Swiss reject plan to cap managers' pay

BERLIN — Swiss voters soundly rejected on Sunday a proposal to limit the pay of companies' highest-paid managers to 12 times that of their lowest-paid workers, a plan that business leaders had warned could weaken the prosperous nation's economy.

Voters shot down the plan in a referendum by a margin of 65.3 percent to 34.7 percent, and all 26 of the country's cantons (states) voted against. Initiatives need a majority of both voters and cantons to pass.

Sunday's referendum came after voters in March voiced anger at perceived corporate greed by deciding to boost shareholders' say on executive pay and ban one-off bonuses known as "golden hellos" and "goodbyes."

However, the new "1:12 initiative" from Switzerland's Young Socialists calling for a fixed legal cap on pay appeared to be a step too far for centrist and conservative voters.

Switzerland is home to global business players such as pharmaceutical companies Novartis and Roche; insurance groups Zurich and Swiss Re; and banks UBS and Credit Suisse.

Backers of the "1:12 initiative" argued that imposing a legal limit on salaries would ensure greater fairness while still giving top bosses the chance to earn more money than, for example, government ministers.

But Swiss business leaders argued it would weaken the nation's competitiveness, make it harder to attract top talent and likely prompt some companies to move executives abroad.

Opponents included Sepp Blatter, the Swiss president of world soccer's governing body FIFA, who argued that it would have the side-effect of seriously damaging Swiss soccer.

"Of course we're disappointed," Young Socialist leader David Roth told Swiss television.

"Our opponents succeeded in making people afraid," he said, though he insisted that there was "no future" for an "economic system based on salaries in the millions, on financial speculation."

The head of Switzerland's employers' association said he was greatly relieved.

"This is an important decision for Switzerland as a business location," Valentin Vogt said. "The people have decided clearly that setting salaries in this country is not a matter for the state."

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Meningitis victims hope for Mass. criminal charges

BOSTON — Dirk Thompson III doesn't hold out much hope that he and the 750 other victims in a nationwide meningitis outbreak will ever see much, if any, compensation for the deaths and illnesses caused by tainted steroids.

He hopes to find justice another way if criminal charges are brought against the principals of a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy that made the steroid injections blamed for the fungal meningitis outbreak.

A federal grand jury in Boston has been investigating the New England Compounding Center for more than a year. A separate grand jury in Minnesota also has been conducting an investigation.

"They have to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," said Thompson, 58, of Howell, Mich., who was hospitalized for 38 days with meningitis after receiving a steroid injection for back pain. "They were totally irresponsible."

Since the contaminated steroids were first discovered, 751 people in 20 states have developed fungal meningitis or other infections, including 64 who died. Michigan, Tennessee and Indiana were the hardest-hit states.

Federal prosecutors have declined to comment on the investigation, but the FBI recently asked anyone who received one of the tainted injections to fill out a questionnaire detailing their illnesses and saying whether they believe another medication distributed by NECC caused harm to them or their family.

The FBI, which has also sent agents to visit victims, set a Nov. 30 deadline for victims to submit the surveys online or to mail them to its health care fraud squad in Boston.

It is unclear whether the company or its executives will face criminal charges. Several lawyers who represent victims in lawsuits say health care companies charged with selling contaminated drugs often reach settlements with the federal government and agree to pay large fines. But the New England Compounding case is different because of the large number of deaths and serious illnesses caused by the tainted steroids.

"If there's enough evidence to show that these companies were operating and that the executives were operating in a way that was going to harm and hurt and eventually cause death, then we would presume that there would be some action, other than just a fine," said Boston attorney Kim Dougherty, whose firm represents more than 100 people who became ill or died in the outbreak.

Inspectors found a host of potential contaminants at the company's Framingham plant, including standing water, mold, water droplets and dirty equipment. Fungus was found in more than 50 vials from the pharmacy.

Regulators have also said the company did not perform enough tests before sending the drugs to hospitals and clinics and sent drugs in bulk quantities instead of prescriptions for individual patients.

The company gave up its license and filed for bankruptcy protection after it was flooded with hundreds of lawsuits from victims. A bankruptcy court judge has set a Jan. 15 deadline for victims to file claims.

"I hope that the people involved are held accountable and that they are prosecuted to the full extent of the law," said George Cary, whose wife, Lilian, 67, developed fungal meningitis and died about a month later.

