New Grant Opportunity: Investing in Innovation Fund/DoE

Local educational agencies (LEAs) (including charter school LEAs) and nonprofit organizations working in collaboration with one or more LEAs or a consortium of schools.

The program will support efforts to bring to scale educational practices with significant evidence of success in improving student achievement and support the development, implementation, replication, and further evaluation of promising innovative practices. The program will not support the simple expansion of well-established and resourced programs.

McGeveran, William and Fisher, William W., "The Digital Learning Challenge: Obstacles to Educational Uses of Copyrighted Material in the Digital Age" (August 2006). Berkman Center

Research Publication No. 2006-09 Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=923465

Description:

This is a report on a yearlong study produced by The Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. It looks at the obstacles that Fair Use law and copyright owners create in the process of attempting to further develop the full potential of the educational uses of technology. The report identifies four main problematic areas:

a.     The lack of clarity within the copyright law.

b.    The large adoption of digital rights that keeps users from accessing content.

c.     The increasing amount of licensing that creates mounting paperwork for users to overcome.

d.    The extreme practices by gatekeepers.

Analysis:

This report speaks of the problematic nature of copyright laws and current practices of Fair Use. It informs the readers about the great wall that is being created between students and the materials that should be available for their education and about the perils that such a state of affairs brings to the future of education. At the same time, the report effectively documents and clearly identifies the top four obstacles. Thus, it gives readers a reachable solution and concludes with a series of sound recommendations that if applied, will bring much clarity and fairness to the tense relationships between copyright owners with professors, scholars and artists who claim Fair Use.    

"Will Fair Use Survive?" (New York: Brennan Center for Justice, 2005).

www.fepproject.org/policyreports/fairuseflyer.html

Description:

This study conducted by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of law researched the causes and consequences of the increasingly heavy hand that is being exercised by copyright and trademark owners on limiting Fair Use. The study highlights the importance of preserving Fair Use for the benefit of democracy, the public in general and to ensure that "the owners of intellectual property cannot close down the free exchange of ideas." It states that copyrighting is a confusing arena for users and one in which the powerful can overstep limitations of Fair Use. It can also be a permissive arena in which intellectual property owners can exercise undue authority. The study concludes with a series of normative and legal recommendations to improve the standing for the users and encourage copyright owner to exercise restraint.  

Analysis:

The study's central team is helping the reader to understand the increasing pressures facing Fair Use consumers and the urgent need to take action to prevent copyright owners from eroding the establish laws of Fair Use. It bases it claims on research that points out the weakening of Fair Use law as well as the fact that intellectual property owners have effectively developed an atmosphere of fear around it. By doing so, they have deterred and ultimately limited the free exchange ideas. The study documents several examples of big corporations taking action against individuals whom they claim had violated their intellectual property rights. These examples underscore the unequal legal status that individual users face when attempting to claim Fair Use. Finally, the study questions the survival of Fair Use under the current practices.

Crews, Kenneth D. "The Law of Fair Use and the Illusion of Fair-Use Guidelines." Ohio State Law Journal 62 (2001): 599-702.
http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/lawjournal/issues/volume62/number2/crews.pdf

Description:In this article, Dr. Crews looks at the historical development and use of guidelines in Fair Use. The author uses government documents and court rulings to demonstrate that the guidelines are basically irrelevant to the Fair Use and Copyright laws. Furthermore, the article sets out to demonstrate that in practice such guidelines are an obstacle in the development of truth and understanding of the Fair Use laws.

Analysis:The article criticizes the development of guidelines, because as Dr. Crews demonstrates well, they have not been of help to Fair Use users and have not clarified or aided anyone who has faced the Fair Use law. The author's argument goes further stating that guidelines or the illusion of the guidelines indeed have mislead the consumers (the public) into believing that they possess an agency value and that they would be universally recognized in a court of law. Dr. Crews documents how such has not been the practice in reality and that in fact certain users would have been better served if guidelines were not employed at all and they just focused strictly on the preexisting laws.

News from the Future of Public Media Posted by Patricia Aufderheide on May 7, 2009 at 4:12 PM.http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/blogs/future_of_public_media/dmca_fair_use_and_educators/

Summary:

This news report from The American University Center for Social Media reports on the recent efforts of media professors and professor from other disciplines to obtain renewals and extensions on exceptions in copyright law. After battling industry lawyers three years ago, the reports say professors such as Dr. Peter Decherney are again in the courtroom to once again attempt to make cases on behalf of educators and their students.

Analysis:

Coming for the Center for Social Media the report is very sympathetic to the professors who are trying to convince the industry and the lawmakers that when it comes to education, the rules for copyright use should be different, because (among other things) it is in the best interest of society, and because profits are not derived as a result of materials used in the classroom.

