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Katie Barr

Katie was the owner of the Haitian Art Collection in Delray Beach

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Will your job exist in a thousand years? If so, in what form?

Absolutely! Art and the human spirit are intertwined; this can be traced as far back as the Neanderthals. The need to create works of art, to express oneself in a tangible manner, will always be with us. In the future artworks could take the form of holograms projecting the artist's passion directly on a wall, ever-changing with the viewer or artist's mood. Or perhaps a painting you enter on a virtual level.

Which events from the year 2001 will still be talked about in a thousand years? How will history interpret -- or misinterpret -- those events?

The most obvious answer would be the recent China/United States spy-plane crisis, but when all is said and done, both nations will need to trade labor and technology, so I can't imagine this will prove to be a millennium-shaping event. What will shape the future, however, is the work being done on the Human Genome Project. Knowledge gleaned from this venture will affect us on physical, economic, and spiritual levels well into the next thousand years.

What will South Florida look like one millennium from now?

Jokingly I'd say that from coast to coast there will be an Eckerd and Walgreens on every corner, with stacks of condos on top of each one. But I hope that's not true! Our heritage as Floridians, brief as it may be, is worth preserving. I moved my gallery to the historic downtown area of Delray Beach four years ago because of its charm and uniqueness. So far the city officials and major developers have also shown an appreciation for maintaining Delray's individuality. I hope Florida will grow around its history and not over it.

What will human beings look like?

Going back to my statement on the HGP, in a thousand years we will have eradicated all diseases and birth defects. But the real revelation of this research will be to demonstrate that man's ethnic diversity is exactly what makes us stronger as a species. No one race or nationality is more important than another but interdependent on the survival and proliferation of each.

Which South Florida tourist attractions will stand the test of time, and which will disappear? What will the new tourist traps look like?

Man-made attractions can't hold a candle to what makes South Florida a true paradise. The Everglades, the waterways, the ocean -- your legacy. Boca Raton did a very smart thing 30-odd years ago: The city bought up the beachfront property and made it a public park. A thousand years from now, I think most coastline cities will have also seen the merit in that move, and bit by bit will have bought back their beaches. The water will always bring people to Florida.

Jose Lambiet

Jose was a gossip columnist for Fort Lauderdale's Sun-Sentinel newspaper before moving to a similar post at Star magazine

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Will your job even exist in a thousand years? If so, in what form? If some kind of machine were to replace you, what would it be called?

If it does still exist, it will include covering the celebrity scene on different planets and maybe different galaxies; some of those celebs will probably look like a cross between Dennis Rodman and E.T. We would beam our info to trillions of people stretched over billions of miles by telepathy. Can a machine replace me? No way, Jose. Gossip is as human as any emotion, and I can't see robo-gossip making it. Besides, no machine could imagine the real stuff that the Star digs up.

Which events from the year 2001 will still be talked about a thousand years from now? How will history interpret -- or misinterpret -- those events?

So far in 2001, the construction of the space station is what folks may still talk about. It hasn't received the news coverage it deserves, but the construction of our first permanent outpost in space is a tremendous step in human history. Everyone who'll travel to other worlds will benefit from the teachings of that station.

What will South Florida look like one millennium from now?

Yuck. Forget 1000 years. SoFla will be unlivable in the next 20 years if the political landscape and pro-development don't change. At the beginning of the next millennium, I'm thinking the city in Blade Runner. It will include a sprawling metropolis built on the ocean and stretching out past the Bahamas and Cuba. The Everglades will be a dry desert, and our own gators will be talked about and written about the way dinosaurs now are. I see nothing positive about SoFla in the long-term future -- unless the schmucks who now lead local, state, and federal governments change their money-grubbing ways.

What will human beings look like?

Probably like me. You see, my hairless head is the wave of the future. We don't need hair on our heads to protect us the way humans 1000 years ago needed it. Evolution points toward bald -- for men and women. Bald is beautiful. Get used to it.

Which South Florida tourist attractions will stand the test of time, and which will disappear? What will the new tourist traps look like?

There'll be so much technology that whatever is in a theme park will be available to all from the comfort of everybody's homes. You'll be able to visit and touch and feel and smell the [Egyptian] pyramids from "tourism machines," brain enhancers that will make you think you're in a certain tourist attraction when you're really lying on your couch. Ecotourism will provide one of the only back-to-basics experiences. The new tourist trap? A home preserved as it was in 2001, with such backwards items as a fireplace, dishwasher, and satellite dish.

James Randi

James was a stage magician and escape artist before becoming a full-time skeptic and debunker of psychic fakery and pseudoscience

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Will your job even exist in a thousand years? If so, in what form? If some kind of machine were to replace you, what would it be called?

Yes it will. People don't get smarter inside 1000 years. The truth and reality still won't mean as much to some people. We will still need to teach critical thinking. The media and businesses will continue to be our worst enemies and our best friends. Quack medicine -- chiropractic, homeopathy, et cetera -- has no value yet is likely to persist. If we can get away from that kind of thinking, we'd be better off. The only thing that could replace the work we do would be an improved brain or some kind of inputted software -- called education.

Which events from the year 2001 will still be talked about a thousand years from now? How will history interpret -- or misinterpret -- those events?

The attempt to go to Mars with a complicated ship that can do what manned craft can't. I hope the space program will get more sensible, because I'm willing to spend my tax dollars on it. Sending a man to the moon is glamorous but can be somewhat of a letdown. History's an imperfect thing; imagine what would have happened if Hitler had won. There are many things that never happened but have become part of cultural history, and technology also has a hand in the outcome of events.

