About this Issue

With this November-December issue the Berglund Center for Internet Studies posts its last issue of Interface for 2005, our fifth year of publication.

The dominant motif in this issue is once again security.  Our feature, “State Law and Identity Theft” by Shannon Callahan, an attorney who has made study of this issue and has advised state legislatures on appropriate legislation, reveals that there is a good reason why most of us are concerned about identity theft.  It is a crime whose victims are increasing exponentially, and is inadequately covered by law in most states.  See it at: http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2005/07/callahan.php

The other side of security, of course, is privacy.  Appropriately, one of our Security and Privacy editors, Pat McGregor, discusses “Teens and Surveillance: Is Privacy a Problem?”  Pat began with an effort to provide electronic monitoring for a teen club.  Her discussion, at http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2005/07/mcgregor.php , was initially with the teens themselves.  This led Pat to do research on the privacy rights of teens within electronically monitored environments.  However, in a larger sense, Par speaks to all of us as we increasingly live our lives under electronic surveillance.

Another legal issue facing us all is estate planning.  One of our legal editors, Christy O. King, discusses this issue in “Is Your Estate Plan in Order?” found at: http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2005/07/king.php Christy and Leonard Duboff have made it possible for us at the Internet Center to distribute via the Internet succinct and useful legal explanations of common issues to our audience and we are grateful to them.

Our gaming editor, Chris Pruett, reviews a new video game, “Shadow of the Colossus” which is widely hailed as the next step in graphical design on the Internet.  Chris uses this review as an opportunity to discuss the relationship between video games and art in his piece, “Shadow of a Doubt.”  See it at: http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2005/07/pruett.php

Our Digital Education editor Mark Szymanski offers “What Do You Learn?  It Depends on Your Digital Point of View” found at http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2005/07/szymanski.php This is the first of a three-part series which will address the manner in which three different digital tools give students three distinct points of view.

In the second of a three-part editorial series I discuss “American Exceptionalism and Technological Development”.  At http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2005/07/edit.php we outline the position, held by many, that argues that American economic and technological success is virtually guaranteed by a unique cultural heritage.

We review two books, either of which could be an excellent gift in this holiday season, but intended for quite different audiences. For the computer professional or security-minded friend on your list, see: Mitnick, Kevin D. and William L. Simon.  The Art of Intrusion., reviewed at: http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2005/07/mitnick.php  For those who write or otherwise communicate broadly, particularly within a globalized environment, see: Weiss, Edmond H. The Elements of International English Style., reviewed at http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2005/07/weiss.php

Please see a new section, “Announcements” in which we discuss a new publication by one of our Berglund Fellows, Dr, Deborah L. Wheeler of the United States Naval Academy at: http://bcis.pacificu.edu/journal/2005/07/wheeler.php

With this issue, Interface goes into a two-month hiatus during which we will completely reformat our several servers, installing new applications and broadening our electronic activities.  I myself will be spending the period from December 15 to January 15 2006 in Wenzhou China, at Pacific University’s sister college, Wenzhou Medical College.  I will be blogging from there on Chinatrippers, see it at: http://bcis.pacificu.edu/blogs/

This issue marks many changes in staffing. As we knew to be inevitable, the qualities of our long-term designer, Heather Hawkins, have been recognized to the point that she is now working full time with her own start-up firm, GiantChair Design.  The contract that finally took her out of our offices is with Oregon Public Broadcasting, which is one of the two web-centers for the National Public Broadcasting system.  However, the necessary characteristic of any organization dependent upon the creativity and labor of college students is constant change---the dogs bark but the caravan moves on….

We hope that you, our audience, have a wonderful holiday season.  We post again in February, please look for us.

Jeffrey Barlow
Director,
the Berglund Center for Internet Studies
Pacific University