I drove nearly 350 miles today on an errand (picking up a couple goats), and it reminded me of what a rediculously big state this is, and how many small and medium sized cities there are (along the way I went through or near Allentown, Hazelton, and Williamsport). Someone of the foundation-l list had mentioned that having a local chapter would be more important for the suburbans than the urbanites, but I think it might end up being even more of an asset to rural communities and the towns in the interior of the state.
Andrew (Whiteknight) has mentioned both online and in conversations with me how he would like to see Wikibooks-derived textbooks made available for poor urban districts. I agree with that, but we shouldn't forget that there are rural areas in our state that are just as poor, with even less exposure to the world's opportunities.
I don't really have anywhere to go with that, but it seems to me that outreach into the hill country shouldn't be ignored for the sake of outreach into the inner cities. We have a lot of hill country in PA :-).
-johnny.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Get the free Yahoo! toolbar and rest assured with the added security of spyware protection. http://new.toolbar.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/norton/index.php
Andrew (Whiteknight) has mentioned both online and in conversations with me how he would like to see Wikibooks-derived textbooks made available for poor urban districts. I agree with that, but we shouldn't forget that there are rural areas in our state that are just as poor, with even less exposure to the world's opportunities.
It was the first idea that came to my mind, and as a Wikibookian it should be assumed that my first ideas are going to be about textbooks. While the philadelphia school district (being the most needy) would benefit greatly from free textbooks, other rural districts have just as great a need and would likely be easier for us to get into then a larger more politically-charged district like philadelphia.
What I think might be an interesting idea would be to look at GED study guides or study courses (Wikibooks and Wikiversity) for children who are pressured to drop out of school early because of their family responsibilities. I know this is a common issue with children of farmers, who tend to work during the day when normal school hours are being held.
But you are right, the rural denizens are just as important to us as the urban ones.
--Andrew Whitworth
_________________________________________________________________ http://imagine-windowslive.com/hotmail/?locale=en-us&ocid=TXT_TAGHM_migr...
wikimediapa-l@lists.wikimedia.org