Centennials Table Topics

Table Topic questions are meant to stimulate family and classroom discussion.
Use the questions below after reading,"A model for the future"

Century 21 brought Seattle firmly into the 20th century, exposing residents to cosmopolitan cultures and ideas, and introducing Seattle's beauty and professionalism to the world at large. Talk to someone who attended the 1962 World's Fair for their impressions. What was their favorite activity or exhibit? Look at the photographs and decide what's similar or different about Seattle Center today. What is your favorite thing to do there now?
Decades later, the Space Needle remains a predominant Seattle symbol. Have you been up in the Space Needle or ridden the monorail? Should the monorail be extended to the Kingdome or new baseball stadium? Key Arena and the recent fountain remodel are evidence of ongoing renewal of the site. What else is new or re-done at the Center? What do you think is the fair's most important legacy or lasting contribution?
The concept and commitment to Seattle's World's Fair developed over seven years of dedicated volunteerism. The city reaped not only physical improvements and lasting contributions to Seattle's arts and community life, but a generation of civic leadership. How would you compare these volunteer efforts with those of the failed Commons campaign? Would it be possible to pull off a similar event today, say the 2008 Olympics, with mostly volunteer effort? How would you be willing to lend your talents?
The time of Century 21 was a time of great optimism about the social, economic and political benefits of scientific progress. How has this assumption been altered in the interim years? What issues are most effectively addressed by science and technology?
The Univac computer was a mere curiosity during the Fair--huge, expensive, slow and limited to accounting and information storage functions. Reflect on the development of the computer in the 30+ years since. How has it changed our lives, as a culture and as individuals? What did this particular technology have in store for our region? What other technological "innovations" of the fair came to be realized and how different are they now from those early prototypes?