breeze and let the

>> i want to learn more about it. >> social networking and e-mail. >> i want to know how to use it. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> divisional divide is a divide between those with access to use digital tools and those who don't. >> with young people, having computers and i just don't know. they're doing it fast.

so, i want to know. >> not knowing how to navigate the internet or at a loss of what to do. >> we don't have a computer. >> we're a nonprofit that unites organizations and volunteers to transform lies through literacy. our big problem right now is the broadband opportunity program. a federally funded project through the department of aging. so, we're working in 26 locations. our volunteers are trained to be tutors and trainers, offering everything from basic classes all the way to genealogy and job search. >> to me computers, knowing how to use it. >> i think it's really important to everybody and possibly especially seniors to get enough of these skills to stay in touch. >> it's been fun. with seniors, to get them out of their homes.

>> so they can connect with their family members. or their family members. >> [speaking in spanish]. >> so, what we focus on is transferring skills from volunteer to learner to help them get onto facebook, find housing in crisis, be able to connect with friends and family. >> i decided to teach what i learn and it made me want to give back. i discovered that seniors do a lot of review.

>> i am a beginner, so, little by little i learn. i learn a lot now. >> if you get the basics, you can learn it. it's simple. it's easy. once you know it. and that's what i want to learn, how to make my life easier and more knowledgeable with the computer. >> so, what we need right now are more people who speak languages other than english or in addition to english who can give their time during the day and who care deeply ideally about helping to close the divide. >> it's a humbling experience. it's something simple to ask in our daily life, but to someone that doesn't know and to help somebody gain that experience in any way is awesome. >> [speaking in spanish].

>> no matter how tired or cranky or whatever i might feel, when i walk into this place i always walk out feeling great. >> if you feel comfortable using computers and you have patience, we want you on our team. >> would you show me how to type? >> [speaking in spanish]. >> will you help me learn more? with its elegant rotunda, the reflecting waters of the sub

rounding lagoon and fraying rant eucalyptus trees, special dates and memorable proposals. it is the perfect picnic spot to relax with that special someone by listening to water and fountain in the lagoon and gazing as the swans go gracefully by. beautiful to view from many locations along the lagoon and inside the columns is an ideal place to walk around with your loved one. the palace of fine arts is the most popular location in the city arts system. reservations for weddings and other events a

come and experience lafayette park and enjoy the people, picnic and sunshine. this is a lovely place to take an afternoon stroll with your loved one hand in hand. located at got and sacramento street in the middle of pacific heights on top of the city's steep rolling hills, lafayette park offers a great place,

peaceful beauty. comfortably spaced tables and benches, a playground, rest rooms and tips at the end of the park. plenty of flat areas for football, frisbee, and picnic. lafayette is very much a couples park. this wonderful hilltop park is the place you can share with someone you cherish. lafayette park is located along the round at the one end campus and also easy ♪ ♪ ♪ >> the san francisco playground's history dates back to 1927 when the area where the

present playground and center is today was purchased by the city for $27,000. in the 1950s, the center was expanded by then mayor robinson and the old gym was built. thanks to the passage of the 2008 clean and safe neighborhood parks bond, the sunset playground has undergone extensive renovation to its four acres of fields, courts, play grounds, community rooms, and historic gymnasium. >> here we are. 60 years and $14 million later, and we have got this beautiful, brand-new rec center completely accessible to the entire neighborhood. >> the new rec center houses multi-purpose rooms for all kinds of activities, including basketball, line dancing, playing ping-pong, and arts and crafts. >> use it for whatever you want to do, you can do it here. >> on friday, november 16th,

the dedication and ribbon cutting took place at the sunset playground and recreation center celebrating its renovation. it was raining, but the rain clearly did not dampen the spirits of the dignitaries, community members, and children in attendance. [cheering and applauding] ♪ ♪ >> what if you could make a memorial that is more about information and you are never fixed and it can go wherever it wants to go? everyone who has donated to it could use it, host it, share it. >> for quite a great deal of team she was hired in 2005, she

struggled with finding the correct and appropriate visual expression. >> it was a bench at one point. it was a darkened room at another point. but the theme always was a theme of how do we call people's attention to the issue of speci species extinction. >> many exhibits do make long detailed explanations about species decline and biology of birds and that is very useful for lots of purposes. but i think it is also important to try to pull at the strings inside people. >> missing is not just about specific extinct or endangered species. it is about absence and a more fundamental level of not knowing what we are losing and we need to link species loss to habitat loss and really focuses much on

the habitat. >> of course the overall mission of the academy has to do with two really fundamental and important questions. one of which is the nature of life. how did we get here? the second is the challenge of sustainability. if we are here how are we going to find a way to stay? these questions resonated very strongly with maya. >> on average a species disappears every 20 minutes. this is the only media work that i have done. i might never do another one because i'm not a media artist per se but i have used the medium because it seemed to be the one that could allow me to convey the sounds and images here. memorials to me are different from artworks. they are artistic, but memorials have a function.

>> it is a beautiful scupltural objective made with bronze and lined with red wood from water tanks in clear lake. that is the scupltural form that gives expression to maya's project. if you think about a cone or a bull horn, they are used to get the attention of the crowd, often to communicate an important message. this project has a very important message and it is about our earth and what we are losing and what we are missing and what we don't even know is gone. >> so, what is missing is starting with an idea of loss, but in a funny way the shape of this cone is, whether you want to call it like the r.c.a. victor dog, it is listen to the earth and what if we could create a portal that could look at the past, the present and the future?

