TO: Professor Deidre Frontczak

FROM: Cam Aldrich

DATE: April 16, 2019
SUBJECT: News Brief #2 from The New York Times

“Should That Minor Planet Be Named Gonggong? Astronomers Want the Public’s Help”
(April 12, Space and Cosmos)

 For nearly a decade, scientists have known about a small rust-colored planet orbiting
the sun but have yet to decide on a name.
 Normally, the discoverer Dr. Meg Shwamb, would name it but instead she made an
unorthodox choice and decided she wanted the general public’s opinion.
 Following the rules of mythological creatures of creation, Gonggong is a Chinese god
of water and the main name choice, while voting will continue until May 10.

“It’s Time to Delete Your Tweets. It’s Not That Easy.” (April 11, Style)

 TweetDelete is an service made in by Richard West in 2011 to allow users to

selectively mass choose tweets and delete them.
 Tweet deletion is a controversial topic as many argue what is posted should remain,
but West’s product still has approximately 4.5 million users deleting tweets.
 Director James Gunn lost his job when distasteful old tweets resurfaced so it will be
interesting to see how failing to delete tweets will affect the public in the future.

“Boston Marathon Winners: A Squeaker and a Runaway” (April 15, Sports)

 Lawrence Cherono beat out Lelisa Desisa by approximately two whole seconds at this
year’s Boston Marathon finish line.
 Cherono’s victory was significant as Desisa was the victor in 2013 during the horrific
bombings of Boston, where he gave his medal to the city to show respect for the
victims.
 Although there is still a fight for increased safety and awareness around the Boston
Marathon, the healthy competition between Cherono and Desisa shows great strides
for the future of marathon running.

“Over 4,200 Amazon Workers Push for Climate Change Action, Including Cutting Some Ties to
Big Oil” (April 10, Technology)

 Over 4,200 Amazon employees made their names public on a letter to Jeff Bezos
declaring that Amazon changes its approach to climate change.
 Usually orchestrated by outside shareholders or communities, this is the largest
employee-driven movement in a dynamic tech company like Amazon.
 The corporate vote has yet to take place but employees are hoping that Amazon will
stop providing cloud services to businesses using and extracting fossil fuels.