MANY DISCOURAGED BY RED TAPE IN TIME TRAVEL T.

Barrett Columnist Lucinda F--- was a student looking to gain some experience studying abroad in Palo Alto 1978. What Lucinda F--- didn't realize was that with travelling abroad on the rise so are the substantial limitations imposed by the US Government. Lucinda is a scholar of gender relations and technology. My thesis was going to examine Gender in the social mechanics of SiliconValley. I wanted to live the life of a woman in San Jose, Palo Alto, so forth, trying to get a job at a Silicon Valley firm. Lucinda F-- wanted to use her knowledge of software engineering to try to move up in the chains of command to see if it would be valued or not based on her gender. Though these guys were highly skilled and forward thinking there was a great deal of gender bias definitely leaning in favor of men. There's a bit of debate in the field about the level of misogyny in the tech business. Even though Steve Jobs had women work with him on the Macintosh he seemed to be very cold with them and displayed a coldness to the mother of his daughter as well. I feel like this could benefit our understanding of this time and express the lack of gender diversity in technological businesses today. As time travel has become more common so as security. Even though there is only one timeport, in Omaha, Nebraska, the demand for time travelling is on the rise. We've been seeing a huge surge of individuals time travelling, particularly for students who often come from programs that work with companies like us to travel to the past, says Franklin T. Reynolds, VP of Customer Relations at TMM Tech, one of the companies offering time transportation. Unfortunately many people underestimate the regulations imposed by the US Government in order to not obstruct the order of time. Lucinda attends UC-San Diego, earning her Master's in Technology and Sociology, with a focus on gender in the workplace of technological firms. Part of her thesis was to include a residency in Silicon Valley in 1978. This was the place to be at that time. This was before Silicon Prairie. This was right after Apple launched Apple II, right when Xerox was developing the graphical user interface, right when Hewlett Packard and INTEL were in their prime of development. Her plans to go abroad were put on standstill, however, as the US State Department's Bureau of Time Transport and Recreation has imposed severe restrictions. I got a letter from the state department rejecting my application for time travel because of their concern about my plans to implement a possible futuristic design. Lucinda had intended to push forward the idea of the external flash drive. Based on my research flash memory wasn't something widely viewed at the time, so I figured my idea, coped with my engineering knowledge, might intrigue someone but I wanted to see if it was affected by my gender or not. The experiment was to have the idea presented by a male, my colleague R. Tyler, and myself to varying companies. Whenever someone wants to time travel he or she has to receive a recommendation from a US Senator and then petition the Bureau of Time Transport and Recreation. Lucinda was rejected on the grounds of possibly changing the future, or time interference. In the letter of rejection, they [Bureau of Time Transport and Recreation] explained that my idea, being one involving a futuristic concept (circa 1990s-2000s) would possibly disrupt the chain of time for which the companies of Silicon Valley were to 'naturally progress.'

This sort of precedent has powerful implications upon college acadmic time investigations. Individuals such as Provost Lewis Portnoy of Stanford University have expressed their chagrin about the government's intrusion of time travel. Hearing about what happened to Lucinda gives me worries of the more focused efforts that may come by the government to restrict what academics and scholars can do in time abroad, says Portnoy, a former history professor whose interest was the Internet bubble of the late 1990s. It is imperative that now that we have the technology to be able to deepen our investigation of what we can find out about previous times. Imagine if Herodotus could've gone back to the Trojan War. This is powerful technology and one we must use to our advantage. Many have skepticism about this powerful tool, believing it should come with great responsibility and severe oversight. We understand the interest of many academics in their regard for deeply penetrating the society of previous civilizations, says Mr. Reynolds, but we must also take precautions in regard of changing the past. When people want to make experiments in the past, they are touching a severe chord that could completely alter the present. We have these restrictions in place because although we wish for people to observe the past we do not wish them to tinker. Jean-Michele Cousteau has a quote that 'You don't touch nature, you look at it.' While he may have been referring to aquatic organisms, we believe that the same can be applied to these societies. While many individuals in the academic community have voiced approval of the transportation offered by TMM Transport a vocal minority has also expressed condemnation, saying that messing with the past is unavoidable on such excursions. I think the travel abroad in time will have possible consequences if continued because it's near impossible to not meddle with things in the past, says University of Georgia Professor Emeritus Douglas Youngblood. Just by buying a transistor radio at CDHD, which was called 'Sears' at the time, one could affect the life of individuals that would have possible consequence. Youngblood feels the technology is still in too much infancy to provide any real value. Because time travel is still limited to the 1870s I question the validity of any excursion. For the most part, our record keeping and use of journals, media, and documentation is substantial enough for this period of history to where it is unnecessary to do any further research beyond documentation. This vocal minority represents a very conservative faction of historians not wishing to utilize the technology, but most see a substantial academic value to the use of time abroad. While we can gather a great deal of evidence based on documentation, documentation can elude us in absolute accuracy, says Portnoy. We especially wish to capture the dimensions of societal interaction and intricacies in social expectations of common individuals. Portnoy also sees the business benefit. With this technology we can revolutionize genealogy research. The US State Department Bureau of Time Transportation and Recreation understands the criticism of red tape in their time travel procedures. We understand that not everyone finds our restrictions necessary but they are necessary to preserve time as it naturally progresses and out of national security. The decision to have only one time port, the Buford T. Garfield Time Port in Omaha was a mutual and collaborative one between the UN. The United Nations recognized that having multiple time ports would severely increase detrimental possibilities. Most nations understood that with knowledge of technology and particularly weapons manufacturing, the possibility of rampant terrorism would be massively destructive.

