roundtable: Re: Building "rotaries" to improve Federal assistance(CITS)

roundtable: Re: Building "rotaries" to improve Federal assistance[CITS]

Re: Building "rotaries" to improve Federal assistance[CITS]

W. Curtiss Priest (BMSLIB@mitvma.mit.edu)
Thu, 16 Mar 95 15:09:44 EST 

Message-Id: <9503162035.AA22928@a.cni.org>
Date:         Thu, 16 Mar 95 15:09:44 EST
From: "W. Curtiss Priest" <BMSLIB@mitvma.mit.edu>
Subject:      Re: Building "rotaries" to improve Federal assistance[CITS]
To: Telecommunications Policy Roundtable <ROUNDTABLE@CNI.ORG>
In-Reply-To:  Your message of Thu, 16 Mar 1995 06:21:24 -0800 (PST)


David Hinz asked where to get our LINCT system --
(not to be confused with LINQ, LYNX, or Linux)

The "system" is locally constructed.  We have been assembling both
client and server softwares.  The server is basically the Major
BBS, with full internet capability, by Galacticomm.  The client is
RIPTERM with a number of shareware programs including Geoworks, to
provide the user with a no cost set of good tools at the machine.
Geoworks has waived their $70/machine fee for all LINCT machines.
The system has the look and feel of windows without the overhead
and includes useful tools such as document publishing, spreadsheet,
database, typing tutors, and telecommunications.

The cost is nothing for the client and about a $1000 to set up
say, a low end Pentium, with the Galacticomm software (plus hardware 
costs) Newsgroups are easily added with a satellite feed.

We have a motto -- "free" plus "free" plus "free" == "free" --
free client software, free machines (donated), and free internet
access (e.g. the Suffolk County library system has donated 5000
internet accounts to an Eastern Long Island site).

Our lowest supported machine is a monochrome XT with 10-20 meg of disk 
space.  No mouse, add $8, no hercules card, add $7.50, no modem add $5 
for 2400 baud or, in noisy areas, $25 for mnp5.

Telegraphix is working on the monchrome version of RIPTERM, until
then, it's QMODEM for the monochrome machines (again free, shareware
contribution welcomed by the author).

Remember, while this could surf the net, that is not its intended
purpose.  The purpose is local community communications.  Thus
2400 baud with compression is quite adequate.

Our next enhancement is a wireless board to eliminate the need for
any telephone service or charges.  We will release more information
as we nail down the pieces.

For more information:
The LINCT Coalition- The Hamlet Green -Hampton Bays, NY 11946
Ken Komoski, Director
W. Curtiss Priest, Policy and Systems Coordinator
Voice: 516-728-9100   Fax: 516-729-9228

email:  komoski@BNLCL6.BNL.GOV
email:BMSLIB@MITVMA.MIT.EDU(Priest)


LEARNING  AND  INFORMATION  NETWORK  FOR COMMUNITY  TELECOMPUTING

Mission, Model, and Outreach

The LINCT Coalition is a group of socially concerned not-for-profit
organizations and affiliates dedicated to helping communities achieve
electronic equity for all community members  through the development of
local telecomputing networks.

LINCT  Membership Organizations are:

The Center for Information, Technology, and Society, Melrose, MA

The Educational Products Information Exchange (EPIE) Institute
Hampton Bays, NY

Non-Profit Computing, Inc. New York, NY

The Time Dollar Network, Washington, DC

Affiliated Organizations:

The National Urban League
The Hispanic Federation of New York
The New York Public Library
The United Neighborhood Houses  of New York
American Association for the Advancement of Science,  SLIC Project
(Science Linkages in the Community)

A Clear Mission
LINCT's mission is to help communities to acquire both the technology and
the know-how needed to make cost-effective, community-wide electronic
networks accessible to all citizens, but especially to poor and
economically marginal families, seniors and the disabled.

A Helpful Model and Process
LINCT's model and process helps a community to provide those who cannot
afford the technology with the opportunity to learn-and-earn the
computers, the connectivity, and the technical support needed to access
local and global communication, learning, health, and employment
opportunities.

