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A look into the technological future  After receiving one of the outstanding senior awards from the Communication department for my role in putting The Pacifican in its own place on the web, and for taking control of the camera crew in the Spanos Center, life now looks on beyond what we have done in the past. We look onto the future and what it holds for us.
I received an e-mail from my dad who used to work for AT&T. The e-mail included a video clip dating back to the early 1960’s when telephones were being moved over from the “GArfield9-9126 to 429- 9126” numbering scheme. This was called “direct dialed calls.” Now as we look at the past 50 years and the technological advantages that have occurred we look to our future and attempt to decipher what will be coming. In the immediate future we have graduation, and the iPhone. After that we have congress pushing all television sets in the United States to be capable of receiving digital signals, all while the cable companies aren’t pushing through a true and clear signal. (I know because while running my Tivo like machine I can see signal strength and it is rarely at or above 60%.) For those of you who visited ThePacifican.com in the past week you will have noticed the poll on the right side asking the question “Where do you think the world will be in 50 years?” Of the 16 people who voted, 43.8% believe that our oil reserves will be used up. 18.8% believe that global warming will have raised our seas 200 feet. No one believed that we will be bionic humans. From this limited group who voted, none of them believe that we will ‘plugin’ just like in the movie The Matrix. However, science and technology are working on ways for computers to be as powerful, or more powerful than the human brain. It is projected that in 50 years, we will be able to buy laptops for $1,000 that are more powerful than the thinking capacity of the human brain. What will power these machines? As the numbers on the online poll suggest our oil resources will be used up. William Zurbrick, a 5th year studying Mechanical Engineering, and my room mate, said “if any new economically feasible source of energy is developed it will undoubtedly be owned by the oil companies.” Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governor of California, called for “One million solar energy systems in California homes” on August 20, 2004. This plan, to be applied to new and existing homes over the next 13 years is projected to “save California 2,700 megawatts of peaking power, and offset more than 50 million tons of CO2.” All year I have thought about creating a study of Pacific’s electrical use at its Stockton campus and determining the cost of purchasing and installing solar panels so that Pacific can be more than just an academic institution, but a University run on Green energy. The cost savings could be tremendous as Stockton is sunny a good portion of the year. Perhaps Pacific will see a solar push in its future, either through alumni grants and donations, or its own push to go green. I spoke with Professor Sharp, the German language teacher on campus and asked him how he saw foreign language being taught in 50 years. Besides his remark that he wouldn’t be around then, he did say “when a student learns a foreign language, one-on-one interaction with his/her peers is a must.” The classroom won’t go away, unless technological breakthroughs enable students to stay at home and work over a video conferencing system or are able to learn a language like Neo learns Kung-Fu. Of course, take this next part with a grain of salt as I am no religious guru, but it has to be said, as nearly 60% of the US believes it. Judgment Day will come and those who have sinned and are not repentant will go to hell. Of course many religious people throughout time have said this day will occur and it passes and nothing has happened. Jack Van Impe (as per what Wikipedia says) thinks that 2012 is the possible date when Jesus shall descend onto earth. I will bet this will blow over like the Y2k Bug and computers at the turn of the century. I will admit that I did not go as in depth as I could have, but at least this is a start for the generation of college students graduating this year to make something of the future. When we come back for our 50 year college reunion in 2057, we can look back on the technological breakthroughs that we have created in our time in the working world.
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Perspectives 