The Growth of Intellectual Property:A History of the Ownership of Ideas in the United StatesWilliam W. Fisher III. forthcoming in Eigentumskulturen im Vergleich (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1999) http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/property99/history.html

Description:

This publication is best described as an historical and outlined recompilation of who or what created legislation such as copyright law and intellectual property. It includes the rights to protect an author's "original" work as well as the protection of celebrities who wish to profit from their own image.

Analysis:

William W. Fisher's publication on the historical growth of intellectual property in the United States summarizes the history of copyright law while at the same time takes the reader on a journey that both explains and criticizes the forces that had taken copyright law to the place that it occupies today. Fisher identifies three main forces that impact the growth of intellectual property: economics, ideology and politics. He consistently emphasizes that for the most part and throughout the entire process, the consumer (the public) has been left out of the discussion. Thus, the growth of copyright law has been primarily developed and described by those having a personal interest in it and wish to profit from it. Dr. Fisher calls into questions ideas such as "original writing" pointing out that writers always support and draw their work from previous work. This is a very well documented and well written article that at the same time points out the problems with intellectual property and on some level encourages readers to develop their own agency in order to prevent the erosion of consumer protections such as Fair Use.

Developing A Self-Learning Distance Program on Copyright for Librarians. Melanie Dulong de Rosnay, Berkman Fellow.http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/luncheon/2008/12/dulong

Description:

A project launched by Harvard University Berkman Center for the Internet and Society in partnership with eIFL.net (Electronic Information for Libraries) aims to develop a distance learning course in copyright law for librarians. The idea is to update librarians on the newest and most up-to-date practices and technologies when it comes to copyright law. The materials and content for the course will be delivered through a Commons Internet platform. Already 11 librarians from 11 countries had tested the early version of the course.

Analysis:

The distance learning model would allow librarians from around the world to access the information and educate themselves first and then their patrons about the uses and abuses of copyright laws. With some confusion surrounding the issue of copyright and fair use, it is a step in the right direction to educate librarians who are both a gatekeeper and a link between the institutions and the general public.

The Pros and Cons of an 'Educational Fair Use' Lewis Hyde, Berkman Fellow, speaks on "The Pros and Cons of an 'Educational Fair Use' Project" http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/interactive/events/luncheon/2008/02/hyde

Description

In this video The Berkman Center for Internet and society of Harvard University and Dr. Lewis Hyde are discussing the problems with the laws, guidelines and practices related to fair use in education. Dr. Hyde speaks of the historical and current confusion around fair use in education and the negative consequences that such confusion has created for professor and instructor in higher education. The impact as Dr. Hyde discusses can be found in areas such as free speech, academic freedom and the quality of instruction. At the same time, Lewis Hyde is calling for an educational fair use project to be conducted by educators who will have small groups that will use their classrooms and instructional needs as guidelines to determine what should or should not be fair use in education. Such a project will then be used to negotiate with owners in good faith and with the goal of community service in mind.

Analysis:

Dr. Lewis Hyde from the Berkman Center for Internet and Society of Harvard University is in this video advocating for changes and measures to prevent owners from eroding fair use, free speech and academic freedom. In his presentation, Dr. Hyde effectively documents the history that brought fair use to this point of conflict while at the same time attempts to clarify the laws that regulate copyrighting. Professor Hyde's presentation also very clearly describes step-by-step the guidelines that one could use in order to conduct a project for fair use in education.    

http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/resources/publications/code_for_media_literacy_education/ :

Discusses fair use in media literacy education, appropriate uses for educators and students of fair use when it comes to using copyrighted materials in order to teach media literacy.  It also clarifies what benchmarks are as used by lawyers and judges to decide what is fair use as well as the myths and facts about fair use in the classroom. Finally, it encourages educators to be leaders, not followers in the process of establishing the best practices of fair use in education.

Analysis:

The article is aimed at educators with the purpose to educate teachers about the guidelines of fair use in the classroom.  The principal goal of the article is to encourage educators to use technology in the classroom and to contribute to the current dialog and process of establishing best practices in fair use in education and  in particular media literacy. The underlying goal of the article is to call on educators (uses) to participate in the conversation about fair use in order to create an environment where all educators feel more comfortable using the media and therefore, have students and the public in general take advantage of the benefits of media literacy.

