FULLERTON : Seniors Embrace Computer Network

Computers are almost an obsession for Dorothy Wallace. Ever since the 77-year-old retired hospital administrator started taking computer classes three months ago, hardly a day goes by that she doesn’t work to perfect her skills.

“I haven’t felt this good since I learned to bowl at age 63,” she said while waiting for a desktop publishing class to begin at the Morningside of Fullerton retirement community.

Wallace is one of an increasing number of senior citizens who are embracing the computer revolution and learning to use personal computers to perform common tasks, such as writing letters, keeping financial records, or making greeting cards. Some have even expanded their circle of friends by communicating on a nationwide computer network called SeniorNet, designed especially for seniors.

“I thought the computer age had passed me by and it hasn’t,” Wallace said. “You’re never too old to learn something.”

Ruth Doughton, one of Wallace’s classmates at Morningside, said she uses her computer every day to keep track of personal affairs and enjoys the publishing class where she learns to use complex graphics to make colorful cards and signs.

Classmate Harvey Hennig, 75, is also computer literate and takes an array of classes to expand his skills.

While many of the students at Morningside said they intend to use the computer to simplify tasks, others said they enjoy communicating with seniors around the country on the SeniorNet.

SeniorNet is a nonprofit, on-line service in which seniors use a computer, a phone and a modem to chat with others around the country about everything from grief, gout and grandchildren to World War II memories and sex after age 50.

To access the network, seniors must pay a $25 annual fee to the SeniorNet and join America Online, which costs $9.95 per month.

Doughton says she logs on to the SeniorNet system two or three times a week, when time permits, and enjoys talking on several lines, including the “pet” line. “I wanted to tell them that I had a new Persian cat . . . and brag a little bit,” she said. People from other states answered her comments with their own cat stories, she said.

Seniors from other parts of the county are also logged on to the SeniorNet and have even planned cruises together.

A group of 39 seniors met in February for a three-day cruise to Catalina Island and Ensenada, Mexico, said John Roberts, an 80-year-old Mission Viejo resident who publishes a SeniorNet newsletter.

Roberts said he spends as much as six hours a day chatting with other seniors on the system, and has met several close friends. “When I first got on, I was very shy,” he said. “Now I am completely the other way.” Roberts and his friends have also planned trips to Reno, Nevada, and Las Vegas. “We’re always thinking about things to do,” he said.

The classes at Morningside are not sponsored by SeniorNet, but there are two SeniorNet centers in Orange County that offer computer classes to the general public.

Coastline Community College in Huntington Beach offers SeniorNet computer classes, and the Ruby Gerontology Center in Fullerton has offered courses for the past five years, ranging from introductory computer courses to word processing to financial planning.