La Plaza Telecommunity Board of Directors Meeting May 16, 2000 Executive Directors Report
FUNDING ACQUISITION 1. National Cancer Institute approved the grant submitted by AMC Cancer Research. We received notification on April 25, 2000 that the grant was finally approved and dollars were allocated for May 1, 2000 and I am developing the contract for reimbursement with the AMC grants administrator. The NCI funding allocation will be May 1 - September 29, 2000, I hope to have the dollar amount from AMC and provide an amended budget for the Board at the May 16 Board meeting. 2. USWest Economic Development Opportunity Fund proposal waiting for disposition of the request. 3. McCune Foundation - Nancy Montano developed a letter of intent to McCune Foundation to enhance and sustain the Open Studio artists grant. The new proposal will initiate a youth arts technology program and the current Open Studio artists will mentor the participating youth. We are going to initiate discussion with the Taos arts organizations to find funding for a multimedia lab, location to be determined in the future. TECHNOLOGY 1. Taos Pueblo - Integrity Networking Systems and La Plaza are working with the Taos Pueblo Tribal Offices to develop Internet connection through wireless, microwave radios. Integrity has developed a graphic drawing for Internet connection on the Pueblo at the Tribal Offices, Police Station, Central Management System, and the proposed public access site. La Plaza is assisting the Pueblo in applying for third party funding for acquiring the towers, radios, and hardware. 2. Penasco - the additional solar panels and batteries were ordered and received, Brian Williams is waiting for the spring melt on Picuris Peak for the install of this additional equipment. Oban Lambie is working with Arnold Lopez, Penasco School Technology Director, to set up the system for networking the La Plaza server on the wireless system. This will provide the dial-in users T1 speed and remove them from the 56K phone line. Projected completion date is June 15, 2000. 3. Questa - the nightmare continues. I received a Request for Proposal from the State General Services Division to lease State owned equipment and space on their microwave towers. Several days later, I received a recending document stating the initial RFP requires amendment. I continue to attempt to have dialogue with the state personnel regarding Questa. 4. Taos - busy signals have diminished with the additional modems and now with the warmer weather. Users are still experiencing busy modems in the peak hours, early morning and evening times; however, waiting time is very limited. 5. Obsolete Equipment Disbursement - Saturday, May 6, 2000 approximately 30 community members were in attendance of the obsolete equipment disbursement. No one left empty handed, and not one piece of the hardware was left - in fact, the last person leaving was an artist who uses old pieces of technology in his artwork! NATIONAL OUTREACH 1. Harvard University - "Internet and the Public's Health" showcase May 30-31 in Boston will be attended by Barb Hau and Loretta Suazo. The goal of the showcase is to enhance the conference by showing applications that "harness the power of the Internet for health." Harvard is paying most of their expenses and Barb and Loretta will showcase the La Plaza Diabetes website www.laplaza.org/dwc the NLM Fellowship, and the newly funded AMC grant. 2. Department of Commerce - "E-Commerce and the Digital Divide: Meeting the Challenge", May 30-31 in Albuquerque. La Plaza has been invited to participate on a conference panel, 'Success Stories and Case Studies: What Works?'. I will present the Penasco Wireless Project on Wednesday, May 31. Integrity Networking Systems will develop a virtual map of the project for display during my portion of the presentation. COMMUNITY OUTREACH 1. La Plaza has created a web page http://www.laplaza.org/announce/lafire.html with links for information regarding the Los Alamos Relief Efforts. 2. La Plaza is collaborating with the Taos Pueblo Tribal Offices, Education Department, and the 2 MIRA teams to develop and fund the wireless Internet connectivity system. I continue to meet with Lt. Governor Gilbert Suazo and Shawn Duran to complete a successful project. 3. Barb Hau is collaborating with Tim Clauss for the MIRA Health team to include Taos Alternative Health information on the La Plaza Health page. 4. Chama Valley Chamber of Commerce officials visited with La Plaza to discuss the planning and implementation of a community technology center in the Chama Valley. 5. I met with Frank Odaz, technology consultant and MIRA teams presenter, Dawn Redpath, in the capacity of a MIRA steering committee member, and Nancy Montano; discussion was held regarding a technology community initiative. Frank and Dawn are attempting to find funding to sustain the 10 MIRA team projects. I offered support of the concept and continued discussion for developing a proposal for funding. MONTHLY STATISTICS 1. Public Access Location Total Users Hrs Avg.Session Taos 1107 1783 1.61 Penasco 224 289 1.29 Questa 186 100 .54 2. Classes Intro to Email 7 Intro to WWW 11 Easy Web Design 10 HTML 7 Promote Website 5 Contract/TCEDC 20 Total 60 3. New Registrations Primary Accts 72 Secondary 6 Reactivation 16 Total 94 4. Closed Accounts 155 notices sent for past due balances of >50 days, 69 accounts were closed due to nonpayment. Of the 69 accts, 18 have reactivated as of May 8. Moved - 20 Secondary accts, not needed - 4 Not using - 7 Moved to another ISP - 7 Unable to connect - 4 No reason given - 5 Total Closed - 47 Total Closed 69 + 47 = 116 5. Service Accounts on April 30, 2000 Standard $17.50 dial-up service 1890 Secondary acct - $15.00 subservice 58 Secondary acct - $7.00 subservice 266 Scholarship acct - $7.00 28 Total Paying accts 2242 Board Accts 9 Staff Accts 9 Volunteer Accts 4 Total nonpaying accts 22 6. Fiscal Information The General Budget will be amended to reflect the 2000/01 NLM Fellowship allocation and the AMC 5 month allocation. This will be provided during the Treasurers' report. Respectfully submitted: Judith Pepper, Executive Director