen because environmentalists who regularly protest the parade (because of the litter) reserved the park before the parade organizers could. Speaking in broad terms, this story represents Germany well, with very vocal left and right extremist groups. Could the same be said for France?
Also, what is the political party system like in France? In the US, there are only 2 strong parties. Is this the case in France as well, or are there more (like Greenpeace Party, or is that just Germany)?
Tyler
Sports
Suzanne's post on "Zizu" reminded me that we haven't talked sports here really... My thoughts are on the Tour de France.
What is the French opinion of Lance Armstrong? The Tour almost never gets covered here (except back in the Greg LeMond days), but Lance's two victories after beating cancer is one of the best American sports stories in the past few years, and has been highly publicized. Does the French public hold him in the same regard, or has the continuing drug scandal surrounding him darkened his image?
I'd really like to know if there are any cyclists out there at INT, and what you think about our boy... I can't wait to watch him make it 3 straight this summer!
Tyler
Pollution
Hello,
I was recently in Paris, and it didn't see so polluted to me, but I trust more the people who lives there. One thing that captured my attention was the boom of the smart cars, which tells me that at least French people are doing something that...is that the way is regarded in Paris?
Maud, you are right about the day of stop not solving much of the problem...it was implemented once in Venezuela, and the remedy was worse than the illness because people bought a second car for that day, increasing the consumption of gas and therefore pollution. In the other hand, as you said, good public transportation makes a better work at it, and I have to say that I was delighted by the subway in Paris, it looks so modern!! or was it just my impression?
A bientot
Carolina
Hello INT students,
I found a poll on the movement to give all French people a 35-hour work week. At first I thought that all French people already worked 35 hours a week, but I found from the poll that the movement is only now progressing. Are French people in general in favor of this change? In America, I think that people would say they were in favor, but they would still keep working their long hours and long weeks. Here in America, as it's been discussed in previous forums, people are very focused on money and success. If everyone only worked 35 hours a week, then people would have a harder time getting ahead. Often, the most successful business people are those who work 10 or 12 hour days. That's not to say that long days and work weeks are good for a person's health or well-being, but it's interesting to see the difference in values between working Americans and French.
A question for the French students. Would you be willing to work shorter hours and have less money if it meant that you could spend more time with your family? In America, it seems that people would choose to give their children extra money instead of extra time, and it doesn't seem to be helping the children one bit.
Sujet: Internet
I'd like to contribute to the discussion on Internet. I don't trust information on the internet unless it's from well-known sources like the New York Times, IEEE etc. But sometimes even reading bogus essays gives me a better idea of what people think about the subject I have to write about. But I still trust books with ISBN's more because the information is more credible (it must be approved by some well-known professionals in the field before it's published).
Another interesting observation is that (at least here in the US) people have a higher tendency to believe ridiculous stories on the internet (or by email) than by word of mouth. It's as if being published on the internet adds to the stories' credibility.
In response to Maud's question about shoppoing on the internet, I do that quite often. I buy books, airline tickets, CDs, PC, movie tickets etc. I don't buy clothes or shoes on the internet because they may not look like what's shown in the catalog, plus I need to try them on first. I think internet banking and paying credit card bills on-line are too risky, so I don't do those online.
I have a question for INT students. Here in the US, the internet has led to an explosion of internet startups (ranging from chat sites to banking); it has become a significant economic tool for the US. Can you say the same about France?
Taxes:
Hi,
What is the tax system in France like? Here in America, I think the average person spends about 20% of his income on taxes and that figure could go up to 50% depending on how much you make. Does France have the notion of state, social security, medicare taxes? Is the tax system so complicated that people actually make a living out of filling tax forms for others? Do you guys have to fill tax returns?
Is there a high rate of tax evasion? The American tax system is new to me and would really like to know if any other country has something similar. I look forward to your responses.
Thanks.
Regina
Sujet: Les verts
Hi Tyler!
