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Tree Wars
By Joel P. Engardio
In San Francisco, there seems to be a correlation between well-intended bans, unintended consequences and jokes on Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" (we banned toys in Happy Meals, but kids are still getting fat).
Now there are plans to cut down large numbers of trees and replace them with native grass because ancient San Francisco was naturally treeless.
Can we agree that attempting to turn back the botanical clock is a nerve-racking feat in a city that's still trying to get the buses to run on time?
The issue is ripe for parody because the call for tree destruction is coming from environmental activists who favor native plants. Meanwhile, many longtime residents and retired homeowners concerned with loss of windbreak and property value play the role of unlikely tree-huggers.
The resulting Tree Wars are being fought on Mount Davidson and Mount Sutro, where Adolph Sutro planted a dense forest of Australian eucalyptus trees in the 1880s when San Francisco was mostly sand dunes. Today, Sutro is both cursed and praised for his choice of tree.
Some view those peaks as lush and gorgeous "cloud forests" where fog gathers and hangs in the eucalyptus.
Others see ugly and invasive "trees-as-weeds" that choke the land of natural life. When an arborist declares the forest is dying, another comes forward to say it will thrive for decades. When people claim that eucalyptus trees can't support wildlife, photographers post pictures of baby owls nesting. And on it goes.
I believe if there's an eucalyptus (or any tree) in danger of burning or falling, cut it down. If a tree stands in the way of a needed development, cut it down. Common sense says life and property comes before trees.
But I question if we should spend scarce tax dollars to replace healthy trees with native plants when the city had to borrow $200 million last year to fix dilapidated playgrounds.
Parks in a crowded city should put the recreation needs of people and pets first. That's why native plant programs - which restrict access for the sake of the plants - seem better suited for places like Yosemite than urban areas.
And how can the city justify funding native-plant programs when it says it can't afford to maintain street trees? Homeowners resent they're now required to pay for pruning city trees in front of their property.
What's missing in the eucalyptus debate is the fact that there aren't many trees of any kind in San Francisco. Our overall tree canopy is just 12 percent, compared to 36 percent in Atlanta and 29 percent in Boston. New York's concrete jungle has double the trees we have. Even the parking lot known as Los Angeles beats us in tree cover (18 percent).
How can San Francisco - a self-proclaimed "green" city - have so few trees? The city needs to focus less on native plants and more on putting resources into planting more trees along streets and in parks that can clean the air, absorb traffic noise and help prevent landslides.
When the "Daily Show" spoofs our tree wars, it's hard to say which side will get the most laughs. Both sides have extremists to skewer. Hopefully there's a middle majority who believes that more trees of all varieties are good for San Francisco - a majority who's tired of our city giving Jon Stewart easy material.


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University of California
Transfer Admission Planner
Welcome to the UC Transfer Admission Planner! This online tool is designed to help prospective UC students transferring from California community colleges track and plan their course work, including those students who are seeking a Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) with one of the six participating UC campuses.
How to use the online plannerStudents can use the Transfer Admission Planner to enter their course work (completed and planned) from the very beginning of their college careers, or at any point when they decide to transfer to a UC campus. The planner helps students track their progress toward meeting UC's minimum requirements, and allows UC staff to communicate important information to prospective transfer students. Students are strongly encouraged to meet with their community college counselor, as this tool does not replace advising students receive at their college.
The information students enter in the planner allows UC staff to direct appropriate information to students quickly. All information collected is considered confidential and is shared only with students' community colleges, UC admissions officers, and UC academic preparation professionals.
Applying for a TAGStudents seeking a Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) with one of the six participating campuses (UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Merced, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, and UC Santa Cruz) may apply using the online planner. Students must satisfactorily complete UC and campus-specific transfer admission requirements to be eligible for a TAG. More information on TAGs can be found in the TAG section of the planner.
Returning Students:
New Students:Creating an account is easy! Start now
California Community College Counselors:Access your account

subset: commoncrawl


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Sunday Sweets: Valentine's Treats
Sunday Sweets is our weekly NON-Wrecks feature, the better to remind you how wrecky the Wrecks are.
Heather R. found this gorgeous Valentine's day wedding cake with a retro vibe:
If you're wondering, yes, those are M&Ms! Talk about a tasty alternative to fondant. Yum. (By the eminently talented Dahlia of Dahlia's Custom Cakes.)
