Sightings from Navigator 4, 1

TOC member William Douglass from Houston, Texas, won first place in "The World in 2050" writing competition sponsored by the Royal Dutch/Shell Group and the Economist. Douglass has received $20,000 in prize money, and his essay, "Dear Nestor," was published in the Economist's publication The World in 2001. This special edition is released in ninety-five countries and translated into seventeen different languages. "Dear Nestor" will also appear in an forthcoming edition of Whole Earth magazine.

Douglass holds a B.A. in Russian studies from the University of Houston. Currently, he is working in health-care project management for a New York-based nonprofit organization, but he plans to leave his job early next year to take a trip around the world. Since winning the essay contest, he has also given consideration to a career in journalism.

His essay takes the form of a letter written by a young Bangladeshi boy, Ramesh, to a pen-pal in the United States. The world described within that letter is one that is governed by "the Network," where oil rigs are obsolete, and where genetic engineering and limited-duration marriages are the norm. Douglass's essay was selected out of more than three thousand entrants because of the importance he places on the value of human relationships in a world engulfed by technology. As his essay states: "Indeed, despite all the progress humanity has made in the last couple of thousand years, to say nothing for the last several decades, when it comes down to it, what still matters most to us is our lives and our loved ones."

To purchase a copy of The World in 2001, visit the Economist's Web site at www.economist.com.