Greenpeace n'est pas un partie politique. C'est un mouvement, un groupe en faveur de l'environnement (qui est certes parfois un peu radical...). Greenpeace existe dans pratiquement tous les pays, ce n'est donc pas propre à un pays.
Le partie politique des verts en Allemagne s'appelle 'Bündnis 90 Grünen'. Et il est vrai que tout ce qui concerne la préservation de l'environnement est beaucoup plus développé en Allemagne. Cela a toujours été bcp plus le cas et surtout maintenant que les "Grünen" (avec Joschka Fischer: il était pas mal médiatisé dernièrement pour des histoires de 68) sont au pouvoir ensemble avec la SPD (les socialistes avec Gerhard Schröder).
Ayant pu observer un peu les deux côtés, il faut dire que par rapport aux Allemands les Français ne font pas trop d'efforts en ce concerne le tri des déchets. En venant en France, j'étais un peu choquée de voir les gens balancer tout dans une poubelle, alors que chez moi on tri quand même un minimum et en fait attention où on jette quoi.
Dans les supermarchés, on remarque aussi des différences pour les bouteilles. Les Allemands ont les 'Mehrwegflaschen'. Ce sont des bouteilles que tu rends aux supermarchés lorqu'elles sont vides et on te rembourse un certain pourcentage du prix que tu as payé en l'achetant. Histoire d'empêcher les gens de jeter les déchets dans la nature. Ici ça n'existe pas. C'est dommage parce que je pense que ça pourrait marcher, car les gens sont toujours d'accord pour faire un effort s'il y a das sous prendre...
A+
Maud
Reply to Subject: Abortion Hi Maud,
I'd like to respond to a couple of your questions about abortion in the US. First of all, it is definitely, as you suggested, a subject very much in debate now. My understanding is that most Republican politicians are pro-life, and most Democratic politicians are pro-choice. The last presidential election was probably a good indicator of just how badly the US is currently politically divided, and if you wanted to make a large stretch from that, you could connect it to the division on the issue of abortion. According to your statistic, it probably isn't that big of a stretch to make.
My guess, and please note this is a guess, is that a majority of abortions are for younger (those in their teens and early twenties) women. In my junior high and high school, which were both public, there was a large movement to educate the students about contraception and sexual awareness. I think that teen sex has increased in the US, and that may have resulted in more unwanted pregnancies. I have heard through friends about this kind of thing happening to at least two people I know.
Personally, I think that
especially
for teens, it is critical to not have to bring another life into the world that they can not properly care for, or do not desire. I can't think of anything more sad than a child who is neglected and unwanted. Not that every teen would be irresponsible or without other parental guidance! I think that teens are just much too young to understand the amount of responsibility it takes to be a parent. However, I do know that there is an argument that thinks teens are taking advantage of abortion availability, and being less careful about contraception because of it; if this is in fact a large part of the problem, I think perhaps more consideration could be put into making abortions more difficult to obtain.
I hope I've helped answer some of your questions! -Jen
Reply, subject: homosexuality
Hi Sophie,
Thanks for writing back about homosexuality. I am curious to know a little more also. It sounds like PACS is something that gays can take advantage of, but was not necessarily targeted for them since brothers and sisters can also utilize it. Is this true? Also, this stems off of Ashley's comments, is there currently a way for gays to legally marry, in addition to utilizing PACS? It seemed from your comments that it doesn't currently exist. If not, do you think there is a possibility of a more "traditional marriage" being possible for gays in France in the next few years, one where they _do_ have rights to each other's heritage?
