RCFP: Letter from MySpace page not private, court rules

            In the RCFP reports in early April a California court ruled a high school principal who sent a copy of a MySpace journal entry to the local newspaper is not liable for invasion of privacy. University of California at Berkley student, Cynthia Moreno wrote on her MySpace page ranting about her hometown. She deleted the entry after about a week it was on her page. When the principal saw it he sent it to the local newspaper who, printed it. The printed article had Moreno’s full name and upset a lot of people in the community. The Moreno family received lots of death threats, which caused them to eventually move out of town. The family filled a lawsuit against the principle for invasion of privacy and for the intention of causing emotional distress. The courts dismissed the case because of, “the state’s SLAPP statute, which allows the media to move to dismiss lawsuits that target speech in an attempt to block it.”

            Winning a case like this a person has to show the privacy was actually invaded but, because Moreno but the post on her MySpace page for all to see the principle was not invading her privacy. Also, because her full name and picture were on her MySpace page it was not an invasion of privacy to include that in the newspaper article. In the article it stated the court said, “Cynthia’s affirmative act made her article available to any person with a computer and thus opened it to the public eye. Under these circumstances, no reasonable person would have had an expectation of privacy regarding the published material.”

            I don’t think the principal invaded Moreno’s privacy because she did post her rant on the Internet for all to see. For him to go and send it in to a newspaper to print seems a little extreme to me. Maybe he should have written a response to her rant rather than humiliate her intentionally. For the newspaper to print what the principle sent in is lazy journalism. I don’t think the journalist did any research by asking Moreno any questions about why she posted her rant on her MySpace page. Moreno should have taken responsibility for her actions and written an apology letter for the newspaper to print. Then, the members in her community might have been a little more forgiving. 

USA Today: Generation Y: They’ve arrived at work with a new attitude

            Generation Y has as many as 70 million and is just now going out into the workforce.  They are hard workers, have high expectations and are not afraid to ask questions. Some call them “Generation X on steroids.” Gen Y is the largest diversified group of people with one out of every three being a minority. This generation has grown up being nurtured and pampered.  "Generation Y is much less likely to respond to the traditional command-and-control type of management still popular in much of today's workforce," says Jordan Kaplan, an associate managerial science professor at Long Island University-Brooklyn in New York." They've grown up questioning their parents, and now they're questioning their employers. They don't know how to shut up, which is great, but that's aggravating to the 50-year-old manager who says, 'Do it and do it now.' " IT is hard for 50-year-olds to work along side 20-year-olds at times because each dismisses each other’s abilities.

            Generation Y is more aware of their finances. Most have already started to plan saving for their future by age of 25. Gen Y wants change and is not afraid to move companies trying out different jobs. Instead of them making their lives fit their lives they want their jobs to fit their lives. This means more flexibility, part time working and telecommuting options when kids come into the picture. Gen Y has a higher level of self-fulfillment. Also, they want a more casual dress at work including flip-flops and capri pants but most companies do not allow their employees to wear casual attire.

            After reading this article and being in ‘Generation Y’ I would agree with what is being said. We do have higher expectations and want more out of companies. I have grown up with parents always telling me what a good job I’m doing and how proud of me they are. This is how I would want my employer to treat me. My generation is not afraid to ask questions and challenge what is demanded from us because we expect a lot from ourselves. I agree with the article when it says my generation isn’t going to respond well to the command-and-control type of management. We want to know the whys, hows and put in our too sense. I think my generation is going to change the work force. I think we are going to change how its all about the company and make it all about us. I don’t think its going to be a negative thing but a positive because it could change the economy from being money chasers to doing what is best for the people (and not only the company). 

This is a great article about our generation, Generation Y.  

RCFP: Sept. 11 records will likely remain sealed for now

A New York judge might unseal over one million pages of documents related to the 9/11 terrorist attacks but will most likely not release the documents. The documents are lawsuits from the families who lost loved ones against airlines and aviation security companies. The New York Times, victims’ families and the Reporters Committee asked U.S. District Court Judge Alkin K. Hellerstein to release the pages to the public but were denied. The documents might have new information on the security failures that led to the attacks. The airline attorneys are arguing that the release of the documents would delay the civil trial. “The wire service quoted Hellerstein as saying, ‘my goal is to move these cases to trial,’ adding that if the case does indeed go to trial ‘the history of what led to 9/11 may come out to some degree, or maybe it won't."

            I don’t think the documents should not be released because it would delay the trial. They should be released if they are going to expose the airlines and security contractors for doing a poor job. Fair justice should be made and I think releasing the documents would help other airlines and security contractors from making the same mistakes. I almost think its silly to not release the documents because it’s going to take too long to sort through them. 

CNN: Can Second Life help teach doctors to treat patients?

Second Life is an online learning program where medical students at Imperial College London are seeing patients, ordering X-rays, making diagnoses and consulting with colleagues all online. Even though it is not real there is still an interactive and hands-on experience. Students use alter egos called avatars to interact with each other online. The third-year med students are part in this pilot program for game-based learning. It’s a way for students to breakup the lecture and textbook learning. "The aim is to develop a more engaging learning environment, rather than just replicate what you have in real life, said Maria Toro-Troconis, a senior learning technologist at Imperial College London. Game-based learning plays a very important role." Also, “Toro-Troconis is looking into possible partnerships with other universities around the world. She envisions a day when nursing students from Australia use Second Life to collaborate with physical therapists from Japan and medical students from the U.S. -- all of them playing, and learning, together in a virtual environment.”

I think this is one of the coolest ideas in teaching medical students. It is a more interesting method to learn, rather than using textbooks and lectures. I know I would enjoy an “on-line gaming” experience much more than the traditional teaching techniques. I think this Second Life program will help students become more engaged in the classroom with lecture discussions. Also, I think it will help students have a more “visual effect” on the reading material, allowing them to actually see what they read. I believe this type of learning is going to spread like wild fire when people are more acceptable of digital print over paper print. Before people are acceptable of total digital print I don’t know what will come first, a total newspaper cross over or all academics incorporating this type of teaching in the curriculum.

Octuplet mom gains public sympathy

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/showbiz/2009/03/28/sbt.octumom.babies.home.cnn


Is she really as bad as the media has made her out to be?

RCFP: Bills to bar Internet regulation, limit data collection introduced

            “A House bill designed to prevent attempts to regulate the Internet was part of a package of privacy measures introduced in late July. Included in the bill are prohibitions against regulating the rates charged to the customers of Internet information services, as well as against imposing federally-mandated standards on the industry.” The act will require industries to show users who are seeing the information. Also, users have to give consent to release their information. Secondly, before information is solicited to children parental permission must be given. Lastly, the bill gives users the option to “opt out” of giving personal information. Finally, the third bill will ban the ability to modify scanners to intercept cell phone calls.

            I think after reading this article the bills are a great idea and will help protect Internet users. The Internet is growing at a fast-rate and there are more and more hackers stealing people’s identity on the Internet. These bills are another “patch” in the wireless system. Unfortunately, the government or whomever else are working to protect users will hit a dead end and will have to come up with other means to protect Internet users.