The original Russian is "informatika."
I asked Mr. Neil Moore, Director of Community Relations of the IUPUI Informatics Department about the origin of "informatics" in April 2007. He responded, "This conversation has concluded." Then he hung up. That was my one and only phone conversation with Mr. Moore, but it seemed that, even that one call had badly overstepped my limits. I found out later that Mr. Moore had reported me afterwards to the Indianapolis police.
Old "Uncle Joe" would have been proud of him.
Mr. Mark Swearingen, of the adjunct faculty of the department e-mailed that, "informatics is, in my mind, the study of information. For my purposes," he continued, "it is medical information. My course is on the creation, storage, disclosure and retention of medical information."
Mark's response did not entirely gratify me because I've been treated at IU hospitals and have had some concerns about the confidentiality of my records.
But does "informatics" really have a common thread? Looking through faculty biographical information, I found phrases such as "video game development," "ceramic art and design," and "cartoon network."
I think the one thing that may unite the disparate elements of "informatics" is the way that the money was obtained to construct their building. Some of it seems to have been federal government money.
On April 25, 2007, I had a pleasant conversation with James Brown, Assoc. Exec. Dean of the IU Journalism School. His department shares the same building with Informatics. My question was whether informatics and journalism are compatible.
One of the reasons I'd thought to e-mail Mr. Mark Swearingen was that a Mr. John Swearingen had been head of Amoco when I'd first approached that company regarding space colonization in 1973. Mark wrote that he wasn't related to that John Swearingen.
But Dr. Glaser's proposal to replace burning of oil with satellite solar power (see beginning of this article) was put forward quite a while ago, in 1969. It's been given neither proper funding nor proper representation in the popular media. It's important but almost no one has heard of it.
One might ask, "Why not?" Is that due to intimidation of the media by the oil industry? My testimony here is that intimidation has indeed been used.
It might seem as if a good deal is being done to combat global warming, but a lot of that is talk. There are also 'feel good" gestures, activities, and public relations. And some of that does have a certain amount of substance. But BP-Amoco fully intends to drill planetary oil reserves down to the last drop. That's what they've indicated to me.
What is the connection, if any, between reality and what people believe? If a statement is misleading or untrue, does that constitute a form of "information?" And does "informatics" include propaganda techinques and illicit ways to suppress information?
Dean Brown defined "New Media" this way: "any form of technology used to produce messages either for mass or more focused audicences."
It goes "beyond print," he continued, to appeal to "a combination of senses, using visual and sounds."
Now, a "more focused audience" could comprise just one person alone in his apartment--indeed, a person such as me. As I mentally review the abuse I've received over the past twenty-five years, I find that I can make a match with the "New Media," a match that's more than merely plausible.
It's, perhaps, a matter of semantics. While I feel that I'm being electronically stalked, harassed and interrogated, practioners of New Media may feel that they're simply "focusing" on a small audience of one.
What I think of as nightly "interrogation" isn't interrogation at all. It's "interactive media."
Now, while I don't want to be the model citizen for a new form of totalitarianism, I don't suppose that matters much to the young crowd at IU. However, if my own story lacks interest, the similar experiences of English novelist, Evelyn Waugh, may perhaps be more compelling. Click on Evelyn Waugh's name in the index at the bottom of the home page to read about what happened to him.
While I'm a supporter of IU and want it to do well, I also think there's a need to correct a few problems at the institution. Perhaps IU has grown so large that too few people there take responsibility. Related material on this site is about Barbra Lewis and the program Sound Medicine. Can the New Media be used to try to dirve people crazy?
Does IU sanction this?
As Dean Brown correctly pointed out, any form of communication can be used for fraud or other antisocial intent. However, I don't think we should be teaching antisocial intent to IU students.
And, as discussed in the material regarding Evelyn Waugh, there's a potential for compromising two important Eli Lilly products.
What could be done?
I realize that it may not be feasible at this point to do away with the name "informatics." Some have that degree already.
But, since, it's basically just a snazzy-sounding Russian word, perhaps my friends at IU should try to broaden the subject matter. Perhaps a mandatory ethics course might be a good addition.
And my academic qualifications are similar to some of the adjunct faculty. They could hire me if they wished to do so. There's a legitimate mathematical subject called "information theory" which has helped me a good deal as an adult. Perhaps a little ot that could help give added meaning to their new word which has been translated from the intriguing Russian.
"DAVID MANNN, PRIVATE EYE"
Recently a new cowboy moved into my apartment building, a rough, tough establishment, inhabited to a significant degree by male beings of the highly independent--or, perhaps, "social outcast"--category.
However, I was uncertain as to the new hombre's last name. He said at first that his name was “Bill Pence” and that he was related to Mike Pence, the Indiana congressman. Later he asked to borrow my cell phone to talk to his lawyer. And, while standing near me and doing that, he seemed to use, as his last name, one which was the same as a former high Bush administration official who had a good deal of responsibility for Iraq policy.
I think It might be best if I left that person's name out of this report, at least at this time, but I am happy to disclose it when appropriate--for example to governement or IU officials: Bill Pence's alternate surname was also the name of an IU faculty member. So in my story there are three people with what I will call "Surname X." The surname isn't a common one.
When I enquired about a possible name contradiction, Bill came up with yet a third last name, a hybrid of the two names he’d given me.
I twice phoned Congressman Pence's office about the matter, but did not get a response.
Now, regardless of his name, Cowboy Bill was spending a good deal of time in the apartment directly across from mine. From that vantage point he might have an opportunity to observe whether or not I was at home. Bill wasn't living in that particular apartment, which seemed to be occupied by a black man and woman. Their names, I was told, were Keith Sutton and Kim Pittman.
Also in the building was a woman with the last name of "Powers." To my eye, she looked as if she could have been related to Stephanie Powers. Click here to view the reference to Stephanie Powers earlier in this article.
With this complicated cast of characters, my tale is sort of like a mystery novel, isn't it?
And it gets even a little more complicated. The apartment occupied by Keith and Kim had previously been occupied by Donna Snow.
But here it gets interesting. Donna was apparently some relation to former Treasury Secretary, John Snow. It seemed there was interest in the possibility that I might produce something further regarding social security which might be of value to the Bush administration. (Click for earlier reference to social security.) But they'd have wanted whatever I might produce to use for their own purposes without giving me any compensation or recognition. That would be my expectation based on experience, as described above. A scanned document proving that Donna had lived there may be viewed by clicking "scanned documents" at left. Donna Snow moved out a number of months after Secretary Snow resigned in 2006.
In late spring of 2007, I'd phoned the faculty member whose surname, "Surname X," was the same as Bill's alternate for "Pence" and left a message on that party's answering machine about all this. The faculty member in question didn’t return my call.
And, at about that time, some items of value were gone from my apartment. Someone had entered, using a key, and locked up upon leaving. One of the missing items was a package of steaks which might have been of interest to any hungry person. But also missing were a letter, which had been sent to me by an important scientist, and some of my own scientific notes. Those last two items weren't necessarily entirely without value, but might have been of interest only to a limited number of individuals in academia or government.
Now, we all love playing private eye. I’ve even thought of writing a novel about a fictional detective. His name would be “David Mannn, Private Eye.” (I thought the extra “n” would convey an indication of reasonable virility for my projected fictional alter ego.)
Here then was my chance for a real detective case. And in the case of the missing science notes and letters, one possible lead was the member of the IU faculty whose surname was the same as Bill's alternate surname.
But a second avenue of investigation had occurred to me.
I’d often wondered whether or not Mr. Rick Greenspan, IU Director of Athletics, was related to Alan Greenspan.
I decided to investigate the matter,
Continue
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