AUTHOR: Ingrid Hsieh-Yee
TITLE: Educating Cataloging Professionals in a Changing Information Environment
SOURCE: Journal of Education for Library and Information Science 49 no2 93-106 Spr 2008

"The information environment of the twenty-first century is highly competitive. This article addresses how cataloging education should be provided for the profession to stay relevant and competitive in the digital age. To provide a context for considering cataloging education, it describes important changes and trends in the information environment and summarizes discussions and debates within the profession. It identifies competencies cataloging professionals need to develop and offers strategies to ensure the future of the cataloging profession. Specifically, it discusses how to raise awareness and appreciation for information organization among students and non-cataloging educators, how to prepare graduates with different levels of expertise in information organization, how to cultivate leaders for the profession and produce more cataloging educators, how to collaborate in teaching and researching information organization issues, and how to engage stakeholders -- practitioners, educators, employers, funders, and professional groups -- in the preparation of cataloging professionals."

Citation: Thierer, Adam.  "Parental Controls and Online Child Protection: A Survey of Tools and Minds." Version 3.1. Fall 2008. Progress & Freedom Foundation. 5 April 2009. <http://www.pff.org/parentalcontrols/Parental%20Controls%20&%20Online%20Child%20Protection%20[VERSION%203.1].pdf>

Thierer’s document covers a variety of aspects and issues relating to parental control of children’s media consumption.   Different methods of controls are discussed, including informal rules implemented by parents, ratings systems, filtering and monitoring software, increased media literacy, self-regulation by companies and governmental regulation.  Much of the document relates to media other than the Internet, but the Internet is discussed, particularly when describing different types of filtering programs and the Internet’s relationship to the problems with governmental regulation.  Because no one method of parental controls is completely effective, Thierer concludes that parents take an interdisciplinary approach when regulating their children’s media content, and employ a combination of strategies.  Educational and empowerment and informal strategies have the added bonus of being the least likely to restrict freedom of speech.  There is also a discussion of how to protect children from sexual predators online.  Age verification and extensive data monitoring are seen to be a poor remedies, while the right solution is determined to be “education, empowerment and enforcement.”

             This article, much like some of the other documents, places an importance on efficacy and education as optimal ways to protect children from the dangers of the Internet. The focus of the ineffectiveness of other types of controls relates to questions concern those methods’ constitutionality which supports my theseis. The document is a particularly good source because it is very detailed and thoughrough in its analyses of the types of contols.  This article also helps to better compare and contrast the views of Thierer and Palfrey, who co-authored another source. While they may have disagreed about reforming CDA 230, the two men both supported internal regulations by parents and community members and desires for non-governmental groups to come up with their own strategies concerning controlling content. Thierer is perhaps more skeptical of technology than Palfrey is, and he places more of an emphasis on educating and empowering parents and children about how to optimally use the Internet.

Citation: Majoras, Deborah Platt. “Rights and Responsibility: Protecting Children in a Web 2.0 World.”  Keynote Address at Family Online Safety Institute.  6 December 2007.  Federal Trade Commission. 6 April 2009. http://ftc.gov/speeches/majoras/071206fosi.pdf.

             This document is the copy of a speech made by the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission describing methods used to protect children from dangers lurking online, including harmful content, cyber bullying, and privacy invasion.  After describing the media use of children and some of the dangers they face online, Majoras summarizes the law enforcement efforts the FTC has taken to prevent exposure to harmful content.  The laws the FTC works to enforce have provisions including requiring adult content to be notified as such in the e-mail tagline and preventing websites from asking children too much personal information.  Majoras then describes the FTC’s push and efforts to educate and empower parents and children to stay safe.  These efforts are viewed by the FTC as important because first amendment restrictions will prevent the government from being able to completely restrict dangerous content themselves.  Marjoras also said that it is important for companies to self-regulate content.  Majoras concludes by stating that a multidisciplinary approach is needed in solving this problem.

             This article is important in the broader context of regulating Internet content for children, because the FTC is a major governmental organization involved in the issue.  A governmental organization believing that education and self-regulation needs to supplement governmental regulation enhances the importance of education and self-regulation, which could be seen as an alternative to the government.  This article gives good specifics about the role of the FTC in law-enforcement and education, and describes different features of education programs and self-regulating devices; those details could be useful for figuring out the absolute best way to determine how to protect children.  Although this article was written by someone in the Bush administration, it is likely that the opinions of Obama’s FTC workers are not too different; protecting children from harmful content on the Internet is a bipartisan issue.

 Citation: Jordan, Amy. "Children's Media Policy" Children and Electronic Media.Volume 18 No. 1. Spring 2008. pp 235-355. 5 April 2009. http://www.futureofchildren.org/usr_doc/18_10_Jordan.pdf.

Jordan’s article gives an overview of how media policy concerning children is developed and shaped, and what is and is not effective about it.  The article begins by discussing how events and public opinion changes can motivate the government to enact policies protecting children, and how outside groups influence these policies. It outlines how the three branches of government work together to shape these policies, and what the role of the FCC and the FTC are in enforcing the laws. The article then describes motivations by media industries to self-regulate content, types of self-regulation, and how self-regulation and government regulation interact with each other. While a combination of legislation and self-regulation seems to be the inevitable and most logical way to regulate new media, Jordan thinks these actions are still largely ineffective; they are not enacted properly, little is known about media habits and production of material online is becoming increasingly decentralized.

