The Durable Human

Nuts and Bolts of Bike Share

Bike share programs are springing up all over the world.  For an idea of how they work, a system in the bustling, northern Italian city of Milan provides a good example.      

You know when it's a rent-a-bike

There’s no confusing a colorful bike share bike, which is clearly marked with municipality and conspicuous I.D. number (an effective theft-deterrent).  

Touch pad control

Bike stations are conveniently located  around the city.

Kiosks contain a screen and keypad where you enter a password created when booking online. Sliding your credit card, your bike space number appears on the screen.     

Automatically unlocked, the bike easily lifts off the rack.

Three gears do the trick

Bikes are tough and sturdy, yet easy to steer. The ride is remarkably comfortable, even over bumps. Having only three to choose from takes the guesswork out of shifting gears.         

 

No spandex required

No need for special cycling clothes. People in this fashion capital wear just about anything when they ride, including business suits and high heels. You can’t exert yourself too much or go too fast amid the traffic lights and other forms of transportation. Helmets don’t come with the rental and aren’t typically worn.  

Pedal-powered!

You’ll feel angelic powering the rear and front lights. The simple ting-ting bell also did the trick. 

Best of all – the cost is only a few euros for a two-hour period – and the first half hour is free!

I give the Milan system an A-, due to some very minor quibbles. The heavy bikes develop so much momentum they’re somewhat tough to brake. While having a bungee is helpful, the metal bike basket is slippery and heavy objects are hard to secure. My husband’s new SLR camera slipped out and broke at our first sight-seeing stop. We’ll stow our stuff in a bag next time. Booking the bike was somewhat cumbersome because the system did not allow multiple bookings at one time, nor did it retain information from prior bookings.  

But, all in all, bike share is a cheap and enjoyable alternative to taxis, a good bridge between different types of transport, and a great way to burn off the fantastic pasta and frequent gelato stops.     

Disney’s Active New Attraction

Tess and the Kimmunicator

The humble flip phone may revolutionize the way we experience theme parks. It’s all happening at Disney World’s Epcot, courtesy of a girl named Kim.

“The Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure simply gives guests something that they want. People want to be active, physically and mentally,” Jonathan Ackley – who directs Walt Disney Imagineering’s Interactive Division – told The Durable Human.

My 8-year-old cousin, Tess – like many girls of a certain age – loves Kim Possible.  Kim stars in her own Disney Channel animated series as a high school cheerleader who turns secret agent. On our recent trip to Disney World, Tess heard on the bus from the airport that there was Something Kim at Epcot and I knew I wouldn’t hear the end of it until we found her.

With a little effort we tracked down one of the low-profile Kim Possible Recruitment Centers scattered throughout the park. Pressing a button on the self-serve display, out popped a ticket with our Adventure appointment.  A half hour later, we reported to a kiosk outside the Norway Pavilion in Epcot’s World Showcase. A smartly-uniformed Kim Team member asked Tess if she was ready for the mission. After a deep and serious nod, Tess was handed a “Kimmunicator”—the retooled ‘06-era cell phone which would serve as our guide.

When Tess pressed the OK button, Kim’s brainy cartoon side-kick, Wade, appeared on the phone’s tiny screen and instructed us to go straight to Mexico. Inside that pavilion, Tess again activated the Kimmunicator and we were startled to see our first clue: an Aztec blaze briefly appeared on the back wall of a nearby artifact display case. We continued to range through the building, solving puzzles and discovering clues for our eyes only. Here, a pinata near the ceiling momentarily flashed a code number. There, a guitar strummed out a clue. I don’t wish to disclose all the details, but suffice it to say that by the time we were done we managed to save the world.

Our exploits were exhilarating. We actually felt like secret agents, sliding unnoticed through the crowds, surrounded by people totally unaware of our stealthy business.

Ackley, former Lego designer and creator of the Kim experience, says people love the free-range approach. “Visitors have really been enjoying the attraction, some playing for hours on end. That’s high praise considering all the other fantastic things at Disney World. Kids love being secret agents, triggering high-tech gadgets and uncovering mysteries.  Parents love the humor, and most importantly the time spent playing with their families.”