And here's an extra special Sweet for Valentines: one that comes with a tutorial so you can make it at home! Believe it or not, this gorgeous box of chocolates (including the chocolates) is actually cake:
Cool, huh? The "chocolates" are cake balls, which creator Bakerella decorated individually. Here's another shot:
As beautiful as this is, it's not nearly as complex to make as you might think. Don't believe me? Then check out Bakerella's step-by-step tutorial. And really, you should check out her blog anyway; it's gorgeous.
Many thanks to Raquel and the rest of you who sent this in!


text:
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Admission | Courses | Program | Requirements
Department Chairperson: Thomas G. Bridge
Graduate Committee Chairperson: Ralph Dirksen, 309/298-2388
Department Office: Knoblauch Hall 135
Department Telephone: 309/298-1091
Fax: 309/298-1061
Department E-mail: email@example.com
Website: www.wiu.edu/engrtech
Location of Program Offering: Macomb
Graduate Faculty
Associate Graduate Faculty
The Department of Engineering Technology offers a Master of Science degree
manufacturing engineering systems. The program is designed to prepare manufacturing professionals to be knowledgeable about world-class manufacturing systems. The program provides advanced course work in manufacturing strategies, agendas, and quality control. In addition, the program addresses principles of world-class organizations and restructuring of manufacturing practices, which include, but are not limited to: simultaneous/concurrent engineering practices, just-in-time manufacturing, material requirements/resources planning, and product and process simplification with value analysis/value engineering.
The program permits advanced course work for those persons having baccalaureate
degrees in a variety of related technological fields (manufacturing, engineering, industrial, and production are a few examples). For those persons actively engaged in manufacturing production management positions, this program offers an opportunity to research technical and scientific developments in advanced manufacturing systems. Other professionals who find it necessary to develop technical knowledge and skills from disciplines as diverse as computer science, industrial engineering, and business administration can benefit from the program.
The program enables the University to assist individuals in industry who wish to advance into positions of increased responsibility in the area of manufacturing systems. Theprogram permits those in industry to keep abreast of changes in technology and enables those with a technical background to have manufacturing experience at the graduate level prior to, or while, being employed fulltime.
The courses offered by the department are highly relevant to advanced manufacturing with the computer being utilized as an integral problem-solving tool. Manufacturing course work includes technology-centered learning experiences in the departmental manufacturing laboratories. Experiences include automation, CAD/CAM, CNC, robotics, measurement, and process control. These experiences help students connect theories and principles learned in courses to real-world professional practice. The opportunity to participate in industrial work experiences (manufacturing internship), to pursue independent studies, and to perform independent research, coupled with graduate laboratory courses, provides a balanced program of studies that may be designed to meet the individual needs of the student. A significant portion of all course work within the department involves technical writing at required industry standards.
A bachelor's degree with a major in manufacturing engineering technology, engineering technology, industrial technology, industrial education, technical education, engineering or similar field from an accredited institution is required. It is expected that the candidate will have completed basic technical courses. The Graduate Record Examination is not required.
The Master of Science in Engineering Technology degree program is also
open to
graduates from the liberal arts, science, mathematics, education, and other fields. Students who have been awarded a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution and who have had less than 32 hours of course work in the technical areas may enroll in a two-phase program. Phase One consists of obtaining a total of 32 hours of Engineering Technology courses as proposed by the student and adviser and approved by the Departmental Graduate Committee. Phase Two is the completion of the program as outlined below.
All students must complete the general requirements and the additional requirements of one of the three exit options listed below. The capstone experiences, which culminate each exit option, include either a thesis or an expository paper, along with an oral presentation to the graduate faculty.
Students must file a degree plan after completion of nine semester hours in the program and satisfy any undergraduate deficiencies. Undergraduate deficiencies may be taken P/F, but must be completed before graduation.
Students will have an option to include (with prior ENGR graduate adviser
up to 12 semester hours of (500-level) courses from either the College of Business and
Technology, or Departments of Computer Science, Mathematics, Chemistry or Physics,
and other pre-selected courses. No more than one-third of the degree plan may come
from outside the department.
