Education
NYT: Study Shows Students Use Internet Primarily for Research
Campaigns
WP: U.S. Appeals Court Rejects City Campaign Spending Cap
NYT: Limits on Campaign Spending Are Invalid, Appeals Court Says
Computer Technology
NYT: Quantum Computing Is Becoming More Than Just a Good Idea
** Education **
Title: Study Shows Students Use Internet Primarily for Research
Source: New York Times (CyberTimes)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/04/cyber/articles/28education.html
Author: Pamela Mendels
Issue: Internet
Description: According to a study by Quality Education Data, a Denver-based
market research company that studies trends in education, the most popular
use of the Internet in schools is for research. In its third annual survey
of Internet use in schools, QED surveyed about 400 K-12 teachers at public
schools around the nation. The survey, conducted by phone this past
February, found that about "82 percent of schools are connected to the
Internet. Less than half were wired when the study was first conducted in
1996. Increasingly, classrooms -- rather than libraries or computer labs --
are being wired, too, according to Karin K. Hendersin, director of market
research for the company." Of the teachers who responded to the survey: 69
percent said they use the Internet at least once a week as a tool for
research and as a teaching aid; 66 percent use the Internet to get
curriculum material; 46 percent said they use the Internet for professional
development; 44 percent use the Internet for lesson planning; and about 35
percent said they use the Internet as a "presentation tool" to display
material to their students. The complete study is scheduled to be released
in May.
** Campaigns **
Title: U.S. Appeals Court Rejects City Campaign Spending Cap
Source: Washington Post (A5)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-04/28/057l-042898-idx.html
Author: The Associated Press
Issue: Campaign Spending
Description: A Federal appeals court yesterday rejected a Cincinnati
ordinance that was seeking to put spending limits on City Council
candidates, saying that the law violates candidates' right to free-speech.
Monday's decision marks the first time a federal appeals court had ruled on
the issue since "the Supreme Court rejected Congress's attempt to impose
mandatory spending limits on congressional candidates" in 1976. One
appellate judge, Avern Cohn, said that campaign spending laws could be valid
as a way to free office-holders from the pressures of fundraising so they
could spend more time on their elected duties -- but the Cincinnati
ordinance doesn't do that. "This is not the case to change the landscape of
campaign finance," Cohn wrote.
Title: Limits on Campaign Spending Are Invalid, Appeals Court Says
Source: New York Times (A14)
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/chicago-campaign-reform.html
Author: Bill Dedman
Issue: Campaign Spending
Description: A ruling on campaign spending by a Federal appeals court in
Cincinnati yesterday, was a blow to those that had hoped to find "a vehicle"
for overturning a 1976 Supreme Court ruling that extended First Amendment
protection to campaign spending. A three judge panel of the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Sixth Circuit struck down a 1995 Cincinnati ordinance that
would have limited the amount of money a candidate for City Council could
spend to three times the salary of a council member, or about $140,000. "The
suit, Kruse v. City of Cincinnati, was filed by a group led by John Kruse, a
losing candidate in the 1995 election." The case was closely watched by
cities and states around the country, with 33 states filing briefs
supporting Cincinnati's position. "To say it's a stinging rebuke and an end
of the movement is entirely incorrect," said John C. Bonifaz, executive
director of the National Voting Rights Institute, a Boston non-profit group,
hired by the City of Cincinnati to argue the case. "The door has been left
open." But Michael A. Carvin, the lawyer who represented John Kruse and won
the case, said the issue was settled. "Just as it would be blatantly
unconstitutional to say that a candidate can have only five campaign
appearances and make five speeches, so is it unconstitutional to limit
spending," said Carvin.
** Computer Technology **
Title: Quantum Computing Is Becoming More Than Just a Good Idea
Source: New York Times (C4)
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/042898quantum.html
Author: John Markoff
Issue: Computer Technology
Description: Earlier this month, researchers at IBM Corp., the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, the Univ. of Calif. at Berkeley and Oxford Univ.
announced they have succeeded for the first time in building the first
working computers based on the principles of quantum mechanics, a branch of
physics that describes the "quirky world" of subatomic particles where both
yes and no can "simultaneously" be true. The scientists were able to fashion
a "novel computer in which the processor consisted of atoms of hydrogen and
chlorine and used it to sort an unordered list of items." Their discovery
has created a wave of excitement throughout the scientific community and is
leading research institutes to "embark on similar experiments heralding the
advent of an era of so-called quantum computers, specialized machines that
may one day prove thousands or even millions times faster than today's most
powerful supercomputers." There are still major hurdles to overcome before
quantum computers can be applies to general problems, said Richard J.
Hughes, a physicist who leads a team working in the field of quantum
information at Los Alamos National Laboratory. However, a number scientists
working in this new field believe that "enough progress has been made to
foresee significant applications." According to Stanley Williams, a Hewlett
Packard physicist who is coordinating his company's quantum computing
research, "This will reshape the face of science."
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