ED TECH
$2 Million to School District in Manhattan (NYT)
Universities Finding a Sharp Rise in Computer-Aided Cheating (NYT)
TELEPHONY
Ameritech Service to Fend Off Unwanted Calls (ChiTrib)
Advertising: Ameritech's New Phone Service Aims to Keep
Telemarketers at Bay (WSJ)
USTA Says Congress Will Review FCC Operations
and Structure (TelecomAM)
Tutorial on Internet Telephony (FCC)
ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT INFORMATION
House Panel Plans 1st Web Broadcast of Hearing (WP)
TELEVISION
Networks Feel Pressure From Their Cable Cousins (ChiTrib)
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
In Wisconsin Race for Senate, 2 Opponents Put Limits on
Campaign Coffers (NYT)
The Color of Campaign Finance (WP)
ADVERTISING
Advertisers Are Graded on How They Depict Women (NYT)
SATELLITE
Globalstar Estimates Launch Failure Will Add
$240 Million to Satellite Costs (WSJ)
INFO TECH
Eyes for the Mouse, Wheels for the Joystick (NYT)
Powering Down Prices (WP)
====================
EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
====================
$2 MILLION TO SCHOOL DISTRICT IN MANHATTAN
Issue: EdTech -- Training
The Department of Education's Technology Innovation Challenge Grant Program
announced that $30 million would be distributed to 20 school districts in 17
states. The funds are to support parents and teachers who use new
technologies in the classroom. "The grants focus on enhancing teachers'
skills and their professional development to use computers and advanced
learning technologies in their classrooms," Richard W. Riley, the Secretary
of Education, said. "Students will benefit from teachers who are familiar
with these rapidly changing technologies and are able to effectively
integrate them into their teaching curriculum."
[SOURCE: New York Times (A26)]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/regional/092398educ-ny-grant.html
UNIVERSITIES FINDING A SHARP RISE IN COMPUTER-AIDED CHEATING
Issue: EdTech
Don't give into the dark side of edtech, young Skywalker. "I don't know if
this is the beginning of an ugly, awful trend or just a blip," said one
professor. "It's a new world out there." Cheating seems to be on the rise at
American universities as students find it easier to copy term papers, test
answers, and other works through computer technology. "Let's say everyone in
the class has a networked computer," said a vice provost at Clemson
University. "They can exchange information electronically. They can pull
down information electronically. Who's going to watch over every student's
shoulder to see what they are doing?" Professors are urged to tie
assignments closely to course material and to require outlines and drafts to
monitor a student's progress.
[SOURCE: New York Times (A26), AUTHOR: Ian Zack]
http://www.nytimes.com/
=========
TELEPHONY
=========
AMERITECH SERVICE TO FEND OFF UNWANTED CALLS
Issue: Telephone
For $11.50/month you may be able to make your home a 'telemarketing-free'
zone. Ameritech launched a new service, Privacy Manager, in Chicago on
Tuesday. The service, in conjunction with CallerID, diverts calls that don't
carry identification. An automated message asks the caller to identify
herself. If the answer is no, the call is terminated; if the caller
complies, Privacy Manager completes the call, announces who is calling, and
allows the customer to accept or decline the call. [Yeah, you're right, it's
not new; it's an automated butler.] "It's almost like the protection
racket," said Seamus Glynn associate director of the Consumers Utility
Board. "The same company that comes up with more and more ways people can
get to you at home and invade your privacy now comes up with protection
against these invasions." A local telecommunications consultant said, "It's
a fabulous windfall for Ameritech. They charge the telemarketer to make a
call at the same time they charge you to screen it and block it. It's like a
restaurant charging you for large portions and then charge to take away what
you don't want to eat. I love it. It's a fabulous marketing ploy, but
there's no small amount of irony in what they're doing." Jeffery Kagan, a
industry analyst, said, "It's the latest escalation in technological
warfare. First the telemarketers called us cold, so we got Caller ID and
could ignore unwanted solicitations. Then the marketers started blocking
their ID. Now we can block the blockers. It's like the arms race, and a
great deal for Ameritech."
