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DEC. 30, 1998
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ï-fï
1998 has b een q u ite a y ear
fo r ou r “ P e rs p e c tiv e s ” c o l
um n, and it is p a rtic u la rly f it
tin g that w e began our w indup
fo r the y e a r w ith last w e e k ’s
c ru c ia l o b s e rv a tio n s on the
n a tio n ’s o bsession w ith “ H is
to ry S tandards In P ublic E d u
c a tio n ” - and w ith ou r ow n
rh e to ric a l q u e stio n and a n
sw ers, “why do we need B lack
H isto ry ?”
T h at “ w h y ” q u e s tio n got
an sw e re d w ith a flo u rish th is
p a st F e b ru a ry , d u rin g B lack
H istory M onth, w hen this c o l
um n fea tu re d a n u m b er o f
m a jo r c o n trib u tio n s to the
w o r ld ’s te c h n o lo g y by b lac k
in v e n to rs — a ll w ell d o c u
m e n te d a n d s u p p o rte d by
p a te n t p h o to sta ts and d e
ta ile d illu s tra tio n s . “ H isto ry
S ta n d a rd s ” , i f you w ill! and
w e w ill do ev en b e tte r th is
tim e.
M y o nly re g re t w as th a t
o u r la te p u b lis h e r , J o y c e
W a sh in g to n , w as not h e r to
see th a t w e are s till ‘on t a s k ’
- fo llo w in g th ro u g h w ith h er
k in d o f en e rg y and c o m m it
m ent to th e c o m m u n ity , p u b
lic, in d iv id u als and o rg a n iz a
tio n s . H o w e v er it is a h e ri
tag e th a t m o tiv a te s th e Ob-
PO Box 3137
P ortland , O regon 97208
Name:
Address:,
City, State:
Zip-Code: _
_____
* < • * ,
7- ’ -
/
C
w ith cru c ial needs in th e a r
eas o f e d u c a tio n , e c o n o m ic
e x p e rtise , and in fo rm a tio n a l
tec h n o lo g y . W e can do it.
It seem s th at I w as rig h t on
tim e w ith my 12/16/98 c ita
tio n o f the m ajo r in v e n tio n s
in refrigerated trucks and ra il
w ay c a rs by F re d e ric k
M cK inley Jo n es. T he very
next w eek, th e A sso c ia te d
P ress
new s
agency
re
p o rte d , “ C old
D e v a s ta te s
C a lifo rn ia ’s
C itru s C rops:
E a rly re p o rts
in d ic a te
at
le a s t a h a lf - b illio n d o lla r
lo ss ,” and add losses to tra n s
p o rta tio n in d u stries.
C a lif o r n ia is s e c o n d to
F lo rid a in o ran g e p ro d u c tio n
b u t su p p lie s m ost o f th e ‘n a
tio n s ’ fresh m arket o ran g e s -
and m any, m any b illio n s o f
d o lla rs o f o th e r v e g e ta b le
p ro d u cts w hich w ill also s u f
fer. R ead ers w ere q u ick to
c a ll and say “ you w ere rig h t
o n ” w ith y o u r v a lu a tio n o f
th is b lack in v e n to r’s c o n tri
bution to A m erica’s econom y.
T h ey ad d ed , “ and w e, to o ,
are aw are that the entire w orld
ad o p te d th e fru its o f his ge-
V
e
s
p o rter.'
A c o n c e rn e d r e a d e r r e
p o rte d th at his fa th e r had an
old lionel m odel train set from
the 1 9 3 0 ’s and th a t it had a
box car labeled “ refrig erated ”
- p rec e d in g Jo n e s in v en tio n s
by se v era l d e c ad e s. D on t be
fo o led , let m e clu e you in. In
those days we kids w ould pull
ou r little w agons dow n to the
tra in
y a rd s
w h e r e th e s e
so -c a lle d “ r e
frig e ra te d
cars” w ould re
c eiv e ch ip p ed
ice from huge
ic e -m a k in g
p lan ts (re e fe rs )” .
L ong lin e s o f th e se cars
w e re p u lle d u n d e r c h u te s
w h ere ice w as dum ped into
p r o t e c t th e p e r i s h a b l e s .
W h a te v e r hit the g round we
k id s h a u le d h o m e f o r
m o th e r’s “ ice b o x .”
T he m o d ern e x a m p les o f
electro-m echanical refrig e ra
tio n for tra n s p o rts w as yet to
be p e rfe c te d and p a te n te d by
F re d e ric k M c K in le y Jones
(1 9 5 0 ’s). Sort o f th e “ R eal
M ccoy” .
In re sp e c t to th is m ost re
cent series on A frican A m eri
can c o n trib u tio n s to ou r way
— any . io
m
fa , v f rv
o ro
r a b n le c a lls and
fax es from w h ites as w ell as
b lac k s. In te re s tin g ly , as in
early days w hen to u rin g the
co u n try sp re a d in g the w ord
about the n e g le c te d b lac k in
v e n to rs - o r m uch m ore r e
cently w hen m aking the same
p itc h all o v e r O reg o n and
W ashington in an a ffirm ativ e
A ction Program sponsored by
th e U .S . F o re st S e rv ic e -
w h ites in th e a u d ie n c e s v o l
unteered inform ation on black
in v en to rs w hom my rese a rc h
had not u n c o v e re d .
