Friday, May 10, 2002

De Anza College Tries Offering Recycled Computers to Financial-Aid Students By BROCK READ Administrators at De Anza College, in Cupertino, Calif., hope to make technology more accessible to their students through a new program offering "recycled" computers to those receiving financial aid. This quarter, 10 students at the college will receive free computers assembled at the Computer Recycling Center, a local nonprofit organization that repackages computers discarded by California businesses. Students in De Anza's computer-science program will confer with the recipients about their needs and will later train them to use the machines. The program will continue only if De Anza officials judge it a success, according to Cindy Castillo, who is the director of financial aid and scholarships at the college and who oversees much of the program. "In the fall, we'll re-contact the students that get computers and find out if they're still working, and if they're meeting their needs," she says. "We don't want to be passing on lemons," says Ms. Castillo. According to the recycling center, none of the computers are more than one generation old. The machines support Microsoft Windows 95, Macintosh OS 8.1, or more recent software. Ms. Castillo invited 21 students on financial aid to participate in the trial run; those who responded are expected to have their computers within a week. If the program continues, the college will likely invite all financial-aid students to apply instead of choosing a small group of students to participate. The program was developed by the De Anza Commission, a committee of community members headed by Martha Canter, president of the college. "It sounds like a new thing," according to Larry Zaglaniczny, director of Congressional affairs for the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. "It's certainly innovative." De Anza, a commuter college, maintains several computer laboratories on its campus, says Ms. Castillo, but many of the program participants have never owned a home computer. Easy-to-print version E-mail this article

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