We are now in the third year of our project. This year we made a few major strides in providing computer job training resource assistance and job placement. Our training center is now fully developed with classes on four weeknights and Saturday mornings. As we go to the press, 165 students have completed training, 50 students are in training and a dozen have found jobs. Another 200 on the wait list. The drop-in resource assistance hours are the busiest.
A highlight of the next phase of the training program is the focus on youth, school to work assistance, and job placement. FUNEN has an Internet based Jobs Database focused on entry-level jobs. This is a dynamic, rapidly growing forum for both employers and job seekers where an increasing number of employers are listing their jobs openings. To name a few: Bank Bank of America, Mt. Diablo School District and the Chartrex Corporation.
The database is simple and very user-friendly. All you have to do is go to our Web Site www.funen.com and click on the Contra Costa Job Bank, and register by answering a few questions which will enable you to receive future assistance in job placement. You can view the jobs listed in the Data Bank in a number of different ways, for instance, by company, location, job function, qualifications or pay. You will also get information on where and how to apply for a specific job.
In addition to working with employers we are building cooperative partnerships with organizations specialized in family services and the job placement. Recently we started to work with the Private Industry Council (PIC). We are also building linkages with community based organizations such as the Service Integration Teams (SIT) of the Contra Costa County in North Richmond, and Bay Point and with Delta 2000 in Antioch. Try logging on!
Resource Conservation Through Recycling
In every issue of our Newsletter we will report on one of our ongoing projects. For this issue we have chosen a project from the resource conservation program. As we are all aware, resource conservation makes a lot of sense because it can save valuable resources, cut down on the volume of trash, save energy and reduce damage to the environment. One way to conserve a resource is to recycle it. At present newspapers, used paper from business, glass bottles, tires, aluminum cans, plastic containers, old metal appliances, and cars are being recycled to some degree. However, recycling has not achieved a consistent level of success in the economy due to a variety of reasons. Often recyclable materials are "public goods" becoming the responsibility of cities, counties and local districts, whose enthusiasm for recycling may vary. There are wide fluctuations in price and supply. There is a lot of confusion about what constitutes "waste" and frequently communities object to letting "messy" processing occur within their jurisdictions (not in my backyard! ). In some cases there are technical problems to be overcome (plastic milk jugs cannot come back as milk jugs). Finally, there is no single group of individuals to champion the cause of recycling. Those who worry about clean water are not necessarily the same as those who worry about plastics in landfills.
FUNEN'S program attempts a comprehensive look at the recycling issue by studying the institutional, social, economic and technical aspects of the problem. We believe, that to be successful, the basic idea must be sound in principle, and market sustainable in the long term. A chronic dependence on subsidies will not do. Also, the solutions must be global in nature and not be limited by national boundaries and priorities.
As a first step our program focuses on recyclable plastics. Plastics are a good choice because they represent one of the largest volume of materials going to land fills they are technologically complex and upon recycling can be used for manufacturing new products. In one of our projects we are working with the US-Asia Environmental Partnership of the USAID. To evaluate the potential for developing a market-sustainable trade in recyclable plastics between the US and several Asian countries. Our study shows that the idea is not only feasible but beneficial to many economies where petrochemical products are expensive. Another project looks at the potential for manufacturing new building products from recyclable plastics. Further work on this idea is continuing. STAY TUNED!
Job Placement and Resource Support
FUNEN's Director of Outreach Mary Lou Laubscher recently surveyed of 65 out of the 160 students who received Computer Job skills Training, used resources or participated in the job search on the Internet. Here is what she found:
a) 47 Increased their job skills
b) 19 Acquired skills to look for a new or
better job
c) 19 Are using their new skills to be self
employed
d) 10 Took the training for the challenge of
learning new skills
e) 5 Found new jobs after computer training
f) 5 Got promotions after training
Training Center
in Concord
FEAR OF COMPUTING
The first day of a FUNEN computer job skills class can be scary for many students who have never used a computer. Their only experience with computers comes from television shows or movies where the computers are often smarter than the people. Also there friends may have frightened them with tales of spending hours on their computers trying to fix incredible problems or worse, losing valuable data. Now the new students sit facing a computer, afraid that if they do the wrong thing it will have a major breakdown. The thought runs through their minds, "IF my highly intelligent friends can't control a computer which they are familiar with, how much trouble can I get into with this computer I have never seen before?" Secretly they hope that the first day will be an inspirational lecture, clearly answering all their questions and explaining in simple terms how a computer works. They hope they will not have to touch the thing until they know all about it.
The first day of class is not like that! Students are quickly introduced to strange computer terms like "DOS", "scrollbar", "mouse" and "peripheral". But the real learning begins when they press the computer keys and start playing with the mouse. Students quickly begin to get a
glimmer of how incredibly "simple minded" computers are and how easy it is to boggle the computer's mind. But more importantly, they also see that the problems they may cause are not the permanent or dangerous problems they feared. It is impossible to do any permanent damage to a computer merely by pressing keys or clicking a mouse. We prove that every day in the classroom!
Our classes emphasize having the student "do". Students are encouraged to explore their computers and computers programs. One of the primary lessons which we teach our students is, "If you're not sure, try it". Our classes consist almost entirely of "hands-on" time. Students do run into problems every day, but our instructors are ready to help, encourage and to answer questions, turning each apparent disaster into a learning experience.
At the end of the course the typical student will have made dozens, maybe hundreds of mistakes. They may have stumped their instructors a time or two (and experienced secret satisfaction by doing so!). But by then they have also developed the confidence and the enthusiasm to build on their newly learned computer skills. They understand that they won't destroy civilization by pressing the wrong button. They know that wherever "simple minded" computers are used there will be problems, but that these problems all have solutions. They are now part of the group who spread the news that computers are only for the "intellectually gifted".
- Thomas Krauss
Gene Cecchettini is the Chief instructor of the Technology Center. He has over thirty years of experience in computers with IBM. Including many years of Managerial responsibilities in software and hardware. He is a very dedicated volunteer and contributes many hours of his time for Community Service.
Thomas Krauss had worked for twenty-two years for Bank of America as a programmer, system analyst and project manager, all on mainframe computers. He was self employed for four years writing database systems on PCs for small businesses and consulting work for Foundation Health in Sacramento. Since June 1995 he has been working for InPower Inc., a company which develops client/server based payroll and personnel systems for major US and International Corporations. He is on the Board of Directors of the Diablo Valley PC Users Group. He has been a volunteer instructor at FUNEN for the past year and a half
Invitation
If you are interested in participating in FUNEN'S various projects feel free to write, call or send an email to become a PRO BONO PRO volunteer