Thesis Plan
ENGR 601 Thesis (3)
ENGR 602 Professional Certification (0) or ENGR 603 Comprehensive Exam (0)
Professional Internship Plan
ENGR 593 Internship in Manufacturing Systems (3)
ENGR 602 Professional Certification (0) or ENGR 603 Comprehensive Exam (0)
Independent Research Plan
ENGR 592 Independent Research (3)
ENGR 602 Professional Certification (0) OR ENGR 603 Comprehensive Exam (0)
TOTAL PROGRAM: 30 s.h.
The independent studies (ENGR 580) or research (ENGR 592) courses may not be taken until the student has been admitted to candidacy. When registering for ENGR 601, work must be completed within the calendar year. Exceptions may only be granted prior to registration by the Departmental Graduate Committee.
Engineering Technology
407G Advanced Computer Aided Drafting. (3) The study of graphic representation, using computer aided drafting and Auto CAD software to produce twodimensional and three-dimensional industrial drawings and designs. Two hours lecture, two hours lab. Prerequisite: ENGR 207 or permission of the instructor.
408G Computer Illustration and Animation. (3) Application of computer techniques used to create technical illustrations and animations for manuals, documents, assembly instructions, and demonstrations using digital models, rendering, and animation methods. Two hours lecture, two hours lab. Prerequisite: ENGR 407.
446G Material Science. (3) The study of metallurgy, plastics, and ceramics with emphasis on properties, structure, testing, and heat treatment for the design, manufacture, and failure analysis of materials. Stress, strain, and deformation tests will be included. Two hours lecture, one hour lab.
448G Industrial and Construction Occupational Safety and Health. (3) A study of the federal OSHA Act as it applies to industry and construction. Beyond federal regulations, the course includes accident prevention plans, safety education, and documentation preparation.
468G Computer Programming of Multi-Axis Machine Tools. (3) The study and application of computer programming for numerical control of multiaxis machine tools. Prerequisites: ENGR 207 and 367.
472G Industrial Electronics. (3) A course to provide instruction in control systems, types of controls, types of electrical switching, types of electrical generation devices, types of motors, and types of electrical wiring, illumination, and temperature controls as they apply and are used in industry. Prerequisite: ENGR 372 or permission of the instructor.
477G Process Controllers. (3) Microprocessor and electronic programmable controller architecture and programming as used in the automation of machines and controls. Two hours lecture, two hours lab. Prerequisite: ENGR 385 or permission of instructor.
482G Fundamentals of Computer Aided Design. (3) The application of computer aided design techniques utilizing industrial software within a minicomputer and workstation environment. Two hours lecture, two hours lab. Prerequisite: ENGR 207.
486G CAD Design for Manufacturing. (3) An advanced study of computer aided design and manufacturing emphasizing industrial standards and CAD/CAM processes. Laboratory experiences will include design for manufacturing in two and three dimensions and solids. Two hours lecture, two hours lab. Prerequisite: ENGR 482.
487G Auto ID and Industrial Networks. (3) Study of methods and systems used to automatically identify objects and transmit the information throughout a facility. Topics include bar coding, magnetic stripe, radio frequency, data communications, EDI standards, and systems integration. Two hours lecture, two hours lab.
522 Seminar in Vocational Instruction Practicum
(V.I.P.). (1–4, repeatable to 8) Off-campus work
experience in business and industry for teachers,
counselors, or administration employed in public school
vocational education. Written weekly reports required.
Final report required at the end of the practicum
including an implementation plan. Degree candidate
may receive credit for degree programs only with the
permission of the Departmental Graduate Committee and the student's adviser. Prerequisite: Open only to V.I.P. program participant; permission of the instructor.
545 Process Quality Control. (3) The use of statistical quality control tools to include attribute and variable data to control, troubleshoot and improve manufacturing processes. Design of experiments will be included.
548 Automated Industrial Production I. (3) A comprehensive study of advanced activities, elements, and principles of computer integrated manufacturing, including group technology (GT), manufacturing resource planning (MRPII), just-in-time (JIT), Kanban computer assisted process planning (CAPP), computer aided engineering (CAE), and other appropriate implementation and manufacturing management practices.
