By Susan Stock
Lansing State Journal

Lansing native Magic Johnson has opened centers in Atlanta, Chicago and Houston devoted to his goal of making sure every child knows how to use a computer.

On Thursday, he opened one in his hometown.

The 11th Magic Johnson HP Inventor Center at the Black Child and Family Institute features $60,000 in equipment donated by Hewlett-Packard.

ROD SANFORD/Lansing State Journal

The 17-year-old institute helps more than 3,000 adults and children each year.

"Young people need to be guided," Johnson said.

"They need to be touched. They need to know someone cares about them. They have that here."

The center's goal is to provide opportunities for people caught in the "digital gap" because they don't have access to the Internet or aren't computer savvy. Particularly at risk are certain minority groups, the elderly and people with disabilities.

"The gap continues to exist and is growing in the area of technology," said Barbara Roberts Mason, the founder of the Black Child and Family Institute.

"We have to eliminate that gap. It should not exist."

The center's offerings include 20 computers, printers, digital cameras and a digital projector. It will be open to the public except when in use by a special class or session.

The centers are part of a partnership between HP and the Magic Johnson Foundation; five more are planned for major cities such as Cleveland and Baltimore.

Nationally, 53.9 percent of Americans used the Internet as of September 2001, the latest data from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

At that time, whites and Asians were above the average, at about 60 percent. About 31.6 percent of Hispanics and 39.8 percent of blacks used the Internet.

Income and education are other factors that influence people's level of computer literacy.

Similar gaps also exist in areas such as health education and infant mortality, Roberts Mason said.

"It's tragic when there is a divide of any kind," she said.

Despite the rain and cold Thursday, about 300 people stood outside to hear Johnson speak and honor his contribution to the community he grew up in.

Johnson led his Everett High School basketball team to the state championship in 1977 and Michigan State University to the NCAA title in 1979.

"It's one of the most wonderful things to happen since Magic was on the basketball court," Lansing resident Claudine Walker said about the center.

Meanwhile, 10-year-old Kris Pratt wasted no time exploring one of the new computers housed in a room painted bright purple and gold - the colors of Johnson's former NBA team, the Los Angeles Lakers.

"They've got a whole bunch of stuff kids can use," he said, already thinking of the possibilities. "If you have to write an essay, you don't have to use a pencil and write it down."

The walls of the center are adorned with emblems bearing Johnson's jersey number, 32, along with the phrase "Magic's Cyber All Stars."

Also at Thursday's event, officials from Bank One announced it will give the institute $30,000 to share with two other cities. The money will cover the upkeep of the new computers and a new library for preschoolers.

And mortgage giant Freddie Mac announced it will sponsor free financial literacy classes for adults at the center to help close the gap in homeownership.

In Lansing, the overall homeownership rate is 67 percent; among minorities, it's 42 percent.

But the impact of the center could best be seen in the way the children responded.

"I really want to thank him for doing this," Kris Pratt said. "It's not like every day someone can do this for you."

Published 5/16/2003
http://www.greenandwhite.com/fans/p_030516_magic_1a-6a.html

Contact Susan Stock at 377-1015 or sstock@lsj.com.