Computers get second lifetime

Unpaved, mud-red roads lead to a rural Navajo community in Rock Point, Ariz., where about 2,500 residents go through life depending on farming, ranching and selling their handmade crafts. Living with extended family groups in remote dwellings on rugged terrain, many households do not have electricity or phones.

With one school housing all grade levels, the only interaction the community children have with technology is through their experiences in the classroom with the school's old computers.

When Assistant Director of Academics for Rock Point Community Schools Carl Beekman set out to find updated computers for the school, he never imagined the response he would receive would come all the way from Pennsylvania -- or from Penn State students.

After applying to several E-mail lists for assistance in locating computers and printers, Beekman received a reply from Students for Computer Recycling to Offer Underrepresented Groups and Education (SCROUNGE), located at Penn State.

As computers are continually updated, users frequently get rid of equipment that is still of high quality. In 1994, then-student Heather Liszka founded SCROUNGE through the Pennsylvania Space Grant Consortium to take advantage of situations like these by collecting "outdated" computers and redistributing them to applicants in need of computers.

Liszka became the first coordinator of SCROUNGE, an organization which is completely run by undergraduate students. Now Alexis Yurgec (junior-industrial engineering) serves as the coordinator. Yurgec estimates that SCROUNGE has donated more than 200 computer systems this year alone.

Through an application process, recipients are chosen on the basis of need, accessibility to the computers and planned usage of the computers. Computers are donated from students, families and faculty members, Yurgec said.

SCROUNGE's largest donation came when tractor-trailers rolled into State College carrying dozens of computers after the Naval Air Warfare Center in Philadelphia closed. The center heard about the organization and contacted them to donate most of their computers. Yurgec estimated that about 70 systems were assembled from the Navy's donation.

However, the computers are not always complete systems or in working order, she said. With a technical staff of three students, SCROUNGE rebuilds and adds memory and programs to many of the computers they deal with. The administrative department of SCROUNGE is handled in an office located in South Frear Building. The technical work is completed in a storage facility office located off campus.

SCROUNGE has undergone many changes since its beginning, Yurgec said.

"We have really boomed," she said. "A year ago we were dealing with a paper list and a room half this size."

SCROUNGE is donating five computer systems to the Rock Point school and recently donated several computers to the St. George School in Philadelphia. Many calls come from rural and private schools in Pennsylvania, Yurgec said. The organization does not donate computers to individual families, but looks to donate more to nonprofit groups, community centers and schools.

The computers will be used throughout the entire Rock Point community, Beekman said.

"(They) will help students to better prepare for the 21st century -- build a more positive self-esteem, which in turn will make their parents very happy," he said. "Plus, we will be able to open up more adult classes to those who would like to learn about computers."

SCROUNGE now has about 40 computers available to applicants. Some applicants are turned down because the shipping costs are too expensive, Yurgec said. SCROUNGE has received requests from as far away as West Africa and Lithuania.

As the naval computers are being donated at rapid rates, Yurgec said their supply will be once again be low, yet the demands for computers continue to grow. The program could grow even on a national level, she said.

"This all started as an idea," she said. "I really see big things happening. This could be someone's full-time job."