            While much of the article discusses policies relating to media other than the Internet, the article is useful as an overview of the formation process for children’s media policy, especially because it contains useful charts. The similarities and differences between the Internet and older forms of media are important to note in order to figure out what types of regulations used on other forms of media could and could not be applicable to the Internet.  For example, ratings systems akin to the ones established for television shows and video games would likely not be a good way to regulate Internet content. So many websites are created on a regular basis that it would be impossible to assign ratings to all of them. This article supports my thesis because it describes issues relating to the regulation of Internet Service Providers.  Perhaps it also provides a counterargument to my thesis, however, because the author does not think that self-regulation is necessarily effective.

Summary of Macy Foundation report

A report released on Thursday by the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, "Revisiting the Medical School Educational Mission at a Time of Expansion," calls on medical schools to adopt sweeping changes in order to attract students of more diverse economic and ethnic backgrounds, train them in community settings as well as hospitals, and, in some cases, compress the time it takes to become a physician.

as many professors incorporate "peer instruction" designed to encourage students to discuss concepts with, and learn from, each other. There, as elsewhere, though, many other professors remain skeptical about new technologies and new teaching methods.

free open courseware

In this text, Rice outlines the contractual and technological regulations that have been placed on the access of digital information.  His argument is that information is the "common fiber of science, arts, hostory, culture, and even self," and that the press to privatize control over acces to digital information "diminishes the luster of the late-twentieth-and early-twenty-first-century opening of the information society." 

Specifically Rice focuses on the implications of the privatization of control over things such cultural knowledge, including folklore, legends, and information on heritage, in cases where this information would not be legally accessible to members of the represented culture.  Rice argues that the importance of the information era is the access one has to learn about the things most intimately related to him as a person.

I find this essay useful because, though it targets the wrongfulness of privatized control from a deeply personal level, the underlying question of whether all information should be accessible to everyone is also present, because within the academic arena researchers develop relationships with information that may have no relevance to their cultural backgrounds but remains as personal to them as if it did.  This essay also asks its reader to think about the kind of information he would not want to be withheld from him.  Though the essay doesn't specifically get at the issue of confusion over copyright and fair use issues within an academic setting, it does provide an awareness of what information may be being withheld from researchers, and forces those researchers to consider the usefulness of this kind of information to there personal projects.  This kind of awareness goes hand in hand with the understanding of fair use and copyright that my thesis argues for because it emphasizes the importance of having an active and correct knowledge of fair use and copyright issues that affect university settings, in order to get the most out of ones education.

A general explanation of the issues and history surrounding copyright law and library services, this text also summarizes pending issues of copyright and the importance of having them dealt with.  Many of the resources already circulating as guides for the legal use of copyrighted works for librarians and other educators are geared specifically toward face-to-face educational experiences, such as classroom settings.  Even instances in which rules for online or other electronic reproductions of copyrighted works are outlined, there still seems to be a great deal of confusion about where distance education fits into these guidelines.  For this reason the DMCA has suggested that the Copyright Office amend the the Copyright Act to more clearly define what constitutes a "classroom."

Other issues that are still pending include the question of whether producers of databases, which arrange lists of facts in an alphabetical or other standard form, should get added protection against laws which require "compilations" to be original both in the sense that they are not copied and that they possess some "quantum of creativity."  Warwick, here, points out the importance of researchers and educators to be aware of their rights, so that we are able to continue to ensure that facts will never become protected under copyright laws.  This notion helps further my argument about the importance of educators and researchers understanding their rights as well.  The essay also will help me to contextualize the major issues of copyright law as they refer to library services, which I believe will help elucidate where much of the current confusion about copyright law within the academic arena stems from.  The issue of database protection also brings up interesting questions about the necessity of the Copyright Office to develop laws or guidelines for all aspects of educational services or if many of these aspects should be left to interpretations of fair use.

This document was created in accordance with the "Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education" released on November 11th 2008.  The "Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education" was developed for the purposes of advancing a greater knowledge of the doctrine of fair use for educators (including librarians) and students to help ensure that they get the most out of what resources are available to enhance their curriculums and the overall educational experience.  With this goal in mind, "Teaching about Copyright and Fair Use" instructs educators on how to work issues of fair use and copyright law into current curriculums to communicate to students the importance of understanding fair use.

