Changing a School's Tech Disposal Policy? 218
An anonymous reader writes "I attend a state university where a new building has recently been put in, and a new budget put in place. They have decided to upgrade all the computer systems involved in the department, with a few slight exceptions. From my limited understanding, State policy is that we cannot just let things go, they have to be sent back to the state capital in order to take them off the books. Then they put them in the dumpster. I feel that this is a huge waste of useful machines (some are merely two years old), but I know not how to change this. Any suggestions, or does anyone know where Illinois dumps used tech?"
It's Called Google (Score:4, Funny)
FP?
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Re:It's Called Google (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:It's Called Google (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:It's Called Google (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
But, maybe that is the official plan - I'd hate to pass judgment before all the facts are in.
Re:It's Called Google (Score:4, Informative)
Most computer hardware is sold at surplus auctions four times a year in Illinois. I worked for Illinois government as a contractor for 9 years and saw countless pallets of PCs and Macs move through there. Lots of other cool stuff too, including a powered drafting table I picked up for $75. I locked the table flat and can raise and lower it depending if I want to work standing up or sitting down.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Great place to pick up old servers though.
Re: (Score:2)
Why tak ethem off the books? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Why tak ethem off the books? (Score:5, Informative)
When a lab machine was retired from service, they were then distributed to the IT departments of the various colleges (though I'm sure most here understand this, I'll just explain: a University is usually broken down into smaller "colleges" even though they're all still the same school. I worked at the College of Business and Behavioral Science).
We then would clean up the machines, put a fresh image on them (since we got them in huge batches of identical configs they were easy to keep images for), and then send them out to the faculty that were running old machines. Naturally for faculty deemed special enough to deserve it they could also get a brand new computer bought during the purchase of the incoming lab machines as well.
When we finally got done with them, we'd send them to a surplus sale. The general public was free to come in and purchase them at whatever randomly low price the surplus department decided to ask for them (the prices are normally dirt cheap because we were essentially just ready to dispose of them, but since they're bought with tax dollars the public has to have a chance at aquiring surplus property).
I'm assuming that the disposal procedure is state law as I now work at another government organization in SC and the surplus procedure is pretty much the same. That can be a good place to pickup some parts though. 17" CRT monitors (which we're always getting rid of a few of since flat panels are all the rage now) generally get put up for $5. Pretty good spot to pick those up when someone needs one.
Re: (Score:2)
Since you bring up emacs though, that would have only been in the Computer Science department labs as they ran Solaris, and were indeed on a completel
Re: (Score:2)
I know that in my current location (a county government facility) we surplus in the same manner, and the sales are held for 2
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Its a terrible waste but it ensures vendors get to sell lots of new stuff down the line without competition from liquidation auctions.
Re:Why tak ethem off the books? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Options (Score:4, Insightful)
While the computers need to be taken off the books, that is accomplished by paperwork. There are computer re-furbishers and recyclers like the one listed above (a non-profit 501.c.3) that will take any and all computers as donations to be recycled or deployed to schools.
Usually the biggest pain is the stupid paperwork needed by the state to remove computers from inventory systems. They ought to just expire all computers from inventory after 5 years (or whatever), automatically.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Options (Score:5, Interesting)
Usually the biggest pain is the stupid paperwork needed by the state to remove computers from inventory systems. They ought to just expire all computers from inventory after 5 years (or whatever), automatically.
Having worked at virginia tech's computer science department in the past for a few years, I can tell you that what you're saying is logical, but impossible in the current government system.
The inventory people basically accept goods in, give them to you, and expect to get them back. In our situation, after that happens, they auction them off (VT auctions are like every other month, in an old warehouse looking building). The paperwork is intense. But the long and short of it is that the department cannot do anything with the computers.
Problem two is that the inventory system at Tech doesn't account for depreciation. At all.
Case in point: We had a professor create what he called a "pedoplex", which was this huge gazebo (shoot arrows into it?) looking thing that was just banks and banks of hard drives. In 199X or whatever, it cost $1.5 MILLION DOLLARS pinky to lips. Now? We'd be hard pressed to sell it for scrap metal - and I'm not kidding. Well, anyway, the guy that was the contractor that built it for the professor after a while realized that the prof wasn't using it anymore, and was like "this thing is neat, I built it and I'm proud of my work". The professor basically gave it to the guy. He moved to Pennsylvania.
SO... every year, during inventory, someone would have to go UP to PA and walk into a storage locker and go "Pedoplex: One each, check!" and drive back. Not kidding at all. Then the guy moved to Austrailia. All of a sudden, in 2005, this freaking thing shows up in our inventory, marked as "missing", with a value of negative $1.5 million. Meaning even if we had been able to locate TWO (not to mention one) of everything on our inventory list, we were still waaaaaaay over quota for dollar amount of missing equipment.
What ensues? Did we call the guy and ask if we could get into his storage locker? Did we write the piece of equipment off? Did we mark its value to be, say, $5,000? No, none of those things. The administration called the guy a thief (he was given the device), said that we lost valuable state property and should be held accountable (wtf, i'm a sysadmin, not a gopher, and this was before I was employed), and started a bickering shouting match between inventory, provost, and the department.