And th ere are to d a y ’s signs
o f hope. S everal tea c h e rs and
a lo cal p o litic ia n o f n o te say
th ey are in a g re e m e n t w ith
my th e sis th at the d e lib e ra te
c e n tu ry -lo n g o m issio n o f the
rac e o f th e b lac k in v e n to rs
has p ro v ed to be a form o f
g e n o c id e - w h e th e r d e lib e r
ately d ire c te d to th a t end or a
natural consequence o f p reju
d ice o r envy. T h ey , to o , are
not fooled by the new “ c o lo r
b lin d ” scam d rea m ed up by
the rig h t w ing in th e ir a tta ck
on A ffirm a tiv e A ctio n . The
’r ig h t’ w ants v o te s .’
L et us look fo rw ard to th is
N e w Y e a r w ith r e n e w e d
vigor, and com m itm ent to our
goals; econom ic, educational,
Ext »»g»*#*
2%
You C an N o w F in d
U s On t h e Web!
h ttp ://
w w w .p o r tla n d
o b se r v e r .n e t
The Em bedded C hip/System
P roblem
These are the unseen guard
ians o f our lives. They keep
nuclear cores stable and the
oil, gas, w ater and electricity
flow ing; they keep intensive
care units operating and our
m ilita ry fo rc e s arm ed and
m obile. If they fail, our w orld
im plodes. And, em bedded sys
tem s are located everyw here.
Em bedded chips and c o n
trol system s are more d iffi
cult to find and fix or replace
than softw are because o f their
physical in accessib ility . Take
the signal repeaters on under
sea
te le c o m m u n ic a tio n s
cables, or the flow m eters on
underground pipes, even the
p a c e m a k e rs in p a t i e n t s ’
h e a rts , for e x am p le. A lso,
c o n tr o l s y s te m s a re c o n
s tru c te d o f a h ie ra rc h y o f
com ponent system s, each of
which may be vulnerable on
its own, or in conjunction with
o th e rs. In m any c ases two
separate subsystem s may op
erate in a single system .
With embedded system s, the
concern is often w ith in ter
vals rather than specific dates:
the need may be for an event
to occur at 100-day intervals
rather than on the 5th day of
each month. There is also the
possibility that devices with
cycles that are m easured in
hours, and m inutes (or even
seconds) may be affected by
the problem because year num
bers are the basis o f time cal
culations. In such system s, the
effect may not be evident at
m idnight but will arise within
the following 24 hours.
P a lo m a O ’R ile y is the
fo u n d e r o f T he C a ssa n d ra
P ro ject. For more in fo rm a
tio n , v is it w w w .m illen n ia -
bcs.com
Consumers Need More
Information About Air Bags
> » / --4
O
6
Why The Year 2000 Problem Poses A
Risk To The Public Health And Safety
C ontinued F rom F ront
’. ■ M ¡
p
S ubscriptions
T hank Y ou F or R eading
.
^ o r t l a n ù (© b seru er
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r
Blacks Put Their Stamp On Modern
Technology And Society, IV
^Lhe ■}lìnrtlaui> (© bscrtier
Charles Washington
Publisher & Editor
(Ebe JJu rtlan b © bseruvr
Today, the public might think
it is better inform ed about air
bags than ever before. Sadly,
it is not. In October, I repre
s e n te d N orm a S w an so n v.
N issan M otor Co., Ltd., which
was tried in Federal D istrict
C o u rt in P o rtla n d , O regon.
Swanson was blinded by the
p a ssen g er-sid e a ir bag in a
1994 Nissan Altim a. The air
bag deployed when the vehicle
in which she was siting drove
over a curb at a relatively low
speed. Although Swanson was
properly seat belted, with the
seat halfway back in the seat
track, she was struck traum ati-
cally in the face by the air bag.
,
The passenger-side air
bag was designed to strike the
occupant while still inflating
at speeds up to 159 miles per
hour. This was contrary to the
basic underlying prem ise o f air
bag technology for over 25
years — that is, that an air bag
be fully inflated before the oc
cupant falls into it. The driver
in Swanson’s vehicle was com
pletely uninjured. His air bag
had tethers, which are internal
straps designed to restrain the
air bag from striking the occu
pant. The passenger-side air
bag (w hich struck Swanson)
failed to incorporate tethers.
To date, at least 24 in
dividuals have been sig n ifi
can tly in ju red by the 1994
Nissan Altima passenger-side
airbag. Most victims have been
women and children and most
injuries involve significant ana
tomical damage to the eye, in
cluding blindness.
S w a n s o ’s
in ju rie s
could have been avoided. She
purchased her Altima in 1994
sp ecifically because the ve
y» - » » • » ».*
hicle had a passenger-side air
bag and because she thought it
would better protect her two
young children. It was not un
til 1996 that the public learned
for the first time that air bags
presented a danger to children
and s h o rte r w om en.
Had
Swanson known this, she never
would have purchased the ve
hicle. Although the public is
better educated today about air
bags, many m isconceptions re
m ain. F or e x a m p le , m ost
people do not know that air bags
come in a variety o f designs,
many o f which are clearly bet
ter than others.
Support for the petition for
fu lle r d isc lo su re should be
sent to: A d m in istrato r, Na
tional Highway Traffic Safety
A dm inistration, 400 Seventh
Street, S.W ., W ashington, DC
20590.
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