Virginia Abernethy and 2G: Difference between pages

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'''Virginia Abernethy''' (born in [[1934]]) is an [[United States|American]] [[professor]] (emerita) of [[psychiatry]] and [[anthropology]] at [[Vanderbilt University]] School of Medicine. She received a B.A. from [[Wellesley College]], an M.B.A from [[Vanderbilt University]], and Ph.D. from [[Harvard University]]. She is an anthropology [[fellow]] of the [[American Association for the Advancement of Science]]. Abernethy has been called "an anthropologist at the center of the [[paleoconservatism|paleoconservative]] intellectual movement for over 30 years".[http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/10/18/arizona_immigration/print.html]

{{Table Mobile phone standards}}

== Fertility-opportunity hypothesis ==

'''2G''' (or 2-G) is short for second-generation [[wireless]] [[telephone]] [[technology]].

Abernethy's research has focused on the issues of [[population]] and [[culture]]. Her most famous work discounts the [[demographic transition]] theory, which holds that fertility drops as women become more educated and contraceptives become more available. In its place she has developed a "[[fertility-opportunity hypothesis]]," which states that [[fertility]] follows perceived economic opportunity. A corollary to this [[hypothesis]] is that [[World Food Program|food aid]] to [[developing nation]]s will only exacerbate [[overpopulation]]. She has advocated in favor of [[microloan]]s to women in the place of international aid, because she believes microloans allow improvement in the lives of families without leading to higher fertility.

The main differentiator to previous mobile telephone systems, retrospectively dubbed [[1G]], is that the radio signals that 1G networks use are [[Analog signal|analog]], while 2G networks are [[digital]]. Note that both systems use digital signaling to connect the radio towers (which listen to the handsets) to the rest of the telephone system.

== Publications ==

Abernethy has written or edited several books, including: ''Population Politics: The Choices that Shape our Future'', [[1993]], and ''Population Pressure and Cultural Adjustment'', [[1979]]. Abernethy has written articles that have appeared in ''[[Chronicles (paleoconservative)|Chronicles]],'' ''[[The Social Contract Press]]'', ''[[The Atlantic Monthly]]'', and numerous [[academic journal]]s. She has also made occasional contributions to the weblog ''[[VDARE]]''.

== PositionsFlavours heldof 2G ==

Abernethy served [[1989]]-[[1999]] as the editor of the academic journal ''Population and Environment''. She also served on the editorial board of ''The Citizen Informer,'' the newsletter of the [[Council of Conservative Citizens]], and regularly addresses meetings of the CofCC. She is on the editorial advisory board of ''[[Occidental Quarterly|The Occidental Quarterly]]'', a pro-[[European-American]] scholarly journal of "nationalist thought and opinion." Abernethy is on the Board of Directors of the [[Carrying Capacity Network]], an immigration-reduction organization, and also on the Board of Population-Environment BALANCE, which advocates an immigration moratorium in order to balance population size with resources and the environment's capacity to cope with pollution.

2G technologies can be divided into [[Time division multiple access|TDMA]]-based and [[Code division multiple access|CDMA]]-based standards depending on the type of [[multiplexing]] used. The main 2G standards are:

== Protect Arizona Now ==

Abernethy's involvement in [[Arizona]]'s Proposition 200 campaign has generated new controversy. She is Chair of the National Advisory Board of the [[Protect Arizona Now]] (PAN) committee which promoted Proposition 200 in that state's [[2004]] election. (Proposition 200, which passed [[November 2]], will further limit access to voting and government benefits by illegal residents). On [[August 9]], [[2004]] the [[Federation for American Immigration Reform]] (FAIR), which is reported to have contributed over $400,000 for signature gathering, issued a statement that called for Abernethy's resignation from PAN because of her "repugnant, divisive" views, including [[separatism]].

* [[GSM]] (TDMA-based), originally from Europe but used worldwide (Time Division Multiple Access)

During the campaign Abernethy replied to a journalist's question about her allegedly supremacist views by stating that she considers herself a separatist, not a supremacist.