-Jen
topic: green
maud's comment in message #48 mentions the system of recycling bottles to the supermarket and getting some money back. we also have a system like that, but i don't think that many people actually bother to recycle their bottles for the 5 cents that we can get back because it is just easier to throw them away and waste 5 cents than it is to go out to recycle bottles.
both maud and pierre in messages 36 adn 37 seem to agree that pollution is a big problem. if it is the case that europeans are so worried about pollution (and it seems that you are more than us), are there more visible ways that the concern is expressed? for example, are there recycling bins where-ever there is a trash can? are there lots of compost piles to recycle natural materials?
thanks, irene
Hi Maud--
My family buys many different things from the internet. We buy electronics, computers, clothes, books, cds, etc. I think I buy more clothes and shoes online than I do in regular stores! I usually buy from the same places so I know what sizes to get. For shoes, it usually works out pretty well also. My family has become addicted to shopping on the internet because of the great prices, the availability of the products, a broader selection of products, and the convenience. Here at MIT, I also buy personal products such as shampoo, soap, toothpaste, etc from CVS.com just because there's a discount and free shipping which is much easier than walking to the store to buy the stuff. There's always discounts and coupons floating around so it's worth it even if you do end up returning a few things (and waste money shipping it back). In class, we discussed how the french don't really shop online but simply look for what they want and go to the actual store to buy it. is it because of mistrust of the internet (credit card numbers, etc) or something else?
christine
Subject: Online Shopping
Hi Christine!
Yes indeed, the French prefer to go to the shop to buy there things. They mistrust the security system. Even though it has been proven that it is secure to give your credit card number online, they won't really do it. Maybe it's also that they're afraid of not getting what they wanted, not the right size or whatever.
I admit that I don't like the idea of giving the number online very much. I have bought two books online recently, but I paid by 'chèque'. I sent that by post. I think I had to wait longer because of that. But I was a bit dissappointed, because I had to wait for much longer than what was indicated on the web site... So now, I don't know if I'll do it again, maybe on a different site. But they do indeed have a large range of books online that you don't get in the shops and I like to read a lot and I'm constantly looking for new books, so...
I have another question? Do you also make appointments online? Like to go to the hairdresser's or stuff like that. There is an american site called 'appointment zone' and you can make appointment for different things online. Do you think it works or will work well in the future? They wanted to do that in France as well, but found out that it would never work, at least not right now. And that it just wasn't in the French's mentality.
Oops, I know, I'm supposed to write in french. But I typed away in English and was too lazy to start all over again. It's too early in the morning.
Have a good day!
Maud
Sujet: Temptation Island, Real Life TV
Hi Jennifer!
En fait, je n'aime pas trop ce genre de programme, car je ne vois pas trop le sens. Et je doute un peu de l'authenticité de ces histoires soit disant vraies. Je ne sais pas si ça existe en France, mais j'en ai entendu parler et vu des extrait du modèle américain.
J'ai aussi du mal à croire qu'il s'agisse d'histoires 100% vraies. Il y a peut-être un certain pourcentage effectivement vrai mais le reste est totalement exagéré. Si je dis ça c'est que les histoires me paraissent tellement irréalistes et exagérées. Il est vrai qu'il arrive parfois des choses bizarres aux gens, mais il y a des limites à tout. Et s'ils rajoutent un peu à la vérité, c'est sûrement parce qu'autrement personne ne regarderait. De toute façon, tout ce qui intéresse les gens sont le spectatculaire, les 'special effects', etc. Si c'est réaliste et que ça leur rappelle leur propre vie, ça n'a plus aucun intérêt.
Comme tu dis, il y a souvent des aspects très personnels qui sont étalés et je ne vois pas l'intérêt. Pourquoi les gens iraient-ils raconter leur vie à la télé??? En fait, ces gens me font un peu pitié car, si dévoiler leur vie à la télé est la seule menière de se faire remarquer et entendre, franchement, c'est un peu triste...
