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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2014
PAGE 3A
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TECHNOLOGY
French president visits Silicon Valley
FRANCISCO
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
French president Francois Hollande, at right, waves as he arrives at city hall on Wednesday in San Francisco. The French president visited San Francisco to meet politicians, lunch with Silicon Valley tech executives and inaugurate a new U.S.-French Tech Hub.
SAN FRANCISCO France's president met with Silicon Valley and government leaders in the heart of tech country Wednesday, just days after a French regulator hit Google with an embarrassing regulatory slap and after years of efforts to wrest more taxes from tech firms.
President Francois Hollande was greeted at San Francisco City Hall by Mayor Ed Lee, California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz as school children waved French and American flags on the stairway of the rotunda.
More than 300 French companies have offices in California, and a large portion of U.S. investments in France are from California, Hollande told the crowd at a City Hall reception in his honor.
is being invented," Hollande said. "For centuries, France has wanted to change the world. Together, we can."
Later in the day, Hollande and members of his cabinet had lunch at a French restaurant with Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt; Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook; and Twitter chairman and co-founder Jack Dorsey.
"It is here in California that the world of tomorrow
Most of the luncheon was closed to the media, and no details of the discussions were released.
Hollande points to the U.S. tech industry as an economic success that he hopes to replicate at home. But he's also been among the leaders of Europe's fight to prevent what the continent sees as a systematic attempt by tech firms to invade privacy and avoid paying their corporate fair share.
Hollande later met with French entrepreneurse
and inaugurated an office in the gritty Dogpatch neighborhood aimed at supporting their efforts to gain a foothold in Silicon Valley. That meeting also was mostly private.
Marie Buhot-Launay, who heads marketing for the office, said staff members were giddy that Hollande was throwing government support behind the venture, given the intense competition
French innovators face from competitors in Germany, Finland and Ireland.
"For French entrepreneurs, the American dream still exists and especially in Silicon Valley," she said.
HELP FROM PAGE 1A
checked her in, giving her one of the shelter's 125 beds, some shampoo and soap, a warm shower, three meals a day and vouchers to buy clothing from Walmart.
She enrolled in a savings program, putting all of her earnings into an account she said she won't touch until she's ready to rent a home of her own. The shelter found and encouraged her to enroll in a long-term substance abuse program. It was there she learned to live without drugs.
"If I wanted to take a step in helping the people that's helping me, I couldn't keep
"You just have to stay on top of it, one day at a time," said Loring Henderson, the shelter's executive director.
going into that cycle," Crow said.
Henderson said the shelter helps people to set a plan, to become confident they can achieve their own goals and to get the tools they need to do so. The shelter provides medication for those who need it and helps send clients to other programs, such as addiction counseling or halfway housing. The shelter also provides bus passes so clients like Crow can get to class, or where they need to be, and provides social support.
Crow takes free science, math, social studies, reading and writing classes at the Adult Learning Center to prepare for the GED test. Math is her favorite subject, even though it's also the hardest for her to visualize. She listens and isn't afraid to ask questions if she doesn't understand.
poverty," said Rick Henry, director of the Adult Learning Center. "Students who graduate from high school or have a GED have far higher earning power than people without a diploma."
"I figured, if these people
can see something in me, there's got to be something there," Crow said. "And I got to get the help that I know I need."
Crow volunteers now too: opening the shelter's kitchen and selling "Change of Heart," Lawrence's street newspaper written for, by and about homeless people. Volunteering and going to class helps her feel confident, reminding her she can have a life without drugs and alcohol.
"I'm determined today," Crow said. "I wanna reach my goals and I want to be successful. To fulfill my heart's desire, this is what I got to do."
"Education is the number one way to step up out of
Once she gets her diploma. Crow wants to help others dealing with addiction as a peer mentor in an addiction counseling program.
"I want to be able to share my experiences with them," she said. "Maybe they'll want to grab a hold and get their lives together too."
The Lawrence Community Shelter accepts food, item and entertainment donations. Volunteers can help serve food or tutor. But, Crow said, helping homelessness can be as easy as saying hello to someone on Massachusetts Street.
"Some people just want you to listen to them," Crow said. "It's not necessarily giving all the time. Some people might just need a hug, you know?"
- Edited by Tara Bryant
The town of Verona, Italy receives about 1,000 Valentines letters and cards each year addressed to Shakespeare's Juliet.
SENATE FROM PAGE 1A
recommendations to deal with social media use boundaries.
Other business discussed at the meeting included the following:
Student senators who attended the Higher Education Day in Topeka on Tuesday declared meetings with legislators a success but they will continue to work toward the elimination of textbook sales tax.
Education Opportunity Fund hearings begin this weekend. Fee, block and line hearings will be conducted in the following weeks.
Edited by Katie Gilbaugh
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