Williamsport Area Computer Club -newsletter / minutes for February 1997
Brief news: February's club meeting, which focused on helping beginners, was very well received. Most people at the meeting agreed this is something we should plan to do on a regular basis. The program for March's club meeting, which is Tuesday, March 11, will be John Ramirez from Susquehanna Communications (Williamsport's cable company), who will talk to us about how cable companies are beginning to provide Internet access.
Committees: Reports: Treasurer's report from Willis Beaver: $ 219.73, # of supporting members = 22 Andy Hughes made a motion to accept the Treasurer's report, seconded by Lou Kolb, approved by vote.
Club Advertising / Awareness / Public Relations / Membership / Home Page Kathy read some email received recently, asking that the club focus some of its efforts and programs toward computer novices. Most people agreed that this is something the club should do. We'll add a place on the web site for gathering questions from newbies, and try to answer them at club meetings. It was not decided whether to answer the questions via the newsletter or web. There's more info about this in the Help committee section.
Bylaws - no news
Computerfest / Hamfest - The club agreed to offer it's help to the Williamsport / Lycoming Chamber of Commerce if a High Tech Expo is produced this year. Please note, this event could require many volunteers.
Computer Recycling (giving old computers new homes) Alan Cawley agreed to upgrade a computer with one of the 386 motherboards the club has in order to supply a person with cerebal palsy a computer.
North Central PA computer networking / Freenet site Jim Shaffer reported that the WACC IRC Channel has been reregistered on dal.net. Kathy Kolb gave info about a computer mentor program, see www.computermentor.org for more details. The James V. Brown Library is taking steps to encourage some local cyberspace community building by volunteers and college interns for the benefit of area civic groups and clubs. More details will be in this newsletter as they become available, but for now, you can visit www.jvbrown.edu/community for preliminary information.
Help (offering help to computer users who need it) After some discussion regarding the best ways to search the Net for information, the Club decided to donate a copy of Digital's AltaVista book to the JVB Library, for the benefit of all local Net users. Motion made by Andy Hughes, seconded by Jim Shaffer, approved by vote.
Andy Hughes reports that the JVB Computer Literacy for senior citizens has more students than tutors. If you are interested in giving someone else a bit of guidance in basic computer skills; word processing, Windows, and the Internet, contact Andy at LANDA01.mail.csrlink.net or 323-6055. In a related note, Corel, www.corel.com, is reportedly offering discounts on their software to senior citizens.
Local BBS / ISP / Computer Retailer news Bob Van Allen provided printed brochures from NAC, www.naccess.net regarding their Internet Access service. Call 1-888-494-4500 for further details.
Other Concerns: Jim Shaffer brought information regarding the FCC's request for comments on modem surcharges.
Programs: Instead of a having a speaker, we dedicated the time to considering how the club could or should be a resource for new computer users. It was decided that some time at each monthly meeting should be set aside for giving newbies a chance to ask questions. We then gave the floor over to some "new and confused users". Many questions were asked, and most were answered, some agreed to help others on a one to one basis.
Next month's program will be John Ramirez, from Susquehanna Cable, who will tell us about how Cable companies are beginning to offer Internet access services in addition to TV. John has been involved with Susquehanna Cable's York, PA Internet system.
Current club needs: People who are willing to take charge of committees, program suggestions, and cases, hard drives, monitors, and manpower to assemble some 386 systems.
Next meeting date: 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 11, 1997 at Lycoming College Academic Center, room B309.
Email comments & suggestions regarding the club are welcome and will be read at the next meeting.
Kathy Kolb - kkolb@kolbweb.com Pres., Williamsport Area Computer Club