The guide includes lesson plans geared toward high school level students, undergraduates, and graduate students.  I find it quite relevant to my own thesis, because it prioritizes the copyright issues that are most important for the public to understand.  This document takes a cultural approach to appealing to educators, arguing that every student has a right to "gather, share, create and use the intellectual property that is constantly being generated in our culture."  I plan to take a similar approach in my own essay, and I feel that understanding the lesson plans in this document and using them as a point of reference will ultimately strengthen the argument I make for the advancement of an awareness surrounding copyright issues that directly affect the quality of education one gives or is given.

Libraries, museums, and archives : legal issues and ethical challenges in the new information era / edited by Tomas A. Lipinski.  0810840855 (hbk. : alk. paper) series Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2002.

This essay provides an explanation of the problem of section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act, which does not clearly define what technology is allowed in the reproduction of copyrighted materials.  This problem has proven to confound many librarians who continue to wonder if technology that did not exist at the time of the section's revision is included under the seemingly "technologically nuetral" language of 108's subsections.  Furthermore, 108 seems only to allow the use of digital formatting in the case of preserving copyrighted materials, but not distributing them.  This has caused greater confusion, especially with regards to services such as interlibrary loan, in which case the digital format is most easily sent via e-mail, a service which would make it possible for the material to be printed and thus owned by another library or patron.

No specific argument is layed out in this article.  However, the authors do elucidate the ways in which section 108 can be understood and utilized in regards to reproduction and without resulting negative consequences.  These explanations are important because the law will never be as quick as it needs to be to adapt to the technological advances happening all the time.  This essay supports my own thesis, because it emphasizes the importance of understanding copyright law whether you are a researcher or an educator (including librarians).  In order to take full advantage of the resources that exist for education, one must fully understand his rights to that information.

The Burden of Historical Representation: Race, Freedom, and "Educational" Hollywood Film

Technological Innovation and Cooperation for Foreign Information Access grants to develop innovative techniques or programs that address national teaching and research needs in international education and foreign languages by using technologies to access, collect, organize, preserve, and widely disseminate information on world regions and countries other than the United States.

Natural Healers offers a directory of Massage Therapy Schools, Chiropractic Schools, Acupuncture Schools, and Massage Therapy Schools.  It can be searched by location, specialty, program level, and program type.  It also offers career guides by specialty.

National College of Natural Medicine (NCNM), located in Portland, Oregon, is the oldest accredited naturopathic medical college in North America. NCNM offers graduate programs in naturopathic medicine and classical Chinese medicine that blend ancient healing wisdom with modern science.

Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine & Health Sciences, located in Tempe, Arizona and founded in 1992, educates in the art and science of naturopathic medicine to prepare students to be conscientious and caring health care providers. The mission of the College is to prepare students to become naturopathic physicians educated and trained in the principles and practice of naturopathic medicine and to serve the public by providing quality education, research and natural medical care.

Bastyr University is located in Seattle Washington.  The university has been a leading institution in the natural health sciences for over thirty years. 

"Cataloger's Learning Workshop is a clearinghouse portal for cataloging and metadata training resources for information workers. The scope of Cataloger's Learning Workshop includes bibliographic information training in the context of formal library and information science degree programs, as well as continuing education for library practitioners. Cataloger's Learning Workshop is a cooperative project of the Library of Congress, the Program for Cooperative Cataloging, and the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services, a division of the American Library Association.
"

The Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress, has posted to its web site an announcement that the training materials posted to the Cataloger*s Learning Workshop will be available for downloading at no cost on or about 1 October 2008.

This 2007 study focuses on the economic, social, and quality-of-life disparities between black students who attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and black students who attend Traditionally White Institutions (TWIs). Most important to my paper is the data regarding wage disparity between these groups of students. The study looks at two generations of students -- those who graduated in 1972, and those who graduated in 1997. By eliminating the variable of race, the study is able to look at the quantitative difference in the average earned wage between black students who attended both HBCUs and TWIs. It does not speculate as to why the disparity exists; only that it does.

According to the study, in 1972, a black graduate of a HBCU earned an average of 14.46 per hour, whereas a black graduate of a TWI earned only 11.38. By 1997, however, this wage disparity had reversed itself -- the average black student at a HBCU earned 7.68 an hour, whereas the average black student at a TWI earned 9.12 a hour. There are two main points here. First, and most obvious, is the clear reversal of fortunes. Almost as important, however, is that the earning potential for all black students fell, no matter what kind of institution they attended.

