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How to Keep them from Putting a Chip in Your Head By Abby Bertumen If the technological predictions cited by journalist Clarence Page were a reality today, the blood vessel sized computer chip floating around in my cranial fluid would reveal that I am feeling very disturbed. Page, a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist from the Chicago Tribune and most recently a political commentator on shows like "The McLaughlin Group," was the third Park Distinguished Speaker in a series funded by the Park Foundation. Perhaps the lecture series should change its name to the "Park Pacification Series"-as Page's commentary on technology and 21st century media seemed to offer no resolve for people wading through the stagnant canal of mainstream media that gets narrower every year. In fact, Page seemed to add some new toxic waste to the mess by throwing out suggestions and valid predictions for the future, but offering no commentary on them. He mentioned that technology would become so advanced that a computer's capacity to think and work will exceed the human intelligence and ability; he also said that small computer chips could be invented that would be able to travel through the bloodstream and determine a person's feelings, their spirituality even. Having heard this, listeners looked toward the illuminated podium for some guidance, but all they got from Page was a joke and a chuckle. I won't be laughing too hard when scientists with federal defense grants come after me with butter knives and magnifying glasses, admiring the shape of my skull, and saying they "just want to talk." Now, it wouldn't be fair to blame Page or the Park Foundation for problems that have permeated our culture with the growth of technology--issues which have intensified on this cusp of "the new millennium." To his credit, Page is the first to say he entered into journalism to provide a service to the people, and his credentials reflect that: covering changing politics in South Africa, exposing voter fraud through undercover work in Chicago and offering perspectives on race. So why now, at this most crucial time, does a veteran journalist and a knowledgeable man like himself choose the "Thanks, folks, I'll be here all week" routine instead of saying what must be bugging the hell out of him and other people, in all fields. A similar thing happened with P.J. O'Rourke, last year's Distinguished Speaker. O'Rourke took a stand by saying that a gap would always exist between the rich and the poor, then made a joke about how the acidheads of his generation would soak up all the Social Security before we can get to it. Of course, there's nothing wrong with having a little laugh, especially if we all might die Jan. 1, 2000. But what we need is more credit, and solutions. Clarence Page shouldn't tell us that the face of media, culture and society is about to change because of technology; and that we better cross that media bridge to the new century-or we will become a permanent fixture in this place just like Roy H. Park himself, but without the fancy portrait and display case, or the name or memory, or the money. (Not Page's words) My point is that we as a society have some things to do before we worry about getting a computer in every home, checking our scalps for tiny disk drives or even wondering if Donald Trump will still judge the Miss America Pageant if he is elected President; we have to take care of the "gaps," that Page and others "mention." First, the information gap. Page said that media have become so consolidated that soon only one corporation will own the entire industry. However, in the same breath, he said that we must all take part in the new information age--acting like access to information exists on some sort of harmonious, equal level, some even keel. When the Clinton Administration acknowledges that it has elevated this country to be the world's number one arms dealer, and the mainstream media reports on it, then we can deal with a universal information system. When we stop hearing about civilians being blown up on bridges by the U.S. military almost 50 years after the fact, then we can consider working as a country towards a unified, technological advancement. Second, the cultural and economic gap. Page said it had to change. But how? Perhaps when $1 billion is no longer a drop in the bucket for computer bigwigs, or for a Presidential candidate, and when we see each other on TV as motivators of culture, instead of Bill Gates or Steve Forbes. "We're gettin tired........." Abby Bertumen is a junior journalism major at Ithaca College. |
