Techno trap
Advanced gadgets trip up our lives
AARON COOPER is a
junior English major and
a Daily Nebraskan colum
nist.
The studies are in. Americans
watch some 40-50 hours of television
a week, not including time spent lis
tening to compact discs, on the
Internet, talking on cellular phones
and playing video games. Many peo
ple would say everything you need to
know or do can be accomplished
right from your own home.
Many people would be wrong.
Techno corporations boast about
the all-powerful “information super
highway.” With the birth of the mod
em Internet, it would be safe to say
that this megacommunications sys
tem is well on its way - maybe a little
too well. It’s only a matter of time
before we will open our doors by
coded fingerprint systems, and be
talking to Aunt Gertrude on picture
phones when she has her mud mask
on. Is that what we really want? God,
I hope not!
We’ve all seen the movies: “Total
Recall”, “The Running Man”, “The
Fifth Element.” These are places
where you can walk in your door after
coming home from work and start a
pot of coffee, turn on the television
and the lights, and open your win
dows all within 10 seconds by voice
operation.. Forget the clapper - that’s
a thing of the distant past. Pretty soon
flushing tbilets will be setting off
Pakistani radar detectors once scien
tists harbor the electrical transport
potential of superconductivity.
I see a point when people will say
cellular phones are beneficial to have
in emergencies, or that the Internet
saves on postage and cuts mailing
time to a fraction of the manual rate;
but like anything else some people
don’t know when to quit. People will
freely and ignorantly give out credit
card numbers over die Internet Cable
isn’t good enough, so HDTV (high
definition television) must be imme
diately acquired. The business world
is the worst; where there’s some poor
lost soul driving to work with two
beepers, two cellular phones plus an
extra flip phone, and a portable fax in
his or her car while he or she is on
two phones with four people (via call
waiting) and being beeped, yelled at,
and barked at all at the same time. We
want technology to make our lives
easier.
Welcome to America.
Something inevitably gets lost in
this hype. That something is nature.
When was the last time you went hik
ing or mountain climbing? How
about camping? Granted, many peo
ple take part in these activities daily,
but, because of technology, many
walks and hikes ha^e turned into
phone conferences and Web surfing.
If your primary contact with nature is
through mediated messages any
where from TV to computers then
think of how distorted your percep
tion of the “environment” is.
Televisions, like most techno
dream machines of the 20th century,
are painfully restrictive. Think of the
difference between seeing a beach on
an MTV party and actually standing
on one. The phrase “night and day”
comes to mind.
Increasingly, as the 20* century
comes to a close, many people seem
to depend on technology for the bulk
of their experiences with and percep
tions of the “real” world. People have
to work. Fine. But, they don’t have to
let portable phones and Internet
pages get between them and moun
tains or even the back yard. Step out
for a minute, look around, take a
sniff. Montel won’t miss you for a
few minutes.
We aren’t lost - yet. We are just
headed down a road that could prove
to be detrimental to our culture unless
• we drive with extreme caution. Slow
down once in a while. Don’t always
try to sneak through the yellow
arrows at intersections. You’re
already late to math - what’s another
39 seconds? If you’re so late maybe
you should use Energizer back-ups
for that radio alarm clock.
In a world with Ricki Lake,
Donkey Kong, Web pages, Nintendo,
satellite television, cellular phones
and gadgets to help you complete
every imaginable task better, don’t
forget about the little things - the
things that are more important than
how many points NASDAQ has fluc
tuated. Rediscover your average per
ceptions of the things around you and
reach beyond your normal realms of
contact with the world.
Read books. Really look at trees,
don’t just pass by them. See how
many colors are out in the world. And
now and then it’s OK to pick up the
newspaper or tune in to Dan Rather.
He won’t bite. As for me, it’s long
past time to dip into the refreshing
environs of nature.
Now where did I put that damn
remote...
Freead?
