GIIP News
Awards
May 16, 2007
Two UCSC students win award from CITRIS
Two undergraduates have won a top award from the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS).
The CITRIS White Paper Competition 2007 was organized by Tom Kalil, special assistant to the chancellor for science and technology at UC Berkeley, to tap the creativity of UC students who want to help translate basic research into projects that have a direct positive impact on society. Six proposals were recognized with a prize, including a cash award.
Christina Hamill and Julie Caso, both fellows of UCSC's Global Information Internship Program (GIIP), won the Special Prize for Best Use of IT for Rural America for their proposal to offer a joint summer institute on information technology and social enterprise for underrepresented students at UC.
May 15 , 2006
Agricultural projects win CITRIS White paper competition
Two agricultural proposals, one on supporting urban agriculture in Mexico City and the other on alleviating water scarcity in California farming are co-winners of the first annual CITRIS White Paper competition and will receive $7500 each. CITRIS, the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society, hosted the competition, which was organized by Tom Kalil, Special Assistant to the Chancellor for Science and Technology at UC Berkeley, in order to tap into the extraordinary energy and creativity of UC students to help translate basic research into projects that have a direct positive impact on society.
To participate in the competition, each group project must have at least one student member at one of the four CITRIS campuses: UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Merced and UC Santa Cruz.
The members of the Concrete Garden, which seeks to establish an interactive web portal that will support the work of environmental organizations by promoting the spread of information regarding urban agro-ecology in Mexico, are Lily Foster and Sara Emery, both undergraduate students at the University of California, Santa Cruz majoring in Latin American & Latino Studies.
June 6, 2005
Sociology major wins grant to fund U.S. speaking tour of Chiapas artisans
By Jennifer McNulty
For sociology major Kara Deyhle, economic empowerment isn't just a catch phrase. Watching Mayan women in Chiapas, Mexico, organize to save their families and their culture brought textbook lessons to life and inspired Deyhle to join their work.
Deyhle (pronounced "dial") recently won a $10,000 scholarship to bring two women from Chiapas to the United States for a speaking tour that will give them access to U.S. markets for their artistic textiles.
Deyhle's work in Mexico began during a six-month internship in Chiapas, the southern state of Mexico where the Zapatista-led army of indigenous peasants rose up in 1994, calling for land reform, Indian rights, and democracy. Home to a large population of indigenous peoples, Chiapas is rich in natural resources but one of the poorest places in Latin America.
Women are at the forefront of efforts to build economic opportunities, however, and Deyhle worked closely with a weaving cooperative run and organized entirely by Mayan women...
Under the auspices of UCSC's Global Information Internship Program (GIIP), which brings the skills of the information age to nonprofit and grassroots organizations around the world, Deyhle helped the cooperative computerize its data so members can identify and evaluate trends in sales and production. She produced a digital inventory of JolomMayae'tik's store in San Cristobal de las Casas and is working on a digital catalog of weaving designs that will help the cooperative market its artistic textiles internationally.
January 12, 2004
UCSC tech-savvy internship program receives $300,000 grant
By Jennifer McNulty
An innovative student-run internship program at UC Santa Cruz that trains undergraduates in the latest tools of information technology, which they in turn use to advance the causes of global justice, peace, and gender equity, has received nearly $300,000 from the Compton Foundation, Inc.
The Global Information Internship Program (GIIP, pronounced “jeep”) was established in 1998 to build a network of tech-savvy undergraduates at UCSC who share their skills with activists around the world engaged in “democratizing globalization.” The two-year grant, which totals $298,258, will support student travel scholarships and stipends, bring speakers to campus, and help cover administrative costs.
