Education
John Katzman, CEO of the Princeton Review:
“A major state will announce that its high school graduation test will serve as an alternative entrance test to its university system, thus sounding the death knell of the SAT. Parent and teacher protests against the ICAT and other state tests will rise; however, rising test scores and a shrinking achievement gap between rich and poor will maintain the popularity of the ‘No Child Left Behind’ Act.
“As the Supreme Court moves to limit or abandon affirmative action, a major college will announce a new admissions preference program, based on economic disadvantage and not race. . . . And in the coming congressional debate about special education, every student will be declared special, but extra funds will only follow students deemed to be significantly learning disabled.”
Youth
Christopher Ireland, CEO of Cheskin, a consulting and market research firm:
“The trends shaping up for youth and technology have the potential to create a generational gap that we haven’t seen in quite awhile. Young people ‘get’ technology — they understand its potential and are not intimidated by it. They’re comfortable with instant messaging, text messaging, tiny keyboards, peer-to-peer sharing and a host of other capabilities that most adults don’t even know exist. Ten-year-olds are learning to barter, auction, invest and collaborate in virtual communities like Neopets. In the next few years the divide between those who understand and integrate technology into their daily lives and those who don’t will become very apparent — the side that does will be mostly populated with young people around the world.”
Politics
Paul Green, Roosevelt University political science professor, WGN analyst:
“In 2003, you’re going to see a lot of searching for money in Illinois politics. There’s the obvious need for it in Springfield with the budget, but the other great search will be for the U.S. Senate race. I wouldn’t hazard a guess how that’s going to come out with the Democrats, but I think Peter Fitzgerald will end up getting renominated by the Republicans. He’s shown he’s willing to spend what it takes. In the Chicago mayoral race, the only question will be whether Rich Daley can top the all-time winning margin of 82 percent set by Jane Byrne. I’m sure he’ll top his own record, which was 72 percent in ’99.
John Samples, director of the Center for Representative Government at the Cato Institute:
“I think the White House is aware that it has to focus on domestic issues. . . . You would also expect there would be something more on faith-based initiatives. The big issue they are facing is the economy. I suspect we’ll probably see them moving on some tax cuts in the shorter term.”
Stephen Hess, senior fellow, Brookings Institution:
“I think the election of Bill Frist as Senate Majority Leader probably puts a variety of health-related issues on the front burner. It may forecast the passage of a Patients’ Bill of Rights Act. I think there’s a possibility of starting a discussion on Social Security. . . . Obviously the most important part of the president’s [domestic] agenda is some kind of economic stimulus plan.”
Medicine
Richard H. Bell, M.D., chair of surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital:
“Probably the major development in general surgery is still the increasing application of minimally invasive techniques to general surgery. Probably the area that’s experiencing the biggest growth right now is laparoscopic bariatric surgery (surgery for morbid obesity). It’s gotten a lot of publicity with Al Roker on the cover of People magazine.”
Stephen Trowell, scientist, Commonwealth (Australia) Scientific and Industrial Research Organization:
“Insects will provide us with some excellent early prospects for treating golden staph and systemic fungal infections, which are serious problems in our hospitals right now. Although we won’t see drugs from insects reach the clinic in 2003, I believe we are starting a partnership with the 5 million or so insect species on Earth in which they will share with us the solutions they have found to defeating infectious disease. There are about 16 times as many insect species, yet plant chemistry has been studied 7,000 time more intensively on a research-per-species basis.”
Television
Michael Niederman, chair of the television department of Columbia College Chicago:
“I think technology makes an impact. I think it’s the year that buying an HDTV actually starts to make sense. I think we’re finally going to see . . . more and more digital video recorders in the homes. I’m watching cultural momentum, and I’m starting to see these devices . . . really seep in, in a way they hadn’t before.
“[On the programming end] we’re going to get more and more of this sort of boutique TV, some more specialized. In some respects, what it possibly will translate into is more good programming. But there is going to be more and more programming spaced in smaller demographic groups. More specifically targeted. . . .
More Top Picks Best Power Lift Recliners
“So when the Middle-Age Jewish Guy Channel comes on, I’m going to sign up.”
Space exploration
Donald Savage, NASA public affairs officer for space science.
“We have twin rovers that are going to Mars in 2003. These are vehicles similar to the Mars rover launched five years ago . . . but these are going to be much larger versions, about the size of a desk. They’ll have missions of about 90 days . . . landing in two different places. They’ll be trying to find if water ever existed there or if there’s water somewhere in the vicinity under Mars. We think water is essential to life.