Your tax dollars at work!
's ok, though, after the 2nd year in a row when the professor who makes $220,000/yr for 5 hours of work per week who's my boss told me "sorry there's no money for a raise, we'll just keep paying you the legal minimum we can pay you in your pay grade", I left all that crap behind and got a job working for Rackspace, which is waaaay more awesome.
~W
Re: (Score:2)
At least they weren't told that it had disintegrated due to gravitational pressure waves.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Are you sure they're thrown away? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Are you sure they're thrown away? (Score:5, Informative)
Buying from Illinois - Purchasing State Surplus Property [illinois.gov]
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Are you sure they're thrown away? (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
I almost picked up a big jet engine once (who knows how they got it?!), but I knew I'd have a hard time a) moving it, b) explaining why our chemistry lab n
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Businesses do things differently (Score:2, Informative)
The failure rate of old equipment goes higher and higher, and without proper maintenance contracts you'll start of getting into unstable territory.
It's perfectly OK to do it this way. It does not make sense spending an inordinate amount of resources of keeping a huge park of a variety of machines running.
Instead, standardizing on a few machines and tossing them
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
standardizing on a few machines and tossing them out when another technology renewal is due is *good*. It makes management easier and allows IT to keep things running smoothly.
Sure, it's an easy fix in the short run. But 100 years down the line when the average surface temperature is 105 degrees Fahrenheit and gasoline costs $70 a gallon, you'll be defending your water tower and solar panel arrays from the hordes, running low on ammunition, stinking like a hog... Then you'll wish you'd done your part to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
(Hopefully your boss can see the logic in this...)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Fortunately for me, I've already planned to die in 2107. I get the best of both worlds: cheap disposal, and no consequences.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Auction them off (Score:2)
Suggestions? (Score:5, Funny)
Dark clothing + ski masks + pick-up truck @ 3am ...
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
That's state property, folks. I have an old dead UPS in my server room that I would love to sell off (cheap) but if I want to get rid of it I have to call the property clerk and he will (theoretically) come haul it away. Of course he has a bad back and can't lift more than 25 pounds...
From what little I know of Illinois politics, (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Govdeals.com (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
The University of TN has been selling a crapload of nice 17" G5 iMacs they have been going for $150.00 but they will not ship. so they dont sell because nobody wants to drive 600 miles to get it.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
CMS auction warehouse on 10.5th St. in Springfield (Score:5, Informative)
Go to our state online auction site [state.il.us] to see if they end up there, too.
There's a reason Central Management Services exists -- it's to provide the central management of the services all state agencies need to kkeep duplication of effort to a minimum. One thing all state agencies need is to dispose of surplus equipment.
Re:CMS auction warehouse on 10.5th St. in Springfi (Score:3, Informative)
I dunno which school you mean, but at UIUC they have a big warehouse in Orchard Downs area where they keep all the surplus (also includes desks, chairs, book-cases) until it goes to the state. This is just for internal UIUC use and you require a Surplus Redistribution Form signed by your buildings facility manager. That sounds like a handful, but it's actually pretty easy to get. You are on good terms with your facility manager right?
In your specific situation I would go talk to the department office a
Are you sure you have that right? (Score:2)
Check your facts (Score:2)
Here at the University of Washington old tech - heck, old equipment of all sorts - has to be gotten rid of following very specific steps. Very few of those steps lead to the dumpster unless what you're discarding is truly junk. Items can be given to other departments, for one thing. Items can also be released to surplus, where the wider public will be
Surplus property (Score:2)
Make friends with the dean, and convince them that their Univ. needs to do the same.
Re: (Score:2)
Are you serious? (Score:2)
What the fuck are students actually learning these days? Is it all just memorization followed by regurgitation at the end of the week?
Isn't there any schooling on general "How to find shit out on my own" anymore?
Re: (Score:2)
Are you sure? (Score:2)
My guess is that are are some new guy (or student) that really don't know what is going on.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
At my local university... (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm patiently waiting for the university to retire/throw out its 8-node Origin 2000.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
In a student org [cmustoc.org] I'm in, we started a computer recycling program to deal with the excess and make sure hardware doesn't end up in a dumpster. We've run into a surprising amount of resistance from the University, but individual professors and some of the smaller departments are sympathetic to our cause.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Some places you can get away with that, others you can't.
I work at a University in Australia where such things used to happen. Not so much any more...
In between ideas about responsible e-waste disposal, the occupational health and safety (not to mention public liability) issues of leaving items lying on the floor in the hallways and what we're permitted to stick in our waste stream these days, we've
Have you checked ebay? (Score:2)
nyssurplus-albany [ebay.com]
FWIW, that office actually handles (at least) state schools, prisons, and mental hospitals. Some interesting stuff gets sold through that group, to say the least...
