In 1975 Chinese survey teams remeasured Mount Everest, the highest of the Himalayan mountains. Like the British in 1852, they used the age-old technique of "carrying in" sea level: surveyors marched inland from the coast for thousands of miles, stopping at increments of as little as a few feet to measure their elevation, and marking each increment with two poles. To measure the difference in elevation between poles, surveyors used an optical level—a telescope on a level base—placed halfway between the poles. They sighted each pole, reading off measurements that were then used to calculate the change in eleva tion over each increment. In sight of the peaks the used theodolites—telescopes for measuring vertical and horizontal angles—to determine the elevation of the summit.

    The Chinese, however, made efforts to correct for the errors that had plagued the British. One source of error is refraction, the bending of light beams as they pass through air layers of different temperature and pressure. Because light traveling. down from a summit passes through many such layers, a surveyor could sight a mirage rather than the peak itself. To reduce refraction errors, the Chinese team carried in sea level to within five to twelve miles of Everest's summit, decreasing the amount of air that light passed through on its way to their theodolites. The Chinese also launched weather balloons near their theodolites to measure atmospheric temperature and pressure changes to better estimate refraction errors. Another hurdle is the peak's shape. When surveyors sight the summit. there is a risk they might not all measure the same point. In 1975 the Chinese installed the first survey beacon on Everest, a red reflector visible through a theodolite for ten miles, as a reference point. One more source of error is the unevenness of sea level. The British assumed that carrying in sea level would extend an imaginary line from the shore along Earth's curve to a point beneath the Himalaya. In reality, sea level varies according to the irregular interior of the planet. The Chinese used a gravity meter to correct for local deviations in sea level.

    In recent years, Western business managers have been heeding the exhortations of business journalists and academics to move their companies toward long-term, collaborative "strategic partnerships" with their external business partners (e.g., suppliers). The experts' advice comes as a natural reaction to numerous studies conducted during the past decade that compared Japanese production and supply practices with those of the rest of the world. The link between the success of a certain well-known Japanese automaker and its effective management of its suppliers, for example, has led to an unquestioning belief within Western management circles in the value of strategic partnerships. Indeed, in the automobile sector all three United States manufacturers and most of their European competitors have launched programs to reduce their total number of suppliers and move toward having strategic partnerships with a few.

    However, new research concerning supplier relationships in various industries demonstrates that the widespread assumption of Western managers and business consultants that Japanese firms manage their suppliers primarily through strategic partnerships is unjustified. Not only do Japanese firms appear to conduct a far smaller proportion of their business through strategic partnerships than is commonly believed, but they also make extensive use of "market-exchange" relationships, in which either party can turn to the marketplace and shift to different business partners at will, a practice usually associated with Western manufacturers.

Sports Association

Statement by sports association spokes-­person:

Our sports association issues contracts to television networks for the exclusive right to broadcast our sporting events. For this right, the networks pay the association substantial fees, which help finance our leagues. We also provide free media passes to our events for journalists so that they can effectively report on sports news, including final scores. Now, how­ever, some news organizations are posting video clips, audio clips, digital photographs, and live score updates from our events on their websites. Conditions must be placed on these practices, which go beyond mere sports news reporting; they harm the value of our broad­casting contracts and violate our rights as the owners of the sports leagues. News organiza­tions that wish to post such information on their websites should therefore sign contracts with the sports association that stipulate what post­ings will be allowed and how much they will cost. As we have in the past, we will deny media passes to journalists from news organi­zations that do not comply with our require­ments.

News Organizations

Statement by news organizations spokes­person:

me news business has largely shifted (rom print media to the Internet, where readers expect text to be accompanied by audio and Images To charge news organizations for providing online sports coverage or to place unnecessary conditions on that coverage is to deny news organizations their right to cover the news. Online news sites are not asking to broadcast sporting events In their entirety, and their sports reporting does not detract from the value of the sports leagues or their events. On the contrary—free, engaging sports reporting generates interest in sports and thus benefits readers and the sports association alike. News organizations must be allowed to report freely about sports on their websites, in any time­frame, using any type of online medium they deem effective.