Where Yale's computers go to die

So you have finally decided to get rid of your Macintosh Classic. What now? Do you toss it in the dumpster? Leave it under your desk to collect dust?

No need; Yale Recycling (YR) will pick up any computer from your doorstep. Each year, YR does the same with hundreds of others that ACS, academic departments and other students deem too old to be of any use.

PATRICK MCGARVEY/YH Two Yale Recycling students, Timothy Barnes PC '01 and Richard Harvell, CC '01, on their way to a computer pickup

After picking up a computer, YR decides where to send it next. If a computer has bitten its last byte, YR will send it to one of Connecticut's aptly named cybermorgues, such as Computer Recycling & Refining. This is the final resting place for many of the computers Yale discards. YR coordinator CJ May said, "We don' t generally count computers by the piece...there are too many of them." Last year, YR delivered 6.34 tons of computers, which represents a few hundred machines. These computers were used either for spare parts or, if they were in really bad shape, for scr ap metal. The money saved from trash disposal fees is passed on to the Recycling Program, but May said that "the big benefits of the program are the supply of computer to sectors of the local community and the elimination of valuable resources...from the waste stream."

On the other hand, if your computer is only wounded, and you own a Mac, there is still hope. The first step will be a visit to Bill Sacco, who, aside from his work as a photographer for ITS, is Yale Macintosh Users Group's (YMUG's) "Mr. Fixit." In addition to his regular YMUG duties, he founded a group informally titled the "Dead Mac Society." This group take s dying computers from throughout the Yale community and does everything possible to resuscitate them. Since Sacco thinks of this as a hobby, he is willing to take just about anything. As he says, "I just have very low standards." However, some machines a re so old that it simply is not worth the time to fix them. Also, he only takes computers intended for donation into the community. As his website reads, "We do not repair computers for people, f or money or for free."

Overall, Sacco has fixed and placed over a hundred machines in New Haven. Last year alone, he was able to fix and donate three-fourths of the sixty machines that he received. He used the rest of the computers for parts. The machines Sacco has fixed have gone to local schools, children of single-parent families, and even a school in Russia. All machines given away have a sponsor in the YMUG who can answer questions and make repairs.

Finally, if your computer is still functioning but just too old, it might end up in the hands of Daisy Rodriguez, Assistant Secretary For Community Relations at the Office of New Haven Affairs. Like Sacco, Rodriguez distributes computers to the community , although she is not involved in computer repairs. She has a list of non-profit organizations willing to accept older computers for word processing and administration. Last week she provided a homeless shelter with a replacement monitor. Although she is often unable to get anything better than IBM 286s, Rodriguez will not rule anything out. She said, "I'll take anything if I know someone in the non-profit world can use it."

Many people can. The Eli Whitney Museum, which uses the computers primarily for special classes, will take anything Yale is willing to give. In these classes, children learn to build and rebuild computers. By this summer, the museum hopes to have receive d enough IBM 486s to run a class building robot interfaces. Some computers are also sent to other countries, such as Nicaragua, where people are more willing than Americans to use IBM 286s and Mac Classics.

At New Haven's Wilbur Cross and Hillhouse High Schools, music teacher Kevin Mack uses old Macintosh SEs and hopes to receive more for use in a music enrichment program. Not all sch ools benefit from Yale's donation program. Some, such as Hyde Leadership School, already have IBMs with Ethernet cards, audio-video capabilities, email and conferencing. Its highest level class teaches students to program in C++. Others, such as Fair Have n Middle School, have reasonable but more moderate resources: a rudimentary computer class and computers in some of the classrooms. What these schools share is the desire for more computers. And at Troup Middle School, a magnet school with decent computer s in labs, but very few elsewhere, Sacco said that teachers recently fought over antiquated donated machines.

The New Haven community clearly enjoys the products of Yale's computer disposal process, but it is also clear that it would accept more computers. The question, then, is: does Yale have more to give? Most likely, the answer is yes. May said the recycling program sells for parts eight to ten times as many computers as it donates. On the other hand, Sacco manages to fix the vast majority of Macs that he receives. If this kind of success were repeated for non-Macs, Yale's donations would increase significan tly.

One reason Yale sells so many of its old PCs is that dated Macs are generally preferable to equally dated PCs. While DOS, which runs on old PCs, differs greatly from Windows 95, Macs from ten years ago and Macs produced today use approximately the same o perating system. The Macintosh operating system is more appropriate than DOS for use in schools. Sacco said, "The Mac put Windows on the market long before the 'Evil Empire' [Microsoft] did." Still, it is clear that some New Haven schools would accept any computers offerred to them.

According to the Gartner Group, a consulting firm, as quoted in a Wired Magazine article, sixty-five percent of corporate computers that are now no longe r used simply take up space, while fifteen percent are trashed, fifteen percent are resold, and only five percent are given to schools or other nonprofits. While an increase in Yale's donations would be beneficial, the city's other businesses have more ro om for improvement in this area. Sacco said, "I'm sure if companies other than Yale were involved, there would be enough of a source for the whole City of New Haven."

What do you think? Respond in Speak your Mind.

Back to Online Features...