To improve airport security and deal with travelers’ complaints about being harassed and demeaned at security checkpoints, TSA has initiated a 2-day training program – “Engage!” – and all 50,000 TSA employees must attend. In addition to emphasis on being professional and polite, all employees are now expected to go beyond “stick to the manual” training. They’re encouraged to think more critically, draw on skills of co-workers and make passengers feel more comfortable and involved as participants in the security process. If all goes as planned, TSA will no longer stand for “Travelers’ Security Aggravation”.
For security sake 37 states have laws requiring the sale of self-extinguishing cigarettes. These cigarettes have bands of low-permeability paper which extinguish the flame when it reaches them. When a smoker stops puffing, the cigarette goes out in about 5 minutes. Because of support from fire and public safety officials and because tobacco companies say it’s too much work to make different cigarettes for different states, all cigarettes sold in the U.S. may be self-extinguishing by January 1, 2010. Although smokers complain about the taste and having to relight, self-extinguishing cigarettes could keep 1,000 people a year from going up in smoke.
In spite of cruise lines and resorts slashing prices because of the recession, many people are concerned about paying for a vacation if they’re laid off. Now there’s travel insurance that protects against “involuntary termination of employment”. Most of these policies cost 4% to 8% of the vacation’s full price and usually require purchasers to have worked for their employers 1 to 5 years. Nevertheless, if the insurance is purchased before the purchasers know they are going to be laid off, they’ll be reimbursed 100%. In bad economic times travelers can get a vacation from one worry.
And there won’t be any more worry about what building is tallest. Chicago’s Sears Tower (1730 feet) was considered the world’s tallest building until 1998 when the antennas on Malaysia’s Petronas Towers made them 30 feet taller. As of 2004, Taipei 101 (1671 feet) is considered tallest, but it’s expected to be topped by the Burj Dubai Tower (over 2200 feet). Finally architectural height has been divided into 4 categories: height to highest occupied floor; height to roof top; height to architectural tip – including spires; height to architectural tip – including everything. Hopefully, this will make it easier to know which building is tallest and which are just tall stories.
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