Exactly how much did NABI and
Centeon pay you guys to run your plas
ma ad... I mean... article. You gave the
name, the address, the locale, the pay
and all the things that you can do with
this newfound “income” ... all of this
with the added bonus of a young, happy
donor. You never mentioned the fact
that donating will cause scaring not
only on your skin, but on your veins as
well, which could cause veins to
become weak and not useful in real
medical procedures. By the way I still
have a scar even after not donating for
almost two years. You also failed to
report about the possibility of
hematomas - dark purple and red
bruises that surround the area of injec
tion and hurt for at least a week. I had
five people ask me if I was doing drugs
when they saw the hematoma on my
-arm. Who knows how many thought it.
You also mentioned using the, money
received to buy alcohol, but forgot to
mention that it could cause damage to
your system if ingested within 24 hours
of donation, or that a lot of students do
not heed to these warnings and drink
anyway because they know that they
won’t need as much to get drunk. I
enjoy reading the DN, but please don’t
write an article on something and only
show one side, or put forth a trivial neg
ative side (i.e. “Do plasma centers play
good or bad movies?”).
Eric Martin
senior
broadcasting
HP clarify
The DN gave the honors program
DN
LETTERS
lots of attention last week - we were
mentioned in two front page articles,
one regarding Chancellor Moeser’s
Faculty Fireside session with honors
students; the other about Campus Rec’s
Ropes Challenge, in which honors stu
dents participated on Sept 21.
We certainly appreciate all this
attention, but with all due respect to
the DN and the reporter, incomplete
reporting about the Ropes Challenge
has stirred dissent among honors
upperclassmen.
Our session at the Ropes Challenge
course should have been billed as the
Honors Freshman Ropes Challenge.
Freshman honors students alone were
invited to participate. The three upper
classmen who attended were members
of the Honors Program Student
Advisory Board and were there to help
supervise the event
Concerned honors upperclassmen
can rest easy: We didn’t fail to invite to
the event because we were lazy or did
n’t care - we didn’t invite you because
the event was for freshmen. You will be
notified of all programwide events held
this semester. ' -
Otherwise, thanks again to the DN
for the two great articles!
' Marik Stone
Honors Program Student
Advisory Board
Greek-less
I am writing in response to “My
view.” Yes, I am a college student Yes, I
pay my own tuition. And yes, my GPA
is high.
However, I refuse to close my eyes
to the negative activities of the greek
system. This is a beautiful campus, and
if you don’t want to treat it with respect,
then leave. And take your kegs, burning
crosses, rude behavior and toilet paper
with you. In my opinion, UNL would
be a more diversified, respectable cam
pus if the greek system were abolished.
Chad McGuire
junior
horticulture
Think
Mr. Hickenbottom seems to believe
in a statistically anomalous dream. Mr.
Anderson sounds like a heterophobe.
Both would make good stereotypical
lawyers because they make some sense
but say little relevant to the overall
problem. (Law students, please take a
joke.) Ultimately, the debate centers
round how life can be good overall.
How can we be happy individually
or as a group? We must learn to think
for ourselves and determine our per
sonal identity on our own. We must
develop the confidence to assert our
selves in the world. If others bother us,
we must negotiate with them to either
find a workable solution or to tolerate
each other. However, in doing that, we
may find we have to change ourselves.
In the Bible, we learn we should tell
others what we dislike first, then take
the problem to the church if necessary.
I think we habitually run around that
idea. In the long run, then, we must
learn to take criticism, constructive or
otherwise. If it makes sense, let’s
reevaluate our opinion. If not* throw it
into the trash
John Flaherty
senior
meteorology
raou still have time-|
to register for fol dosses at Southeast Community CoHege!
Pad quarter begins October 7,1997
and ends December 18,1997
Academic Transfer and vocational/technicd
dosses offered the SCC-Uncoki - Cal 402-437-2605
Vocational/technicd classes offered at SCC-Milford -
Cal 402-761-2131, ext 8243
b^or check the SCC web page "Current Classes”
http://www.college.scem.ccjie.us
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