skyler@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Patricia Roberts) (09/25/88)
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
Annual Meeting
November 19 and 20 at Stanford University
A collection of nationally known authors, scientists, and innovators in the
computer science field will address the issues of computers and their impact on
the arms race, the workplace, education, and society at the l988 Annual Meeting
of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR), to be held November
19 and 20, l988, in Cubberley Auditorium at Stanford University.
Two sessions that already are generating a great deal of interest will draw
together experts from a wide variety of fields to comment on developments in
technology that could affect the general population.
The first, Privacy, Computers, and the Law, deals with the FBI's plans to
upgrade its already massive criminal justice database so that it can better
identify individuals. The current system now contains over l9 million records
and is accessed up to half a million times per day. Would an improved version
threaten the privacy and liberties of citizens? Discussing the issues from a
variety of perspectives will be: William A. Bayse, FBI assistant director for
technical services; Congressman Don Edwards (D-San Jose), chairman of the
House Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights; Jerry Berman, chief
legislative counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union and director of the
ACLU Privacy and Technology Project; and Peter Neumann, SRI International and
CPSR/Palo Alto.
The second panel will debate the impact of the personal computer of the future
as presented in Apple Computer's video story, "Knowledge Navigator." The
speculative Knowledge Navigator is a flat, notebook-sized computer that can
speak with the user, explore databases on its own, do simulations, and display
a picturephone and graphics, all by voice command. Addressing the social
assumptions and implications of this possible technology will be: Larry
Tesler, vice president of Advanced Technology, Apple Computer; Esther Dyson,
editor and publisher of Release 1.0 newsletter; Fernando Flores, chairman of
Action Technologies and co-author of Understanding Computers and Cognition;
Peter Lyman, director of educational computing, University of Southern
California; Theodore Roszak, professor of sociology, California State
University at Hayward and author of The Cult of Information.
Speaking on the topic Technical Challenges in Arms Control in the Next 15 Years
is Sidney Drell. Dr. Drell serves as co-director of the Stanford Center for
International Security and Arms Control and deputy director of the Stanford
Linear Accelerator Center. He also is past president of the American Physical
Society and author of Facing the Threat of Nuclear Weapons.
Technology, Work, and Authority in the Information Age: The Role of the
Computer Professional will address the opportunities and problems of computers
in the workplace. By the end of the century, approximately two-thirds of all
workers will use a computer terminal . Will that computer enhance their skills
or assist management in controlling workers? Speaker Robert Howard, author of
the book Brave New Workplace and senior editor of Technology Review will
focus on what role computer designers can do to create socially responsible
products.
Women learn how to use computers differently than men, says speaker Deborah
Brecher, founder and executive director of the Women's Computer Literacy
Program in San Francisco. Women and Computers: Does Gender Matter? will cover
what programmers, educators and employers need to know about computer learning
and the sexes.
Computer pioneer Jim Warren will deliver the keynote speech at CPSR's Annual
Banquet to be held at Ming's Villa in Palo Alto. Mr. Warren founded The
Intelligent Machines Journal which .later became InfoWorld. He also started
the West Coast Computer Faire, the pre-eminent show for personal computer users
and hobbyists, was the founding director of the first personal computer
software magazine, Dr. Dobb's Journal of Computer Calisthenics and Orthodontia.
He later served as the original host of the PBS series, "Computer Chronicles,"
and was awarded the first Sybex Computer Pioneer Award which recognizes
innovators in the microcomputer field. In the academic arena, Mr. Warren has
taught computer science at San Francisco State, San Jose State and Stanford
University. Mr. Warren's speech, Computers, Information, and Politics, will
focus on how citizens can gain access to computerized information on
individuals, corporations, and the government, and how they can use that
information to bring about effective political action, locally or globally.
During the banquet, the CPSR Board of Directors will present the Norbert Wiener
Award for Professional and Social Responsibility to Joseph Weizenbaum,
professor of computer science (emeritus) at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology.
Sessions on Sunday, November 20, will be devoted to the organization and future
direction of the association. Speakers include: Terry Winograd, associate
professor of computer science at Stanford University and co-author of
Understanding Computers and Cognition,; grassroots organizer and trainer John
Spearman, senior contract administrator for The Doctor's Council in New York
City; Steve Zilles, chairman of the board of directors, CPSR; and Gary
Chapman, executive director of CPSR and co-editor of Computers in Battle.
Registration fees for the meeting are as follows: $10/members; $20/nonmembers
before November 9; $20/members, $30/nonmembers after November 9. The banquet
is $30/members, $35/nonmembers. Reservations are on a first-come, first-served
basis. Please call (415) 322-3778 for registration material.
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End of RISKS-FORUM Digest 7.59
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