Table of Contents

Restaurant Owners-.......................................................................................14 Students of North South University-..............................................................16

Introduction
As students of North South University (NSU), we spend a significant portion of our day in the university, where we are busy attending classes, studying in library or simply gossiping with friends. Some of us end up spending the entire day in university as few of our classes are in the morning and the rest of them are in the afternoon. And of course we dont bring lunch from home, although our parents insist, and that is why we rely on the little restaurants surrounding our university for our lunch. I used to have my lunch in university two days a week when we were in Banani and my favorite place was Malotilota. It was a small restaurant right beside Sheer Plaza (SPZ), and their food was of good quality and at a reasonable price. Not only that, every time I entered Malotilota, I always found some of my friends having their lunch, so I used to join them having my lunch and gossiping at the same time. NSU has been trying to shift their campus to Basundhara for a long time and in (Summer 2009) our university actually moved to the new campus. Although I was happy that finally we moved to our own campus, I could not help

but wonder the fate of the restaurants who served us all these years. What would have happened to them when NSU had shifted to Basundhara? I kept asking myself. So I decided to find out the effect of NSUs shift from Banani through this research which involves the students of NSU and the little restaurants surrounding it in Banani. I believe that the question I kept on asking myself has crossed the mind of all the students of NSU and through this research I want to answer their questions. By reading this report, one will get an idea about the fate of the restaurants after we moved to Basundhara. I have also tried to find out what the future plans has been for those restaurants were after we moved, what impact of our shifting has been on their business and how they expected to cope with the situation. Previously, many researches have been conducted relating to some of these restaurants, but they mainly focused on their quality of food, how popular it is among the students and so on. On the other hand, my research strictly focuses on the impacts the restaurants have to face after NSU shifted to Basundhara and how are they responding to the situation. Although many of the students of NSU believe that those small restaurants had suffered significantly when NSU shifted to Basundhara, I on the other hand think that the restaurants have survived. Of course there have been losses in some businesses but those were not bad enough to shut their business down. They may have faced some difficulties in the short run, but in the long run most of the restaurants have survived. So, even after NSU has shifted to Bashundhara, most of those restaurants are still there, serving other university students, bustling with customers like before.

Background
As university students, restaurants become an integral part of our life. Apart from the good food that they offer, there is another reason why restaurants are so important for students, particularly among NSU students. As pointed out by Sabrina Hasan Shoily, et al. (2006) Like all other universities, adda holds a special part in the lives of NSUers. This is evident by the gatherings in university canteens, girls lounge and boys lounge during class breaks. Many students of NSU also prefer to hang around and eat in outside restaurants like
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Boomers, Helvetia, New Yorker Caf, Abacus and Western Grill. Most of the restaurants around NSU are bustling with NSU students (Shoily, et al., 2006). Another popular place among university students in Banani was X-Lounge. Located in Abedin Tower at 35 Kemal Attaturk Avenue X-Lounge is set in the heart of the unofficial private university district . . . thus making it a ideal place for NSU students (Rahman, 2007). Most of the youngsters are drawn to X-Lounge by its sheesha and good quality food. During Pohela Baishakh, there are many restaurants which attract the youngsters due to the variety of Bengali foods that they offer and an enjoyable means of celebrating the new Bengali year with their friends. Some of these restaurants are Kasturi, Boishakhi, Dhanshiri and so on. Restaurants like Sylvana Foods and Mouly Restora are particularly popular among the students of Dhaka University, which offers a 'jomjomat' environment for them to enjoy (Khan & Zarif, 2004). Traditional food items in Bengali culture like pithas which includes Kheer Puli, Narkel Puli, Chandra Puli, Chitoi and so on are also sold in many restaurants in Dhaka. So, youngsters can also enjoy these Bengali delicacies in restaurants like Khabar Dabar Pitha, as the tradition of preparing winter delicacies at home is slowly fading away (Parveen, 2008). Professor Abdul Mannan, who is a Professor of Business Administration inEast West University states that Back in the mid 60's during our student days such facilities [restaurants] were nonexistent. However there were quite a few small tea stalls and canteens in an around the campus which were quite popular with the students. (Mannan, 2007). This shows that restaurants have always been an integral part of student life.