En ce moment, il y a le phénomène 'Big Brother' dans plusieurs pays. Il s'agit de 10 personnes qui sont enfermées dans un container pendant 100 jours (je crois, je ne suis pas sûre). Elles ne sont qu'entre elles et n'ont pas le droit d'avoir du contact avec l'extérieur. Elles sont filmées 24/24. Franchement c'est primitif comme tout. Je me demande ce que les gens retirent de ça, pourquoi ils le regardent. En plus c'est ennuyeux. Tu t'imagines un peu passer tes journées à ne rien faire d'intelligent sinon glander et faire des commentaires à la con??? Mais ça bien sûr attire des millions de gens devant le petit écran...
Voilà mon opinion par rapport à ce sujet.
A bientôt.
Maud
Subject: Online Shopping (comment on Maud # 53)
Hi Maud,
I understand your hesistance about giving out credit card numbers on the net. I recently did a little research on computer security for a paper I had to write. It's amazing how negligent these e-commerce sites are with protecting their customers. Even hacker warnings about system vulnerabilities were ignored. Many credit card fraud cases are not made public because the companies want to protect their businesses. There is currently no law in the US outlining minimum security requirements for internet banking or shopping sites. But maximum customer liability in case of card fraud is limited (by law) to $50. I guess that's why we don't worry too much about card fraud.
Regina
Subject: Internet
I read on www.ifop.com that only about 35% of people aged 15 and over claimed to connect to the internet. That is surprising to me because I thought it was a much bigger deal. Maybe since it has become a part of American culture, I have gotten used to it and have a hard time imagining life without it. It would be hard to believe if people did not use the internet even if they had access to it. That is why I am guessing that those who don't use it do not have easy access.
My question is why is there such a small percentage of French people who use the internet? Does it have to do with not trusting it altogether? I know I used to be a bit skeptical about buying things over the internet for the same reasons as the French students mentioned, but now I find that it is safe. Can you describe of how big and widespread use of the internet is in France in a general sense, not just with percentages? Is it incorporated into everyday life?
Sujet: 35 heures
Hi Ann!
En fait, le projet des 35 heures est toujours en cours et n'est pas ncore applicable dans toutes les entreprises.
Il y a eu une première loi en 1998 (appelée loi Aubry, c'était la ministre du travail à l'époque).
En fait si les 35h ont été introduits, c'est aussi pour créer de nouveaux emplois (ça reste à prouver cependant), car si les uns travaillent moins il y a besoin de monde pour le reste du temps.
On a laissé un choix aux entreprises: celles qui voulait tout de suite adopter les 35 h, pouvaient le faire avant janvier 2000. Mais dès février 2000, toutes les entreprises à plus de 20 salariés devaient obligatoirement les adopter.
Jusqu'en 2002, la durée légale est de 39 heures pour les entreprises de moins de 20 salariés, mais elle est de 35 heures pour les entreprises de plus de 20 salariés. Ca vient du fait que les petites entreprises ont plus de mal à basculer d'un système vers l'autre, et comme tu l'as dit, il y a aussi le problème pour eux de bien faire leur boulot en moins de temps et aussi de trouver les gens supplémentaires.
Entre temps il y a eu une loi Aubry II, car certains points n'étaient pas bien réglés dans la première.
Il y a eu notamment pas mal de discussions sur le cas des cadres (ce sont ceux qui ont des salaires élevés, les chefs d'entreprise, etc.).
Ces personnes-là travaillent bien sûr beaucoup plus et les 35 h ne s'appliquent pas de la même façon que pour les autres. Les 35 h s'appliquent dans la mesure où ces personnes auront plus de jours de congés. C'est-à-dire, comme ils travaillent beaucoup plus que les 35h, ils auront droit à des jours de congé supplémentaires. J'espère que c'est clair ce que je raconte, sinon, n'hésite pas à reposer la question!
J'ai une question pour vous:
En fait, ça fait plus de 10 jours qu'il y a les grèves de la SNCF (chemin de fer français) en France, parce que les salariés revendiquent de meilleurs conditions de travail, plus d'argent, etc. J'aimerais savoir s'il y a souvent des grèves aux Etats-Unis? Et si oui, ont-elles un effet positif, est-ce que les salariés sont entendus? Je sais que dans certains pays faire la grève n'est pas pensable (du moins pas si souvent qu'en France), que le patronat n'accepterait jamais, et si les salariés faisaient la grève, ça aurait au contraire des effets encore plus défavorables.