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (Sec 3, p.1), AUTHOR: Jon Van]
http://chicagotribune.com/textversion/article/0,1492,ART-15294,00.html
ADVERTISING: AMERITECH'S NEW PHONE SERVICE AIMS TO KEEP TELEMARKETERS AT BAY
Issue: Telephone
A new phone service called Privacy Manager has begun service in two U.S.
cities to thwart calls from telemarketers. Privacy Manager works as an
add-on to caller ID to identify callers. The service intercepts calls that
do not have a name and number provided for caller ID and requires the caller
to provide verbal identity. The user then can decide whether to take the
call or not. The service by Ameritech is planned for nationwide
distribution and will cost $3.95 a month.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B10), AUTHOR: Sally Beatty
http://wsj.com
USTA SAYS CONGRESS WILL REVIEW FCC OPERATIONS AND STRUCTURE
Issue: FCC
U.S. Telephone Association (USTA) President Roy Neel told reporters
yesterday that the 106th Congress may begin "vigorous oversight" of the
FCC's operations and structure resulting in mandates to shrink the agency
and limit its authority. Mr. Neel faulted the FCC's interpretation of the
Telecommunications Act of 1996. The goal, he said, is for the FCC to "come
around to a different way of thinking," in part by reducing regulation on
local telephone companies.
[SOURCE: Telecom AM]
http://www.telecommunications.com/am/
TUTORIAL ON INTERNET TELEPHONY
Issue: Internet
The Office of Engineering and Technology will present a tutorial on
"Internet Telephony: Voice Over IP" on October 5th in the Commission Meeting
Room, Room 856, 1919 M Street N.W. The tutorial will be given by personnel
from Cisco Systems, Inc. and will consist of a morning and afternoon
session. The morning session will be from 9 am to 11 am and the afternoon
session will be from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm. Topics to be covered include: what
is voice over Internet Protocol, why voice over IP, how is this
accomplished, what network architectures and applications are used, the
economics of voice over IP networks, case studies and operations.
[SOURCE: FCC]
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Engineering_Technology/Public_Notices/1998/pnet8
017.html
================================
ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT INFORMATION
================================
HOUSE PANEL PLANS 1ST WEB BROADCAST OF HEARING
Issue: Internet
The House Agriculture Committee becomes the first congressional panel to
broadcast proceedings with live audio over the Internet. The subject is
emergency food assistance programs. Representative Robert F. Smith,
committee chairman, called it "a great step forward to making the government
more accessible." The 10 a.m. hearing is available at
http://www.house.gov/agriculture/audio.htm on the Web.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A23), AUTHOR: Reuters]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-09/23/028l-092398-idx.html
==========
TELEVISION
==========
NETWORKS FEEL PRESSURE FROM THEIR CABLE COUSINS
Issue: Television Economics
The tension between broadcast and cable television surfaced during the
Emmys. Broadcasters are seeing a majority of the audience shifting to cable
channels instead of their own as cable has aired more original programming.
Warren Littlefield, President of NBC Entertainment, said "Despite increased
penetration and the addition of new cable services every day, viewership for
individual cable services -- and pay cable -- is simply not on the rise. But
actually, does the viewer really distinguish any longer between network
television and cable television? The kids, when they're sitting there with
the clicker, don't really distinguish at all [and], in 76% of the country,
NBC comes in on a wire,just like anything else. So, we are looking, really,
more than ever, at competing with everything that comes in over the wire."
Networks are having problems launching hits, yet they still beat cable in
creating drama series and promoting "event television" like the last
Seinfeld or the Super Bowl. Cable is competing with comedies like The Larry
Sanders Show and made-for TV movies like Miss Ever's Boys.
