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Youth Empowerment Center News

(Earlier this year, San Diego State University received a $14.5 million gift from QUALCOMM Incorporated to support programs designed to transform urban education and develop a tech-savvy workforce. Five specific programs were designated as beneficiaries of the gift. This last in a series of articles examines the newest - the National Center for Urban School Transformation.)

November 15, 2004 - The QUALCOMM Institute's final key initiative also aims to shape the future by transforming educational systems. In launching the National Center for Urban School Transformation (NCUST), San Diego State externalizes an ongoing commitment to help urban schools develop effective ways of building an institutional infrastructure that can support the changes necessary for transformation.

In other words, explained Lionel R. (Skip) Meno, dean of SDSU's College of Education, rather than imposing canned one-size-fits-all solutions on schools and/or districts with unique characteristics and challenges, an approach Meno labeled "monumentally unsuccessful," NCUST staff will work to help those institutions analyze their needs and develop their own customized processes of change.

"High levels of student performance are non-negotiable," Meno said. "That's where we want to be. How do we get there? It's not by going out and grabbing certain programs and putting them in place. It's by helping people go through a process that allows them to transform their own institutions."

Joseph F. Johnson, an alumnus of SDSU's College of Education and former director of student achievement and school accountability at the U.S. Department of Education, will serve as director of the center when he joins the educational leadership faculty in fall 2005.

SDSU's interest in urban school transformation developed through hands-on experience in San Diego's South Bay, with the Sweetwater Compact for Success and in City Heights, where SDSU runs three inner-city schools that have all seen remarkable improvements in student scores, teacher retention and parent involvement.

"We've been heavily engaged in the field of practice," Meno said. "And what we've learned from that, particularly from our interventions in Sweetwater and City Heights, is how to go in and read the conditions, to assess them, to try various interventions and see what works and what doesn't. The key is the process you go through to learn what you need to learn and come up with intervention strategies."

NCUST's ultimate goal, made possible by the QUALCOMM Institute's allowance for permanent capacity, is to develop 15- to 20-year partnerships with schools and/or districts anywhere in the United States, leading to transformational changes that produce better-educated students. A fully operational NCUST will need an endowment of about $14 million, Meno estimated.

"This is not a short-term project," Meno said. "We as an institution are committed for the long term. The road may take some bends and turns, but by bringing knowledge to bear through our partners in the field of practice, we're going to find ways to transform education."

Answer the Phone: Your Identity is on the Line

Beverly Hills, CA -- (ArriveNet - May 06, 2005) -- There hasn't been much good news in the battle against identity theft lately, with fraudsters staying one step ahead of the game. But don't panic, our old friend the telephone has come to the rescue.

We're all aware of the problem of identity theft, but did you know that your local pizza chain has had a solution for years? You recognize it as the system that prevents little Johnny from having twenty pizzas delivered to your door at midnight: the pizza chain calls you immediately after the order is placed to verify the validity of the order. Because little Johnny is afraid to be caught, he'll think twice about causing this pizza-related havoc.

TeleSign's patent-pending verification system has transferred this pizza concept to the high-tech world. It works like this: after filling out a form on a website, the user is prompted to enter his phone number. A robotic system then places a call to that number and speaks aloud a unique three digit code. Once that code is entered into the website, the authentication is complete. This system can be implemented at any point on a website: at registration, purchase, a specific time interval, or at the request of a user.

Email verification is the current standard for user authentication, but email may end up filtered, junked, bulked, or trashed. Because of spam, viruses, and phishing, email filtering has become so aggressive that even legitimate emails don't reach the inbox. But a telephone call cannot be stopped, making this the perfect time for the introduction of TeleSign’s solution.

The future of ecommerce is threatened by rampant fraud and lack of trust. TeleSign will force anonymous users to expose their faces by revealing their working phone numbers.

To try an interactive demo, visit (http://www.telesign.com/demo2/demo.asp) and have your phone ready.

For more information about TeleSign’s products and services, visit (http://www.telesign.com/demo2/) or email press2@telesign.com.

About TeleSign Corp.
TeleSign is a leader in innovative internet security solutions and provider of intelligent telephone-based verification solutions for any entity conducting business online where trust is essential and where fraud is a concern. TeleSign’s patent-pending Verification System provides a critical layer of security for the e-commerce world and is a proven deterrent against ill-intentioned web users. The company’s first product, the TeleSign Verification System, blends the latest internet, security and telephony technologies into a powerful new tool to combat fraud and enhance trust in e-business.

TeleSign Corp. seeks to provide simplified solutions for any company conducting business online where trust is essential and where fraud is a concern. TeleSign’s patent-pending Verification System provides a critical layer of security for the e-commerce world and is a proven deterrent against ill-intentioned web users. TeleSign’s Verification System is able to legitimize a web user’s claimed identification at a miniscule cost and with little inconvenience to all parties involved.

TeleSign’s Verification System is based upon the premise that ill-intentioned web users hesitate to disclose their working phone numbers. By placing a computer-generated telephone call coupled with a unique security code, we insist that a web user provide a legitimate telephone number or be rooted out. The company’s first product, the TeleSign Verification System, blends the latest internet, security and telephony technologies into a powerful new tool to combat fraud in e-commerce.

Visit http://www.telesign.com/demo2/ or call 310-276-5900 for more information.

TeleSign Corporation
Contact: Sam Gonen
Telephone: (310) 276-7843
Email: press2@telesign.com

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Youth Empowerment
Lorraine Bowman, President
4249 Manzanita Drive
San Diego, California 92105
info@empowering-youth.org