549 Automated Industrial Production II. (3) A comprehensive study of the determination of appropriate levels of manufacturing automation based on economics and productivity. This course will study elements of work simplification, control system, sensors, flexible manufacturing system (FMS) and simulations, as well as automatic identification practices.
550 Industrial Workshop. (1–3)
573 Computer Aided Decision/Management Applications. (3) The use of computer applications to design, monitor, and/or enhance manufacturing processes, facilities, and maintenance operations. Students will solve case studies using various manufacturing management software programs to include process simulation and MRP-II/ERP. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
580 Independent Study. (2–3, repeatable to 6) Topics for independent study include (section 1) drafting technology; (section 3) graphic arts technology; (section 5) industrial education; (section 7) industrial wood technology; (section 9) fluid power technology; (section 11) automotive technology; (section 13) metals technology; (section 15) electronics technology; (section 17) computer-aided technology; (section 19) manufacturing technology. Prerequisite: Admission to candidacy and approval of the graduate adviser.
581 Workcell Integration. (3) A study of workcell integration using fixtures, robots, conveyor systems, programmable logic controllers, sensors and production machines to produce products. Prerequisite: ENGR 477 or permission of the instructor.
584 Integration of Computer Aided Design/Manufacturing. (3) Concepts
and practices in the fields
of CAD/CAM. This course involves laboratory
experiences in the integration of computer aided design
tools with manufacturing system components.
Developmental focus will be from CAD/CAM workstations to machining components.
590 Research Techniques in Technical Areas. (3) Application of various research techniques in technical subjects. Practice in selection, and reporting of industrial research.
592 Independent Research. (3) This course will be designed by the student for independent study. Approval of a written proposal must be obtained prior to registration. The independent research may involve; a) industrial techniques, materials, or processes; b) teaching or teaching techniques. All independent research will be presented upon completion in written form to the Graduate Committee and orally to graduate faculty and graduate students in the department. Graded S/U. Prerequisites: Admission to candidacy and approval of the Graduate Committee.
593 Professional Internship in Manufacturing
Systems. (3) Off-campus work experience in a
pre-approved manufacturing site or research facility.
During the internship, the student will be able to
demonstrate her/his ability to analyze, integrate,
organize, and manage a manufacturing system.
Prerequisites: Completion of Engineering Technology
master's core courses, an additional 12 semester hours of
approved course work, and a minimum of 3.0 GPA.
601 Research in Engineering Technology-Thesis. (3, repeatable to 6) Independent research and study on a selected and approved problem. A written thesis will be presented to the Departmental Graduate Committee.
602 Professional Certification. (0) Students will present evidence of current professional engineers license or professional certification from SME/MECI, APIC or other department approved certification. Graded S/U.
603 Comprehensive Exam in Manufacturing Systems. (0) The student will complete a written comprehensive examination covering contemporary topics in manufacturing systems. The exam content will reflect course work and all other material covered during the student's master's program. The exam will be graded S/U. The exam will be offered once each term. The student may repeat the exam. Prerequisites: Completion of engineering technology master's core courses, an additional 12 semester hours of approved course work, and a minimum of 3.0 GPA.
Graphics Communication
412G Digital Image Manipulation. (3) The use of digital image manipulation equipment in creating special effect images. Emphasis will be placed upon advanced color theory, color separation, and digital enhancement. 2 hrs. lecture; 2 hrs. lab. Prerequisite: GCOM 312.
414G Advanced Image Transfer and Printing Processes. (3) The study of advanced printing and image transfer systems and processes. Emphasis will be upon supervised experience in a graphic communication lab. Prerequisite: GCOM 313.
415G Printing Production Management. (3) The study and application of estimation and production practices in the publishing industry. Emphasis will be on methods, planning, production, estimating, and techniques characteristic of the publishing industry. 2 hours lecture, 2 hours lab. Prerequisite: GCOM 312.
417G Electronic Desktop Publishing II. (3) Advanced work with electronic desktop publishing programs. Emphasis will be upon advanced design and layout techniques. Projects include multiple page documents, forms, booklets, and brochures. Integration of work from multiple software programs will also be stressed. Two hours lecture, two hours lab. Prerequisites: GCOM 217 and 313, or permission of the instructor.