Because of this a protocol was created where those travelling abroad had to fill out substantial petition forms and undergo at least 1 year of background search and surveillance. Sen. Tim Hart (R-Wyoming) has led a group of senators in lambasting the red tape of time travel. We believe time travel is a luxury that most do not have and that having the government impose severe surveillance, wiretapping, and other items to establish whether or not a petitioner is subversive or not is against what our founding fathers had wished. It is a violation of privacy. Other senators, such as Sen. Hal Logan (D-Texas) disagree, citing the need for extreme care. I don't want any terrorists using C4 in New York Times Square 1945. I don't want any terrorist handing out US Intel to the Nazi's, or to OPEC. By letting people go through time without checks and balances we're asking for a terrorist to give bomb making secrets to various individuals that might harm us. We could wake up tomorrow find out we're living in a world where Ugandan War Lords are the dominant world power. You can just shoot me whenever that happens. Thus far in Year 2 of its use, time travel has yet to yield results detrimental to the natural order and individuals like Logan have cited the effective oversight. That oversight comes with a cost, however. With all this oversight and regulation what we're seeing is substantial tax payer dollars go to fund the government tinkering with time. Hart believes that if we're going to need so much oversight, we shouldn't even time travel. The consumer has to pay a great deal to go on these transports for recreational use, but part of academic travel is subsidized by the government so tax dollars are going to people sitting in a different time just to twiddle their thumbs and write a paper. We can't go back in enough time to justify that. Even if it was all consumer purchased, the security costs are just too substantial. Before a destination and time is allowed on the plans of time travel companies like TMM Transport, American Timelines, and Southwest, the government has to set up a Time Embassy, which is usually covert. A traveler has to register at these embassies, which provides surveillance and security of the time travellers. First you have to have all these embassies which have to have bureaucrats. Then you have surveillance, which often requires overtime, security, which included with the 1 year of surveillance and background checks adds up to a lot of money. The Office of Management and Budget estimates a cost of $1.4 million dollars for one person to travel in time. Hart sees this figure as too high to invest in this. It needs to be less expensive or privatized. Because of the high cost, only 2% of the 50,000 petitions per year are approved. Even if we privatize the entirety of time travel we have to have oversight in order to ensure security. Logan cites the statistic that 65% of the travellers through time are academic minded, and that it is necessary to have this research done hands on. While the applications for academic trips in time are flooding, surprisingly the applications for recreational travel is lower than thought.

Our recreational travel has taken a hit since the novelty as worn off. Says Reynolds, Too many people are worn down by the costs and frankly the bureaucracy. Depending on the subsidies, it costs the average student about $500,000 to travel one month abroad. Usually much of this is covered through stipends and waivers by substantial sized institutions for a month. For the average consumer it is much, much higher. Most consumers are going to pay upward of $2,400,000 for a week in time. J.T. Dyckman of Consumer Reports considers the costs to be a factor in many consumers' eyes. Only the upper echelon of wealthy citizens are able to consider this trip. Besides the hefty price tag, and 1 year background check and surveillance, there's other costs attached. When I decided to go abroad, I was so excited. Pensri Taylor works in IT at a medical supplies manufacturing plant in Oakwood, GA. She used her money to invest and was able to take out enough to go through time. I petitioned and was accepted to go to Paris in 1895. I was so excited. I've been so interested in the Belle Epoque and I especially wanted to see the Lumiere Brothers first screening. What Pensri didn't realize was that besides the intrusive surveillance and wiretapping were other costs. All costs are adjusted for inflation by them [Bureau of Time Transport and Recreation]. So you have to pay for hotels but they are way expensive. Not only are costs are adjusted for inflation, but clothing has to be period specific. They are very harsh about clothing. You have to pay for clothing at select brands that offer them and they are absolutely jacked up. Many clothing retailers such as RTI. Lieberman, Classic Stylings, and Nordstrom Classic often price gauge clothing for individuals going abroad. They know you have to have specific wardrobe choices that are period authentic so they charge a buttload for them. When contacted, only the PR person from Classic Stylings replied: Because of the rarity of some of the fabrics, fur, fragrances, so forth we've put forth a price that is practical given the demands. On top of the $2.4 million for her week, Pensri paid almost $50,000 for wardrobe choices. She also had to undergo a period accurate diet to get into a shape that was period accurate. I'm a pretty fit person, but I'm fit and toned in a way that wasn't common in 1895 Paris, so the Bureau asked me to undergo a regimen that would get me in shape for the trip. How much? For a trainer and dietition it was $20,000. Even though the costs were so high Pensri had good things to say. The trip was amazing. I mean I left on Dec. 24, and stayed through Jan. 1, so I got to see Paris at Christmas and the Lumiere Brothers, and New Year's. It was fantastic. I'd totally recommend it to anyone who could afford it. Pensri has an optimism about the travelling abroad. Soon it would get more affordable and it's an experience that can't be wasted. Clay Smagur and Wendy Teague also contributed to this article.