OCR Text |
Show Ea acoso abesachiiieieem coe ?: ei sicatina NOVEMBER 29, 2000 AS WASATCH COUNTY COURIER 1 if VS. Mac Man e — By Hand or Machine? In Vote Counts and Society, the Dispute Goes On ’ 3 Watching supporters of George W. shed assume that in all occasions a machine is. more guaranteed to give you the right result than humans.” The Florida Supreme Court addressed the issue directly, coming down squarely on the side of organic the a = % =e, tools to the point where most Americans simply equate technological innovation with progress. “People yield to the machine,” ‘says David: F. Noble, author of “The i Religion of Technology,” who rejects. e the prospect of a Gore or Bush presidency can't thinke awit the “fuzzy legic” that “ > allows humans to make leaps of judgment. It can't — yet, at least — deter- Olde Swiss Square beings. “Although error cannot be completely eliminated in any tabula_ tion of the ballots, ? it said, “our society has not yet gone so far as to place blind faith in machines. In almost all endeavors, including _ elections, humans routinely connect ihe, errors of | machines.” Is: that tae. though? Se: consider + the tension a red herring, “We try. to ‘objectify, it by. making it technology \ VS. humanity, but it's more simple than that. Whichever result we like better, we're going for,” says Alan _ I. Marcus, director of the Center for Historical Studies of Technology and. Science at Iowa State University. After World War II, which was won peer ree —— “Machines may technology executives. _ be_ objective. _ wasatchcountycourier@yahoo.com 4 They’ re not precise,” says John F Kasson, author of “Civilizing the | Machine: Technology and Republican Valuesi in America.” “Subjectivity may “not be so contaminating; it may get a ‘more accurate count. The gold stan- the people, is backing the SAAN N-USA Today-Gallup nak con- ‘didate Ralph Nader, wonders what will happen if the hand. count wins out. Will- mechanical ballot counting sidered a hand become a thing of the past? _ recount of votes more ~ accurate, while 58 percent favored a machine recount. Interestingly, 79 percent of f people said it would be impos- ASSOCIATE MEMBER ~ To sin by silence when they should. -.; protest, makes cowards of men. ~ —Abraham Lincoln EDITOR & PUBLISHER. Dan Stephens . had- a 4 -percentage-point margin of | error. Simona ‘Hill, a “sociologist _ at Susquehanna _ University in Selinsgrove, Pa., understands the split. With new technology moving so fast— the board?” Doubtful. But this much is a When it comes to choosing between humans and machines, whether it be politics or culture at large, there are usually agendas involved that have lit- Dixie Bishop “ets: & Leisure Editor _ Education’ Editor _, jon Sesiiordione Paulette Tillman . Sports Editor Russ Riggs _ STAFF WRITERS Derek Jensen. _ Kirsten Shaw Paul Swenson _ Tim Westby CONTRIBUTORS | Sam Allen oe jes _. ae Matt Heimberger - ART DIRECTOR - Erin McGuinness, Beeks — .2 és Amber seshbdnc- Advertising Executive Circulation/MIS Security rEg Dianne Davey Dylan Stephens — Ramona oe: ~ PRESIDENT/CEO _ Michael J. Kearns - DEADLINES ‘Advertising | Classified _ Story & Article nie & Insert” Noon Wednesday ~. Noon’ Monday ~ ‘Noon phe apr Bi For questions or - comments to the Courier, please call (435) 654-2661, ‘or fax information to (435) 654- 2531 or visit during office hours,, Monday—Friday, 9 am—5 pm, at 650 West, 100 South, Heber City, Utah 84032. count was decisive,” he says. “Does : that mean that, henceforth, we're ‘going to have to do hand counts across - OFFICE MANAGER “Let's say it's demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that this manual sible to get_an accurate votecount in _ Florida no matter the method. The poll - Utah Press Association machine ducted last week points up this uncertainty. It said 35 percent of people con- settee —~Peneeiag RRR, EN PO Box 1030. Midway, UT 84049. (435) 654-2661 (435) 654-2531(f)- _ “When you're up against the wall and © ~ count. Gore, the Clinton administra_ the chips are down, people don't total- - -tion's most ardent promoter of tech- | _ly trust machines to” make their = ? | nology, wants it done by hand. decisions.” = Noble, a friend of Green Baits can2 Somes Midway, UT 84032 mine the intent of a voter's‘ ‘pregnant chad.” — 210 East Main and furniture, handmade sushi and — _ The positions Gore and eee have c pasta and hand-crafted microbrews. taken, oddly enough, represent a “There's just something about hold- -. departure — - from long-cultivated ing and seeing something,” says Gary images. Bush, who has styled himself _ Beach, publisher of CIO, a‘magazine — as a down-home, handshaking man of ee - _ Wasatch County’s Source for News unmoved _ by have become daily life's indispensable for a WASATCH COUNTY Bush and Al Gore argue since Election Day has offered a glimpse into this ambivalence, Former Secretary of State James A,. Baker iL has become a dard still is, individual inspection ob: mail as impersonal. “There's so little ballots.” . | . vehement defender. of: technology. on questioning in our. culture of technoloWhat's et He says, the mice for Bush's behalf, Gore. campaign chairprecision is inevitably intertwined with man. William, Daley. has. ardently | gy, and we don't really allow for much debate. and discussion about technothe quest for the White House.. 