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6/15/2004</title></head><body>
<div>MIT EDITORS' CLUB<br>
</div>
<div>*Meeting Notes from June 15, 2004*</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>I must begin these minutes by welcoming three new members of
Editors' Club who attended yesterday's meeting: Eric Bender, the new
publications manager for the Whitehead Institute (Eric's name may
sound familiar because he used to be with Technology Review);
Laura Koller, project manager for MIT Knowledge Updates; and David
Game,<font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000"> Director of
Professional Distance Programs</font> (the home for MIT Knowledge
Updates). So, quick, who can tell me what MIT Knowledge Updates is?
With the exception of those who attended this meeting, most of you
probably haven't a clue because this is a cool *new* MIT
initiative. But more on that to follow.....</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>First...</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>*Important News*</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>As most of you know, the News Office is currently accepting
resumes for two positions: a computer support assistant, and an
entry-level reporter/writer. Here's the shocker: soon we'll be
accepting resumes for yet another position. Alice Waugh, editor of
Tech Talk, and her family will be moving to Savannah, Georgia, where
her husband found a good job. Alice herself quickly landed a plum
position as executive editor of communications for the Savannah
College of Art and Design. Sigh.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>*Our Gang*</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>To put things back on a happy note, I encourage ya'll (that's for
Alice) to check out the following Boston Globe story by MIT Editors'
Club member Janet Wasserstein of Foundation Relations. It is one of
the funniest pieces of writing I've come across in a while, relating
Janet's experience participating in a mini triathlon.<font
color="#000000">
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/05/30/tr<span
></span>iathlon_did_not_seem_mini_to_me/</font></div>
<div><br></div>
<div>In other news, the International Network for Public Communication
of Science and Technology will be meeting in the US for the first time
thanks in large part to Rick Borchelt, director of communications for
the Whitehead Institute. Rick will co-chair the committee organizing
the conference, which will be held in 2008, tentatively in Los
Angeles.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>*MIT Knowledge Updates*</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>This new initiative is essentially a range of short, 1-3 hour
briefings on research topics where MIT is a leader. The Updates will
be sold to corporations, individuals, and others for a fee, but will
be free to members of the MIT community. Each Update will include such
things as a video talk by a faculty member on a given subject. Those
talks will then be supported by other materials such as short,
encyclopedia-like articles about key terms associated with the work.
For example, the prototype Knowledge Update will feature Bob Langer
talking about drug-delivery techniques. So the supporting articles
will be on polymers (Bob's specialty) and brain tumors (the focus of
one of Bob's inventions).</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>David and Laura kindly sent along the URL for the Langer
prototype, so you can get a personal preview of the initiative. It's
available to all MIT certificate-holders, and is at
https://web.mit.edu/knowledgeupdates/ku_drugdelivery/index_student.ht<span
></span>ml.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>*Vest Timeline*</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>The News Office recently produced a timeline on the Vest
presidency that was distributed at graduation. It is way cool, says
the unbiased Elizabeth. Seriously, my colleague Sarah Wright over here
turned the whole thing around in only a few months, and it comes
complete with photos of key research/events over the last 13 years
plus essays written by Dr. Vest about initiatives he is especially
proud of. If you'd like a copy, please send a note to my colleague
Patti Foley at pfoley@mit.edu</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>*MIT Clips*</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Every day the News Office sends out an electronic "clip
packet" to folks like Dr. Vest. The packet includes links to MIT
stories that have appeared in the news that day (or recently).
Yesterday's clip packet is at the end of this note so you can get a
feel for what they're like. Would you like to be added to the
distribution list? If so, contact Patti again at pfoley@mit.edu</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>*Administrative Stuff*</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>It's summer, which means it's time for my annual update of the
MIT Editors' Club membership. To that end I'll be sending you the
complete membership of MIT Editors' Club soon.....I'd appreciate it if
you could review your entry and let me know if there are any changes.
