9 for the ‘90s : Be They 9 or 89, Individuals Harbor Strong Ideas About What the Future Holds

Will the next decade bring urban strife, economic decline and environmental catastrophes? Or will it produce peace, prosperity and big advances in diverse areas such as science and technology and ordinary Americans’ personal lives?

Any attempt at prescience, of course, demands scrutiny, for every forecast reflects matters of experience, expertise, perspective and time.

In fact, there are generations of differences in how some Californians of varying ages--not necessarily forecasting professionals, many of whom already have provided plenty of reasons for us to be chary of them--predict the 1990s will shape up:

* 9-year-old Ikemefuna Udeze sees a grander, more hopeful world with the promise of cures of deadly disease and lessened crime and drug use.

* 19-year-old Steve Lerner envisions the decline of America as an international economic power.

* 29-year-old Bridgette Burton projects dangerous rifts between the haves and have-nots, although she has big dreams for her own South-Central Los Angeles family.

* 39-year-old Steve Grant wonders whether professional accomplishments can be matched with personal fulfillment.

* 49-year-old Carmen Perez forecasts ripe political times for Latinos.

* 59-year-old Rosalind Wyman worries about society’s unresolved problems in education and the environment.

* 69-year-old Stanley Sheinbaum offers a dark, comic vision of the price of what he calls present political cowardice.

* 79-year-old Artie Shaw takes an upbeat swing at the future, despite his accounting for some downbeat concerns.

* 89-year-old Kourken Alexander forecasts breakthroughs in space travel and personal health care.