POLICY
FCC Releases NPRM on Proposed E-Rate Changes
FCC's Powell Quickly Marks Agency as His Own
INTERNET
Women Are Geeky People, Too
Free Rides Now Passe on Information Highway
DIGITAL DIVIDE
The Digital Divide in Ohio: Narrowing the Gap
TELEVISION
TV 'Family Hour' Least Racially Diverse-Study
RADIO
OP/ED: Low-Tech Democracy
POLICY
FCC RELEASES NPRM ON PROPOSED E-RATE CHANGES
Issue: Universal Service, Education Technology, Policy
The FCC has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the
federal E-Rate program, which subsidizes telecommunications services for
schools and libraries. The proposed changes would prevent E-Rate applicants
from receiving subsidies for internal wiring two years in a row, and would
extend the amount of time schools and libraries may spend implementing
internal wiring and other "non-recurring services" by three months. The
public is invited to comment on the NPRM no later than May 15. Replies to
public comments are due seven days later.
[SOURCE: Federal Communications Commission]
(http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Common_Carrier/Notices/2001/fcc01143.txt)
FCC'S POWELL QUICKLY MARKS AGENCY AS HIS OWN
Issue: Policy, Politics
FCC Chairman Michael Powell has affected more change in government and
business relations than any other leader in the Bush administration, and is
candid about contrasting his policies with those of former chairmen Reed
Hunt and William Kennard. Both of his predecessors successfully pushed for
television broadcasters to show at least three hours of educational TV
programming a week. Powell has secured a high level of political capital in
both Democratic and Republican parties, making him apparently immune to
criticism from consumer advocates about the speed and reach of
telecommunications deregulation. "Michael has more political capital than
any FCC chairman that I can recall," says Blair Levin, a former FCC official
now an analyst with Legg Mason.
[SOURCE: Wall Street Journal, AUTHOR: Yochi J. Dreazen]
(http://www.wsj.com)
(requires subscription)
INTERNET
WOMEN ARE GEEKY PEOPLE, TOO
Issues: Gender, Equity Issues, IT Skills Development
Joan Korenman, director of the Center for Women and Information Technology
at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, is playing a leading role
when it comes to encouraging women to seek careers in the IT sector. Her
efforts were recently honored when she was named one of this year's annual
San Francisco Women on the Web award winners. "Women are in danger of
becoming the new illiterates, unprepared for the opportunities and
challenges of the information age," Korenman says. "I don't want to see us
going backward. It would be terribly ironic if technological advances meant
we were going backward instead of forward."
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Julia Scheeres]
(http://www.wired.com/news/women/0,1540,43393,00.html)
FREE RIDES NOW PASSE ON INFORMATION HIGHWAY
Issue: Internet
Internet companies that provide unlimited free goods and services are harder
to find these days. Sites that used to be free are now often limiting what
they offer for free. Others have begun charging micropayments in return for
goods and services, such as Snapfish.com which began charging $1.99 to
develop a roll of film. Even large companies like Yahoo! are beginning to
charge for previously free services such as Yahoo! Auctions. News and
information services for the most part remain free, but the trend is growing
toward finding ways to charge customers. Salon.com, for example, offered
free in-depth coverage of the Clinton administration, but is now charging
$30.00 a subscription for its coverage of the current administration in its
column, "Bushed." However, fees continue to have the tendency of scaring
away many site visitors. The Wall Street Journal's subscription site, for
example, has about one-tenth the number of visitors per month as the most
popular free financial news sites.
[SOURCE: NY Times, AUTHOR: Saul Hansell]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/01/technology/01FREE.html)
(requires registration)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN OHIO: NARROWING THE GAP
Across the state of Ohio, the digital divide that exists between small towns
and large metropolitan communities is beginning to shrink. "There are still
some areas where connectivity is a problem, but more people every day are
finding the need -- and the way -- to get online," says Pari Sabety,
Director of the Technology Policy Group at the
Ohio Supercomputer Center. However, there is still much work to be done,
including the challenge of getting senior citizens online. "My husband and
I, and most of our friends, just don't have any desire or any need to get on
the Internet," says 70-year-old Ohio resident Grace Ann Wood. "We like
talking to people face to face, being in contact with salespeople when we
need to buy things. We just like the company."
[SOURCE: The Columbia Dispatch, AUTHOR: Holly Zachariah]
(http://libpub.dispatch.com/)
TELEVISION
TV 'FAMILY HOUR' LEAST RACIALLY DIVERSE-STUDY
Issues: Television, Diversity
According to a new study released today by Children Now, early evening
"family hour" television is dominated by white male characters, and feature
extremely limited ethnic diversity. "As America's primary cultural
storyteller, television creates a common picture of who's important and
who's not," said Lois Salisbury, president of Children Now. The study noted
that programs that included non-white actors usually placed them in roles
such as police officers, unskilled laborers or domestic workers. Family
hour, which traditionally runs from 8pm to 9pm, contained the least diverse
range of characters, with only one in eight programs featuring a racially
mixed principal cast. Programs became more diverse by 10pm, but the study
notes that this time slot would be viewed less by younger children who would
benefit from seeing a diversity of characters on television.
[SOURCE: Reuters]
(http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010501/re/leisure_television_dc_1.html)
(http://www.childrennow.org/newsroom/news-01/pr-5-1-01.htm#charts)
RADIO
OP/ED: LOW-TECH DEMOCRACY
Issues: Radio, Democracy
According to Thomas Friedman's latest New York Times editorial, Ghana's
recent turnabout from dictatorship to democracy would not have been possible
without the help of information technology -- FM radio, to be specific. More
than 40 private radio stations have popped up across Ghana since former
dictator Jerry Rawlings gave up the governmental monopoly over Ghana's FM
spectrum. By offering hours and hours of talk radio and other civic
programming in English and local languages, FM radio has brought political
discourse to Ghana's countryside. It was this discourse that helped lead to
the defeat of Rawling's government in Ghana's first truly democratic
election, Friedman argues. Current Ghanaian President J. A. Kufuor beat
Rawlings in eight of ten local provinces -- the same eight provinces that
also happen to have independent FM radio stations.
[SOURCE: NY Times, AUTHOR: Thomas L. Friedman]
(http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/01/opinion/01FRIE.html)
(requires registration)
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