But kids aren’t the only takers, says Ackley. “I’ve also seen retired couples enjoying the attraction without any children in tow. And I’ve seen teens and twenty/thirty/forty-somethings enjoying the experience as well.”

Although Ackley says the Kim Adventure incorporates play patterns “as old as human history,” Tess and I felt like cutting edge, active controllers of our own amusement, which he says is by design.

“Today, people can play fantastic video games sitting at home in front of their TV sets.  But when they come to the park, they get immersed in ways they can’t at home. You can play a super-hero at home. But at Disney, you really are a super hero, and super-heroes have to do some leg-work now and then.”

Could free-range adventures ever replace typical theme park fare?  “I don’t believe that this kind of attraction will replace dark rides or roller coasters,” claims Ackley.  “But it’s a new color on the palette.”

There is one other similar adventure elsewhere in the world – at Tokyo’s DisneySea park. As in Kim Possible, guests are the main characters of the story, but in “Leonardo Challenge”, a magic map leads them through an enchanted Renaissance fortress to unravel clues left by Leonardo Da Vinci.

How Green is My Classroom

At this point in the new century, many of us do things to save dwindling resources and make better use of others. But decisions can be tricky. Where do we set the thermostat and still be comfortable? Should we eat the organic imported orange or the conventional local apple? Do we print out the PDF or read it online? Technology helps, but can complicate matters. 

Large institutions have a harder time because they must meet disparate needs and demands. Take the example of American University, a school in Washington, D.C., which recently introduced a Green Teaching Certificate. Courses are “Green Certified” if teachers communicate online, use electronic books and readings, and let students use laptops in class, among other measures considered sustainable.      

But the system is causing hiccups for the age-old craft of writing. Writing instructors and their first-year students were surveyed for a Literature Department teaching seminar aptly named “Going Green in the Classroom: Balancing Ecological and Learning Environments.” 

It turns out that faculty members all do some things green, even if not officially certified. There is general agreement that posting assignments on the document-sharing platform, Blackboard, helps everyone stay organized. But working online apparently has its drawbacks.    

Not being able to get their hands on the material is a common complaint of students.  “You can’t take notes on readings online so it makes reading harder, ” was one of several similar student comments.  

Yet, 95 of the 130 students surveyed don’t print out the readings. Three out of four don’t even read them. “I absolutely hate reading things online,” acknowledged one student. “Having a hard copy of readings is much more beneficial to my learning experience.” 

Teachers also like good old pen and paper. One didn’t mince words: “Students who do not print out and mark up readings for e-reserves are completely useless in class.”

Not having anything to write on also takes its toll on the writing process.  As a teacher understated, “The revision process is much more productive, in my experience, when students have hard copy in front of them.”

When material is printed, faculty members don’t like the university’s suggestion to make single-spaced, two-sided copies because there’s no space for notes and revisions.

But printouts—or lack thereof—have a price. One student explained the predicament: “While green courses may intend to help the environment, it really puts more of the burden of cost on the student. I am currently in 3 “green” courses and have had to use ALL my printing bucks…and have gone through two ink cartridges in order to print out all the readings I am required to do.” 

To protect students, some teachers bear the burden, but shift the cost. “It’s either them or me, and for what they pay in tuition, I’ve decided it should be the university’s paper and Xerox machine.”

One teacher has a partial workaround: printing handouts for in-class use only. “I number them (making no more than ten—and requiring them to look on with a classmate) and collect them at the end of a class period.”

Laptops present another quandary. “There’s no way they’re not gonna check Facebook!” despaired a faculty member. Many students readily admit checking email and doing other “personal research” in class. The distraction factor is so high, one out of three teachers ban laptops. That’s fine, says a student, because some people don’t have one. “I think there should be some degree of understanding if the course is ‘green.’ ”

Beyond the ethical dilemmas is the irony that classrooms assigned to most AU College Writing Professors aren’t equipped with computers (but do have projectors). The Literature Department recently received its first scanner. But if the scanner is used so materials can be copied, then paper-using has only been perpetuated.

In the end, for faculty and students alike, decisions about eco-rules are personal and pragmatic. “As much as I would like to help the environment and not print out all the readings,” one student lamented, “the most effective way of learning is to read the paper copy and highlight and take notes rather than attempt to read on a computer screen.”  