[SOURCE: Chicago Tribune (Sec 5, p.1), AUTHOR: Gary Dretzka]
http://chicagotribune.com/
=======================
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
=======================
IN WISCONSIN RACE FOR SENATE, 2 OPPONENTS PUT LIMITS ON CAMPAIGN COFFERS
Issue: Campaign Finance Reform
Senator Russell Feingold (D) and challenger Representative Mark Neumann (R)
have agreed to limit their spending in this year's race for the Senate. The
agreement is a kind of "do-it-yourself" campaign finance reform by the
co-sponsor of this year's major finance reform bill and a challenger that
believes Americans don't need mandates to do what's right. Sen Feingold has
also refused to cooperate with lobbyists raising money to run ads on his
behalf. Paul Taylor, executive director of the Alliance for Better
Campaigns, cautions that the spending limits may "tilt the playing field to
outside interests," like business and union groups. "It's an attractive
experiment," Mr. Taylor said. "The instinct is to be applauded. But
everybody ought to have their eyes open here."
[SOURCE: New York Times (A14), AUTHOR: Dirk Johnson]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/sen/articles/092398wi-sen.html
THE COLOR OF CAMPAIGN FINANCE
Issue: Minorities/Campaign Finance
A report from Public Campaign to be released today says blacks and other
minorities give money to political campaigns far less frequently than
whites. The result is limited influence in a political process that is
increasingly dependent on money. Public Campaign calls the current system
unfair and is taking legal action against laws in some state and local
jurisdictions.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A23), AUTHOR: Michael A. Fletcher]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-09/23/025l-092398-idx.html
===========
ADVERTISING
===========
ADVERTISERS ARE GRADED ON HOW THEY DEPICT WOMEN
Issue: Advertising/Gender
Advertising Women of New York has graded fellow advertisers again this year
and will honor and dishonor some with the annual the Good, the Bad, the Ugly
Awards scheduled for today. Ads that portray women as multidimensional will
gain praise. Ads were graded by a panel of judges, but also by focus groups
-- videos of which will be shown at the luncheon.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C5), AUTHOR: Courtney Kane]
http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/financial/women-ad-column.html
==========
SATELLITES
==========
GLOBALSTAR ESTIMATES LAUNCH FAILURE WILL ADD $240 MILLION TO SATELLITE COSTS
Issue: Satellite
Globalstar Telecommunications Ltd. said the cost of completing its planned
constellation of telecommunication satellites will rise by $240 million. On
September 9 Globalstar suffered a major setback when a rocket carrying 12
satellites exploded delaying the start of service by three months.
Globalstar's telecommunications services are to begin in late 1999 using 32
satellites with final plans calling for 48 satellites.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal (B6), AUTHOR: Wall Street Journal Staff Reporter
http://wsj.com
=========
INFO TECH
=========
EYES FOR THE MOUSE, WHEELS FOR THE JOYSTICK
Issue: InfoTech
Internet software developers Carl Malamud and Marshall Rose have started a
new company, Invisible Worlds Inc, to develop navigation tools for the
Internet with maps that portray the relationships between computers and
information as three-dimensional space. "We think you should be able to take
your mouse or joystick and drive around the Internet," Mr. Malamud said.
"One of the reasons the Web seems so chaotic is there is no way to see it
visually." He said this is the first commercial effort to try to map the
entire Internet. Mr. Rose developed the Post Office Protocol (POP), the
standard for send and receiving email; Mr. Malamud developed Internet Talk
Radio and other nonprofit projects. Vinton Cerf, who invented the Internet
protocol and is now an executive at MCI WorldCom [is it me, or does WorldCom
MCI sound better?], said mapping the Internet is a daunting task with no
certain outcome -- he abandoned his own effort to do so because it was too
difficult.
[SOURCE: New York Times (C7), AUTHOR: John Markoff]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/09/biztech/articles/23internet-ma...
POWERING DOWN PRICES (WP)
Issue: Computer Technology
Computer prices have been in a steep decline the past 18 months, but
industry analysts say we may be "getting to the bottom." A computer with
Internet capability and up-to-date software often sells for under $1,000
today. Analysts offer three reasons for the decline: a price war is driving
prices down, current software does not need more advanced systems to
operate, and Asian companies in the midst of a financial crisis are slashing
prices for memory chips and other key components.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (C14), AUTHOR: Elizabeth Corcoran]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1998-09/23/145l-092398-idx.html
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