In a car accident Friday morning, a van transporting eight Dartmouth students rolled over on Interstate 91 after hitting a patch of ice, the Associated Press reported. Vermont State Police said that none of the passengers sustained injuries, but one student was sent to the hospital with anxiety issues. The students were members of the Dartmouth Ultimate Frisbee team and were traveling to Virginia for a tournament. The ice caused the van to veer off the left side of the road into an embankment, eventually rolling over onto its side.
The tone of reader comments can potentially pollute readers' interpretations of online news articles, according to a New York Times op-ed by Dominique Brossard and Dietram Scheufele. Brossard and Scheufele, communications professors at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, published a study in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication last month on an experiment measuring what they call the "nasty effect." They found that rude comments distorted the way readers interpreted articles, though the effects were difficult to quantify. Brossard and Scheufele said that this phenomenon could significantly affect how readers perceive online science news. In response, many websites have prohibited online commenting, and others have developed rules to monitor comments or promote civility. Brossard and Scheufele, however, warn that Internet platforms depend on reader interaction and that the "nasty effect" will only gain momentum as social media gains traction in the world of reporting.
Monday marks the second round of New Hampshire's groundwater contamination trial against defendant ExxonMobile, ABC News reported. The state of New Hampshire filed charges against 26 oil companies and distributors over a decade ago, claiming that the gasoline additive MTBE contaminates water faster and in larger quantities than gasoline without the additive. ExxonMobile is the only defendant that has not yet settled with the state, which is seeking over $700 million to clean up an estimated 5,600 contaminated sites and test and monitor another 250,000 private wells. Lawyers for ExxonMobile claim that MTBE was used to cut smog and replace lead in gasoline in compliance with the 1990 Clean Air Act. Other lawsuits have also been filed over the use of MTBE. In 2009, New York City won $105 million in a trial against ExxonMobile for MTBE contamination, but that verdict has since been appealed.