Hypothesis
The previous location of North South University, Banani, is also populated by many other private universities like American International University of Bangladesh (AIUB), South East University, Prime Asia and London School of Commerce (LSC).Recently Northern University of Bangladesh (NUB) and Presidency University has also opened their campus here.

Therefore my hypothesis is that, though for a short period of time those restaurants has been affected but in the long run those restaurants are doing fine due to the presence of other Universities and offices.

Research Methodology
For my research, I have decided to conduct a survey based on questionnaires and interviews. Through the questionnaire survey, I want to collect general information regarding my research topic which will help me establish my hypothesis. The interviews will allow me to gather more detailed information which will help me to get a better understanding of my

topic of research. I have used Microsoft Office Excel 2007 to analyze the data collected through the survey so as to draw conclusion based on the results. First of all, I have divided my survey audience into two groups, Restaurant Owners and Students of North South University. A set of questionnaire has been prepared for each group so that it is possible to collect the relevant information from both the groups. I have chosen six restaurants in Banani which are Western Grill, Shawrma and Pizza, Malotilota, Sun Belly, Helvetia and Boomers. All these restaurants were close to NSU campus and were vastly popular among the students of NSU. After conducting the survey of restaurant owners, I found some interesting results. First of all, as shown in figure 4, 50% of the restaurants did not consider the presence of NSU while deciding on their restaurant location, where as only 17% actually considered it. Despite having 9000 students, 83% (figure 5) of the restaurants generated below 30% of their total revenue from NSU students and all the restaurants included in my survey knew that NSU is shifting to Basundhara in summer 2009 (figure 6). 83% of the restaurants expected that their business will not be affected significantly due to this move and the rest 17% thought they would be affected moderately (figure 7). As shown in figure 1 below, 83% of the restaurants expected that the students of other private universities will be enough to sustain their business. That is why 50% of the restaurants are not interested to shift their business to Basundhara near NSU (figure 2). Finally, 50% of the restaurants will slash employees if their revenue falls and the rest 50% will not (figure 8). Table 1 below shows the number of employees of each restaurant in the survey and their intention to fire employees in case of a fall in revenue.

Table 1 Name of Restaurant Malotilota Western Grill Boomers Helvetia Number of Employees 32 12 20 16 Fire Employees? Yes Yes No No
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Sun Belly Shawrma and Pizza

14 12

No Yes

*Average Employees per restaurant = 17 *Highest number of Employees = 32 *Minimum number of Employees = 12

Figure 1

Figure 2

After conducting the survey of the restaurant owners, I conducted the survey of NSU students. In my survey, I have included 31 students of NSU, thus my sample size for the survey was 31. The survey suggests that 52% of the students have their lunch twice a week in university, 10% have their lunch every day and only 3% never have their lunch in university (figure 9). According to figure 10, 38% of the students have lunch in both canteen and outside restaurants, but mostly preferred outside restaurant, 35% preferred canteen and 10%
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have their lunch in only outside restaurants. Figure 11 points out that Malotilota and Boomers were most popular restaurants among the students of NSU. When asked whether they have ever thought about the effects on these restaurants after NSU moved, 77% responded positively and the rest 23% said no(figure 12). 53% of the students were certain that the restaurants will be affected by this move, 7% think that they have not be affected and the rest 40% are unsure (figure 13). As a result, 46% of the students think that the restaurants have been affected significantly, 35% think they have been affected moderately and only 19% think that the effect have not been too much (figure 3). On the other hand, 58% of the students believed that the restaurants have been able to survive after the move whereas only 7% think that they have been shut down (figure 14).65% of the students want the restaurants to move to Bashundhara, and the rest 35% said they dont want the restaurants to move (figure 16). When asked whether NSU should support these restaurants to move to Basundhara near them, only 13% supported the idea, 39% did not support the idea and the rest 48% are undecided (figure 17).

