Hello, and welcome to the partial list of project pages for the UIUC engagement with Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church in Brooklyn, IL.

where we’re at:

• Where in the project plan you’ve gotten:
  • At this point we’ve performed DBAN on our computers and installed Linux Ubuntu 9.04 on all computers.
  • We’ve also tested a printer, which prints when connected to one computer (i.e. we haven’t networked it yet).
  • Finally, we’ve also inventoried out computers: recorded the MAC addresses and the ports/drives available on each.
• What are the key steps remaining for you to complete:
  • Network computers and the printer.
  • Decide on any additional software we want to install and inventory all software (i.e. create a list of everything included on the computers).
  • Test CD-ROM, DVD, and USB drives.
  • Get final internet information from site and finalize how that will work with our computers.
  • Finalize passwords and accounts for all computers.
  • Clean the computers so they look nice before we install them. 
• For the CTC project groups, where in the project plan your community partners have gotten:
  • Morning Star has tables for the computers.
  • Ordered and received a USB internet device from AT&T.
• For the CTC project groups, what are the key steps remaining for your community partners to complete:
  • Still finalizing the internet situation.
  • I think we’d also like to talk to them about the password and account situation – i.e. how many accounts we should make besides the general, admin account.
  • But I think at this point they seem pretty much ready for us to bring the computers.
• What you still need by way of support from Adam and/or I to complete the project:
  • We may have more questions about how to install the computers with the USB internet device.
• What are the biggest potential risks remaining that might keep you from bringing the project to a “successful” conclusion:
  • At this point I think our biggest challenge is figuring out how to make the computers actually connect to the internet. We still need to figure out how to implement the USB device the site received from AT&T.

Anne talked with Rev. Woods to find out some more information on the Internet situation. We found out AT&T will be providing Internet through their cell phone service. The church then purchased an AT&T USBConnect Mercury device which will receive the wireless internet signal. The problem with a device and package like this is that there may be a certain cap of data downloadable a month. Any extra downloads would then be charged to the church’s account bill. Rev. Woods did not know what their limit was per month, but said that he expected the bill to come soon and will let us know as soon as he gets it.

We also found out that the church has an office with a Windows XP Professional computer that will have the USB device. The Mecury device will receive the internet signal, and then share this internet with the rest of the computers in our lab via ethernet. The ethernet cord will have to run from the office across the sanctuary, and to our lab. It will then connect to a switch where the rest of our computers will be connected to. The one issue with this is that the office computer will have to be on everytime someone wants to go on the internet on a lab computer. This might be a good thing actually, since someone “in charge” will have to allow internet access to the lab computers, thus maintaining some control over how much is downloaded a month.

I talked to Rev. Woods today to tell him that our tentative date for delivery of the computers would be December 4 & 5. He thought that this would work for the church and would like a confirmation of the day and time as soon as we know for sure. He will be calling the phone company today (AT&T) to see what type of internet they will be able to provide to Morning Star. He also wanted to know if the printer was definitely available or not, and since we haven’t seen the printer yet, I told him that I would find out this information in class on Friday and then call him with the details. If we do not have a printer for Morning Star, they would like to purchase their own, which means we would have to do this as soon as possible so that we could work on it here at UIUC.

Rev. Woods called and informed us that he has received our document and is very pleased with our plans and thought that our mission and goals were in agreement with those of the church. He also mentioned that he has talked with a teacher from a nearby school to tell her about the lab, and this teacher hopes to be present when we come down to set up the computers. Overall, he was very excited and happy with our document. I then called him back and left a voice-mail saying that we will be able to provide 8 computers and possibly a printer.

The letter we had sent to Morning Star was returned as the address was not current. I called Rev. Woods and he said that they now have a P.O. Box address. During the phone conversation I talked a little about what the document contained and that he could call any of us with questions/concerns/feedback once he has discussed it with the committee. He said that they are continuing to work on getting internet to the building and will prioritize this so that it will be finished by the time we deliver the computers.

Hello Rev. Wood Sr./Ms. Gestevia Peeples,

We were so glad to meet with you and other members of Morning Star’s congregation a few weeks ago to talk about the computer lab that we will be setting up at Morning Star. After learning about the background of the church and what this computer lab can provide for the community, we hope to make this project successfully fit the church’s vision and goals.

The enclosed document outlines our group’s understanding of the goals and mission of Morning Star Missionary Baptist for the computer lab that we will be implementing over the next couple months. We want to be sure that we are heading in the right direction, so if you could review this document and share it with the committee members of the computer lab project, that would be great! We want to see if we have fully understood what the goal of the computer lab is, and would like to share with you some of our preliminary ideas and priorities so far. We ask that you provide us with feedback and/or questions in order to make this project fit the church’s needs as best as possible.

Feel free to contact us with any questions and feedback by phone or email. Our contact information is on the second page of the document outline.

Thank you!