Development Outreach to the Ithaca Community

Recently there has been increasing national and international attention focused on computer literacy; avoiding the development of a socially or financially defined computer underclass is especially important as computer-based information becomes ubiquitous. Through part of a HUD
grant (of about $400K) awarded to Professor Patricia Pollak of the Department of Policy Analysis and Management, Cornell's Department of Computer Science is working actively with the Southside Community Center to build a computer lab to help develop computing skills across the "digital divide." This program was one of about 10 funded nationally, and through  Professor Graeme Bailey is drawing together undergraduates from the Cornell computer science program
(and Ithaca College students through Professor Wanda Dann) to offer hands-on computer training to children, teens and adults in the community. 

The lab recently received city funding through a Community Development Block Grant of $45K to purchase equipment and software. Local parents and others in the community are planning to help assemble the lab to a design being produced by a class taught by Professor Alan Hedge of the Department of Design and Environmental Analysis. This whole endeavor is building significant momentum as it draws together people from many parts of the university, local
human service agencies, and committed volunteers, and should become a showcase for the benefits of cross-disciplinary interactions that occur as by-products of the evolving FCI.