Weekly News & Views by: Will Portello
Photographs by: Ken Firestein
Opening Bell
In a flashback to a quaint time in our history, Gary Johns (subbing for President Dave) rang the quasi-bell at 7:07. After President Morse’s premature demonstration of trying to kick off at 0700 precisely, the return to normalcy was welcome. David was backpacking, apparently trying to retrieve his bell from some mountain peak. I like backpacking, particularly if it involves a soft-sided cooler all the way to the poolside from the suite. Bears, Poison Oak, Giardia, Perverts and Ebola? Not so much.
Next.. guests
Paul Goodman was visiting from San Juan Bautista. He is remodeling a house in Davis, so we expect to see more of him. Wayne Schrader was present. Arbaj Singh was in the back of the room. Lindsay Westin of the Yolo Basin Foundation was also visiting.
Announcements
Something inappropriate came up, but since Gary isn’t Manny, no awareness training or court-supervised monitoring followed.
Meaghan, our resident service club Queen and GU&G herder, announced a Kiwanis Golf Tournament on Saturday the 29th. Kiwanis is a smaller club, so bring your putter and tap it through the windmill. It's not too late to play in Saturday's tournament. All proceeds go to the Kiwanis Family House, our Davis Sunrise Rotary foursome still has one opening, and Jeff's has offered to buy the rotarians beers. Contact Meaghan if you're interested in playing. Bob Poppenga reminded us that it’s time for the fair. And the fair means… beer. We are doing the beer concession. Set up is on August 13. Fair starts on Wednesday. There are a lot of shifts available, both for selling tickets and pouring that sweet god-given nectar of oblivion that helps you get through the day because those damn kids just keep on… sorry… I digress.
Then Meaghan and Chuck S. announced that they had given the club website a tummy tuck, lipo, implants, and a facelift. Seems a little harsh for a club that’s not even 30.
Happy Bucks
Sgt. Newman! then rolled into action.
He got happy bucks from Roy Kroener, who has started a 2nd career as a pro
golfer. He’s giving the club 10% of his golfing income. That $47 win last weekend is just a start. Tim Daleiden did a road trip, and hit the Spam museum with his daughter and two dogs. Only one dog was left when the tour finished. Mmmmm. SPAM. Cliff was trying to fly UAL Flight 1 to Singapore when an Air Canada Flight decided to land on his taxiway at SFO when Cliff was at the head of the line, passing 100 feet over him. You can find audio of Cliff’s commentary online. With code-share partners like that, who needs enemies? The replacement boxer shorts should be arriving momentarily. Gretchen worked at camp: 4 ER visits and a testicle injury that’s only funny because it didn’t happen to me. Duncan went to Guatemala and worked as a gopher in a clinic. Mike McCormick went west and travelled around. Irena Asmundson was happy, but I can’t figure out why. My notes only say “happy bucks,” which is slightly more useless than a recused Attorney General. Mark Pratt went to Comic-Con, and claimed to have dressed as an accountant. His Wonder Woman Tiara says “lie.” John MacNamara gave happy bucks because Dick Berry found lodging for his sister’s upcoming extended visit.
golfer. He’s giving the club 10% of his golfing income. That $47 win last weekend is just a start. Tim Daleiden did a road trip, and hit the Spam museum with his daughter and two dogs. Only one dog was left when the tour finished. Mmmmm. SPAM. Cliff was trying to fly UAL Flight 1 to Singapore when an Air Canada Flight decided to land on his taxiway at SFO when Cliff was at the head of the line, passing 100 feet over him. You can find audio of Cliff’s commentary online. With code-share partners like that, who needs enemies? The replacement boxer shorts should be arriving momentarily. Gretchen worked at camp: 4 ER visits and a testicle injury that’s only funny because it didn’t happen to me. Duncan went to Guatemala and worked as a gopher in a clinic. Mike McCormick went west and travelled around. Irena Asmundson was happy, but I can’t figure out why. My notes only say “happy bucks,” which is slightly more useless than a recused Attorney General. Mark Pratt went to Comic-Con, and claimed to have dressed as an accountant. His Wonder Woman Tiara says “lie.” John MacNamara gave happy bucks because Dick Berry found lodging for his sister’s upcoming extended visit.Sergeant's Recognitions
The UCD employees (Bob and Jacque) got whacked for the new pension double-dipping police chief. The Order of the Asterix was thanked for their service. A bunch of old photographs got passed around; Ken and Manny couldn’t recognize Clay, so they had to pay the price. Meaghan got whacked for kissing a Belgian detective. Marc Thompson was brought out of the closet by his high school drama teacher, and gave thanks.Speaker
Paul Erickson, a UCD Professor was introduced by Jim Smith. Jim said Profesor Erickson has a bunch of things in his biography that Jim doesn’t understand, which is comforting, given that Jim is an educational consultant…
Professor Erickson decided not to speak from his area of expertise, vehicle energy systems, and instead decided to do a presentation on “self driving cars.” (full disclosure: the author spent 6 months putting together a presentation on autonomous vehicles, including the ethics and regulations, as well as working with some of the world’s leading autonomous vehicle experts from Stanford University… so footnotes will be the order of the day).
