At the ripe old age of almost 4 years old, computers in Bakersfield College’s Grace Van Dyke Bird were forced into retirement.
“After four years, the computers were showing signs of deterioration,” said Jim McGee, Director of Information Services at BC. “And they were slow,” he added. The replacement of the aging computers came even after BC paid for an extra year of functioning computer life with a larger hard drive and a doubled memory reservoir. McGee said that it is traditional for the Microsoft Company to periodically introduce consumers to brand-new operations systems.
“The old computers could not accommodate this new system,” McGee said. All 160 of the commons’ computers were replaced. All 25 computers in L148 were also replaced. Thirty-three computers in B11 were also replaced. Each library commons computer without a monitor cost $690. The computers in L148 cost $850 apiece; each L148 computer had a new monitor, and so the cost was higher. The computers placed in B11 each had very large monitors and cost $1,100 apiece.
The older computers will go to staff and faculty.
“We look around (BC) for old computers,” McGee said. “We replace old computers with newer computers. We always do a pushdown. We always replace older computers. We upgrade everybody.”
McGee expressed a desire for a budgeted, officially recognized replacement cycle for computers on campus; the recycling system is only informal, McGee.
McGee also expressed a wish for an officially approved deal to accommodate financial aid students with surplus computers.
“This is not a done deal,” McGee stressed. However, McGee added: “All the deans want this to happen, but there are rules and regulations about how to surplus equipment. However, if we can make it through that minefield, we’ll make those computers available.”
McGee pointed out that this summer’s deluge in the BC library computer commons had nothing to do with the appearance of the new Gateway computers, although the flooding necessitated that an area of the library commons be shut down for a time. Water, McGee said, had gotten underneath the carpeting and seeped into the trays of cabling, which necessitated draining the water.
“That (the library flooding) is another issue,” said McGee.
The new features of the newly installed computers include a NTFS file system, Dell USB keyboard, Integrated AC97 Audio, OptiPlex, 3.5 inch, 1.44MB, Floppy DriveOptiPlex GX620 or 520, and Dell USB 2-button Optical Mouse with Scroll, Dell OptiPlex.
BC students expressed approval for the new computers.
“When I first got into it, (the new computers) it seemed to be a little faster,” said Veronica Rubio, 21, BC nursing student.
“The access is good,” commented Kathleen Ojala, 20, biology. “They’re really fast. The previous computers with the old soundcards were not particularly good.”
“The USB drive is perfect,” said Kathleen Canchola, 21, graphic arts major.