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http://www.iaginteractive.com/emfa - Details Below
Theme: Universal Internet - Essay #5
Author: Paul A. Paulson
E-mail: ppaulson@aol.com
TITLE: Health Information and 55+ people on the Internet.
Check your own local community to determine how many of the 55+
people in your area are now in intensive care because of the new
Te Coli virus.
Local, state, and federal health officials are probably unaware
of this new plague. Medical journals, magazines, newspapers, and
television broadcasts give lots of attention to the dangers of
the Asian Flu, Mad Cow Disease, E Boli, Anthrax, and Hong Kong
Chickens, but thus far, THEY HAVE IGNORED THE TE COLI VIRUS.
Remember when the Jack In The Box restaurants in the Northwest of
US had so much trouble with E Coli - the sickness that comes from
undercooked hamburgers? The media and Public Health officials
jumped on that E Coli problem immediately.
But nobody seems worried about this new Te Coli virus which
has reached now into almost every community across the US, from
Maine to southern California, from Florida to the state of
Washington.
Some people suspect there is a conspiracy to conceal this
epidemic. Perhaps it will take a special investigator to discover
the real facts about the new Te Coli virus.
The symptoms are only now becoming clear. You will probably
notice this infestation if you look for certain unusual signs in
your colleagues, your parents, your neighbors, and your friends.
Here are the symptoms of people infected with Te Coli:
· Their eyes get big and bright.
· Their heart starts pounding faster and faster.
· Their hands move out in front of their body.
· Their fingers flick rapidly in a typing motion.
· THEY CLAIM THEY CAN COMMUNICATE WITH PEOPLE AND DATA
BASES ALL OVER THE WORLD - THROUGH A COMPUTER!!
A few weeks ago, some professors from SDSU finally came up
with a name for this new virus: TeleCommunications Literacy, or
Te Coli, for short.
How does Te Coli spread?
Children in grade schools get the virus from contaminated
keyboards of Apple Computers. College students pick up the Te
Coli virus from computer labs. Some parents think that home
schooling will keep their children virus-free, but a new strain
of Te Coli has learned how to travel over telephone lines,
through modems, and into the video screens of home computers! Te
Coli is now infecting people who have a computer on their desk at
work!
Is Te Coli affecting everyone?
No. Many older people who escaped from school before the
Computer Revolution avoided the Te Coli virus. Unfortunately,
they are very susceptible to an even more sinister and
debilitating disease, Computer Phobia - a Fear of Computers.
These computer phobics are afraid that pressing a wrong key will
set off all sorts of alarms and cause lots of shushing by
teachers, librarians, and senior center supervisors.
Which is more dangerous - Computer Phobia or Te Coli?
The Gap between HAVES and HAVE NOTS in the retired population
is growing quickly. Some older people have succeeded in learning
to use computers. They developed the new skills needed to access
good information; they make better decisions; they make better
use of their resources; and they become important
opinion-setters in the community.
Other adults who fear computers are joining a population known
as the Have Nots. They lack modern information-getting skills.
They make decisions and cast their votes under the influence of
TV commercials and promises by pandering politicians.
Consequently, the Have Nots waste their own resources and the
resources of future generations. For many of our older citizens
who suffer from Computer Phobia, the traditional education
delivery system has failed to bridge that gap between the Haves
and the Have Nots.
But there is hope!
In England many years ago, when smallpox reached
epidemic levels, some people wondered why milkmaids never got
smallpox. Eventually, a doctor discovered that people who got
cowpox were immune to smallpox. Soon after that discovery,
weakened strains of cowpox were injected into people to
inoculate them. In a few years, this dread smallpox disease was
conquered. Educators could use this medical model from England.
We could organize a preventive program that will inject older
computer phobics with a weakened version of Te Coli so they can
be brought gently into the Age of Telecommunications.
Wouldn't it be great if a collaborative venture in which
organization ssuch as the AARP, National Council on Aging,
Centers on Aging at state universities, SeniorNet Learning
Centers, and APCUG could work together to produce a model that
could be replicated at one-computerlabs in the lobbies of
community centers, small branch libraries, retirement homes, and
other places where underserved older people could easily
congregate.
Paul A. Paulson
18022 Cotorro Road
San Diego, CA 92128
(619) 673-5274
ppaulson@aol.com
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