Show The Salt Lake Tribune This GANNETT WASHINGTON NATION Thursday January i 1998 the Next Iffy NEWS ST'J1VTCE As a new millennium draws near most Americans look back on the 20th century as a tune of progress but we are not so kind to the leading figures of the past 100 years A new Gannett News Service poll also has a more sober view of the future While 90 percent agreed that the 20th century has been largely a period of progress" only 68 percent said they think that changes in the 21st century will do more good than bad Those are conclusions drawn from GNS annual Mood of America poll taken Dec 5 Collectively the 1009 adults interviewed for the poll were slightly more optimistic than they were last January about the millennium 11-1- 8 Moie on the mOtermium C-- i 61 percent in January By a 1 margin Americans also gave computers a stamp of approval: 78 percent agreed that computers have been a largely good in5-- soon to end and the one about to begin Some key findings: 8 49 percent said the 20th century has produced more villains than heroes 46 percent said it had not In January 52 percent said more villains than heroes had been produced 43 percent not 18 percent agreed with the statement the United States will not survive the next century" but 76 percent disagreed In January 20 percent answered yes to that question 74 percent disagreed 63 percent said there is no time they would rather be alive than right now up from vention that has greatly enhanced peoples lives and brought people closer together" only 17 percent said computers have been a largely bad invention that complicate peoples lives and separate people According to the GNS poll: E 14 percent agreed that the government should not restrict anything on the Internet and let individuals view what they want H31 percent agreed that the government should ban material on the Internet that may be offensive A5 The Millennia on the Cusp of Change As the 20th century ends and a new one approaches do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Percent who agree The 20th century has been largely a period of progress The 20th century has produced more villains than heroes The United States will not survive the next century The changes in the 21st century will do more good than bad There is no time in history Id rather be alive than nght now Source GNS poll ol 1 009 adults conducted Dec 5 by Opinion Research Corp N J Margin of error plus or minus 3 1 percentage points Gannett Pnnceton Millennium Is a Time For Profits KNIGHT KIDDER NEWS SERVICE WASHINGTON Two years J from now the year 2000 will be- - ' 1 long even to the penniless beggar Meanwhile there is money to be made So let the prophets and scholars debate about when the millennium will come and what it will mean This era already obsessed with consumption and seems destined to disnumbers solve in a welter of televised spec- tacles and official sponsors countdown clocks and Class of 2000 Year of 2000 Class of 2000 1 can tell you it's really popular said Lisa-Jo- y Zgorski a spokeswoman for the U S Patent and Trademark Office People are trying to blanket every conceivable market she said "from software to fast food to reading materials to yada yada She said her office already has awarded more than 1500 trademarks using the number 2000 the abbreviation Y2K (for Year Two and of course the Thousand) word millennium spelled with one and two ns Thousands more trademarks have been applied for but no one knows exactly which products will capture the millennial moment: the countdown watches or the time capsules the millennium pins from celebrations being planned in different cities or Millennium Mom magazine John Locher a Seattle entrepreneur and founder of the Ev- erything 2000 Web site calls marketing the millennium an enigma and a challenge For now the scene appears a ll There is no official Olympic organizing committee for the millennium he pointed free-for-a- out If there were who would serve? After all were talking about the somewhat arbitrary marker for an interval of a thousand years that is inextricably bound up in the human imagination with all sorts of apocalyptic and utopian terrors and hopes These times are great for prophets sincere and false marketing books and videotapes auguring the advent of Christ and antichrist Armageddon and Rap- ture ! Only time will tell if any of them have a comer on the truth There are millennial prophets and there are millennial profits said Richard Landes executive director of The Center for Millennial Studies at Boston University To be on the safe side millions of apocalyptic pilgrims are booking reservations for the Holy Land Others are planning trips to the international dateline the pyramids or tropical paradises The world over feasts and concerts vigils and marches will lure the restless multitudes searching for a place to stand at the great moment And they will all buy souvenirs Tour operators are racing against time selling cruises on ships not even built Bat as millennial anticipation builds marketing consultant James RoserJfield cautions corporations trying to steer through the muddle Be careful about change keep things simple he warned in a newly published paper Millennial Fetxr Maximizing Profits in a Time of Change Be careful about being too futuristic be said That scares too many people Sports pets and nostalgia are better themes to strike at a tins like this said RosenDeld chairman and CEO of the San Diego-baseRosenfceld & Associates Pets remind people of love without its accompanying complications he said and sports of a world where the- rule stay the ssase He landed Kellogg's for reviving its old Cora Flakes box and Coke for bringing back the icon of a vintage bottle cap with a simple slogan Always IceosmrBrcc m of the essence he tells his clients Not the future as a brave new world but life future as a sew unproved yersion of the present V d - HlfflBV III F8 F me BEST SUfflM! |