Figure 3

After conducting the questionnaire survey, I decided to carry out interviews with restaurant owners to gather more detailed information about their plans and strategies after NSU moved to Basundhara. Therefore, I chose Shawrma and Pizza and Malotilota for my interview. I conducted the first interview with the owner of Shawrma and Pizza, Mustafiz Rahman. Like many other restaurant owners, he was also concerned as NSU moved to Basundhara. But, his restaurant is little far away from NSU compared to other restaurants, so he thought his business will not be affected that much. Other universities like AIUB (American International University of Bangladesh), South East and South Asia is closer to his restaurant and he mostly catered to the students of those universities. He expressed concern for other restaurants which were much closer to NSU, and thought that some of them will be badly
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affected. Despite having intentions of moving to Basundhara near NSU, he was not being able to do so due to barriers like availability of land and resource constraints. In the next interview, I decided to talk with the manager of Malotilota. I chose Malotilota as it was popular among the students of NSU. Rafiqul Islam (the manager) expressed concern for their business as he believed that Malotilota will be significantly affected when NSU shifts to Basundhara. They were situated very close to NSU campus and generated a significant portion of their income from NSU students. When NSU moved to its new campus, Malotilota had found it difficult to survive. And lacks of resources are prohibiting them to shift their business to Basundhara near NSU.

Summary of Findings
Restaurant Owners:
The survey of the Restaurant Owners indicates that only 17% of the restaurant owners actually considered the presence of NSU when selecting the location for their restaurant. Whereas, 50% of the restaurant owners did not consider it at all. So my first hypothesis that restaurant owners considered the presence of NSU for choosing their location does not hold true when this figures are taken into consideration. It might have been that instead of NSU, restaurant owners considered the presence of other universities or offices near the area. All the six restaurants that were included in the survey knew that NSU is shifting to Basundhara (Summer 2009). Some of them were certain about this information and the rest had some doubt about it. But none the less, all the restaurants knew about the move, which proves my hypothesis. The restaurants which were included in the survey, 83% of the restaurants generated below 30% of their revenue from the students of NSU. This implies that most of the restaurants did not rely heavily on NSU students for their business. As a result, most of the restaurants believe that their business have not been affected significantly, where some believe that it has a moderate impact on them. The interview with the manager of Malotilota states that they
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might have to shut down their restaurant if they fail to attract customers after the move. Thankfully, they have survived. But this is not a matter of concern for most of the restaurants because, as was my hypothesis, 83% of them hope to sustain their business based on customers from other universities and offices in and around Banani. Each of the restaurants in the survey employs on an average 17 employees. As their revenue has fallen when NSU moved, 50% of the restaurants had slashed their employees. As stated in my hypothesis, this is natural reaction by the restaurants. Malotilota has 32 employees, which is the highest among all the restaurants in the survey, and they intend to fire their employees if revenue falls (Table 1), thus creating unemployment among the needy. Furthermore, half of the restaurants did not plan to move to Basundhara near NSU, because they believed they can sustain their business in Banani and it will be too expensive for them to move to Basundhara. This proves my hypothesis was wrong that the restaurants will move to Basundhara to expand their business.

Students of NSU:
The survey of the NSU students shows that 52% of the students have their lunch at least twice a week in university and 38% of the students preferred outside restaurants than the canteen. Although 35% of the students preferred canteen over outside restaurants for their lunch, but most of these students are represented by girls, who did not feel comfortable going to restaurants for their lunch. So, based on these data, my hypothesis holds true that students preferred outside restaurants for lunch over canteen. As stated in my hypothesis, 53% of the students believed that the restaurants have been affected by this move compared to 7% who said the opposite. In terms of magnitude, 46% of the students think that the restaurants have been affected significantly, 35% think moderately and only 19% think the effect is minor. This shows that the students believed those restaurants rely on them for their business, and the impact has been severe after they move to Basundhara. Although the students believed that the restaurants have been badly affected, 58% of them think that the restaurants have been able to survive after NSU shited to Basundhara. This is because there are many other universities in Banani and the existing restaurants can cater to the students of those universities. Also there are many other offices in that area, which had enabled the restaurants to survive. So the above mentioned data supports my hypothesis.
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As stated in my hypothesis, 65% of the students want those restaurants to move to Basundhara so that they can enjoy their service here. Since the students are accustomed to those restaurants, they would prefer those restaurants to be near them here. Interestingly, only 13% of the students agreed that NSU should assist those restaurants to move to Basundhara, which clearly proves my hypothesis wrong. 39% of the students opposed this idea, which indicates that although they want those restaurants in Basundhara, but do not want any involvement of NSU in this regard.