“Right now, they don’t have names. We’re asking school kids around the country to help us name them. The first one is launching on May 30 and the second one June 25, and they will reach Mars seven, eight months later.”
Language
Erin McKean, editor, Verbatim: The Language Quarterly.
“There are going to be more acronyms. . . . The latest one is for `total information awareness,’ TIA. I’ve seen CWC a lot for Chemical Weapons Convention. The government is just acronym-happy.
“There is going to be more verbing [making nouns into verbs]. . . . Somebody asked me yesterday if `Googling’ is officially a verb. There’s blogging [publishing blogs, or personal Web logs].
“And there is going to be more using of proper names as shorthand cultural references. `That’s just a little too Christina Aguilera.’ I think everyone would know that means a little too risque, in a contrived, over-the-top way.
“It seems there is more of a recognition that knowing about pop culture is just as official and, I guess, required as knowing history or politics.”
Sports
Craig Tartasky, chairman of the International Sport Summit, a convention of senior executives involved in the sports business.
Tartasky predicts more specialty channels for devotees of individual pastimes. “We are creating a palette where people can not only get the entire panorama of sport but they can pick a particular color and only watch that.”
He added, “2003-2004 is the year hockey has to address its labor issues and it’s possible that the sport is endangered by a lack of a labor agreement, resulting in a lockout or a strike.”
Food
Margo Wootan, Center for Science in Public Interest.
“You can expect a lot of activity in the battle against obesity. The FDA will be finalizing labeling requirements, which will help, and there will be re-authorization for federal legislation governing child nutrition programs. This will probably lead to some tweaking to improve school meals — not just what’s served for meals but the junk food that’s available elsewhere on campuses — and education.
“I think parents are becoming more aware of the insidious marketing techniques being used. There probably will be a range of lawsuits, such as against companies claiming to have fruit in their product when they really don’t, and I expect more legislation to be introduced at local, state and federal levels. For instance, soft drinks are specifically taxed in something like a dozen states and that may increase in 2003 with the added revenues earmarked for special funds.”
Earth sciences
Robert “Doc” Mirelson, NASA news chief.
“As satellite technology continues to improve, weather tracking and weather predicting are getting better. Our satellite, the ICESat, will launch the first or second week of the New Year . . . that’s the one that will be looking at the polar icecaps and the effect of ice on the ocean levels of the world. Water levels affect the food chain, which affects all of us.
“We’ve also invented a `biohazard detector’ — a small, portable and inexpensive [probably under $100] device about the size of a home smoke detector that can detect biohazards such as anthrax, small pox and Spanish flu bio-spores.
” . . . NASA has also developed a fetal heart monitor, which came from monitoring the astronauts. We expect them to be in use in 2003.
“We’ve come up with something that will help reduce car pollution, an add-on to present catalytic converters. It’s called a Low Temperature Oxidation Catalyst (LTOC). It’s Laser technology, adapted to burn the heck out of pollutant hydrocarbons . . . such as carbon monoxide. If the auto industry gets behind it, we think that in four to five years it’ll cut air pollution almost in half.”
Comics
Mike Dean, news editor, The Comics Journal.
“The big trend, which has already started, is comics moving into bookstores. More and more, readers aren’t reading titles month to month, they are waiting for collections, so they can read them all at once.
“It may be just a matter of keeping up with all that’s out there. The other thing is, the readership of comics has gotten so much older — they are much more comfortable reading books.
“This may be a good thing for comics, because the more that make it into bookstores, the more they are likely to be thought of as just another storytelling medium.”
Medical chipping technology
Matthew Cossolotto, spokesman for Verichip.”It looks as though chipping will take off in 2003,” Cossolotto said.
Already, a chip placed under a pet’s skin can, upon scanning, identify the owner in case the pet is lost. Similar technology soon will be found in humans. A jogger dead of a heart attack and carrying no identification might quickly and easily be identified. The Alzheimer’s sufferer prone to wandering off and not able to find a way home might be tracked through global positioning added to the chip, which, unlike a wallet, can’t be lost or forgotten. An airliner’s controls could be set up to respond only for those who have the proper chip implanted.
Despite cautions over privacy invasion and the view of some religious groups that the implant is the “mark of the beast,” chipping has been moving apace. In December 2001, Verichip, a subsidiary of Applied Digital Systems, announced the product. In May 2002, the first chips were implanted in a Florida family, Jeffrey and Leslie Jacobs and their 14-year-old son, Derek. In October 2002, the FDA ruled that chipping did not need to be regulated when used for security and financial purposes. In other words, it’s OK for controlling access to an airport, for instance, or for accessing one’s ATM account. To be used for medical diagnosis or alert, however, the FDA would have to establish guidelines, which might happen this year.
