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During the past few months, a variety of media outlet ranging from the New York Times to Time magazine to the Public Broadcasting System have presented stories about the crisis of the Digital Divide. The growing technology gap between rich and poor is nowhere more evident than in the greater East St. Louis, Illinois area. Nationally 60% of the households now have Internet access either at home or at work. In greater East St. Louis, less than 2% have access. Over half of the homes in the United States have computers. In the areas designated for this Campus Compact program in East St. Louis, 1% of the homes have computers. In a nation which already left East St. Louis behind economically, this technological gap will only widen the gulf between this community and the rest of the country. The goal of this "Making a Civic Investment" program is to begin to bridge the digital divide in greater East St. Louis through enhancements of existing partnerships between Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and a number of community organizations and housing project councils in the community representing the residents of greater East St. Louis, Illinois. The program Campus Compact/East St. Louis, will match some of the human and technological resources of the university with the overwhelming technological needs of the citizens of this impoverished area.
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