Suggestions
According to my research findings, after NSU has shifted to Basundhara, most of the restaurants in Banani area were not affected significantly. The restaurants owners believed that they will be able to sustain their business relying on other universities in the area as well as targeting the offices and markets in Banani. This does not mean that their business will be entirely unaffected, as most of the restaurant owners did agree on the fact that they have experienced a fall in revenue. This is more of a concern for the employees of the restaurants than the restaurants itself. This is because half of the restaurants will reduce the number of employees working if their revenue falls. As a result, many hard working employees will lose their job and their only source of income. This will in turn affect their family members as well. The restaurant owners should take this into consideration, and instead of letting their employees go, they can reduce their salary for the time being. Most of the restaurant owners believe that the gap created by NSU shifting to Basundhara will fill up in the near future by other universities moving into this area. So, they expect their business to recover, and once it does, they will need employees, so why fire the existing employees now. If they decide to
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reduce the salaries of their employees, then both the restaurant and its employees will be benefited. Many of the restaurants have expressed their intention to move to Basundhara near NSU, but they are not being able to do so due to resource constraints. Some of them do not have the capital required, some of them having difficulty acquiring suitable land in Basundhara and some of them think that they will not be able to attract NSU students if they move there due to high competition. Since these restaurants have served the students of NSU for so long, NSU should assist them to move to Basundhara. They might provide financial assistance, or allow them to operate in their canteen so that the restaurants dont have to acquire land. The students of NSU could organize an event, where they could express their expectation of these restaurants moving to Basundhara near them. This will give the restaurants enough confidence to take the initiative of moving to Basundhara.

Conclusion
Although most of the students of NSU think that the small restaurants surrounding NSU in Banani have been significantly affected after they shifted to Basundhara, the restaurant owners do not quite agree with them. They think that initially, they have experienced decline in their revenue, but in the span of time their business will be just like before as the gap created by NSU will be covered by other universities. So, it is now only a matter of patience to find out who is right and who is wrong. Through my research finding, I have been able to prove my hypothesis that after NSU shifted to Basundhara, those restaurants have been able to survive in the long run despite fall in revenue in the short run. So, it is not be surprising if any NSU student visits Banani and find those restaurants full of life with students of other universities. All the students of NSU are very excited after the move to their own campus in Basundhara, which has been their dream for a long time, but deep inside, they feel a sensation of emptiness as they have left so many things behind. Its just like moving from one city to another, where there is the excitement of an entirely new experience and also there is the pain

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of leaving the place which we called home for so long. So its a mixed emotion for NSU students. The restaurant which will miss NSU the most is Malotilota. For so long, they have been serving the students of NSU. Their restaurant was always bustling with students, and all of a sudden the environment inside the restaurant is much more quite. Although, they dont intend to move to Basundhara. It will be heart breaking if any restaurant shuts down. Of course, one restaurant has been shut down immediately after this move due to its heavy dependence on NSU students. That is Food Villa.

