Becky Lentz recommends this newsletter as a good way to keep up with information technology policy issues. Communications-Related Headlines is a free news service posted Monday through Friday by the Benton Foundation (http://www.benton.org). This service will keep you up-to-date on important developments and policy issues in communications, the Internet, edtech, community technology, journalism, public media, regulation and philanthropy. Subscription information at the end of the message. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Communications-Related Headlines for April 22, 2003 21ST CENTURY SKILLS Women Among First IT Specialists Trained in Afghanistan Make IT Compulsory, Say Aussie Teachers PHILANTHROPY MTN Foundation Gives Internet Connectivity to South African Schools HP Provides $1.3 Million in Technology Grants to Nonprofit Organizations Nationwide MEDIA OWNERSHIP Snowe, Allies Look to Forestall FCC Reform INTERNET Penn State Students Lose Net Access for File Sharing Digital Dilemmas LIBRARIES America's Oldest Public Library May Close the Books 21ST CENTURY SKILLS WOMEN AMONG FIRST I.T. SPECIALISTS TRAINED IN AFGHANISTAN The first graduating class of the University of Kabul's new Cisco Networking Academy completed their studies this month. The 17 students, including 6 women, were the first inside Afghanistan to complete a certified networking program. "I am now one of the first Afghan women with a world-class information technology certificate in Afghanistan," said Nabila Akbari, one of the academy's students. "My personal goal is to share this knowledge with other Afghans, especially Afghan women. I want very much to help my country build an advanced, high-tech networking system." The UN Development Program partnered with Cisco to introduce the training in Kabul, which for more than two decades has faced a severe shortage of high tech workers. "This graduating class is making history for Afghanistan," said UNDP Country Director Ercan Murat. "They are the first highly-trained computer specialists in Afghanistan who were trained in their own country. They now have the tools to make a difference at home." [SOURCE: UNDP] http://www.undp.org/dpa/frontpagearchive/2003/april/17apr03/index.html MAKE I.T. COMPULSORY, SAY AUSSIE TEACHERS An Australian edtech association has called on governments to make information technology skills compulsory in secondary schools. Stella Cugley, president of the Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association, says that IT should be treated as a core subject in its own right, not unlike math, science or history. "You would hope that it would be compulsory but there is nothing to say it is," she said. A recent survey in Australia suggested that students valued IT training when they received it, and the demand of IT skills has increased in Australia's vocational schools. Additionally, research by Multi-Media Victoria (MMV) suggests that there's little information available for students to learn more about potential IT careers. MMV and the IT Skills Hub recently partnered to launch PositionMentor, an online tool linking IT job advertisements with the training programs required to apply for those jobs. The tool has proven so popular in its first two weeks that there are now plans to expand the site nationally. [SOURCE: Sydney Morning Herald; AUTHOR: Sue Cant] http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/14/1050172523913.html PositionMentor: http://www.itskillshub.com.au/mentor PHILANTHROPY MTN FOUNDATION GIVES INTERNET CONNECTIVITY TO SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS Seeking to "improve the quality of education" as well as knowledge and use of IT in public schools, the MTN Foundation has successfully implemented its Schools Connectivity Program in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The foundation installed multimedia computing centers in 11 schools, each consisting of a PC network, a printer-copier-scanner-fax machine, a TV, a VCR and a high-speed GPRS modem. "This project will benefit disadvantaged children by giving them an opportunity to compete with their peers in urban areas," said Education MEC Joyce Mashamba. "It will also give them an opportunity to develop skills and access information in a way that is relevant to the economic development of the province and the country. [SOURCE: AllAfrica.com; Author: Vanguard] http://allafrica.com/stories/200304210600.html HP PROVIDES $1.3 MILLION IN TECHNOLOGY GRANTS TO NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS NATIONWIDE [Press Release] HP announced Friday its award of $1.3 million in grants to 26 nonprofit organizations across the county as part of its Community Technology Center initiative. The grants consist of computer equipment and HP staff volunteerism in their local communities. The CTC program targers underserved populations, and grant-worthy organizations demonstrated both service to such populations as well as dedication to training people with disabilities. "By providing grants to these computer technology centers, we leverage technology to support the organizations' programs that provide training in computer literacy, academic success and job skill training.... [while providing] an opportunity for highly skilled HP employees to be a part of our community in a real way," said HP philanthropy program manager Nancy Iaconis. [SOURCE: Yahoo! Finance] http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030418/185005_1.html MEDIA OWNERSHIP SNOWE, ALLIES LOOK TO FORESTALL FCC REFORM Moderate Republican Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine is one of