A teacher questioned the very nature of going green. “Blackboard is a great resource, and I like the way it has allowed me to save paper, etc., but it does not appear to me intentionally or pointedly green.  All of this is peanuts compared to the real carbon footprint of driving to and from school.”

It would be instructive to know whether Lit is the only AU department, or AU the only school, which struggles with green policies. If you have some experience—please share your thoughts.

Have a Human Holiday

December 19, 2009                      

The snow just keeps on coming.  In front of my house, a lone pair of tire tracks fades with each falling inch. Yet, under the drifts at the end of the driveway, is a plastic bag with today’s Washington Post.  It’s as if it’s 1999, when everyone got the paper and the day couldn’t start unless you devoured those words along with your toast and coffee.  But the bag is skinny now and fewer subscribers are on the street, yet someone still managed to bring my paper in the worst December storm on record.  

The front page tells of another endangered habit. People complain about empty mailboxes and no festive cards to make their day.  But others are glad to be done with the tradition.  They love using Facebook because they can send quick, paperless greetings and a steady supply of family snapshots all year long.   

I, too, am toying with discarding the card idea. In the few days our grown-up kids were together this summer, no one thought to take a perfect picture.  But we’ll hang in for another year and send a  generic photo.  Whatever goes in the mail, I know I can depend on a slew of hard-working humans to get it where it needs to go.

Amazon depends on humans, too. I never thought much about that until I stumbled on a link to their holiday help-wanted ad.  Amazon hires walk 10 to 15 miles a day and “repetitively lift, bend, stoop and squat”.  I suddenly realized, when I order on Amazon, a great effort will be made on my behalf – not by robots or machines –  but by living, breathing people.

I had an ache of thanks just then, for all those durable humans—striding miles to schlep my selections; driving through the snowy dawn; hoping they’ll be there next year to haul my self-styled greetings. 

So, for the holidays still before us, let’s remember the unsung heroes of the Internet age.  And, when we finally have a few precious moments with the people we know and love, let’s stand down our digital devices so we don’t end up like this Facebook message:   

“Pre-Thanksgiving dinner w/the Martins at a Mexican restaurant:  sister on Blackberry with friends. Brother on Blackberry with Asian office. Sister in law on Blackberry with Washington D.C. Me on Blackberry checking emails and texts. Niece reading Vampire book. Meanwhile, Dad is eating chips and salsa, wondering what happened to his dinner companions…”

Bus Blog Action 2009

The simple act of taking the bus can make a big difference.  Last year, because Americans took 10.7 million trips on public transit, 4 billion gallons of gasoline were not used.  Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas pollution in this country – and cars are the biggest contributor.  But somehow, as much as we hate traffic, we tend to forget the mighty job a bus can do to get cars off the road.  We also overlook that, to a kid, a bus can be a ticket to personal freedom. Knowing how to take transit teaches children to be durable humans. 

For Blog Action Day, 2009, I offer the story of how my fifteen year old son and his friend learned the transit lesson.  I won’t reprint the whole story which appears in the Washington Post, but suffice it to say the kids and their moms got an education—thanks to technology—on how to research and ride the bus. The families saved both time and money.  But for the kids, there was more. As I wrote, “For one thing, they got exercise. Walking that mile to and from the bus happens to be the daily dose of activity recommended for teens by the American Heart Association. Plus, getting outside in the fresh air is an antidote for what author Richard Louv terms “nature deficit disorder.” Louv, in his book “Last Child in the Woods”, also argues that the leash we have on our kids is way too tight. When we allow them to be more self-reliant and self-propelled, they gain pride and satisfaction.”

I am proud there are two more people on the planet who know a viable way to get around without a car.  

So, next time you don’t think you can stand another minute behind the wheel, think about whether you—or someone you have to drive—could possibly take the bus.

Musings

Ambling through cyberspace, you have stumbled upon this blog.  It is designed to showcase ideas to help you adapt to an increasingly technological world, yet foster and uphold your unique strengths as a human being.  Every post is infused by at least a touch of unplugged wisdom from the Last Generation, BC - the brave souls who managed to grow up Before Cellphones. 

Nothing metaphysical here, just good common sense that shouldn’t be lost in the Web 2.0 shuffle.  

-Jenifer Joy Madden