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Seniors enter the computer age at CSUN

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Contributed by: caroline miranda on 7/11/2008

About 25 senior citizens packed into a California State University, Northridge, computer lab July 11 to launch their own summer school experience - learning how to use a computer.

Thanks to the SAGE Society, a learning-in-retirement organization affiliated with The Tseng College at CSUN, retired people who grew up in a world without personal computers now have a chance to join the digital world through a program called Senior Computers.

"This is a good group, and they're catching on," said SAGE member Len Reiter, a retired engineer who lives in Northridge and assists with senior computer classes.

SAGE members Morris Cutler, a retired educator, and Jerry Eisen, a retired engineer, launched the Senior Computers program more than 15 years ago, when they approached CSUN with the idea of opening the world of computers to senior citizens unfamiliar with how to use them in a society increasingly dependent on them.

The Tseng College helped them navigate through the university and connect with representatives who gave them the go-ahead to offer classes.

The SAGE Society offers senior computers classes in six-week sessions twice a year at the university, and many of the retired people in the class never worked on computers before.

They listened intently as program coordinators Cutler and Eisen gave students a general overview of how computers store and display information, followed by step-by-step instructions on how to create basic documents.

Volunteer assistants from SAGE walk up and down the aisles of computer stations to help the students as they move tentatively through computer screen tool bars and keyboards.

"I want to congratulate you as seniors who come here to expand your knowledge," Eisen told the current group of students. "Your grandchildren know how to do it. Why can't you?"

Reiter taught himself how to use computers and eventually became so proficient that he now teaches others. "When I didn't understand something, I would call different friends," he said.

Unafraid to ask for help when he needed it, he now passes on his knowledge to those who ask his help.

In its 15-plus years of its existence, the program progressed far beyond the initial class of eight students sharing six computers while learning WordPerfect 4.1. It jumped to different locations, including a trailer at the edge of the campus, before settling in a state-of-the art lab at the campus center.

Student Howard Small, who worked in transportation for the entertainment industry before retirement, said he joined the class to learn about the Internet and various events online. "That is why I am here. You learn more," he said.

Northridge resident Nancy Aminian saw a notice about the class in a newspaper and signed up. She hopes to acquire basic skills to enable her to apply for an office job. "In any work you do, you need computers," she said.

SAGE members volunteer as instructors, and a $25 fee charged to each student for the class is channeled into scholarships for students in the university's College of Engineering and Computer Science.

More information about SAGE and the Senior Computers program is available by calling 818-831-5064 or online at http://exlweb.csun.edu/sage/

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