Bibliography
Khan, M. A., & Zarif, M. M. (2004, April 13). baishakhi hang outs [Electronic version]. LifeStyle , 1 (45). Mannan, A. (2007, June 3). Eateries of Dhaka University [Electronic version]. Star Campus , 2 (21). Parveen, S. (2008, December 15). Delights of mouth-watering pithas [Electronic version]. The Daily Star . Rahman, N. (2007, November 16). A Blend of Taste and Informality [Electronic version]. Star Weekend Magazine , 6 (44). Shoily, S. H., Ahmed, N., Ali, H., Mainul, Nayan, A., Osman, T., et al. (2006, September 3). Campus adda [Electronic version]. Star Campus , 1 (5).

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Appendix 1
Results of Questionnaire Survey:
RESTAURANT OWNERSQ1. Did the presence of North South University play an important role for choosing your restaurant location? Answering Options Yes I have considered it among other factors No, I did not consider it at all Number of ticks 1 2 3

Q2. How much of the total revenue of your restaurant used to be generated by North South University students and faculties? Answering Options Over 70% of my revenue Between 50% and 69% Between 30% and 49% Below 30% Number of ticks 0 0 1 5
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Q3. Were you aware about the shift of NSU to Basundhara ? Answering Options Yes No Number of ticks 6 0

Q4. How do you think this has affected your business? Answering Options Severely Moderately Not too much Not at all Dont know yet Number of ticks 0 1 5 0 0

Q5. Are the students of other private universities enough to sustain your business? Answering Options Yes No Not sure Number of ticks 5 1 0

Q6. Would you like to move your business to Basundhara near North South University? Answering Options Yes Might be No Dont know yet Number of ticks 2 1 3 0

Q7. Have you fired any employee due to this move or will you? Answering Options Yes May be No Number of ticks 3 0 3

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STUDENTS OF NORTH SOUTH UNIVERSITYQ1. Do you lunch in university? Answering Options Never Once a week Two to three times a week Everyday Number of ticks 1 11 16 3

Q2. Do you do your lunch in university canteen or outside restaurants? Answering Options University canteen Outside restaurants Both, but mostly in university canteen Both, but mostly in outside restaurants I dont do lunch in university Number of ticks 2 5 11 12 1

Q3. In which restaurants you used to lunch most often when NSU was in Banani? Answering Options Malotilota Boomers Sunbelly KFC Number of ticks 7 7 1 3
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Candy Floss Basori Prestine Caf Food Villa Western Grill Coffe World

3 2 2 1 1 2

Q4. Have you ever thought of the effects those small restaurants are having due to North South Universitys shift to Basundhara? Answering Options Yes , its significant No Number of ticks 24 7

Q5. Do you think those restaurants have been affected at all? Answering Options Yes No Maybe Number of ticks 16 2 12

Q6. What do you think is the magnitude of the effects on the restaurants due to the shift (if any?) Answering Options Significant Moderate Not much Dont know Number of ticks 14 11 6 0

Q7. Do you think that the restaurants have been able to survive due to the presence of other universities in the area? Answering Options Yes No Dont know Number of ticks 18 2 11
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Q8. Do you think any of the restaurants have been closed due to this move? Answering Options No Dont know Yes Number of ticks 21 8 2

Q9. Do you think that the restaurants should move to Basundhara? Answering Options Yes No Number of ticks 20 11

Q10. Do you think that North South University should provide support to those restaurants if they want to move to Basundhara? Answering Options Yes No May Be Number of ticks 4 12 15

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Graph Analysis of Restaurants Owners questionnaire:

Figure 4

19

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

20

Figure 8

Graph analysis of Students of NSU:

Figure 9

21

Figure 10

Figure 11

Figure 12

22

Figure 13

Figure 14

23

Figure 15

Figure 16

Figure 17

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Interview 1: Shawrma and Pizza

