Tucked away in the western corner of the library's first floor is a cluttered workspace filled with outdated printers, infected hard drives and monitors of all shapes and sizes. Amongst the organized chaos sits SF State Equipment Systems Specialist Maung Win, a native of Burma whose job it is to service, update and maintain the library's more than 200 student and faculty computers. Win, 36, takes pride in the fact that most people don’t know his job exists.

“Around here we’re sort of invisible,” said Win. “People don’t even notice that there’s any problems (with computers) because we try hard to fix things and do updates in the summer and in January.”

Win’s area of expertise is in computer science, and he is in the final stages of completing his master's in that field. He spends most of his time updating and customizing faculty computers and debugging public PC’s infected with spyware and viruses. He is also responsible for supporting and monitoring library programs such as the electronic reserve, online catalog and book return system.

Although the pay is not that good, Win says that working with SF State’s information systems is much more rewarding than his previous job in manufacturing.

“In the commercial world it’s all about getting ahead, but here I feel much more helpful,” said Win. “You have to find a balance.”

For the past 16 years, Burma has been in the grips of a repressive, military junta that has ruled over its people with fear and intimidation. In 1998, Win was a 20-year-old electrical engineering student at Rangoon Institute of Technology, a politically active school comparable to UC Berkeley or SF State when police raided the campus breaking into dorm rooms and jailing outspoken students.

“The government thought they could shoot us down, but they could not,” said Win. “Demonstrations broke out in cities and all over the countryside.”

In 1990, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi soon rose to lead the only opposition party to the socialist government in Burma, but was refused control of the country after winning the general election. Win wrote articles for Burmese newsletters that were critical of the repressive government, and he started to have concerns about his career as well as for his family's safety after being married to a fellow Rangoon student in 1996.

“The government doesn’t like academics and professional people sharing information,” said Win. “Oftentimes they will track down your family and they will suffer.”

Conflicted about his strong feelings of commitment to his struggling country and its rising heroine Kyi, Win chose to move to Singapore in 1998. Fours year later he flew to the United States to attend graduate school in Iowa at Fairfield University, leaving behind his wife and young daughter. Feeling a bit out of place in the rural midwest, Win quickly moved to California.

“I thought it would be much more diverse,” said a smiling Win. “It was a good choice I think.”

Win still feels a strong commitment to helping his struggling country. He manages a web site, moemaka.org, that is dedicated to opening the lines of  communication between Burmese Americans and those still living in the embattled nation. By hosting a weekly radio broadcast and offering links, literature and news, Win hopes to better publicize his country's struggles and in turn help those he left behind.

“In the United States I can survive, do my profession and be safe,” said Win. “The question is how am I going to give back to my community.”

For now, Win is content to be reunited with his family, who only recently joined him in the United States in October, after being separated from his daughter for most of her life.

“I was telling everyone in the library, upstairs and down,” said Win. “They were so happy for me.”

With the completion of his master's, Win hopes to make up for lost time with his daughter by instilling in her a sense of Burmese culture-- he feels it's his "responsibility" as a parent. Win said he hopes she will remain conscious of her heritage but believes that it is ultimately her decision. He said that she has already given him reason to be hopeful.

“Last week I was asking her who the president of Burma was, and to my surprise she said Aung San Suu Kyi,” said Win. “That made me very happy.”