PCs for students in need
James Chen
Issue date: 9/21/09 Section: Technology
The personal computer has long since outgrown its status as a luxury item. Rather, for college professors reliant on online plagiarism check services and students on digital resources and networking tools for their studies and future work, having a computer has become an absolute necessity.
As for students whose financial situation makes the investment of a couple hundred dollars for a computer system a somewhat precarious conundrum, no worries: the Foothill-De Anza school district has you covered.
"At this time, if a student meets the minimum qualifications, we are able to distribute a computer to him/her," said Cindy Castillo of De Anza College's Financial Aid office.
The requirements consist of having a 2.0 GPA minimum while at De Anza College, be enrolled for at least six units, have applied for FAFSA or completed the F1 or AB540 supplement, demonstrate intent to use the recycled computer for academic goals, and have not previously received a computer from the recycling program.
According to Susan Malmgren, the program coordinator for the CompTecS and Computer Donation programs, there is plenty of good news for students applying for a computer. "We are somewhat lucky in that the program is self-supporting and does not use any funds from the district," said Malmgren.
The computer scholarship program is based off a National Science Foundation grant set to expire in May 2010, with supplemental funding from the De Anza Student Body to cover remaining costs and to pay student interns. An application for a second NSF grant has been set out, with results expected late next spring.
The program hires De Anza students at $8 an hour each to refurbish hundreds of computers a year for distribution to students in need. Last year saw over 202 systems given out to De Anza students and 136 to Foothill students, or roughly fifty systems per quarter for De Anza alone. There remain nine more systems available this quarter, to be assigned to students who are awarded a Financial Aid scholarship.
The computers are predominately Windows PCs, with copies of Windows XP Pro donated to the school at a drastically reduced rate of $5 per copy. Laptops are usually not available.
The program is currently looking for more donations of flat screen monitors. Part of the program's challenge, said Malmgren, is acquiring all the periphery parts to go with each system, including speakers and modems.
More information about the program can be found at the program's website at http://www.oti.fhda.edu/computer_donation.html.
Making a long dash - like so.
As for students whose financial situation makes the investment of a couple hundred dollars for a computer system a somewhat precarious conundrum, no worries: the Foothill-De Anza school district has you covered.
"At this time, if a student meets the minimum qualifications, we are able to distribute a computer to him/her," said Cindy Castillo of De Anza College's Financial Aid office.
The requirements consist of having a 2.0 GPA minimum while at De Anza College, be enrolled for at least six units, have applied for FAFSA or completed the F1 or AB540 supplement, demonstrate intent to use the recycled computer for academic goals, and have not previously received a computer from the recycling program.
According to Susan Malmgren, the program coordinator for the CompTecS and Computer Donation programs, there is plenty of good news for students applying for a computer. "We are somewhat lucky in that the program is self-supporting and does not use any funds from the district," said Malmgren.
The computer scholarship program is based off a National Science Foundation grant set to expire in May 2010, with supplemental funding from the De Anza Student Body to cover remaining costs and to pay student interns. An application for a second NSF grant has been set out, with results expected late next spring.
The program hires De Anza students at $8 an hour each to refurbish hundreds of computers a year for distribution to students in need. Last year saw over 202 systems given out to De Anza students and 136 to Foothill students, or roughly fifty systems per quarter for De Anza alone. There remain nine more systems available this quarter, to be assigned to students who are awarded a Financial Aid scholarship.
The computers are predominately Windows PCs, with copies of Windows XP Pro donated to the school at a drastically reduced rate of $5 per copy. Laptops are usually not available.
The program is currently looking for more donations of flat screen monitors. Part of the program's challenge, said Malmgren, is acquiring all the periphery parts to go with each system, including speakers and modems.
More information about the program can be found at the program's website at http://www.oti.fhda.edu/computer_donation.html.
Making a long dash - like so.
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