From WMOT News
(2006-01-03)
Nancy Marshall-Genzer reports for WYPR:
BODY:
Here's how the program works. The city has set up a new Digital Access Fund through which public housing residents can buy a new computer for 300 dollars...with a down payment of as little as 50 dollars. Residents have to go through a series of training sessions before taking their computers home. Mario Armstrong, the mayor's technology advocate, and host of WYPR's Digital Cafe, organizes the workshops. He has a clear, though rather blunt, message.
TAPE: (12 SECONDS)
"If you're a child today growing up without a computer, you'd better have strong wrists because, chances are, unfortunately for you, you will probably be flipping burgers."
(AMBIENT OF KITCHEN)
So far, only one family has purchased a computer through the new program -- Karen Ayiloge (eye-LOW-gay) -- a single mom with two young girls living in Baltimore's east side. Ayiloge has big dreams. She wants both of her daughters to go to college. But first, she's got to deal with practical problems...such as how her girls can do their homework without a computer or printer. Ayiloge says she and her 13-year-old daughter Kemisola (kimme-sole) turned themselves inside out trying to finish a recent assignment without a computer or printer at home.
TAPE: (19 SECONDS), TRAK 6
"We went to a friends house who didn't have a printer. She did the work, but wasn't able to print it out and she took it to school Tuesday and showed the teacher I did the work, it's on the disc. She said no you have to print it out but it was hard because I couldn't take her to the library."
Ayiloge doesn't have a printer yet -- she says she has to take one step at a time. She also isn't hooked up to the Internet yet...
(AMBIENCE OF COMPUTER GAME)
so right now the computer is only used for writing assignments...and a limited number of computer games. Kemisola likes Centipede.
(BRING AMBIENT UP FULL FOR :02, THEN FADE BACK UNDER TRAX)
But Kemisola is no stranger to the Internet. She knows exactly what Web sites she'll use, when the computer is actually hooked up to the Net.
TAPE: (15 SECONDS), TRAK 8
IC: "There's dictionary dot com for looking up words that you may need to know or you want to figure out the definition of. // Where did we find the periodic table at - what Web site? // It's on...actually I just go on Google and type in periodic table and it takes me to the Web sites."
Web access is one of the biggest challenges the new program faces. Ayiloge is eligible for six months of free AOL service through the program. She's in the process of applying for that. After that runs out, it looks like she'll have to start paying for Internet service...something she'll have to budget for. And there's another challenge for the mayor's office - just reaching people to tell them about the program. Ayiloge heard about it through her housing complex's rec center...and that's where Mario Armstrong is focusing most of his efforts for now.
TAPE: (17 SECONDS)
IC: "We are sending out mailers, through the mailing system...we're also posting flyers. More important we're talking to community leaders - those leaders who are looked upon as the voice or the bulletin board of that community."
Armstrong says Karen Ayiloge has already been on the phone...telling all of her friends about her new computer.
I'm Nancy Marshall Genzer, reporting in East Baltimore, for 88.1, WYPR.
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