Southeastern NEWS
Southeastern Louisiana University
Public Information Office
SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
publicinfo@selu.edu
Date: 10/22/96
Contact: Christina Chapple
VOLUNTEERS MAKE NETDAY96 A "SUCCESS STORY"
HAMMOND -- Southeastern Louisiana University faculty, staff and students were
among the volunteers who arrived early and stayed late at area schools last weekend to help send
area school children on the way to the Web.
The Southeastern volunteers were part of NetDay96, a statewide effort to wire all schools
for new computing and communications technology, including the Internet.
"The caring volunteers in our community wired 34 Livingston Parish and 40 Tangipahoa
Parish schools," reported Mike Asoodeh, Southeastern's assistant vice president for technology.
"With the support of President Sally Clausen, Southeastern employees and students joined with
public and private school employees, business and community leaders, parents and students to
work tirelessly pulling the cable generously donated by each school's sponsors."
Lindsay Reed, director of Southeastern Computing Services, one of local NetDay96
coordinators along with Asoodeh, estimated that volunteers pulled 20 miles of wire in
Tangipahoa Parish alone, wiring an average of six classrooms at each school. "Overall, NetDay
was a very impressive operation and did the state a lot of good," Reed said.
Southeastern Developmental Education instructor Pattie Steib and her husband Bruce
were among the NetDay volunteers at Hammond High. "It was fun," said Steib, "and the school
really appreciated it." Steib said she got involved in NetDay because she uses the Internet in her
Southeastern classroom.
"We do a project every semester that involves the Internet. Many of my students have
never sat in front of a computer and don't even know how to turn one on, much less how to use
the Internet," she said. "If we put the Internet in the schools, when I get these students, they'll
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NETDAY96 -- Add One
know some of the basics."
Enrollment Services reports manager Paulette Poche signed up to help pull wires at her
alma mater, Ponchatoula High School, but, at the last minute, couldn't participate. Her father
Hollis Poche, and son Wil Richardson took her place. "They were there most of the day, double
wired everything, but needed another 2,000 feet to finish. We're going to go back this Saturday,"
said Poche. "I believe it is very important for children to be connected to the Internet. It's the
technology of today."
Asoodeh said Southeastern Computing Services infrastructure manager Derward Myrick
made ten "poor man" cable testers so that the volunteers to insure good cable connections from
end to end with no interchanging of the wires.
Southeastern, Neil Corporation, school system and other computer experts served as
"technical champions," for NetDay, said Asoodeh, and helped plan, survey and troubleshoot at
each site. Technical champs were Myrick, Richard Graves, Brian Harper, Jeffrey Breon, Bev
Kennedy, Gabe Breeman, Jorge de la Torre, Ravi Kallianpur, Joseph Dick, Dane Bounds, Bob
Greer and Robert Morgan.
Additional Southeastern faculty and staff participating in NetDay96 were Donna
Methvien, Jessie Roberts, Deborah Dardis, Gina Uria, Bea Baldwin, Nick Twigg, Mani
Manivannan, Cora VonAspern, Michael Rickenbaker, Michelle Hall, Bill Parkinson, Bonnie
Wood, Barbara Brooks, Pat Mitchell, Ken Li, Susan Jenkins, Rosalyn Chauvin, Jeanne Burns
and Liz Thompson.
Students pitching in included Annie Bigner, Melissa May, Bryant Caruso, Brandon
Hendricks, Chad Simpson, and Michael Harrel.
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