WHITE HOUSE, INDUSTRY SEEK TO CLOSE DIGITAL DIVIDE

WHITE HOUSE, INDUSTRY SEEK TO CLOSE DIGITAL DIVIDE.

By Aaron Pressman

WASHINGTON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Some of the kids at Holly Oak Elementary School in San Jose, California, will be staying after school next week, but it’s not for detention.

Instead, they’ll be using state-of-the-art computers to surf the Internet in search of communities hit hard by recent natural disasters. With a box of books ready to be donated, the kids hope to find some worthy recipients.

“We’re trying to do more than just expose kids to computers,” says Ameya Bijoor, an Americorp Vista volunteer who works with students at the school. “Our goal is to teach them how to use it as a tool - not just playing around - but like a handyman uses a hammer and nails.”

The new computers, and Bijoor’s presence, resulted from a program called PowerUp that combines private-sector support and government programs to help expose more kids, especially poor and minority kids, to the budding information age.

PC-maker Gateway Inc. donated the computers, leading Internet service provider America Online gave Internet access and the federal government’s Americorp program supplied volunteers to lead the effort at centers around the country.

GROWING DIVIDE

As the number of people in the United States going online has skyrocketed in recent years, a troubling and persistent gap has emerged, with the poor and non-whites lagging far behind.

A survey on the “digital divide” released by the U.S. Commerce Department in July found 60 percent of households earning $75,000 or more had Internet access compared with less than 10 percent of households earning under $20,000. Whites were more likely to have Internet access than blacks and Hispanics across all income levels.

“We’re talking about the future of how folks will get educated, what opportunities businesses will have, and how prepared our work force will be,” said Keith Fulton, director of technology programs at the National Urban League.

The problem has already caught the attention of lawmakers, regulators and the Internet industry but on Thursday, President (Bill) Clinton will throw his weight behind a variety of efforts to close the gap.

A White House official said Clinton will seek to leverage private-sector initiatives with government support, using tools like federally guaranteed loans.

The administration and Congress already started addressing the problem with a 1996 law called the education rate, or e-rate, that gives subsidies to schools and libraries for Internet connections. More than 80,000 schools and libraries have received several billion dollars to get wired, so far.

On Thursday, Clinton plans to emphasize the need for adults to get acquainted with cyberspace as well.

Extending his new markets initiative that seeks to draw investment to economically-depressed areas, Clinton will emphasize the potential of the Internet to help such communities leap-frog ahead and restore their economic vitality.

INDUSTRY SUPPORT

AOL, No. 1 telephone company AT&T Corp., and regional phone carrier BellSouth Corp. among others will also be present at a White House announcement to offer support for the president’s efforts.

“We, like everybody else in this industry, have to have an educated work force,” said Marilyn Reznick, head of education programs at AT&T’s nonprofit AT&T Foundation. The foundation plans will back more training for teachers, community members and young people in poor areas to create a critical mass of support.

AOL plans to work with the Leadership Council on Civil Rights to build support for civil rights causes on-and off-line, including through a Web site http://www.civilrights.org.

Darien Dash, chief executive officer of DME Interactive Holdings Inc. that provides African-American oriented Web content, said Clinton was taking the correct approach.

“The government needs to keep the pressure on this issue,” Dash said.

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