Verichip spokesman Cossolotto has a chip snuggled up against the triceps muscle of his right arm. “It is about the size of a puffy grain of rice,” he said. “It’s injected with a large needle.”
He is one of about 15 people so far to contain a chip, though thousands of parents have inquired about implanting their children as a kidnapping safeguard. At the moment all the chip can do is identify the person who carries it. Jeffrey Jacobs cannot use it for accessing medical records in an emergency — the reason he got the chip — though that may soon change. All that would be needed would be FDA approval to link the identification code within the chip to a database of medical records. GPS tracking isn’t yet available because the matchbook size of the unit makes implantation difficult.
“For now,” Cossolotto said, “it’s a high-tech conversation piece.”
Dating and relationships
Jill Spiegel, author of “Flirting for Success.”
“In 2003, flirting is going to have a renaissance. The threat of a possible war and a slow economy have made people re-evaluate their priorities. More than ever, people are seeking connections with each other, craving deeper relationships and celebrating their loved ones. With the advancement in technology, flirting has expanded into Internet flirting and even cell-phone flirting. In 2003 we can expect more modern ways to flirt. The other new trend we’ll see is more women and girls will be asking guys out. Courting used to be all about the guy making the first move, but that is changing and will be much more common in 2003. So in 2003 flirting will not be about being coy — that’s out. What’s in is bold, confident flirting by both genders. Our society is getting a little more sexualized and with that comes liberation. I think people are going to realize that dating is about your own rules.”
Lisa Daily, online columnist and author of “Stop Getting Dumped.”
More Top Picks Best Handheld Vacuums For Stairs
“In 2003, the dating game will literally become a game. Speed Dating, one of the first companies to innovate dating for the masses, took the country by storm in the last few years with dating events designed to introduce as many singles as possible in a short period of time. As singles have less time and become increasingly disheartened with the traditional bar and online dating scene, singles will flock to speedier, fun, gamelike approaches. I think the appeal of Speed Dating has been massive, and I think people want more of the same. I think people want the fish-in-the-barrel approach.”
Radio
Ron Rodrigues, editor-in-chief of Radio & Records.
“One thing that we know is the introduction of digital radio service to the American consumer. [The service promises improved sound quality for conventional radio stations, after the stations and listeners upgrade their equipment.] However, there remain many questions about how beneficial this is going to be to consumers and whether they are going to want it. . . . I would also suspect the consolidation that’s going on in the radio industry is not over.”
“I see an expansion in talk radio programming and possibly talk radio targeted to women, because radio doesn’t do an effective job of targeting them.”
Comedy
Charna Halpern, co-founder and artistic director of ImprovOlympic.
“So many things are happening that we just have to comment on right now. I think that what’s happening in the world right now is hard to ignore, and it’s kind of a good release to not only be able to laugh but to talk about our feelings about it.
“We’re doing something called `The Arab-Israeli Comedy Hour’ [directed by Aaron Freeman and featuring performers of both descents], which will be opening in February, because I think we’re very affected by what is going on in the Middle East. In L.A. at IO-West, we’re doing something that’s kind of based on [HBO’s 1980s sketch comedy series] `Not Necessarily the News,’ where it constantly changes every week based on the news.”
Brian McKim, co-creator of monthly Internet magazine SHECKYmagazine.com.
“I see a continuation of a surge in the popularity of stand-up comedy in 2003. In many ways, live stand-up is continuing to gain some of the bulk it lost starting in the mid-’90s. Rascals, a publicly held company, just opened a 300-seat room in the fifth largest market in the country, Philadelphia. This is indicative of a continuing recovery in live stand-up.
“One of the reasons we’re so confident that live stand-up will experience a surge in popularity in 2003 is that any time television features a particular activity, people flock to see it in person. It happened in the 1980s [with a boom in stand-up], and it will happen again.”
Fitness
Bill Wilkerson, executive director, National Center for Bicycling & Walking.
“The most obvious thing is the re-authorization that’s up in September for federal transportation legislation. This is what provides much of the money for trail development and other aspects of biking, so you’re going to see an energized lobbying effort taking place. But you’re also going to see the health community reaching out more and more this year to the fitness community for partnerships. They realize people have to be more active because of our growing obesity problem, and biking and walking are the easiest ways to do that. I would look for schools, especially, to get more active in 2003 with programs.”