News log #21

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/24/dining/24robots.html?em

Article: Just like Mombot Used to Make

Summary: At Carnegie Mellon University, professional Paul Rybski and a couple of graduate students unveiled their latest creation. After two years and help from over 17 staff members, they showed a robot with a 20,000 laser navigation system, sonar sensors, and a camera that functions as its eyes. This bot delivers snacks and fulfill food orders. Besides making snacks, the robot was made to see how robots interact with humans. They also can act as good-will ambassadors and salesmen for a more automated future. The robots feature stoves and any other objects that are needed to make the food. These robots were made before such as the Omelet Maker Robot in Switzerland in 2008.

Conclusion: In my opinion, it's great that these students are coming out with such innovative ideas. Although it may be weird to have your food cooked by a robot at first, it becomes a benefit in the future when we're all too busy. Hopefully people don't take advantage of such tools and only use them absolutely necessary as these robots are definitely very expensive.

News post #20 (Haiti Day)

http://www.editorsweblog.org/newsrooms_and_journalism/2010/01/call_for_journalists_in_haiti_to_remain.php

http://worldfocus.org/blog/2010/02/10/as-journalists-continue-to-leave-haiti-hopelessness-persists/9630/

Journalists need to remain objective even when faced with covering a tragedy. The Society of Professional Journalists have a major concern when it comes to how journalists report on what is going on Haiti. They have issued a press release stressing the idea that the reporters there need to stay out of the stories they are covering. The organization says that even in such a time of disaster it is still the journalists' responsibility to remain objective. Kevin Smith, the president of the society, says, "I think it's important for journalists to be cognizant of their roles in disaster coverage. "Advocacy, self promotion, offering favors for news and interviews, injecting oneself into the story or creating news events for coverage is not objective reporting, and it ultimately calls into question the ability of a journalist to be independent, which can damage credibility." The ability to distinguish the difference between participant and observer in Haiti is crucial to remaining neutral when covering such a horrific incident.

Another issue involving journalists in Haiti is the debate whether they are doing more harm than good. The supply of resources is small and all that they have must used on earthquake victims. The New York Times and Washington Post each sent a staff of 10 people to Haiti to cover the story. A writer for the New Republic, Noam Scheiber suggests that journalists in Haiti are "mooching off supplies intended for earthquake victims" and describes the news sent back to America about what is going on "redundant".

On the other hand, many people are wondering if the journalists will continue to cover what is happening on the unfortunate island. Many reporters are pulling out and leaving Haiti. The country is still in desperate need for relief effort, but without news coverage how will we stay updated on what is happening? Peter Slevin, of the Washington Post, says, "“Haiti is tumbling headlong through a crisis that has not begun to abate, with evidence everywhere that current relief efforts are falling short.” Despite the difficult living conditions there, hopefully journalists will be able to endure and continue to cover the disaster without giving up hope.

News post #19

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/02/02/health/AP-EU-Britain-Medical-Journal.html?_r=1&em

Article: Vaccine- Autism Study Is Retracted

Summary: This past Tuesday, a major British medical journal, The Lancet, retracted an incorrect study that the vaccine for mumps, measles, and rubella is somehow related to autism. BMJ, a competing medical journal of The Lancet said,"'The arguments were considered by many to be proven and the ghastly social drama of the demon vaccine took on a life of its own.'' BMJ was outraged about how the theory was never proven and should have never been published.Ever since this study was published a couple years ago British parents have been avoiding the vaccine and the rate of measles has been increasing.

Conclusion: In my opinion, this casts a very poor light on British medical journals such as The Lancet because it shows how truly unreliable they can be. Despite the fact that they retracted the study, it has affected so many parents who were wary about getting their kids vaccinated in order to avoid autism. Now that it has been retracted hopefully people will learn to research issues like these more thoroughly before releasing them to the public.