【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 have to go through an embarrassing situation every time I need a spare part for my wheelchair. There needs to be a lawyer who can act as a champion for the rights of welfare clients, because the system so easily lends itself to abuse by the welfare givers as well as by the clients. Welfare sent Suzanne to look around in my apartment the other day because the chemist said I was using a larger than usual amount of medical supplies. I was, indeed: The hole that has been surgically cut to drain urine had changed size and the connection to my urine bag was leaking. While she was taking notes, my phone rang and Suzanne answered it. The caller was a state senator, which scared Suzanne a little. Would I sit on the governor39。s mittee and try to do something about the thousands of welfare clients who, like me, could earn part or all of their own livings if they were allowed to do so, one step at a time? Hell, yes, I would! Someday people like me will thrive under a new system that will encourage them, not seek to convict them of cheating. They will be free to develop their talents without guilt or fear— or just hold a good, steady job. Unit4 A transformation is occurring that should greatly boost living standards in the developing world. Places that until recently were deaf and dumb are rapidly acquiring uptodate telemunications that will let them promote both internal and foreign investment. It may take a decade for many countries in Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe to improve transportation, power supplies, and other utilities. But a single optical fiber with a diameter of less than half a millimete can carry more information than a large cable made of coppe wires. By installing optical fiber, digital switches, and the latest wireless transmission systems, a parade of urban centers and industrial zones from Beijing to Budapest are stepping directly into the Information Age. A spider39。s web of digital and wireless munication links is already reaching most of Asia and parts of Eastern Europe. All these developing regions see advanced munications as a way to leap over whole stages of economic development. Widespread access to information technologies, for example, promises to condense the time required to change from laborintensive assembly work to industries that involve engineering, marketing, and design. Modern munications will give countries like China and Vietnam a huge advantage over countries stuck with old technology. How fast these nations should push ahead is a matter of debate. Many experts think Vietnam is going too far by requiring that all mobile phones be expensive digital models, when it is desperate for any phones, period. These countries lack experience in weighing costs and choosing between technologies, says one expert. Still, there39。s little dispute that munications will be a key factor separating the winners from the losers. Consider Russia. Because of its strong educational system in mathematics and science, it should thrive in the Information problem is its national phone system is a rusting antiqu that dates from the l930s. To lick this problem, Russia is starting to install optical fiber and has a strategic plan to pump $40 billion into various munications its economy is stuck in recession and it barely has the money to even scratch the surface of the problem. Compare that with the mainland of China. Over the next decade, it plans to pour some $100 billion into telemunications equipment. In a way, China39。s backwardness is an advantage, because the expansion occurs just as new technologies are being cheaper than copper wire systems. By the end of 1995, each of China39。s provincial capitals except for Lhasa will have digital switches and highcapacity optical fiber links. This means that major cities are getting the basic infrastructure to bee major parts of the information superhighway, allowing people to log on to the most advanced services available Telemunications is also a key to Shanghai39。s dream of being a top financial center. To offer peak performance in providing the electronic data and paperless trading global investors expect, Shanghai plans telemunications works as powerful as those in Manhattan. Meanwhile, Hungary also hopes to jump into the modern world. Currently, 700,000 Hungarians are waiting for phones. To partially overe the problem of funds and to speed the import of Western technology, Hungary sold a 30%