Merci et à bientôt.
Maud
Christine Lin (clin12@MIT.EDU)
topic: online shopping
Hey Maud--
didn't know you could make appointments online! that's pretty interesting. i'm not sure if it'll be popular in the usa though because sometimes it's just easier to call the salon to make an appointment. if it's online, then you can't ask the salon to squeeze you in at a certain time and things like that. i get really frustrated sometimes with online customer service. they usually take forever to respond to any questions and then they don't even answer your question directly. a lot of websites (sprintpcs.com for cell phones) don't even list a phone number on the website for people to call because they expect you to just send an email. for specific questions, i'd much rather call and speak to a real person. while we're on the topic of shopping, i was wondering what do french college students spend money on? and do many of you have part-time jobs to pay for the stuff? i'd say that in the u.s., girls spend most of their money on clothes and shoes. in general among girls and boys, people spend a lot on eating out and music.
christine
sujet: homosexualité et online shopping
Salut Jennifer! Après quelques recherches sur le PACS (pacte de solidarité civile) , je peux peut-être t'aider à y voir plus clair. Le PACS est un contrat qui définit des règles de vie commune. On ne peut pas le faire si on est marié ou déjà "pacsé", ou avec ses proches parents. La loi interdit donc normalement le PACS entre frères et soeurs comme je le croyais, mais j'en ai discuté autour de moi et certains amis connaissent des frères ou soeurs quiont passé un pacs.
Tu as bien compris, le pacs s'adresse à tous mais ceux sont les homosexuels qui en profitent le plus, pour légaliser leur union. Mais ce n'est pas un mariage, qui leur reste interdit encore en France. Des associations homosexuelles se plaignent de cette lacune, surtout que le mariage est possible dans d'autres pays comme les Pays-Bas. 48% des Français, surtout les jeunes, sont d'accord pour le mariage, mais les pouvoirs publics estiment que le PACS est suffisant. Il est vrai que pour 81% des Français, le Pacs a contribué à améliorer la situation des homosexuels du point de vue matériel et de leurs droits.
Le mariage est donc interdit, même si un tiers des maires ont déjà délivré des certificats de vie commune. La question de l'héritage est moins sensible et je pense que cela va être réglé à l'avantage des homosexuels. L'adoption pose plus de problème. Il est bien précisé dans le contrat du pacs que cela ne donne pas le droit aux couples de même sexe d'adopter des enfants. Et 70% des Français sont contre. Les couples de femmes rencontrent moins d'oppositions que les hommes, mais là encore la question n'est pas prête d'être réglée.
Pour ce qui est du shopping sur Internet, j'ai acheté une fois des produits de beauté, mais j'ai payé par chèque. Je regarde surtout les offres de vacances et de voyage, et les nouvelles collection des magasins de vêtement pour ensuite aller acheter dans la boutique. Mais je n'aimerais pas acheter des chaussures ou des vêtement online. Je préfère y aller avec une amie, on rigole beaucoup plus. Pour ce qui est des petits boulots des étudiants, cela sert surtout à payer le loyer ou à les nourrir. Je travaille dans l'association de INT qui fournit aux étudiants des jobs, et la plupart le font parce qu'ils en ont besoin et non pour les loisirs.
A bientôt, SOphie
In response to #17
Trade Unions ARE an issue in the US. Many people are FORCED to join (or pressured until it becomes harassment) if they work in certain places (supermarkets are a big one, factories are another). Unions often organize massive strikes here (Boeing couldn't build planes for several months while all of its engineers were on strike. Pilots strike at various airlines. There are constantly school districts dealing with teacher strikes.)