>> you can change what is then missing by changing the software, by changing what is projected and missing. so, missing isn't a static installation. it is an installation that is going to grow and change over time. and she has worked to bring all of this information together from laboratory after laboratory including, fortunately, our great fwroup of researche e-- g researchers at the california academy. >> this couldn't have been more site specific to this place and we think just visually in terms of its scupltural form it really holds its own against the architectural largest and grandeur of the building. it is an unusual compelling object. we think it will draw people out on the terrace, they will see the big cone and say what is that. then as they approach the cone tell hear these very unusual sounds that were obtained from the cornell orinthology lab.

>> we have the largest recording of birds, mammals, frogs and insects and a huge library of videos. so this is an absolutely perfect opportunity for us to team up with a world renown, very creative inspirational artist and put the sounds and sights of the animals that we study into a brand-new context, a context that really allows people to appreciate an esthetic way of the idea that we might live in the world without these sounds or sites. >> in the scientific realm it is shifting baselines. we get used to less and less, diminished expectations of what it was. >> when i came along lobsters six feet long and oysters 12 inches within they days all the oyster beds in new york, manhattan, the harbor would clean the water. so, just getting people to wake

up to what was just literally there 200 years ago, 150 years ago. you see the object and say what is that. you come out and hear these intriguing sounds, sounds like i have never heard in my life. and then you step closer and you almost have a very intimate experience. >> we could link to different institutions around the globe, maybe one per continent, maybe two or three in this country, then once they are all networked, they begin to communicate with one another and share information. in 2010 the website will launch, but it will be what you would call an informational website and then we are going to try to, by 2011, invite people to add a memory. so in a funny way the member rely grows and there is something organic about how this memorial begins to have legs so to speak. so we don't know quite where it will go but i promise to keep on

it 10 years. my goal is to raise awareness and then either protect forests from being cut down or reforest in ways that promote biodiversity. >> biodiverse city often argued to be important for the world's human populations because all of the medicinal plants and uses that we can put to it and fiber that it gives us and food that it gives us. while these are vital and important and worth literally hundreds of billions of dollars, the part that we also have to be able to communicate is the more spiritual sense of how important it is that we get to live side by side with all of these forms that have three billion years of history behind them and how tragic it would be not commercially and not in a utilitarian way but an emotio l emotional, psychological, spiritual way if we watch them

one by one disappear. >> this is sort of a merger between art and science and advocacy in a funny way getting people to wake unand realize what is going on -- wake up and realize what is going on. so it is a memborial trying to get us to interpret history and look to the past. they have always been about lacking at the past so we proceed forward and maybe don't commit the same mistakes. ♪ >> our concern is they are going to be here for a couple of days and everybody is going to have a great time. and we have three days of them and 362 days of everybody else using the park. ♪

♪ >> this is the fifth year of our partnership with another planet entertainment, where another planet puts on probably the greatest music festival in america for three days here in golden gate park. >> we work with them a lot to prevent and not have any problems. and what we have done with them is have roads built and have pieces under whatever equipment is parked. they do all of that. and then when it gets removed,

they have very little damage. >> for me as a gardener and having to stay here and work after they leave, i am more than happy when i see their greening team come through and green everything up. >> we have given them pieces that they can use, and pieces that they can't use. so we are allowing them, again, because we have irrigation in the ground so they can use, and if they put up a tent they can stake a tent in some places, they can't stake a tent in other places. so we are protecting the golden gate park asset. >> so what is really special about the partnership is not just the incredible music, that about 70,000 of our closest friends are listening to right now, but for the respect that everybody has for this park and the work that we do with the outside land music promoters to make sure that in a few short weeks, what you see out here will again be a beautiful, green, field filled with children playing soccer. >> everything pops back up, we are getting better and better as the years go by.

bringing it back real quick, that is what we do. we bring the grass back and make sure that the plants are not destroyed. >> we work year round to plan for this event to make sure that all of the waste is picked up. 77 percent of all of the waste is diverted or recycling or composted. >> the gardeners work with another product operation staff to make sure that first and foremost we are protecting the incredible trees, meadows and the incredible open space that is golden gate park. >> making the crowd make a choice of which band have want to see. so we don't have everybody going to one stage like a stampede. that didn't work for the event producers and it didn't work for us. we worked together and found solutions and it is working. >> you see a lot of people out here having a good time. you have no idea, how much work and planning has gone into this to make this sustain able and

eco friendly park the greatest park in the united states. ♪ >> san francisco is one of those incredible cities in the world. i would rather be around trees, than like flat land, you know what i am saying? >> the fact that it is separate places it gives a lot of space for the amount of people that is here. i really appreciate that. ♪ >> san francisco, what is not to love? >> a blessing with the space and a blessing being here and everyone else being here on public land and sharing this music and vibration together and we are grateful for the city and the park and rec for making it happen. >> we are keeping it cleaned by picking up, everything that we need help with, we can't do it without your help. >> it is amazing for san francisco and the music scene. this is a job creator and they

hire over 3400 people. we bring in 50 to 60 restaurant and winerries. >> it is crazy. and it never stops. ♪ >> i only came to see stevie wonder. i just got a ticket. i am so excited. we are so blessed out right now. >> it is amazing, i came all the way from israel to meet the people and hang out and she was amazing. >> the environment, the people, everything. it is like everyone has so much energy. >> hey, you are beautiful. and i love you. >> why? because... it is definitely a lot more fun than being inside. >> so far we have had zero problems. it is a long-step process, a lot of thinking and people involved. so we think that we got rid of all of the problems that could happen. they are doing it, and we are doing it and everybody is doing

the best that they can. >> it is a wonderful out reach >> come. >> it is beautiful. ♪@@to the fifth annual awards here at san francisco city hall. thank you all so much for joining us here ton.