Computer Knowledge Helps Seniors Tie Into Nationwide Network

Dorothy Connelly, 65, dreams of writing a cookbook.

Wallace Jones, 67, a retired building contractor, wants to relate better to five grandchildren and says being literate in computers is a great way to start.

Richard Weibel, 71, a retired pressman, wants to “speak,” via computer, to seniors around the country about everything from spreadsheets to “Star Wars.”

Connelly, Jones and Weibel are part of an ambitious nationwide project called SeniorNet. Founded in 1983, the San Francisco-based SeniorNet now links more than 2,000 seniors in 135 locations in 35 states and Canada.

Class for Beginners

One of those sites is the offices of the county Department of Education on Linda Vista Road. Thrice weekly, about 20 seniors per class learn basic instruction in computers, while signing onto SeniorNet, which might allow Fred in Des Moines, Iowa, say, to compare notes with Jones on what it’s like to be a grandfather.

Each of these San Diego seniors takes home knowledge that they believe enhances the autumn years, keeping them awake and alive and, as Weibel puts it, “ahead of the knowledge curve on the most important technology in years.”

Maxwell Jarvis, 69, is the San Diego coordinator for SeniorNet, which he describes as “national community of computer-using seniors.” The local chapter was only recently started.

Jarvis sees its biggest virtue as fighting what he calls “stupid” stereotypes.

‘Destroy the Stereotypes’

“Most seniors think about a whole lot more than just social security and Medicare,” he said. “Most of us would like to destroy the stereotypes that people have of seniors. Let’s face it, most people are the next class of seniors, and technology is opening up a whole new world to seniors. Most people think ‘seniors’ are people in nursing homes. Do you realize that only 5% of the people 65 and over live in nursing homes?”

The people in Jarvis’ class are a long way from nursing homes. Most look fit, intelligent and many years younger than they are. They all believe SeniorNet has something to sell--more than 200 showed up for the opening class, before Jarvis was forced to divide the mob into sections.

Leo Resholt, 82, is a retired actuary who loves computers for the “infinite array of things they can do”--and for keeping him busy.

Dorothy Connelly has been a widow for two decades. She has two adopted sons, neither of whom lives in San Diego. For most of her adult days, she’s wanted to write that cookbook.

Finally, it came to her in a flash--as though she had found the secret ingredient for a magical cookie. She would take a computer class and use a sophisticated word processor to put dreams into practice. She figured the excitement of new knowledge would finally provide the spark to take action.

Consider action taken. The book is under way.

‘Bursting With New Knowledge’

“You’ve got to keep learning until the day you die,” she said. “These things have me bursting with new knowledge every day. I’m more excited than I have been in years.”

William Gannett, 64, is so enamored of Jarvis’ class and SeniorNet that he hopes to start a North County chapter near his home in Carlsbad. He sees computers and, in particular, telecommunications as the most revolutionary advancement in the history of American society.

“It will one day change our entire political system,” he said. “We could vote at home with these things. Congressmen could even vote at home, without having to go to Washington. The potential for change with these things is outrageous, enormous. There’s just no limit to what these things could do.”

Al Rogers is a computer consultant who is working with Jarvis in helping to get San Diego SeniorNet punched in and working. Rogers has worked for years with children, in constructing word processing and telecommunications programs. He developed one software program--FrEdwriter--that’s still used in area schools.

Last summer, he set up a computer program at a retirement home, enabling children to correspond with seniors via software. He called it a stunning success. He said that children as young as 5 are learning how to write on computers--in kindergarten--while at the same time learning how to read.

“Computers have had a terrific impact on the lives of children,” Rogers said. “But the great thing about a program like this is what it does for seniors. SeniorNet offers an opportunity to seniors to meet basic human needs--for communication and contact, to know there isn’t just a void out there. It’s a wonderful antidote to loneliness.”