The most disturbing thing about unions here is that they will pressure those who are not members and harass businesses who do not hire union workers. Many governments HAVE to hire unions (I'm not really sure why). Specifically, I remember a couple of years ago when an abandoned warehouse in a bad neighborhood got all cleaned up and opened as a nice, new, independent supermarket. It was a startup company and they could not afford to hire union workers. The supermarket unions picketed outside of the doors of the supermarket for 3 months. I do not know if that business ended up pressured into hiring union workers, but surely those three months were economically difficult for the young company.
Teachers' unions are also incredibly powerful. In Pennsylvania, they can strike whenever they want, but they cannot lose pay, and school cannot continue past june 30th, no matter how many days were cancelled during strikes. Many people believe that the PA teachers' union has become too powerful. (They feel the same way about many other unions.)
What are unions like in France? If people don't want to join them (or can't get hired if they do) who organizes the many strikes in France? -Dina
Reply on subject: Homosexuality
Hi Sophie,
Thanks for your response! I wanted to add some comments to compare the American opinions of the things you mentioned about France.
On the subject of marriage, my understanding is that while about 50% of Americans believe homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle, less than that believe homosexuals should be able to marry (while your poll numbers showed about 50% of France believes homosexuals should be married). I think a lot of Americans are beginning to understand the homosexual lifestyle more and be more accepting of it, yet the understanding has not progressed to an absolute acceptance just yet.
Also, and even more interesting, is that in the US adoption is not nearly as large of a problem for homosexuals (which is completely the opposite of France!). On pure speculation, this may be from an abundance of orphans here who need homes, or a general feeling that children are much better taken care of in a home than in an orphanage and should be given to any homes that are willing to take them, regardless of sexual orientation or race of family. However! I do know that religiously affiliated orphanages or children's homes can be extremely discriminatory against parents who are not affiliated with the organization of their home. I don't have statistics on this as it's a difficult issue to put a number on. But as far as state homes go, I think it's pretty much the general feeling on adoption that children should go to any home where they will clearly be well-provided for.
-Jen
Bonjour aux etudians de l'INT,
Subject: Affirmative Action in France?
After reading these forums, I was under the impression that affirmative action does not exist in France. When we were discussing univeristy admission, Pierre (message #37) mentioned that people who come from disadvantaged backgrounds are not given special treatment.
I was therefore surprised to read in this week's issue of The Economist that the grand ecole Sciences Po, a school which I understand is very prestigious, will start next year to use a different admission procedure to admit students from suburban slums. Instead of having to write the terrifying entrance exam, these students will be offered admission based on their high school record and a 45-minute interview.
I was wondering how the INT students feel about this decision. Is this the beginning of a movement in France towards American-style affirmative action and ethnic quotas? How has the French public responded to this idea?
Allan.
sujet: affermative action
Salut Alan!
La décision des dirigeants de Sciences Po a fait beaucoup de bruit dans le milieu de l'éducation, et les réactions étaient pour la plupart négatives. Les étudiants de Sciences Po sont contre, et le discours de présentation du projet a été hué et sifflé. Ils trouvent injustes que certains rentrent dans l'école plus facilement pour des raisons financières alors que eux doivent travailler très dur pour réussir. Ils ont l'impression d'être "punis" parce que leur famille est assez aisée et qu'ils n'ont pas eu de problèmes pendant leur enfance.
Le problème est aussi qu'ils ont l'impression qu'on brade le diplôme. Ces étudiants ont la réputation d'être brillants et bosseurs et valent cher sur le marché du travail, et ils ont peur que les entreprises ne valorisent plus autant leur diplôme. Enfin, certains arguent que à la place des étudiants défavorisée, ils auraient honte d'être admis de cette manière (cela sous-entend qu'ils sont moins bons que les autres puisqu'on leur évite l'examen).