Also: please let me know of any members who are no longer at
MIT. Finally: always feel free to invite other folks to join; simply
have them send me a note.</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>And....that's it for now!</div>
<div><br></div>
<div>Elizabeth</div>
<div>===================================<br>
Elizabeth A. Thomson<br>
Assistant Director, Science & Engineering News<br>
Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br>
News Office, Room 11-400<br>
77 Massachusetts Ave.<br>
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307<br>
617-258-5402 (ph); 617-258-8762 (fax)<br>
<thomson@mit.edu><br>
<br>
<http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/www></div>
<div>===================================</div>
<div><br></div>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>X-Sieve: CMU Sieve 2.2<br>
Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 12:25:03 -0400<br>
To: News Clips List:;@MIT.EDU<br>
From: News Office Clips <pfoley@MIT.EDU><br>
Subject: Today's clips<br>
X-Spam-Score: -10.1<br>
X-Spam-Flag: NO<br>
X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.28 (www . roaringpenguin . com /
mimedefang)<br>
</blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000"><b>Idea finally
spins gold for Web's inventor</b></font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000">Tim Berners-Lee
will receive $1.7-million for concept that changed the
world</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font
color="#000000"
>http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040615.gtrweb15<span
></span>/BNStory/Technology/</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000">The Globe and Mail,
by Simon Avery, June 15, 2004</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000">"Nearly 13
years after he invented the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee will
become a wealthy man today. His creation spun a generation of youthful
millionaires and billionaires, lit the spark for the New Economy and
paved the way for massive new industries such as
e-commerce."</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font
color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>
<hr></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font
color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000"><b>Robot Speeds
Embryonic Stem Cell Work</b><br>
Allows rapid screening of materials for repairing tissue, growing
replacement organs</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font
color="#000000"
>http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2004-06-14-2</font
></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000">Betterhumans, by
Gabe Romain, June 14, 2004</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000">"Robotic
technology has been developed to dramatically speed the process of
finding materials upon which to grow embryonic stem cells for use in
repairing tissue and developing replacement
organs.</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000">"The system,
developed by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology in Cambridge, helps overcome the difficulty of coaxing
embryonic stem cells to grow outside the body.</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000">" 'Until now
there has been no quick, easy way to assess how a given material will
affect cell behavior,' says MIT researcher Robert
Langer."</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font
color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>
<hr></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font
color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000"><b>A look at NASA's
newest astronaut candidates</b><br>
http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/8923012.htm?1c</font
></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000">Associated Press,
June 14, 2004</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000">[Two (of 11) are
MIT alumni: Chris Cassidy and Bobby Satcher.]</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font
color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>
<hr></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font
color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000"><b>Romney urges
board to OK part of MCAS scholarship</b></font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font
color="#000000"
>http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=31934</font
></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000">The Boston Herald,
by Jennifer Rosinski, June 15, 2004</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000">"Gov. Mitt
Romney today plans to ask the Board of Higher Education to approve
part of a controversial scholarship program that rewards the top MCAS
scorers with a free ride at state colleges." (General interest,
no MIT mention)</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font
color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>
<hr></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font
color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000"><b>Badges reveal
interests of conference attendees</b></font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font
color="#000000"
>http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index.ssf?/base/business-0/1087283<span
></span>558305050.xml</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000">The New Jersey
Star-Ledger, by Jeff May, June 15, 2004</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000">"Breaking the
ice at conferences used to be awkward. Then along came
nTags.</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000">" 'This is
pretty neat,' says John Moreno, a Mercer County salesman whose
favorite cult films include 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Gone with the
Wind.'</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000">"His
4-by-4-inch name badge divulged these conversation-starters to a
similarly equipped stranger, whose revealed tastes ran more to Monty
Python.<br>
"Such discoveries punctuated a recent conference in Parsippany
for Lucent Technologies' suppliers. Lucent hired nTags, a Boston
company hatched from the MIT Media Lab, to outfit 300 attendees with
the infrared badges. "</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font
color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite>
<hr></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font
color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000"><b>Mischievous
Raccoon Wreaks Havoc On International Space
Station</b></font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font
color="#000000">http://theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4023&n=1</font
></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000">The Onion, June 9,
2004</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font
color="#000000">MOSCOW-"Orbiting the earth aboard the
International Space Station, Expedition 9 scientists were chagrined to
report a bevy of equipment and supply problems stemming from the
behavior of an inquisitive raccoon Monday.<br>
"The pesky raccoon that has turned the ISS (below) upside
down.</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000">Above: The pesky
raccoon that has turned the ISS (below) upside
down.</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font color="#000000">" 'Yesterday,
we found fruit rinds in the EVA suits and helmets, and the day before,
it was garbage strewn all over the Pirs Docking Module,' ISS Science
Officer (and MIT alumnus) Mike Fincke said via a video-link to Russian
mission control."</font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font
color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font
color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><br></blockquote>
<blockquote type="cite" cite><font
color="#000000"><br></font></blockquote>
<div><br></div>
<div><br></div>
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