Syracuse: The Young & the Wireless

In “Next Gen Rising,” Syracuse University produces video portraits of young people and their families that explore how technology is – and is not – empowering youth in 11 demographically diverse communities across America.

• The Young and the Wireless: The On-the-Road Blog
  As the News21 reporters from Syracuse traveled the nation, they offered insights into what they saw and the reporting process. Their tour included exploring how youth, from pre-teens to late-20s, use technology in 11 demographically distinct U.S. cities, including Lincoln City, Ore.; Sioux City, Iowa; Fort Campbell, Ky.; , Hopkinsville, Ky., Los Alamos, N.M.; El Mirage, Ariz.; Baton Rouge, La.; Groveland, Fla.; Clermont, Fla.; and Branson, Mo.
• Webisode Contest: How Youth See Technology
  Make a soap Webisode and win $1,000, $500, $300 or $200. Check the details, submit your video and maybe you’ll reap the big bucks once the contest ends Dec. 31.
• Florida Cowboy Ropes in Technology to Help his Herd
  On the farm … and on cattle.com Cows. Pails. Rope. High-speed Internet connection. Matthew Gonzalez of Groveland, Fla., is a modern cowboy who’s expanded his set of tools. He’s knitting his digital and farm lives into one. How’s it working out for him? His show cows are prize-winners.

• College Town Residents Think About Technology
  Train the video camera on many students and residents of Ann Arbor, Mich., and they offer interesting insights into how to rebuild the world using technology
• The Young and the Wireless: Next-Gen Empowerment
  Technology has a varying impact on young people in 11 kinds of American communities, defined by categories more than geography. This video presentations examine how technology affects young people’s relationships with friends, family, institutions, education, etc.
• Soldiers Refine Skills Using Video Games
  The earliest videogames by the Atari Company lay down a rule: No player could ever harm a “human” character. Things have changed. Halo and Call of Duty simulate war and killing, and they sell millions of copies a month. The U.S. Army has adopted many videogame-style technologies to train soldiers in battlefield procedures and rules of engagement. Soldiers at Fort Campbell in Hopkinsville, Ky.,say that while these simulators look like games they’ve played, it’s very different for them now.

• Michigan Student Launches Mybandstock.com
  University of Michigan has long had the reputation of being a hotbed for young entrepreneurs. One example is Bobby Madsen, a rising senior, and Mybandstock.com, the start up he co-founded. By allowing people to buy “stock” of a band or a musician, this Website aims to bridge the gap between artists and fans and revolutionize the entire music industry.
• Louisiana Educators Take Crash Course in Mac Basics
  Teachers at The Dunham School in Baton Rouge, La. spend an intense three days learning how to use Apple computers. They’re eager yet apprehensive about taking on the role of student. One teacher reflects on her experience on the “Val Cam.”
• A Monorail Breaks Racial Boundaries
  High School students in Baton Rouge came up with a plan to unite black and white neighborhoods — build a monorail. Join their teacher, Leroy Johnson, and his friends as they give you a little tour and explain their dream.
• A Mother and Daughter Discuss Dangers of the Internet
  A mother sits down with her teen daughter to make sure she is aware of the dangers of giving out too much information over the Web, even though she admits to social networking through facebook.
• Bridging the Generations: Teens Volunteer at Home
  Teens are constantly connected to the world through texting or the Internet – except when they voluntarily “unplug.” Watch as young people in Florida bridge the generation gap by giving up one kind of connection for another.
• A Father and Son Team Runs Martial Arts Academy
  Some parents can’t seem to find a common ground with their children, especially when their children are in their teenage years. But for Randy and Brett Gordon, their father and son relationship has helped them run the Trio Martial Arts Academy in Clermont, FL. Brett’s dad, Randy, openly admits that had it not been for his son’s martial arts talent and ability to network on the Internet, their business would not be as successful. .
• Two Middle School Students Teach Their Teacher
  After two middle school students approached their teacher about a program they learned called “Scratch,” she decided to let them teach the entire class how to use it. See how this became a learning experience for everyone.
• Technology Brings Two Friends Together
  Our modern gadgets often keep us from each other, but sometimes they do just the opposite. Cesar Castillo and Ivan Venzor met in their high school broadcasting class last year, and through making a video together, formed a new friendship.
• Ruby's Regift: A Brother and Sister Build a Computer
  Ruby, a fourteen year-old girl, surprises her younger brother, Omar, on his birthday with the opportunity to build his own computer from recycled parts at a community workshop. They have a typical relationship, Ruby describes her brother as a nerd with a lot of friends and Omar sees Ruby as nice but sometimes a little mean. Find out if their sibling rivalry will prevent them from getting the job done and what Omar plans to do with his new gadget.
• One Man's Quest to Find Himself Through Technology
  Jim Heinrich was at a crossroads. It wasn’t until one break-up and a subsequent divorce that he decided that something needed to change. He was 40 when it finally happened. In this conversation, Heinrich tells his granddaughters why technology could have helped him find himself much sooner.
• Stuggles of a Long Distance Relationship Online
  Karina Bustos moved from Columbia to the United States with her mom for a better life. This is an often-voiced motivation by the Latinos who comprise 36 percent of residents around El Mirage, AZ. After five years there, the 23-year-old works three jobs so that one day she can continue her education, leave El Mirage, and reunite with her husband.
• A Large Family Connects without Technology
  When Miguel and Maria moved to Arizona from Guatemala as a teenagers, they walked for two days and two nights through the desert. She was 13. He was 15. They were escaping a raging civil war in Guatemala. They got married and started a family. Twenty-one years later they have seven children between the ages of five and 21. They all live at home in a modest 3-bedroom house. As for digital technology, their attitude is one of indifference. They don’t have the money to even hope for the latest and greatest, but they still manage to stay “connected.”
• Gen Lap: A Little Girl Uses her Neighbor's Computer
  Her assignment was to define shapes and lines. She was already late for school, and her assignment was nearly past due. Jalea Grubbs ran next door to the Challenge House charity to use a personal computer.
• Yesterday's Mayor, Today's Neighbor
  Eighteen new computers are in the hands of Wally Bryan’s friends in Hopkinsville, Ky. Actually, these friends are neighbors, too. Five years ago, Wally used to be their mayor. But he gave it up to help them – and to live where they live. He’s grown his charity out of an apartment and into two homes, with two more to come.
• Gen Lap: Mother Talks to Son About Texting