3 pushed the unplugged approach... : logical decisions and agendas.” | “Why would the Republicans want “The | more: often: ballots _are recounted, especially by.hand,, the _ Yet in recent years the cachet of to go to a hand count if they think a individually crafted items has become machine count gives them a victory? more likely it is that. human, ‘errors, - formidable,. too, or:at least reasserted Why -would. the Democrats. want a like lost. ballots and other risks, will be itself, A cursory search of the Internet machine count when they think a hand introduced,” Baker said. last week. produces pitches’ for - handmade = ¢ount ‘could: give them a victory?” “Machines are neither. apubHaHS Kasson says. nor Democrats.” : knives, handmade candles and quilts, And from. Daley: q don't think oone a at | voting machine . and cooler — than ever, especially in about this,” says James EF Smith, a cultural historian at Penn State University i the realm of consumer electronics. Ewho _- studies. postwar America. | mail and voicemail and ATMs, microwaves and VCRs and cellphones “Americans have always had an ambivalent relationship with technolo- return next In the same _way, a Florida “Machinés’ aré more ubiquitous’ schizoeh Banc Letters to the Editor will eee - Disclaimer—The Wasatch eee Courier, LLC is locally owned and operated by Silver King Media Group, LLC and printed by the Ogden Standard-Examiner. Any claims made by letters to the editor, advertisers or in classified advertising are not those of the Wasatch County Courier, LLC or its staff.: The Wasatch County Courier, LLC is not liable for any such claims or for any loss or grievance claimed by those not of the same opinion. ae just in people. an ; on paper Today, pendulum seems to be an the middle. “To claim that you're having election decided by humans rather _ than machines,” he says, “is the whole key to democracy.” the people consulting the tape are just that — maybe we had _ _ overdrawn the ZCCOUuNt; © Smith says. for Bush method produces victory — but which produces a result that allows the new president to proclaim that the people have spoken. But ultimately, what was happening, and that rely upon ourselves, and how much upon the inventions we've built? We rely on ATMs — until they shortchange us a $20 bill. We know what we saw on the field — but still go to the tape. We love our Palm Pilots_ backups — sharp really important cnn nm relief case. “We're thoroughly both What's and Gore, he says, is not only which " into of reference and go to the other one.” decisions. In the NFL, coach- — es who think a referee blew a call are permitted to request a check of the replay tape, a nod toward the mechanical. all _ Even things that seem to be technology-focused often end with human “<< What those dramatic events did was to throw Republicans, the debate continues. native systems. And whenever we don't like the result in the way one of them goes, we try to change our frame att was of a is a reclamation good and bad. But though it is masked by partisan passions, the argument resonates far beyond politics: At the dawn of the 21st century, how much should we o9 says. “This nology, like anything else, by history, education and powerful rational thought. Or maybe not. Thanks to Democrats and_ Sy. she what is essentially a democratic ideal.” Pietenrestieiier hand, eae puters can't, sifting through stacks of. votes and applying judgments backed a right,” says Marcus, the technology historian. “What we have is two alter- -© 2000 Wasatch County Courier, LLC tr In this corner: the a keep and that our way of life has not yet been outmaneuvered by machinery,” realized tech- by extension the human brain — able to make the leaps of logic that com- but they may be impartial but they're not counting all the votes.' They're both fashion, that humans are still in charge | aes assigned -it. Or You hear the Gore people say, ‘Yes traditional in a seemingly on launch in 1957 to the energy crisis of the 1970s, Three Mile Island (1979) and the Challenger explosion Cm. Americans ‘'hand-count' “The old-fashioned verifies, —— pered the optimism. From Sputnik's Florida's flesh-and-blood talk nn out the ballot-counting — beings have maybe not. refrigerators simply aga a that to Bush mmnen ~ ased and apolitical, impassively carrying cars assumed the clean, cool look and performance of metal and moving parts was the way of the future. But before long, problems on the how machines are impartial. am from unbi- “You .hear _about -methods of charting the future. - PE metal, sion. “why people would turn to established - a clean, smooth ~ tle to do with the philosophy o . preci- = I n this corner: the machine — Viagra and genetic. engineering are stark examples — she understands Biamagnantttaaate a with the dinczd eee of eoladke - gy and mechanical invention, the -machine became the default icon of progress. Postwar. ads for everything men BY TED ANTHONY AP: NATIONAL-WRITER ~~~" “ SS : _x |