several senators strongly encouraging FCC Chairman Michael Powell to not rush into deregulating US media ownership rules. Sen. Snowe last month teamed with Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) to recruit 15 fellow senators -- including a majority of the Commerce Committee -- to sign a letter petitioning Powell to take more time before making a decision in the matter. Powell recently responded in a letter of his own by stating he intends to stick with his June 2 deadline, but Snowe insists that it's vital that the public receive more opportunities to debate the issue. "Time is running short to provide full public disclosure of the rule changes," Snowe said. Frank Blethen, whose family publishes the Seattle Times and three Maine dailies, applauded Snowe's perseverance. "As she's gotten into it, she's really 'gotten it,' and she's stepping up to take leadership, which is really wonderful," he said. [SOURCE: Editor & Publisher; AUTHOR: Todd Shields] http://www.mediainfo.com/editorandpublisher/headlines/article_display.jsp?vn u_content_id=1870473 INTERNET PENN STATE STUDENTS LOSE NET ACCESS FOR FILE SHARING Officials at Pennsylvania State University announced yesterday that they had taken away dorm-room broadband Internet access from 220 students because they were distributing copyright-protected content through online file-sharing services. "Upon investigation, we found that the students had publicly listed copyright-infringing materials on their systems to other members of this network," said university spokesman Tysen Kendig. On March 31, the university's executive vice president sent an email to more than 110,000 students, faculty and staff stating that file-sharing copyrighted material is illegal and would not be tolerated on campus. Students apparently did not expect to get busted, however. "I was kind of surprised at being caught," said Jason Steiner, a Penn State freshman, in an interview with the student newspaper. "I was sitting there online, and all of a sudden I wasn't, with no idea why." Spokesman Kendig says students' broadband privileges will be restored once students remove the copyrighted materials from their computers. [SOURCE: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; AUTHOR: Associated Press] http://www.post-gazette.com/localnews/20030422pennstate0422p5.asp DIGITAL DILEMMAS It seems like so long ago, but it has been less than a decade since tech gurus proclaimed the Internet to be a "civilization of the mind" in cyberspace. While such claims may seem comical to some, the reality is that the tech bust of the past few years does not diminish the role of Web-based technology in the future. In fact, the Web will continue to have "profound and unprecedented" effects on the way we live. If history is any guide, the immediate failures of several railroads and carmakers at the dawn of those technologies did not reduce their influence on our lives. Similarly, advances in microcomputing, wireless technology and the like suggest that the Internet has nowhere to go but up. The challenge for society is to decide how to use these discoveries and what their effects on our notions of privacy, security and government will be. [SOURCE: The Economist; AUTHOR: David Manasian] http://www.economist.com/surveys/displaystory.cfm?story_id=1534303 LIBRARIES AMERICA'S OLDEST PUBLIC LIBRARY MAY CLOSE THE BOOKS In 1778, Benjamin Franklin decided to show his appreciation to the town of Franklin, Massachusetts for naming their community after him by donating a collection of over 100 books; they would eventually form the core collection of the town's library. Today the nation's oldest public library, the Franklin Library is a shadow of its former self, having laid off a quarter of its staff and slashed its operating hours because of local budget cuts -- and now it may have to be closed altogether. "You hate to be closing the oldest library in the country," said Kenneth Wiedemann, chairman of the Franklin Library Board of Directors. "We are not happy about it. But what are you going to do?" Facing as much as a $6 million budget shortfall, the town is facing the grim choice: slash the police force, close a fire station or shutter the library. "You think of the fact that we were the first town to be named for Ben, and he was good enough to get us started in our learning," said Barbara Smith, Franklin's historian. "These books weren't frivolous. They weren't the latest love story. These were for learning." [SOURCE: Boston Globe; AUTHOR Franco Ordonez] http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/111/metro/Franklin_library_may_close_the_b ooks-.shtml ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (c) Benton Foundation 2003. Redistribution of this email publication -- both internally and externally -- is encouraged if it includes this message. Communications-Related Headlines are compiled, summarized and edited by Andy Carvin ([log in to unmask]) and Charles Meisch ([log in to unmask]) of the Benton Foundation -- we welcome your feedback. Based in Washington DC, the Benton Foundation's mission is to articulate a public interest vision for the digital age and demonstrate the value of communications for solving social problems. Other projects at Benton include: Digital Divide Network (www.digitaldividenetwork.org) Digital Opportunity Channel (www.digitalopportunity.org) OneWorld United States (us.oneworld.net) Sound Partners for Community Health (www.soundpartners.org) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your settings, or view archived postings, please visit http://owa.benton.org/archives/benton-compolicy.html