Q1. What is your name? Ans: Mustafiz Rahman Q2. What is your position in Shawrma and Pizza? Ans: I am the owner of the restaurant. Q3. How much did you rely on North South University for your business? Ans: We are located pretty far away from the campuses of North South University. Other universities like South East University, AIUB and South Asia is closer to our restaurants. That is why, we get comparatively more customers from these universities than North South University. But of course we get customers from North South University and they contribute to our daily revenue. Q4. Did you know that North South University was moving to Basundhara in summer 2009, which was at the end of May 2009? Ans: Yes I knew about it. Q5. How do you think your business has been affected due to this shift? Ans: As I have mentioned earlier, we mostly rely on customers from other universities and North South University did not contribute too much to our daily revenue. So I expected that my particular restaurant will not be affected too much. But off course I must say one thing, the status of North South University students is much higher on average than other universities around my restaurants, so even though I got comparatively less students of North South University, but the spending level was much higher compared to students of other universities. So off course my business has been affected but I think other restaurants which are much closer to North South University have been affected with greater magnitude. Q6. Which restaurants specifically do you think has been mostly affected and why? Ans: Malotilota, which is just beside North South University main campus has been affected the most. This is due to their location, as there was only one other university, Prime Asia, in that road. So they relied heavily on North South Students for their business. When North
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South University shifted to Basundhara, they have experienced a sharp fall in customers, and this made it tough for them to run their business. Again there is this other restaurant, Sun Belly which should also be affected due to this shift. But their impact has been less as they are closer to Banani market and there are a few offices in that road, so their customer level has not fallen as much as Malotilota. On the brighter side for these two restaurants, AIUB has opened a campus on that road, so this has saved them for the time being. Q7. Do you plan on moving to Basundhara near North South Students? Ans: Yes I do. Actually, I am looking for a suitable location in Basundhara for my restaurants. But I am facing severe problems in this regard. First of all, Basundhara authority is not willing to give permission for establishing restaurants there now. Even if I manage to get the permission, I will have to pay very high price for the land. Definitely moving to Basundhara with North South Students is beneficial for my business as they have the highest number of students compared to all other universities, and I have seen their new campus, and I expect the student number to double or even triple in a very short span of time. So its a good market for me. Q8. Do you have any final comments? Ans: All I would like to say is that very few restaurants are solely dependent on North South Universitys students for their business. As North South University has shifted to Basundhara, other universities have come to take its place. So in the long run, I dont see any significant affect on any restaurants in Banani due to this shift. Of course we would have preferred North South University in Banani than in Basundhara.

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Interview 2: Malotilota

Q.1 What is your name? Ans: Rafiqul Islam. Q.2 What is your position in Malotilota? Ans: I am the manager. Q.3 How long have you been working in Malotilota as a manager? Ans: I am working for 3 years. Q4. How much did you rely on NSU students for your business? Ans: There are only two restaurants located very close to NSU, and we are one of them, the other being Sun Belly. If you look around, over 70% of our customers were students of NSU. So, our whole business depended on NSU students. Although we got other customers, like students from other universities, drivers and so on, but we relied heavily on NSU students. Q5. Did you know that North South University was moving to Basundhara in summer 2009, which is at the end of May? Ans: Yes, I knew that. Q6. How do you think your business has been affected due to this shift? Ans: I think our business has been badly hurt. We lost most of our customers. As a result our income has fallen significantly. It has been very difficult for us to maintain the high fixed cost like rent and employee wages. If somehow we cant manage more customers, then we expect to have a tough time ahead. Q6. Which restaurants specifically do you think has been mostly affected and why? Ans: I think our restaurant has been mostly affected. First of all, our restaurant was closest to NSU, so we get most of the students; as a result, we were highly dependent on them for our business. Malotilota was also very popular among the students of NSU as we offer quality food with lots of variety at an affordable price. When NSU shifted, we have seen the largest fall in revenue. So, our business has been affected the most. Now we are doing well.
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Q7. Do you plan on moving to Basundhara near North South University? Ans: No, we dont. I have discussed this with my boss (restaurant owner), and he told me that he is not in a position to move to Basundhara now. We will try to operate our restaurant here, attracting students from other universities and make the best of what we have. If we cant, then we have no choice but to discontinue our business. Q8. Do you have any final comments? Ans: I was concerned about my employees who work here. I know they are hard working and honest, and it is due to their contribution that Malotilota is here today. I will feel very bad if I have to let them go if my revenue falls due to this move.

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Appendix 2

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