Ball State's Center for Information and Communication Sciences Receives $32,000 Grant from SBC Foundation
Funding to Support Technical Support Structure for K-12 Distance Learning Program
Muncie, Indiana, December 19, 2001
The SBC Foundation has awarded Ball State University's Center for Information and Communication Sciences (CICS) a $32,000 grant to create a technical support structure to enable rural schools to connect to the Vision Athena video distance-learning program. Vision Athena provides educational enrichment programs to K-12 schools around the country via the Ameritech Advanced Video Services (AAVS) network.
While many rural Indiana schools are not on the AAVS network, they are able to reach these programs through their own videoconferencing systems. Unfortunately, many of those schools do not have the technical support, personnel or knowledge to configure their networks to complete the connection. The SBC Foundation grant will create a support structure to help those remote schools complete their connections.
"SBC Ameritech is committed to the education of Indiana students," said George S. Fleetwood, president, SBC Ameritech Indiana." The Vision Athena program is an excellent educational program and we commend the Center for Information and Communication Sciences for creating a way to allow more students access to the learning programs available via Vision Athena."
"The SBC Foundation grant continues to assist us in our efforts to create the support structure needed to bring Vision Athena to more rural Indiana schools," said Ray L. Steele, director, CICS, Ball State University. "The programs available through Vision Athena helped to expand our students' world and their knowledge."
The $32,000 grant is the second of three installments of a $96,000 SBC Foundation grant.
The SBC Foundation is the charitable giving arm of SBC Communications Inc. and its family of companies. In 2000, SBC, through Foundation and corporate giving, donated more than $95 million to support efforts that enrich and strengthen diverse communities nationwide. The Foundation places primary emphasis on supporting programs that help increase access to information technologies; broaden training and professional skills development; and effectively integrate new technologies to enhance education and economic development -- especially for underserved populations. SBC has been named among America's Most Generous Companies for two consecutive years by Worth magazine (2000 & 2001).
SBC Communications Inc. (www.sbc.com) is a global communications leader. Through its subsidiaries' trusted brands - Southwestern Bell, Ameritech, Pacific Bell, Nevada Bell, SNET and Sterling Commerce - and world-class network, SBC and its affiliated companies provide a full range of voice, data, networking and e-business services, including local and long-distance voice, high-speed Internet access and data transport, voice and data network integration, software and process integration, Web site and application hosting, e-marketplace development, paging and messaging, as well as cable and satellite television, and directory advertising and publishing. In the United States, the company currently has 61.3 million access lines and is undertaking a national expansion program under SBC Telecom that will bring SBC service to new U.S. markets. SBC has a 60 percent equity interest in Cingular Wireless, its joint venture with BellSouth, which serves more than 20 million wireless customers. Internationally, SBC has telecommunications investments in 28 countries and has annual revenues that rank it among the largest Fortune 500 companies.
