RSS
Subscribe to magazine
Follow us on:
  • Recommend:
  • 0 Comments

New Lives for PCs and People

A novel program helps prison inmates learn valuable skills and contribute to society.

  

Carlos Vargas is serving a life sentence for murder. He's been in prison since he was 16 years old. The first time he sat in front of a computer was in the California Youth Authority, shortly after he was convicted in 1991. Now 23, Carlos says, "I wish I'd had a computer then, you know? I wish I'd known about this that night I committed my crime. I could have just sat at home."

Today he fixes PCs in the Computers for Schools program at the Sierra Conservation Center, a medium-security prison just a short distance from Yosemite National Park. The program uses inmates to rebuild donated computers, which are sent to California's public schools. Carlos hopes that these computers will make a difference in the lives of kids who are, as he was, economically deprived but have a latent love of technology.

It's too bad that Carlos discovered his calling only after his future was determined by an act of violence. He's sure, he says, that his now-consuming interest in computers would have kept him off the streets.

Would you recommend this story? YES NO

  • Recommend:
  • 0 Comments
Lenovo Laptop Deals

Subscribe to the Daily Technology News Newsletter - 7 days a week

See All Newsletters »
Today's Special Offers
Editors' Picks