418G Graphic Presentations. (3) This course will focus on the utilization of multimedia programs using both authoring and presentation technologies. Students will create and present subject matter related to business and technology fields of study utilizing conventional and electronic delivery systems. Two hours lecture, hours lab. Prerequisite: 6 s.h. of approved GCOM courses or permission of the instructor.


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Assessment |
Biopsychology |
Comparative |
Cognitive |
Developmental |
Language |
Individual differences |
Personality |
Philosophy |
Social |
Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology |
Social Processes: Methodology · Types of test
The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing is a set of testing standards developed jointly by the American Educational Research Association (AERA), American Psychological Association (APA), and the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME). [1]
Revised significantly from the 1985 version, the 1999 Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing has more in-depth background material in each chapter, a greater number of standards, and a significantly expanded glossary and index. The new Standards reflects changes in United States federal law and measurement trends affecting validity; testing individuals with disabilities or different linguistic backgrounds; and new types of tests as well as new uses of existing tests. The Standards is written for the professional and for the educated layperson and addresses professional and technical issues of test development and use in education, psychology and employment.
Overview of organization and contentEdit
Part I: Test Construction, Evaluation, and Documentation Edit
1. Validity
2. Reliability and Errors of Measurement
3. Test Development and Revision
4. Scales, Norms, and Score Comparability
5. Test Administration, Scoring, and Reporting
6. Supporting Documentation for Tests
Part II: Fairness in Testing Edit
7. Fairness in Testing and Test Use
8. The Rights and Responsibilities of Test Takers
9. Testing Individuals of Diverse Linguistic Backgrounds
10. Testing Individuals with Disabilities
Part III: Testing Applications Edit
11. The Responsibilities of Test Users
12. Psychological Testing and Assessment
13. Educational Testing and Assessment
14. Testing in Employment and Credentialing
15. Testing in Program Evaluation and Public Policy
Related standards Edit
In 1974, the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation was charged with the responsibility of writing a companion volume to the 1974 revision of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Tests. [2] This companion volume was to deal with issues and standards for program and curriculum evaluation in education. In 1975, the Joint Committee began work and ultimately decided to establish three separate sets of standards. These standards include The Personnel Evaluation Standards, The Program Evaluation Standards, and The Student Evaluation Standards.
Notes and references Edit
- ^ The Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing
- ^ American Educational Research Association. (1977, September 12). Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation Update--September 1977. AERA Division H Newsletter.


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So yeah, I'm creating a programming language. And the language allows multiple threads. But, all threads are synchronized with a global interpreter lock, which means only one thread is allowed to execute at a time. The only way to get the threads to switch off is to explicitly tell the current thread to wait, which allows another thread to execute.
Parallel processing is of course possible by spawning multiple processes, but the variables and objects in one process cannot be accessed from another. However the language does have a fairly efficient IPC interface for communicating between processes.
My question is: Would there ever be a reason to have multiple, unsynchronized threads within a single process (thus circumventing the GIL)? Why not just put thread.wait() statements in key positions in the program logic (presuming thread.wait() isn't a CPU hog, of course)?
I understand that certain other languages that use a GIL have processor scheduling issues (cough Python), but they have all been resolved.


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Chinese Migrants in Singapore, Chapter Two: Festering Feud
This is the second chapter in the story of a Chinese bus drivers' strike in Singapore, the biggest labor action in the rich Asian city-state in nearly three decades. The event challenged Singapore's carefully-crafted image as one of the world's most orderly and efficient places, and revealed rising tensions over migrant workers, who now are a growing presence across Asia. The strike also underscored the risks faced by Chinese laborers as they fan out across the world in search of jobs that locals won't fill.
Previously: About 170 bus drivers refused to go to work for SMRT, a Singaporean transport company, last November over grievances about pay and treatment.
Today: Before the strike, Chinese drivers in Singapore say they faced alienation, even from local ethnic Chinese, and feared that any protest will lead to harsh reprisals.
For the hundreds of Chinese bus drivers who migrated to Singapore in recent years to take up jobs at local transport companies, adjusting to the new surroundings was often harder than they expected. Many soon felt they were being viewed with the resentment that has been growing against the influx of foreigners in recent years.
