Habitat for Humanity breaks ground today...

Habitat for Humanity breaks ground today

This morning marks a new beginning for six low-income families.

Officials from Habitat for Humanity of Orange County and the

Orange County Technology Collective will break ground on a

collaborative project in Costa Mesa that will provide affordable home

ownership with increased access to technology.

The project will rehabilitate blighted land and transform existing

structures that contain hazardous building materials into six safe

homes. These homes will come complete with computer equipment,

Internet access and computer software donated by local

technology-based businesses.

The first-ever Habitat Technology Project will also provide

hands-on training opportunities to the residents.

The homes will be built by Habitat volunteers, the families who

will be living in the new homes and staff of the project’s sponsors.

Construction is expected to last until September.

Project officials are looking for more volunteers to help build

Tuesdays through Saturdays.

The groundbreaking ceremony will take place at 8 a.m. today at

1925 Pomona Ave. To sign up as a volunteer builder, call Michelle

Spence at (714) 434-6200

Director named for new UCI research center

UC Irvine has appointed social ecology professor Joseph DiMento

director of the newly established Newkirk Center for Science and

Society.

DiMento is charged with fulfilling the center’s mission of making

scientific research more useable and beneficial to the general

public.

DiMento is a professor of law and society, management and urban

planning at UCI. His most recent book, “The Global Environment and

International Law,” which will be published this winter, addresses

the relationship between scientific information and the making of

international law, including global climate change.

The Newkirk Center, established in 2001, promotes appropriate uses

of research in the natural and social sciences to enhance quality of

life. It finds ways to develop and share research knowledge with the

public and policymakers so they can make informed decisions on vital

policy issues on law, education, environment, healthcare, crime and

public infrastructure.