Directors' Notes

April 10, 2000

The Regular Meeting of the Board of DACS was held at the Resource Center on April 10, 2000. Present were Messrs. Bovaird, Buoy, Cohen, David, Heere, Ostergren, and Setaro. Chairman Wally David presided and Secretary Larry Buoy kept the records. Minutes of the March 13 meeting were approved as presented. Membership & Finance Treasurer Charlie Bovaird reported current cash and bank accounts totaling $7,418.79, including postage on hand and excluding prepaid dues of $9,560.00. He also reported current membership of 552. Resource Center Move The proposed new location of the Resource Center, was unavailable for inspection. Discussion about the costs of moving telephone and security systems to the new location and the relocation of furniture, supplies, and equipment, or dispersal thereof. It was the consensus that the new lease, when obtained, be reviewed by corporate counsel Richard Sperry before it is executed on behalf of DACS. Membership Phone Survey Larry Buoy reviewed his efforts to canvas former DACS members reasons for dropping out and possible renewal. Out of forty attempted calls, less 20 phones out of service or messages not returned, five had valid though varied reasons for dropping membership. Fourteen seemed likely renewals and were sent membership forms by mail, However, only one actually did so. Larry offered to canvas future dropouts with a more timely notification. PC Clean/Screen Project Charlie Bovaird reviewed the status of volunteers to screen, clean the hard drives, etc., of the 300+ computers donated to DACS by the Danbury Hospital and stated his intent to recruit additional volunteers via e-mail. Also recognized was the need to organize the distribution to charitable organizations. Charlie reported the current status of the licensing agreement between DACS and Microsoft for the installation of Windows and Microsoft Works on these computers. Ed Heere commented on programs available to clean all records from hard drives and capable of meeting the criteria of the hospital. He offered to investigate them. AMD Athlon disposition. Also discussed was the use of the AMD Athlon processor donated by Advanced Micro Devices. It was determined that the capacity of the chip was beyond the needs of any computer needed for the mobile unit advocated by Dr. Fong of Danbury Hospital. Donating the present computer at the Resource Center to Dr. Fong’s project and using the Athlon chip in a new machine for the Resource Center was discussed. Ed Heere offered to prepare a quotation for a new unit employing the Athlon chip. Further discussion was tabled pending the quotation. APCUG CD-ROMs President Ostergren informed the meeting that nothing further had been received on the status of the CD-ROMs ordered from APCUG. Cogan Fairs Jeff Setaro stated that he had received no information from Cogan Fairs about DACS’ participation in a planned Danbury Computer Fair. The item was tabled. Assistive Technology Site President Ostergren advised that he had been approached regarding the establishment of an Assistive Technology SIG. The demise of a similar program within the Voice for Joanie SIG was commented upon, but Mr. Ostergren was encouraged to pursue the matter further. Net Tutorial In reviewing with Jeff Setaro the presentations scheduled for general meetings, Ed Heere remarked on his impressions during a conversation with the local entrepreneur about establishing a one-on-one tutorial system via the Internet. He suggested it as a possible presentation. Elections Chairman David reminded the Board that at this meeting, officers are to be elected to serve for the coming year. On advice that no new candidates had come forward and that the incumbent officers had agreed to serve for an additional term, it was unanimously agreed that the incumbents be reelected. CARA Overtures Charlie Bovaird reminded the Board of overtures from CARA, the Candlewood Area Radio Association, regarding joint efforts or programs. He was advised to pursue a possible CARA representation at a future meeting of this Board. A true record. ATTEST: Lawrence Buoy Secretary

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