Many Singaporeans say foreigners take jobs, push up property prices and add new strains to the infrastructure, especially its crowded subways. There is also a deep cultural divide between Chinese migrants and the local Chinese community, which comprised 74% of the resident population as of 2012.
Some Singaporean Chinese, themselves at least third- or fourth-generation immigrants from China, label recently-arrived mainlanders as country bumpkins for their perceived social idiosyncrasies and weak grasp of English, Singapore's lingua franca.
"We often felt discriminated against," He Junling, one of the Chinese bus drivers, recalled in an interview. "Many of us had unpleasant encounters with ethnic Chinese Singaporeans, who looked down upon us mainlanders."
To be sure, the problem isn't unique to Singapore. As thousands of Chinese nationals stream overseas each year to find work, many have met with hostile reception from wary hosts.
Some 871,000 Chinese nationals were working abroad as of June, according to China's Commerce Ministry. Many go to Southeast Asia, particularly places like Vietnam and Myanmar, where anti-mainlander sentiment has swelled in recent years into fiery public rhetoric and even mass protests.
In Singapore, where public assembly is tightly regulated, many citizens express their anger online, applying epithets like "PRC scum" and "foreign trash" to mainland migrants and asking them to return to China.
But their increasingly strident and xenophobic tones have worried the government, political analysts say. The government in the last three years has tried to assuage Singaporeans by handing them more social benefits compared to non-citizens, and slowing inflows of migrant labor. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last year urged citizens to be more tolerant of foreigners.
In any case, few of the Chinese bus drivers in Singapore interacted with locals outside of work, preferring to socialize within their small, close-knit cliques.
After working 10- to 12-hour shifts, six days a week for SMRT Corp., a state-owned Singapore transport company, they spent most of their free time relaxing in dormitories tucked away in Singapore's industrial districts.
Facilities in the dormitories were basic, shared between hundreds, even thousands, of migrant workers of various nationalities and industries.
Rooms usually housed eight people. Workers slept on double-decked bunks laid with thin mattresses and straw mats, drivers recalled.
Some invested in cheap television sets and laptops for entertainment. Many busied themselves calling family and chatting with co-workers over beer and cigarettes.
Occasionally, they treated themselves to a day out at a local park or mall. With most of their pay spent on remittances, debt and daily necessities, they could afford little else.
Drivers said they frequently complained to supervisors about what they described as the cramped and unhygienic conditions. As roommates often plied different shifts, they disrupted others' sleep cycles, leaving them perpetually lethargic. Illness spread quickly in the crowded spaces, drivers say.
In that environment, drivers say, resentment simmered over their pay and other terms of the job.
Before July 2012, SMRT paid mainland Chinese drivers – all hired on two-year deals – basic monthly wages of S$1,000 (US$780), compared to about S$1,200 a month (US$940) of basic pay for Singaporean and Malaysian drivers, who were permanent staff, according to SMRT statements.
Total compensation was more complicated, with Chinese drivers also receiving accommodation and utility-bill subsidies worth about S$275 a month, though they also received lower bonuses than the Singaporean and Malaysian workers, according to the SMRT statements.
Mr. He and several other mainland Chinese drivers say recruitment agencies hired by SMRT never made it clear to them that they would be paid lower base salaries than other drivers. SMRT said it has reported the alleged misrepresentation by agents to the relevant authorities. Efforts to identify and contact agents were unsuccessful.
To the Chinese drivers, the different salary programs seemed unfair. They say they understood why Singaporeans – as citizens working in their own country – received better terms, but questioned why SMRT seemed to favor Malaysians over Chinese nationals.
There are deep social and economic ties between Singapore and Malaysia, which facilitate cross-border employment between the two former British colonies. Singapore was part of Malaysia from 1963 to 1965, and in the years since, many Singaporean employers have taken to hiring Malaysians, who typically speak English and assimilate easily given the cultural similarities.
About 400,000 Malaysians work in Singapore and many take up permanent residency in the city, a status that carries perks including participation in a state-backed pension program. SMRT has not commented on its hiring preferences but told The Wall Street Journal in an emailed response to questions that its remuneration packages—including benefits—for mainland Chinese and Malaysian drivers are "equitable."
All this meant little to the Chinese drivers, who felt SMRT should treat all foreign staff equally.