This study is relevant to my paper in that it clearly demonstrated a drop in wage-earning potential for students who attended HBCUs between 1972 and 1997, and that the drop was even more severe in contrast to black students who opted to attend TWIs. The greatest difference in campus culture and resources over those twenty-five years, across all institutions of higher learning, was the influx of technology and computing resources (both institutional and personal). Clearly, cooberated with the data from the other studies I have looked at, HBCUs have not been able to keep up with an appropriate technology influx, and this has hurt the learning (and earning) potential of their students. By not having access to the technological resources that their peers at TWIs enjoy, they not only fail to gain access to these resources, but become unattractive to employers who desire their employees to have extensive(or even, in some cases, any) facility and experience with computing facilities and resources.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (term taken from article), or HBCUs, have often struggled to close the Digital Divide in their institutions. Certain schools, such as Elizabeth City State University, and Norfolk State University, have been able to bridge the gap in technology commonly found between HBCUs and their historically White peers through grants and infrastructural changes.

Financial support from outside entities, both private and public, has been critical in raising funds for technology integration on these campuses. Elizabeth City State University has found the greatest success with governmental partnerships, raising nearly 10 Million dollars (US) from entities such as the US Navy and NASA. Norfolk State, which, as a whole has been financially "stagnant or slightly declining," was able to free up additional funding by laying off 20 percent of their IT support personnel and redirecting the funds formerly used to pay those employees' salaries towards the technological infrastructure of the university. While this adds a needed jolt to the system, it is not a viable long-term development strategy.

Administrators at HBCUs are optimistic about the pending reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965. Recently proposed changes to the act include a Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) Technology Grant Program, specifically designed to provide upgrades to technological infrastucture, hardware, software, and both traditional and wireless networking capabilities. The current version of the reauthorization bill recommends 250 million dollars (US) in annual funding for the technological needs of MSIs. While passage of the renewal is promised in the near future, there is currently disagreement as to what governmental entity will manage the program. Currently, the US Department of Commerce, the National Science Foundation, and the US Department of Education are all vying for the administrative duties.

It is clear that there is a great need for infrastructral investment, as well as subsidies for student ownership of computer resources. ; in a report written by the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) in 2000 (prepared for the US Department of Commerce), fewer than 25 percent of students at HBCUs were found to own their own computer. As a result, students were often found having to wait hours to gain access to university-owned computers (at the library, or in a lab). In a 2007 NAFEO study, 22.5 percent were found to have a "technology loan program" for their students, and only 15 percent were found to offer "subsidies, discounts or other financial incentives to assist students with computer purchases."

Ultimately, it will require a symbiotic relationship between HBCUs and the Federal Government to develop the needed resources fto bridge the Digital Divide. Some examples of this have already florished -- in 2006, Hampton University received funding from the Department of Homeland Security to develop their information technology infrastructure. In turn, they developed "a software visualization program that enables emergency responders to gain access to a visual rendering of large building interiors."

According to the author, these sorts of parnerships will help provide a level of sustainable growth for HBCUs, while ensuring that the governmental coffers that provide these needed technology grants will not run dry.

This article is relevant to my paper in that it provides two specific solutions towards narrowing the digital divide betwen HBCUs and their traditionally white counterparts.  In particular, Hampton University's program is interesting to me, as it opens the door for that institution to eligible for Bayh/Dole Act-related contracts in the future.

Outlines the specific proposals in the current version of the proposed 2008 Higher Education Act renewal (orig. passed 1968, last renewed in 1998).

There are two different versions of the bill, one in the US House of Representatives, and one in the US Senate.

The Senate bill was passed in that chamber in 2007 and proposes an annual grant of 250 million dollars (US) for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) for technology development, to be administrated by the US Department of Education. The second version of the bill, currently in session at in the House of Representatives, also proposes an annual stipend of 250 million dollars (US), but requests that the administrative duties be taken care of by the US Department of Commerce. Negotiations are ongoing between the two chambers to decide this sticking point, although members of both chambers are optimistic that a compromise can be achieved.

In addition to providing funding specifically aimed at technological improvement, the House bill provides additional funding for overall infrastructural investment, through the HBCU Capital Financing Program. This program, which offers governmental loans to the administrations of HBCUs, is instrumental in developing the overall resources of these universities, as these schools often struggle to develop their endowments and have smaller yields from their capital campaigns. The House bill proposes increasing the annual funding of the CFP from 375 million dollars (US) to 1.1 billion dollars (US).

Additional proposals in the House bill include an increase in the general federal HBCU undergraduate and graduate funding ceiling, which determines the limit that the government may allocate to these programs (an appropriations process determines the actual funds provided). Proponents of these two additional attachments point to the fact that the Bush administration has signaled that they will cut the net funding for HBCUs in the 2009 budget. These attachments are designed to block the administration from implementing that plan.