  Mother and son share three different views on text messaging. Watch this installment and try to figure out who is lapping whom?

• Kaity the Cartoon Blogger Gains Popularity Through Art
  In Lincoln City, Ore., the coolest kid in school isn’t the quarterback or a cheerleader. She’s an artist. Students and teachers alike from Taft High School routinely visit Kaity’s Web site to see if they made it into her “doodle diary.” Her cartoons capture moments in her life that she wants to remember. She posts her favorites to her blog: Frankensteinbeck.
• Adoptive Parents Set Strick Guidlines to Protect Child
  As a young child, Kiera Haun suffered physical, mental, emotional and sexual abuse in her biological parent’s house. After five years and seven foster homes, she moved in with the Haun family. However, the family quickly encountered trouble when Kiera began attracting the attention of men much older than her on the Internet. They quickly set new rules to ensure her safety online.
• A Video Montage of High School Texts

  We asked high schoolers at Taft High School in Lincoln City, Ore. what their last text message was while taking their portraits. We edited their responses into a video montage.

• A Grandfather Discusses Atomic Bombing of Japan
  Louis Rosen moved to New Mexico in the 1940s to work on a secret project that he was told could end World War II. Fourteen months later, the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on two Japanese cities, killing more than 200,000 civilians. This is a conversation between him, his grandson and great-grandson … who is part Japanese.
• I am a Geek: One Student's Proud Proclamation
  Eric is proud to be a geek, although it can be challenging to fit in. He showcases the technologically advanced skills that earned him the title, including building programs and games in Los Alamos, N.M.
• The Most Delicious Baked Alaska Ever: A Podcast

  A 12-year-old and a student of NPR worked together, in a rural village in New Mexico called Chimayo, to create a podcast in a short period of time (largely by sending mp3 files and comments back and forth for weeks on end). The challenging undertaking was thrilling, hilarious, and sometimes maddening. But definitely rewarding.

• Technolgy in Church, Not in the Home
  Just off the highway to Branson, the Missouri entertainment capitol that some call the Christian Vegas, a painted plaque reads “Welcome to CBF.” Canaan Bluffs Farm is home to cows, chickens, garden beds, and the Virnigs, a family of 10. Instead of congregating around T.V. and computer screens, the family practices the simple life. When they go to church, however, they embrace a sense of balance, perhaps best expressed by their 18-year-old daughter.
• Technology Enhances the Life of an Autistic Boy
  The story of how an autistic boy’s ability to communicate depends on technology.
• Gen Lap: What Technology Means to the Homeless

  What happens when your youth is gone and society has left you behind? What does technology means to you then? We asked a homeless man in Philadelphia.

• Making a Difference through a Charitable Podcast
  Julie and Emily Zauzmer had a great idea for how to use their tech-savvy skills to bring charity to the world. Here’s their story from Pennsylvania.
• Inner City Schools Keep Up With Technology
  Meet Marcie Hull. She is the technology coordinator and the digital arts teacher at Science Leadership Academy, a brand-new, one-to-one-laptop Philadelphia magnet school for science, technology, math and entrepreneurship. Around the country, educators like Hull are trying whatever they can think of to reform (inner-city) public school systems and boost standardized test scores. The one-to-one laptop initiative is one of many recent examples.