Why not... (Score:2, Funny)
Illinois Surplus Auction site. (Score:2)
https://ibid.illinois.gov/secure/default.aspx [illinois.gov]
What my current and previous employer did (Score:2)
when I was @ PSU... (Score:2)
Politics. (Score:3, Informative)
If they are returned vs. given away vs. stolen. all accounts differently in the books for tax purposes. If your university is state owned it is probably an issue that it is easier to trash the computers then give them away because then you will get groups saying they need them more then other groups. No it is not fair or easy but thats the governemnt.
Try calling UW SWAP (Score:2)
You may wish to try contacting the University of Wisconsin's SWAP program [wisc.edu]. I'm not sure how they have set it up, but it basically takes all of the old equipment and sells it to general public. This includes, computers, desks, oscilloscopes, incubators, etc. It is a bit like going to the best garage sale ever.
I don't know this program started, but it sounds like the kind of thing you're looking for. Trying to get in touch with some of the folks in charge may give you insights into how to get it to wo
used tech in US (Score:2)
Most likely in China, Africa or India since US is unwilling to take care of their own electronic waste or even follow (and ratify) international treaties.
So yeah, do a world a favor and buy off some used tech before it goes to 3rd world countries where children have to sort through it.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002920133_ewaste09.html [nwsource.com]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-waste#Problems [wikipedia.org]
http://www.ban.org/photogallery/index.html [ban.org]
Where's the incentive? (Score:2, Offtopic)
Not going to waste (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Buy them through a NPO (Score:2, Informative)
The only way to get the stuff out of this lockup is to buy it through a NPO.
We've liberated a few of the PC's by funneling them through our church. Hell, it's even tax deductible!
Sounds fishy... (Score:5, Informative)
Simple (Score:2)
If that doesn't work, you could also contact the largest paper and see if someone will do an article on the waste.
Oh wait, Illinois...perhaps you should just shut up and support the union~
Don't forget your legal issues! (Score:2)
Attend? Administer! (Score:2, Insightful)
What probably happens is the old equipment is put on a school list and offered to other departments. What they don't want is sent to the state (removed from the school's inventory but still on the state's inventory because they paid for it). The stat
Do they actually dump them? (Score:2)
That's what's done here, everything gets sent to surplus and sold there. If it's all broken down, non working stuff it is often sold in bulk and usually bought by a scrap dealer/computer recycler or the like.
At any rate, just check it out. I'm not saying it's impossible they just dump it, it jsut seems unlikely. Why pay to transport them and pay to have them dispos
UCP ATEN (Score:2)
United Cerebral Palsy's Adaptive Technology Exchange Network.
I just used them last week (hi guys!) to clean out a server room and 50 old G3 Macs, beige-box PCs and various CRT monitors.
Not only that but they took old a/v gear, 3/4" Sony u-Matic decks, cables, the works.
What they can't refurbish, they recycle - support a good local cause, help provide job training and skills to students and disabled adults, and donate old equipment to needy schools throughout IL.
A way around it... (Score:3, Interesting)
In it's infinite wisdom, the school district would put the inventory barcode on the computer case, and inventory it as a computer, rather than inventory the components. So when we were done with a computer, and it was ready to be decomissioned, we would strip out the case. Everything that was usable would come out. Power supplies, NIC's, HD's, Mother Boards, etc. These would then be put into storage, and used to maintain and upgrade the rest of the computers. (Filling up RAM slots, adding extra HD's, etc.) This way, we would always have a supply of spare parts on hand in case we needed to replace a faulty component, and repair components wouldn't come out of our budget. (That way we could buy more and better new machines.) The cases would be sent to surplus.
As a side benefit, if anyone's personal machine broke down, there was a huge supply of good parts to use.
Though it seems foolish, there is a reason... (Score:2)
If there were an easy way for us, or connected third parties, to obtain deactivated property without substantial oversight and documentation, the potential for fraud would be pretty ugly. All to easy to just declare someth
Bargain barn (Score:2)
a waste? Then don't replace them (Score:2)
You guys apparently have the money to buy new machines even though your old ones work fine. Please publish your state and which government institution you are part of so no one ever has to take your calls for budget increases seriously again.
Thanks.
Build Your Own Computer classes (Score:2, Interesting)
My ex-wife started a program at Heartland Community College in Bloomington Illinois. Started off as a class for 10 - 15 year olds but expanded to include classes for adults. Computers that were being cycled out of inventory were broken down into components by the IT department.
Students pay their $90 enrollment fee and are given a "kit" to use in the instructor-led class. They learn about the individual components and how they work together, assemble the computers and get some simple troubleshooting experi
Apple Education Recycling - FREE (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Recycled (Score:2)
Usually the hard drives either have to be wiped, or destroyed. The rest of the machine is up for grabs.
In their case, they take the decent machines (including older ones like P2's), refurbish them, and sell them.
The broken, or too old, equipment, they break down in special equipment that separates the various materials (plast
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
A great deal of stuff used to go to an compa
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Anon is probably talking out his ass. I spent a year contracting for DHS, DPA, ISP, DOCorrections, and DOCourts along with a few other clients for an IT consulting firm. I've worked on the hardware, software, wiring plant, and network profiles of some of the State of Illinois
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It's not bad, just different.
Re: (Score:2)