Cary, of Howell, Mich., received steroid shots at the same pain management clinic as his wife. He became ill with meningitis several weeks later and was hospitalized for three months.

"I think the victims all feel ... that none of the laws or regulations seem to have applied to (the people involved), and they've continued on with their lives while the victims have suffered immensely, deaths have occurred, people's whole families have been dramatically changed," Cary said. "This has really been a national disaster."

Attorneys for the company's principals, through a spokesman, declined to comment.

Christina DiIorio-Sterling, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, would say only that the investigation is continuing.

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Westford teen creates prosthetic arm and hand

WESTFORD, Mass. — Shiva Nathan is a 15-year-old boy with one huge, global idea.

Inside his Westford home with his father, Nanda Nathan, at his side, he puts on an electroencephalogram, or EEG, headset reader and concentrates.

The device measures his brain waves, and through a computer program he designed, Shiva controls a prosthetic arm and hand, which he built himself, on the table beside him.

The teenager explains that when he is at total peace, concentrating fully, he has rigged the device so the arm waves. And as a side note, he says that for him, thinking of nothing is the perfect way to calm down and do the trick.

On a mission to help hundreds of thousands of amputees all over the world, Shiva took his passion for robotics to a whole new level last year when he developed this prosthetic that he can control with his mind.

With more design work and tweaks, he can modify the controls so his arm can do even more, including moving its wrist, wiggling its fingers and bending at the elbow.

But to take his creation one step further, Shiva says his goal is to make the technology available everywhere. He's aiming to develop this "Arduino prosthetic" as an entire open-source project, with schematic designs anyone can download off the Internet so they can then make the product themselves with a few electronic parts available at many stores.

"I'm definitely looking to do this ... especially because these prosthetics can retail for hundreds of thousands of dollars, which basically renders them all but out of reach of many residents in Third World countries and even war veterans who just returned home and are working for minimum wage," he says.

"In the U.S. alone, there are 185,000 amputations performed each year," he adds, "so the necessity of this device becomes huge when you think about the implications."

Shiva's project impressed experts so much that he won first place in the 2013 National microMedics contest this past January, in the education category. His father, who works for Nova Write, Inc., developing lasers, says that because his son is under 18, he couldn't receive a cash prize. The contest organizers are rewarding him, instead, with $5,000 worth of electronics equipment.

Nanda Nathan notes how extremely proud he is of his son, a sophomore at Westford Academy, who joined the after-school robotics club last year as a freshman.

But it isn't enough for Shiva simply to devote his project to helping those in need internationally — he wants to help people in his hometown, too.

At a recent meeting of the Board of Selectmen, to which Shiva was invited for achieving the prestigious award, he went before the town on his own to request space for an innovator's workshop. He told selectmen if they were willing to grant some town space for other local creators, he would donate all of his winnings to the site and help others with their inventions there, too.

Selectmen Chairwoman Andrea Peraner-Sweet thanked Shiva for his generous offer and said she thought the town could surely find some space for his endeavor.

Shiva says he has high hopes for his prosthetic arm for the future and that he plans to keep working to fine-tune it. He says his father has been instrumental in helping him develop the piece, which he built in part at the Nova Write machine shop under his father's careful watch.

Shiva believes that while he is one of the "lucky" citizens in Westford with access to great equipment, he hopes the workshop he plans to set up in town leads people to find their greatness, too.

"I'm trying to improve their quality of life, to help them unleash their creativity, by giving them all the resources they need free of charge," he says. "I was lucky enough to have people who care about me supply me with these resources."

-SAMANTHA ALLEN, Lowell Sun

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Obama, Cyrus among GQ's least influential list

LOS ANGELES — Dennis Rodman is at the top of a list no one wants to be on. He's been named GQ's No. 1 least influential celebrity of 2013.

The 52-year-old former basketball player who has visited Kim Jong Un in North Korea was selected as the top pick in the magazine's third annual list of the least influential celebrities, which also includes twerking pop star Miley Cyrus, President Barack Obama, and celebrity chef Paula Deen. GQ called Rodman a "Q-list celebrity willing to commit borderline treason just to hang out with a dictator who himself aspires to be a Q-list celebrity."

Rodman said this week he's preparing to return to North Korea late next month for an exhibition basketball tour.

