GET THE WORD OUT
Volume III Number IV
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Hello everyone,

This is the first day in awhile that we've seen some sun in the
Philadelphia area. Rain or shine, we hope that you enjoy the few
weekends left in the summer and that you take the time to enjoy them!

Below is the latest news - please note that the last item describes a
free conference organized by CTCNet Delaware Valley, whose goal is to
keep bringing technological resources and great networking
opportunities to our area. Please contact Lorelei Narvaja at
lorelein@uwsepa.org for more info.

Enjoy your weekend,

The Staff at T4T
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1.) T4T/Community Impact Training Institute – Class Listings
2.) Network For Good's Fee For Donations
3.) TOP on TOP … FOR NOW
4.) Study - Internet Use by Latinos
5.) SAVE THE DATE - CTCNet Delaware Valley Regional Conference

1.) T4T/Community Impact Training Institute – Class Listings
T4T's Fall semester of training classes are starting in
September. We are offering some of the same classes, plus an array of new ones.
A nice, new incentive is that there will be a referral bonus –
you can receive a free full-day class if you refer 4 or more students
that register for classes. Also, if you register for four or more
classes at the same time, you will receive a 10% discount. Course
books will be available for some classes at a nominal fee. For a
complete listing of fall classes, check out our website at
www.uwsepa.org/team4tech

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2.) Network For Good's Fee For Donations
According to an article from e-philanthropy, network for good's once
totally free donation services will now (as of August 1st) be
charging a 3% fee for donations by credit card. Click on the link below for more
information.

www.imakenews.com/ephilanthropy/e_article000171228.cfm?
x=a20HTcK,
a13VGDmQ

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3.) TOP ON TOP ... FOR NOW
"The Department of Commerce's Technology Opportunity Program (TOP)
has beenon the chopping block since the beginning of the Bush
administration," notesNorris Dickard, director of public policy for the Benton Foundation.
Whenthe President's FY 2004 budget again called for the program's
termination ,Benton and others argued for continued funding. The coalition scored a
victory recently when the Senate Commerce Committee approved the
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
Reauthorization Act of 2003, which authorizes the TOP program for five years. This
measure could be very significant - NTIA and TOP have not had an official
authorization for years, relying instead on the shaky budgetary ground made
possible by the suspension of Congressional rules to allow "unauthorized
appropriations." The battle is not yet over, however - the NTIA/TOP
authorization bill must ultimately be passed by both Houses and
signed by the President. In the House, meanwhile, the appropriations bill that
made headlines for its inclusion of a media ownership rollback
provision also contained funding for the TOP program, a considerable
accomplishment since the House has historically been less friendly
toward the program than their Senate counterparts, who must now vote on a
similar bill. To help ensure further action, the Leadership Conference on
Civil Rights/Education Fund has launched a grassroots campaign to encourage
activists to send a general letter of support on TOP to the President
and their elected officials.

SOURCE: Benton Foundation; AUTHOR: Norris Dickard
www.benton.org/publibrary/issuesinfocus/top-ntia.html

Andy Carvin
acarvin@benton.org

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4.) STUDY: INTERNET USE BY LATINOS
According to a new UCLA study, fewer Latinos use the Internet
compared to non-Latinos, reports Hispanic Business. In addition, a much lower
percentage of Latinos age 35 or older use the Internet compared to non-Latinos
in the same age range. Jeffrey Cole, director of UCLA's Center for
Communication Policy, said the study helped identify several key issues about the
use of the Internet by Latinos, the fastest-growing segment of the
population. "Latinos express strong opinions about Internet access, trust of
online information, their concerns about online privacy and credit card
security," Cole said. An article from CNN covering the same study chose to
accentuate the positive, highlighting the findings that Latinos are getting
online faster than other groups in the United States. The article also
acknowledges the gender gap. Among Latinos, men who use the Internet outnumber
women by 17 percentage points. The gender gap is four percentage points for
Internet users overall. This is the third year the UCLA Internet Project has
conducted the study, which covers more than 100 issues involving: who
is online and who is not, media use and trust, consumer behavior,
communication patterns, and social affects.

SOURCE: Hispanic Business; AUTHOR: AScribe News, Inc.
www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/newsbyid.asp?id=11871

See also:
www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/08/03/internet.latinos.reut/index.html

and

www.ccp.ucla.edu/

(c) Benton Foundation 2003. Redistribution of this Internet
publication --both internally and externally -- is encouraged if it includes this
message.

Communications-Related Headlines is a free news service posted Monday
through Friday by the Benton Foundation (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. Headlines are compiled,
summarized and edited by Andy Carvin (acarvin@benton.org) and Charles
Meisch (charlie@benton.org) -- we welcome your feedback.

To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your settings, or view archived
postings, please visit

owa.benton.org/archives/benton-compolicy.html

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5.) SAVE THE DATE - CTCNet Delaware Valley Regional Conference

Date: Saturday, September 13th
Time: 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Event: Delaware Valley CTCNet Regional Conference

Title: Curriculum Strategies and Resources: Teaching Technology and
Using Technology to Teach

Location: Community College of Philadelphia – Winnet Student Life
Building, Great Hall (S2-19)
1700 Spring Garden St.
Philadelphia, PA 19130

The Winnet Student Life Building is located on 17th Street between
Spring Garden and Callowhill Streets. The building has a rounded
front and is connected to the College's parking deck.

Who should attend: staff of Community Technology Centers (CTC's),
libraries, after-school programs, teachers, churches and other groups
who are teaching technology or using technology to teach.

Registration: This conference is free. Please email ctcinfo@ctcnet-
philly.org to register.
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T4T NEWSLETTER August 2003