[rtpnet-tact] [Fwd: Jim Lynch (CompuMentor) / Steve Hargadon Calls for Help]

[Judy Hallman]

To TechCoop and TACT lists:

Judy Hallman (hallman at rtpnet.org, http://www.rtpnet.org/hallman)
Executive Director, RTPnet, NC (http://www.RTPnet.org/)

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Jim Lynch (CompuMentor) / Steve Hargadon Calls for Help
Date: 	Sat, 24 Sep 2005 17:22:42 -0400 (EDT)
From: 	Steve Hargadon <steve at hargadon.com>
Reply-To: 	steve at hargadon.com
To: 	hallman at email.unc.edu

Refurbishers Mailing List Info / EPA Request for Help / Hurrican Kiosks

*1. SPECIAL NOTE FROM JIM LYNCH:* "Our refurbishers listserv crashed
about two weeks ago. We had it hosted by one of the MAR refurbishers -
Online Policy Group, and they never made a backup of the thing so we
lost all record of participants so I've got to find a new service to
host the thing and reach out to everyone to rejoin. I won't have the
time to attend to that for a couple weeks, so it'd be huge help if you
can get the word out on this to folks you know on the listserv so they
can rejoin the current listserv which is back up but without
participants. To re-subscribe: folks should email a one-line message to:
majordomo at refurb.compumentor.org that says: 'subscribe refurbishers'.
Please do not put your commands in the subject! The Majordomo software
that runs this listserv only processes commands in the message body. To
send messages to the list, as before, email them to:
refurbishers at refurb.compumentor.org. I'm so sorry about this."

*2. REQUEST FOR HELP WITH EPA DOCUMENT *(from Steve Hargadon): Jim and I
(and many others) have been serving on an ad-hoc committee with the EPA
(Environmental Protection Agency), tasked with promoting the re-use of
computers and other high-tech product. The committee has a great
interest in the perspective on computer re-use from schools, and I
offered to prepare a document addressing that this topic. I know that
many of you have strong opinions about this! If you have the time, and
could just jot me a quick note--no more than a few lines or a paragraph
or two at the most--I'm very interested in your thoughts and opinions.
You can address the technological, educational, financial, or social
aspects of computer re-use in schools. I will try to summarize the basic
ideas, will send it back to those who participate, and then seek help in
fleshing out a fuller document that can be presented to the EPA for
broader distribution. For your interest, I've solicited similar help
from a list of school tech directors that we correspond with, and wanted
you to see a couple of their comments below (hoping it will spark some
of your best responses!):

  From a Minnesota School: "In public education we are trying to teach
the skills necessary to be successful in life. We are charged with
helping children learn about the past and apply the lessons learned to
the future. We need equipment and materials and supplies that help us
accomplish that mission. We need 'stuff' that works and challenges the
minds of young people with new possibilities. We no not need 'stuff'
that sometimes works and challenges the tech department with the
possibility of its' continued operation!"

  From a Washington State School: "It is ridiculous for the EPA or others
to believe that they can dump computers on schools. All that does is
shift the disposal of computers from the consumer to the school district
which has to incur a charge (usually between 7 and 25 dollars) to
dispose of the computers and monitors at the end of their life. The
increased cost of support, slow speeds and disposal fees make re-use an
impractical solution for most school districts."

Or, on a more positive note, from a student in Virginia: "Computer
re-use not only helps schools, but if done by a volunteer staff of
students, can help teach students valuable skills both with computers
and problem-solving. Teaching computer hardware related skills in high
schools or even middle schools, it helps to promote this skill to
possibly become a career choice, or otherwise ease the use of computers
by those students for the rest of their lives. Problem-solving come
naturally with used items. Having many computers with different pieces
taken out or added in, as well as different models of computers, helps
create the problem of non-uniformity, thus experience is gained with
multiple setups, as well as different modifications, presenting another
problem: failed or failing modifications. Fixing these unique issues
from computer to computer promotes problem-solving. Thats my bit, hope
it helps."

*3. PLEASE LOOK AT OUR HUMANITARIAN WEBSITE FOR HURRICANE VICTIM
INTERNET KIOSKS*: www.PublicWebstations.com. We tried to involve the
Non-commercial Refurbishers in this effort, but the mailing list was
down and we didn't not know why our messages to the list weren't getting
through. This is a neat program, and I think you'll find the technology
very helpful.

*4. WE ARE A COMMERCIAL REFURBISHER:* We appreciate all that you do for
your schools and communities, and want you to be aware of what we do. We
refurbish and sell large lots of Dell Optiplex computers, and may be
able to help a school that you are not in a position to. See us at
www.K12computers.com. You may also be interested in our thin-client
Linux solutions which help to rescue school computer lab:
www.TechnologyRescue.com. Both sites have mailing lists and I encourage
you to sign up to receive our regular email.

Don't forget to sign up for the CompuMentor refurbishers mailing list!

Steve Hargadon
------------------------------------------------------------------------
email: steve at hargadon.com <mailto:steve at hargadon.com>
phone: 916-899-1400
web: http://www.technologyrescue.com