“Faculty at 14 Pa. State universities go on strike”

A faculty strike impacting more than 100,000 students at 14 Pennsylvania State universities began Wednesday after contract negotiations between the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and its faculty union hit an impasse. The Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties (Union) went on strike at 5 a.m. Faculty from more than a dozen universities (ex. Bloomsburg, West Chester, Shippensburg, Kutztown) say they've spent more than year rallying for a new contract. At issue is a heavier workload with no corresponding increase in salary for faculty. A last ditch attempt in Harrisburg to strike a deal failed Tuesday evening, meaning a strike could bring the semester to a halt at 14 universities. For anxious students, questions about financial aid, sports, and on-time graduation remain unanswered. The immediate impact of the possible strike would be felt beginning Wednesday with cancelled classes. But in the long-term, the system could suffer a crippling blow to its already declining enrollment.

In Other News For anyone who hates doing yard work, your new best friend may have arrived. A New York startup unveiled Kobi on Thursday, a robot it says can autonomously shovel snow, collect leaves and cut grass. "We're on a mission to help people not spend time on yard work," said Steven Waelbers, cofounder of The Kobi Company. "We want people to enjoy their free time with their family." Owners will need to reconfigure the robot's attachment -- similar to how many vacuums work -- depending on the task it's carrying out. Before the robot operates independently, an owner must manually wheel it around the yard -- taking it around any obstacles like trees, bushes or mailboxes. By doing this, the robot is taught the perimeter of the lawn, and won't accidentally destroy someone's prized rose bush or start roaming the neighborhood. Once this setup is complete, and the $3,999 robot has been trained on where to cut grass, rake leaves and shovel snow, it operates without any supervision.