Ted Stevens made a difference

Since Ted Stevens was once ridiculed for referring to the internet as “a series of tubes” it is encouraging to see the new Center for Arctic Security Studies will be named for him.

Stevens at the time, back when the internet and the online world were just becoming a worldwide phenomenon, was struggling to explain how those things worked. He understood it well but had difficulty putting it into words.

The series of tubes notion was an oversimplification of a complex and then little understood electronic world that has changed all of our lives. And it has changed them for what hopefully will prove to be the better, though the jury is still out on that issue.

The new Center for Arctic Security Studies will presumably not focus on the internet though the online world will almost certainly be an important consideration.

Alaska is, of course, situated partly in the Arctic and the Arctic Circle is within driving distance of Fairbanks via the Dalton Highway. The highway, named for the late Alaska engineer James W. Dalton, runs 414 miles from the Elliot Highway north of Fairbanks to the Arctic coast.

The Anchorage-based center will be one of six such facilities operated by the U.S. Department of Defense and specializing in regional studies for defense needs. The others are already established in Germany and Hawaii with three in Washington, D.C. Those in Washington focus on security matters in the Western Hemisphere, Africa and Asia.

Stevens made the “series of tubes” analogy 15 years ago when the internet was far from the universally used and better understood network that we have today.

Many of his less astute critics used his words to suggest that the senator himself didn’t really understand how the cyber world worked. But the fact was that Stevens understood it quite well and really appreciated the tremendous potential if offered for Alaska’s growth.

Though we are a part of the United States, Alaska is more than 3,300 miles from Washington, D.C. Long distance telephone calls have connected Alaska to the rest of the nation for many years and the postal service has been a tremendous help in keeping us supplied with the letters and packages we need. But the internet offered a new and promising way to communicate with friends and family in other parts of the nation and the world, including people behind what used to be called the Iron Curtain.

Such barriers have fallen over the years and they have fallen in significant part because of the work done by Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. He recognized the potential it offered for places like Alaska and Hawaii as well as other remote parts of the world.

Because of that potential Stevens worked hard to bring the nation’s two remote states into the modern world of telecommunications. His efforts were successful and we now have, as a result of his work and those whose causes he championed during his time in Washington, a unified nation which communicates around the clock.

Perhaps someday an innovative chef will create an edible meal that looks like a series of tubes. If so it should be fed to those who made fun of Ted in those days.

Tom Brennan is an Anchorage columnist and author of six books. He was a reporter/columnist for The Anchorage Times and an editor and columnist at The Voice of The Times.