This article gives a glimpse on the attitudes in the libertarian minded
technology industry regarding social responsibility. Perhaps there is no
corporate responsibility for the poor and the disabled.
kelly
December 17, 1998
Even With Silicon Valley Riches, Many Still Live in Poverty
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN JOSE -- Connie Tort, a 25-year-old single mother of four,
spends $400 a month for an unheated room in a sour-smelling house
with cracked walls and blankets on the windows.
Just outside looms Adobe Systems Inc., a software company with
annual revenue close to $1 billion.
"Silicon Valley? No, I never heard that term," said Ms. Tort, who
gets a $500 disability check each month. "Not everyone out here is
involved in this technological stuff. A lot of us are barely making
it with our kids."
The high-tech prosperity that has transformed Silicon Valley over
the past decade has bypassed the poor and is even pushing out the
middle class, forcing teachers and police officers into long
commutes.
For every five jobs created this year in Silicon Valley, only one
new home was built. The average rent for new tenants seeking
unsubsidized apartments soared 29 percent over the past two years,
from $935 to $1,208.
_________________________________________________________________
It's shameful that anyone is in need in the Silicon Valley.
Millard Fuller, Habitat for Humanity
_________________________________________________________________
At the end of 1997, only 37 percent of Santa Clara County's homes
were within the reach of families earning the average household
income, $70,200. During the first half of 1998, housing prices
soared from $288,000 to $317,000 in the county, which forms the
heart of Silicon Valley, according to the National Association of
Home Builders.
Silicon Valley is the world's leading high-tech region, home to 20
percent of the biggest software and electronics companies. At Intel
Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Apple Computer Inc., annual revenues
are counted by the billions.
"It's shameful that anyone is in need in the Silicon Valley," said
Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity International in
Americus, Ga., an organization that builds homes for the poor. "If
that brainpower could be focused on making sure that everyone's
needs are met, you would have no substandard housing, you would
have no food lines, you would have no homeless people."
To try to ease the pressure, the San Jose City Council adopted the
nation's highest minimum wage last month. City contractors now have
to pay at least $9.50 an hour with health benefits and $10.75 if
benefits aren't provided.
"I don't mean to sound like I'm not grateful, because I know that's
a lot of money," said Larry Contreras, 32, who cleans the commuter
rail tracks and picks gum off benches. "But I run out of money
every pay period. In this town, it's really barely enough."
Contreras supports three children. More than half of his wages go
to the room he rents in a relative's home.
"This has become a major problem in the Silicon Valley," said Andy
Grove, founder and chief executive of Intel, the world's largest
maker of computer chips. "It's starting to remind me of a tourist
resort where the hotels have driven prices so high that the people
who work there have to live out of town."
The Second Harvest Food Bank serves 108,000 people a month in
Silicon Valley. Only 11 percent are homeless, said executive
director David Sandretto, a former IBM manager.
"The rent prices are causing this. They have only so much money to
spend and the rent prices are so expensive in Silicon Valley that
they have to devote a huge amount of money to housing," Sandretto
said.
The average salary in the high-tech sector -- about one out of
every four workers in Silicon Valley -- was more than $72,000 last
year. But overall, the 1 million workers in the geographical area
known as Silicon Valley averaged only $46,000. And after taxes, a
low-skilled worker earning minimum wage brings home less than
$10,000 a year.
Some say the gap between the haves and the have-nots might not be
so huge if Silicon Valley's high-tech executives and companies
spread more of the wealth around.
The family of David and Lucile Salter Packard -- of computer giant
Hewlett-Packard Co. fame -- is leading the charge, pledging $400
million in the coming year for environmental, social and
educational organizations and projects, giving special
consideration to Silicon Valley applicants.
But the Packards are an exception, said Tim Lenoir, who teaches the
history of science and technology at Stanford University. "It is
notoriously difficult to get people in the high-tech world to
contribute," he said.
A survey by Community Foundation Silicon Valley found that giving
as a percentage of pre-tax profits remained constant from 1994 to
1997 at just over 1 percent.
Last week, retired lithographer Paul Savage donated a sleeping bag
to the Sacred Heart Community Service center for a giveaway of
clothes, food and medical care. The free child care center was
filled. So were the computer classes.
"The rich just don't share," Savage said as people lined up for
free groceries. "There are people making $100,000 to $200,000 a
year in this town and they don't share anything."
Ms. Tort picked up the sleeping bag and showed it to her 2-year-old
son, Anthony.
"You like it, son?" she asked.
He nodded.
"OK," she said. "This can be your bed."
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