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RIVERSIDE, Calif. — The UC Riverside Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center (LGBTRC) has been awarded a $16,000 technology grant to open the David Bohnett Wireless CyberCenter on campus.

The CyberCenter will include four state-of-the-art ThinkPad laptop computers, a laser printer and a scanner. The new technology resources will create a safe space for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) students and their allies to access online resources and connect with community organizing and advocacy information. UC Riverside is the fifth college campus in the nation to open a David Bohnett CyberCenter.

“We hope the David Bohnett Wireless CyberCenter will provide tools for reaching out to students not yet accessing the LGBTRC’s space and services,” said center director Nancy Jean Tubbs.

“We know from a 2004 campus climate study that the experiences of LGBT students at UCR improve if they connect with a wider campus community. The wireless CyberCenter will help us reach out to otherwise unconnected students,” she said.

All students, faculty and staff, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, will be granted access to the center.

The Los Angeles-based David Bohnett Foundation is a grant-making organization with a $30 million endowment dedicated to improving society through social activism. Michael Fleming, executive director of the foundation said, “our goal is to provide funding, state-of-the-art technology and technical support to innovative organizations and institutions.”

In 1994, David Bohnett founded GeoCities, an Internet-based media and e-commerce company acquired by Yahoo! in 1999. In the course of his career, Bohnett became keenly aware of what the Internet can contribute toward facilitating change. He has made it the mission of the foundation established in his name to ensure that the LGBT community is well positioned to leverage the transformative power of the Web.

The Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Resource Center will hold a grand-opening celebration for the center Friday, April 21, 2006 in 250 Costo Hall from 3 pm to 6 pm. For more information go to www.out.ucr.edu or call (951) 827-2267.

The University of California, Riverside (www.ucr.edu) is a doctoral research university, a living laboratory for groundbreaking exploration of issues critical to Inland Southern California, the state and communities around the world. Reflecting California's diverse culture, UCR's enrollment has exceeded 20,500 students. The campus will open a medical school in 2013 and has reached the heart of the Coachella Valley by way of the UCR Palm Desert Center. The campus has an annual statewide economic impact of more than $1 billion.

A broadcast studio with fiber cable to the AT&T Hollywood hub is available for live or taped interviews. UCR also has ISDN for radio interviews. To learn more, call (951) UCR-NEWS.