[Editors] MIT Editors' Club Minutes, 6/15/2004

Wed Jun 16 10:29:00 EDT 2004

MIT EDITORS' CLUB

*Meeting Notes from June 15, 2004*

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, 
Director of Professional Distance Programs (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.....

First...

*Important News*

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.

*Our Gang*

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. 
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/05/30/triathlon_did_not_seem_mini_to_me/

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.

*MIT Knowledge Updates*

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).

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.html.

*Vest Timeline*

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 at mit.edu

*MIT Clips*

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 at mit.edu

*Administrative Stuff*

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.

And....that's it for now!

Elizabeth
===================================
Elizabeth A. Thomson
Assistant Director, Science & Engineering News
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
News Office, Room 11-400
77 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA  02139-4307
617-258-5402 (ph); 617-258-8762 (fax)
<thomson at mit.edu>

<http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/www>
===================================

>X-Sieve: CMU Sieve 2.2
>Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 12:25:03 -0400
>To: News Clips List:;@MIT.EDU
>From: News Office Clips <pfoley at MIT.EDU>
>Subject: Today's clips
>X-Spam-Score: -10.1
>X-Spam-Flag: NO
>X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.28 (www . roaringpenguin . com / mimedefang)
>
>
>Idea finally spins gold for Web's inventor
>Tim Berners-Lee will receive $1.7-million for concept that changed the world
>http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040615.gtrweb15/BNStory/Technology/
>The Globe and Mail, by Simon Avery, June 15, 2004
>"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."
>
>
>
>Robot Speeds Embryonic Stem Cell Work
>Allows rapid screening of materials for repairing tissue, growing 
>replacement organs
>http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2004-06-14-2
>Betterhumans, by Gabe Romain, June 14, 2004
>"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.
>"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.
>" 'Until now there has been no quick, easy way to assess how a given 
>material will affect cell behavior,' says MIT researcher Robert 
>Langer."
>
>
>
>A look at NASA's newest astronaut candidates
>http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/8923012.htm?1c
>Associated Press, June 14, 2004
>[Two (of 11) are MIT alumni: Chris Cassidy and Bobby Satcher.]
>
>
>
>Romney urges board to OK part of MCAS scholarship
>http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=31934
>The Boston Herald, by Jennifer Rosinski, June 15, 2004
>"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)
>
>
>
>Badges reveal interests of conference attendees
>http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index.ssf?/base/business-0/1087283558305050.xml
>The New Jersey Star-Ledger, by Jeff May, June 15, 2004
>"Breaking the ice at conferences used to be awkward. Then along came nTags.
>" 'This is pretty neat,' says John Moreno, a Mercer County salesman 
>whose favorite cult films include 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Gone with the 
>Wind.'
>"His 4-by-4-inch name badge divulged these conversation-starters to 
>a similarly equipped stranger, whose revealed tastes ran more to 
>Monty Python.
>"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. "
>
>
>
>Mischievous Raccoon Wreaks Havoc On International Space Station
>http://theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4023&n=1
>The Onion, June 9, 2004
>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.
>"The pesky raccoon that has turned the ISS (below) upside down.
>Above: The pesky raccoon that has turned the ISS (below) upside down.
>" '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."
>
>
>
>

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