The bill is not exclusively aimed at HBCUs. Some parts, in fact, are aimed specifically at monitoring the activities of particularly affluent schools. Some points already agreed upon by both chambers in regards to this include an annual report from all US accredited universities in regards to their endowments, and in regards to what measures they are taking to reduce the cost of tuition and other fees to their student bodies. An earlier version of the bill would have required universities to spend at least five (5) percent of their endowments, per annum, towards alleviating the burden of costs to their students, but this was removed after strenuous objection from several major universities.

In addition, the bill requires any university that raises the price of its tuition to provide a detailed report to the Department of Education providing the details and need for such an increase. It is the hope, realistic or not, of the Congress at large that this will help dissuade universities from implementing unneccesary tuition hikes upon their students.

This article is relevant to my paper in that it outlines one specific approach towards solving the digital divide between HBCUs and their white counterparts. While the proposed changes to the bill do not create a permanent solution to lessen the disparity between these institutions (for instance, it does not contain plans to create a self-generating stream of revenue for these colleges and universities), it does provide a much needed injection of funds into the HBCU community, and could potentially provide the seed money to jump-start more long-term programs.

This 2003 article was penned by Dr. Teresa Redd, a member of Howard University’s English department, in the hopes of describing the successes and failures she has experienced using the Internet and other technological resources in her curriculum.  She quotes several relevant studies, including a 2000 United Negro College Fund (UNCF) study showing that that average endowment at a Historically Black College or University (HBCU) is less than one-third the average for their white counterparts (who, are, at the surface, structured the same; that is to say, private, four-year, accredited colleges and/or Universities).  Additionally, she notes that alumni giving only accounts for 6 percent of private, voluntary support, at HBCUs as opposed to 33 percent at their white counterparts, while the proportion of alumni who give money is almost equal at both schools.

Howard University holds an advantage over many of these schools – in 2003, when this article was published, their endowment stood at 312 million dollars (US), a figure that puts them far above the range of what the US Government considers the economic limits for HBCU status (as per the Higher Education Act of 1965).  For this reason, Howard’s struggles are all the more stark.  Howard invested 10 million dollars (US) into their technological infrastructure, allowing all students and faculty to have high-speed internet access, through public spaces, dormitories, and wireless signals.  Despite this “theoretical access,” there are still many problems with the system – while most classrooms have internet jacks for students to plug in laptops into, the vast majority don’t own computers.  By the same token, the wireless capability invested in by the University is similarly useless.  Faculty computer ownership is minimal at best, and, while there are, again, “theoretically,” laptops for rental through the university for faculty, there are only two laptops owned by the university for rental – for more than 350 faculty members.   There is additional relevant data within the article, but I have ommitted it here for length.

This article is relevant to my paper in that it demonstrates yet another approach to solving the "digital divide" between HBCUs and their traditionally white counterparts.  Unfortunately, as the article shows, additional funding (in this case, through the endowment of the University) is not a catch-all, nor a perfect solution, as large gaps remain, even with a sizeable (and certainly, greater than the US federal government can give) influx of cash applied to the problem.  Howard does, however, seem on the right path, primarily investing what funds they do have for computer and technology access towards students in the "hard sciences," rather than the liberal arts -- a choice that may allow them to compete for Bayh/Dole Act contracts in the future.

Report from the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), prepared for the US Department of Commerce. This study is, quite possibly, the largest and most comprehensive study to date on the use of technology at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). It is a clearinghouse of irrefutable statistics that demonstrate the digital divide between HBCUs and their white counterparts.   An HBCU is dfined by the NAFEO as "[a] post-secondary institution founded prior to the the Civil Rights Act of 1964, with the primary objective of educatiing blacks."  This differs from the US Government definition, as found within the Higher Education Act of 1965.  It is notable that the NAFEO study claims 118 HBCUs by this definition (as opposed to the estimated 80 schools that fall under the US Gov't definition).

80 HBCUs participated in the NAFEO study.  All demonstrated at least some use of computers on their campus, but, it should be noted, for many schools, this was restricted to only institutionally-owned computers, found in public, time-restricted spaces (library, dorm lounge, etc.).  60 of the responding schools reported the lowest possible response to the survey in terms of student technology ownership, that of "less than 25%" of their students owning a personal computer.  This means that 75%of students at these HBCUs only had access to public computers.  Even at the remaining 20 schools, none reported higher than 49% of their students owning a computer.

50% of the dorms at HBCUs had some connection to the Internet; however, more than 50% of these were institutionally-owned computers, found in a public area, such as a lobby or lounge computer -- not a situation designed for studying. Furthermore, even when an internet connection was available, it was not particularly rapid -- 88% of responding schools stated that they used T-1 speed lines, or lower for internet connection. In comparison, the 2000 United States Census demonstrates that only 38% of black college students (at any and all schools of US-based schools of higher education) have a home computer, as opposed to 70% of white students. Of those 38%, only 40% have internet access. From a comparison of this data, it is clear that the technology gap between white students and black students overall deepens if those black students attend a HBCU.