What will South Florida look like one millennium from now?

There will be more Hawaiian shirts, and the average age for Broward County, which at the present is deceased, can't get any higher. There will be more and more land being developed, and the wetlands and other wildlife will cease to exist.

What will human beings look like?

Humans will all look like Marilyn Monroe and Tom Cruise. I hope we'll get over some of our compulsion to look like Twiggy, too. I'm appalled at what I see in the configuration of older people. I hope we'll get healthier but not thinner. We need to stop needing to be so thin -- look at the anorexics and bulimics. It's peer pressure to look perfect. Maybe we'll get over that way of thinking -- or not thinking.

Which South Florida tourist attractions will stand the test of time, and which will disappear? What will the new tourist traps look like?

Walt Disney World and Universal Studios will still be around, and Coral Castle will continue to fascinate the gullible; there are still silly people around with a genuine curiosity for the very strange fellow who built that place. The new tourist traps will be rides: roller coasters with almost zero gravity that practically put you into orbit. We want to push the limits; it's the nature of our species.

Keith Clayborne

Keith was editor and publisher of The Broward Times

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Will your job even exist in a thousand years? If so, in what form? If some kind of machine were to replace you, what would it be called?

The role of a journalist will continue throughout humanity. Man's thirst to chronicle history -- to communicate his daily exploits, to impact the masses, report the issues, problems -- to describe and capture our community spirit and lives will always be important. I don't think journalists will be anchored to bricks and mortar. As communications technology improves, we will become true roving reporters, funneling stories to niche-defined servers for dissemination by local media. But no machine could ever replace human feelings or sense the mood of a nation, community, or neighborhood. It won't advocate for the disadvantaged or speak for those who can't speak for themselves. Journalists serve as a live conduit between people.

Which events from the year 2001 will still be talked about a thousand years from now? How will history interpret -- or misinterpret -- those events?

The devastation of AIDS and its impact on the world community. It will be right up there with the Black Death that ravaged Europe in the Middle Ages. I think historians will verify that AIDS was a man-made disease developed to decimate the black populations of the world. It was developed to thin the herd, if you will, of a burgeoning populace. Without question it's genocide. Fortunately brown and black people throughout the world will survive this man-made plague.

What will South Florida look like one millennium from now?

We only need look to our neighbors to the south -- the Caribbean and South America -- to visualize South Florida one millennium from now. The entire population will be comprised of brown and black people. Whites will flee to the Midwest, the Northeast, and the western United States. The population of much of the South will be made up of brown and black citizens.

What will human beings look like?

We'll look in 3001 pretty much like we look today with a few modifications. We'll be healthier due to modern science, but we won't hesitate to make changes to enhance our attractiveness. It'll be like the auto industry: Each of us will continue to come in a base model; some of us will be able to afford Cadillac enhancements, others BMW, while the masses will continue to be Chevys and Fords. Unfortunately, even in the year 3001, money will be the determining factor of our quality of life.

Which South Florida tourist attractions will stand the test of time, and which will disappear? What will the new tourist traps look like?

I think the Atlantic Ocean will stand the test of time and pretty much anything along the side of it. We might also have a bridge to Cuba, and the proliferation of casino gambling throughout South Florida. With increased competition throughout the United States and the world for tourist dollars -- and our changing demographics -- there's a real possibility we'll become the Las Vegas of the South.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz

This is not a simulation; Citizen Senatrix DWS Version 32.0 has joined us to answer questions on behalf of her prototype, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, former state senator from South Broward/ North Miami-Dade

How would your predecessor view our current governmental structure? What practices from her era remain relevant today?

Debbie would be very pleased with our efforts to make our government even more seamlessly amphibious. I have been doing some historical research to identify how other forms of government reached out to their constituents that were more difficult to reach. Back in 2001, my thirty-times-great-grandmother would hold town hall meetings to get input on important issues from the people she represented -- a precursor to our present-day neuroconferencing.

What events dominated public discourse in 2001?

My research on government in 2001 turned up a surprising amount of discussion on the results of the presidential election the previous year. It is amazing that they used something called a "punch card ballot" back then -- a technology that had already been obsolete for nearly half a century. Of course in 3001 we choose our elected leaders by measuring their commitment to public service. The individuals who put in the most volunteer-service hours are given an opportunity to lead our government for a period of two years. I'll be rotating out after two years, and another civic-minded individual will take a turn. The system serves our community well because it removes the divisive, petty politics that seem to have dominated the political system back in 2001.

How does the current look of South Florida differ from its appearance one millennium ago?

South Florida is now the Venice of America. The effects of beach erosion and global warming took their toll shortly after the turn of the last millennium; we have since crafted an entirely waterborne lifestyle. Commercial property is now built on our waterways. The seascape is dotted with sophisticated above-water neighborhoods, which were designed from original plans found in the ruins of something called "Stiltsville."

How are human beings different?

Scientists are still working on gene-therapy programs to help humans develop gills that will work in conjunction with the human lungs. Several infants born during the project's development seem to be easily shifting between land and underwater activities.

Which South Florida tourist attractions have stood the test of time, and which have disappeared?

As a result of our expanded dependence upon water, Atlantis, a water theme park that was demolished back in the 20th Century, was redeveloped and expanded. Back in 2001, plans for an aquarium in Fort Lauderdale were shortsightedly scrapped. A thousand years later, we have a fully interactive, open-air aquarium where humans, fish, and our sea-mammal neighbors interact regularly.

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