[ale] Computers offered free to students

[Paul Cartwright]

why to go Brian!!
http://onlineathens.com/stories/080908/news_2008080900419.shtml
Computers offered free to students
Group teaming with Clarke school district
Story Photos - Click to Enlarge 
Brian Pitts of Free IT Athens works on a donated computer recently at Common 
Ground Athens, a group that assists local charities.
Tricia Spaulding /Staff 
By Blake Aued   |   blake.aued at onlineathens.com   |   Story updated at 10:43 
PM on Friday, August 8, 2008

Nearly 2,000 Clarke County students could get free computers this school year 
thanks to an Athens nonprofit.

A group called Free IT Athens is working with the Clarke County School 
District to refurbish used computers and distribute them to students and 
their families.

The partnership gives poor children an opportunity to hone their computing 
skills outside the classroom, said Ginger Jewell, director of technology 
integration for the school system.

"If you don't have access to the same tools at home, you're not going to be on 
the same playing field as kids in communities where they take those tools for 
granted," Jewell said.

Free IT Athens recently finished a pilot project, loading free software onto 
130 used school computers and giving them back to the district for 
distribution. Volunteers will refurbish 600 laptops this fall and another 
1,200 next year if all goes well, said Brian Pitts, a University of Georgia 
graduate student involved with Free IT Athens.

"This really aligns with our mission here - open-source software and getting 
computers to people who need the resources, but don't have access to their 
own," Pitts said.

The used computers are 4 to 6 years old, but have enough memory to handle 
Linux - an operating system open to upgrades by any computer expert and 
distributed free on the Internet - and associated browsers, word processors 
and educational programs, Pitts said.

"There's no reason why a 10-year-old computer has to be a piece of junk," he 
said.

Unlike commercial operating systems like Windows, Linux and software that runs 
on Linux can be updated for free and do not need to be replaced when new 
versions hit stores.

The school district keeps track of families who receive free computers so no 
one gets two, but otherwise, there are no restrictions on who can ask for 
one, Jewell said. In a district where more than 80 percent of students 
qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, there is little need to check 
income levels to decide if families are deserving, she said.

The school system is not paying Free IT Athens, but asks computer recipients 
to donate $25, Jewell said.

Free IT Athens is located at Common Ground Athens, a nonprofit that provides 
space in a Newton Street house and other assistance to local charities and 
advocacy groups, but soon will start refurbishing computers in the more 
spacious Hancock Corridor Development Corp. building, Pitts said.

HCDC Executive Director Alvin Sheats said he hopes to work with Free IT Athens 
to repair computers belonging to residents of the impoverished Hancock 
Corridor community and teach them the trade of computer repair.

Free IT Athens holds open houses at Common Ground's headquarters from 5-7 p.m. 
Wednesdays. Volunteers are available to accept donations, fix broken 
computers and give lessons.

Erasing donated computers' hard drives and installing new software is easy - 
it takes about 10 minutes, Pitts said - but Free IT Athens is looking for 
volunteers to transport computers to and from the school district's 
warehouse. For more information, e-mail freeitathens at gmail.com.

Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on 080908
-- 
Paul Cartwright
Registered Linux user # 367800
Registered Ubuntu User #12459