Deen, whose cooking empire imploded this year after she admitted to having used the N-word to describe black employees, came in at No. 2 on the list behind Rodman, while former sexting U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner took the No. 3 spot.

"He's the saddest lecher in American politics, and that's saying something, because they're all lechers," the magazine said.

Cyrus, who garnered attention at this year's MTV Video Music Awards for her provocative performance with a foam finger, won the No. 6 position for "basically trying every inane strategy she could think of to rile up America's few remaining pearl clutchers." The magazine noted "what's sad is that it totally worked."

Obama came in at No. 17 because "nothing gets done."

Other celebrities deemed non-influential include Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Ryan Reynolds and Will Smith.

___

Online:

http://gqm.ag/17SupqX

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Brookline: Plastic not so fantastic

Brookline businesses are gearing up for bans on plastic bags and disposable polystyrene food and beverage containers that take effect Dec. 1.

Public Health Commissioner Alan Balsam expects a wave of applications for six-month waivers, in particular for the polystyrene ban that will affect 350-plus food-service operations.

"People want to comply, but it's going to take a little time," Balsam said. "I wouldn't be surprised to see dozens of waivers, and the reason is they haven't found a substitute for what they're using, or they have a large inventory (of their current containers or bags) to get rid of."

Town Meeting approved both bans in November. The town won't start enforcing them until January and will start with education and warnings first instead of fines that ultimately will be $50 per "offense," a term that has yet to defined.

"We don't want to make fines onerous, but we want them to be sufficient to ensure everybody complies," Balsam said. "We're willing to work with people to get compliance in a way that doesn't murder their business."

The town offered three polystyrene training sessions on Monday where it had on hand acceptable alternative containers from about a dozen vendors.

"I think in terms of the theory behind this, most people understand and embrace it, but they need more time to find the appropriate replacements and to work it into their budgets, because it is more expensive," Balsam said.

Anna's Taqueria, which has two Brookline restaurants, plans to work that added expense into the price of its Mexican plate, according to owner Mike Kamio.

It's replacing its polystyrene containers used for that menu item with a bamboo-based tray and will have new 8-ounce containers for other items.

"It is substantially more expensive," Kamio said. "As other things pop up, we may switch over to other things that are more cost-effective."

Dunkin' Donuts formulated a new cup for its Brookline stores, but has asked for a waiver until it finds a suitable lid, according to Balsam.

Meanwhile, about 70 Brookline supermarkets, drugstores and other businesses must eliminate plastic bags that aren't compostable and marine degradable. "Come to find out, there is not a commercially available (plastic) bag that meets that criteria now in the United States," Balsam said.

Brookline Booksmith will use paper bags that are about a third more expensive than the plastic ones now used. "It's a significant expense, but we understand it's the right thing to do environmentally ... so it will become part of the cost of doing business," manager and co-owner Dana Brigham said.

Stop & Shop and Shaw's also will meet the deadline by using paper bags.

"We'll also be encouraging and selling reusable bags," Shaw's spokesman Steve Sylven said.

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Longtime Progressive CEO Peter Lewis dies at 80

MAYFIELD VILLAGE, Ohio — Peter Lewis, who shepherded Progressive Corp. from a small-time operation to one of the largest auto insurers in the country and later became the billionaire backer of marijuana legalization, died Saturday. He was 80.

Philanthropic adviser Jennifer Frutchy said Lewis died at his home in Coconut Grove, Fla.

Progressive President and CEO Glenn Renwick said the company owes its growth and its culture of openness to Lewis. He said Lewis' caring and honesty are "bedrock" values of the company.

"The history of Progressive is very much the history that Peter Lewis laid down," Renwick said. A willingness to take risks and constantly learn and grow are principles that can be traced to Lewis, he added.

"He really was a special person, there's no doubt about that," Renwick said.

Lewis became chief executive officer of Progressive in 1965, built from the company his father co-founded in 1937. Lewis held the leadership post for 35 years, during which Progressive — and Lewis' fortune — steadily grew. In 2006, Forbes calculated his net worth at $1.4 billion.

Lewis turned his wealth into support for a number of progressive causes, including strong support for marijuana law reform that began after he used it following a leg amputation. Lewis helped bankroll marijuana-related causes in Ohio, Washington and Massachusetts.

In a 2011 interview with Forbes Magazine, Lewis said he first tried marijuana at age 39. He said he found it to be "better than scotch" and later relied on it for pain management.

