Change is in the Air.

Change is in the Air. As we reach the end of one century and the start of the nextmillennium, change is becoming more and more a constant in our dailylives. All too often, though, people see themselves as the victim ratherthan the cause of change. Hollywood is famous for portraying the fearfulside of change. Consider these movies coming to a theater near you: It's December 31, 1999, and your computer systems are not Year2000 compliant a. 1. (Computers) having dates fully and properly represented, and not susceptible to failure due to the year 2000 bug. . So you lock yourself in a secluded se��clud��ed?adj.1. Removed or remote from others; solitary.2. Screened from view; sequestered.se��clud cabin stocked with Adj. 1. stocked with - furnished with more than enough; "rivers well stocked with fish"; "a well-stocked store"stockedfurnished, equipped - provided with whatever is necessary for a purpose (as furniture or equipment or authority); "a furnished apartment"; supplies and get a guard dog to protect yourself against a societythrown into chaos. Or, now that the threat of the former Soviet Union is gone, somehalf-crazed leader of a rogue nation Noun 1. rogue nation - a state that does not respect other states in its international actionsrenegade state, rogue statebody politic, country, nation, res publica, commonwealth, state, land - a politically organized body of people under a single unleashes a nuclear weapon againstthe United States United States,officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. or an allied nation that escalates into the mother ofall wars. And if some stray nuclear missile does not get us, we had bettermove to high ground or dig a shelter deep in the ground to avoid thecomet or asteroid that no one will detect and is on a collision-coursewith Earth. It will cause tidal waves tidal wave,term properly applied to the crest of a tide as it moves around the earth. The wavelike upstream rush of water caused by the incoming tide in some locations is known as a tidal bore. and generally disrupt our way oflife unless we can send pseudo-astronauts to plant nuclear bombs in thecomet or asteroid to destroy it--on second thought, this has been donebefore. Compared with these life-ending events, the changes and problemsthat career and technical educators deal with are small and do not seemso fearsome fear��some?adj.1. Causing or capable of causing fear: "The Devil is a fearsome enemy"Jimmy Breslin.2. Fearful; timid. . But they are important. As you will read in Nancy O'Brien's column ("Time toFocus on Funding," on page 43), our annual fight for increasedappropriations is in full swing. We have been told for the last fouryears that we would not get increased funding until the Perkins Act wasreauthorized. Now that it has happened, the administration hasshort-changed us once again. All ACTE ACTE Association for Career and Technical Education (formerly American Vocational Association)ACTE Association of Corporate Travel ExecutivesACTE Approvals Committee for Terminal EquipmentACTE Anodal Closure Tetanus members must write their representatives and senators tolet them know it is our turn for an increase. Given the high level ofbudget surpluses available and the drive in both Republican andDemocratic parties to focus on education, now is the time. As you know by now, our association is dealing with a change in ourname from AVA Ava, in the BibleAva(ā`və), in the Bible, an unidentified city of Mesopotamia, perhaps the same as Ivah. Its inhabitants are called Avites. to ACTE--the Association for Career and TechnicalEducation ("Inside ACTE," February 1999). This change was along time coming and was overwhelmingly adopted by our members with an83 percent approval by our Assembly of Delegates. Now many stateassociations and local programs have started changing their names aswell. Changing our name was the beginning of our project for the newmillennium--to change the perception of What we do in the minds ofparents, students, businesspersons, policymakers, the media and thepublic at large. Many people may still be fearful of the change we areundertaking--this is understandable. It is always important to remember, however, that change can occurin two ways: It can happen to you, or you can make it happen. In theHollywood visions of destruction, change can certainly end the world aswe know it. Or we can make change work for us to create a new world thatcan make our vision of the future a reality.