In this issue:
by Jim Carney
The Executive director of Bronx Net
Commentary:
by Jim Carney
The Executive director of Bronx Net
The Bronx
Journal 99-00. As the academic year 1999-2000 begins, we, at The Bronx
Journal, are pleased to report that the editorial and design changes we
tried out last spring were so successful they have now become part of
this year’s format. Space allocated to the Technology page has been
doubled. We have been fortunate to receive support for printing various
pages of the newspaper in full color, and the Children’s section
–now Section C,– now has been expanded to a four-page pull-out,
which is being produced in its entirety in full color.
Lehman faculty
and staff, working together with The Bronx Journal staff created a web
site where an electronic version of the newspaper is now available to
anyone in the world with access to the internet. Check us out at:
www.lehman.cuny.edu/depts/langlit/tbj
So,
whether the new millennium begins on January 1, 2000 as some believe, or
on January 1, 2001, as others say, we at TBJ will be ready.
We look forward
to furthering our goals of serving the community through education and
communication. We rely on your input as we continue to look at ways to
enhance TBJ, and we urge you to keep your letters and phone calls
coming. You may now also reach us by e-mail at: tbj@lehman.cuny.edu.
"Don’t
Forget The Pocket Knife"
As a child of
the sixties, my first memorable contact with
“in your
face” technology was in the shadow of the Unisphere.
James Carney
is the Executive Director of Bronxnet
I’ve been
thinking a lot lately about technology.
And not just the obvious kind.
We all have gathered around the valiant (and affluent) soul who
has slapped down a bundle to be the first with that new cell phone or
hand-held computer. That
type of “in your face” technology will always gather the crowds.
Its other ñ more subtle applications of technology which I've
been thinking about. PRIVATE
As a child of
the sixties, my first memorable contact with “in your face”
technology was in the shadow of the Unisphere.
To younger residents and newer arrivals to New York, the giant
skeletal globe of Planet Earth in the pastoral setting of Flushing
Meadow Queens, the Unisphere is nothing more than a landmark in the park. To my
generation of New Yorkers it represents the promise of technology and a
wonderful brave new world. The
Unisphere was the centerpiece of the 1963 World’s Fair.
While the concept of a World’s Fair has been rendered obsolete
by the Disney Worlds and Six Flags of today, the World’s Fair was for
a number of generations, the first and most potent exposure to a
wonderful future. But I especially privileged !
My father had
secured a part-time job as a security officer at the 1994 World’s
Fair. Much to our delight,
he was assigned to the futuristic RCA Pavilion.
It was there that my two sisters and I were able to “cut the
line” see ourselves on color TV.
The hulking TV cameras, oppressively hot lights and garishly
colored sets burned into our memories. It was a memory recalled recently
as I stood in line at my local convenience store, looked up and saw my
image “in living color”. A TV camera smaller than a pack of
cigarettes buried in the ceiling, generated a picture superior to that
image from long ago.
The miniature
cameras, palm sized microcomputers and magic key chains which now can
automatically pay for a tank of gas, all represent a side of technology
which we now rely upon and take for granted.
And there is the danger.
As I write this
muse, the death toll from the recent earthquake in a metropolitan center
of Turkey has reached 18,000 souls.
The ultimate irony may be that a high-tech earthquake, advance
warning system was in the process of being installed in the same region
where the epicenter of the quake occurred.
It was not the lack of these high tech tools however which is
hampering the search for survivors; it is as shortage of simple picks
and shovels.
The next time
waved my key chain at the gas pump, I could not help but think of
what I would do if the technology failed to work. What if a
gallon of gas, trapped 10 feet below my car was the only thing
preventing me from transporting a loved one to medical attention.
I think I will
keep my cell phone and my key chain. But I think I will also make sure I
always carry my Swiss Army Knife with me as well.
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