Professor Erickson gave a broad overview of transportation: “we” want cheap, safe, quick, reliable, personal, location-specific transportation. “We” also want all-terrain, comfortable, climate-controlled, quiet, maintenance-free, utilitarian, all-weather stylish vehicles with performance. Then he added “we want cars to drive themselves.[1] Self-Driving cars would seem to present the elimination of congestion, elimination of accidents, and higher efficiency and speed. However computer failures, behavior prediction, road structure and cost are limiting factors. As the Professor pointed out, sitting motionless while the computer updates is not going to be attractive.[2]
The motivation is that there are 10.4 million accidents each year, worldwide. In the United States, there are 44,700 fatalities (with around
22% of the fatalities being alcohol related). Worldwide, 49% of fatalities involve people who aren’t in the vehicle. Over the years, vehicles have made enormous safety advances (cruise control, ABS, Electronic Stability Control), and recent advances (blind spot assistance, traffic assist, pedestrian warning, active braking and active cruise control) continuing to make driving safer.
22% of the fatalities being alcohol related). Worldwide, 49% of fatalities involve people who aren’t in the vehicle. Over the years, vehicles have made enormous safety advances (cruise control, ABS, Electronic Stability Control), and recent advances (blind spot assistance, traffic assist, pedestrian warning, active braking and active cruise control) continuing to make driving safer.The obstacles are that humans are difficult to predict (as are animals). He shared a story about a bus driver who knew to slow his bus because baby sheep always follow their mother. So much for discount lamb. He also had concerns about vehicles taking passengers down dead ends. He also questioned whether every obstacle on a road would need to have a transponder.[3] Questions remain about whether it will increase distracted driving in vehicles with a human interface, along with ignorance of how to operate machinery (is anyone actually concerned about societal ignorance?) The Professor envisioned a slow, cautious commute.[4]
Another concern the Professor had was the potential outcome if the vehicle’s automatic system disengages for some reason, leaving the steering-wheel-less, brake-pedal-less car careening along.[5] One question was 
“why cars?” After all, cars have an incredibly complex environment, while the environment for trains, aircraft and boats is far simpler (clearly he hasn’t tried to drive his Air Nautique through the Berryessa Narrows on a Saturday afternoon), and they still all have engineers/pilots/drivers aboard, and autopilot systems have existed for years.
“why cars?” After all, cars have an incredibly complex environment, while the environment for trains, aircraft and boats is far simpler (clearly he hasn’t tried to drive his Air Nautique through the Berryessa Narrows on a Saturday afternoon), and they still all have engineers/pilots/drivers aboard, and autopilot systems have existed for years.He then shared a joke about dog co-pilots. The job of the dog was to sit in the seat, and bite the pilot if he tried to touch anything. Cliff was probably thinking “apparently Air Canada rules allow the damn Poodle to fly the plane on final approach.”
Self-Driving cars raise issues of liability (we never got to legal issues and ethics). They also raise policy issues for parking, street use, and mobility.[6] Ultimately, there’s also a cost-benefit analysis, because these things aren’t cheap.
Ultimately, the question was whether people actually want self-driving cars.[7] The answer appears to be “only for other people.”[8]
Draw of the day was $671. Jim Smith had the Professor autonomously grab his ticket, but all Jim went home with was a free breakfast.
[1] Realistically, technology companies and ride sharing such as Uber, Lyft and Waymo are pushing for autonomous vehicles. Transportation efficiency wonks also like the idea.
[2] The bigger question is how long manufacturers will provide updates for software in vehicles as they age. Because of the liability issues for manufacturers, it’s unlikely that people will be allowed to purchase autonomous vehicles, instead being permitted only to lease them.
[3] No. A.V.’s use a variety of integrated sensors, including GPS, radar, laser (typically LIDAR), and optical. There’s your cost- a LIDAR unit is around $50,000.
[4] Of course, if the vehicles network, then it may be a very fast commute. Which raises concerns about hacking of autonomous vehicles.
[5] The systems are generally designed with a fail-safe, so that if it disengages, the vehicle stops.
[6] The fear being that people will just program their cars to drive around, rather than park. However, given the natural market (see footnote 8 below), it’s unlikely people will be buying these things.
[7] The evidence suggests that Jack Latow assuredly DOES NOT WANT A SELF DRIVNG CAR.
[8] Uber, Lyft and Waymo really, really, really want large fleets of self-driving vehicles in major metropolitan areas to service large urban populations, and eliminate 2nd vehicles in households, while also eliminating the labor costs of drivers, and radically lowering insurance rates. Insurance companies like the idea.