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DEC. 30, 1998
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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
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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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