(NOTE: For general use, educationally related or not, the disparity between white and black internet users is shocking; the Census shows that only 6% of the estimated 58 million internet users are black.)

This is relevant to my paper in that it shows a demonstrable gap between the computing resources available to students at HBCUs and those available to students at traditionally white institutions.  This gap restricts access to information, as well as the means by which access is gained (public vs. private, etc.).  This data is from 2000 -- eight years ago.  As a result, I am a little wary of it.  However, other studies as recent at 2006 continue to cite these statistics, so I trust that the greater academic community at large finds them to still be relevant (or, at the least, that the disparity demonstrated still remains in place).

This article covers a proposal by Morehouse College president Walter Massey that Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) should attempt to raise funds for their own technological development by embracing their rights under the 1980 Patent and Trademark Law Amendments Act (better known as the Bayh/Dole Act).  This law allows the US federal government to engage in exclusive contracts with universities and non-profit businesses, for the purposes of developing and commercializing inventions created under the auspices of federally funded research.  Universities may then gain a financial return on their discoveries by filing a claim of ownership.  Massey desires that more of these contracts be granted to HBCUs, in the hopes that they can become independent, self-funding entities.  He points to the example of Stanford University, and how the research developed there was instrumental to the creation of the Silicon Valley industry.  Both US business and Stanford profited, and continue to profit, from that particular partnership.  Massey admits that there are flaws in his plan -- primarily that the amount of time and initial financial investment required to see a return is out of the reach for many HBCUs.  The administration at other HBCUs, and in particular, by Eric Sheppard, of Hampton University, have proposed a shared "pool" of technological resources, with Bayh/Dole-related profits split between the entities involved.  This requires a smaller initial investment, and allows more research to be done over a shorter amount of time.

This is relevant to my paper in that it demonstrates two proposals for making HBCUs technologically competative, and, more importantly, self-reliant in terms of development and technology funding over a long-term period.  While the plan itself requires federal (or privately granted) funding to begin, it moves beyond a system where these schools are reliant on outside sources of financial support to grow and evolve their technological needs. 

Duncum, Paul. "Attractions to Violence and the Limits of Education." The Journal of Aesthetic Education 40.4(2006): 21-38.

This article attempts to examine violence in the media and educate youth on how to act in the real world so violence is not used as a solution to their problems. It cites the following forms of media as sources of violence: television, film, video, and computer games. There are also four different types of violence that can be seen in the media: comic, transgressive, retaliatory, and gratuitous. The author wonders why, from a psychological standpoint, people are attracted to violence. A couple of possible reasons are given such as: exploitation of the worst in human nature or a product of an increasingly degenerate society or maybe just a fashion statement or possibly just finding pure pleasure in the art of violence.

Comic violence is defined pretty clearly by example with any Tarantino film. His film clearly spoofs and parodies other super violent films. Additionally, professional wrestling fits into this category. Transgressive violence is any violence having to do with heroism through violence. It includes superheroes beating super-villains and enjoying the retribution being seen. This category surprisingly also includes a game such as Grand Theft Auto, where you embrace the villain and want to succeed as the villain. Retaliatory violence always has to do with retribution. When you feel bad for a character, you want them to get their revenge. Finally, gratuitous violence is when there is an overwhelming amount of violence that is unlimited in every sense of the word. It is all about grandeur and gore. Startin in the 1960s, media became more and more violent. Now, the line between good and evil gets blurred and the level of gore and shock has increased dramatically in media.

This article relates to the thesis by explaining the different types of violence seen in the media. It points out that gratuitous violence would be the most likely candidate to cause real world violence because the media appeals most to that type of person; however, it is unlikely to cause such actions because the people who would really go on rampages do not get the level of excitement from the film, because they would rather have the real life thrill. This article also explains how people are more aggressive prior to viewing the media than after, further supporting the idea that violent media does not cause violence.

also a plone example

mentioned in peter morville's library2.0 talk at michigan.

ranganathan -> ncsu -> berkeley? 

Kozol, Jonathan. . Savage inequalities : children in America's schools / Jonathan Kozol. [051758221X : ] New York : Crown Pub., 1991.
Call#: Van Pelt Library LC4091 .K69 1991

Inequality and racism still exist. They impact children. Check this out especially if you are considering Teach for America. 

Wierd. When I click on the link to penntext screen from Penntags, it looks like we don't have te article online fulltext, but the screen I tagged provided a link to the ACM journal that has it. We do have the fulltext. Hmm. A little troubling.

Apparently, there's something in here about video games teaching spatial literacy. Reccomended by David Seaman from DLF.