* [[iDEN]] (TDMA-based), proprietary network used by [[Nextel]] in the [[United States]] and [[Telus Mobility]] in [[Canada]]

* [[IS-136]] ''aka'' [[D-AMPS]], (TDMA-based, commonly referred as simply [[Time division multiple access|TDMA]] in the US), used in the Americas

* [[IS-95]] ''aka'' [[IS-95|cdmaOne]], (CDMA-based, commonly referred as simply [[CDMA]] in the US), used in the Americas and parts of Asia

* [[Personal Digital Cellular|PDC]] (TDMA-based), used exclusively in Japan

2G services are frequently referred as [[Personal Communications Service]], or '''PCS''', in the US.

"''I'm in favor of separatism -- and that's different than supremacy. Groups tend to self-segregate. I know that I'm not a supremacist. I know that ethnic groups are more comfortable with their own kind.''"

*[http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/?sty=26431 East Valley Tribune (AZ): "Migrant foe tied to racism"]

[[2.5G]] services enable high-speed data transfer over upgraded existing 2G networks. Beyond 2G, there's [[3G]], with higher data speeds, and [[4G]], with even higher data speeds, to enable new services for subscribers, such as picture messaging and video telephony.

In a letter to the Washington Times printed September 30, 2004, she rebutted their reporting of her as a "self-described 'racial separatist'", indicating that she is an ''ethnic separatist'' instead. She went on to note that the nation has abandoned the motto, "e pluribus unum." She write, "The goals of the multicultural game are ethnic separatism, ethnic privilege and ethnic power." European-Americans are "late on the playing field" and need to catch up because if they don't play the game "my family and kin will lose out." [http://www.amren.com/mtnews/archives/2004/10/_while_arizonan.php]

== Capacities, Advantages, Disadvantages ==

[[Category:1934 births|Abernethy, Virginia]]

=== Capacity ===

[[Category:Living people|Abernethy, Virginia]]

[[Category:American academics|Abernethy, Virginia]]

Using digital signals between the handsets and the towers increases [[system capacity]] in two key ways:

[[Category:paleoconservatism|Abernethy, Virginia]]

* Digital voice data can be compressed and [[Multiplexing|multiplexed]] much more effectively than analog voice encodings through the use of various [[CODEC]]s, allowing more calls to be packed into the same amount of radio [[bandwidth]].

* The digital systems were designed to emit less radio power from the handsets. This meant that [[Cellular network|cell]]s could be smaller, so more cells could be placed in the same amount of space. This was also made possible by [[cell tower]]s and related equipment getting less expensive.

=== Advantages ===

Digital systems were embraced by consumers for several reasons.

* The lower powered radio signals require less battery power, so phones last much longer between charges, and batteries can be smaller.

* The digital voice encoding allowed digital [[ECC|error checking]] which could increase sound quality by reducing [[dynamic]] and lowering the [[noise floor]].

* The lower power emissions helped address health concerns.

* Going all-digital allowed for the introduction of digital data services, such as [[Short message service|SMS]] and [[email]].

A key digital advantage not often mentioned is that digital cellular calls are much harder to [[eavesdrop]] on by use of [[radio scanner]]s. While the [[security algorithm]]s used have proved to not be as secure as initially advertised, 2G phones are immensely more private than 1G phones, which have no protection whatsoever against eavesdropping.

=== Disadvantages ===

The downsides of 2G systems, not often well publicized, are:

* In less populous areas, the weaker digital signal will not be sufficient to reach a cell tower.

* Analog has a smooth decay curve, digital a jagged steppy one. This can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. Under good conditions, digital will sound better. Under slightly worse conditions, analog will experience static, while digital has occasional [[dropouts]]. As conditions worsen, though, digital will start to completely fail, by dropping calls or being unintelligible, while analog slowly gets worse, generally holding a call longer and allowing at least a few words to get through.

* Despite the coverage maps provided by major phone companies, as of 2006 digital coverage in many areas is spotty at best.

* With analog systems it was possible to have two or more [[Clone (cellphone)|"cloned"]] handsets that had the same phone number. This was widely abused for [[Fraud|fraudulent purposes]]. It was, however, of great advantage in many legitimate situations. One could have a backup handset in case of damage or loss, a permanently installed handset in a car or remote workshop, and so on. With digital systems, this is no longer possible.

* While digital calls tend to be free of [[static]] and [[background noise]], the [[lossy compression]] used by the CODECs takes a toll; the range of sound that they convey is reduced. You'll hear less of the tonality of someone's voice talking on a digital cellphone, but you will hear it more clearly.

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