About this Issue



This combined October-November issue of Interface, the electronic journal of the Berglund Center for Internet Studies at Pacific University, follows both Halloween and the elections. It contains a wider variety of materials than in the past, and an expanded "stable" of regular contributors. The unifying themes to this issue, are primarily security, and secondarily, education, our two main topics at Berglund.

We first met Glee Cady in reviewing the book Protect Your Digital Privacy, which she wrote with Pat McGregor (See review at: http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2003/06/cady.php ). After a correspondence, we invited Glee to join us. In this issue she presents "Slouching Toward Balance" (http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2004/05/cady.php) the first installment in a regular feature on the topic of Internet Privacy and Security. Glee, welcome aboard!

One of our Gaming editors, Chris Pruett, who has extensive experience in the gaming field in both Japan and the United States offers "Horror as a Catalyst for Change" (http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2004/05/pruett.php). We think you will find it both provocative and informative.

Another old friend is Leonard Duboff, an attorney who writes a column for us on legal issues as his time permits. In this issue, he presents "Protecting Your Intellectual Property" found at: (http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2004/05/duboff.php) Good articles touching upon legal issues, such as this one, are probably the most important element of understanding the Internet, but seldom found. We are glad to have Leonard back with us after an extended absence.

In this post-election period, our Grants and Education author, Mark Szymanski, offers a particularly appropriate article, "Funding for Character Education" found at: (http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2004/05/szymanski.php).

Kevin Kawamoto, author of our most popular feature, on Health issues, presents part I of a two-part piece, "Learning About Health Care Policy" found at: http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2004/05/kawamoto.php

A new author with us, Keaton Nguyen, presents the first part of a very interesting series on keitai (Japanese for cell phone). (http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2004/05/nguyen.php) Keitai have, Kevin writes, positioned the Japanese as the technological and sociological leaders in the wireless world.

Our editor, Jeffrey Barlow, continues the Asian theme in his editorial, "The Berglund Center TransPacific International Classroom Project as an Example of Research and Development" found at: (http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2004/05/edit.php) Jeffrey argues that current Research and Development practices and policies in the United States compare poorly with those of other countries, at least in our recent experiences at the Berglund Center.

For book reviews, we present two very different books: First, John Sandford's The Hanged Man's Song, the fourth in a fiction series featuring a highly wired white-hat hacker (http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2004/05/sandford.php) . The second work is Simon Johnson's Keep Your Kids Safe on the Internet, found at: (http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2004/05/johnson.php) This book should be of interest not only parents, but also to all those who are concerned about security on the Internet. It is easily accessible to novice users of the Internet, but also has much to offer the more experienced.

We hope that you will find this issue of Interface both good and useful reading... .

The Berglund Center for Internet Studies
Pacific University