Tech Tutors to the Rescue

UCSC students help 'wire' those being shut out of the information revolution

GIIP intern Brandon Wright at the United Farm Workers field office in Watsonville with UFW staff member Lupe Sánchez

Photo: r. r. jones

THEY AREN'T your classic superheroes: They tackle such modern-day villains as surly computer servers, indecipherable software manuals, and database snafus. But they rival Superman and Wonder Woman in the minds of those they've rescued.

Consider mild-mannered Melody Liu Shuk Han, a UCSC undergrad who arrived on the doorstep of the Center for International Policy in Washington, D.C., and proceeded to resuscitate the nonprofit's web site.

"We will be eternally grateful to her," said Frick Curry, the center's director of fundraising. "We're a small nonprofit, and we don't have an information technology expert on staff, or even a consultant. It's catch as catch can."

Liu soared to heroine status as an intern with UCSC's Global Information Internship Program (GIIP, pronounced "jeep"), a new initiative steeped in the issues of globalization. GIIP trains undergraduates in computer skills they take to organizations that need a boost to make the most of today's technology.

UCSC sociology professor Paul Lubeck launched GIIP in 1998 to address growing inequality in access to information networks and global communications. "Computer networking is a powerful organizing tool, but the poor and disenfranchised are being shut out of the information revolution," said Lubeck.

"Helping these groups get wired gives them a chance to mount web pages, communicate their message, and connect with others who share their interests. It democratizes globalization by putting people within each other's reach."

For groups like the Center for International Policy, a think tank founded in 1975 to promote peace, human rights, and a U.S. foreign policy that reflects democratic values, GIIP was the difference between having a web presence and vanishing from the virtual world. Liu not only corrected long-standing problems with the center's web site and got it back online, she took proactive steps to avoid future snafus. "She definitely helped bridge our digital divide," said Frick.

Anyone who uses e-mail, the web, or a database on a regular basis knows how vital computers can be in today's world of high-speed communication. They have transformed work, the workplace, and the world. But the benefits of information technology are limited to those who can afford the hardware and master the software. To broaden access to these powerful new tools of democracy, Lubeck--with funding from the UCSC Center for Global, International and Regional Studies--built a program that serves groups large and small, here and abroad.

GIIP honors the campus's tradition of service toward social equity by training students in information technology and placing them as interns with community, human rights, environmental, and other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). From Santa Cruz to South Africa, interns earn academic credit while upgrading the information resources--and thereby the economic and social opportunities--of their sponsoring organizations. "We are committed to helping nonprofits and social groups achieve their goals more effectively and at lower cost," said Lubeck.

About 75 students have participated to date. Although most come from the social sciences and humanities, Lubeck estimates that 10 percent of students are science majors. To prepare for their internships, students enroll in a nine-month class that provides 40 hours of computer-based technical training and 80 hours of project work focused on network technology, computer back-up systems, and web-page development. Required courses cover subjects such as global inequality, democratic social movements, fieldwork methodology, and language instruction, if needed. Interns also learn about grantwriting and computer-based fundraising, an untapped realm that budget-strapped organizations typically are eager to explore.

"Computer networking is a powerful organizing tool, but the poor and disenfranchised are being shut out of the information revolution. Helping these groups get wired gives them a chance to mount web pages, communicate their message, and connect with others who share their interests. It democratizes globalization by putting people within each other's reach." --UCSC professor of sociology Paul Lubeck

Like many interns, Liu had no particular computer skills before enrolling in the prep course. "I used the computer for e-mail and writing papers, and that was about it," she said. During her internship at the Center for International Policy (CIP), she quickly became the resident computer expert.

"She kept telling us she was just a beginner, but we said, 'That's okay. You know 100 percent more than anyone else!'" said CIP intern coordinator Leah Riley.

After performing triage on the center's web site and untangling a number of computer problems that cropped up shortly after her arrival, Liu spent much of her internship conducting in-depth online research about potential donors.

"She did what no one else here, especially myself, had the time to do, which is use all these new online databases to gather information about foundations," said fundraising director Frick. Liu's work helped Frick sharpen his focus and target his fundraising pitches. "She's a self-starter and a fast learner," he said of Liu, who studied politics at UCSC as an exchange student from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

A world away in South Africa, GIIP intern Gabe Collett was promoting technology in a vastly different setting. During an internship with the University of Natal at Durban, Collett used his computer savvy to create new online classes and to design and launch a web site for the university's Industrial, Organisational and Labour Studies Department. By night, he helped "wire" organizers at the nearby Worker's College, teaching students how to use e-mail, spreadsheets, word-processing programs, and the World Wide Web.