The drivers, however, said they were reluctant to complain too much and risk their livelihoods. Many said they had taken hefty loans to pay fees to recruitment agents to secure their jobs.
They say they also were afraid of retaliation based on the experience of Hu Xiuwen, one of the first Chinese drivers to make the trip. The story of what he said he encountered circulated widely among the drivers who followed.
Mr. Hu, a Qingdao native, joined SMRT in January 2008, he said in a telephone interview. He said SMRT took possession of his passport once he landed, and placed him in an overcrowded state-built apartment with six other drivers.
Mr. Hu said he did well at work, winning trust from supervisors, who would assign him additional shifts – an important income supplement. He said he was even picked to be a poster boy for SMRT's recruitment drives in China.
The company eventually moved him and a co-worker to another apartment, he said.
But that apartment was also overcrowded, he said: A three-room affair that they shared with eight other people – two other foreign workers, the landlord and his family, and a housekeeper.
Worse still, Mr. Hu said, his room was infested with bedbugs, making it hard to sleep.
Mr. Hu said he sought help from a human-resources supervisor, but was rebuffed. According to Mr. Hu, the supervisor became agitated at the mere mention of the complaint and accused Mr. Hu of acting rudely.
The landlord and supervisor couldn't be reached for comment.
Days later, Mr. Hu was summoned to SMRT headquarters and dismissed without any explanation, he said. The same day, he said, a repatriation company put him on a plane back to China.
SMRT hired Mr. Hu in January 2008 but dismissed him in September that year for unspecified "disciplinary reasons," the company said in response to queries from The Wall Street Journal. It declined to comment on his allegations.
The fates of others who complained seemed to offer confirmation that dissent would not be tolerated, drivers said.
In 2010, SMRT's early cohorts of mainland Chinese drivers were completing their two-year contracts. Some left the company then. Others penned a petition, in Chinese, and collected about 185 signatures.
In the document, they accused SMRT of providing them with poor lodging conditions that weren't conducive for sufficient rest and left them lethargic, according to a copy of the petition reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The drivers also in the petition demanded the company to return their passports, taken when the drivers arrived in Singapore, and provide them with copies of the original contracts they had signed in China.
And the drivers complained in the petition that SMRT had refused to pay out annual bonuses. In interviews, several drivers said they were owed bonuses worth one month's salary – about S$1,000 (US$780) for each driver – that should have been paid annually.
SMRT, however, told the drivers it would disburse all bonuses at the end of their two-year contracts, the drivers recalled. SMRT declined to offer specific comment on the petition.
About 10 drivers hand-delivered the petition to the Ministry of Manpower – housed in a somber white-tiled building near the city's Chinatown district – to explain their complaints to officials, according to two drivers familiar with the petition. SMRT executives arrived within half an hour, seeking to intervene and defuse the situation, drivers later recalled.
The Manpower Ministry later said in public statements that it had investigated and resolved the complaints that fell within its jurisdiction, and discussed the remainder with senior SMRT management. Company officials agreed to return the drivers' passports and improve their bonus packages, drivers said.
Still, their other demands – including on lodging conditions – weren't satisfactorily resolved, according to some drivers.
And, they said, most of the 10 drivers who delivered the petition were dismissed. Drivers interviewed did not know the exact number of those asked to leave, or precisely why SMRT dismissed them. SMRT declined to comment.
--Chun Han Wong
Tomorrow in Chapter Three: Tensions mount between the drivers and SMRT. Then a meeting of three drivers in a temple prompts action and an online call to arms.
[The Wall Street Journal compiled this account from dozens of interviews, including drivers, defense lawyers and labor activists, as well as archived Internet conversations between drivers, public statements by government and company officials, and court documents. It will run as a serialized story on Southeast Asia Real Time and asia.wsj.com every day this week.]


text: The Premium fabrics includes a vibrant color range of suede, denims, twills, and duck. Note, you can only use the Premium fabrics on the Deluxe style of cushions. Cushions made from premium range fabric costs more than those made from a fabric in the Standard range. The Standard range of fabrics include tapestry, standard duck, standard twill, microsuede, outdoor, chenille and jacquard chenille. All products and cushion styles are available in the Standard range of fabrics. Please select your fabric carefully as refunds and returns are not available for an incorrect fabric being selected.


text:
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