Sciences Po a pris cette décision pour améliorer son image et casser sa réputation d'école élitiste (ce qui fait justement sa valeur), mais cela ne sera pas repris de sitôt par d'autres écoles, ou du moins de cette manière, vu les nombreuses réactions négatives.
A bientôt, Sophie
Réponse à Samia sur l'internet
c'est vrai qu'en france peu de monde est encore connecté à l'Internet même si ce nombre est en forte en croissance. Cela est dû à plusieurs facteurs:
1) Le prix des communications internet est très élevé. Nous n'avons pas de forfait illimité nous permettant de surfer autant que nous voulons. Par exemple si tu te connectes 20 h/mois tu dois payer 100F soit 15$. Combien payez-vous aux Etats Unis?
2) L'ADSL et les réseaux Hauts débits n'ont pas encore fait leurs preuves en France. Par exemple, pour l'adsl, beaucoup de régions françaises n'ont pas les infrastructures nécessaires.
3) Les personnes agées sont plutôt réticentes à surfer sur internet. Ils ont dû mal à se servir d'un ordinateur.. Ca me rappelle le président jacques Chirac n'arrivant pas se servir d'une souris il y a quelques années!!:
J'espère avoir répondu à ta question, Joel:-))
Salut à tous les étudiants du MIT et à Allan en particulier,
Sujets evoques : l'affirmative action et Internet
Pour ce qui est de Sciences-Po, il est vrai tout comme l'a expliqué Sophie que c'est l'exception qui confirme la règle. En fait, le système des études supérieures à la française est infiniment codifié et conservateur. Témoin l'accueil plus que frileux qui avait été fait à la réforme Allègre il y a deux ans de cela. En ce domaine aussi nous avons du retard sur les USA, et nous en sommes actuellement à la phase où les jeunes défavorisés ont l'impression que le système n'est pas leur ami et qu'ils ne peuvent compter que sur eux.
A propos d'Internet : je ne suis pas d'accord avec Joël sur deux points. Tout d'abord, les Américains âgés ne sont à mon sens pas plus cyber-dans-le-move que leurs homologues Français (évidemment, la pub AOL avec Luce et Henri est assez catastrophique...). De plus, s'il est vrai que l'Internet illimité par RTC classique fait encore figure d'arlésienne, on tient le bon bout puisque Lionel Jospin est intervenu afin de faire cesser le chantage à la boucle locale de France Telecom (pour plus d'informations je te conseille cet excellent site : www.transfert.net ) . Et le développement du Net en France, notamment par le biais du haut débit qui commence à sérieusement se réveiller, devrait par conséquent s'accélérer.
Sur ce, bonne nuit à tous...
@+, Clad
Subject: AFFIRMATIVE ACTION
Hey y'all
The way the selection for admission and affirmative action works (at least in MIT) is that:
First, MIT ranks all the students that apply on a scale-- usually based on academics, accomplishments and extracurricular activities.
Second, they admit the ones who may not have extra-curriculars but did something GENIUSLY remarkable, for instance: patented some software which is used by about 3 million people in the world,...
Third, they admit those who are *very* well accomplished both academically and in extra-curriculars.
Fourth, by the time MIT gets to: 1. the students who are *very* well accomplished academically and very well (note the lack of the *...*) accomplished in extra-curriculars OR 2. those who are very well accomplished academically and *very* well accomplished in extra-curriculars, The limit is probably close. Let's say there are 600 students in this category, and MIT can only take 200 more students, the question would be: "which 200?" That's when race and other factors come into play.
My point: Majority of those who are disadvantaged by affirmative action are AT MOST on the same level on the scale as those who benefit. That way, nobody who is admitted is not deserving.
Take care, Chidinma
Subject: Environmental Pollution
I noticed during the polls that both the Americans and the French are concerned about similar issues. The only real difference I observed (apart from in the number of people who claim concern--France had a smaller percentage) is that the French were also concerned about noise pollution. Americans, in the polls expressed no concern. I wonder why this is the case. What do y'all think?
Chidinma