There is a strong urban myth that

O bservers often describe the banking industry of the 1950s, 1960s,and 1970s as operating according to a 3-6-3 rule: Bankers gathereddeposits at 3 percent, lent them at 6 percent, and were on the golf course by 3 o’clock in the afternoon. The implication is that the industry was a sleepy one, marked by a lack of aggressive competition. Further, the often heard phrase “bankers ’ hours ” also seems to point to a lack of competitive zeal. Tight regulation is thought to have limited competition and allowed the 3-6-3 rule and the concept of bankers ’ hours to survive. The banking industry was indeed subject to a raft of regulations that were introduced during the Great Depression and only began to be removed in the early 1980s. Included were restrictions that limited the formation of banks and the location of bank branches. These regulations also limited the interest rates they could pay depositors and charge borrowers. In today’s banking environment, one can hardly imagine bankers oper-ating by anything close to a 3-6-3 rule because the market is clearly quite competitive and is likely more competitive than during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Consider an example of today’s competitive setting: A visit to the Internet allows a mortgage borrower the choice of hundreds of mortgage lenders from around the country, any of whom are happy to lend. Price com-parisons are fairly simple since all of these mortgage lenders openly advertise their interest rates and, to a lesser degree, their fees. Further, with numerous offers of home equity loans and an average of 4 billion credit card solicitations mailed per year, consumers have ample options for financing non-real-estate consumption (Lazarus 2003). Last, most shopping areas contain several bank branches (including those from out-of-state banks) and consequently provide

Any healthcare provider who works with patients afflicted with chronic kidney disease (CKD) has, at some point, discussed the importance of healthy kid-neys and CKD prevention with patients ’ family mem-bers and friends. What should an expert recommend for the prevention of kidney disease? Certainly, early recognition and control of hypertension and diabetes, and avoidance of nephrotoxic agents, would be in-cluded in the conversation. One may also discuss the importance of maintaining a healthy weight through exercise and diet, given that the majority of kidney disease is due, at least in part, to nutritional factors. However, many individuals seeking advice for the prevention of kidney disease request specific guide-lines for water intake and query on the amount of

, often erroneous assumptions? Fact or Myth? One such story concerns the salt deserts of west-ern Colorado. These desert areas are known locally as the "adobies " (Fig. 1). The tradition is that these areas once supported "stirrup- high " grasslands. For those unfamiliar

Driver distraction by advertising: genuine risk or urban myth?

Generalizations about urban bryophytes in European cities have received little attention in Britain. Here they are treated as hypotheses, to be tested against the results of a detailed survey of King’s Lynn, a town of about 41 000 people in eastern England. During 1999–2004 the flora was enumerated

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1 This is extracted from a longer, more detailed report: Satterthwaite (2007). However, this chapter drew

Dispelling urban myths about default uncertainty factors in chemical risk assessment – sufficient protection against mixture effects?

he purpose of this article is to provide a summary of relevant information focusing on a single issue – improving student retention and graduation. This article provides a number of facts, studies, (a few) theories, and comments on how to improve student progress toward graduation. As a note of caution, it is important to be wary of generalizing the results of the studies presented in this article. Most scholarly studies tend to use a limited student population within a given institution. Consequently, these limited studies on retention may or may not be sufficient for a comprehensive evaluation of persistence. What is known about Sac State’s Student Attrition? ince the educational system in California, and rest of the country, is currently facing budget difficulty, the