TRIBES MEET TECHNOLOGY - Indian reservations are beginning to use the Internet to improve education and job opportunities for tribe members. With 9% of Indian homes owning PCs and only 50 percent having phones, reservations remain far behind the rest of the U.S. in terms of technology. To address this issue, the White House, high-tech officials and 32 Indian colleges will meet to discuss ways to obtain more federal funding to bring technology to reservations and to help tribe members get tech jobs. Bringing data entry, Web site and other tech jobs to reservations would provide opportunities for tribe members without forcing them to leave home, and would boost the economy, says Richard Williams of the American Indian College Fund. (USA Today, 10 Oct 00 - Edupage 11 Oct 00)

THE WIRING OF SAGE HILL - Several well-known executives in the technology industry have been largely responsible for wiring the newly opened Sage Hill School in Newport Beach, CA. The venture includes cutting-edge technology: fiber-optics, PowerPoint and streaming video capability and interactive smart books. Some educators wonder whether the benefactors will exert too much influence on Sage Hill's curriculum, but the industry executives say their donations are not contingent on any requirements, although they do admit that they would like to see the traditional range of classes expanded to include business and technology courses. This practice is becoming common as companies seek to develop interest in the industry among talented young people. (Los Angeles Times Online, 9 Oct 00)

BRIDGING THE DIVIDE - A new federal effort is under way that seeks to address the growing digital divide. The federal government's New Market initiative, will contribute more than $100 million in corporate assistance to communities and populations that are in jeopardy of missing out on the Internet revolution. East Palo Alto, CA, with more than 25% of its children living below the poverty line, will be among the communities that will receive computers for schools and training for teachers with the help of Hewlett-Packard, Gateway and other companies. (Governing, Oct 00)

COMMUNITIES FIGHT THE DIVIDE - U.S. Commerce Secretary Norman Mineta recently announced the recipients of the annual Technology Opportunity Program grants, which the department intends to help close the digital divide. Grant money for this year totaled $14 million, and program sponsors will add an additional $18 million to that total. The 35 grant winners include the Baltimore City Health Department, which will create a database to monitor the spread of sexually transmitted and other diseases, and the South Carolina Department of Education, which will give used computers and Internet training to low-income families. Also among the winners were projects from the County Sheriffs of Colorado to create a database of victim/offender information and from Portland, Ore., to build a database of affordable urban housing. Money also went to the Suquamish Indian Tribe in Washington state to create a mobile technology vehicle that will visit schoolchildren and to the Pueblo of Santa Ana to build a new government Intranet. The Commerce Department will ask Congress to increase the program's funding to $45 million next year, Mineta said. (Civic.com, 29 September 00 - Edupage 4 Oct 00)