"I don't believe that laws against things that people do regularly, like safe and responsible use of marijuana, make any sense," he told Forbes. "Everything that has been done to enforce these laws has had a negative effect, with no results."

Lewis also spent time as a trustee of the Guggenheim Museum and stepped down in 2005, saying he saying disagreed with the institution's focus on international expansion. He had been a leading benefactor of the museum, donating tens of millions of dollars.

For a time Lewis largely stopped giving to local Cleveland-area concerns, saying there was little cooperation among civic leaders or public development. Last year, however, he donated $5 million to the Cleveland Institute of Art, the Plain Dealer reported. At the time, he said he made the donation because a development plan that impressed him in 2004 had met his expectations.

Lewis also gave generously to his alma mater, Princeton University. He donated more than $220 million to the school, where he also served as a trustee.

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Pickup owner sludges way to costly repairs

My son purchased new a 2009 Chevy Silverado with a 5.3 liter engine. He's always used synthetic oil and changed it when the oil life minder indicates. Recently while on a road trip the oil pressure dropped to about 10 psi and the low oil pressure light and stop engine warning came on. He checked the oil level, which was OK. He restarted and the oil pressure was fine. He drove about another 10-15 miles and the oil pressure dropped again by 15 psi and the service engine light came on. He reduced speed and drove to the nearest Chevy dealer. They diagnosed a faulty oil pressure sensor and replaced it at a cost of $463. Two months and 1,800 miles later the service engine light came on. The oil pressure gauge read a normal 40 psi. The Chevy dealer where he purchased the truck found the oil pressure read by a scan tool was lower than that measured with a mechanical gauge at the filter. They determined the screen next to the sensor was clogged with sludge. They replaced it and flushed the engine for $483. Did the first dealer screw up by not checking and replacing the screen? Is sludge unavoidable with just a three-mile commute to work even with synthetic oil? The truck had 49,000 miles when these problems occurred. Would more frequent change intervals help? Or should he plan on doing a flush every 25,000 miles?

Sludge build-up inside an engine occurs when moisture in the air inside the engine condenses during a cold start and contaminates the oil with water. Combined with fuel contamination and oil oxidation over time during normal use, this can form a "glop-like" sludge that can block or restrict oil passages, screens and filters, causing a loss of oil pressure. Under normal driving with the engine fully warmed up, the moisture evaporates and is drawn out through the PCV system and burned. Short trips after a cold start may not allow the engine to reach fully operating temperature long enough to eliminate all this contamination.

So, while the oil life monitor system may not call for oil changes for 10,000 miles or more, in this case more frequent changes would remove much if not all of the contamination before it has a chance to jell into "glop."

Should the first dealer have caught this? Based on your son describing the repeat scenario of dropping oil pressure, the pressure sending unit is suspect, but it might have been wise for them to replace the valve lifter oil filter screen, mounted just below the sensor, at the same time.

More frequent oil changes should prevent additional sludge build-up. According to TSB 04-06-01-029G, GM does not endorse any type of engine flushing.

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor and former race-car driver. Readers may write to him at: Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn., 55488 or via email at paulbrand@startribune.com. Please explain the problem in detail and include a daytime phone number. Because of the volume of mail, we cannot provide personal replies.

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It’s City Hall on the Go

Tired of taking off time from work to stand in line at City Hall to get that pesky parking permit? Why go to City Hall when City Hall can come to you.

From Tuesdays to Saturdays, the City Hall to Go Truck travels to Boston's neighborhoods, letting residents pay for permits and dog licenses; get library cards and meter cards; even file claims against the city for that pot hole that flattened their tire or that tree that demolished their house.

"Almost anything you need to go to City Hall for, we can save you the trip," said Danielle Valle Fitzgerald, the program's director.

And because the truck is staffed by two people at any given time, in most cases, there's little or no waiting. As word about the truck has spread, though, short lines have begun to spring up in some neighborhoods.

On Nov. 15, for example, 53 people renewed their parking permits at the truck in South Boston, where the stickers are set to expire on Nov. 30. Four days later, 100 people showed up in a three-hour span.

"It was absolutely insane," Valle Fitzgerald said. "I didn't even believe my eyes."

Kenneth A. Sinkiewicz was on his way home that day when he stopped by after noticing in his Twitter feed that the truck was going to be in Southie.

