San Francisco State University, Established 1899, 1600 Holloway Ave. SF, CA 94132

SFSU Public Affairs Press Release

Published by the Public Affairs Office at San Francisco State University, Diag Center.

#094--April 4, 2000 For Immediate Release
Contact: Ted DeAdwyler
phone: 415/338-1665
e-mail: pubcom@sfsu.edu

THE DIGITAL DIVIDE DEBATE COMES TO SAN FRANCISCO

Business, community and education leaders to attend town hall meeting at S.F. State Monday evening, March 27, to tackle one of the Bay Area's top economic issues

SAN FRANCISCO, CA-WHAT: A panel of high tech, community and higher education leaders will hold a town hall meeting on the digital divide in San Francisco and what can be done to increase access for disadvantaged communities to technology and the resulting educational and economic opportunities.

WHEN: Monday, March 27 from 6-9 p.m. at San Francisco State University's Seven Hills Conference Center. SFSU is located at 19th and Holloway avenues. The conference center is located off Font Blvd. near the southwest corner of the campus. Parking is available in lots 19 and 20 off Lake Merced Blvd.

WHO: In a discussion sponsored by SFSU's Office of Human Relations, the Television Race Initiative and KQED, numerous community members, representatives from the high tech industry and educators will join in dialogue with panelists ---

Wade Randlett, founder and board member of ClickStart, an organization that brings computers and Internet access into the homes of low-income families, is co-founder and vice president for business development at Red Gorilla, a Web-based time tracking, invoicing system.

Elsa Macias, project director at the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at the Claremont Colleges, is an expert on information technology issues and local communities. Her "Digital Steppingstones" research project examines exemplary information technology (IT) program strategies in schools, libraries and community centers to increase access to IT in disadvantaged communities. Other research projects include examining the role of on-line content in impacting access to the Internet in the Latino community.

Tracy Johnson, who at one time had no income and lived in the Compass Family Center with her two children (with another on the way), has worked her way up to become assistant Webmaster at Miller Freeman with the assistance of OpNet, a non-profit organization that provides low-income young people in San Francisco with training and internships in the new media industry. Tracy recently appeared on "Good Morning America" for the example she set demonstrating how OpNet works to bridge the technology gap.

David Bolt, executive producer of "Digital Divide" film series, has produced more than 100 documentaries and has won numerous awards for his CD-ROM and multimedia programs.

Richard L. McCline, co-director of the Ohrenschall Center for Entrepreneurship at SFSU, is president of the Black Chamber of Commerce in Oakland.

Zorica Pantic-Tanner, director of SFSU's School of Engineering, established the Partnership for Engineering Education program with high schools, community colleges, industry.

For more information, call Ted DeAdwyler, SFSU Public Affairs, at (415) 338-7110.



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