While thinking globally, LINCT's mission is to help communities to act
locally by applying a model that begins by assisting local people to
establish and manage a not-for-profit, cooperative telecomputing network
that is open to all community members, and that connects them to the
world.

Help for Local Electronic Equity Initiatives
To help a community ensure that even its poorest members may acquire the
technology and training they need to access local and global networks,
LINCT helps communities to:

-  acquire a share of the estimated twenty-to-thirty million used, but
still usable computers generated each year by business, government, and
home users, and to utilize those computers to build a local network that
is accessible to all community members (used computers are made available
to a local electronic equity initiative via the first three of LINCT's
Electronic-Equity Initiatives:

BET (Businesses for Equity in Telecomputing) Initiative
GET (Government for Equity in Telecomputing) Initiative
PET (People for Equity in Telecomputing) Initiative

- develop a community-based Learn-and-Earn Technology  (LET)  Initiative,
conducted at local training sites that are managed by local computer-
literate volunteers.  At these sites poor and economically-struggling
families may earn home computers and software by learning how to
telecommunicate via the community's electronic network  (the computers is
not "loaners", they become owned by those who have earned the technology
by having learned to use it;

- establish and manage a program of electronic education and job training
opportunities via a local DIRECT (Digital Resources for Education and
Career Training) Initiative accessible to all homes, community training
sites, libraries, schools, hospitals, churches, etc., to facilitate
lifelong learning and employment opportunities for all community members;

- develop and manage a program of citizen-to-citizen work opportunities,
facilitated by a community-wide electronic Community Jobs Bulletin Board
and "jobs-matching service," through which community members may work for
each other and earn Community Network Credits (ComNet Credits); citizens
and families may use these tax-exempt credits via the ComNet Credits
Initiative to "purchase" needed services from others.

LINCT's Outreach Program
The LINCT Coalition is preparing to launch a major program of outreach
designed to motivate and to assist local communities to locally adopt and
adapt the electronic-equity initiatives described above.  LINCT is
currently seeking the funding that will enable it to begin this outreach
program by Fall 1995.

The goal is to identify communities that are seriously interested in
affiliating with the LINCT Coalition's mission to achieve electronic
equity for the technologically disenfranchised through the development of
community-based telecomputing cooperatives.

When launched, LINCT's Outreach Program will include the following
resources to all communities wishing to affiliate with LINCT's Electronic
Equity Initiatives:

1. a community-awareness kit: Achieving Electronic Equity in Your
Community;

2.  a how-to manual,Creating Community-based Electronic-Equity
Initiatives,  (with supporting software) to assist already-established
community networks to (a) acquire used computers via the BET, GET, and PET
Initiatives, (b) establish a learn-and-earn training (LET) Initiative, (c)
develop a local adaptation of the DIRECT Initiative;

3. a how-to manual, Developing and Managing a Community Credits
(ComCredit) Program (with supporting management software).

4. online technical support.

The Electronic Equity Fund/Seed-Grant Program
LINCT intends to establish The Electronic Equity Fund as the centerpiece
of its outreach program. (LINCT is currently developing capitalization for
the Fund from private foundations and corporations.)

Once the Fund is established, LINCT will invite communities to submit
"seed-grant" proposals to help launch -- or to help re-focus existing --
local community-wide electronic networks working to achieve electronic
equity.  Seed grants will include both financial support and online
technical support, plus network management hardware and software, and the
"awareness" and "how-to" manuals described above.

In order to qualify for seed-grant funding, a community's proposal must
demonstrate a written commitment to match seed-grant funds through local
fund-raising, plus a well-articulated plan for developing ongoing local
funding for ongoing maintenance of the electronic network and its  equity
initiatives.  LINCT plans to provideElectronic Equity Proposal Guidelines
that will be available for distribution to communities interested in
applying for seed-grant support from the Electronic Equity Fund.

LINCT will establish evaluation criteria for assessing the quality of
proposals submitted by communities.  Proposals approved for funding by
LINCT will be funded by the Electronic Equity Fund, which will grant money
to communities with proposals approved by both LINCT and the Fund's
Financial Oversight Committee.  Through the Fund's seed-grant program,
LINCT hopes to help hundreds of communities to achieve electronic equity.

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