Most of South Africa, like much of the Third World, lacks the infrastructure of telephone lines to support sophisticated computer networks. In KwaZulu Natal Province where Collett worked, few homes had computers. "For people who have no concept of how computers work, there was a real feeling of empowerment," Collett said of introducing his students to e-mail as a tool for organizing, lobbying, and building overseas alliances. But Collett found it difficult to sustain interest when there was no computer access outside the classroom.

"There's a massive skill shortage in South Africa, and the university graduates with the necessary skills head for the United Kingdom," he said.

Such roadblocks, coupled with cultural resistance to the use of computers--"many are distrustful and see computers as a new form of imperialism," said Collett--present real challenges to those hoping to bridge the digital divide.

Yet Collett remains unfazed. Getting his own grandmother online "was not an easy sell," and he is confident the opportunities for collaboration outnumber any risk of exploitation. "If we're serious about promoting democracy to people who need greater self-determination, we have to use the tools of information technology," he said.

Collett's experience illustrates the technology void that exists in many countries around the globe. But technology gaps abound in even the most modern, industrialized nations, where access is unpredictable in both the public and private sectors. In the United States, nonprofits and grassroots organizations frequently lack the funds and expertise to keep pace with the constant flurry of new products, faster software, and updated hardware. "The term 'digital divide' is far too tidy a phrase to convey the social implications of the inequities we're seeing," said Lubeck.

During an internship with the United Farm Workers (UFW) in the summer of 2000, undergraduate Brandon Wright was struck by the disparity in computer know-how between Silicon Valley and the nearby agricultural communities of Watsonville and Salinas.

Wright took it upon himself to upgrade the woeful computer infrastructure of the UFW's field office in Watsonville. Although the union's headquarters were networked, Wright was appalled by the limited resources he found in the Central Coast office: Computers were old, slow, and unreliable--when there were any computers at all. Organizers in field offices relied on phone calls, faxes, and "snail mail" to communicate with colleagues, often driving hundreds of miles to meet with other union leaders. Staff in Watsonville literally had to walk across the street to their satellite field office to send e-mail or do a web search.

GIIP intern Melody Liu Shuk Han (center), with Leah Riley and Frick Curry of the Center for International Policy

Photo: Alex Brandon

"It seemed like the union hadn't changed much since the days of Cesar Chavez," recalled Wright. "They were at a huge disadvantage when facing opponents in corporate agriculture who have all the tools of technology at their disposal."

Ironically, the research office had received a small grant to upgrade its computers and office equipment but lacked the money to hire a consultant who could put the money to use. Aided by those funds, Wright set about acquiring reliable, low-cost, and durable computers and abolishing what he called "the fear of technology" that pervaded the office.

Using a one-on-one, hands-on approach, Wright showed union staff members how computers could help them do their work more efficiently and effectively. He connected local office computers to the Internet, taught staff how to create a basic web page and enhance the graphic appeal of their petitions and flyers, and introduced useful online databases. Finally, Wright showed staffers how to get free Internet access and free e-mail accounts, and how to use search engines and free online translation and map services.

Wright, who became a part-time union employee, paved the way for subsequent GIIP interns, including Esther Rojas, who led a daylong computer course in Spanish last summer tailored to the needs of UFW managers.

Mary Mecartney, who coordinated research out of the union's Watsonville office, said Wright and Rojas brought the ideal blend of expertise and respect to their work. "Most of the employees in our local field offices were farm workers before joining the staff," she said. "They haven't been to college or used computers to write term papers. But the interns did a wonderful job of breaking through the idea that computers are something too complicated for a nontechnical person to use."

Mecartney, too, is a convert, declaring computers "a fact of life in our work now. GIIP helped accelerate our understanding of that." And she is eager to continue working with UCSC students. "Our focus is organizing, working with people," said Mecartney. "We don't have time to figure out all the intricacies of computers, and we don't have the funds to go out and hire professional consultants."

For Rojas, working with the union reminded her of the connection between education and community involvement. "Being a student is not just about passing your classes, but it is also about taking charge of your education and using your knowledge to teach others," said Rojas, a senior majoring in global economics and Latin American and Latino studies.

If GIIP interns feel empowered by their experiences and are able to help empower the organizations they work with, the program has accomplished its goals, said Lubeck. "If the program can be a catalyst for that kind of win-win relationship," he said, "we're doing something right."

-Jennifer McNulty

For more information, visit the GIIP web site: www2.ucsc.edu/giip