Tucked amid clothing outlets, eateries and shoe stores, theComputer Resource Learning Center at the Florin Mall can be easy tomiss.

But, if you find it, the “Mall Hall Project,” amarriage of the business and academic worlds, is a convenientoutlet for south Sacramento residents in need of a computer orcomputer training.

Located directly across from City Wear on the west wing of themall, the computer lab is open seven days a week. Free to thegeneral public, the Center offers do-it-yourself services rangingfrom document production to internet access.

“We are a resource, and we try to help people developtheir strengths in computers,” said Center founder JosephSheley, dean of the College of the Social Sciences andInterdisciplinary Studies at Sacramento State.

Sheley said the Center started out with five little machines in1997 – now there are at least 28 updated computers in theCenter.

“The center attracts middle-school and high school kids,senior citizens and working people who are trying to improve theirprofession and need to improve their computer skills,” Sheleysaid.

From young teens to senior citizens, users find the center veryuseful, helpful and convenient – especially if they don’thave computers or internet access at home.

“Obviously in these tough budget times, the challengeisn’t so much to expand the center as it is to make sure wekeep it,” Sheley said.

Malee Yang, a freshman at New Tech High School, uses thefacilities frequently for research, internet access and wordprocessing.

“It’s very helpful for researching information andI’ve gotten a lot done for homework here,” Yang said.”Whenever I need help, they are right here to assistme.”

Computer users must be at least 13 years old. Users sign in whenthey arrive and are assigned a computer by a volunteer or employee.Users are free to browse and use the programs offered, includingthe printers.

Any Sac State student can volunteer as long as they meetspecific criteria and put in a minimum of six to eight hours aweek.

“Even if volunteers don’t know everything aboutcomputers, they can still help,” said Center manager DavidRamirez.

Ramirez said there are currently five staff members and morethan 20 volunteer interns who receive units for their time.

Ramirez said the Center does not need to hire people often, dueto the large staff of volunteers, interns and employees.

Beginning every semester, Dean Sheley recruits students to workat the Mall Hall and receive credits for their majors. In order toreceive three units, students must be enrolled in Sheley’sseminar on Urban Social Problems, which concentrates on studyingthe Florin area.

“The seminar focuses on what kinds of people use thefacility in context of the political, economical and social changesin the larger Sacramento areas,” Sheley said. “The MallHall helps to close the gap a little between the Florin area andother Sacramento areas in access to informationtechnology.”

Ramirez described the three main components through which thecorporation is organized: Florin Mall provides the space,electricity and internet access; Associated Students Inc. paysstaff and handles the scheduling; and the university’s SocialSciences and Disciplinary Studies Department runs the academic sideof the Computer Resource Center, paying for materials, repairs andnew machines.

Senior Ivan Guevara, an engineering major, is receiving threegeneral education units this semester.

“This is my first semester in the program – I needed someunits toward my elective courses and I had time in my schedule tovolunteer,” said Guevara, who also noted that the center isvery flexible with their hours.

Because Guevara works with computers regularly for his major andhas been computer literate since high school, he said he thinksthis is a suitable internship for him.

“I’ve worked with a lot of people in customerservice and I took the opportunity because I thought I couldhelp,” Guevara said. “Once you help and teach them,they actually retain the knowledge, and you feel the effect thatyou are making a difference in the community.”

The center keeps busy most of the time, season after season. Butthey see more people during the summer.

“During the summer, on a daily basis, there are 100-pluspeople,” Ramirez said.

Sheley said the “Mall Hall Project” gives Sac Statea presence in the Florin community, allowing younger students tomeet and identify themselves with Sac State students who arevolunteering and helping them.