(Aton Start transmission Human interaction is simply irreplaceable Saya, a Japanese robotic teacher By Grace B. Neptuno rom the country that brought beer Fees machines and raw seafood delicacies into our lives, enter Saya, a Japanese elementary school teacher that takes attendance, speaks several different languages and makes that tight frowning face characteristic of anyone who works with children all day. What’s the catch, you ask? She’s a freaking robot! Saya is just one among many service robots now becoming commonplace within Japanese culture. Mitsubishi’s robotic nurses are being developed to minimize the social costs of caring for the increasing number of elderly in Japan. This kind of emotionally impotent weirdness is not limited to Japan alone. In England, the University of Warwick has begun a $2.7 million (£1.5 million) project called iWARD to design their own robot nurse with a target operational date of 2020. In true Pop Idol spirit, Canada just had to have its own version. University of interaction that the elderly and children need most. Imagine poor Grandpa Jack and his robotic elderly care-worker during a game of chess; Jack: “Black pawn to e4, your move E-bert.” E-bert: “By your command.” Jack: “Uh, yeah, I said it’s your move.” E-bert: “By your command.” Jack: “Right, go ahead and move.” E-bert: “By your command.” While the idea of re-booting the instructor to get a few more minutes of arts and crafts time may sound appealing, it is a human teacher that can prevent belligerence from students hopefully ensuring they develop, among other principles of conduct, a sense of cooperation. Without the uniqueness of human social interactions with students, we run the risk of creating children either running giddy with their own ill-conceived sense of right and wrong, or children who retreat to an underground lair to secretly worship a giant dormant nuclear Manitoba missile. professor § “Jo replace nurses and care workers with robots’ It Jacky undermines the value of human interaction.” | is not Baltes has just this developed writer’s his own robot, “Archie,” in the hopes that it may one day be sophisticated enough to assist in household tasks such as chopping vegetables, changing diapers and greeting guests so that suburban moms can /inally relax. That’s right. There isn’t a vision more calming than an encased integrated circuitry of copper wires and silicone giving my two year old raspberries on her belly. While it’s true that machines operating according to their designed computer programs have long existed in our lives, in the way of dishwashers, microwaves and not too long ago, the disturbingly adorable Roomba vacuum. These machines still function within safe and enclosed parameters and if needed, are terminable via an off switch. A robot, once sophisticated enough, is not so easy to turn off. Even Data had his bad positronic brain days. Aside from the possible physical dangers that large walking toasters might pose, to replace nurses and care workers with robots undermines the value of human 6 intent to convey a billboard-toting “end- of-the-world-is-nigh” sentiment about how dangerously close robots are to infiltrating human culture, but to also call attention to what philosopher Daisaku Ikeda once termed, “The Virtual Disconnect.” The social gap between humans is widening. The connection that, at one time could be made, simply by smiling or saying “hello” could go the way of the mini-disc if robots overrun positions where the ability to respond spontaneously is crucial to human interaction. The human desire for companionship and emotional and social interaction shorts out. It becomes artificial. So I suggest putting down your iPhone and unplugging your Wii. Play tennis with a real person. Share an impromptu story with your students, instructors or colleagues. Go visit your Grandpa and never, under any circumstances, allow a Tickle Me Elmo into your home. Get your bodies moving Exercise during the school year doesn’t take much By Shoshana Berman out of whack. Your body will be doing little more than sitting, even though you will be working on the computer, reading a book, taking notes in a lecture and (hopefully, more than occasionally) eating some nourishing food. Meanwhile, your brain will be processing information like a rat zipping through a maze to get the kibble at the end of the line. Still, as far as your body knows, you’re just lazing around on your butt. That’s a body and brain out of balance. Get your body moving and create an efficient brain—both of which lead to a calm mind ready to learn. I: school, your body/brain balance is Running is cheap. You can do it anywhere, anytime, alone or with friends. You can get a lot of thinking done on a run, and when your body’s moving, the thinking is better. A lot of marathon training happens when people are in school. You’d be surprised. If running’s not for you, find something that lasts at least half an hour, three times a week. Do something that gets your heart beating fast, leaves you slightly out of breath, and makes you break out in a sweat. And, yeah, wild crazy sex counts, if you really think can keep up at that pace for thirty minutes, you braggart. Increased betting limits not a big deal By Garth McLennan he Liberal government has taken a Te of much deserved flak over the past few weeks. The HST, frequent lying, the BC Rail case, the HST, the fudge budget, obscene pay raises for top level politicians, the HST, spiralling Olympic costs, massive across-the-board health care funding cuts and the HST are a few latest reasons for which Premier Gordon Campbell has been vilified. However, there is something that Campbell is taking heat for that is clearly getting blown out of proportion. I speak here of the furor caused over the massive increases to the limits of on-line gambling through the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC). For those who don’t know, the Liberals have dramatically raised the amount British Columbians can gamble through the BCLC’s Play Now website. There has been an 8300 per cent increase from $120 maximum per week to $10,000. Now, the hardcore anti-gambling faction has decried this decision as pure evil that will undoubtedly destroy countless families. They have also said that when Campbell was elected for the first time eight years ago, it was on a promise that online gambling would be stamped out, or at the very least be heavily regulated and controlled. That second part is true. Campbell did indeed make promises to control online gambling. However, on the running list of broken vows by Campbell, this is a long way from the most important. I’m not saying that Campbell should ever lie to the public; but really, after eight years, it might be time for a change for online gambling anyways. As for this being capable of breaking apart families, sure, the potential is there. However, that is true of any vice. I mean, a person can drink or spend as much as they want. Besides, if someone is truly addicted to gambling, they can very easily walk into any one of the beautiful casinos throughout B.C. and blow the family nest egg with no limit whatsoever. I know that isn’t a nice image, but it’s the truth. There are a lot of gambling options out there for people, and the BCLC website is only a very, very small part. What my position really comes down to is that B.C. isn’t a nanny state. I know there are people who want virtually everything to be government regulated but I believe that people should be allowed a good measure of freedom to make their own decisions and live with the consequences. Obviously there are exceptions to this position that I wholeheartedly agree with, such as smoking and drug enforcement laws, but if people want to gamble, then they should be allowed to gamble.