"I gave the man my utility bill and registration, he made a copy of them and said I should have my parking sticker by the end of the week," said Sinkiewicz, 63. "On Thursday, it arrived in the mail. I was quite impressed. It's nice to see city government working for its residents. I hope more people take advantage of it."

Residents can sign up for Twitter alerts via @CityHallToGo, or visit www.cityofboston.gov/cityhalltogo.

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Thousands protest French riding school tax hike

PARIS — Thousands of riding enthusiasts, many atop ponies, are protesting a sales tax increase they say will make riding lessons too expensive and force many schools to close.

In January, France plans to nearly triple the value added tax on riding schools to bring it in line with EU regulations. But the move has angered horse people, who complain that it will erode an important piece of rural culture, already struggling to recruit enough clients in a poor economy.

On Sunday, thousands paraded through Paris along with hundreds of ponies and a few horses, carrying signs criticizing President Francois Hollande, whose proposals to increase several taxes regularly attract such protests.

The riders won the Senate's backing last week when it voted to leave the rate unchanged for riding schools.

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U.S. lenders slow to see ‘green’ benefits of mortgages

WASHINGTON — For the growing numbers of home purchasers who care about energy efficiency, it's the ultimate "green" goal: Lenders should recognize the net savings that energy improvements provide to property owners and take them into account when they underwrite and set the fees for mortgages. Appraisers also should recognize the added value.

The rationale: Owners of homes that reduce energy consumption pay lower utility bills than owners of energy guzzlers, so why not factor these out-of-pocket savings into calculations of household debt-to-income ratios and appraised valuations? This might permit larger mortgage amounts for energy-efficient homes and help qualify more first-time buyers who are now frequently rejected on debt ratio grounds.

Though this is commonplace in other countries, it's a work in progress in the United States. Bipartisan legislation is pending in the Senate — the Sensible Accounting to Value Energy (SAVE) Act — that would require Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Administration and other federal mortgage players to revise their rules to better recognize and reward energy savings.

More than 125 local Realtor multiple-listing services across the country are helping out by including so-called "green fields" in their online listing information displays. The green fields allow sellers, buyers, realty agents and appraisers to describe energy improvements or special certifications that a property offers, such as high-performance windows and doors, heavy-duty insulation, Energy Star appliances, along with solar, geothermal and other features.

Thousands of appraisers are undergoing "green valuation" training and the country's largest association in that field, the Appraisal Institute, has created a comprehensive "green addendum" that can be used to translate energy conservation improvements into higher property valuations.

But there's just been another milestone on the way to seeing green in real estate: A major American private mortgage insurance company plans to jump into green lending, and is gearing up to offer a version of what it already provides to buyers in Canada — cost savings to energy conservers.

Adam Johnston, chief appraiser for Genworth Mortgage Insurance, says his company is determined to incorporate energy savings and green valuations into its underwriting procedures. This is becoming more feasible, he said, because of advances such as the green appraisal addendum, more accurate MLS listing data, and growing acceptance of energy-efficiency standards for homes.

In Canada, Genworth offers buyers a 10 percent "energy-efficient refund" off their mortgage insurance premiums, a break on debt-to-income ratio calculations in underwriting, and online access to discounts on a wide variety of commonly purchased household items.

Here's an example of how the program works north of the border. On a $300,000 mortgage with a 5 percent down payment, the total insurance premium comes to $8,250. If you're buying a house that doesn't qualify on energy conservation standards, that's what you'd pay.

But if the home you're purchasing meets national or provincial energy efficiency guidelines, you may qualify for an $825 refund and have your monthly savings on heating factored into your debt service ratios. Your lender also might approve you for a larger mortgage amount if you need it.

A national study tracking payments on 71,000 home loans found that mortgages on energy-efficient properties are 32 percent less likely to default. Funded by the Institute for Market Transformation and conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina, the study controlled for other factors that might explain payment performance, including income, home values, credit scores and local utility costs.

Other, subtler factors could be at work — for example, are buyers who care about energy conservation and utility payments inherently more likely to care about keeping current on their mortgage? Who knows?

Bottom line: Though this country is years behind Canada in recognizing and valuing home energy efficiency, there are now determined efforts under way in the appraisal, lending, building and realty brokerage industries — even in Congress — to catch up, sooner rather than later.

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